Abandoned Woman Busy Farming

Chapter 1209: Chapter 1211 She is the Key to the Problem_1

At this time, Tang Yin bore no resemblance to the lofty Emperor he usually was; he was just an ordinary brother, worried about his younger sister.

The National Master remained silent for a long while, not even daring to look at His Majesty. He seemed to have aged several more years all at once.

After a long time, he finally spoke, ”Find the one who cast the curse and break it.”

Startled, Ning Yu interjected from the side, ”Master, is breaking the curse necessary? Isn’t it true that once the person who cast the curse dies, the curse can be broken?”

”That is for ordinary curses, but this curse was cast by either a Witch King or a Holy Woman, and unless the curse caster breaks it, there is no other way,” the National Master explained.

Suddenly, His Majesty took two steps forward, staring intensely at the National Master, and asked, ”After all these years, has the Master found any clues?”

”Forgive this old servant for his incompetence,” the National Master sighed again, his eyes closing in weariness.

Bai Ruozhu, who was listening from behind, felt a surge of anxiety. If this curse was cast by Diao Yao’s biological mother, then the key lay with Diao Yao’s mother. She remembered that Chu Hai had mentioned his mother was struck by the Reincarnation Poison and had been in a coma ever since. If the Reincarnation Poison couldn’t be resolved, how could Diao Bin’s curse be broken?

When Chu Hai tested the poison with his mother’s blood, the toxicity had already weakened significantly. Even so, it had taken her a great deal of effort to cure him of the poison. To cure Chu Hai’s mother would be an even more formidable challenge; could Princess Diao Bin wait that long?

His Majesty’s body swayed, but he immediately steadied himself, turned around, and headed outside the Astrology Tower, ”Wang Shun, dispatch someone to review the Court Archives immediately. I must get to the bottom of this!”

”Your Majesty, please wait!” The National Master’s voice rang out again.

His Majesty paused, a glimmer of hope flickering in his eyes, ”Does the Master have another solution?”

”This servant excels in the art of divining vital energies. Just now, I discovered that this lady’s aura carries a rising purple Qi. After careful divination, I have ascertained that she is the key to solving this problem,” the National Master declared.

All eyes in attendance followed his gaze, staring straight at Bai Ruozhu.

Bai Ruozhu herself was startled, but as the only woman here, she knew that the National Master was referring to her when he mentioned ”this lady.”

She couldn’t say she didn’t believe in the National Master’s skill of observing Qi, but upon reflection, she did indeed know Chu Hai and Diao Yao, had even cured Chu Hai of poison, and was aware that their birth mother was a Holy Woman of the Holy Hall in the Western Regions. Perhaps she truly was the one who could resolve the dilemma.

It seemed that the old National Master was indeed formidable.

”Her?” His Majesty appeared skeptical as he looked at Bai Ruozhu, his eyes narrowing slightly, ”They say that only the bell-ringer can untie the bell. Could she be related to the one who cast the curse?”

A sinking feeling hit Bai Ruozhu’s heart. His Majesty was certainly on high alert, almost paranoid.

”Your Majesty is overthinking it. This lady does not know the art of Witchcraft. Otherwise, this old servant would have recognized it instantly. She indeed has the capacity to break this situation. I hope Your Majesty does not miss this opportunity,” the National Master concluded, then gave His Majesty a nod and closed his eyes once more.

His Majesty glanced at the National Master and then turned his gaze back to Bai Ruozhu, the suspicion in his eyes slightly diminished.

”How did you come here?” he asked coldly.

Bai Ruozhu bowed to the emperor and presented the jade token given by the Empress Dowager, saying, ”The Empress Dowager commanded your servant to come and check on the situation.”

”Then you know what should be said and what shouldn’t, right?” The Emperor’s voice rose abruptly, carrying an ominous tone.

Bai Ruozhu shrank her neck and hurriedly said, ”Your servant only knows that the princess has been cursed with witchcraft, nothing else at all.”

The Emperor was reminding her not to tell the Empress Dowager about her being cursed, because with her character, if she knew her daughter’s suffering was because of her, she would definitely live in guilt and pain, and might even die in despondence.

Not to mention the Emperor’s reminder, Bai Ruozhu herself didn’t want to say it.

The Former Emperor had surely kept it from the Empress Dowager because he deeply loved her and didn’t want her to die or be sad, thus bearing all the guilt alone. One can imagine that the Former Emperor must have lived in agony in the last ten years of his life.

Because of the curse transfer, one of his daughters had died unexpectedly, and he was constantly worried about the safety of his other daughter, Princess Diao Bin; otherwise, he would not have given Diao Bin a pill before his death. Although it’s said the royal family is heartless, the Former Emperor giving the best medicinal materials to the Empress Dowager first shows he was a man of affection. And the Empress Dowager only had the Emperor and Princess Diao Bin as her children; with the Emperor to inherit Datong, the curse could only fall on Diao Bin.

At that moment, the Emperor put away the anger in his manner and continued walking forward.

Bai Ruozhu hurriedly followed, but after only a short distance, she quietly looked back at the National Master. Ning Yu was at his side, supporting the National Master with reddened eyes, and the National Master seemed to have noticed Bai Ruozhu’s gaze, looking up and smiling faintly at her.

Bai Ruozhu subconsciously averted her gaze, feeling that the National Master was very polite to her; could it be just because she was a person with ascending purple qi?

When they returned to Cining Palace, the Emperor had already changed his expression, and he even happily told the Empress Dowager, ”Mother, I have asked the National Master, and he has calculated that the Bai Family is the person who can ’untie the bell,’ able to help find the person who cast the curse. As long as we break the curse, Diao Bin will be healed.”

The Empress Dowager looked at Bai Ruozhu in astonishment, ”Is that true? Ruozhu, do you have any clues? Wasn’t it said before that Diao Bin was cursed by a transferred curse? What exactly is going on?”

Before Bai Ruozhu could reply, the Emperor cut in, ”My father, the Emperor, and the National Master had long known that someone was secretly cursing Diao Bin. My father had the National Master spend ten years creating a pill for Diao Bin that could delay the onset of the curse. But my father feared that you would worry yourself sick, so he kept it from you all along. Previously, Ning Yu, after all, lacked experience, and because the curse was cast by either the Witch King or the Holy Maiden, he was misled into thinking it was transferred.”

Bai Ruozhu observed the Empress Dowager’s expression; when the Emperor mentioned the ”Holy Maiden,” her face stiffened, suggesting that there really were secrets hidden here!

She could now understand why Chu Hai was unwilling to tell her everything; if Chu Hai’s mother truly was the person who cursed the Former Emperor and the Empress Dowager of Danliang Country, it would undoubtedly be a crime punishable by the execution of the entire family. Chu Hai feared that speaking out would make saving Diao Yao even more impossible.

But should she now divulge the origins of Chu Hai and Diao Yao? She was conflicted inside; what if the Emperor, in his fury, ordered the execution of the two?

”What is the matter, Mother? Have you thought of something?” Being who he was, how could the Emperor not notice the Empress Dowager’s reaction?

The Empress Dowager hastily regained her composure and said, ”I was merely thinking that the Witch King and the Holy Maiden are no ordinary characters; when did our Danliang provoke such entities?”

”Hmph, they are nothing but heretics and traitors. I certainly will not let the one who cast the curse go unpunished!” the Emperor said harshly.

Bai Ruozhu’s heart sank; it seemed that Chu Hai and his siblings were unlikely to get through this crisis safely, and what exactly was the purpose of the person behind the scenes who had abducted Diao Yao?