Chapter 393 Sleeping Beauty

Li San Niang and Qiu Xiang were safely escorted back to the Li family by the officials sent by Di Renjie, and naturally they had no idea what the follow-up to the case of Princess Taiping's disappearance was.

However, Li San Niang, who hadn't slept well the night before, woke up a little earlier the next day, opening her eyes before the watchman's clapper sounded.

Seeing that Lu Zhu'er was sleeping soundly beside her, Li San Niang lay down for a while before getting up.

Just as I got to the kitchen to fetch hot water, I saw Sister-in-law Li sitting in front of the stove, warming herself by the fire, lost in thought.

"Sister-in-law, why did you get up so early today?"

Li San Niang approached and touched Li Da Sao's hand. She felt relieved to find that Li Da Sao's body was warm.

“Sigh, your elder brother was restless after you came back yesterday, and in the end he took his waist token and went directly to Wuhoupu.”

They said they were going to check if anything had happened.

"Tell me about your older brother, he finally got a vacation, and they didn't even recall him, so why did he insist on going to see what was going on?"

Li San Niang knew that Li Da Sao was worried about Li Da Xiong's safety.

“Sister-in-law, I had a brief chat with my brother yesterday. No wonder he went straight back to Wuhoupu last night.”

As she spoke, Li San Niang leaned close to Li Da Sao and whispered about how she had helped search for the missing Princess Taiping the previous night.

Sister-in-law Li's eyes widened; she really hadn't expected it to be like this.

"That's the youngest daughter of a saint. Even ordinary families wouldn't want anything to happen to their precious daughter, let alone the princess of a saint's family?"

After sighing a few more times, Li San Niang quickly took some hot water back to wash up, as she still had to rush to her shift at the clinic today.

After Li San Niang and Qiu Xiang boarded the carriage driven by Shi Jiu, the streets were not much different from usual, with the same people hawking breakfast, but there were far fewer passersby.

Looking out the carriage window at the few pedestrians compared to usual, Li San Niang exchanged a glance with Qiu Xiang, and then she understood what was going on.

As Li Sanniang was thinking about this, she saw two squads of soldiers running towards her from a distance. Everyone they encountered avoided them, just like Li Sanniang did.

Those driving the carriages quickly moved their vehicles to the side of the road, while those without carriages stood close to the roadside, all to make way for the soldiers.

"How strange, why are there so many golden-armored soldiers so early in the morning?"

"Old man, I'm so glad I brought my household registration certificate with me when I came in from outside the city, otherwise I probably wouldn't have been able to deliver the goods today."

The old man driving the donkey cart looked at the soldiers jogging past him and wondered if something had happened.

"Hey, old Zhou, you weren't in town last night?"

"Oh my goodness, yesterday I finally managed to get out of the city through Anhua Gate. You didn't see how many people there were at the city gate. My donkey could barely move."

If it weren't for hauling goods, I probably would have stayed to watch over that lamp wheel yesterday.

"Old Qian, tell me quickly, what happened in the city last night?"

Then, Old Man Qian, who was sitting on a donkey cart in front of Old Zhou and had white hair, got off the cart and whispered to Old Zhou, "Something big happened in the city yesterday!"

The saint's youngest daughter is missing!

We sent soldiers to search the entire city!

Old Zhou was stunned, he really didn't expect it to be such a big deal. "No wonder you need a household registration sticker at the city gate to enter the city!"

When Li San Niang arrived at the clinic in Yongping Ward, she saw Nan Xing and Qi Li sitting together whispering. After exchanging greetings, Nan Xing even shared with Li San Niang the gossip he had heard that morning as soon as he arrived.

"Dr. Li, the princess from the palace went missing yesterday!"

As soon as Nanxing started speaking, Li Sanniang couldn't help but twitch at the corner of her mouth. This tune was not much different from that of the storyteller in the neighborhood.

