In broad daylight, Ye Wanmian witnessed all this with her own eyes. A shiver ran down her spine, and goosebumps rose on her skin.
Could it be that the soul of that damned crown prince had really possessed this Taoist priest?
But then she noticed something strange.
Something wasn't right. The crown prince wasn't lying in the ice coffin. So where did this Taoist priest named Yuanqi summon the crown prince's soul from?
Could it be that this seemingly capable Taoist priest was just putting on an act to deceive the three princes?
But judging from his performance just now and the words he said after being "possessed", it seemed that there was nothing wrong.
She stared intently at Yuanqi Taoist priest, who seemed to be unconscious on the ground, thinking rapidly in her mind, her brows furrowed slightly.
Inside the room, Prince Mu seemed to have just come to his senses from Yuanqi Taoist priest's strange behavior. He covered his lips with a handkerchief and coughed heavily a few times. Then he said hoarsely,
"Bu Hua, go and check on Yuanqi Taoist priest."
Bu Hua responded and immediately ordered a soldier beside him to step forward and check. Just as the soldier was about to touch Yuanqi Taoist priest, the latter opened his eyes.
His face looked much paler than before. When he was helped up by the soldier, he seemed weak and wobbly, even staggering a bit.
He forced himself to bow deeply to Prince Mu and said, "Your Highness, the soul - summoning technique has been completed. This technique can only be used once a day. I've done my best."
Prince Mu stared at him silently for a moment without saying a word. So Yuanqi Taoist priest had to maintain the bowing posture and couldn't get up.
The room was completely quiet, and the atmosphere became strangely tense. Xiao Yixuan and Xiao Wuchen also stared at Yuanqi Taoist priest with tense expressions.
"Cough."
Xiao Tianchi's cough broke the strange silence. He said calmly,
"Thank you, Yuanqi Taoist priest. I'll send someone to verify everything that happened just now. You've done a great job in summoning the spirit, and you deserve a reward."
Eunuch Wang took out a silver note and had someone hand it to Yuanqi Taoist priest.
Taking the silver note, Yuanqi Taoist priest waved his whisk and said, "Your Highness is so virtuous that you're bound to live a long life."
Xiao Tianchi replied, "I'll take your kind words." Then Bu Hua invited Yuanqi Taoist priest out.
Seeing this, Ye Wanmian, who was hiding outside the door, instinctively took two steps back and used her skirt to cover the yellow dog behind her.
Yuanqi Taoist priest followed Bu Hua out. Since he was still thinking about the soul - summoning matter, although he noticed Ye Wanmian's presence, he just gave her a quick glance and didn't take it seriously.
Inside the room, Xiao Tianchi called Xiao Yixuan and Xiao Wuchen to him.
"I know it was Wuchen's kind intention to invite the Taoist priest, but matters related to gods and ghosts are too mysterious. No one knows whether it's true or false. After I leave, you two can follow the clues and continue the investigation, but don't be preconceived. Don't make wrong judgments and wrong accusations, and don't wrong the innocent."
Xiao Yixuan and Xiao Wuchen both agreed.
After that, there was no more suspense. Xiao Tianchi ordered the coffin to be sealed. Several soldiers stepped forward to seal the ice coffin, and the corpse was thus isolated.
When Xiao Tianchi gave the order to seal the coffin, Ye Wanmian quietly left the mourning hall with the yellow dog. Besides not wanting to cause trouble for the people inside, she also didn't want others to notice that she had been there.
The weather was hot, and the ice coffin was prone to melting. Prince Mu's journey back to the capital wouldn't be easy. After everything was ready, the convoy was about to set off.
"Master, you must take good care of yourself on this journey to the capital." Ye Wanmian didn't get on Doctor Wang's carriage again. She leaned on the carriage and earnestly exhorted Doctor Wang.
"Remember to relieve the heat when it's hot, and don't starve yourself."
Doctor Wang didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but he was more touched in his heart.
"Got it, got it. Your master is in good health, not a disabled person. I can take care of myself. You also behave yourself in Dongli Town. Don't get involved in things that you shouldn't. Learn medical skills well from your junior uncle. I'll check your progress when I come back."
