Time travel, quick transmigration

"Your Majesty, this servant just saw Fuyun at the Dali Temple, she..."

Gao Lishi hesitated, looking at the emperor whose face was still gloomy, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped.

Li Longji frowned.

"Has she confessed? I want to see who is behind her, enabling a female official who has been released from the palace to dare to cause trouble in the capital."

Gao Lishi glanced cautiously at the dignified and imposing emperor.

"Your Majesty, Fu Yun committed suicide by biting his tongue in prison last night."

Gao Lishi's words undoubtedly added fuel to the fire of Li Longji's already burning anger.

"Very good, what a loyal servant. Investigate for me, I refuse to believe that no one is helping her behind the scenes."

Gao Lishi, bearing the emperor's wrath, bowed and agreed. He knew perfectly well that the force behind Fu Yun's actions was undoubtedly the Liu family, the maternal relatives of Consort Liu, but he couldn't say it outright. After all, Consort Liu was deceased, and the Liu family was the maternal family of the three princes she had borne—the connections were far too extensive. Yang Yuhuan posed no threat to the three princes; in his view, Fu Yun's actions stemmed from a desire to be loyal to his master and to eliminate Yang Yuhuan for his own selfish reasons.

Gao Lishi couldn't help but recall the assassination attempt on Yang Yuhuan. At that time, Li Longji ordered him to investigate thoroughly. His men conducted a meticulous investigation and ultimately discovered that the mastermind was Wu Xianyi of Anle Palace. However, all the blame was ultimately placed on Sang Lan, a female official in charge of inner palace affairs for Wu Xianyi, while Wu Xianyi herself was completely exonerated and only ordered to be confined to her quarters for a year to reflect on her actions. Based on his understanding of the concubines, Wu Xianyi wasn't the kind of person who was meticulous in her thoughts. Moreover, his men had discovered that someone from Shude Palace had secretly contacted someone in Anle Palace before the assassination attempt. Now that Fuyun had once again hired an assassin to kill Yang Yuhuan, Gao Lishi became even more certain of his suspicions. Shude Palace had also secretly facilitated the previous assassination attempt on Yang Yuhuan by Anle Palace.

In his mind, Li Longji was always wise, and the clues he could gleaned must have been fully understood by Li Longji, the emperor. He couldn't be sure of Yang Yuhuan's importance in Li Longji's heart, but he was absolutely certain that as the ruler of a country, he could never tolerate anyone challenging his authority. The reason for this major mobilization must be that he had violated a taboo of the emperor.

"Your Majesty, Lady Taizhen is sure to be blessed with good fortune, so please put your mind at ease."

"If you harm yourself due to excessive worry, you will surely feel guilty and saddened when Lady Taizhen returns and finds out."

As Gao Lishi spoke, he looked up at Li Longji and saw that Li Longji was keeping his head down and remaining silent. He then turned to Han Jiang, who had a square face and an upright and unyielding expression, and gave him a wink.

Mo Ming was glared at by Gao Lishi, but he couldn't bear to see the emperor he had been following so devotedly looking so sad. Although he was still worried that Li Longji would be misled by beautiful women, he softened his attitude after weighing the pros and cons.

"Your Majesty, what Eunuch Gao said is also what I wanted to say. Lady Taizhen will surely be blessed with good fortune."

"Your Majesty, I assure you that I will find Lady Taizhen within three days and deliver her safely to Your Majesty."

Upon hearing this, Li Longji's brows relaxed somewhat.

"I am relieved that you say so."

"I believe in Han Qing's abilities. You may leave."

Seeing that Li Longji was no longer gloomy and even had a glimmer of light in his eyes, Han Jiang suddenly felt a sense of realization that His Majesty had indeed begun to grow old, and that even the most majestic emperor had his vulnerable side. With a touch of melancholy, he accepted the decree and left Xingqing Palace.

……

Since Shi Yan's disappearance, Xiao Die has been filled with worry and self-blame at Huanqing Residence.

