The moon was at its zenith, and a faint light was lingering in the dark room. Xiao Du sat motionless in front of the candlestick in front of him for a long time, his cheeks half red and half dark against the flickering flames.
At this time, someone pushed the door open and the cold wind that came in through the crack of the door made the candle flicker. Xiao Du raised his head and asked the person who walked in, "How is it? Have you found out?"
Xia Qing was a little uneasy. After all, he was the commander of the Yulin Army, not a spy under Xiao Du. How could he ask questions without even saying hello? But who said the man in front of him was his brother-in-law? No matter how angry he was, he had no place to vent his anger. He could only reply in frustration: "Hmm."
Xiao Du had no time to care if he was abnormal, and only used his eyes to urge Xia Qing to speak quickly. Xia Qing sighed in his heart, but still spoke honestly: "I found an old palace maid in the Purple Palace. According to her, when the late emperor was seriously ill, he first took the medicine prescribed by the then Imperial Physician Zuo, but the late emperor's illness not only did not get better, but became more and more serious. The empress dowager was furious and directly dismissed Zuo Qiao's official position and replaced him with another imperial physician. The prescriptions were also changed. From then on, Zuo Qiao personally served the late emperor every day."
"To what extent does the Queen Mother serve you personally? Does she even prepare and feed medicines herself?" Xiao Du asked hurriedly.
Xia Qing didn't expect him to ask so much, but luckily the maid was very detailed, so after thinking for a while, she replied, "Yes, the Empress Dowager watched over the maids to make the medicine, and then personally fed it to the late emperor. It was because when the late emperor was seriously ill, the Empress Dowager served him by his bed without taking off her clothes that it became a good story in and outside the palace."
Xiao Du thought about everything and then suddenly put on a mocking smile and said, "So that's how it is. The so-called deep love between the emperor and the empress is really just a joke."
Xia Qing stared at him in confusion, waiting for him to explain himself, but Xiao Du just said calmly, "Well, thank you brother-in-law for finding these things for me. I will definitely come to thank you someday and visit Xuan'er as well."
Xia Qing was immediately annoyed. This was clearly a case of crossing the river and then destroying the bridge. He said angrily, "My Lord, I have told you everything you want to know. But since you and I are allies, you have to let me know why all this is happening."
Xiao Du shook his head and said, "It's not the right time yet. When the time comes, I will tell you."
Seeing that he was not going to tell anyone even if he was beaten to death, Xia Qing was filled with rage, but she could not show it, so she just snorted and walked away. However, Xiao Du did not have time to care about this man's awkward mood, as he needed to find another person.
"You want to ask about the late emperor's illness?" Zuo Qiao put down the cup in his hand, sighed and said, "When the late emperor led his troops to war, he was accidentally ambushed and breathed in a lot of miasma in the forest. Although he was fortunately rescued, he also developed a chronic illness. Later, he became ill because of overwork. In fact, his body had long been unable to bear the heavy burden, but he just held on for the sake of government affairs. At that time, I discussed with my colleagues in the Imperial Hospital day and night, and tried many methods but could not make the late emperor better. Later one day, even the late emperor himself discovered..."
His eyes began to wander, and his thoughts returned to the conversation in front of the dragon bed many years ago. At that time, Emperor Yun was still able to stand up. He put on his fur coat and sat up, with a deep sadness on his face, and said: "Tell me the truth, my body will not get better."
Zuo Qiao was so frightened that he immediately knelt down, resting his head on the ground and crying, "Your Majesty is the true dragon emperor, and you are protected by heaven. As long as you take more medicine and recuperate, you will surely get better soon."
Emperor Yun glanced at him sideways, shook his head and said, "It has come to this, there is no need for you to hide it from me." He walked to his side, slowly helped him up, and slowly said, "Since my body can no longer be cured, why not use it to do something useful for the country."
Zuo Qiao stared at Emperor Yun's face in a daze. He didn't understand what this meant, but he was a little scared by the sadness and determination in the emperor's eyes. At this time, Emperor Yun patted him on the shoulder again and said, "You have been loyal to me all these years in the Imperial Hospital. I will give you a great gift now. Go back and enjoy your old age."
