Chapter 677 Li Sanqi Enters the Game Personally
Just as Qiao Qinghe had predicted, within a few days, there were signs that Old Madam Qian's words were beginning to spread.
However, because Grandma Qian has been having trouble sleeping at night and has no energy to go out during the day, she spends most of her time catching up on sleep at home.
Therefore, although her words were spread, without her subsequent encouragement, the scope of their dissemination was much smaller than before.
However, this incident ultimately gave the Prince Qi's Mansion and Consort Liu an excuse to visit twice more in the name of the Prince Qi's Mansion and the Liu family, attempting to take the child back.
As a result, Qiao Qinghe firmly rejected him.
While Qiao Qinghe was busy dealing with the Qi Prince's Mansion and the Liu family, the Empress Dowager also inadvertently learned that Emperor Xiaozhao was unwell.
She first summoned the people from the Imperial Medical Academy for questioning, but they all kept their mouths shut, saying that Emperor Xiaozhao was in good health and there was nothing wrong with him.
Unable to get any answers from the imperial physicians, the Empress Dowager summoned the eunuchs serving Emperor Xiaozhao for questioning, but they too knew nothing.
Finally, the Empress Dowager found an excuse to summon Liu Xin, the chief eunuch who served Emperor Xiaozhao, for questioning.
At first, Liu Xin also pretended to be stupid and kept silent.
It wasn't until the Empress Dowager ordered him to be tortured that he trembled and revealed that Emperor Xiaozhao had suffered from palpitations and fainting spells ever since he deposed the crown prince and plotted rebellion.
However, the imperial physicians could not find the problem. They only said that Emperor Xiaozhao's health was not serious and that a stimulating medicine had been prescribed. They said that if Emperor Xiaozhao smelled it when he fainted, he would wake up.
With Liu Xin's confirmation, the Empress Dowager summoned the imperial physicians responsible for treating Emperor Xiaozhao and preparing medicines for further questioning.
This time, the imperial physician dared not hide anything anymore and told everything.
Just as Liu Xin had said, there was nothing unusual about Emperor Xiaozhao's health.
The Empress Dowager pondered the matter but could not find the cause of the problem, and was filled with anxiety.
Finally, he thought of the legendary physician Mu Jin, who had cured Madam Zheng of her poison.
After learning about Mu Jin's identity, the Empress Dowager summoned Li Sanqi to the palace.
"Grandmother, is there something important that you summoned me to the palace?" Li Sanqi asked with a smile as he sat down below the Empress Dowager.
The Empress Dowager looked at Li Sanqi with a solemn expression, "You've been hovering around your father these past few days, haven't you noticed anything?"
Li Sanqi was completely bewildered. "What does Grandmother mean?"
The Empress Dowager frowned, looking at Li Sanqi with displeasure. "Even I, an old woman who rarely leaves the house, have heard about this, and you know nothing about it?"
Li Sanqi looked at the Empress Dowager with a puzzled expression and asked aggrievedly, "What exactly does Grandmother want to say?"
"Grandmother is well aware that Huaiyang has taken a liking to Fu Wenqing, the top scholar of this year's imperial examination, and intends to make him her son-in-law."
"I've been busy with this matter these days."
"What exactly is it that Grandmother is referring to?"
The Empress Dowager gave Li Sanqi a deep look, and after a long while, she sighed and asked in a dejected tone, "Your father is unwell, are you aware of that?"
Li Sanqi nodded honestly: "I know!"
Li Sanqi's casual remark instantly ignited the Empress Dowager's fury.
She stared at Li Sanqi, speechless. "You knew? If you knew, why didn't you say so?"
Li Sanqi looked at the Empress Dowager in surprise, "Father forbade me to say it!"
"This matter is of great importance; how can we let outsiders know about it?"
"An outsider!?" the Empress Dowager shouted sternly, "You call me an outsider?"
Li Sanqi smiled dismissively and said, "How could that be? Huaiyang's favorite person is the Empress Dowager. How could he treat the Empress Dowager as an outsider?"
"It was my father who ordered me not to mention this matter to anyone."
"Including me?" The Empress Dowager's face was extremely ugly.
Li Sanqi nodded honestly as if he hadn't seen it, and added, "Not only Grandmother, but even Mother doesn't know about this."
The Empress Dowager said unwillingly, "You and I, grandfather and grandson, have always been close. Your father forbade you to tell me, so why didn't you tell me secretly?"
Li Sanqi smiled and said sarcastically, "When Father Emperor wanted to send me to a marriage alliance, didn't Grandmother Emperor not tell me beforehand?"
The Empress Dowager was taken aback, thinking she had misheard.
"What did you say?" She looked at Li Sanqi in astonishment.
Li Sanqi, however, seemed to have dropped his disguise. His smile vanished, and he looked at the Empress Dowager with a cold gaze. "Grandmother, we are all people who depend on Father for our livelihood. Isn't it pointless to be too explicit?"
"Since you chose to abandon me for your own honor in your old age."
"Now what grounds do you have to accuse me of not informing you?"
"Right now, all I want is for my father to be an obedient daughter who listens to him!"
The Empress Dowager looked at Li Sanqi in disbelief, her voice trembling as she asked, "You...you're blaming me? But I've already tried to dissuade you..."
Li Sanqi didn't want to hear the Empress Dowager's explanation. He just looked at her coldly and asked, word by word, "I only have one question for you: before the imperial decree for the marriage was issued, were you aware of this matter?"
"Did you consider informing me beforehand?"
"I..." The Empress Dowager was speechless.
She didn't.
Because she dared not disobey her son, dared not gamble on her place in his heart, and was unwilling to risk losing everything to protect a granddaughter.
She has many granddaughters. Even if Li Sanqi is gone, there are others who can take her place.
However, if she went against Emperor Xiaozhao's wishes and lost his respect, she would lose the honor she deserved as Empress Dowager and the very foundation of her position in the harem.
She went through so much hardship to finally become Empress Dowager, and she hasn't lived enough yet!
"See? You were willing to abandon me without hesitation. And now you're criticizing me for not reporting what you knew?"
Li Sanqi looked at the Empress Dowager with a mocking expression, "Does Grandmother have anything else to say? If not, I'll take my leave now. It's also time to deliver the medicine to Father."
The Empress Dowager, still reeling from her chaotic emotions, instinctively asked upon hearing Li Sanqi's words, "Send medicine? What kind of medicine?"
Li Sanqi curled the corners of his lips into a meaningful smile, "Naturally, it's a medicine that Father Emperor always carries with him!"
"After all, no one knows when Father will faint."
"Therefore, the medicine that can wake him up should naturally be carried with you at all times."
The Empress Dowager nodded, then looked at Li Sanqi with horror in her eyes, "Wasn't that medicine prepared by the imperial physicians of the Imperial Hospital? Why was it you who delivered it?"
"Did you visit the Imperial Hospital on your way to the palace?"
After the Empress Dowager finished speaking, she shook her head, saying that the time was wrong.
From the time she sent someone out of the palace to summon Li Sanqi to the time Li Sanqi answered the summons and came to her side, there was no extra time for her to go to the Imperial Hospital.
"What exactly is going on?"
The Empress Dowager swayed as she stood up, walked forward, grabbed Li Sanqi's arm, suppressed her fear, and asked in a deep voice, "Tell me, what exactly happened?"
"Why did your father's medicine pass through your hands?"
"Is your father's illness... related to you?"
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