Ping Zhao Lu

The two of them soon arrived at Fengluan Palace.

At this time, the sky gradually darkened.

The imperial doctors were still guarding the side hall, reporting Rong Yu'an's condition to Xu Zhouye at all times.

Xu Zhouye leaned on the chaise longue, his expression calm. When he saw Qinghe leading the Zhang family doctor in, his eyes lit up slightly and he slowly stood up and sat upright.

"I pay my respects to the Queen."

Doctor Zhang knelt down and saluted.

"No gift."

Xu Zhouye stepped forward and helped the man up, whispering, "Uncle Zhang, you have always taken care of Yu'an's health. Now he has been poisoned for no reason. The imperial doctors are helpless. Please take a look."

Doctor Zhang nodded and followed Xu Zhouye towards the bed.

Seeing this, the imperial doctors looked solemn and made way.

Doctor Zhang sat upright on a stool, his eyes as sharp as torches, staring at Rong Yu'an's face. For a moment, his brows furrowed slightly, and then he placed his fingers lightly on his pulse. After a brief pause, he turned to look at Xu Zhouye, his face solemn, and said in a deep voice, "Mr. Rong's pulse is weak, and the toxins in his body are chaotic. From what I can see from his complexion, he must have taken a cold medicine. This medicine is harmless to patients with heat symptoms, but Mr. Rong has always had cold symptoms. The two conflict, and it is easy to show signs of poisoning. What's worse, if he accidentally eats raw or cold food, the toxins in his body will spread more rapidly."

Hearing this, Xu Zhouye's face darkened slightly, and he said in a deep voice, "I have already asked the palace servants, and Yu'an did eat something cold today, and in quite a lot."

He had clearly instructed the palace maids that Rong Yu'an should avoid eating raw or cold food. Such words fell on deaf ears. Could it be because he had just entered the palace and was having trouble establishing his authority, or perhaps someone had already considered certain people the masters of the harem.

Only twenty strokes of the cane was considered a lenient punishment.

As for this cold medicine...

Xu Zhouye's eyelids drooped, hiding the trace of disgust that flashed across his eyes.

Then he thought again, if even his family physician could see these symptoms, how could the imperial physician in the palace not know about them?

For a moment, the shadow of Concubine Xian flashed through Xu Zhouye's mind.

Before he entered the palace as empress, all matters in the harem were handled by Concubine Xian and Concubine Shu. Concubine Shu mostly stayed out of the affairs, and the power to manage the harem fell into the hands of Concubine Xian.

And this virtuous concubine is close to Rong Yu'an.

Therefore, he concluded that Concubine Xian had bribed the imperial physician.

"Is there a solution?" Xu Zhouye asked.

Doctor Zhang pondered for a moment and replied, "You can first take heat-regulating medicine to suppress the spread of the poison, and then perform acupuncture to guide the toxins out of the body. However... this detoxification process must be done with great care. Any mistake could worsen the condition."

Xu Zhouye nodded slightly to show that he understood.

He turned around and ordered, "Come here, prepare according to the instructions of the court doctor."

Soon, the palace maids came in with medicine and acupuncture instruments. Doctor Zhang personally fed Rong Yu'an the medicine and then began to perform acupuncture.

Xu Zhouye stood quietly by, watching the skilled movements of Zhang Fuyi, and felt a little relieved.

After a while, Rong Yu'an's complexion seemed to improve slightly.

"Uncle Zhang, you stay here and take care of Yu'an. If there is anything unusual, let me know immediately." Xu Zhouye instructed.

Doctor Zhang bowed in response.

"Just watch carefully here."

Xu Zhouye turned around and warned Su Ming, then glanced coldly at the imperial physicians present, "You all stay here as well, and make sure to ensure Master Rong's safety. If anything goes wrong again, don't blame me for punishing you severely."

After saying that, he took Qinghe and left the side hall.

Returning to the main hall, Xu Zhouye dismissed the palace attendants and walked to the couch, where he sat down. He then asked Qinghe, who looked worried, "What's the matter?"

