The moonlight was quiet, and the emperor, who had already rested, was suddenly awakened by Song Qu's anxious voice outside the tent, "Your Majesty, please wake up! There is an assassin!"
Gu Qilan's eyes suddenly cleared up, and he sat up suddenly, "What's going on?"
Song Qu opened the bed curtains, his face filled with anxiety, "Your Majesty, an assassin has been discovered in Ci'en Temple, and the Imperial Concubine is injured."
Hearing this, Gu Qilan was about to say something when he was interrupted by a series of coughs.
Song Qu hurried forward to calm him down, "Your Majesty, please don't worry. Take care of yourself. The assassins have been dealt with."
Gu Qilan suppressed the itch in his throat and asked anxiously, "How is the imperial concubine?"
Song Qu hurriedly said, "The Imperial Concubine was stabbed and is unconscious. I have already asked the accompanying imperial physician to treat her. Your Majesty, please rest assured that the Imperial Concubine is blessed with good fortune and will be fine."
Gu Qilan didn't want to listen, so he pushed Song Qu away, casually put on some clothes and went straight to Ning Yuxi's yard.
At this moment, the lights in Ning Yuxi's courtyard were brightly lit. The Queen was standing anxiously outside the house. When Gu Qilan arrived, he wanted to go in to see Ning Yuxi. The Queen hurriedly stopped him and said, "Your Majesty, the imperial physician is treating Ning Yuxi inside. If you go in, it will inevitably distract the imperial physician."
Gu Qilan stopped, his face as gloomy as the abyss, "Where's Qin Ce? Ask him to come see me!"
After a while, Song Qu brought over the accompanying imperial guard commander Qin Ce.
Without waiting for Qin Ce to salute, Gu Qilan asked, "What's going on? What are you doing? Such a thing happened right under my nose!"
Qin Ce lowered his head in shame and said, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. I failed in my duty and I am willing to accept the punishment."
Gu Qilan snorted coldly, "I'm not here to listen to your nonsense. What happened at that time? Why was the concubine injured by the assassin?"
"Your Majesty, when the incident happened, Deputy Commander Ning happened to be patrolling near the Imperial Concubine's residence. He heard the noise and rushed over to rescue the Imperial Concubine." The implication was that it would be better to ask Deputy Commander Ning about this matter.
"Ning Chen? Where is he? Ask him to come over and answer." Gu Qilan ordered in a calm voice.
Ning Chen arrived not long after. He had just finished treating his wounds, and now his steps were slow and his breathing was heavy. It was obvious that he was injured. "Your Majesty, I, Ning Chen, pay my respects to you."
"Stand up." Gu Qilan frowned and motioned Song Qu to ask someone to come over and help him.
"What happened at that time? Why did those assassins hurt the imperial concubine?"
Ning Chen eased his wound and clasped his fists, replying, "Your Majesty, I was leading an inspection when I heard cries for help from the garden. I rushed over and saw four or five assassins attempting to harm the Imperial Concubine. Although I killed the assassins, the Imperial Concubine was still injured. I deserve death, but Your Majesty, please punish me."
After saying that, Ning Chen knelt down and bowed.
At this time, the imperial physician came out after finishing the examination. When he saw the person, Gu Qilan didn't bother to ask Ning Chen anymore, and hurriedly asked, "How is the imperial concubine?"
The Imperial Physician replied, "Your Majesty, the knife wound on the Imperial Concubine is not fatal. It's just... the knife was smeared with poison. The poison is very strong. The Imperial Concubine has been poisoned and is now unconscious. I have used acupuncture to protect the Imperial Concubine's heart meridian, but I am incompetent and do not know how to neutralize the poison..."
"Poisoned?" Gu Qilan frowned tightly, "Is there really no way?"
The imperial physician thought for a moment and said, "Divine Doctor Zhong is very skilled. Perhaps we could ask him to come and take a look. If even Divine Doctor Zhong can't help, I'm afraid no one else can cure this poison."
