In Changchun Palace, Lanqin was looking at a booklet. The Fourth Prince had only recently ascended the throne, and the national treasury was empty, so all expenditures had to be cut back. Lanqin decided to start with the Imperial Household Department.
Suddenly, a young palace maid from the Fourth Prince's household ran in crying and knelt on the ground, sobbing, "It's terrible, Your Highness! The Prince has fainted..."
Lanqin jumped up in shock, dropping the booklet in her hand and asking, "What? How could she have fainted?"
The young palace maid shook her head: "This morning I went in to wake the prince, but there was no response for a long time. When I opened the door, the prince was unconscious. We don't know what to do, Your Highness, please go and see him..."
Lanqin felt dizzy and quickly grabbed Yuxiao's arm to steady herself. She said to Baoqin, "Quick, quick, go and fetch the imperial physician... We'll go to the Prince's residence now..."
After saying that, Lanqin led several palace maids and hurriedly followed the little palace maid away.
When they arrived at the prince's residence, the imperial physician was already diagnosing Hongli.
Lanqin saw that Hongli on the bed was pale and his lips were bluish. Her heart ached and tears streamed down her face.
The servants inside the room stood trembling with fear, not daring to utter a sound.
Since the imperial physicians couldn't come up with a solution immediately, Lanqin had no choice but to ask Granny Wang, who was in charge of Hongli's affairs, for advice.
"Wang Mama, why did Hongli faint?" Wang Mama's legs went weak, and she collapsed to her knees, too frightened to speak. Her hands trembled uncontrollably. "Greetings, Your Highness Consort Xi, this servant... this servant really didn't know..."
Lanqin knew that getting anxious wouldn't get her any answers, so she calmed herself down and said, "Think about it carefully again? Did Hongli act strangely before? Tell me the truth, and I won't blame you..."
Beads of sweat the size of soybeans appeared on Wang Mama's forehead. She wiped them haphazardly with her sleeve, stammered, and racked her brains for a long time, but couldn't think of anything unusual. She then prostrated herself on the ground and cried, "Your Highness, I really can't figure it out! The Prince has always been healthy, rarely even suffering from headaches or fevers. I haven't heard him say he's feeling unwell these past few days, and he was fine yesterday too. This morning he's like this... I deserve to die for failing to take good care of the Prince. Your Highness, please punish me..."
Seeing that Granny Wang really couldn't figure it out, Lanqin turned to Hongli's attendant, Xiao Guizi, and asked, "You...you've always been with Hongli, you know everything about him best...you tell me..."
Xiao Guizi was already nervous, and when Lanqin asked, he hurriedly knelt on the ground, frantically trying to recall: "Your Highness, the Prince has been fine all along. He was studying late yesterday and there was nothing unusual about him."
Lanqin was anxious and angry. She slammed her hand on the table and scolded, "Your Hongli was perfectly fine, so why has he become like this today?"
All the palace maids and eunuchs knelt on the ground with a thud, trembling with fear, and said, "Your Highness, please calm your anger. We failed to take good care of the prince. Please punish us, Your Highness..."
Lanqin looked at the mass of people on the ground, unable to explain what was going on, but Hongli lay motionless on the bed. She felt both heartache and anger, and suppressed her rage while waiting for the imperial physician's diagnosis.
After a while, the imperial physician finally came out of the inner room. Lanqin hurriedly went up to him and asked anxiously, "Imperial Physician, what's wrong with Hongli?"
The imperial physician bowed, his brow furrowed in worry, and said, "Your Highness, please calm down. According to my diagnosis, the prince is not ill..."
Lanqin was shocked and asked blankly, "Not sick? Then what is it? Why is Hongli unconscious?"
The imperial physician hesitated but then spoke up: "Judging from the prince's condition, he has likely been poisoned..."
"Poisoning?"
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