"So your dismissal was actually the late emperor's intention." Xiao Du couldn't help but interrupt Zuo Qiao as she came out of her memories, still in a trance. "I was in a daze at the time and didn't understand what the late emperor meant. But later the empress dowager issued an imperial decree, saying that I was ineffective in treating the disease and dismissed me from my post. By then I had already lost hope and the only thing I cared about was your majesty's health. After I left, someone quickly took my place and became the director of the Imperial Hospital, and personally treated your majesty."
"Where is that person? Is he still in the Imperial Hospital?" Xiao Du asked hurriedly.
Zuo Qiao shook his head and smiled bitterly, "That man is dead. He died in the same year as the late emperor. Sometimes I think that if I had not been dismissed, I might have been the one to die. This might be the great gift that the late emperor talked about."
Xiao Du let out a long breath and began tapping his fingers on the table. At this moment, the guess in his mind had slowly taken shape. However, if this guess was true, the calculations and tricks hidden between the emperor and the empress made him feel chilled.
"What? You said this prescription was a trap set up by the late emperor." Yuan Xi widened his eyes and said in disbelief.
Xiao Du nodded, his eyes fixed on the somewhat old tiger skin scroll in his hand. On the golden rice paper, there was a row of prescriptions written in beautiful and elegant handwriting, obviously from a woman's hand. This was what Master Hongyu handed to him that day.
According to Master Hongyu, when the late emperor was seriously ill, he specially sent his most loyal eunuch to call Master Hongyu to the dragon bed in the name of performing a ritual to pray for blessings. When no one was around, he carefully handed a small sandalwood box to him and repeatedly warned him that except for Xiao Du, he must not hand such a thing to anyone else, not even the future emperor.
The sandalwood box contained the written prescription. The tiger skin seal was a piece of paper that only the emperor and empress could use. Xiao Du speculated about the prescription for a long time and suspected that it was most likely written by the empress dowager. So he specifically asked Xia Qing to help him find out what happened back then, and also went to find Zuo Qiao, who asked him a shocking secret.
"What happened that year?" Yuan Xi couldn't help but ask when he didn't answer.
Xiao Du sighed and said, "I've consulted the Imperial Physician Zuo. The two herbs in this prescription are both good medicines if taken alone, but if taken together for a long time, they will become a deadly poison." He raised his head, stared at Yuan Xi with a sharp gaze and said, "This is the prescription that the late emperor took when he was on his deathbed and the empress dowager served him."
Yuan Xi took a deep breath. She thought about this for a long time before she murmured, "You mean..."
"That's right," Xiao Du clutched the paper in his hand and said slowly, "The late emperor was seriously ill that year, and the Imperial Hospital tried many methods but couldn't make him better. The late emperor knew that he didn't have much time left, but the prince was still young at that time and had always been under the control of Queen Mother Xia. The late emperor didn't want to see the Great Mu Kingdom fall into the hands of the Xia family, so he came up with a desperate plan. He deliberately revealed his dissatisfaction with Zuo Qiao. The Queen Mother wanted to fully understand his condition, so she dismissed Zuo Qiao and replaced the judge of the Imperial Hospital with her own confidant. The late emperor knew in his heart that at the last moment, the Queen Mother would... In order to gain the reputation of being in power in the future, and to closely monitor the late emperor's every move and ensure that her son can ascend the throne, she must serve by his side in person and play this drama well." He raised the prescription in his hand and continued, "But the queen mother must not have thought that the person she thought was a confidant was actually a chess piece planted by the late emperor beside her. Under the instruction of the late emperor, he prescribed this prescription with conflicting medicinal properties, and I don't know how he used to let the queen mother write a copy in person. So the medicine that the queen mother fed the late emperor every day turned into a deadly poison. All her intentions at that time had already led her to a deadly road."
Yuan Xi felt a little cold and said, "But since the late emperor has such a thing, it means he has the empress dowager's handle. If this matter is exposed, the empress dowager will be dead. Why didn't he give it to the current emperor back then, but hid it with Master Hongyu, waiting for you to find it someday?"
Xiao Du sighed and said, "Because he can never fully trust the emperor. After all, the emperor is the empress dowager's biological son. That's why he wants to hand this thing over to me and let me decide what to do. Maybe he still hopes that I can join forces with the emperor to defeat the Xia family."
He looked at the yellow paper in his hand, his heart was in turmoil. This was a father who used his life to buy an opportunity for his child, and an emperor who hoped to bring stability and peace to the people and the country. But he didn't expect that many years later, his two sons would become so entangled. Now, what should he do?