Ministers Begging Me to Ascend the Throne

Chapter 1096: Chapter 130: She Was Already Crazy Before Taking the Divine Pill—Does She Still Need to Take It to Go Mad?

These days, life has been tough for the officials in the capital. Not too long ago, they ate the Divine Pill and were taken to ”visit” the dungeons of the Imperial Court of Judicial Review, where they suffered greatly. Later, upon learning that the Divine Pill contained parasitic worms, they were terrified, seeking out doctors to expel the worms. Doctors in the capital couldn’t do it, but fortunately, the Imperial Physician could exorcise the worms; otherwise, their lives would be at risk.

The process of expelling the worms was quite grueling, involving drinking medicine, acupuncture, and bloodletting. By the time the worms were expelled from their bodies, they had all lost a considerable amount of weight.

Initially, those who consumed the Divine Pill didn’t believe there were worms in it, thinking the court was just trying to scare them. However, when they saw the worms crawling out of their bodies with their own eyes, they were so frightened they almost died on the spot. Afterward, they felt both disgusted and relieved.

Now, everyone in the capital turns pale at the mention of the Divine Pill. This ensures they will never mindlessly consume elixirs again, nor easily trust anything touted as a Divine Pill.

Almost everyone in the capital who consumed the Divine Pill has expelled the worms from their bodies, except for one person—Empress Xie.

Empress Xie has been concealing her consumption of the Divine Pill. Previously, when the Emperor questioned her, she stubbornly denied it. Upon learning that the Divine Pill indeed contained worms, she naturally felt afraid, but she couldn’t easily seek the Imperial Physician’s help to expel the worms.

Expelling the worms is not something that can be done in a day or two, and the process is extremely painful for the patient. Even if Empress Xie wanted to secretly ask the Imperial Physician for help, it would be impossible to hide it from others in the palace. Moreover, she wasn’t very eager to remove the worms from her body.

Whenever she sees her increasingly youthful reflection in the mirror, Empress Xie finds it hard to part with the worms inside her. Her worry now isn’t about the worms, but rather the inability to consume more Divine Pills.

Previously, Empress Xie had Xie Shi buy her several bottles of the Divine Pill. The seller even gave her two extra bottles. She used to take one pill daily, but ever since the Emperor issued a decree banning the Divine Pill, she reduced it to one pill every three days, then every five days, and recently every seven days.

The effects of taking one pill every seven days aren’t as good as taking one daily. However, to conserve them, she had no choice.

Empress Xie asked Xie Shi to secretly inquire about the people making the Divine Pill, only to find out they had long been executed. She then asked him to find the recipe for the Divine Pill, but learned it had been destroyed as well. Without anyone to make them or any recipe, she could only have Xie Shi investigate if the Divine Pill was being sold elsewhere.

She found out that it was sold in other countries like the Western Regions and Annan, but to her surprise, those countries had also banned the Divine Pill and destroyed them all. Now, she is the only one in this world who still possesses the Divine Pill.

Currently, she has very few Divine Pills left. Even if she eats them sparingly, they will soon be used up. The thought of running out of the Divine Pill fills her with panic, fearing she’ll revert to looking old and sallow.

She doesn’t want to return to her previous sickly appearance, nor does she want wrinkles to cover her face.

Jiang Chuan noticed Empress Xie frequently frowning lately, her expression troubled and irritable, and asked with concern, ”Your Majesty, is something troubling you? Are you feeling unwell?”

”How many days’ worth of the Divine Pill do I still have?”

”If you reduce it to one pill every ten days, it could last for a month or two.” Jiang Chuan now understood what was troubling Empress Xie. After hesitating for a moment, she cautiously suggested, ”Your Majesty, considering the worms in the Divine Pill, for the sake of your health, perhaps you should stop taking it.” She had heard that the worms expelled from people’s bodies were terrifying and disgusting.