Chapter 13 Treatment and Interrogation

At the Fourth Prince's residence, Yinzhen's spirit was withdrawn from his sea of ​​consciousness because Yinsi had returned with the imperial physician.

It came quite quickly. Yinzhen finally activated the mental suggestion left in Rouze's memory, altered her memories, and then obediently returned to his body, looking forward to what would happen next.

In Yinzhen's bedroom, besides Yinsi, Su Peisheng, and Liang Jiugong, the rest were all doctors: the original physician of the prefecture, the old physician Su invited by Huichuntang, the two imperial physicians who arrived first, and the two imperial physicians who arrived later.

Six physicians took turns taking the pulse of the unconscious Yinzhen on the bed, occasionally huddling together to talk in hushed tones. Their expressions were increasingly solemn, making the onlookers uneasy.

Under the watchful eyes of Yinzhen and Liang Jiugong, the six men exerted all their strength, using every medical skill they had to offer. They performed acupuncture, brought out their treasured prescriptions, and personally supervised the preparation of the medicine. After a great deal of effort, Yinzhen vomited a mouthful of black blood, but he still did not wake up.

Seeing the glaring bloodstains on the ground, Yinzhi and the others were terrified. But the physicians who took his pulse again breathed a sigh of relief, having finally pulled the young master back from the brink of death.

"Imperial Physician Jiang, how is the Fourth Prince?" Liang Jiugong, who was greatly frightened when he saw the Fourth Prince vomiting blood, could not help but step forward to ask Jiang Hai, the imperial physician of Emperor Kangxi and also the head of the Imperial Medical Academy.

Physician Jiang and his colleagues exchanged glances. Since he held the highest position at the moment, he could not refuse and could only step forward to report: "As expected, after spitting out the poisoned blood, the Fourth Prince is now out of danger. However, he still had a brush with death, so we must keep a close eye on his condition to prevent any unforeseen circumstances."

Liang Jiugong first breathed a sigh of relief, then was filled with shock and anger. Imperial Physician Jiang was always outspoken, and he figured the Fourth Prince was truly on the verge of death. He wondered who had dared to be so bold, and couldn't help but ask, "Poisoned blood? Why did the Fourth Prince fall into a coma?"

Jiang Hai cupped his hands in greeting and told the truth: "After examining the pulse, it was found that the Fourth Prince was poisoned, and the excessive fluctuations in his mind and anger caused the toxins to be activated, resulting in him vomiting blood and falling into a coma."

"Poisoning?" Liang Jiugong was somewhat surprised. How could the Fourth Prince have been poisoned in his own residence? He continued to press, "Can you identify what kind of toxin it is? How was he poisoned?"

"After our unanimous diagnosis, we determined that the Fourth Prince's symptoms were not caused by any one poison, but rather by a combination of drugs. One of the drugs was a tonic that the Fourth Prince had recently taken, and the other drug, judging from the lingering fragrance on the Fourth Prince's body, was a special drug that could confuse the mind. It just so happened that the two drugs were mixed together to form a poison, and the Fourth Prince's emotional state caused his blood to rush to his head, which immediately triggered the attack."

After Imperial Physician Jiang finished speaking, another imperial physician on duty stepped forward, his heart pounding. But he had to tell the truth, and addressing the highest-ranking official present, Yinzhi, his voice trembling, he said, "Reporting to Eighth Prince, half a month ago, I prescribed the tonic for Fourth Prince. It was a common prescription given because Fourth Prince was recovering from a serious illness, but unexpectedly… unexpectedly…"

The imperial physician spoke haltingly, never imagining that things would turn out so coincidentally, that a prescription meant to ensure safety would cause problems.

Both Yinzhi and Liang Jiugong remembered Yinzhen's serious illness before, so it seems this accident wasn't intentionally aimed at Yinzhen's life. But the damage has already been done, and the harm Yinzhen suffered cannot be ignored.

The matter of the tonics can be dealt with later. However, the mind-altering drugs mentioned by Physician Jiang are something we must take seriously.

Before Liang Jiugong could press further, Su Peisheng knelt down abruptly and pleaded with the two men, "Please, Eighth Prince, Eunuch Liang, do justice for our Prince..."

The two exchanged a glance, and Yinzhi said to Su Peisheng, "Su Peisheng, what do you know? Tell me quickly."

"Yes, Your Highness. Today, on his way to the residence of Consort Ulanara, His Highness encountered Miss Ulanara, dressed in auspicious robes, dancing by the lake. This young lady deliberately approached him with affected mannerisms. I recall carefully that His Highness had just reprimanded her for two sentences, mentioning the scent on Ulanara's body. Immediately afterward, he clutched his chest, vomited blood, and fainted. It must be the medicine that Imperial Physician Jiang mentioned."

