The sky was gradually darkening. The palace seemed no different from usual, still as calm as ever.
However, the Queen's Palace was anything but calm at this moment.
Dongfang Yi changed into a night - suit and was about to climb over the wall. Xiaolan was standing beside her, keeping watch.
When it was still daylight, she said to the little maid beside her, "I'm going to climb over the wall to the Qianqing Palace when night falls."
Her tone was as casual as if she were asking what to eat for dinner. But Xiaolan was so shocked that her jaw almost dropped. Then she replied, "This is too dangerous!"
"It's not dangerous. I need you to keep watch for me," Dongfang Yi said.
Then, as if remembering something, she continued, "I haven't seen him for a long time."
Her ethereal tone sounded extremely sad.
For her, the man she loved most was being poisoned. Although she was also in a bad situation, at least she was still alive.
Seeing the determination on the woman's face, Xiaolan knew that no matter how much she tried to persuade, it would be in vain. So she could only nod heavily.
That was why this situation had occurred.
There were no very tall ladders in the Queen's Palace, while the wall was one and a half ladders tall. So she had to exert great strength with her arms to climb over it.
Fortunately, she was very perseverant. Although it took a great deal of effort, she finally managed to get over. But looking at the ground in front of her, which was at least 1.5 meters below, she felt a bit dizzy for a moment. Although it wasn't a very high drop, just thinking about jumping down made her heart race.
"He Lianqi is still waiting for me!" she silently encouraged herself. Then she took a deep breath and jumped.
Immediately, there was the sound of her body hitting the ground, which was quite a loud noise in this quiet environment.
She didn't have time to relieve the pain. She immediately got up and ran to a more concealed place. Then she heard Xiaolan whispering from inside, "Your Majesty, are you okay?"
"I'm fine!" she replied softly through the wall. Only then did she feel a sharp pain in her knee. Looking down, she found that her knee was bleeding from the abrasion.
She hissed in pain but didn't dare to stay in one place for long. So she started running in the direction of the Qianqing Palace.
Because of her injury, she walked very slowly.
On the other side, in the Qianqing Palace, the Empress Dowager was no longer there. Only a few of her confidants and He Lianqi's former secret guards remained. He was still lying motionless on the couch, his face as pale as ever.
At this time, a group of people quietly entered the capital. It was Ru Yi and the others, along with Bai Juechen, who had come to detoxify the emperor.
When passing by the Dong family's residence, Bai Juechen whispered, "Wait a minute!"
Their carriage stopped.
Dong Hua stared at him and said, "Let's go and see the emperor first. You can visit the Su family later to catch up."
After all, the poison on the emperor couldn't wait, so everything else had to give way.
Hearing this, Bai Juechen nodded. He had just been a bit emotional for a moment but didn't really plan to go in.
So the carriage started moving again and soon arrived at the palace gate.
By this time, Dongfang Yi had also arrived in front of the Qianqing Palace. The guards at the door were all the Empress Dowager's people. It seemed impossible to just walk in.
She frowned as she looked at the situation in front of her, thinking about how to distract the guards.
Just then, a male voice came from behind, "Your Majesty, the Queen?"
Hearing the sound, she immediately turned around. In the darkness, she recognized the man not far away.
"Ru Yi?" she exclaimed. Her mind was filled with a myriad of thoughts in an instant. Then she asked in a deep voice, "Have you found Bai Juechen? Have you found the antidote?"
Then she saw Ru Yi smiling slightly. Then a man in white walked out from behind him. After seeing her, he respectfully greeted, "This commoner pays respects to Your Majesty, the Queen."
Dongfang Yi nodded at him. Then she said excitedly, "What are we waiting for? Let's go in quickly!"
Ru Yi looked at her in the night - suit and noticed that the guards outside the Qianqing Palace were all unfamiliar faces. So he asked, "What on earth has happened? Your Majesty, the Queen, why are you dressed like this? What's wrong with the emperor?!"
Dongfang Yi shook her head and said in a desolate tone, "Don't call me the Queen anymore. I was deposed this afternoon. Now it's even difficult for me to enter the Qianqing Palace."
There was endless desolation in her tone.
Hearing this, Ru Yi first widened his eyes in surprise. Then he ran to the two guards not far away and said something to them. The guards immediately ran away. Then he ran back and said to her, "Your Majesty, now we can go in and see the emperor."
Dongfang Yi couldn't help but say thank you. Then she immediately ran in and went straight to He Lianqi's bedside. Looking at his haggard appearance, she couldn't help but think, "It's only been a few days. Why do you look so tortured? Even your lips have turned the color of someone poisoned."
Bai Juechen also walked in. She quickly stepped aside and pleaded, "Please, no matter what, you must save him!"
Bai Juechen nodded at her. Then he sat down on the chair beside the bed. First, he lifted the emperor's eyelids to take a look, and then he felt his pulse.
Immediately, his expression became solemn. He had never seen such a complex pulse before.
On the way, he had heard from Ru Yi about the emperor's situation. He had heard that the emperor had been poisoned for five days but there was no sign of his life force ebbing away, yet he couldn't wake up and his body was becoming more and more numb.
At that time, he thought it was indeed a strange case. And he had read about this kind of illness in medical books. It had a very beautiful name - the Dream of the Seven - Day Kirakosho.
Although the name was beautiful, it was an extremely terrible poison. It was said that the poisoned person would not wake up for seven days. They would only open their eyes and smile at the moment before death, as if the seven days had just been a beautiful dream. Then they would fall into a permanent slumber, which meant death.
Now, after examining the emperor's pulse, Bai Juechen was even more certain that the emperor had been poisoned by the Dream of the Seven - Day Kirakosho. However, even so, he still had a way to detoxify, but it would be more complicated.
Thinking of this, he stood up and said to the two people behind him, "I already know the emperor's poison. It's the Dream of the Seven - Day Kirakosho. Now the emperor has only been poisoned for five days. There's still a way to save him."
As soon as he finished speaking, the stone that had been hanging in Dongfang Yi's heart finally fell. Then she let out a long sigh of relief.