Golden Orchids

Chapter 27

The second Ye Hua saw Su Su laid unconscious in Feng Jiu's arms. He snapped. 

Yan Zhi had rushed to his quarters and informed him about the princess visitation. Thankfully, he was having a meeting with his third uncle. He didn't know what harm a little princess would do. He didn't think much of it until he heard a distance scream.

The young princess cradled Su Su in her arms, "Crown Prince…" she panicked, "I don't know what happened. She suddenly collapsed, " 

"Get out!" He yelled.

"I didn't mean to, " she said, "I...I…" 

"Get out!" He yelled again, "I don't want to see you in Xi Wu Palace again, " 

With tears in her eyes, the girl ran out of the palace. Ye Hua turned his attention back to his wife. She was as red as molten steel. Ye Hua called out her name. She showed no response. He touched her forehead. Dear heavens, she's burning.

"Get the Medicine King, " he ordered. Yan Zhi nodded and ran off.

Ye Hua laid her gently back down to bed, he summoned a cool cloth and pressed it against her forehead. The look of anguish on Su Su's face lessened, and colors returned to her cheeks. Ye Hua released a sigh.

That didn't last long. In a minute the cloth turned warm. And the anguished look appeared on her face again. Ye Hua heard her croaked out his name but it sounded coarse as sandpaper.

What happened? She was fine a few days ago. Ye Hua let out a breath, not a month in the palace and she was already in danger. The princess of Qing Qiu didn't look like that type of person. From what he had heard off, she was a very pleasant sweet girl, a bit naive.  

She might have done this in her aunt's name. That just made Ye Hua determined not to humor Bai Qian in the future. 

Ye Hua stepped aside for the Medicine King to check up on her. 

"My lady was fine yesterday, " he commented as he checked her pulse.

If she was, you wouldn't have to be here, is it? Ye Hua wanted to snap at him. But he controlled his rage, he couldn't afford to lose a neutral ally such as Shen Nong. 

"The child must not be harmed, " he just commented. 

The Medicine King summoned a spell and inspected her. "The lady is burning, " 

Ye Hua knew that when he pressed his hand against her forehead. Her temperature was unusually hot. It was like she was a boiling pot.

"She was exposed to the vermillion bird, " Ye Hua said. He recalled how she fought the bird, by biting down its neck. No matter how much Ye Hua tried to stop her, she refused to let go. It was incredibly absurd for her to do so. She didn't have to be the heroin in that situation. And yet insisted, despite baring their child, despite his protests. 

She's going to get herself killed one day.

"It's more than that, " the physician said, "She was exposed to something else before the bird. It's very deep below the surface. Something equally hot. The skirmish with the bird must have triggered it to resurface, " 

"Demon magic, " Ye Hua concluded. He turned to Yan Zhi who remained quiet the whole time. A guilty expression on her face. "She was struck by demon magic before, " 

One from Yan Zhi and another from someone else. Ye Hua and Yan Zhi looked at each other. Nobody knew about the transformation curse more than Yan Zhi. It's not her curse that had caused this. It must have been the other one. 

"The curse had come from a very heated source and then it was strengthened by the corrupted fiery vermillion bird. She's cooking from the inside," he said, and then he bowed "I'm afraid that I'm not experienced enough to cure this, I had never encountered such energy before, "