The Changchun Palace team travels back in time to Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace

While Yanwan inexplicably ordered the female members of the household not to leave and tried to appease the uneasy concubines and children under the watchful eyes of Ruyi and Hailan, Yingluo and Jinzhong were searching the servants' quarters and the places Yanwan and Ling Yunche had passed through that morning.

The two quickly discovered the small bottle buried under roadside weeds. After verification by officials of the Imperial Stables, and even after several horses smelled it, it was confirmed that the bottle contained bodily fluids from a pregnant mare, purified using a specific method. This liquid was often used to prevent horses from losing interest during mating; just a small amount was enough to arouse a stallion.

Meanwhile, in the pine forest, Yonghuang had his men fill water bags with a mixture of deer and horse blood and spray it everywhere, then hurried over on horseback.

Rongyin had Yonglian's wounds briefly examined and treated. Fortunately, the arrow was not poisoned, and Yonglian had only suffered a minor scratch and some bleeding. Fuheng then had Ling Yunche, who was covered in blood, bound up, while Cherdenzabu ordered his men to search the area.

Yingluo sent in their findings over the team's frequency band.

The guards quickly found the mare's bodily fluids on the grass and trees, confirming Oden's statement.

This appears to be a trap; someone has set up a mechanism here beforehand, smearing mare's bodily fluids to lure the stallion.

But if the trap was designed for the emperor, there are too many variables: who can guarantee that the emperor will be interested in the wild horses and chase them, and that the trap will be triggered just in time, and that he will be hit in a vital spot by the non-poisoned arrow? If the trap was only for hunting horses, who would risk such a huge amount of time and effort to enter the royal hunting grounds for one or two wild horses?

As for why everyone was lost in a maze or moved to different places out of thin air, why the black horse suddenly appeared outside the pine forest after being shot by Yonglian, and where the white horse came from, all these questions are too bizarre and strange for anyone to give a definite answer.

Yonghuang said, "That black horse died of exhaustion. Perhaps it had been running in the same place for a long time before it appeared on the grassland, but it couldn't get out at all."

A chill ran down everyone's spine.

Fu Heng said, "Your Majesty, the best course of action now is to seal off this place and take this person back for thorough interrogation."

The emperor, still recovering from the pain, wearily waved his hand in agreement.

In the squad's frequency band, the Face God sighed, "An Eastern tyrant once said that what a horse sees is determined by ruen. Now it seems that what a horse sees may also be determined by rabid ruen."

When the group returned to the main tent, the concubines saw the emperor being carried back lying on his back, the second prince with bandages wrapped around his neck and blood seeping out, and the others looking solemn. They were all surprised and uncertain, as they also saw a blood-soaked person being brought back.

To keep it a secret, Rongyin only mentioned the accident and covered it up.

Ruyi immediately recognized the blood-covered man as Ling Yunche, and her heart was filled with anger and heartache: The Emperor must have returned injured, something must have happened, and someone like Ling Yunche must have done this to protect the Emperor, yet these people treat such a meritorious official like this!

The Emperor appointed Fuheng to investigate the case. Cherdenzab, protecting himself in his tent, lay sprawled on his couch, clutching his head, allowing the imperial physicians and Mongolian doctors to examine him. As his initial shock subsided, he realized that this must be another of Ruyi's curses at work!

In his extreme anger, he started to have a headache again, and his back pain worsened, even causing a dull ache in the area where he already had shingles.

After a thorough examination, Physician Huang and the Mongolian doctor found that the emperor had sprained his waist and legs, but was otherwise unharmed. As for the headache, Physician Huang said that since it was an old ailment, it was probably aggravated by the fright, and prescribed some calming medicine.

The emperor had no desire to drink any tranquilizers; what mattered to him now was how to break and utilize the curse to the fullest extent possible!

So he ordered, "Forget about the calming medicine. Summon Consort Ling and Consort Shen. No, Consort Shen doesn't need to come. Summon Prince An. Also, tell Fu Heng to keep a close watch on the person in the dense forest and not to use torture."

Yonghuang arrived at the main tent first and said that he suspected the arrangement of Songlin was a scheme to take advantage of fate.

