Dingbei Hou's doctor brother

Lu Ziqing endured the wind and snow for another ten days before he was invited to the Ministry of Justice prison for treatment.

Chen Qi developed a mental breakdown in prison, his hair was disheveled and he huddled in a corner of the cell, talking to himself and talking nonsense. He did not look like a noble prince at all.

Lu Ziqing approached and took Chen Qi's pulse with an expressionless face. Chen Qi was frightened as if he had seen a ghost. He looked at him timidly and it took him a while to react. The timidity in his eyes instantly turned into anger.

He sat up straight suddenly, grabbed Lu Ziqing's wrist, and said viciously: "It's you!"

Lu Ziqing was indifferent and calm, "Your Highness still recognizes me, is the insanity just fake?"

"Why did you want to harm me?" Chen Qi saw the egret patch on his official uniform and glared at him. "You are a sixth-rank official. You helped Chen Jing frame me, and now you are the judge."

"Your Highness, that seems to be the wrong thing to say." Lu Ziqing pried his hand away and stood up. "Your Highness carefully prepared these things. How can it be said that I helped His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to frame you?"

Chen Qi couldn't figure it out. "Why is this thing in my house? What kind of magic did you use?"

Lu Ziqing looked down at him. "I originally thought the prince's insanity was fake, but I never thought it was real. In the Great Ning Dynasty, the word "witchcraft" cannot be spoken casually, otherwise it will bring about a fatal disaster. How can a mere doctor like me have such ability?"

"You can fool everyone but you can't fool me." Chen Qi stared at his indifferent face, stood up, and demanded confirmation in a harsh voice, "You were brought back by Xiao Yan. From the beginning, you had ulterior motives and teamed up with Chen Jing to harm me. I only regret that I didn't see through it sooner and fell into your trap."

"Your Highness is still so stubborn even though he's a prisoner." Lu Ziqing's eyes turned cold.

"They murdered the Crown Prince several times, tortured Emperor Si, and framed and killed loyal ministers. These were all the work of the Prince and the Imperial Concubine. Now I am just following their path, but..."

He thought of his master, his cold face gradually turned angry, and he slowly approached.

"Because you are a prince, you are a thousand times luckier than them. Even though you are a prisoner, you can still live in this cell, covered with a thick quilt, and have food and drink delivered to you every day. Those who died at the hands of you and your son did not have such good treatment."

"Stop being hypocritical in front of me." Chen Qi stared at him. "I'm telling you, don't think Chen Jing is a good person. You'll regret it later if you work for him."

Lu Ziqing said, "I won't work for anyone. The Forbidden City is a place of trouble. No one who comes here will have a good ending."

Chen Qi asked with gritted teeth, "Who are you doing this for?"

"For whom?" Lu Ziqing's eyes were frighteningly cold. He slowly approached and whispered, "For my master who was killed by your mother. Xi Huai, Your Highness Prince Zhao, do you think I should come to you?"

"Xi, Xi Huai?" Chen Qi was forced back into a corner, and it took him a moment to react. "Are you Xi Huai's apprentice?"

"It seems the prince has remembered it." Lu Ziqing stopped and stared at him, "Isn't this a case of grievances and debts? No one in the Forbidden City has anything to do with me, except you two, mother and son."

Chen Qi suddenly laughed silently, hunched his back and leaned against the wall, laughing non-stop.

"What are you laughing at?" Lu Ziqing asked.

After a while, Chen Qi stopped laughing and said, "I am laughing at you. After all the effort, I am afraid we still haven't found them all. There are probably still a lot of people who want Xi Huai's life."

Lu Ziqing narrowed his eyes slightly, "What do you mean?"

Chen Qi stood up straight. "Although my mother is implicated in the matter of Prince Chen Mu, your master's death could not have been solely due to this matter. As your master's former envoy, he knew too many secrets. There were people in Zijing City who wanted to kill him. I believe that there were more than one group of people chasing him back then, right?"

Among the group of killers back then, there was indeed another group besides the jade bearer, and Lu Ziqing always thought they were accomplices.

Is there another hidden story?

