Yuan Yuan suddenly woke up from his dream.
When I opened my eyes, it was pitch black all around.
The candles in the room had gone out sometime ago.
After the Mid-Autumn Festival, the nights are a bit chilly.
Yuan Yuan adjusted to the darkness before looking toward the source of the sound.
"Chi Ying?"
Yuan Yuan immediately regained his senses.
He quickly threw off the covers and got out of bed.
He first fumbled for a tinderbox, then took a candle from the bedside cabinet and lit it.
Upon closer inspection, one could see that the quilt on the soft couch not far away had already been kicked off the floor by Chi Ying.
Chi Ying herself was covered in sweat.
The sweat glistened in the candlelight.
Yuan Yuan held up a candle, walked to the soft couch, half-squatted down, and reached out to touch Chi Ying's forehead.
The moment he touched it, he immediately withdrew his hand.
hot!
Chi Ying's forehead was frighteningly hot.
Not just his forehead, his whole body was burning up!
Yuan Yuan placed the candle on the candlestick not far from the soft couch and nudged Chi Ying: "Hey, wake up!"
"hot……"
Chi Ying's eyes were tightly closed, her face was flushed with an unnatural red, and her lips were pale and cracked.
Yuan Yuan was both angry and anxious.
He rolled up his sleeves and hurriedly went to find a handkerchief and water, both to cool down Chi Ying and to give him water...
After finishing his work, Yuan Yuan looked at the still-warm pool and had no choice but to pick up his medicine bag and go out.
It was still dark.
A large, bright full moon hung coldly in the sky.
The silvery moonlight spilled across the courtyard.
Last night was the Mid-Autumn Festival, and the whole city was celebrating.
It was only around midnight that things quieted down.
The inn was quiet at this time.
Fortunately, Yuan Yuan was very familiar with this inn.
Yuan Shanglu rarely went home, and Madam Yuan didn't care about him. But he was not short of money, so he often went out to play with a group of young men from aristocratic families.
When we got tired of playing, we went to sleep in the room that the inn had reserved for us.
Yuan Yuan groped his way into the kitchen, lit a candle, took out a dusty medicine jar, washed it clean, and then, with great effort, started a fire...
At daybreak, Yuan Yuan carried a basin of dark medicine out of the kitchen.
I almost bumped into someone when I went out.
The sleepy-eyed waiter jumped back, saw Yuan Yuan's face covered in soot, and exclaimed, "A ghost..."
"Don't shout!" Yuan Yuan quickly stopped him: "It's me!"
"Young Master Yuan...?" The waiter stared at him in shock.
Yuan Yuan nodded: "Go to sleep. When you wake up later, go get me some medicine."
I'll give you the prescription; go to several pharmacies..."
After dismissing the servants, Yuan Yuan returned to his room.
The pool's reflection is still burning.
After the medicine cooled down a bit, Yuan Yuan used chopsticks to pry open Chi Ying's mouth and force-feed him the medicine.
One bowl wasn't enough, so he simply poured the entire basin of medicine down his throat.
About half an hour later, the shadow finally quieted down.
Yuan Yuan breathed a sigh of relief.
He stretched his aching arms, planning to take another nap before going home.
Just then, a knock sounded on the door: "Young Master Yuan, it's me."
Yuan Yuan straightened his clothes and said, "Come in."
The shop assistant, carrying a large bundle of wrapped medicine packets, squeezed through the door, placed all the medicine on the table, and wiped his sweat: "Young Master Yuan, something's happened!"
Something happened?
Yuan Yuan paused for a moment, then asked, "What's wrong?"
"It wasn't anything particularly big!" The shopkeeper said with a gossipy look, "It's just... I went to buy medicine and ran into people from General Dingjun's mansion!"
The Dingjun General's Mansion?
Yuan Yuan was taken aback.
At this moment, the waiter cautiously reminded him, "Young Master Yuan, have you forgotten? Weren't you engaged to Miss Lin from the Dingjun General's Mansion?"
Yuan Yuan certainly hadn't forgotten.
He has a marriage arranged since childhood.
The betrothed is the eldest daughter of General Dingjun's family.
