Su Peisheng, Zhang Qilin, and the people from the Sticky Rod Office acted quickly. Despite the wrath of the Emperor and Empress, and the safety of the Second Princess, they risked their lives to investigate.

Before long, the general area had been determined.

There were quite a few people involved this time.

Basically, it was a series of interconnected events, from the Imperial Household Department to the Imperial Medical Academy, from top to bottom, and also involved some hidden agents in the inner palace, involving about twenty palace servants.

Su Peisheng understood the Emperor's meaning: this matter was to be reported in a serious manner. Anyone even remotely related had to be made an example of to deter others and this trend be severely curbed.

It is most unacceptable for a servant to bully his master, especially when the master is the Emperor and Empress of the Qing Dynasty.

Whether it's to vent the anger of the second princess or to uphold the face and dignity of the royal family, this time the punishment must be more severe to severely undermine their prestige.

Let those hiding in the shadows, and those with their own agendas, realize who the true master of the Qing Dynasty is, who their master is, and who holds absolute power and controls the hearts of the people.

In the Department of Cautious Punishment...

In the dimly lit environment, the only source of light was the flickering candlelight.

In the flickering candlelight, one's vision seemed to be impaired. Sun Qiren felt that he could hardly open his eyes anymore. Sweat had completely soaked in them, and the salt in his eyes made them bloodshot, making it impossible for him to see the face of the person in front of him clearly.

Meanwhile, in this small dungeon, various instruments of torture collided with each other, emitting chilling sounds, mixed with screams, echoing continuously in this enclosed space.

"Speak! Who ordered you to do this?!"

Zhang Qilin stood to the side, his face grim, and asked.

Sun Qiren, who was hanging there, was already unrecognizable, but he still gritted his teeth and refused to reveal a single word.

"Hmph, you dog of a lackey, you've got some nerve. I'm telling you this out of kindness, your brother is right here. We'll deal with you first, then it'll be his turn. If you don't want to talk, fine, we'll torture you one by one!" A ruthless glint flashed in Zhang Qilin's eyes.

As the sound of the whipping grew more frequent, Sun Qiren seemed to hear his brother's voice and became somewhat moved. He finally managed to utter a sentence: "Don't...don't touch my brother...I...I'll tell you...it's Deputy Chief Steward Liang of the Imperial Household Department..."

Hearing his younger brother's heart-wrenching cries from beside him, and how he finally confessed to the crime, Sun Qisheng couldn't help but burst into tears. However, he couldn't stop him because his brother's tongue had already been pulled out.

“Deputy Steward Liang? You’d better tell me everything. I’ll check it myself. If there’s even the slightest discrepancy, hmph…” Zhang Qilin snorted coldly, as if he were a ghost in this dungeon.

Sun Qiren hurriedly replied, "No! No! This servant...this servant dares not! It was Deputy Chief Steward Liang who found us two brothers and even captured this servant's sister...saying that the Empress is not giving him a way out and that we two brothers must fight our way out for him!"

Zhang Qilin couldn't help but spit out a "Pah!" Su Peisheng was right behind him, staring at Sun Qiren with a sinister look. "Besides Liang Kang, has anyone else come looking for you?"

The Sun brothers were low-ranking physicians in the Imperial Medical Academy. They usually only did medical work for the palace servants. Occasionally, when the other physicians were too busy, they would be asked to do some odd jobs and tiring work.

The mosquito-repellent sachet in Hutu this time contains medicinal herbs prescribed by other imperial physicians and prepared by the two of them.

When Su Peisheng received the imperial edict, he immediately realized what was happening and quickly arrested the two brothers before the imperial physicians took their turn for duty. After careful interrogation, he found out what had happened.

Liang Kang, the deputy chief steward of the Imperial Household Department, was a man who loved to accept bribes and deceive his superiors. He was the first person on the Empress's list of those to be eliminated.

Su Peisheng's gaze narrowed slightly. This bastard was indeed no good. Did he really think that just because he was a deputy steward, he had connections everywhere?

However, it's still a bit lacking that a mere deputy chief eunuch could manage to deliver the sachet to the princess so secretly, bypassing all the people who cared for her.

For example, how can we ensure that these sachets are not sent to other princes, since this batch of sachets was sent by the Imperial Household Department after the Empress gave the order?

How can you be so sure that this sachet will be delivered to the Second Princess?

Furthermore, everything made by the Imperial Household Department and sent to the various palaces had to be registered and recorded, even the medicinal herbs in the sachets.

How did they manage to deceive everyone?

There must be someone behind Liang Kang, or an accomplice of similar status.

“No more… really no more… Deputy Steward Liang said that after it was done, he would give us a sum of money and send us out of the palace… and he would also send my sister back…” Sun Qiren said, crying.

Su Peisheng turned to Zhang Qilin and said, "Take him away and interrogate Sun Qisheng again. He is a scholar and can write."

Zhang Qilin waved his hand, and someone took the two Sun brothers away.

"Eunuch Su, it seems that Liang Kang is involved in this matter. But I wonder if he has any accomplices. Shall we report this to the Emperor now?"

"Whether he is or not, let's take him down first. Then we need to find out who Liang Kang has been spending more time with lately." Su Peisheng already had a plan in mind.

Meanwhile, at the South Third Hospital, after a night of careful care, Hutuli's fever finally subsided.

Touching her daughter's forehead, which had returned to normal temperature, Changning breathed a sigh of relief. Turning her head, she saw that it was already broad daylight.

"How is it? Is it still burning?" Yinzhen had also been keeping watch here all night. Seeing Changning, he breathed a sigh of relief and felt much more at ease.

Changning nodded: "Don't worry, the fever has subsided. Let Physician Zhou take her pulse again."

Hongyan and Hongzhao laughed too. As long as their sister's fever subsided, everything should be fine.

The old imperial physician, Zhou, with his gray hair, entered shakily, bowed, and took Hutuli's pulse. Soon, a look of joy appeared on his face: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty the Empress, the Second Princess is fine. She only needs to rest quietly for two or three days and should avoid eating spicy or cold foods."

Upon hearing this, everyone present felt reassured.

They were all on tenterhooks that night, fearing that something else might go wrong.

"Alright, thank you for your trouble, Physician Zhou." Changning smiled at him, feeling sorry for him, who was old enough to be her great-grandfather, still working so hard. But it was fortunate that he was old, otherwise Hutu's illness probably wouldn't have healed so quickly.

"You should go to court soon, it's almost time. I'll just wait here for Hutu to wake up." Changning checked the time and urged Yinzhen to go to court.

These past few days, the Fourteenth Prince has been traveling to Japan, and the military situation is constantly changing, which she is paying close attention to.

Now that her daughter was alright, she felt relieved and planned to talk to her about what had happened after she woke up.