This was the first time Song Xizhi had seen the Empress Dowager in this state.
She looked terrified, and her eyes were filled with guilt.
It's not surprising, really. Prince Ning was her youngest son, and the son she had raised by her side since childhood. Because Emperor Guangqi was the one who could inherit the throne, the Empress Dowager doted on this youngest son.
Seeing his youngest son lying on the ground, his life hanging in the balance, he was naturally panicked and forgot everything else.
Song Xizhi hurriedly said to the Empress Dowager beside him, "Your Majesty, please don't worry. His Highness Prince Ning is not in any danger. Although he was stabbed by the assassin, no vital organs were damaged. I managed to stop the bleeding for him."
The reason why Prince Ning fell into a coma after losing blood was probably because he was drugged by the assassin.
In fact, not only him, but even Song Xizhi felt his legs were weak when he spoke, while Siqin and the others had just gritted their teeth and fought, enduring the effects of the sleeping drug.
After calming down, he collapsed to the ground, unable to get up again.
Song Xizhi racked his brains but still couldn't figure out how the assassins had managed to administer the sleeping potion, which had affected almost all of them.
Upon hearing this, the Empress Dowager was finally able to calm down, albeit with some difficulty.
With trembling hands, she checked Prince Ning's breathing. When she saw that he had opened his eyes with great difficulty, she breathed a sigh of relief.
The Empress Dowager patted Prince Ning's face, her expression a mixture of joy and lingering fear. The tears that had been welling up finally streamed down her face: "You really scared me to death! You really scared me to death..."
Prince Ning opened his mouth, and weakly called out again, "Empress Dowager..."
Upon hearing this voice, the Empress Dowager trembled with heartache. She gripped Prince Ning's hands tightly and turned her disapproving gaze to the Imperial Guard Commander beside her: "What exactly is going on with these assassins?"
The Empress Dowager's face was extremely gloomy, and her voice suddenly became shrill, filled with thunderous rage: "Guo Liming, as the commander of the Imperial Guard, explain to me how these assassins managed to break into the palace in the dead of night with swords and knives?"
Commander Guo's eyelids twitched, and he hurriedly knelt before the Empress Dowager: "Your Majesty, please forgive me! I will definitely investigate this matter thoroughly and give you and His Majesty an explanation!"
The Empress Dowager almost laughed in anger upon hearing this: "You don't know?"
"Very well, you don't know how they got in, but where were you when Prince Ning was assassinated?"
"Why were they allowed to stab Prince Ning?"
Commander Guo lowered his head even further, almost touching the ground: "Your Majesty, please forgive me! When the incident occurred, the east gate of Bailu Palace was on fire. I noticed something was wrong, so I rushed there with my men to put out the fire."
Song Xizhi immediately understood; indeed, someone had used a tactic of luring the tiger away from the mountain to transfer the Imperial Guards outwards.
But who actually lives in this White Dew Palace?
After pondering for a moment, Song Xizhi finally asked, "White Dew Palace, where is that?"
Guo Liming trembled and buried his head in the ground, not daring to say another word.
Only the Empress Dowager slowly stood up and answered Song Xizhi's question with a gloomy expression: "That is where Consort Liang lives."
Song Xizhi's eyelids twitched.
It was because Consort Liang's palace caught fire that the Imperial Guards were drawn away, giving the assassins an opportunity to take advantage of the situation.
So it was Consort Liang and Zhao Qingshu who worked together, one of them setting the fire and the other sending Zeng Yaxian to assassinate her.
Since the incident with Hei Yin, Zeng Yaxian has lived under Zhao Qingshu's close surveillance. Even all the bodyguards around her are practically out in the open. So, Zeng Yaxian's visit today must have been at Zhao Qingshu's behest.
Zhao Qingshu was unaware that Zeng Yaxian had already discovered the clues between him and Zhao Qianlan during Hei Yin's death, so not only did she not come to assassinate her, but she also protected her by a twist of fate.
Where did the other wave of real assassins come from?
Could it be that Zhao Qingshu has sent another group of assassins to capture her and Zeng Yaxian in one fell swoop?
But whether it was her, Prince Ning, or Siqin and the others, they were all drugged and weakened before they met Zeng Yaxian. When was that drug administered?
Song Xizhi felt that things were becoming increasingly complicated, and something seemed very wrong.
However, Zeng Yaxian's act of saving her and leaving her alive did make her earlier words much more believable.
Song Xizhi remained silent, lost in thought, while Guo Liming, sensing the icy atmosphere, quickly cupped his hands in greeting to the Empress Dowager and said:
"Your Majesty, please calm your anger!"
"Of the thirteen assassins, three are still alive. Their tendons have been severed, rendering them incapable of resistance. With severe torture, we can surely extract the information about their mastermind."
Upon hearing this, tears streamed down the Empress Dowager's face. She closed her eyes briefly and said, "Amitabha, Amitabha, I have always been a good person, why do they have to hurt my son like this?"
Even if she didn't want to kill at this moment, she couldn't bear it any longer: "Lord Guo, you must interrogate them thoroughly to find out who is behind this..."
Guo Limin nodded hastily and promised the Empress Dowager, "Yes, Your Majesty, I will use severe torture to extract the true culprit behind the assassination of Prince Ning."
The Empress Dowager murmured "Amitabha" a few times, then sighed softly.
With a wave of his hand, several soldiers stepped forward and dragged away the surviving assassin and his corpse.
The matter was finally settled at this moment. Looking at Prince Ning's pale face, Song Xizhi finally said:
"Your Majesty, His Highness Prince Ning was injured because of me. It is late at night and the frost is heavy. We should take His Highness back to his palace for further treatment as soon as possible."
After such an incident, Siqin was injured to some extent, and her husband must be anxiously waiting at the palace gate.
Song Xizhi was eager to go back at that moment.
Upon hearing this, the Empress Dowager looked at Prince Ning with pity and nodded, "Yes, Ayu is afraid of the cold, so we can't delay any longer. We must take her back to my palace first."
Song Xizhi nodded, feeling that men and women should not be too close and that he was not suitable to continue treating Prince Ning, and was about to resign.
But to everyone's surprise, the Empress Dowager trusted her medical skills completely: "Physician Song, I only trust you to treat him. You should come to my palace with me."
As she spoke, the Empress Dowager took Song Xizhi's wrist again and smiled at her: "Good child, it is thanks to you being by Ayu's side today that his life was saved. I have something to tell you."
The Empress Dowager's gaze held a touch of affection, as gentle as a mother's.
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