Xuan Tianmo racked his brains but could not figure out the truth of the matter. He ordered people to carry the woman on the bed to the servants' room, but did not throw her out of the mansion, nor did he kill her. He even invited a doctor to treat her. He was still hoping that the woman would remember something after waking up, such as how she left the palace and how she entered Prince Sheng's mansion. Even a tiny clue would be very important to him.
On this day, the atmosphere in the palace was not relaxed. First, during the morning court session, Emperor Huang Tianwu found that the Eighth Prince did not come, and no one asked for leave. He was anxious and immediately sent Wu Ying to the Sheng Palace to inquire about the situation. But the people in the Sheng Palace could not say that their master was late for the morning court session because he was favoring a woman! So they could only claim illness for the Eighth Prince, saying that the Eighth Prince suddenly fell ill last night and was too sick to attend the court session, and hoped that the emperor would atone for his sins.
When Wu Ying brought the news back to the palace, the morning court had already ended and Emperor Tianwu was eating snacks with Concubine Yuan Shu. When the news of the Eighth Prince's illness came, both of them were very worried. The Emperor immediately ordered the Imperial Hospital to send someone to Prince Sheng's Mansion to treat the Eighth Prince.
When the imperial physician arrived at Prince Sheng's mansion, Xuan Tianmo was bathing. While bathing, he felt distressed about his lower body. The soreness and pain were something he would never forget in his life.
The imperial physician waited outside for a long time before seeing Xuan Tianmo. But Xuan Tianmo had no illness for them to see. He let the imperial physician feel his pulse in a serious manner. The imperial physician thought that the Eighth Prince was not sick at all? But since he said he was sick, he must have his own plans. He was smart. Considering the current situation of the Eighth Prince and Concubine Yuan Shu, and the attitude of the Emperor, he tricked the Eighth Prince into catching a cold due to the cold weather, and then prescribed a warm tonic prescription, which would not do any harm.
Xuan Tianmo was very satisfied with the doctor's understanding of the situation, and gave him a reward to send him back. However, he did not expect that when the doctor left the palace, he happened to meet two doctors who also came to the Sheng Palace to see patients. However, the two doctors were seeing the woman, not the Eighth Prince. After leaving the palace, the two of them whispered as they walked, and one of them asked the other: "Is this really not something we can talk about?"
The person next to him nodded and said firmly: "You must not tell anyone! If we tell anyone, we will die."
"But why? She's just a woman, and she doesn't seem to have any status. She might be a singer or dancer found somewhere. If she gets sick, just throw her away. She's not the mistress of the mansion. What's there to hide? Isn't that what we're here to treat?"
The other person shook his head, "That's not what we came to see. We came here to save the woman's life. The Eighth Prince might still need her. Even a fool can see from the woman's condition that she had just been deflowered by someone else. She could have been deflowered in the Sheng Palace and had a doctor to treat her. Who else could have deflowered her except the Eighth Prince? If she had such a disease, how could the Eighth Prince who had sex with her not be infected! We should pretend that we don't know about this. It's best for us to pack up and leave the capital as soon as we go back. Otherwise, once the Eighth Prince finds out that she is sick, the first thing he will do is to kill her to keep this secret. Let's not delay any more. Escaping is the most important thing."
Seeing the two doctors' quickening pace, the imperial physician from the palace broke out in a cold sweat. He stopped, turned his head and looked at the Sheng Palace not far behind him, feeling conflicted.
Should he tell the Eighth Prince about this? He had just checked the Eighth Prince's pulse, but if he had sex last night, he would not be able to diagnose any symptoms in such a short time. But if it was true as the two doctors said, the woman was sick, and the Eighth Prince would definitely not be able to escape. Under the current circumstances, if he didn't tell, this matter would never be traced to him in the future, because the Eighth Prince would have symptoms at least five days later. What if he told him? Then he would have an opportunity to stand on the side of the Eighth Prince and Concubine Yuan Shu. Judging from the emperor's current attitude, the throne would sooner or later belong to the Eighth Prince.
He was a little excited, but after thinking about it, he felt that his thoughts were too impulsive. The emperor has only been good to the Eighth Prince and Concubine Yuan Shu for a few days? He has been good to the Ninth Prince for so many years! This matter needs to be observed for a while.
No one in Prince Sheng's mansion knew that the woman was ill. The two doctors only gave her medicine to stop bleeding and prescribed a lot of tonic prescriptions to save her life. At this moment, at the other end of the palace, Concubine Yuan Shu looked at Zi Rui, who came to accompany Emperor Tianwu for dinner and looked normal, and she felt conflicted.
How come this child looks the same as yesterday? Normally, at such a young age, if he was suddenly assigned to be the one who knows the truth, he should at least come and ask the emperor? Or ask the servants? Even if he doesn't ask anyone, it should be a little bit unnatural. Why does he look like nothing happened? Could it be... She thought to herself, could it be that this child had already had sex before last night? But she didn't think so!
Yuan Shufei's gaze was very direct, and Zirui could naturally feel it, but he remembered Feng Yuheng's instructions to him before he left, so he tried his best to keep himself in the same state as yesterday, as if nothing had happened and everything was normal.
