"The Empress Dowager has arrived!!"
Inside the Deyang Palace, just as Chen Fan and the others were anxiously looking around, a loud shout came from inside. They looked in the direction of the sound and saw Dou Miao walking in hurriedly.
As soon as Dou Miao entered the hall, she saw Chen Fan and others gathered around the bed, as well as Liu Hong lying on the bed. Dou Miao felt a pang of pain in her heart and quickly walked over.
"Your Majesty, we pay our respects..."
Dou Miao ignored Chen Fan and the others who came forward to greet her, her gaze fixed on Liu Hong lying on the couch.
"My Hong'er, what's wrong with you...?"
Sitting beside the bed, looking at Liu Hong's young face as he lay unconscious, Dou Miao couldn't help but feel a pang of sorrow. Her eyes reddened slightly as she reached out and gently stroked Liu Hong's cheek.
Seeing his daughter like this, Dou Wu couldn't help but sigh inwardly. The Empress Dowager truly treated the Emperor as her own son, or perhaps even more so than her own.
Chen Fan, Li Ying, Hu Guang, and others stood silently to the side. One was the Empress Dowager, who was alone and had no children, and the other was the young emperor who had come to the capital from his fiefdom far from his birth mother.
In this cold, deep palace, both of them were far from their families and had no one to rely on. The Empress Dowager treated the Emperor as her own son, and the Emperor was very respectful to the Empress Dowager. It was not surprising that the two of them could now have a mother-son relationship.
For a moment, only Dou Miaona's soft murmurs remained in Deyang Palace. Xiao Hong, standing to the side, also had reddened eyes, and two tears silently slid down her cheeks.
"Where is the Commander of the Imperial Guard...?"
Just as everyone was lost in thought, Dou Miao's extremely cold voice rang out.
"Your subject is here..."
Upon hearing this, Song Feng trembled and quickly stepped forward, bowing deeply.
Dou Miao then stood up, turned around and looked at Song Feng, who had his head down, her phoenix eyes flashing.
She immediately suspected that the Prince of Bohai was colluding with the Song family to cause trouble, but the matter was not yet clear, the emperor was in a coma, and she could not easily punish the ministers whom the emperor had personally promoted.
Feeling Dou Miao's extremely cold gaze, Song Feng felt his limbs go cold. He didn't understand why the Empress Dowager was looking at him like that.
"By imperial decree, immediately dispatch the Northern Army to relieve the Tiger Guard and garrison the Northern Palace... At the same time, send the Imperial Guards' subordinates, the Secret Cavalry, to patrol the palace walls. Anyone found acting suspiciously shall be executed on the spot..."
"promise!!"
Sensing the murderous intent in the Empress Dowager's words, Song Feng trembled and hurriedly turned to leave.
"You...go and take charge of protecting the Imperial Guard!!"
After Song Feng left, Dou Miao looked at a Yulin Lang from Hejian who was not far away.
"promise!!"
Upon hearing this, Yu Linlang immediately understood Dou Miao's meaning and turned to catch up with Song Feng.
"Song Dian...!"
"This servant...this servant is here...!"
"Immediately issue an edict to the Imperial Guard, ordering them to gather in front of Deyang Hall with their weapons. The Emperor intends to inspect them within the palace..."
"promise!!"
Although Dou Miao had never been to the Imperial Guard Camp, she knew that the young men there were loyal servants personally trained by the emperor, and their loyalty was no less than that of the Imperial Guardsmen from Hejian.
Dou Miao then issued a series of orders, summoning all the Imperial Guards that Liu Hong had brought from Hejian to the area around Deyang Palace to patrol and guard the area. Anyone found spying was to be executed on the spot!
"Xiao Hong!"
"I am here!"
"promise!"
"Immediately send someone to Hejian to bring the Emperor's birth mother over..."
Finally, disregarding the surprised looks of everyone, Dou Miao sent someone to fetch Liu Hong's birth mother, Dong Shi, but Chen Fan and the others did not object.
Just then, the sound of rapid hoofbeats came from outside the palace. At this time, apart from the few Imperial Guards who went to pick up Hua Tuo and his companions, probably no one else would dare to ride a horse in the palace.
Soon, led by three Imperial Guards, Hua Tuo and his two companions arrived, carrying their medicine chests and running all the way.
Without bothering with formalities or pleasantries, Hua Tuo and his two companions quickly sat down in front of the bed and began taking turns taking Liu Hong's pulse.
"Phew~"
After discovering that the emperor's pulse was stable and there was nothing wrong, Hua Tuo and the other two doctors finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"How is the Emperor's condition...?"
Seeing Hua Tuo and the other two get up, Dou Miao glanced at the unconscious Liu Hong, her brows furrowed with undisguised anxiety.
Hua Tuo respectfully reported, "Your Majesty, according to our examination, His Majesty's pulse is stable and there is nothing unusual!"
"The emperor was perfectly fine, so how could he suddenly fall into a coma...?"
Upon hearing this, Dou Miao frowned, her displeasure evident in her words.
Dong Gan respectfully replied, "Your Majesty, I observe that His Majesty's complexion is sallow, his lips are pale, his eyes are slightly sunken, and his cheekbones are prominent. It seems that he has been working day and night for a long time, without eating or drinking, which has led to an imbalance of yin and yang, exhaustion of his mind and body, and thus his sudden fainting due to physical weakness!"
Dou Miao frowned deeply. "So, the emperor was literally worn out like this...?"
Dong Gan paused slightly, then said, "Your Majesty, that is indeed the case!"
"Then His Majesty will be entrusted to the three physicians! We must wake the Emperor up as soon as possible!"
Looking at Liu Hong's gaunt face, Dou Miao's eyes were filled with heartache.
"Please rest assured, Your Majesty, we will do everything in our power to save His Majesty..."
Dou Miao nodded, then looked at Xiao Hong beside her, "You stay here and help take care of the Emperor!"
"promise!!"
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