The moonlight enveloped the palace, and the emperor felt a little tired. He had been going to the harem in recent days and had fun every night. In addition, the affairs of the previous dynasty were tedious, and he basically had not had a good rest.

After enduring this twice in a row, the emperor felt as if his body was somewhat drained.

"Your Majesty, this is the ginseng soup that was just delivered from the imperial kitchen. Have a few sips to soothe your spirits!"

The eunuch who has accompanied the emperor for many years is so considerate and always able to perceive the emperor's needs at the first time.

The steaming ginseng soup had a faint ginseng aroma. The emperor took the soup and drank two sips.

"The chef who made the ginseng soup recently has become much better than before. It smells much better, and there's even a faint smell of other medicinal herbs mixed in."

The emperor casually praised him, and the chief eunuch Su Xi followed up and said, "Being praised by the emperor must be a blessing for this cook in his previous life. It's already great to be able to make a bowl of hot ginseng soup for you, the emperor!"

The ginseng soup had been finished, and the empty bowl was placed beside him. The emperor rubbed his dizzy head and said, "I won't turn over the cards today. I want to go to bed early!"

The chief eunuch Su Xi nodded, blew out the candle, and then asked the palace maids and eunuchs serving in the palace to leave first.

He was left alone to guard the emperor.

The emperor gradually fell into a deep sleep and his breathing became regular.

In fact, calming herbs were put into the bowl of ginseng soup so that the emperor could rest earlier today.

When the emperor fell asleep on the bed, Suxi stood by the window holding a candle.

This was the secret code between him and Zhao Ji.

In less than half an incense stick of time, Zhao Ji climbed over the wall and entered. At this time, Zhao Ji was dressed in night clothes.

However, the chief eunuch Su Xi was not surprised: "Your Excellency is here. The emperor is already asleep. The box of elixirs was put away by the emperor himself. This is what Master Zhang had told the emperor not to let anyone else handle it."

"The last time the emperor took the elixir, I vaguely saw that the elixir was hidden in a secret compartment somewhere under the dragon's body."

Zhao Ji nodded when he heard this: "Now that we know the approximate location, I can go find it. The emperor drank the ginseng soup today, did he show any signs of improvement?"

The chief eunuch Su Xi said repeatedly: "The emperor has been feeling tired recently. He drank the ginseng soup and thought it was due to physical reasons, so he felt sleepy. He rested early and did not have any other reaction!"

Zhao Ji nodded: "Then come with me to find where the elixir that Master Zhang gave me is hidden!"

The two of them tiptoed around in the dimly lit bedroom searching for her.

Because it was just a sedative, the two of them didn't dare to move too much, for fear of waking the emperor up.

Zhao Ji reached out his hand and fumbled around the dragon bed for a long time, but couldn't find the secret compartment.

"Are you sure it's here? It seems there's no hidden compartment here..."

Eunuch Suxi was also quite anxious because what they were doing today could cost them their lives.

As long as the emperor woke up now and saw Zhao Ji colluding with his chief eunuch and searching in his bedroom, his first reaction would definitely be that the two were plotting a rebellion or had ulterior motives.

Both of them will lose their heads then.

But they had been searching for quite a while now, but still hadn't found anything. Just at this moment, the emperor suddenly spoke in his sleep, and no one could hear what it was, and then the emperor turned over.

This scared both of them. At that moment, Zhao Ji, who was at the tail of the dragon bed, didn't dare to move, and the same was true for Su Xi.

After a long wait, the emperor recovered and began to breathe regularly, and then the two men began to move slowly.

At this moment, Zhao Ji suddenly saw that the place where the emperor had just turned over and exposed seemed to have an uneven bulge.

So, with a tentative mindset, he walked over and touched that place with his hand.

"There seems to be a secret compartment here!"

Zhao Ji said this in a low voice, and both the chief eunuch Su Xi and he were delighted.

Then he reached out and opened the place.

Sure enough, I saw a black box, which faintly smelled like medicine.

Zhao Ji took this thing out and opened it, revealing a few pills.

"Is this what the emperor usually eats?" Zhao Ji didn't dare. After confirming, he turned around and asked the chief eunuch Su Xi.

Su Xi looked through it carefully, then a look of joy appeared on her face, and she nodded: "This is it, the emperor has already eaten three pills, and now there are only nine left. The quantity is right, and the taste is right, this is it!"

As a result, Zhao Ji felt relieved and took out the fake pill that the director of the Imperial Hospital had prepared for him from his pocket.

This pill is actually a tonic pill formulated according to the emperor's current physical condition.

The head of the Imperial Hospital said before that the emperor’s current health condition is not suitable for taking the pills given by Master Zhang. If he insists on taking them, his body will be easily drained and he may even die!

So Zhao Ji came up with an idea. He asked the director of the Imperial Medical Bureau to prepare some tonic pills and let the emperor take them slowly.

He then played a trick of replacing the prince with a cat and stole the real person's pill. This would make it easier to study how many harmful substances were put in the pill, and also to treat the emperor's body.

After completing this act of replacing the prince with a cat, the chief eunuch Su Xi breathed a sigh of relief.

"Sir, you should return the way you came. I will find an excuse to lead those guards to the west in a little while. As for the rest, please be careful!"

Zhao Ji nodded to the eunuch and went out through the window he came in through.

The next morning, the emperor woke up yawning, "I haven't had such a good sleep in a long time. It seems I should rest early at night!"

Su Xi came over with a smile and helped the emperor put on his court robes, and echoed: "Look at the emperor, he got enough sleep today, and his complexion is much better!"

The emperor loved to hear this, and he laughed heartily: "This is also due to the merit of Master Zhang's elixir!"

Su Xi did not agree, but helped the emperor to wash and dress.

There was nothing happening in the court today, and the emperor felt that everything was going well today.

When it was time for lunch, I noticed a few more soups on the table.

"Is there a new chef in the imperial kitchen? I noticed that the dishes recently have more pigeon soup and other things, and even some dishes have some leaves that I don't recognize put in them."

The emperor was cautious and did not pick up his chopsticks.

Su Xi smiled as she served the dishes and said, "Indeed, there is a new chef. This chef is from the common people and has some skills. For example, the leaves added to these dishes are actually some medicinal herbs in the common people, but in the hands of this chef, they are a seasoning that can enhance the taste of the dishes!"