The emperor's health was getting worse. Nowadays, he was awake for no more than three hours a day.
The eldest princess served him a bowl of medicine, then took out a brown pill from the box beside and fed it to him. After the old emperor lay down and closed his eyes, she tucked in the corner of the quilt for him, then withdrew with a worried look on her face.
Outside, Imperial Physician Liu was about to leave with his medical kit when he was called to a stop by the eldest princess. "Imperial Physician Liu, I've noticed that Father has been taking an extra pill during his illness. What exactly is this medicine?"
Normally, there's no need for pills if there's decoction. But the emperor took both kinds of medicine and still showed no sign of improvement. How could she not be suspicious?
Imperial Physician Liu paused. "Your Highness is overthinking. This is just a tonic for His Majesty. It has been used for a long time, and His Majesty once said that he felt much stronger after taking it."
Xie Lingyun frowned and looked at him. "Is that true?"
"Of course it's true," Imperial Physician Liu said with his head lowered.
"Then why isn't Father getting better?" she asked persistently.
Imperial Physician Liu wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve. "His Majesty's body has been severely depleted. Moreover, he didn't restrain himself in... in matters of the flesh. Even though he has been taking tonics, he still couldn't make up for the deficiency. Now, with the sudden anger and anxiety, he has fallen ill and couldn't get up."
Xie Lingyun watched him not daring to raise his head. A thoughtful look flashed across her eyes, but she gradually relaxed her brows.
She glanced at him. Her tone was not forceful, but no one dared to underestimate her. "Then Imperial Physician Liu must do his best."
Imperial Physician Liu lowered his head even more. "Yes, Your Highness. I will surely do my best to treat His Majesty."
After watching him leave, the princess consort stepped forward and put a thin cloak on Xie Lingyun.
The emperor was weak and afraid of the cold. Even in May, a charcoal brazier was still lit in the room. She had dressed lightly before. Now that she suddenly stepped out of the room and the wind was strong outside, the princess consort was afraid that she might catch a cold.
She held the princess consort's hand and her expression softened. "Thank you for your hard work these days."
Sun Shaoqing smiled faintly. "It's just a matter of talking. It's not hard. But you've been coming to accompany His Majesty every day. You must take good care of yourself."
Now was a turbulent time. Once they returned to the capital, they were inevitably involved in some conspiracy. Before they came back, Xie Lingyun had told Sun Shaoqing that no matter who came to see him, he just needed to smile, nod and deny. He didn't need to pay any attention to the requests of those officials.
Although Sun Shaoqing was not in the court, he had passed the imperial examination after all, so he naturally understood these things. Moreover, to him, wealth and honor were not important. What mattered most were always Xie Lingyun and their children.
Xie Lingyun nodded, walked to the side and sat down. She gently leaned her head on the princess consort's shoulder, looking thoughtful. "I always feel that there's something strange about Father's illness."
Even if the emperor was in poor health, he had taken medicine for several months. How could there be no effect at all? Instead, he seemed to be gradually losing his vitality.
Sun Shaoqing looked down at her. "Do you want to investigate?"
Xie Lingyun squinted her eyes. If, as she guessed, someone had tampered with the emperor's medicine... then this was not something she could get involved in.
Or rather, once she got involved, it meant that she had to take sides.
She pondered for a moment. "You saw the second brother and the others the other day. What do you think of them?"
Sun Shaoqing stroked her smooth cheek and smiled softly. "Your answer is my answer. Why do you still need to ask me, Yun'er?"
The two had been married for many years and were already very familiar with each other. Sometimes, they could know what the other was thinking just by a look.
And when Xie Lingyun asked this question just now, it actually represented her thoughts.
Compared with Xie Guang and Xie Yan, who was better?
To Xie Lingyun, this "better" didn't just mean which of the two had better character. It was also related to... who would treat her well in the future.
Xie Lingyun wrinkled her nose. In front of Sun Shaoqing, she showed a bit of coquettishness like a young girl. "I think your tongue has become as glib as those people."
Sun Shaoqing showed an aggrieved look and begged for mercy. "The blue sky can testify. Every word I said is true."
After they joked for a while, Xie Lingyun sighed. "I haven't visited the second brother carefully since I came back. I heard that Concubine Rou is choosing a primary consort for him. How about we go and have a look later?"
Sun Shaoqing smiled gently. "Yes, ma'am."
Xie Yan was a bit surprised by Xie Lingyun's arrival, but he still bowed with a smile. "Greetings to elder sister and brother-in-law."
Sun Shaoqing nodded slightly at him and sat aside without saying a word. Xie Lingyun laughed. "I heard that Concubine Rou is choosing a primary consort for you. Do you have someone you like?"
Xie Yan immediately frowned. "Don't mention it. I have no intention of getting married now."
"Oh?" Xie Lingyun raised her eyebrows. "Lingqiao is already married. Now only you two princes are not married yet. Do you still want to be a bachelor all the time?"
Xie Yan said playfully, "There's an order of precedence. Since Xie Guang is not married yet, elder sister should urge him first."
Xie Lingyun shook her head with a gentle smile and sighed. "If Guang'er would listen to me, he would have gotten married when we were in the south of the Yangtze River."
Xie Yan didn't know how to respond to this. He just smiled and didn't say a word.
Xie Lingyun then changed the topic. "I wasn't in the capital before, so I don't know much about Father's health. These days, I've been taking care of him when he takes medicine. I found that Father takes a pill every day. I asked Imperial Physician Liu today, but he only said it was a tonic. I'm just wondering why it doesn't seem to work if it's a tonic. I thought that since you've always been in the palace, you might know what's going on?"
Xie Lingyun always liked to throw out an unimportant gimmick first to make you relax, and then suddenly get straight to the point when you were relaxed, which would startle you.
Xie Yan swallowed hard, trying to calm his rapidly beating heart. He pretended to suddenly realize. "Before, Father suddenly asked Imperial Physician Liu to make an antidote pill. But all the imperial physicians in the Imperial Hospital had diagnosed that there was no toxin in Father's body. But for some reason, Father just felt uncomfortable, so he forced Imperial Physician Liu to make the antidote pill. But every medicine has its side effects. Imperial Physician Liu didn't dare to give His Majesty the antidote pill rashly without diagnosing any toxin, so he advised His Majesty to take some tonic pills. Later, maybe after taking them for a long time, Father felt a bit better, so he has been taking them."
"This pill should just be an ordinary tonic. Does elder sister think there's something wrong with this pill..." Xie Yan suddenly frowned and his face became serious.
Xie Lingyun just smiled. "What you said is exactly the same as what the imperial physician said. I now know that the imperial physician didn't lie, and I can finally rest assured."
"However," she changed the subject, "why did Father think there was toxin in his body?"