Then Yanwan arrived. Under the emperor's questioning, she mentioned that when she met Ling Yunche, she stepped on the mare's bodily fluids on the road, which attracted the stallion's sniff, and that's when the empress and Ao Deng discovered something was wrong.

The emperor sat bolt upright: "Ling Yunche? How could it be him?"

Yanwan said, "This person was demoted to this position, yet he still had no scruples and offended me and the two consorts. I wanted to punish him, but Consort Xian stopped me. Although I am of high rank, I am still relatively inexperienced, and the two consorts are juniors, so they could not say anything. In the end, it was Her Majesty the Empress who stepped in to punish him."

The Emperor was deep in thought. In the past, as soon as Ruyi left the Cold Palace, she made Ling Yunche a royal bodyguard. Now, if what happened in the pine forest was the power of a curse, could it be that Ruyi's purpose was to let Ling Yunche gain merit in saving the Emperor and return to the palace?

He then thought of the arrow, which was not poisoned. If it wasn't meant to kill him from the start, but rather a scenario of assassination followed by rescue, and the fact that after Yonglian shot the black horse charging at him, the black horse disappeared on the spot, but the white horse didn't do the same when Ling Yunche lassoed it, and the blood Yonghuang mentioned was used to break the deadlock, which was splashed at the entrance of the dense forest but fell from the sky and splashed on Ling Yunche, who was several miles away...

The more he thought about it, the gloomier his face became. He immediately summoned Jinzhong: "Go and summon Fuheng. See if that person is Ling Yunche."

Jinzhong immediately replied, "Your Majesty, that man is Ling Yunche. Although he has a full beard, his right index finger is missing. I recognized him as soon as I saw him. Also, Yingluo, who serves the Empress, and I found this at the place where Ling Yunche bumped into the Consort and the two wives yesterday."

He then presented a small bottle, adding, "I've inquired and found that the contents inside are purified mare bodily fluids, originally used to induce estrus in stallions during mating. This bottle has the pungent aroma of soapberry. I also found a box of soapberry among Ling Yunche's personal belongings, hidden very well. I suppose this is Ling Yunche's; it was thrown away during yesterday's encounter and he didn't have time to retrieve it."

Yan Wan immediately said, “Your Majesty, Ling Yunche is doing hard labor serving horses in the hunting grounds, so these things are not hard to obtain. However, when I went to select horses, I heard that horses do not go into heat in the autumn, so it is not the time for mating. Why would those servants need to carry mare bodily fluids with them? Is there some misunderstanding?”

The emperor slammed his hand on the armrest of the couch: "That scoundrel! Either it was all his doing, or he is guilty of knowing about it but failing to report it! Jinzhong, bring him here. I want to interrogate him myself!"

At this moment, Jinbao rushed in and knelt down: "Your Majesty, Imperial Physician Bao has an important matter to discuss with you, saying it concerns Prince Duan!"

The emperor's heart tightened, and he quickly summoned Physician Bao.

Physician Bao knelt down tremblingly and said, "Your Majesty, I have discovered that the arrowhead is slightly rusty. Although Prince Duan was fortunate enough to only suffer a minor scratch, since there is already bleeding, he may... he may suffer from a stroke and convulsions!"

Cherdenzab, who had been standing silently in the tent like a wall, froze upon hearing the name of the illness. He could no longer maintain his composure and exclaimed, "A stroke and spasm from a wound?"

Seeing Cherdenzab in such a state, the emperor's heart sank, and he asked, "What illness is this?"

Physician Bao kowtowed: "If this disease develops, it will cause chills, high fever, clenched teeth, stiffness of the whole body, and may even cause suffocation! Your humble servant has already used moxibustion and applied Yuzhen powder to try to dispel wind and detoxify Prince Duan. However, the wound is on the neck, which is a critical place. If the arrow had gone in an inch or two further, there would have been no way to save him. Therefore, your humble servant cannot guarantee his safety!"

The emperor stood up abruptly, but then slumped back down weakly due to the strain on his injured waist.

He looked terrified: "Yonglian, Yonglian is my legitimate son! He was injured while saving me!" Before he could finish speaking, he clutched his head in pain.

Yan Wan knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, Prince Duan is a lucky man and is blessed by Heaven. Your Majesty should not worry too much and harm your health!"

