Frozen Fire

Chapter 26

Ashes

The Emperor swept the sweats that kept pouring out from the Consort's pores with a small piece of cloth. He shifted the beautiful man a little, trying to give the most comfortable position for the Consort on his arms. The Consort's breath sounded harsh and rough as if there was something that choking on his throat. His eyes fluttered open for a little while before it closed once again, barely taking a grip of his consciousness.

The Emperor couldn't tell what was exactly he felt at the moment. It was a mix of sadness, worry, and fury. Obviously, there was something wrong with the Consort, but the Royal Physicians just wouldn't be able to tell what kind of illness the Consort was having. All of the Royal Physicians' life was put on the line until they could find the Consort's sickness. The Emperor had sworn that he would kill every single of them if they still failed to cure his beloved Consort.

"Sweetheart, open your eyes... Tell me where does it hurt, please..." The Emperor sounded almost like he was begging. His holds were tightening as if he refused to be away from his Consort even just for an inch.

It crushed the hearts of all present people in the room. They never saw their Emperor begged, nor witnessed his cry. He was the toughest Emperor of Wang Dynasty they've ever known who always refuse to show all kind of weakness in front of others. But right now the Emperor seemed like he was falling into deep desperation with the Consort was being sick.

However, no matter how hard all the physicians tried to search for the Consort's illness, they still failed in the end. It seemed like the Consort's illness was caused by high fever. But it couldn't be just ordinary fever since once in awhile the Consort's would be coughing out blood. That was the oldest member of the palace's royal physicians stepped forward and uttered his honest thought to the Emperor.

"Your Highness, I apologize if this isn't really my place to speak, but this lowly of a servant of yours has something bugging his mind for awhile concerning the matter of His Highness Consort Yu," The old physician talked carefully.

The Emperor was throwing a small glance toward his physician. His hand still refused to leave the Consort's cold fingers from his hold. "Do speak," He ordered in a cold breezing tone that could make his subjects trembled in fear. Having in beloved ones laying unconscious on the bed made the Emperor's mood turned even darker.

"Your Highness, I'm worried that the Consort was getting poisoned,"

Upon hearing the old physician's opinion, the Emperor's body was immediately tensed. He looked at his physician with a complete horror. "How could you say so?" He asked with a stern voice.

"It looks like just a common high fever, but the Consort had been drifting between consciousness and unconsciousness. His Highness also coughed of blood. I'm afraid it is because of a poison. Unfortunately, I don't have the ability to recognize what kind of poison it is. The poison is either rare or a completely new kind of poison,"

The Emperor gritted his teeth. He fisted his hand tightly until his knuckles turning white.

A poison! How could this happen? Was it his consort's attempt to suicide? Or there was somebody else who tried to kill his consort?

The Emperor swore, if this was someone else's doing, he would find the culprit and killed the person with his own bare hand. He would give them the most painful way of death.

The Emperor eyed drifted to his sleeping consort. He stared lovingly at the beautiful male. "I will not let you die, sweetheart. I will not be able to continue my life without you." He whispered. He then put the Consort's body gently on the mattress and fixed the blanket until it covered the Consort's body properly. The Emperor then stood up.