Qing He hesitated to speak. "On my way here, I met the maidservant accompanying Concubine Xian. She seemed quite concerned about Your Highness's affairs, asking about everything. She also said that rumors are spreading in the palace that you are... jealous of Young Master Rong. I don't believe such nonsense, but if these rumors are not dealt with, the Empress Dowager and the Emperor will surely punish you."

Xu Zhouye calmly took a sip of tea and said calmly, "It hasn't been long since the incident happened, but the whole palace knows about it. It shows that Rong Yu'an and Concubine Xian have been working together. If nothing unexpected happens, Concubine Xian will bring all the concubines to pay their respects."

"This...if that's the case." Qing He said bitterly, "Then I will ruin your Highness's plans. The maid of Concubine Xian asked me if Master Rong was poisoned. I refuted her and said that the imperial physician and the doctor were invited to treat you..."

Xu Zhouye smiled calmly upon hearing this, "It's alright, you're right. I'm really tired and unwell. Rong Yu'an happened to be poisoned, so I've asked the imperial physician to treat him first."

Qing He: "But...what if those imperial doctors refuse to cooperate?"

Xu Zhouye: "Fortunately, Su Ming is a thoughtful person. When he asked for the imperial physician, he said that I was unwell, and then he took them to Rong Yu'an."

"That's good..." Qing He breathed a sigh of relief, then angrily said, "In order to frame Your Highness, Master Rong actually risked his life. How despicable! And that Concubine Xian is the same. By doing this, I'm afraid they're forcing Your Highness to ask for a position for Master Rong!"

"Indeed." Xu Zhouye sneered, "This play can not only enhance the reputation of the virtuous concubine, but also force me to help Rong Yu'an."

"They are so shameless." Qing He was furious. "Your Highness, the most urgent thing is to collect evidence so that we can escape."

Xu Zhouye shook his head. "If they could think of using this method, they would definitely think of destroying the evidence. As for the cold medicine, I guess it was transferred to me."

"Then we must find it quickly!" Qing He said anxiously, "I will order people to search everywhere right away!"

"No need."

As soon as he finished speaking, the eunuch guarding outside the door came quickly.

"Your Highness, the concubines from all the palaces have come to pay their respects to you."

Qing He's heart tightened, "What should I do?"

"Let them in." Xu Zhouye stood up calmly, walked to the phoenix chair in the center of the main hall and sat down.

After a while, concubines from various palaces came in one after another and bowed to Xu Zhouye and greeted him.

"What brings you to see me so late?" Xu Zhouye said with a smile.

"We heard that His Highness was ill, so we came to visit him." Concubine Xian spoke first, but her eyes fell on Qinghe who was standing beside her.

Xu Zhouye understood and said weakly, "Thank you for your concern. I just caught a cold. It's nothing serious."

"I'm glad Your Highness is alright." Concubine Xian smiled, then turned worried. "However, when I came here, I heard some rumors that Master Rong was poisoned. Is that true?"

This question also aroused the interest of the concubines, and they all turned their eyes to Xu Zhouye.

Xu Zhouye's face darkened. "As Concubine Xian said, Yu'an was indeed poisoned."

Concubine Xian was surprised. "Young Master Rong is being taken care of by His Highness personally. How could this happen..."

"So, those rumors are true?"

"The Queen is serious..."

The concubines looked at each other and whispered to each other.

"Your Highness, please be careful with your words. It's true that Your Highness has placed Young Master Rong in a side hall and has assigned people to serve him well. But if Your Highness is personally caring for him, I'm afraid that's inappropriate. Your Highness is a person of such status that it's not reasonable for a master to care for a servant or concubine. Moreover, Young Master Rong isn't even a concubine in the palace. Given his status, it's a great honor for him to be able to follow Your Highness into the palace."

Qing He paused, then continued, "As for the poisoning, His Highness has already ordered an investigation, and I believe there will be results soon."

Upon hearing this, all the concubines stopped talking.

At this moment, a palace maid came running over, kneeling on the ground and reporting: "Your Highness, the Empress Dowager has sent a message, asking you to go to the Cining Palace immediately."

Xu Zhouye frowned slightly, thinking that the Queen Mother must have summoned him at this time because of Rong Yu'an's poisoning.

"Got it. I'll be there right away."

After saying that, he dismissed all the concubines in the palace, took Qinghe and left the main hall.