The emperor took a deep breath: "Does the empress know?"

Physician Bao said, "The Empress and the Princess Consort are already aware of it."

The Emperor said weakly, "Then, you and the Mongolian doctor go and treat Yonglian, using the best wound medicine. Have the Empress come here, and together we'll ask Ling Yunche what his true intentions are!"

Ling Yunche was quickly escorted into the main tent by Fu Heng.

He was still lamenting that his merit in saving the emperor had been taken away, and he knew that he would not get the reward he deserved if he tried to explain himself to the emperor. Then he heard the empress ask, "Ling Yunche, after I punished you, where have you been and what have you been doing for the past half day?"

Ling Yunche was still pondering how to reply when Jinzhong kicked him, saying, "Why are you pretending to be mute when Her Majesty the Empress is asking you a question?"

He could only reply, "This servant is out walking the horse."

The Queen asked, "Where did you take your horse for a walk?"

Ling Yunche replied vaguely, "Just wandering around."

The emperor said in a deep voice, "Is that so? Then what about that trail of footprints in the pine forest?"

Ling Yunche panicked and said, "This servant happened to enter the pine forest and did not expect to find Your Majesty in danger, so... Fortunately, Your Majesty is unharmed."

The emperor looked up at Jinzhong, who kicked him again: "You lackey, you talk as if you were the one who saved the emperor, you're really good at confusing right and wrong!"

The Empress stopped Jinzhong and asked, "Before the Emperor encountered danger, did you see anything unusual in the forest?"

Ling Yunche had a guilty conscience and was already panicking, but he knew he couldn't say anything now, otherwise it would be considered withholding information. So he had to bite the bullet and say, "This servant didn't find anything unusual until His Majesty was in danger."

Rongyin took several deep breaths before she could barely calm herself down.

Just then, a commotion broke out outside, and Ruyi rushed in despite Jinbao's attempts to stop her, carrying a food box in her hand.

The Emperor thought to himself, "Just as I thought," and gestured for Jinbao to step back, trying to keep his tone calm: "Ruyi, is there something you need?"

Ruyi said stiffly, "Upon hearing that Your Majesty was injured, I prepared some bone broth, and Your Majesty quickly drank it."

The emperor fiddled with the beads in his hand, taking a great deal of effort to calm himself down: "Leave them there, I have important matters to attend to."

Hailan took the food box and placed it on the table.

As Ruyi was leaving, she gave Ling Yunche a deep look, then turned back and said, "Your Majesty, Ling Yunche has rendered meritorious service in saving your life. If Your Majesty punishes him lightly, you will lose a loyal person by your side!"

Yanwan immediately said, "Xian, the ones who truly deserve credit for saving the Emperor are Prince Duan and his wife, Guard Cheerdenzhabu, and others. Prince Duan was even injured while saving the Emperor. No matter how you look at it, the credit and hard work should not be attributed to Ling Yunche. You don't need to be so certain about things you haven't witnessed."

Ruyi glared at Yanwan for a moment, then stormed off in a huff.

The emperor gave him a signal, and Jinzhong, quick-witted, immediately said, "This servant will go and take a look."

After this little incident, everyone continued asking questions.

Rongyin asked Jinbao to give the small bottle to Ling Yunche and asked, "Do you recognize this?"

Upon seeing the small bottle, Ling Yunche panicked and stammered, "This servant... has never seen this before."

Yanwan said, "Haven't you seen it before? Well, this little bottle has a strange smell, and I don't know what kind of dirt it has. I don't think someone like you who used to be a royal guard would keep it."

Ling Yunche immediately retorted, "Your Highness Consort Ling, the soapberry tree is resistant to wind and cold, and is not a lowly or dirty thing."

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone in the tent turned their gazes toward him.

Rongyin said in a deep voice, "You still dare to say you don't recognize it?" She then turned to the emperor and said, "Your Majesty, this is clearly an act of deceiving the emperor!"

Ling Yunche grew increasingly panicked. Was Yanwan really going to disregard their past relationship and drive him to the brink of despair?

He kowtowed deeply, his words tumbling out in his anxiety: "This servant...this servant has misremembered. This, this is this servant's property. It was, it was meant to be used for brooding horses..."