Chapter 569: Chapter 569: Black Blood

Ye Chutang was slightly surprised. "Who did you say?"

The servant, panting, pointed outside. Ye Chutang saw a man who looked like a personal attendant hurrying over. His face was somewhat familiar.

Ye Chutang quickly recalled his identity. ’Isn’t this one of Xie Anbai’s men?’

"Second Miss Ye."

The man bowed, his brow furrowed and his expression grave.

"My master, the Marquis, is unwell. We would like to trouble you to make a trip to the mansion."

A thought stirred in Ye Chutang’s mind.

"What’s going on?"

The last time she saw Marquis Zhongyong at the palace banquet, he had seemed perfectly fine. How could he have suddenly fallen ill?

If it were a common ailment, they would never have sent someone to summon her so rashly.

Marquis Zhongyong was a man of high status and great power. If he were indisposed, they should have summoned an Imperial Physician. Yet, they had come straight here...

"It’s too complicated to explain in just a few words. Our Second Young Master originally intended to come himself, but he couldn’t get away, so he sent me."

He cupped his hands in a salute.

"I am well aware that it is presumptuous to arrive so suddenly, but the situation is urgent. I hope Second Miss Ye can forgive me."

His words were quite blunt. Marquis Zhongyong’s condition must be dire.

Ye Chutang nodded lightly. "Desperate times call for desperate measures. There’s no issue. I’ll go with you now."

Ye Jingyan and Xiao Wu heard the commotion and both looked over.

Ye Jingyan was meticulous and cautious. He could tell something was wrong with a single glance and stepped forward. "Sister, let me go with you."

But Ye Chutang shook her head. "There’s no need. You and Xiao Wu just wait for me at home."

At this point, she had no idea what the scene at the Duke Zhongyong Mansion was like. One less person meant one less complication.

Ye Jingyan hesitated for a moment, but seeing her mind was made up, he nodded. "Alright."

Xiao Wu blinked, a flicker of worry rising in his heart.

’An Bai actually came to ask Sister for help? They must really be in trouble, right?’

Ye Chutang looked at the man and said, "Let’s go now."

The tense look on the man’s face finally eased a bit, and he quickly stepped aside.

"Second Miss Ye, this way, please!"

...

Ye Chutang took a carriage to the Duke Zhongyong Mansion.

The atmosphere during the journey was somber.

When she arrived at the gates of the Duke Zhongyong Mansion, Ye Chutang’s suspicions grew stronger.

The main gates of the Marquis Mansion were shut tight, exuding an inexplicable sense of tension.

Upon hearing of Ye Chutang’s arrival, one side of the gate was opened to let her in.

Passing through the covered walkway and past the hanging flower gate, Ye Chutang noticed that all the servants were silent and reserved.

The entire Marquis Mansion seemed to be shrouded in a gloomy cloud.

Ye Chutang’s expression remained neutral as she continued inside, finally spotting a familiar figure in the courtyard.

Xie Anbai.

His face held a trace of anxiety as he paced back and forth restlessly—an expression Ye Chutang had never seen on him before.

"Second Young Master, Second Miss Ye is here!"

At these words, Xie Anbai snapped back to his senses. Turning to see Ye Chutang, he looked as if he had just seen his savior.

Ye Chutang greeted him with a bow, then looked past him.

The doors to the room were wide open, and servants hurried in and out constantly.

Ye Chutang noticed they were carrying bronze basins and fresh cloths.

Faintly, she could see a light tinge of red.

"Second Young Master, what is...?"

Xie Anbai’s brow was knitted tightly.

"I didn’t want to trouble you, but this happened so suddenly, and you were the only one I could think of. Please, go inside and take my father’s pulse. Have a look at him."

Ye Chutang nodded.

Xie Anbai immediately led her inside, but just as they reached the door, they were stopped.

"Second Young Master, the Princely Heir has given orders. The Marquis is currently unwell, and no outsiders are to be admitted."

Xie Anbai sneered.

"Open your dog eyes and look carefully! This is Second Miss Ye of the Ye Family! I invited her to diagnose my father. You dare to stop me!?"

The man’s expression changed slightly as he finally noticed Ye Chutang behind him.

Seeing her beautiful and composed face, he hesitated.

If it had been anyone else, he would have had a thousand reasons to deny them entry. But this was Ye Chutang.

Who in the entire Capital City didn’t know that she was the one who had saved His Majesty with her acupuncture and prescriptions?

Even the physicians from the Imperial Hospital had to admit her superiority.

Now that Xie Anbai said he had invited her to treat the Marquis, how could he possibly stop her?

Just then, a slightly weary woman’s voice came from inside.

"Let Second Miss Ye come in."

The servant immediately stepped back respectfully. "Yes."

Xie Anbai shot him an icy glare and pointed at him.

"This young master will remember you!"

The servant lowered his head and did not reply.

Xie Anbai was in no mood to argue with him and immediately led Ye Chutang inside.

Ye Chutang’s eyes narrowed slightly as a thought flashed through her mind—’No wonder Xie Anbai was in such a hurry to fetch me. He was probably barred from entering himself before I arrived.’

By bringing her here, these people would have no reason to refuse him, so they had to let him in.

Once inside, Ye Chutang was immediately hit by the thick smell of blood.

Her brow furrowed slightly.

Xie Pei lay on the bed, his face pale and his eyes shut tight, seemingly in immense pain.

On the floor by the head of the bed sat a freshly changed bronze basin.

Xie Anjun sat by the bed, a worried expression on his face as he used a handkerchief to wipe the blood from the corners of his father’s mouth.

Xiao Jiayi stood on the other side, her eyes red and swollen, looking utterly haggard.

Beside them was an elderly gentleman whom Ye Chutang recognized as Doctor Li from the Imperial Hospital.

He was stroking his beard, sighing repeatedly.

Xiao Jiayi turned her head, and her gaze rested on Ye Chutang for a moment. A dark tide of hatred swirled in the depths of her eyes.

But in the blink of an eye, she looked away, concealing her emotions, and said to Xie Anjun,

"An Bai invited Second Miss Ye. Why don’t we have her take a look first?"

Xie Anjun seemed to only just realize something and turned to look.

The moment he saw Xie Anbai, he frowned and scolded him.

"So, you do know how to worry about Father after all."

Xie Anbai’s expression turned cold, and he didn’t respond.

Ye Chutang, however, instantly picked up on the extremely delicate relationship between the two brothers.

’Xie Anjun seems to... really dislike his younger brother, doesn’t he?’

His tone was so nasty even at a time like this, let alone on a normal day.

But it was truly strange. As the Princely Heir, married to Princess Huan Ning, he had outshone the notoriously profligate Xie Anbai in every respect. Why would he hold such hostility toward him?

However, now was not the time to dwell on such things.

Xie Anbai’s gaze shifted. "Doctor Li, please make way."

Doctor Li subconsciously glanced at Xie Anjun before stepping aside, shaking his head as he moved.

"The Marquis’s illness... I’m afraid it’s quite troublesome!"

Ye Chutang walked straight forward.

Just as she took out the pulse pillow, Xie Pei, who was lying there, suddenly began to cough violently. He then rolled over and spat a mouthful of black blood into the bronze basin!

"Father!"

Xie Anjun rushed forward in a panic.

Xie Anbai was also startled. "Why—Why is Father coughing up black blood!?"

A smear of black blood stained the hem of Ye Chutang’s dress.

She stared at Xie Pei, who couldn’t stop vomiting blood, her elegant brows knitting together.

This is...

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