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The Emperor had no idea what the so-called "black medicine" and "white medicine" looked like, so he ordered the Dragon Shadow Guard to bring over all the medicines in the nunnery.
He also instructed the Dragon Shadow Guard not to alert anyone.
The Dragon Shadow Guard's execution was astonishing. In no time, he silently brought all the vials and bottles from Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing's room.
While waiting for the medicines, the Emperor actually pondered whether Xiao Liulang's words had any loopholes.
Generally speaking, with the martial arts skills of the Dragon Shadow Guard, he should have been able to kill Xiao Liulang and Gu Jiao. If Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing had truly given him the order to assassinate the two, he wouldn’t have backed down halfway under any circumstances.
However, the Dragon Shadow Guard's primary command was still to protect the Emperor and never harm him. They would serve Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing, but they would not sacrifice themselves in her tasks.
Every Dragon Shadow Guard was extremely precious. The late Emperor passed them down to his own son, not to become weapons in his hands, but to become shields to protect him.
They would only sacrifice themselves if it meant saving their master's life. That was when they would give up their own lives.
When they sensed a threat to their lives, they would promptly stop. The cracking of their masks was precisely one of the signals the Dragon Shadow Guards used to determine danger.
The Emperor was well aware of this, which was why he did not doubt Xiao Liulang's words.
Xiao Liulang was also worried about any loopholes, so he strictly followed the details of Gu Jiao's previous encounter with the Dragon Shadow Guard when it came to the specifics of the ‘assassination attempt’ this time.
The Emperor looked at the vials and bottles on the table and called for the imperial physician to come and identify the medicines.
"This is the hemostatic pill, this is jinchuang medicine, this is medicated wine for injuries, these are qi and blood tonics..." The imperial physician carefully identified the medications on the table, but there were two bottles he couldn't provide an answer for, even after examining them for a long time.
"What's the matter?" The Emperor furrowed his brows and asked.
The imperial physician put down the white and black bottles in his hands and respectfully said, "In response to Your Majesty, this humble one has limited medical knowledge and has never seen these two types of medicines before."
A conjecture quietly formed in the Emperor's mind, but he suppressed it. He told himself to stay calm and wait for solid evidence.
"You may withdraw." He said to the imperial physician.
"Yes." The imperial physician replied.
"Hold on." The Emperor suddenly stopped him again, "You understand what should and shouldn't be said, right?"
The imperial physician trembled and said, "This humble one will definitely keep his mouth shut!"
Eunuch Wei personally escorted the imperial physician out of Huaqing Palace. When he returned to the imperial study, he noticed that the tea on the Emperor's table had turned cold, so he quickly replaced it with a fresh one. "Your Majesty."
The Emperor noticed that the pills in the black and white bottles looked exactly the same and had similar scents. He randomly took out a pill from the white bottle and asked Eunuch Wei, "Zhen remembers the last time the imperial physician prescribed a heat suppression pill, it looked similar to this one. Fetch it for me."
"Yes." Eunuch Wei brought the heat suppression pill.
The heat suppression pill was a similar-sized brown pill, but it had a lesser shine compared to the black and white pills, and the scent wasn’t quite the same. However, if they were mixed together, it would be difficult to differentiate them without careful examination.
The Emperor took two pills from each of the white and black bottles and placed the heat suppression pills inside.
The Emperor actually wanted to take a few more pills, but he realized that if he took too many, it would be difficult to maintain the authenticity of the medicine in the bottles.
The Emperor instructed the Dragon Shadow Guard to return the medicines to the nunnery and once again summoned Old Marquis to the palace.
This time, he didn't plan to send Old Marquis to gather information on his behalf. He decided to go himself.
"Your Majesty... Such places are filled with all sorts of people. It may tarnish Your Majesty's identity. It's better for Your Majesty not to go." Old Marquis advised.
"I'm not going there for fun." He replied. He was going to solve the case. With the situation reaching this point, his curiosity was piqued. Of course, it wasn’t just out of curiosity that he sought to uncover the truth.
It was his emotions built over these many years, his sincere feelings... He wanted to know if he had truly misplaced them.
Old Marquis was a military general and not skilled in the ways of a civil official. He simply couldn't match the Emperor's eloquence. How could he persuade him otherwise?
After trying to dissuade him several times, Old Marquis reluctantly agreed.
The Emperor changed into his travel attire and came out.
Old Marquis looked at him and reminded, "Your Majesty, please put on a mask. Don't let people recognize you."
The Emperor waved it off. "Zhen is the Son of Heaven. Only you and the court officials have seen Zhen. How could Zhen possibly be recognized in such a place where people from all walks of life gather?"
Old Marquis thought to himself, that's not necessarily true.
In the end, the Emperor put on the bamboo hat he wore when traveling. The hat was covered with a veil, which also concealed his appearance.
Unexpectedly, as soon as the Emperor entered the underground arena, he was recognized by someone.
It wasn't someone else, but Ning Wang, who had once accompanied the Emperor to the souther region.
At that time, the Emperor was wearing this same veiled bamboo hat.
Ning Wang wouldn't fail to recognize his own imperial father. He gently closed the window, leaving only a narrow gap. He asked in confusion, "What's going on? Why would imperial father come to a place like this?"
"Could it be to catch the Crown Prince?" The guard by his side speculated.
The Crown Prince wasn’t as meticulous as Ning Wang, so it would be reasonable for the Emperor to notice his actions.
Ning Wang shook his head slightly and said, "No, imperial father went to find the pharmacist from the State of Yan."
The guard was puzzled, "Why would His Majesty go to find the pharmacist from the State of Yan? Could it be that His Majesty is not well?"
Thinking of this, Ning Wang recalled something. On their way back to the imperial palace, his imperial father had met a Taoist priest who claimed to be able to concoct an elixir of immortality. His father, determined to become immortal, had vowed not to enter the harem for two years.
He had investigated that Taoist priest and found some irregularities. Just as he was thinking about how to persuade his imperial father to stay away from that Taoist priest, his father suddenly sent that Taoist priest out of the palace.
It seemed that the elixir of immortality was nothing but a joke, or perhaps it was just a whim of his imperial father.
Ning Wang had no knowledge of the Emperor having venereal disease, so naturally, he couldn't guess that the Emperor had sent the Taoist priest away simply because his condition had improved and he no longer needed the pretext of immortality.
In the end, the Emperor didn't meet the pharmacist from the State of Yan. He had arrived a step too late, as the pharmacist had left the city to gather herbs.
As for how long it would take for him to return, there was no definite answer. It could be as short as three to five days or as long as ten days to half a month.
The Emperor was anxious to find out the truth and couldn't wait that long.
He then thought of a person.
……
Gu Jiao pretended to be a patient in the medical hall for a while. Thinking that the Emperor probably wouldn't come again, she removed the bandages from her body and took Little San's carriage back to Bishui Alley.
Just as she stepped into her house, the Emperor arrived right behind her.
She didn't have time to tend to the herbs she was drying; she swiftly flashed back into her own room!
Raz P.'s Thoughts
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