As the group of yamen runners gradually disappeared into the distance, the street vendors quickly packed up their goods, pushing carts or slinging cloth bags over their shoulders and hurrying home, while the pedestrians also dispersed in a rush.

Seeing this, Lu Qiqi deduced that this kind of thing must have happened before, otherwise the people in the city would not have reacted so quickly and rushed home in such a hurry.

Upon hearing this, Steward Yan turned his gaze away from the direction where the yamen runners had disappeared, and sighed heavily, saying, "Recently, a world-renowned bandit has inexplicably appeared in the border town."

There was once a salt merchant who had seventy or eighty servants and lived a very wealthy life. However, three days ago, a sudden misfortune befell his family.

All the gold and silver jewelry was stolen overnight, resulting in a huge loss.

Upon hearing that the salt merchant had reported the matter to the authorities, it was discovered that a cook in the household had died.

In such a large mansion, such a huge amount of valuables were stolen, yet no one knew about it. And coincidentally, a cook in the house died, which seemed to be a sign that he had been poisoned.

Lu Qiqi asked, "Did you later have a doctor check if anyone in the salt merchant's household had symptoms of ingesting sleeping potion?"

Steward Yan recalled for a moment, then shook his head. "No, the strange thing is that not only was no sleeping potion found, but not even one of the dogs in the house died."

Upon hearing this, Lu Qiqi could roughly guess what had happened.

She didn't think of hallucinogens because their effects dissipate slowly.

It's impossible for all the dozens of people in the household to fall into a coma at the same time. Once someone notices something is wrong, it will be very easy for others to realize.

The effects of sleeping potion are different; it can incapacitate a person in a short time, thereby achieving the desired purpose.

Wait a minute, she seems to have overlooked an important issue.

If the entire household of a salt merchant takes a modified dose of hallucinogenic drugs, they may initially think it's just drowsiness and not be alert, but they will eventually fall asleep without realizing it.

That makes it not impossible!

Moreover, the amount of hallucinogenic liquid stolen from the military far exceeded the required amount.

If it was indeed caused by hallucinogenic liquid, there must be a traitor in the military.

No, we must tell Physician Ren and Song Yanqing about this as soon as possible.

Lu Qiqi declined the offer of a farewell from Steward Yan, mounted her horse, and pulled on the reins to head towards the military camp.

Upon returning to the military camp, she went straight to Physician Ren's tent.

To her surprise, she found nothing in the tent; only Ren Yuan, who was secretly eating because he was hungry, was inside. He was currently munching on a flatbread.

Ren Yuan held the flatbread in his arms, his cheeks bulging, looking just like a hamster stealing food.

Seeing this, Lu Qiqi ignored his adorable expression and asked anxiously, "Where is Physician Ren?"

Ren Yuan, with his neck stiff, swallowed the flatbread with difficulty before saying, "I was summoned in a hurry by the prince's subordinates just now, and they should be discussing military matters in the army's main tent right now."

Having learned of Physician Ren's whereabouts, Lu Qiqi opened the tent flap and headed straight for the location of the army's main tent.

At that moment, Song Yanqing sat solemnly on a rosewood chair, with a person prostrate on the carpet below.

This person was none other than Physician Ren, whom Lu Qiqi was looking for.

Standing beside Physician Ren, An Jiu reported on the situation in the city: "According to reports, the salt merchant's mansion was emptied of all its treasures overnight, and no trace of sleeping potion was found. The bandits' actions are very cunning, causing fear and insecurity among the people in the city."

"My men investigated and found that the wealthy merchant's family's symptoms were identical to those of the anesthetics used in the army's wounded soldiers' camp."

"The Tatars have provoked more than a dozen battles in the past two months, and the people in the city have long been living in fear. Now that such a major event has occurred, I'm afraid the morale of the army will plummet."

With each sentence An Jiu uttered, Physician Ren lowered his head even further until his forehead touched the ground, and the fine sweat that had just appeared was immediately absorbed by the ground.

