When the Empress Dowager sent people to carry Prince Ning back to the palace, Prince Ning fainted again.
Seeing Prince Ning's half-dead state, the Empress Dowager was so frightened that she almost lost her mind and hurriedly looked in the direction of Song Xizhi.
Song Xizhi also felt strange. After taking the Prince of Ning's pulse, he hesitated before speaking: "His pulse shows that Your Highness has lost too much blood and is also too frightened. It must be because you inhaled an unknown drug. There may be something on the assassin's knife that reacted with the drug, which is why Your Highness is so dazed and half-awake."
"If nothing unexpected happens tonight, Your Highness should be able to recover by tomorrow."
Prince Ning seemed to be in good condition, so Song Xizhi wasn't too worried. What she was still concerned about was the origin of the sleeping potion.
When exactly did they come into contact with that colorless and odorless sleeping potion?
She thought to herself with lingering fear, but deep down she was still very grateful to Prince Ning.
If it weren't for the guards brought by Prince Ning, or if Zeng Yaxian hadn't come, she would have died here today if any one of these links had been missing.
Song Xizhi thought that he should still place his hopes on the two survivors left behind by Zeng Yaxian.
After hearing Song Xizhi's words, the Empress Dowager's anxious heart finally calmed down a little.
She had someone tidy up Prince Ning's body, and then watched as Song Xizhi busied himself preparing medicine and bandaging the wounds of Prince Ning and the injured guards.
After everything was settled, she slowly took Song Xizhi's hand, her eyes sparkling.
The two sat down on the soft couch. A faint fragrance of sandalwood filled the room, which made Song Xizhi feel much better from his previous exhaustion.
"Good child, Master Yuanhui is right. You are indeed a good child, always bringing me so many surprises."
Song Xi was taken aback, then heard the Empress Dowager continue, "You not only saved Prince Ning's life, but also presented me with a calligraphy work by Master Yuanhui as a birthday gift. I would like to ask, did Master Yuanhui say anything when he wrote the calligraphy?"
Upon hearing this, Song Xizhi finally came to his senses.
It turned out that the Empress Dowager had invited her several times for this very reason.
As a fervent fan of Master Yuanhui, she wanted to understand every detail about the story behind that calligraphy.
Recalling the scene, Song Xizhi still felt a little regretful: "The monk said he wished you good fortune at all times, and happiness, health, and longevity. As the mother of the world, he hoped that you would be compassionate, save all sentient beings, and have a clear mind."
Actually, this birthday gift was not obtained by Song Xizhi from Master Yuanhui, but was specially entrusted by Master Yuanhui to He Jingyan to bring.
Knowing that Master Yuanhui's intentions were precious, Song Xizhi was very careful and kept them safe.
She even made a point of showing it off to the officials of the Ministry of Rites so that this birthday gift could be seen and presented to the Empress Dowager.
But who would have thought that Song Ruoan would come up with such a vicious scheme, deliberately destroying the birthday gift she had presented, and inadvertently making Master Yuanhui's good intentions her protective charm.
Song Xizhi had no idea what the all-knowing Master Yuanhui was thinking when he sent out the birthday gift, nor did he know if he had foreseen this scene.
The Empress Dowager was overjoyed to hear Song Xizhi's words. She clasped her hands together, and her eyes sparkled with delight.
"Did the monk really say that?"
Song Xizhi nodded seriously: "Indeed."
Master Yuanhui had his own purpose in everything he did. Since he traveled a long way to entrust He Jingyan to send blessings to the Empress Dowager, he must have had his own reasons.
The Empress Dowager nodded repeatedly, her gaze towards Song Xizhi becoming increasingly loving: "Good child! Good child!"
"You are indeed destined to be with Buddhism. It was because of you that I was able to receive the Dharma Master's words of wisdom. From the first moment I saw you, I felt an affinity with you. I was right about you!"
The Empress Dowager looked Song Xi up and down, still extremely satisfied. She couldn't help but bring up her previous request again: "I wanted to adopt you as my goddaughter before, but the Emperor and Prince Ning both objected."
"After much thought, I think they might feel uncomfortable because of their age. It makes sense, considering the Emperor has many children, some of whom are older than you. If you were to become my daughter, you would be their aunt, which seems really illogical."
Upon hearing the Empress Dowager's words, Song Xizhi's eyes widened in surprise. She hurriedly declined, saying, "Your Majesty is right. This humble subject is truly unworthy of such a position. If I were to serve as a deputy judge at this moment, it would be considered fulfilling my duty."
The Empress Dowager nodded: "I think so too. However, Prince Ning is unmarried and has no children. If you were to become Prince Ning's adopted daughter, it would bring us closer. Besides, you saved Prince Ning's life."
Song Xizhi choked, stunned by the Empress Dowager's words, his scalp tingling: "You mean you want me to be Prince Ning's daughter?"
No sooner had Song Xizhi finished speaking than a loud bang was heard, followed by the panicked cries of palace maids: "Your Highness! Your Highness!"
"How did you fall off the bed?"
"My God! What? You're vomiting blood?"
"Imperial Physician! Imperial Physician! Quickly, summon the Imperial Physician!"
Upon hearing the shouts from inside, Song Xizhi rushed in, and the Empress Dowager hurriedly followed him in.
Prince Ning had woken up at some point, and now he was staring at the ground with a pitiful look in his eyes, blood still trickling from the corner of his mouth.
The Empress Dowager exclaimed, "Xizhi, come and see! Is it because he knew in his heart that he was going to have a daughter, and was so happy that he vomited blood to clear the remaining poison from his body?"
Upon hearing this, Song Xizhi grasped the Prince of Ning's pulse and found that it had returned to normal.
She nodded in surprise: "Your Highness's health has improved considerably!"
The Empress Dowager became even more excited. She covered her chest with her hands, mimicking Xi Shi clutching her heart, and said, "Why are you still calling me Your Highness? Quickly call me Father!"
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