Sitting in the carriage heading to the palace, Jing Ning was clearly surprised when he saw Su Yan dressed as a woman.
She hadn't expected that Su Yan would look even better in women's clothing than in men's clothing.
He couldn't help but click his tongue in admiration of her beauty, saying, "Lord Su, it's such a waste that you were born a man..."
Su Yan was both amused and exasperated after hearing this, as it was the first time a woman had praised her appearance.
"Princess, please don't take my joke too seriously..."
When Jing Ning saw that Su Yan was shy, he enjoyed teasing her even more.
About half an hour later, the carriage passed through a series of gates before arriving at the palace where Jingning resided.
Although Jingning was a pawn used by the emperor to contain the Prince of Zhennan, she received the same treatment as a princess.
Because Jingning was an unmarried woman, the palace was not far from the Renshou Palace where the Empress Dowager resided.
It was already dark when we entered the palace.
As Su Yan passed by the entrance of Renshou Hall, she suddenly noticed that there were many more guards at the entrance.
Seeing this, Su Yan and Wang Ruofu exchanged a knowing glance and followed Jing Ning into her palace—the 'Guanghua Palace'.
Although Guanghua Hall is not as grand as Renshou Hall, it has a unique and refreshing charm. The courtyard is filled with exotic flowers and plants, and water lilies are grown in the pond.
After Jingning dismissed the other palace maids, she closed the door and recounted what she had seen with Su Yan and Wang Ruofu in Renshou Hall.
"I reckon some people already know that the Empress Dowager has passed away. The fact that so many people are guarding the gate is probably an attempt to suppress the news."
Wang Ruofu nodded in agreement, "That's right, I think it was the Empress who did it. Once the news of the Empress Dowager's death breaks, the Xie family will definitely investigate to the end."
If the Empress Dowager had died of natural causes, it would not have caused any trouble. However, since she was poisoned with a blood curse, it was inevitable that some people would take advantage of her.
Jingning was very worried. Although she and the Empress Dowager did not have much of a grandmother-granddaughter relationship, ever since their trip to Suizhou...
Jingning did not want to see the people displaced by war.
"So what do we do next?"
After thinking for a moment, Su Yan decided to sneak into the Empress Dowager's bedroom again to check on the situation.
Last time, because she was a man, she was held back by all the rules and regulations and was unable to find clues normally.
“There must be clues we’ve overlooked in the Empress Dowager’s bedchamber, Princess. I’d like to go back and take another look.”
"Alright... I'll go to Her Majesty the Empress first and ask for her favor."
After speaking, Jingning left her palace. Since the Empress had met Su Yan and Wang Ruofu, she did not take them with her.
About half an hour later, Jing Ning appeared before the two of them with the Empress's jade token.
"I've got the jade token, let's go..."
Su Yan and Wang Ruofei were surprised that Jing Ning would return so quickly. Seeing her heading towards Renshou Hall, they immediately followed her.
With the Empress's jade token, the guards at the entrance did not make things difficult and let the three of them in directly.
Upon entering the bedroom, Granny Sun immediately came to greet them.
"Your Highness, what brings you here?"
Granny Sun was quite surprised by Jingning's arrival.
Jingning smiled, "I've come to see my grandmother..."
Granny Sun naturally did not stop them and led Jingning and the other two into the inner chamber.
Granny Sun seemed unaware that the Empress Dowager had passed away, and continued to serve her as usual. However, the sandalwood scent in the room was much stronger, but there was no foul smell.
Upon reaching the bedside, Jingning was unable to clearly see the Empress Dowager's face, as it was obscured by a screen.
Granny Sun stood by the bedside and called out a few times, "Empress Dowager, Her Highness the Princess has come to see you..."
Su Yan and the other two stood outside the screen, but did not hear the Empress Dowager's reply.
A moment later, Granny Sun came out smiling and said to Jingning, "Your Highness, the Empress Dowager wants you to come in..."
Upon hearing Granny Sun's words, Jingning and the other two were immediately alerted and exchanged glances.
Judging from the signs of being infected with the blood curse, the Empress Dowager was already in her final stages and could not possibly still be alive.
Jingning stared blankly at Su Yan. Although she didn't understand the situation, she still listened to Granny Sun's words and prepared to go around the screen to see the Empress Dowager.
Before Jing Ning could step forward, Wang Ruofu, who was standing behind her, suddenly grabbed her arm. "Wait, something's not right..."
Jing Ning turned around, looking at Wang Ruofu with a blank expression, and asked in confusion, "What's wrong..."
At this moment, Wang Ruofu frowned, his eyes scrutinizing Granny Sun from head to toe like a hawk.
Granny Sun felt uneasy under Wang Ruofu's gaze and quickly asked, "Why are you looking at me like that?"
Wang Ruofu did not answer Granny Sun's question. Instead, he walked up to her, raised his hand without saying a word, and decisively knocked her unconscious.
Granny Sun collapsed to the ground with a thud, leaving Su Yan and Jing Ning stunned.
They said in unison, "Why did you knock her out?"
Wang Ruofu did not answer, but squatted down and touched the back of Granny Sun's head. Under their gaze, he pulled out two long silver needles.
Seeing this, Su Yan and Jing Ning were both stunned. "What is this thing..."
Looking at the two slender silver needles in her hand, Wang Ruofu seemed to have stirred up some long-forgotten memories.
Four years have passed, and Wang Ruofu never expected to see such a thing reappear in the world.
Wang Ruofu simply stood up, walked towards Su Yan, put the silver needle in his hand, and said in a deep voice, "Little Yan'er, you must recognize this thing quite well!"
Su Yan was still in a daze, but when she saw the silver needles clearly, her pupils widened and she said in disbelief, "This is...something belonging to...Academician Su?"
Su Yan originally wanted to say that the silver needles belonged to her father, but remembering that Jing Ning was still present, she immediately changed her words.
Even if these silver needles were reduced to ashes, Su Yan would still recognize them.
This is a gift from my maternal grandfather to my father.
Su Yan's maternal grandfather was a blacksmith. This set of silver needles was specially made for her father. The tips of the silver needles are light green, which was specially designed by her grandfather. It is the only one of its kind in the world. Of course, Su Yan also has a set, but she is not very interested in medicine, so she gave her set of silver needles to her senior sister.
In other words, apart from Wang Ruofu, only her father in the world possessed this set of silver needles.
Wang Ruofu nodded, looking at the silver needle in his hand with a heavy expression. "Su Yan, I have another piece of news to tell you. On the day the Su family was wiped out, someone saw Xu Xingjian also appear near the Su family."
"Xu Xingjian? How could he be?"
Su Yan was very surprised. When she returned to Chang'an to investigate the case of the massacre of the Su family, she did not find any trace of Xu Xingjian, but only the Dark Moon Pavilion.
Seeing Wang Ruofu's apparent dislike for Xu Xingjian, Su Yan felt as if her head was filled with a lump of paste.
Su Yan didn't know much about Xu Xingjian, but she completely believed Wang Ruofu's guess.
After all, besides his own father, the person Xu Xingjian spent the most time with was Wang Ruofu.
In a sense, the two are fellow disciples, but Wang Ruofu has been following Su Ci since childhood, while Xu Xingjian only became a disciple after he had already acquired a certain level of medical skills.
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