The Empress Dowager cast a casual glance around at everyone, her tone laced with mockery.
"If there really was poison, why do I see all of you in good health? Of course, except for the ten innocent warriors brutally killed by the King of Xian!"
Finally, the Empress Dowager turned her gaze to Qi Rong, her eyes filled with indescribable loathing.
She never thought he would be so tough. The ten warriors from Ke Ke Qin had failed to kill him, but instead, he had counter - attacked and killed them!
She had truly underestimated his strength in the past. Since that was the case, she would take matters into her own hands and severely punish Qi Rong on this occasion!
Thinking of this, the Empress Dowager paused for a moment. Then she turned to Zhang Yuanpan of the Imperial Hospital and said,
"Zhang Yuanpan, tell us what this calendula is. What are its effects? Will it cause harm to the human body? Is it really worth the King of Xian making such a big fuss about it?"
Hearing the Empress Dowager's words, Zhang Yuanpan looked embarrassed. He stole a cautious glance at Qi Rong but still answered truthfully,
"Your Majesty, Empress Dowager, this calendula grows in the southern mountains. It is mild in nature and slightly bitter. It has the effects of detoxifying, anti - inflammation, relaxing tendons and promoting blood circulation. It is slightly poisonous, so it should not be used randomly to avoid poisoning. However, if used externally, it will not cause harm to the human body."
To explain the situation of the calendula clearly, Zhang Yuanpan left out no details, not daring to hold anything back.
Hearing Zhang Yuanpan's words, the Empress Dowager showed a satisfied smile. Everything was as she had expected.
She looked at Qi Rong haughtily, her voice cold,
"King of Xian, I'm sure you've heard what Zhang Yuanpan said clearly. The calendula is only slightly poisonous, and it will not cause any damage to the body as long as it is not ingested."
"Maybe the palace maid scattered the pollen because the fight on the arena was too intense. She just wanted to relieve the atmosphere and let the fragrance of the calendula fill the arena."
Receiving the hint from the Empress Dowager, the palace maid immediately echoed loudly,
"The Empress Dowager is right. This servant just thought the competition was too intense. This was done because I didn't want to see both sides bleed and get injured, so I made my own decision! I've made the King of Xian misunderstand. It's this servant's lack of consideration. I hope the King of Xian won't make things difficult for this servant this time. In the future, this servant will be more careful!"
The palace maid took advantage of the situation to whitewash her actions, making them seem completely harmless.
With everyone watching and Zhang Yuanpan's words before, even if Qi Rong wanted to hold the palace maid accountable, it would be hard for him to justify it!
Just when everyone thought Qi Rong was deliberately causing trouble to anger the Empress Dowager, Qi Rong looked back at the corpses lying haphazardly on the arena and said calmly,
"Empress Dowager, don't be so hasty in drawing conclusions. I haven't finished my words yet."
Qi Rong's cold eyes darkened. Pointing at the Ke Ke Qin warriors he had killed, he ordered Zhan Feng,
"Zhan Feng, bring their weapons to Zhang Yuanpan for inspection to see if there is poison on them!"
As soon as Qi Rong said this, the people around were immediately in an uproar, whispering to each other,
"What? Poison on the weapons?"
"This is in the imperial city, in front of the Emperor's eyes, a fair competition. How dare the Ke Ke Qin warriors put poison on their weapons? This is so despicable!"
"I didn't expect the Ke Ke Qin warriors to be such despicable and shameless people!"
"..."
Laughter, ridicule and even curses filled the air for a moment. Yuan Zhen, the third prince of Ke Ke Qin, looked as black as thunder. He immediately shouted angrily at Qi Rong,
"King of Xian, don't spout nonsense and smear others! Our Ke Ke Qin warriors are upright and aboveboard. How could they do such sneaky and despicable things?"
"Even if you are the King of Xian, you can't slander the honor of our Ke Ke Qin warriors after killing them. You must kowtow and apologize to their corpses!"
The third prince Yuan Zhen pointed at Qi Rong angrily with his sword, his eyes blood - red, looking as if he was ready to fight.
At this moment, Yuan Zhu, the fifth princess of Ke Ke Qin, and Yuan Qi, the eldest prince, also walked onto the high platform. They knelt in front of the Emperor and said seriously,
"Your Majesty, please give Ke Ke Qin a just explanation!"
Originally, the fifth princess Yuan Zhu was full of curiosity about the legendary powerful Qi Rong. But after seeing him kill ten of their Ke Ke Qin warriors without blinking an eye, anger welled up in her heart!
After all, she was also a child of the grassland, with pride for her tribe.
Qi Rong's actions, combined with his slander, were completely a disgrace to Ke Ke Qin, which she could not tolerate!
Yuan Qi, the eldest prince, actually already knew about Qi Rong's actions. But seeing Qi Rong personally execute those warriors, he still couldn't help but be shocked.
These were truly the top ten warriors of Ke Ke Qin, and their abilities were far beyond those of ordinary people.
However, Qi Rong had killed them all by himself. His figure was like a ghost, and even Yuan Qi, who had practiced martial arts all year round, hadn't even seen his movements clearly!
Even Yuan Zhen, who was always proud of his high - level martial arts, was like a child in front of Qi Rong, having no power to resist!
This made Yuan Qi feel really relieved. At the same time, he felt more fortunate.
He was fortunate that he was not an enemy of Qi Rong, the King of Xian, but his ally. Otherwise, if he were on the opposite side of Qi Rong, he would surely end up miserably!
On the other hand, even though he knew that Qi Rong had a well - thought - out plan, through this competition, he had also clearly seen that the Empress Dowager seemed to have joined hands with Yuan Zhen to try to kill the King of Xian.
It was just that neither of them had expected that they would be counter - attacked by the King of Xian, and end up with nothing but losses!
As the eldest prince of Ke Ke Qin, he could only stand from the perspective of Ke Ke Qin to "seek justice" for them. Otherwise, he would be suspected by everyone.
The secret cooperation between him and the King of Xian would surely be dug out by those with ulterior motives!
Facing the requests of the Ke Ke Qin princes and princesses, the Emperor's expression was indifferent, making it hard to tell what he was thinking.
After hesitating for a moment, the Emperor looked at Zhang Yuanpan, who was carefully examining the weapons of the Ke Ke Qin warriors, and slowly said,
"Since the King of Xian said that the weapons used by the Ke Ke Qin warriors are poisonous, why don't you all wait a while longer? Zhang Yuanpan of the Imperial Hospital has always been fair and just. He only speaks based on facts and will never show partiality to any side!"
The Emperor's words made the third prince Yuan Zhen and the fifth princess Yuan Zhu clench their teeth tightly. They had to swallow their anger for the time being and patiently wait for the final result of Zhang Yuanpan's inspection.
Because they all believed that their grassland warriors would never do such a despicable thing!
It must be Qi Rong, the King of Xian, who was afraid of being punished after killing the Ke Ke Qin warriors, so he spouted nonsense and deliberately framed them!
Time passed quietly. Although the sun was blazing and the temperature was getting hotter, Zhang Yuanpan, under everyone's watchful eyes, felt cold sweat running down his back. He couldn't help but raise his sleeve to wipe the sweat from his forehead.
After a long time, after repeated confirmations, Zhang Yuanpan finally bowed and saluted the Emperor again,
"Your Majesty, there is indeed poison on these weapons!"