That young lady's name is Lin Xiwu.
The reason for the engagement was that many years ago, Lin Xiwu fell ill and could not be cured no matter what treatment she received, so she was sent back to the capital from the camp outside the capital.
At that moment, Yuan Shanglu treated her, and as a result, she was cured.
Grateful for Yuan Shanglu's kindness in saving their daughter, and seeing that Yuan Shanglu's eldest son, Yuan Yuan, was exceptionally intelligent and handsome, the Lin family, half-jokingly, arranged the marriage...
Yuan Yuan didn't seem to care much about marriage.
He frowned and looked at the waiter: "What happened to the Lin family?"
The waiter then lowered his voice and said, "I don't know what happened, but the Lin family's general has returned to the capital in civilian clothes."
General...return to the capital?
Yuan Yuan frowned even more deeply.
How could a general stationed at the military camp be allowed to return to the capital?
Unless... he was summoned back by the emperor!
Could it be that something has happened in the capital?
Yuan Yuan suddenly turned around and looked at Chi Ying, who was sleeping soundly with her eyes closed on the soft couch.
The waiter was startled: "Young Master Yuan, what's wrong? Don't frighten me..."
"Silence!" Yuan Yuan said to the waiter, "The person on the bed is the young master of a wealthy merchant from Yicheng who came to the capital for the festival. His surname is... Zhang."
Young Master Zhang lost a lot of money gambling at the casino, got beaten up, and then I jumped down from the persimmon tree and smashed it...
He is extremely valuable, so you must keep a close eye on him and not allow anyone to take him away, understand?
I will go back and write a letter, and ask someone to take it to Yicheng.
His family will be back to pick him up soon.
"You'll definitely get your share of the reward!"
tips?
The waiter's eyes lit up, and he nodded vigorously: "Young Master Yuan, please rest assured! I understand!"
Yuan Yuan tidied himself up hastily and hurried back to the Yuan residence in the morning light.
The Yuan Mansion was still shrouded in silence in the early morning.
The servants and maids in the courtyard were yawning as they swept and shoveled...
Yuan Yuan climbed over the wall and, seeing the courtyard was quiet, leaped into the yard.
He smoothed the wrinkles on his clothes, straightened his long, black, and lustrous hair, and leisurely pushed open the door.
After a creak, he stood frozen in the doorway: "Father?"
Inside the room, Yuan Shanglu, dressed in a bamboo-green brocade robe, was looking at a painting.
Hearing the voice, Yuan Shanglu turned around: "You're back?"
Having stayed out all night, Yuan Yuan was caught red-handed. He chuckled dryly and said, "Father, I didn't mean to stay out overnight."
Last night, I wandered around for a while, but seeing that it was too dark, I stayed at an inn outside..."
However, before he could finish speaking, Yuan Shanglu interrupted him: "A Yuan, you smell of blood and medicine on you."
Yuan Yuan: "..."
He couldn't laugh anymore.
Yuan Shanglu looked him up and down before slowly saying, "Last night, an assassin entered the palace."
Numerous assassins have infiltrated both the Eastern Palace and the Jin Cui Palace.
Jin Cui Palace?
Yuan Yuan hurriedly asked, "Is Auntie alright?"
Yuan Shanglu replied, "He wasn't injured, but he must have been quite frightened."
It's a miracle I wasn't injured!
Yuan Yuan glanced at the sky and immediately said, "Father, I'm going to the palace today to see Aunt!"
"A-Yuan." Yuan Shanglu said, his eyes serious. "I'm telling you this not so you'll worry about Consort Yuan."
Ah Yuan, think about it.
Why would an assassin choose to enter the palace on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival to carry out an assassination?
Why did the assassins only enter the East Palace and the Jin Cui Palace?
And why is it that the Crown Prince was injured, while the Jin Cui Palace remained unharmed?
Why...
Why was it precisely when Yuan Shanglu, the head of the Imperial Medical Academy, was not in the palace?
Yuan Yuan gasped, then looked sharply at Yuan Shanglu: "Someone... wants to harm Aunt and the young prince, wants to harm the Yuan family?"
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