Two days had passed, and no one had found any trace of Bai Juechen. However, Ru Yi had heard some news about him.
On that day, they took a boat and intended to go to the north of Nanwu River for investigation. The boatman told them that a doctor who claimed to be Bai Juechen had once taken their boat and boasted that he was going to treat a local wealthy merchant in the north of Nanwu River.
Ru Yi asked for the name of the merchant's mansion and then led his people there.
The merchant's surname was Chang. He was an extremely famous rich man in the area, but he had few descendants, with only a son and a daughter.
His precious son had once suffered from a strange illness. Somehow, Bai Juechen heard about it and came to the door uninvited.
No one had invited him, but at that time, Mr. Chang was so worried that when he heard a doctor had come, he didn't care to ask too many questions and invited him in. After all, they had invited all the doctors in Nanwu, but none of them could cure the illness.
Unexpectedly, Bai Juechen just took a glance and seemed to understand everything at once. Then he started to apply acupuncture. In less than the time it takes to burn an incense stick, Mr. Chang's son spat out a large mouthful of congested blood and gradually regained his energy.
Ru Yi and his group listened to this as if they were listening to a miraculous story. Could there really be such powerful medical skills in the world that one could diagnose an illness just by taking a glance? But anyway, this proved that Bai Juechen was highly skilled in medicine, and there was a greater possibility of saving the emperor.
After arriving at Mr. Chang's mansion, they handed in their visiting cards to the servant. Then a steward led them in. As soon as they saw Mr. Chang, Ru Yi couldn't help asking, "Sir, do you know where Bai Juechen is now?"
When Mr. Chang heard the name "Bai Juechen", his whole face broke into a smile. Stroking his beard, he recalled the time when his son was saved. Moreover, that Doctor Bai didn't ask for any reward. Seeing the young boy in front of him asking so anxiously, he thought that someone in his family must have suffered from some strange illness.
Thinking of this, he replied, "It was also half a year ago that Mr. Bai treated my son. At that time, he became very famous in our Nanwu area. Many noble families came to him for treatment. After more than a month like this, he suddenly disappeared without a trace."
After hearing his words, Ru Yi's heart skipped a beat. He thought to himself, was the clue he had painstakingly found just cut off like this?
Then he heard Mr. Chang add, "I did hear Mr. Bai say that he wanted to go to Dongguan."
After hearing this, Ru Yi immediately perked up. He thanked Mr. Chang and then led his people out of the Chang Mansion. He was going to rush to Dongguan as fast as possible. If he remembered correctly, Donghua was investigating in Dongguan now.
On the other hand, in the palace.
The Empress Dowager usually never left the palace, but nothing in the palace could escape her notice. Recently, she had also heard about the rumors in the palace.
But in her heart, she thought it was just a farce. After all, she still believed in Helian Qi and knew that an ordinary person couldn't hurt him at all, let alone poison him.
But early this morning, she took Nanny Li for a stroll in the imperial garden. Just as they were about to return to the palace, she heard a few little maids whispering not far away.
The general meaning was that the emperor was now in a coma. These news were spread by the eunuchs on duty in the Qianqing Palace.
The Empress Dowager frowned as she listened to everything they said. Nanny Li beside her naturally noticed her master's anger, so she quickly said, "These servants are becoming more and more ignorant of the rules. I'll go and teach them a lesson!"
"No need!" The Empress Dowager waved her hand and said. Looking sharply at the two maids not far away, she already understood.
After all, she had been in the harem for decades and could naturally see through all the intrigues in the harem. She never left her bedroom on weekdays. How could it be that as soon as she came out today, she ran into these gossiping maids? This must have been deliberately arranged for her to see.
These were just petty tricks to her, but since the rumors had reached her ears, she couldn't just sit back and do nothing. She wanted to see if these rumors were true or false.
Thinking of this, she snorted coldly and said to Nanny Li beside her, "Let's go. Follow me to the Qianqing Palace to see how the emperor is doing."
On the other side, Dongfang Yi ordered the secret guard Jue to take good care of Helian Qi's body. Then she went to Concubine Dong's palace herself. Since all the clues yesterday pointed to the fact that this was related to the Dong family, she had to find out the truth.
In less than the time it takes to burn an incense stick, she arrived at Concubine Dong's palace. When Concubine Dong saw her, her face showed a moment of surprise. Then she forced herself to remain calm and stepped forward to greet her, saying, "Your Majesty the Queen, why did you come here in person? You should have told me. I would have gone to see you naturally."
Her seemingly respectful appearance made it hard to believe that she would send someone to assassinate the emperor.
Dongfang Yi didn't respond to her words. She just sneered and strode into her bedroom. After looking around for a week, she sat down on the grand master's chair in the main hall, picked up the tea on one side and sipped it gently.
"Your Majesty the Queen, may I ask what brings you here?" Concubine Dong frowned and said. But in her heart, she was full of uneasiness and began to wonder if she had done something suspicious.
"Don't you know why I'm here, Concubine Dong?!" Dongfang Yi put the teacup back on the table and said in a deep voice. Her eyes stared intently at the woman in front of her, making her feel so nervous.
"I... I don't know why Your Majesty the Queen suddenly came here." She still pretended not to know anything, but there was a trace of evasion in her eyes.
She was not good at lying. Now her evasive behavior always made people feel that she was guilty.
Dongfang Yi saw her appearance, raised her hand and slapped the table hard, shouting angrily, "Do I need to help you recall? Was the assassination outside the palace related to you?!"
She could no longer control her emotions, and her anger was about to burst out.
"I don't know anything, Your Majesty. What on earth are you talking about?!" Concubine Dong knelt on the ground and kept shaking her head. Tears welled up in her eyes. With an innocent look on her face, it was really easy to make people think that she had been wronged.
Dongfang Yi naturally didn't buy her act. She stood up and looked down at the woman in front of her and said, "Concubine Dong, I've always treated you well. But now you've done such a thing. If you can admit your guilt, I might spare your life!"
There was a serious threat in her tone, as if if the woman in front of her dared to argue any more, she would be sent to hell immediately without any room for negotiation.