Everyone in the room fell to their knees upon hearing Xu Yongheng's words, shaking with fear upon seeing his anger.
"Your Majesty, please calm down." Mei Lin knelt down onto the ground, also surprised by Xu Yongheng's anger. Though unlike the other people in the room, she didn't tremble, but inside, she was scared. She knew how much Xu Yongheng cared for Bai Mengxiang.
"Calm? How can We remain calm when Our child was almost killed, when We have almost lost the life of the one We love? Empress, do you want to explain to Us what had happened at the party you had planned?" Xu Yongheng said, the anger in his eyes was clear for everyone to see.
Mei Lin couldn't find the right words to say, after all, she also didn't understand what had happened. One second, Consort Ran and Yu Zhuang were arguing, the next, Bai Mengxiang was feeling unwell and he had collapsed.
"Your Majesty, I...I don't know what had happened. The weather was hot and I noticed that Imperial Noble Consort Bai was feeling unwell so I had excused him, telling him that he could leave. I couldn't tell what had happened, only knowing that he had collapsed." Mei Lin was saying her words honestly, because she had no reason to plot against Bai Mengxiang, even Xu Yongheng understood that.
"Everyone, get out! We want the Imperial Physician and the Empress to stay, other than that, everyone, get out." Xu Yongheng didn't need to repeat the sentence again because everyone fled the moment they heard his voice, afraid that if they stayed, their heads would get chopped off.
"You, tell Us what happened?" Xu Yongheng pointed to Xiao Lan to talk.
"Your Majesty, this morning the Imperial Noble Consort had been fine, there was nothing unusual about him. Even when we had arrived and greeted Her Majesty, the Empress, Imperial Noble Consort was still fine. Halfway through though, the Imperial Noble Consort began feeling faint, and the Empress excused us to leave." Xiao Lan said, her heart shaking wildly as she stared at the image of Bai Mengxiang laying on the bed, his face pale.
"Do you recall anything else?" Xu Yongheng patiently asked, though worry clouded his eyes.
"Your Majesty, there was a maid that had passed by Imperial Noble Consort Bai just before he began feeling unwell." Mei Lin suddenly said, a light bulb going off in her mind.
Hearing those words, Xiao Lan's eyes opened wide as she finally recalled something.
"Your Majesty, just a few moments before Imperial Noble Consort started to feel ill, a maid had walked pass him. I didn't think much about it at first but I now recall that the maid had touched Imperial Noble Consort for just a second before walking away again. From what I remember, I saw something white fall out from the maids hand." Xiao Lan said, now remembering the events that had happened just before. Because it didn't look too suspicious, she hadn't thought much about it when it had happened but now, she realized that because of her, Bai Mengxiang was in danger.
"Do you remember how the maid looked like?" Xu Yongheng asked, his hand against his chin as he spoke.
"Your Majesty, I don't remember. Because the maid had touched the Imperial Noble Consort for just a split second, by the time I thought to look at her face, she was already walking away. Although I don't recall what she looked like, she was wearing a white and red robe, and she had a white and red bracelet on." Xiao Lan tried remembering what the maid had looked like but she could only remember this much.
Xu Yongheng held his forehead in his hand, and his eyes turned to look at Bai Mengxiang who was laying on the bed.
"You may all get out, except for you," Xu Yongheng pointed to the Imperial Physician.
Xiao Lan and Mei Lin immediately walked out, although Mei Lin left, Xiao Lan waited outside the doors, her heart still worried.
"Will he be fine?" Xu Yongheng asked at last, holding onto Bai Mengxiang's hand.
"Your Majesty, the Imperial Noble Consort may or may not be fine. Because he is currently pregnant, the situation is different. Although it was just a small dose of poison, the poison is rare and strong, to find the antidote for the poison will be hard. Even though the child is safe right now, when it's time for the Imperial Noble Consort to give birth, there is a possibility that only the child will survive." The Imperial Physician said, now standing as he looked at Xu Yongheng.
"You may go now, try to find the antidote if you can."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
With no one else in the room, Xu Yongheng finally let go of the anger on his face, only pain remaining within his eyes.
"Mengxiang, what happens if I lose you? What if I lose you again? Even though you aren't awake right now, I already know that if it comes to either of you dying, you will choose yourself because you have always been like that. Because you have always been selfless, never wanting, always content with what you are given. But what about me? How can I go on knowing that one day, I'll lose you once again?"
"Mengxiang, I beg you. Let's make it through this together, let's live together until we're old, let's watch our child grow and be together even when our hair turns white. I want to watch the peach blossoms bloom once again with you by my side, there's still so much I want to do with you. Mengxiang, there still hasn't been enough time for me to love you, still not enough time for me to forgive myself for leaving you, so please. Please, live for me." As Xu Yongheng whispered this, his eyes turned red, his voice broke mid-sentence and his hand reached forward to touch Bai Mengxiang's face.
"Please, I beg you...."
[Male lead's love percentage is at 97%]
Bai Mengxiang's eyes remained closed, even as a day passed by, as one week slowly passed, his eyes remained closed. Throughout that one week, Xu Yongheng had almost flipped over the whole palace to find that maid but it was all to no avail. The Imperial Physicians also scrambled to find the antidote to the poison.
Even Xiao Lan tried her hardest to find the maid, always taking another look whenever a maid passed her by, and if she found them too suspicious, she would stop them for a second before letting them go again.
Right now, Xiao Lan was with Bai Mengxiang, a wet cloth in her hand as she wiped Bai Mengxiang's face with it.
Her eyes were red at the corner, as if she had just finished crying, and her nose was pink. She sniffled a few times, trying to stop the tears from falling.
"Imperial Noble Consort, when are you going to wake up? It's so lonely everyday, I want to talk with you but because you're like this, I can only speak my words without getting a reply. Imperial Noble Consort, life feels so lonely after you fell asleep, I can't seem to find joy in anything. His Majesty has also been feeling out of it, his mind is always in a fury and he gets agitated easily. Imperial Noble Consort, if I hadn't noticed it before, I do now. Without you, the palace feels like it got much colder, even when the sun is shining so brightly, it feels like there is a cloud blocking it from hitting the palace."
"Imperial Noble Consort, you saved me when I was younger and yet, I can't even save you now that you are like this. I hate how I can't do anything to help you, I hate that on that day, I wasn't paying close attention to you. Even when I thought you would be fine, things ended up like this all because of me." Although Xiao Lan tried not to cry, the tears fell from her eyes as she talked, and she quickly wiped it away with one hand.
"Imperial Noble Consort, I really miss you. I miss talking to you everyday, to see that gentle smile on your face as you touch your stomach, to see you laugh with joy, I miss everything. I miss dressing you up, I miss those days where you conversed with me without a care of the world. Why can't everything remain the same as those days? I still remember that day you saved me, those words you said to me. You asked me to follow you, that you would protect me forever and I remember that on the day of your wedding, I repeated those to you. I told you that I would follow you, that I would protect you forever. In the end, I failed you."
Xiao Lan's tears fell, her eyes now red as she looked at Bai Mengxiang, his eyes closed just like how it would be if he was sleeping.
With a few more sniffles, Xiao Lan calmed herself, knowing that even if she cried, it wouldn't do anything. She wiped away her tears once again, taking in a few deep breaths.
"Imperial Noble Consort, please wake up soon."