When Xiao Shen arrived, Xiao Die was sitting on a rock in the yard, staring blankly at the gate with a lost and dejected look.

The people who had been lost in thought rushed forward as soon as they noticed his appearance.

"Is there any news about our wife?"

Xiao Die looked so anxious, her eyes were bloodshot, it was clear she hadn't rested well. Xiao Shen couldn't bear to disappoint her, but still hesitated and shook his head.

Xiaodie immediately got angry.

"Weren't you all assigned by His Majesty to protect my wife's safety? But my wife's life is now hanging in the balance, and this is how you protect her?"

"You, you promised to help me find my wife, why haven't we found anything after searching for so long?"

With tears in her eyes, Xiaodie grabbed Xiaoshen's arm and questioned him.

Xiao Shen was shaken a couple of times, which aggravated the wound on his chest, causing him to groan softly.

When Xiaodie saw his restrained expression, she released her hand as if she had been burned.

"I'm sorry! I forgot you were injured. I was too hasty."

As she spoke, she lowered her head in remorse, not daring to look at Xiao Shen again.

Xiao Shen couldn't bear to see a girl with tears in her eyes in front of him, so he wouldn't hold it against her.

"It's nothing serious. The injuries on her body are still a bit there, but they've actually healed a lot. Don't worry, His Majesty has mobilized the Imperial Guards, and Lord Han is personally leading the search this time. I'm sure your wife will return safely soon."

Upon hearing this, Xiaodie burst into tears.

"Really? Don't lie to me. My wife will be alright, right?"

Xiao Shen didn't know how to comfort her, but ever since he learned that they had survived that night because Shi Yan had lured the assassin away, he sincerely hoped that Shi Yan was still alive.

"She'll be fine. If something really happened to her, the palace spies, the Imperial Guards, and the Feathered Forest Army wouldn't keep it a secret. Just wait for news, eat and sleep on time, and don't collapse from exhaustion when your wife returns safely."

Xiao Shen's words were like a reassuring pill, and Xiao Die, who had been anxious, nodded with anticipation.

"Thank you."

Xiao Shen smiled shyly. "You're welcome."

"You're still injured, come inside and sit down."

Xiaodie offered a thoughtful suggestion.

Xiao Shen naturally wouldn't refuse, so he followed her towards the Flower Pavilion.

……

Two days passed in the blink of an eye. After treatment, Shi Yan felt that her sword wound had healed considerably. Apart from the occasional itching, the scabs on her shoulder no longer hurt.

"My injuries have fully healed, so I don't need to take this medicine anymore."

Xiao Huanling frowned as he watched Shi Yan feed him the brown medicine soup, and unconsciously backed away, as if he wanted to avoid it at all costs.

He has been drinking medicine for several days and his mouth still tastes bitter. Moreover, he has always resisted drinking this hard-to-swallow medicine since he was a child. In the past, when he was sick in the Xiao family, Chen Hui would coax him with homemade plum candy to make him drink the medicine.

Now that there was no plum soup, he was too embarrassed to let Shi Yan know that he was afraid of taking medicine, so he could only endure the discomfort and swallow the bitter medicine soup. However, he had drunk several bowls of it for several days in a row, which was already his limit.

"I really don't need to take medicine anymore. I'm completely cured, and I don't feel uncomfortable anywhere."

Shi Yan ignored him.

"Dr. Xiao said this is the last dose of medicine, to consolidate the therapeutic effect. You must drink it to avoid any aftereffects later."

"Don't tell me you really told Xiao Jiang that you're afraid of bitterness and drinking medicine, that's why you don't want to drink it. I've seen you frowning every time, could it be that you're really afraid of bitterness? It's not shameful to be afraid of bitterness, why didn't you tell me? Luckily I was prepared in advance. Here, drink this bowl of medicine. I have some dried plums prepared for you here. After drinking the medicine, eat a few dried plums and it won't be bitter."