Emperor Tianwu was talking to Zirui with a smile, and from time to time he took a bite of the food that Concubine Yuan Shu brought to him. He looked very good. Concubine Yuan Shu was calculating in her heart. For the first time, she was a little anxious about why Emperor Tianwu hadn't finished his dinner. After finishing the meal, she would go to read the memorials so that she could have a chance to find the woman and ask about what happened last night. She felt uneasy in her heart, and always felt that what happened last night was going to be bad, but after thinking about it, she couldn't imagine what could happen in this heavily guarded palace where everyone was her own people.
Finally, after dinner, Emperor Tianwu talked to Zirui for a while, asked about his homework, and then let Zirui go. Zirui politely saluted Emperor Tianwu and Concubine Yuan Shu, and was also respectful to Concubine Yuan Shu, without any resentment. After the ceremony, he left Zhaohe Hall and returned to his own small palace. Concubine Yuan Shu personally waited for Emperor Tianwu to rinse his mouth, and then accompanied him to sit at the table in the outer hall. She did not leave until Emperor Tianwu began to read the memorials. Before leaving, Emperor Tianwu said reluctantly: "Why don't you not go back to Cunshan Palace? It's cold outside and the road is still far. Just rest in Zhaohe Hall. You still have to come here in the evening anyway."
Concubine Yuan Shu hurriedly thanked the emperor, but still insisted on going back, saying that she should not be arrogant because of her favor, as this would give people something to talk about.
Emperor Tianwu felt very comfortable hearing these sensible words, and he nodded to let her leave, while constantly instructing her: "Just wait for me in the palace, and I will send someone to pick you up after I finish reviewing the memorials." The two of them looked like a loving couple.
Concubine Yuan Shu did return to Cunshan Palace, but the first thing she did after returning was to call the nanny who was close to her. Before, the imperial physician who had been treating the Eighth Prince from Sheng Palace returned to the palace to report to the Emperor, saying that the Eighth Prince had caught a cold, but it was not serious and he would be fine after taking a few doses of medicine. But now she was panicking, thinking that what happened to Feng Zirui last night might be related to her son, but what was the connection?
The nanny who was in charge of training sensible people in the palace came to Concubine Yuan Shu tremblingly, knelt down with a plop, and said directly: "I am guilty, please punish me, Concubine Shu."
Concubine Yuan Shu's hand trembled, and the hot tea spilled out, scalding her mouth. But she didn't care about her hand at this moment, and quickly asked the maid: "What happened? Tell me!"
The nanny said with an empty voice, "The girl Xiaowan who was assigned to the young master of the Feng family disappeared last night! Someone from the young master of the Feng family came to report this morning, saying that the young master of the Feng family was sleeping soundly alone, his clothes were neatly dressed, and his bed was tidy. There was no one else in the room except him. Xiaowan did go in, and the servants saw her, and they heard voices after she went in. But then there was no movement, and they thought she fell asleep, and they also thought that the two of them were quiet and couldn't hear anything. But they found out that Xiaowan was missing this morning, and asked the young master of the Feng family again, but he said that no one had entered his room last night, and he slept very soundly and didn't know anything."
Concubine Yuan Shu was shocked, "Missing? How is that possible!" The palace is now as tight as a cage, and all the arrangements are made by the Eighth Prince. How could a woman disappear for no reason? "Have you looked for her?"
"I also feel that the situation is serious. I have ordered people to search the palace secretly for a whole day, but I can't find even a trace of him." The nanny was also puzzled. "It's as if the person suddenly disappeared, and it's as if he never showed up at all. Just like what the young master of the Feng family said, nothing happened last night."
Concubine Yuan Shu was shocked and broke out in a cold sweat. No wonder Feng Zirui acted so naturally today. It turned out that he fell asleep last night and didn't even know that the woman had been there. The woman was only there for a short while and must have failed to succeed, and then she disappeared. What was the reason? Did the woman hide herself, or did Feng Zirui have helpers?
She was puzzled, but she didn't make it difficult for the maid. She just said, "Keep looking for me, even if you have to dig three feet deep in this palace, you must find the person for me! Also, don't worry about the concubines' palaces, search them one by one. Just say that I lost the bracelet that the emperor gave me when I entered the palace. Every corner must be searched, even the old queen's Jingci Palace, can't be spared!"
After this order was given, the palace immediately began a blatant search, causing all the concubines in the harem to sigh bitterly, but they dared not say anything. Concubine Yuan Shu was now the apple of Emperor Tianwu's eye. Even the Empress chose to tolerate her, and Concubine Lian Yun did not take any action. What else could they do?
Unfortunately, after searching for nearly a whole night, there was no result. Everyone in the harem couldn't sleep well. They were all wondering what was wrong with Concubine Yuan Shu. Was she really just looking for a bracelet?
In the face of such a search, the one who was most afraid was actually Concubine Li. She was not afraid of finding a bracelet, but she was afraid that the things in her room would be discovered by outsiders. What would she do if the memorial tablet and the coffin were discovered?
However, the more you fear something, the more likely it is to happen. She had so many things that she had no place to hide them. The people who came in to search found them in a few seconds, and people couldn't help but be shocked. The leading nanny thought about the relationship between Concubine Li and Concubine Yuan Shu, and did not make it public. Instead, she chose to temporarily stabilize Concubine Li and secretly sent someone to report to Concubine Shu...
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