Chapter 16 — On the day of the big wedding, the main concubine was changed, I still refused to kneel down

It is the "Nam Cuong maid" that the Queen Mother once mentioned - although she is no longer young.

“Miss Minh dug him up from the cemetery.”

The Queen Mother pointed towards the old woman.

"Conveniently, the poison he placed at the tomb door was removed. It's far worse than his master back then."

Xich Xa's eyes widened, her mouth was covered and she could only make a "uh huh" sound, obviously extremely dissatisfied.

“Girl, how do you plan to deal with him?”

The Queen Mother asked me.

"First let him release the neck on Lieu Nhu Yen's body."

I squatted down and looked straight at Xich Xa.

“Then ——”

I signaled Miss Minh to remove the cloth from his mouth. As soon as Xich Xa opened her mouth, she cursed.

“You Central Plains people——”

“Shut up.”

I interrupted directly.

"Behind you is Mac Bac. Mac Bac sent you into the capital to cause chaos. How do you plan to explain this matter?"

Xich Xa froze for a moment.

“How do you know——”

“You think you're the only hidden person?”

I took out a letter from my sleeve - it was the Mac Bac secret letter that Ta Truong An had intercepted in the past half month.

"Mac Bac arranged three secret servants in the capital. You are the first one, responsible for dealing with the Queen Mother, the second person is in the Ministry of Military Affairs, responsible for cutting military supplies, the third person -—"

I look at him. Xich Xa gritted her teeth and did not speak. The Queen Mother faintly called out. The silver-haired old woman stepped in front of Xich Xa and raised her finger to point at his wrist. Xich Xa's face immediately changed.

“You——you know the heart-devouring Gu?!”

“Master, you know, of course I know too.”

Minh's voice was calm.

"Say it or not? If you don't say it, I will let you taste the taste of being eaten by your own Gu worm."

Xich Xa struggled for three seconds. Then the defense line collapsed.

“The third dark death… is at the Thai hospital.”

“Thai hospital?”

"As a royal physician in the Imperial Hospital, surnamed Phuong, he put slow poison into the emperor's medicine."

The whole main hall was silent. The Queen Mother and I looked at each other. The Queen Mother's face finally changed.

“Medical doctor Phuong… that has been your majesty's servant for fifteen years.”

“What about you?”

Xich Xa laughed coldly.

"Mac Bac spent ten years to bribe him. He has an exterior in the capital, and that exterior is from Mac Bac."

"Every month he puts a glass of 'bone powder' in the medicine. One glass will not cause death, but if accumulated for a long time, your majesty's bones will become more and more brittle, and his energy will decrease more and more -—"

"Do you think that in recent years His Majesty's body has been deteriorating more and more due to overwork?"

“No, it was poison.”

The Queen Mother stood up. Her hands trembled visibly.

“Where are you?”

“Immediately go to the Royal Hospital, arrest Doctor Phuong, don't let anyone slip!”

“Order National Master Ta Truong An to enter the palace!”

“Command King Dinh into the palace!”

An hour later. Doctor Phuong was captured by the army at his residence. He intended to bite the poison bag hidden in his teeth to commit suicide, but Ta Truong An used a silver needle to seal off the acupuncture point. The searched evidence was piled up on a table, each item causing people to look at it in shock. Mac Bac's secret letter, the official identity of the exterior, along with the records for the past fifteen years of receiving "bone powder" every month. The scene makes people look at it with horror and excitement.

“Fifteen years.”

The Emperor sat in the Imperial Study Room, staring at the that evidence. His hands trembled.

“Phuong Ngan Lam… I treated you like a teacher and a friend, yet you poisoned me for fifteen years.”

“In recent years, my energy has been depleted, I thought I was getting old, but it turns out ——”

He did not continue speaking. Ta Truong An knelt in the palace.

"Your Majesty, I have examined your pulse. The poison from the bone powder has penetrated into the bone marrow, but has not yet damaged the core. I am sure that within three months I can help you eliminate all residual poison."

“Three months?”

“That's right, but during these three months, Your Majesty needs to absolutely rest, while the court -—”

Ta Truong An glanced at me.

“Someone needs to handle it on our behalf.”

The emperor's gaze swept over everyone present. Queen Mother, King Dinh Quoc, Ta Truong An, me. Then he closed his eyes.

“The Queen Mother of the country.”

“Dinh Quoc Vuong's father-in-law.”

“Ta Truong An, cure me.”

“Co Cam Dao ——”

He opened his eyes and looked at me.

"Your father is in the Northern Borders fighting, you are in the capital, protecting the rear for him."

“Goddess… received the order.”

I kneel down. At this moment, I suddenly became aware. From the day the great ceremony was humiliated in front of the world until today - just two months. I went from being a person who was almost reduced to being a concubine, abandoned, to being personally appointed by the emperor to guard the rear of the capital. Not because of how powerful I am. It's because those who want to trample me have forced me to a position where I cannot help but become powerful. Don't you want to see me kneel?