Upon hearing this, Song Yanqing rubbed three fingers of his right hand together a few times. Before he could speak, he heard An Yi report.

"The Lord of Kang Le Township requests an audience."

Upon hearing this, Song Yanqing nodded in acknowledgment, "Please."

"Yes!" An Yi accepted the order and withdrew.

The anesthetic was brought into the army by Lu Qiqi, and she will definitely be implicated in this matter. The only thing to do now is to find a way to resolve the current crisis.

When she entered the main tent, she saw a huge sand table placed in the center of the tent, and after walking a little further in, she could see Physician Ren prostrate on the ground.

Seeing this, she closed her eyes, realizing that Song Yanqing already knew the situation in the city.

She nodded to the front and said, "You must already know about the incident in the city where bandits drugged wealthy merchants. Can the charge of negligence in guarding the drug be put aside for later? Give me a chance to redeem myself?"

These words were spoken only to Song Yanqing.

Seeing that Lu Qiqi was disrespectful to the young master and still had such a disrespectful attitude, An Jiu was about to reprimand her for her rudeness.

He had just taken a step when he heard An Yi cough beside him, causing him to pause in his tracks. He muttered to himself, "How can a bodyguard cough so loudly? Did he take the wrong medicine?"

Before he could figure it out, he heard the Crown Prince's voice, "Imperial Physician Ren, please get up."

An Jiu suddenly felt as if he had discovered something extraordinary, and his mind went blank.

At this moment, Imperial Physician Ren wished he could worship Lu Qiqi, feeling that she was simply a savior of the world, beautiful and kind-hearted.

From now on, I must make my son work harder. We must cherish such a good person and not let him slip away.

After quickly making up his mind, he slowly got up, bowed, and said, "Thank you, Your Highness."

Then he said, "A few days ago, the village chief discovered that the dosage of anesthetic was astonishing, so he began to prepare anesthetic branches. It can be relieved after decocting and taking half an incense stick's worth of the medicine."

If our army is caught off guard and falls into the trap, this method can be used to resolve the crisis.

“That’s not appropriate,” Lu Qiqi immediately rejected the idea as soon as Physician Ren finished speaking. “The situation on the battlefield is ever-changing, and the slightest mistake could result in someone losing their head.”

The enemy is not a benevolent force; they will not wait for us to react and prepare the medicine.

If I were them, once we'd drugged and knocked the enemy out, we'd burn down their camp, leaving nothing but devastation!

The last sentence struck Physician Ren's heart like a hammer blow, making her tremble all over.

Yes, how could he forget that the Tatars were bloodthirsty and ruthless killers? Given this opportunity, they would not let a single soldier go and would certainly kill them mercilessly.

Having figured this out, he murmured, "Then wouldn't our anesthetic branches be completely useless as an antidote?"

Lu Qiqi looked up at Song Yanqing, who was seated at the head of the table, and said, "Not so. If we had known earlier, we could have made preparations earlier, and the antidote would not have been useless."

However, the Tatars have become increasingly fierce in recent days, and the theft of anesthetics from the wounded soldiers' camp is not something that can be done overnight.

This shows that things were probably not peaceful in the military for a long time, and the anesthetic incident was just bringing the situation to the forefront. You all knew about this all along.

Is it right? "

Lu Qiqi and Song Yanqing locked eyes, each seeing the other's reflection in their gazes.

After a moment, Song Yanqing finally spoke, "You guessed right."

"However, even if they obtain this medicine, they will not be able to do so easily. Unless there is a chance to kill them in one blow, they will never expose it."

This is why he can still sit calmly at this moment. Even if something unimaginable happens in the army, the person who steals the anesthetic will have to consider whether he has the ability to administer the drug!

Following Song Yanqing's suggestion, Lu Qiqi said, "In that case, why don't we lure the snake out of its hole?"