Upon hearing this, Gu Qilan directly asked Song Qu to send someone to invite Doctor Zhong.
Over the past year, Doctor Zhong has been taking care of his health. In order to facilitate the treatment, he gave Doctor Zhong a mansion to live in, which is not far from Ci'en Temple.
About half an hour later, the genius doctor Zhong was invited in. He was wearing a gray robe, and his half-white hair was tied up with a simple wooden hairpin. Although he was over fifty years old, his face did not look old.
Divine Doctor Zhong bowed to the Emperor and asked directly, "Where is the person?"
"It's inside." Song Qu led people into the inner hall.
It was not until two hours later that Doctor Zhong came out of the house with a tired look on his face.
Gu Qilan's brows were filled with anxiety, "Divine Doctor Zhong, the Imperial Concubine..."
Before he could finish his words, Gu Qilan started coughing violently.
Seeing this, Doctor Zhong said in a tone of reproach, "Your Majesty, even if you care about the Imperial Concubine, you must also pay attention to your own health. I have told you before that you cannot overwork your body, and you must not stay awake."
As a doctor, I naturally don’t like patients who don’t cooperate with treatment and don’t follow doctor’s orders.
Gu Qilan stopped coughing and waved his hand, saying, "I'm fine. Doctor Zhong, how is the imperial concubine doing?"
Doctor Zhong sighed, "I have already expelled the poison from the Madam's body, but the poison is very strong and fierce. Although the imperial physician used acupuncture to protect the Madam's heart meridian in time, the poison still damaged her body. Whether she can wake up depends on herself."
"What do you mean, Doctor Zhong? Are you saying that the imperial concubine might not wake up?" Gu Qilan asked.
Doctor Zhong shook his head and sighed, "I have done my best. The rest is up to fate."
After seeing off Doctor Zhong, Gu Qilan felt a tightness in his heart as he looked at the pale and lifeless person lying on the bed.
"Any clues about the murderer?" Gu Qilan looked at Ning Chen calmly.
Ning Chen replied, "Your Majesty, have you heard of bounty hunters? Those assassins are probably killers who specialize in this kind of business. These people's whereabouts are erratic and they don't even have a real place to stay. They have their own unique contact methods. If the assassination fails and they fall into the hands of the enemy, they will immediately commit suicide and will not betray any information about the buyer."
"Bounty hunter? Does that mean we can't find the real murderer?"
Ning Chen clasped his fists and bowed his head, gritting his teeth and saying, "Your Majesty, I will definitely find the murderer!"
…
For three whole days, Ning Yuxi lay in bed with no signs of waking up.
Seeing the emperor's face gradually becoming gloomy as he sat beside the bed, Ruyi, who was standing beside him, gritted her teeth and suddenly knelt before the emperor and shouted angrily: "Your Majesty, this servant knows who the murderer is!"
Gu Qilan suddenly turned to look at her, "Do you know who the murderer is?"
Ruyi said firmly, "Yes, I know. The murderer is... the Queen!"
Seeing this, Luoying hurriedly warned: "Ruyi, don't talk nonsense in front of the emperor."
Ruyi turned her head and looked straight at Luoying, "Am I talking nonsense? Last time, when the Third Prince was sick, the Queen had a difficult labor and almost lost both her life and her life. It was all done by the Queen. She was determined to kill the Queen, but the Queen was lucky enough to survive.
She then hatched another vicious plan, believing that the Empress' assassination attempt must have been ordered by the Queen. Since the palace was heavily guarded, she requested to leave the palace to pray, as this would give her a chance..."
"Ruyi!" Luoying interrupted her harshly, then quickly knelt down and pleaded with the emperor, "Your Majesty, Ruyi was too worried about the Empress, so she spoke nonsense. I beg Your Majesty to forgive her."
Gu Qilan's face was as cold as ice. He pointed at Ruyi and said, "You, tell me everything!"
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