Ye Wanmian remembered that Doctor Wang had mentioned inviting someone to take charge of the medical clinic and teach her medicine. So it was her junior uncle!
Ye Wanmian smiled and said, "Master, don't worry. I'm not that stupid."
After the master and disciple said goodbye, Prince Xuan and Prince Ning also mounted their horses. At Prince Xuan's order, the convoy set off with the ice coffin containing the corpse in a grand manner.
Ye Wanmian stayed where she was and watched the convoy leave until it completely disappeared from sight. Then she turned around and left with the yellow dog.
Prince Mu's departure not only took away the rotten and unrecognizable corpse but also most of the troops in Dongli Town. All the soldiers from the Eastern Palace who had gathered here to search for the crown prince's whereabouts and caused trouble had left. The remaining soldiers were those brought by the three princes.
On the way back to the medical clinic, Ye Wanmian could clearly feel that the town's defense had become much looser. The patrolling guards that used to be seen every two streets were now nowhere to be found.
Xiao Jingcheng also noticed this detail.
However, at this moment, both of them had the same thought.
It's not the end, but the beginning.
When they got back to the medical clinic, Qi Wen prepared a brazier for Ye Wanmian as before.
"Hurry up, hurry up. You just went to the mourning hall. That place is very inauspicious. Quickly step over it."
Ye Wanmian lifted her skirt and stepped over the brazier. Xiao Jingcheng also jumped over it.
Seeing the red mark between the yellow dog's eyebrows, Qi Wen was surprised and asked,
"Why is there a red mark between Dahuang's eyebrows?"
Ye Wanmian replied, "It's cinnabar. It can ward off evil spirits. Dahuang is like the Heavenly Hound from heaven!"
Xiao Jingcheng remembered that it was after Ye Wanmian smeared something on his eyebrows that his soul had become stable and he hadn't been summoned by that stinky Taoist priest.
So it was cinnabar.
With Doctor Wang's departure, Ye Wanmian was now fully responsible for running the medical clinic. But today was special. She didn't plan to open for diagnosis and treatment. She posted a note outside the door that said, "Out on business. Open tomorrow." Then she asked Qi Wen to close the door.
"Sister Jiang, you were with Doctor Wang just now. Did you see the crown prince's ice coffin?"
Qi Wen came up to Ye Wanmian and asked curiously.
Ye Wanmian was already used to his curiosity that popped up from time to time. She replied perfunctorily, "What kind of status do I have? How could I have the qualification to get close?"
Qi Wen sighed regretfully and said, "The matter of the crown prince is over like this. Won't we be able to see these noble people in Dongli Town anymore?"
Ye Wanmian resisted the urge to roll her eyes and said, "What's so good about having these noble people in Dongli Town? Even going out of the town to gather herbs on the mountain is restricted. It's not as free as before."
Qi Wen thought about it and realized that it was true. Because so many noble people and soldiers had come to the town, everyone was more cautious than usual. He realized that he hadn't been able to go to the teahouse to listen to the storytelling for a long time!
He didn't know how many good stories he had missed!
Thinking of this, Qi Wen couldn't sit still. Since the clinic was closed today, he told Ye Wanmian and then went out to the teahouse to listen to the opera.
Looking at his hasty back, Ye Wanmian thought it was funny. Looking back and seeing the yellow dog with a red mark between its eyebrows, Ye Wanmian squatted down and asked with concern,
"Dahuang, are you okay?"
Dahuang's sudden strange behavior in the mourning hall really scared her.
Since Dahuang survived the poisoning on the mountain, it seemed to have changed. If it weren't for the familiar birthmark on its body, she would have thought that someone had secretly replaced her dog.
However, she liked the old Dahuang, and she also liked the current Dahuang.
No matter what kind of Dahuang it was, she didn't want anything to happen to it.
Strangely enough, although she didn't say it out loud, Xiao Jingcheng seemed to understand what she was thinking.
He barked loudly in response to her.
If it weren't for her today, he might really have been summoned by that Taoist priest with his evil magic. He was already in a dangerous situation. If he fell into the hands of that evil Taoist priest, he didn't know what would happen.
However, he had already told Sang Biao to keep an eye on the whereabouts of that evil Taoist priest. It might be helpful for him to return to his own body. Now, all they had to do was wait.