Song Xizhi hurriedly walked to the bedside, and when she saw the face on the bed, her heart skipped a beat and her chest trembled.

The pale-faced, unconscious person before my eyes was none other than Emperor Guangqi!

Song Xizhi's pupils contracted sharply, and he turned his head in surprise to look in the direction of Consort Zhen. Even his voice became alert in an instant: "Is His Majesty injured?"

"Has someone attempted to assassinate His Majesty?!"

As she spoke, she held her breath and suppressed her wildly beating heart. With one hand, she grasped Emperor Guangqi's pulse, and with the other, she pried open his eyelids to examine him closely.

Consort Zhen sighed, wiping the fine sweat from her brow with a handkerchief. Her face was deathly pale. "After the birthday banquet, His Majesty came to my palace, but he dismissed his attendants and left alone."

"When he finally managed to come back, he was covered in blood and wounds. When I rushed to help him up, he collapsed right in front of me and ended up like this."

Consort Zhen's eyes turned as black as ink: "His Majesty reminded me not to call any of the imperial physicians in the palace. In his last moments before losing consciousness, he asked me to come and find you."

Song Xizhi's words surprised him even more.

The emperor didn't trust any of the imperial physicians in the palace, but instead found her, a vice-principal who had only recently entered the profession.

Before Song Xizhi could even think about it, the situation of Emperor Guangqi made his ears ring and his mind go blank.

Emperor Guangqi was in very bad shape. Not only was his breathing weak and his face pale, but his pulse was also gradually weakening, making him look like he was about to die.

Song Xizhi composed himself, held his breath, and checked his pulse again.

But it's still the same situation as before.

She gritted her teeth and hurriedly removed the bedding and clothes from Emperor Guangqi's body to look for his wounds.

His wound was on his left shoulder, and it had been bandaged and the bleeding had stopped. The wound didn't look very big, and it didn't seem to be life-threatening.

It couldn't have been caused by excessive bleeding.

Song Xizhi pondered for a moment, then quickly turned his head to look at Consort Zhen beside him: "Who bandaged this wound?"

Seeing Song Xizhi's solemn expression, Consort Zhen knew that His Majesty's condition was not good, so she hurriedly replied, "It was my palace nanny who bandaged him. His Majesty did not allow anyone to summon the imperial physician. The nanny is my confidante and has some knowledge of medicine, so there is absolutely no problem."

Upon hearing this, Song Xizhi immediately ordered someone to bring a dagger and then unwrapped the cloth bandage wrapped around Emperor Guangqi's left chest.

After removing the bandage, Song Xizhi saw that the bleeding from his wound had stopped, and the skin and flesh were turned inside out.

The wound was short and appeared to have been inflicted by a sharp, arc-shaped weapon. It wasn't very deep, and although it looked somewhat gruesome, it was certainly not enough to kill.

Thinking about it, Song Xizhi moved closer to the wound and saw some red powder there.

Her eyelids twitched: "It's possible the murder weapon was poisoned, which caused His Majesty to fall into a coma."

The old woman only bandaged the wound and did not notice anything unusual about it, so as time went on, the emperor's condition became increasingly worse.

However, Song Xizhi did not say this.

She simply summoned some white wine and candles, disinfected the dagger in her hand, and then began to cut away the dead flesh from the emperor's chest.

At this moment, everyone in the palace had been dismissed, and Consort Zhen stood beside Song Xizhi, holding a tray and candles.

She saw that although Emperor Guangqi was lying on the bed without any sensation, when the dagger cut away the dead flesh, she could see that the muscles on Emperor Guangqi's body were spasming little by little, and soon fine cold sweat appeared on the emperor's forehead.

Consort Zhen felt a chill run down her spine.

But Song Xizhi remained incredibly calm as he tossed the ripped-off piece of dead flesh onto the tray, then cleaned the wound, stopped the bleeding, and bandaged it.

Finally, she took out the pills she carried with her and placed them under Emperor Guangqi's tongue.

This pill is not an antidote, but rather a life-saving pill in critical moments, which is why Song Xizhi always carries it with him.

After she finished all that, she began to examine the red powder on the dead flesh.

Song Xizhi held the blood-soaked dead flesh to his nose and smelled it. His expression changed slightly. Then he stood up, looked at the furnishings around the palace, and then spoke.

"Where exactly was His Majesty assassinated?" Song Xi asked.

Consort Zhen frowned, staring at the piece of human flesh in Song Xizhi's hand, unable to explain what was going on.

So Song Xizhi changed his question: "Your Majesty's robes and boots are covered in mud. The mud is still fresh and looks like it was stepped on tonight."

“Plants grow there, and even His Majesty’s wounds have a faint fragrance.”

Upon hearing this, Consort Zhen's expression changed drastically.

She stepped forward and walked to Song Xizhi's side. She lowered her head and carefully smelled the piece of dead flesh in Song Xizhi's hand. Her expression changed in an instant.

She suddenly looked up at Song Xizhi and said in a low, hoarse voice, "This palace is called Huaqing Palace because there is a hot spring inside the palace called Huaqing Pool."

"Behind the hot springs lies a forbidden area. Though called a forbidden area, it is actually a dense forest. No one has ever been there because a favored concubine of the previous dynasty hanged herself there in a gruesome manner. Legend has it that a vengeful ghost haunts the place, capable of stealing one's soul, and..."

As Consort Zhen spoke, her expression became very serious, and her tone became somewhat hesitant.

Her appearance made Song Xizhi urge again, "And what?"

Consort Zhen's voice suddenly lowered: "Moreover, the fragrance on His Majesty is almost... the same strange scent I smelled when the late Empress passed away..."

Song Xizhi's breath hitched. Upon hearing that this matter was related to the death of the late empress, his mouth even opened wide unconsciously.

"Consort Zhen..."

Before Consort Zhen could finish speaking, a faint male voice came from the bedside.

Song Xizhi and Consort Zhen turned their heads at the same time and saw Emperor Guangqi struggling to open his eyes, staring straight at the two of them.