The bustling street and the palace gate were crowded with onlookers.
An elderly woman with graying temples, dressed fairly decently, had an indescribable look of sorrow on her face, and tears glistened in her somewhat cloudy pupils.
She was trying everything she could, pleading and begging, hoping the soldiers guarding the palace gates would let her in.
The common people all thought she was crazy; how could ordinary people like them be allowed to enter and leave the palace?
After trying for a long time to no avail, the guards eventually stopped paying attention to her altogether.
The old woman panicked. Instead of just pleading, she rushed forward and began shouting, "Our Lili is a good girl! She wouldn't do such a vicious thing! You've wronged her! You can't kill her! You'll be punished for it!"
The guards looked disgusted and tried to shoo her away, but she only became more aggressive: "Give Lili back to me! If you dare touch a hair on her head, I'll never forgive you!"
Hearing this, the guards became extremely annoyed. One of them suddenly shoved her aside and yelled, "Where did this crazy old hag come from! Get out of here, or I'll make you regret it!"
The other guards echoed their sentiments, while some of the people felt that the old woman had brought trouble upon herself, and others felt that the guards had gone too far.
Among the crowd, a woman looked annoyed upon seeing this. She was dressed in a plain light blue dress, with delicate features and a touch of heroic spirit.
She had been standing there for a long time; she had followed this woman to the palace gate.
When she first saw the woman's face, she was suddenly startled, feeling that she looked very familiar, but then told herself that she must be seeing things.
But when I looked up again, it was still that familiar face from my distant memory, that familiar way of walking.
However, she was still not sure, because this matter was too important for her to make a hasty conclusion. So she followed the old woman quietly to the palace gate.
Seeing her making a scene, she felt an indescribable bitterness welling up inside her. Watching the guards push and scold her, she felt an uncontrollable anger.
Just as he was about to step out of the crowd and teach the guards a lesson, a man on horseback galloped out, and the guards all retreated.
Upon seeing the old woman pushed to the ground by the guards, Meng Yuxiu quickly reined in his horse, dismounted, and helped her up.
"Mother-in-law, what brings you here?" Meng Yuxiu asked, surprised and apologetic.
With tears welling in her eyes, the old woman grabbed Meng Yuxiu's arms and pleaded, "I just want to see Lili, General, how is Lili? Lili is innocent! Please, you must save her!"
As she spoke, she actually tried to kneel down before Meng Yuxiu.
"Mother-in-law, please get up quickly." Meng Yuxiu hurriedly helped her up.
At this moment, several men rushed out from the crowd. The one in the lead was Ke Shou, who looked anxious. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that his mother was safe and sound.
But when he saw Meng Yuxiu, he immediately knelt on one knee and said remorsefully, "I failed to take proper care of him, please punish me, General."
Meng Yuxiu sighed and said, "Get up, let's go back to the manor first."
Upon returning to the manor, the mother-in-law continued to plead with Meng Yuxiu relentlessly. Meng Yuxiu repeatedly assured her that he would do everything in his power to rescue Chang Lili, which finally calmed her down. She then drank the medicine prescribed by the doctor and rested.
When Meng Yuxiu returned to his study, he kept sighing and his brows were furrowed.
He confidently boasted in the Qianqing Palace that he would find out the truth within seven days, but things were not so simple, and he had no clue what to do.
He had already sent people to monitor and observe Consort Lan and Xiao Shu'er, but the two of them did not reveal anything.
He also sent people to investigate the imperial physicians, but they couldn't find anything. No matter how they asked him, his answer was exactly the same as that day.
Meng Yuxiu couldn't think of anywhere else to find evidence.
He also tried to get back the longevity lock that Chang Lili had made from Consort Lan, wanting to check the poison on it. However, Consort Lan said that the thing had already been dealt with, and she was too grief-stricken to bear seeing it, so she didn't keep it.
They were well-prepared and wouldn't leave a single flaw.
Just when he was at his wit's end, there was a knock on the study door. After receiving permission, the servant outside pushed the door open and handed Meng Yuxiu a letter without a signature or recipient.
The servant only said that a child had delivered the letter, saying that someone had asked him to give it to the general.
In the past, Meng Yuxiu would probably have ignored a letter of dubious origin that could have gotten him into trouble, but this time he took the letter.
Even if things get worse now, this is probably the worst-case scenario, and he's not afraid of getting into any more trouble.
Upon opening the letter, one finds only a few words written in elegant handwriting, yet with a hint of femininity.
"The imperial physician is treacherous."
These four words, however calm and composed, stirred up a storm in Meng Yuxiu's heart.
Was this person here to help him? Who was he?
Meng Yuxiu racked his brains but couldn't figure out who would help him. On the other hand, he was also worried that the mysterious reminder might be a trap.
But thinking about it carefully, it doesn't matter whether it's a scam or not. We're already at our wits' end, so we might as well take a gamble.
Meng Yuxiu burned the letter to ashes and immediately summoned Ke Shou, ordering him to "invite" Imperial Physician Jiang, who had previously treated Consort Lan, to the mansion.
Ke Shou understood perfectly and politely took Meng Yuxiu's waist token to the palace. After meeting Physician Jiang, he simply said that the general was unwell and asked him to come and treat him.
Physician Jiang noticed something amiss and naturally refused.
Ke Shou then led him directly into the General's Mansion. Along the way, Physician Jiang struggled, but once inside the mansion and standing before Meng Yuxiu, seeing Meng Yuxiu's icy expression, he finally panicked, and his voice began to tremble.
"General... I've said it before, everything I said that day was true," Physician Jiang said, kneeling down.
Meng Yuxiu could no longer control his emotions. He stood up, his murderous aura overflowing, and walked towards Physician Jiang. His eyes were like steel knives, as if he wanted to cut several wounds on Physician Jiang.
"Is that all you have to say? Is every word true? Then tell me what kind of poison is on that longevity lock?" Meng Yuxiu squatted down and looked directly into Physician Jiang's eyes.
But Physician Jiang remained silent, and despite his obvious fear, he refused to utter a single word.
Meng Yuxiu was in a terrible predicament and had no choice but to find another way.
So he began to investigate Consort Lan's recipes and the utensils she handled, hoping to find something suspicious.
He always felt that Consort Lan's miscarriage was not intentional. If Consort Lan were pregnant, she would naturally give birth to the child and compete with Xiao Lingshou for favor, which would be the best choice. She would not use such extreme means to frame Xiao Lingshou.
There is another explanation for this: Lan Fei's miscarriage may have been an accident, or it may have been caused by someone else. They then took advantage of the situation and framed Chang Lili for it.
However, Meng Yuxiu thoroughly investigated every detail of Consort Lan's daily life, including her food and belongings, but found nothing suspicious.
What he didn't know was that before he investigated these matters, on the very day Chang Lili was imprisoned, Consort Lan had already instructed Imperial Physician Jiang to adjust her diet and daily routine, removing all the foods she shouldn't have eaten from her menu.
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