"..." There were too many things to complain about. Yinzhi and Liang Jiugong exchanged a glance. What they thought was a court intrigue had suddenly turned into a story of a woman in the inner palace climbing the social ladder. Neither of them knew what to say.

After only sighing that Yinzhen was incredibly unlucky, Liang Jiugong continued, "Where is this Ulanara woman now?"

“This servant has had her locked up in the side room in the front courtyard. There is also a young maid who came to relay a message for the concubine. This servant thought about it carefully and realized that this person was not an ordinary servant of the concubine, and that she was intentionally leading the prince to Ulanara’s place, so she was also detained.”

Liang Jiugong nodded. The chief eunuch beside the Fourth Prince was quite quick-witted, and the relevant personnel were keeping a close watch on him. He addressed the people in the room, "Imperial Physician Jiang, I'm entrusting the Fourth Prince to you. Just report what medicine is needed, and I will promptly convey it to Heaven's will and get the Fourth Prince's health back on track as soon as possible."

Also, I would like to trouble the Eighth Prince to accompany me to interrogate this young lady of the Ulanara clan.

"It is only right." Yinzhi cupped his hands in greeting, but dared not directly accept Liang Jiugong's salute.

Once he was certain that his fourth brother had been rescued, Yinzhi breathed a sigh of relief, but his anger was still burning. With Liang Jiugong present, he dared not overstep his bounds, but that didn't stop him from feeling disgusted with Rouze. He figured that the Ulanara clan, who could raise such a girl, were no good either.

Gao Wuyong was left to keep an eye on the Prince's situation, while Su Peisheng, as the person in charge, led the Eighth Prince and Eunuch Liang to the room where Rouze was being held.

As the door opened, a haggard, slightly disheveled but still beautiful woman appeared before everyone. Her eyes were filled with tears, and she was pitiful and moving. Unfortunately, no one present was willing to appreciate her beauty.

Yinzhi looked at Rouze's auspicious robes and felt they looked somewhat familiar, but he was far less shocked than Liang Jiugong.

Having served Emperor Kangxi for many years, Liang Jiugong had seen it all. But his keen eyes, always at the emperor's side, immediately recognized the garment as the light-colored auspicious robe worn by Consort De when she was conferred the title of Consort. This…could Consort De have been involved? Did she know it would lead to her eldest son's downfall?

Regardless of his inner thoughts, Liang Jiugong remained outwardly composed, suppressing the news. He simply stood beside the Eighth Prince and looked at Rouze, who had been dragged out by a eunuch and knelt on the ground, asking, "Ulanara clan, who instructed you to assassinate the Fourth Prince?"

Having had her memories erased from the transmigrated woman, Rouze, who had altered the existence of the system, was filled with panic. She knelt on the ground, sobbing, "This servant didn't, how could this servant dare to harm the Fourth Prince..."

"How dare you! You refuse to tell the truth! The imperial physician has confirmed that it was the fragrance you carried that poisoned the Fourth Prince..."

Liang Jiugong's angry shout startled Rouze, causing her to tremble and her eyes to dart around. Although she tried her best to hide it, the way she unconsciously looked at the purse at her waist was immediately noticed by the shrewd people present.

Su Peisheng, who was staring at her resentfully, noticed immediately and took two steps forward to snatch the purse from Rouze's waist.

"Ah..." Rouze fell to the side in panic, wanting to stop him but not daring to move, stammering as she explained, "This is...this is not poison, I'm innocent..."

"Someone, take this to Imperial Physician Jiang for examination."

Anyone with eyes could see that there was something wrong with this purse. Liang Jiugong waved his hand, and the guards at the door stepped forward, took the purse from Su Peisheng's hand, and headed towards the imperial physician's office.

The others remained silent, awaiting the imperial physician's examination results. But the silence was unbearable for Rouze, who felt guilty. She couldn't help but mutter to herself, "No...no...it was clearly...it was only supposed to be something to make the Prince like me...how could it be poison..."

Yinzhi and Liang Jiugong exchanged a glance. Liang Jiugong stepped forward and angrily shouted, "Who gave you this purse? Confess now!"

Rou shook her head desperately, tears streaming down her face, but dared not say a word.

Before Liang Jiugong could press him further, another imperial physician, Wang, rushed over and, under the watchful eyes of the others, revealed the contents of the purse.

"A secret medicine?"

Their hearts leaped into their throats once more. The purse contained a long-lost secret medicine from the previous dynasty—something no young girl could possibly possess. Things were getting complicated again…