Li San Niang couldn't reveal that she had been involved in the search for the princess the previous night, so she could only pretend to be curious as Nan Xing shared gossip with her.

However, the Li family received visitors from the palace at this moment.

Mr. Li and his second brother greeted the man wearing an official hat and a round-necked official robe. After the man introduced himself and explained his purpose, the Li family realized that he had come to see Doctor Liang.

"Tiger Head, go to the backyard and invite Old Liang. Tell him that someone from the palace has come to invite you."

Li Dalang was about to step back when the person who came quickly stopped him: "Young man, don't rush, don't rush."

It is we who have something to ask Dr. Liang to come out of retirement; it is we who should go and seek an audience with him.

"Please lead the way, sir; we will follow."

Li Dalang went to see his father, and when his father nodded, he walked ahead to lead the way for the two of them.

In less than a quarter of an hour, the old doctor Liang, followed by a young boy from Shaoyang carrying a medical kit, came out of the house. After exchanging a few words with Li's father at the door, he got into the official's carriage and left.

"Grandpa, what's wrong?"

Why did the palace summon Physician Liang back?

Watching the carriage drive away, Li's father pulled Li Dalang back to his family's clinic and whispered to him, "Although Old Master Liang didn't say it, judging from his tone, something must have happened to the princess who was rescued."

This has nothing to do with ordinary people like us. We should just keep it to ourselves and not tell anyone.

Li Dalang naturally nodded in agreement.

Meanwhile, inside the Daming Palace, Emperor Wu was sternly questioning the head of the Imperial Medical Bureau: "Why is Taiping still unconscious?"

Didn't I say I've already taken the medicine you prescribed?

It's been five or six hours since we arrived, why hasn't he woken up yet?

Wang Shuzheng bowed deeply and quickly recounted Princess Taiping's current condition to Emperor Wu, displaying his scholarly knowledge.

"Are you implying that my peace is perfectly intact, but I'm just asleep and won't wake up?"

Emperor Wu was furious when he saw that Wang Shuzheng still dared to nod. Just as he was about to order someone to drag Wang Shuzheng out, he heard Wang Shuzheng say again: "Your Majesty, Princess Taiping should have been poisoned. I have already sent someone to invite Physician Liang, the former head of the Imperial Medical Bureau, to come here."

Physician Liang happened to be in Chang'an at that moment, and should be arriving at the palace soon.

Physician Liang is quite knowledgeable in the field of poisons; he should be able to cure Princess Taiping's poison and help her wake up soon.

Upon hearing this, Emperor Wu's anger subsided slightly. He turned away from Wang Shuzheng, who was standing below him, his forehead covered in sweat and he was standing trembling with fear, and went to the inner room to check on the unconscious Princess Taiping.

Once Physician Liang was allowed into the Xuanzheng Hall, Emperor Wu, without saying a word, immediately ordered Physician Liang to come forward and take his pulse.

The old physician Liang was old enough to be a grandfather, and Princess Taiping was only thirteen years old. Emperor Wu said directly, "Physician Liang is so old, there is no need to pay attention to those formalities. Just take her pulse directly."

"Quickly, take a good look at my Princess Taiping. What's wrong with her? She's been unconscious."

The old physician Liang first bowed to Emperor Wu, then washed his hands in a basin of water brought by a maid, dried them, and then knelt down in front of the bed to take Princess Taiping's pulse.

Upon taking her pulse, the old physician Liang immediately knew that Princess Taiping had been poisoned!

After a short while, Physician Liang withdrew his hand and began to question the maidservant serving Princess Taiping. He inquired carefully for a quarter of an hour about whether she had been given water and whether there were any unusual symptoms before bowing to Emperor Wu.

Emperor Wu raised his eyes and gestured for them to go outside to talk, so the old physician Liang followed him out of the inner room.

"Reporting to the Emperor, Princess Taiping has been poisoned by a rare poison from the Western Regions called 'Beauty's Intoxication'."