After Ye Zhen agreed to help Helian Qing find his uncle, he kept asking people to investigate the doctor surnamed Li who practiced medicine in the capital back then.
However, no one matched Helian Qing's description. She then ordered an investigation into the physician surnamed Li who left the capital years ago, but no information has been found yet.
Unexpectedly, Xie Tingzhou found it first, and Ye Zhen's attention was immediately drawn. "Who is it?"
"During the smallpox outbreak, Imperial Physician Li Shiling was instructed by Ye Wantang to steal the prescription from the Marquis's residence."
"It was him?"
Ye Zhen was taken aback. "But Helian Qing said that his maternal family were just ordinary doctors, while Li Shiling's ancestors were imperial physicians. This is different from what Helian Qing said."
When she was investigating people, she also considered the possibility that members of the Li family could pass the imperial physician examination, so she also paid attention to imperial physicians with the surname Li in the capital at that time.
Xie Tingzhou nodded, "That's right, the Li family is indeed a family of imperial physicians, but Li Shiling is not a real member of the Li family."
Helian Qing was right. His maternal grandfather was just an ordinary doctor. After divorcing Helian Qing's maternal grandmother, he left the capital with his second wife.
But his son, who was Helian Qing's uncle, stayed in the capital and, by some stroke of luck, became a member of the imperial physician Li family..."
At the time, the Li family, the imperial physicians, claimed that Li Shiling was their son, whom they had raised in their hometown.
Furthermore, since several decades have passed, no one knows that Li Shiling was not a child of the Li family.
That's why Ye Zhen didn't find this person.
"Then how did you find out?"
Ye Zhen was curious.
Xie Tingzhou said, "Perhaps it's God's help. I was investigating Ye Zhengqing's Cold Marrow Inducing Technique, and I ended up finding it in Li Shiling."
This was not something he would normally investigate personally, but he had always wanted to find evidence of Ye Zhen's background. Thinking that Ye Zhengqing poisoned his own father to cover up the secret of the switch, he investigated the origin of the Cold Marrow Elixir.
"The Cold Marrow Inducing is not a rare poison, but the imperial physicians of the Li family are skilled in medicine but not in poisons. However, Li Shiling is skilled in poisons. So I investigated further and found out that he was not a true member of the Li family."
He learned his poison-making skills from his mother, Lady Luo, who was also Helian Qing's maternal grandmother. Furthermore, after his parents' divorce, he maintained correspondence with Lady Luo.
Ye Zhen asked suspiciously, "As far as I know, since the old imperial physician retired, only Li Shiling from the Li family has entered the Imperial Medical Academy. Why would the Li family support an outsider to take over their mantle?"
Aren't these families the ones who value family lineage the most?
After Li Shiling stole the prescription, he was expelled from the Imperial Medical Academy, and now no one from the Li family, who were imperial physicians, holds a position in the Imperial Medical Academy.
"As expected of my Ye Zhenzhen, she immediately grasped the key point."
Xie Tingzhou smiled and patted Ye Zhen's head with a rather proud air.
Ye Zhen was somewhat speechless. This man was really exaggerating everywhere. She glared at him and said, "Speak quickly."
"The imperial physician Li family and Prime Minister Li Heng are from the same clan, but they separated a few generations ago for some reason, which outsiders do not know. Now they are attached to Prime Minister Li and are his people."
It's Prime Minister Li again?
"Could it be that Prime Minister Li instructed the imperial physician Li family to accept Li Shiling? Why?"
Otherwise, what reason would the imperial physician Li family have to pass on their family business to outsiders?
Xie Tingzhou nodded, "Indeed, it was Prime Minister Li who intervened. Many of the imperial physicians in the Li family are better at medicine than Li Shiling. Although they did not enter the Imperial Medical Academy, the Li family has risen rapidly in Jiangnan and Central China in recent years."
They had shops in almost every prefecture, making a fortune, which could be considered compensation from Prime Minister Li.
Only such compensation could persuade the imperial physician Li family to give up the opportunity to enter the Imperial Hospital.
So the question is, why would Prime Minister Li compensate the imperial physician Li family for the sake of Li Shiling?
This is very unusual.
"What a coincidence!"
Ye Zhen murmured, "Li Shiling's younger sister looks like Li Xiangguo's daughter. She married the son of the Prince of Dingyuan and gave birth to the only son of the Prince of Dingyuan's family."
Today I discovered that Ye Yunheng is still alive, and he has even surrendered to Prime Minister Li.
She told Xie Tingzhou about her fight with Ye Yunheng that day, "If my mother's death is related to Ye Yunheng and Prime Minister Li..."
She stared at Xie Tingzhou and hesitated, "Don't you think it's too much of a coincidence? My mother and the Prince of Dingyuan are both military generals of Dayuan."
One was the one who saved the Dayuan empire from collapse, and the other was the one who guarded the border and resisted the invasion of Xiyue.
Both men held military power.
Xie Tingzhou nodded, "Perhaps Helian Qing's mother is Li Shuyu, the daughter of Prime Minister Li."
"He did it on purpose?"
Ye Zhen was shocked. Although he found it hard to accept, he had to think outside the box: "The Xiao family wanted to harm Li Shuyu, but Prime Minister Li turned the tables and had Li Shuyu sold to Zhenyue Bay."
He then used Luo's connections to arrange for the divorced Luo to take Li Shuyu to the border as mother and daughter.
While Prince Dingyuan might not consider social status when choosing a spouse, he always made sure to know the other party's family background. To avoid suspicion, Prince Dingyuan's mansion has never arranged marriages with high-ranking officials in the capital over the years.
However, if it were a divorced woman who knew medicine and happened to save someone from the Prince of Dingyuan's mansion, since most military generals valued doctors, the Prince of Dingyuan might keep Lady Luo and her child.
As time went by, the child and the young master of the Prince of Dingyuan's mansion fell in love. The mother and daughter had lived in the border town for many years and knew each other well. The Prince of Dingyuan, who had lost countless children and grandchildren, would surely agree to his son's marriage.
The child born to Li Shuyu would also be the grandson of the Prime Minister's family. When the Prince of Dingyuan passes away and Helian Qing is left all alone, if he were to reunite with his maternal grandparents' family at that time, he would surely become close to them.
That would mean that Prime Minister Li had control of the military power in the border city.
"This explains why Prime Minister Li helped Li Shiling get into the Imperial Hospital."
Xie Tingzhou continued, "Because Li Shiling's mother is helping Prime Minister Li keep an eye on Li Shuyu and helping him to arrange the marriage between Li Shuyu and the Prince of Dingyuan's mansion."
Ye Zhen sighed, "If our speculations are true..."
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