His heart tightened, "What do you know?"

Chen Qi slowly walked to the wooden bed, lay down, and pulled the quilt over him.

No one knew how Lu Ziqing walked out of the Ministry of Justice prison. He didn't seem to feel the cold even though the wind and snow were hitting his body.

Chen Qi's words were nothing but a sophistry when facing death. Gou Dongxi and the killer were the best witnesses.

He wouldn't believe a word that his master would be killed for other reasons, but why did Chen Qi say that?

What else does the master know?

Lu Ziqing walked forward in the snow, with heavy snow piling up all over his body. He stared blankly at the vast expanse of white, his eyes red from the cold.

Not long after returning to the courtyard, he went to the palace. A man came out from the palace gate. Yan Mengjiang was wearing a thick cloak and there were snowflakes stuck on his beard.

Seeing Lu Ziqing's thin official robes, he casually said, "Court Judge Lu is really young and resistant to cold. He dares to go out in such cold weather without a cloak. Where does this come from?"

Lu Ziqing saluted and said, "I went to the prison of the Ministry of Justice to see a doctor for Prince Zhao, and now I am going to the palace."

"I heard that King Zhao suffers from epilepsy. It seems that only Lu Yuanpan can cure him." Yan Mengjiang clasped his hands and looked at the heavy snow.

"It's just that this year's cold snap is quite severe. At least the prison provides some shelter, but if you're not cold-resistant, you'll have a hard time surviving. Judge Lu, don't you agree?"

Lu Ziqing didn't understand and replied, "King Zhao is not ready yet."

"Although Prince Zhao is guilty now, he is still a prince." Yan Mengjiang took two steps closer and smiled cryptically, "But others are different."

After reviewing the memorials, Emperor Shengzhi went to Shoukang Palace. The room was warm and the empress dowager was sitting on the couch. Emperor Shengzhi paid his respects to her.

"It's freezing cold, and there's heavy snow outside. The Emperor is busy with government affairs and disaster relief, so there's no need for him to come."

Emperor Shengzhi stood by the stove, warming himself by the fire. "It's getting cold, and I'm worried about the recurrence of my mother's old illness, so I came to check on her."

"I'm fine," the Queen Mother said. "My old illness hasn't flared up in this cold weather. Lu Yuanpan's method is very effective. But this cold snap came suddenly. Even during the reign of the late Emperor, there wasn't such an extreme weather phenomenon. Life is tough for the people this year."

Emperor Shengzhi sighed as he looked at the red-hot charcoal in the stove.

"What you said is true. The drought for several consecutive months has made the people suffer terribly. This year is a difficult year. I have sent people to various places to provide disaster relief. I hope we can overcome this test. Your health is not good, so please worry less."

The Queen Mother frowned and pondered for a moment before asking, "Where's A-Yan? I wonder if he went back to see his father?"

Emperor Shengzhi lifted his robe and sat down. "My son has sent someone to check on the Duke of Wei's mansion. Everything is fine. The roads in the capital are blocked. Ayan has been very busy recently. He is diligent in his official duties, but he is not very good in his personal affairs."

"What's wrong?" asked the Queen Mother.

Emperor Shengzhi said, "Xining has been married to him for some time, but their life is not going well. How can this continue?"

The Empress Dowager sighed, "Emperor, don't blame Ayan for this. Xining has been spoiled since childhood, and this marriage wasn't what he wanted. It's really hard to force him to fall in love with Xining in such a short period of time. Your Majesty, don't be too impatient."

"It's not that my son is impatient." Emperor Shengzhi said, "My royal brother only has this one daughter, and now she's getting married and she's being ignored, what will happen to her in the future? He has a bad temper and even cut off one of my hands."

"I have heard about this matter," said the Queen Mother.

"It was that servant who cut down the green plants in Ayan's mansion. You know, Ayan has always cherished those things. It can even be said that they changed him. A servant who disregarded the distinction between high and low and offended her master should have been beaten to death and thrown out. Now, she dares to complain just because she had a broken hand? Xining's actions are just pushing people away. How can you expect Ayan to like her?"