Su Qin shut his mouth, unable to refute for a moment, and lowered his head silently, as if he couldn't see Yue Zhilin's eyes.

"Master Yue, please stop talking nonsense." Qi Xiao suddenly stood up. "Young Master Tang was already weak. He's been frightened by bandits these past few days, and then he's been shackled and tortured in a prison cart. His body can no longer bear it. He fainted when I brought him back to the palace. He has a very high fever now. I've asked a doctor to come and treat him, but I'm afraid he won't recover for a while, so he needs to be taken good care of."

"So serious?!" Yue Zhilin was shocked. He was afraid that Qi Xiao was trying to scare him, but why would Qi Xiao scare him?

"Master Yue, why don't you go and take a look yourself?" Qi Xiao stepped out. Yue Zhilin glanced at Su Qin, leaned over and whispered, "General Su, if Tang Ling really has something wrong, we can't afford it!"

Yue Zhilin and Su Qin followed Qi Xiao to the east wing of the backyard, where Qi Xiao had settled Tang Ling in a small courtyard. Servants and maids were serving her inside and outside the house. As they entered the courtyard, they happened to see the doctor coming out of the house.

"I pay my respects to the prince and Master Yue."

Yue Zhilin knew this doctor. He was the best doctor in Yongcheng. Whenever the Yue family had a headache or a fever, they would ask him to help. Yue Zhilin trusted him very much. "Doctor Zhou, how is it?"

"This young man is weak and has a weak pulse. He caught a cold and was not given medical treatment in time. Furthermore... the long journey has delayed the disease from entering his internal organs..."

After hearing these two sentences, Yue Zhilin's forehead broke out in sweat and he quickly asked, "Doctor Zhou, do you have any treatment?"

Doctor Zhou sighed and nodded, "Don't worry, Master Yue. Although this is a bit troublesome, as long as you take good care of yourself, you will see improvement in ten days or half a month."

"Ten days or half a month?!" Yue Zhilin turned his head and glanced at Su Qin. His face remained dark but his brows were furrowed.

Qi Xiao said, "Thank you, Doctor Zhou."

"I don't deserve it. It's just my job as a doctor. I'll go get the medicine."

Qi Xiao put his hands behind his back and said to Yue Zhilin, "Master Yue and General Su heard what Doctor Zhou said just now. If you don't believe it..."

"Xinxin, thank you for your concern this time, Your Highness. I will always be grateful and remember it. I will arrange for the servants from the government office to be on guard outside the palace, please rest assured." Yue Zhilin's attitude changed drastically, and Su Qin didn't react for a while. He was about to speak when he was stopped by Yue Zhilin.

Qi Xiao smiled and nodded: "It's getting late, Lord Yue and General Su, let's have dinner together?"

"No, no, I dare not bother Your Highness. I still need to work with General Su to settle the soldiers of the Tiger Power Army and arrange for the guards of the palace. I will take my leave now."

Yue Zhilin had to exert great strength to pull Su Qin out of the Prince of Chu's Mansion.

"Master Yue, what do you mean by this? Are we coming here for nothing? Are we just going to stay in the Prince of Chu's mansion?"

"General Su, we must not be careless in the current situation. If anything happens to Tang Ling, none of us will be in good shape, and you won't be able to report to General Lu either. This is Yongcheng, and the city is well-defended both inside and outside. The Prince of Chu's Palace has two hundred guards, plus the government servants and the Tiger Power Army. Even the most daring bandits wouldn't dare come and die. I will write to His Majesty to report this matter, and I believe a delay won't be a problem." Yue Zhilin's calculations were clattering. He left Tang Ling to Qi Xiao and ran away with Su Qin, fearing that Tang Ling would die in his hands. Why not get rid of this hot potato quickly?!

Su Qin frowned, his face stern, and he looked unhappy: "I am sent to the capital by the order of the general. Military orders are as heavy as a mountain and there can be no delay."

Yue Zhilin patted Su Qin on the shoulder and said, "Don't worry, General Su. I'll send a letter to General Lu to explain everything. General Lu has instructed General Su to escort Tang Ling to the capital, but he wants her alive, right?"

"...Okay. But what does this King of Chu mean?" Su Qin looked back at the plaque in the Prince of Chu's mansion.

Yue Zhilin, having persuaded Su Qin, breathed a sigh of relief and said, "General Su, listen to me. Although the King of Chu may be young, he is not someone you can easily get along with. He has a new way of torturing people every day and is very difficult to serve."

Su Qin gave Yue Zhilin an incredulous look.

"General Su, don't disbelieve me. The previous Fuzhou prefect fell to this gentleman..." The previous prefect was used to being a tyrant and bullying Qi Xiao, so he deserved to be caught by Qi Xiao. However, Yue Zhilin was also involved in this matter. He shut up and put aside this old story, saying, "This gentleman is well-known outside. He is proficient in cuju, horse racing, hunting, gambling, drinking, and fighting. Even hooligans can't survive in Yongcheng."

"Hmph." Su Qin snorted coldly, not caring about the legend of the King of Chu at all. He mounted his horse, leaving only a small group of people to guard the King of Chu's Mansion, and led the large army back to the post station with Yue Zhilin for resettlement.

***

Tang Ling said she was tired and wanted to sleep for a while, so Qinglan went to find medicine for Tang Ling. However, no one in the entire Chu Palace dared to talk to Qinglan, let alone give him medicine casually. Qinglan walked around and came back only to find that Tang Ling had fallen into a coma, with very weak pulse and breath, which scared Qinglan a lot. But before Qinglan could panic, the attendant had already led Doctor Zhou into the small courtyard.

Qinglan glanced at Doctor Zhou's prescription and found nothing wrong with it. However, Tang Ling was clearly fine just now, so how could she suddenly fall into a coma? Qinglan was worried, so as soon as Doctor Zhou left, he sat down by the bed and took her pulse himself.

Tang Ling's weak pulse was indeed Dr. Zhou's diagnosis, but Qinglan had been keeping tabs on her health. He'd just checked her pulse, and her fever had indeed subsided. Tang Ling was weak, but there was more to it than that. She'd suddenly fainted, as if she'd been stimulated by something. Poison? Impossible. If it was poison, Qinglan couldn't fail to diagnose it. Medicine? What was it? Pastry? Tea?

Qinglan immediately checked what Tang Ling had eaten and drunk. Qinglan also ate the pastries himself and found nothing wrong. Qinglan poured out the tea, leaving the tea foam and tea dregs to carefully separate.

Qi Xiao walked into the room with his hands behind his back, tilting his head slightly to look at Qinglan: "Your name is Qinglan, right? What's in these tea leaves? Is it poisonous?"

Qi Xiao came quietly, which scared Qinglan. The teacup in his hand fell on the table, breaking a corner.

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