"Father has not shown up since then... I find it very strange... That's why I had people guard the Vermilion Bird Gate, the Xuanwu Gate, and the Fiery Phoenix Gate," Song Jinyu said with a cold face. "I'm afraid Father has encountered misfortune!"
"But... it's hard to say that he didn't stage this himself," Zhongli Mingye said. He knew very well what his father was capable of. Although he was eager to lead his troops into the palace, he was afraid that if he acted rashly, he would be labeled a traitor. Moreover, Concubine Shu was still in the palace.
Song Jinyu was really worried. She decided to go into the palace with Zhongli Mingye. "If I go, I might notice something amiss..."
"Right now, the palace is fraught with danger. The person behind this has not been found yet... Along the way..."
"It doesn't matter... You'll protect me," she said.
Zhongli Mingye sighed and had no choice but to go into the palace with Song Jinyu. They requested an audience with the emperor. However, they were stopped outside the emperor's bedroom.
"Your Majesty is resting," Li Chengde blocked the door. Zhongli Mingye looked at him coldly. "I didn't know Eunuch Li had such a grand style!"
"Not at all. Your Majesty's health is of the utmost importance," Li Chengde said with his nose in the air. Now that the Prince of Yu was out of favor, he didn't care about these two. Unfortunately... Li Chengde still didn't know Zhongli Mingye well enough.
Zhongli Mingye waved his hand, and Qingfeng immediately knocked down the eunuch. "How dare you be so presumptuous in front of the prince and the princess!"
Zhongli Mingye and Song Jinyu quickly entered the bedroom. They saw the emperor lying obliquely on the bed, being served by palace maids. "Ye'er, what are you doing?"
Through the bright yellow gauze curtain, Song Jinyu couldn't see the emperor's face clearly. But she smelled a familiar scent. She gently tugged at Zhongli Mingye.
"Father, your son is worried about your health. I came to visit you just now," Zhongli Mingye said. "Your son has specially selected some excellent medicinal herbs..." Then he signaled Niaoniao to present the herbs. As she watched, she heard the emperor coughing continuously.
Based on her medical experience, Song Jinyu was sure that the emperor was faking his cough. Did he want to say something? Was it inconvenient? Or... was he being held hostage?
She gave Zhongli Mingye a look, and the two calmly withdrew. Before leaving, she accidentally looked back and seemed to see a familiar figure. But when she looked again, the person was gone.
"Mingye, Father must have been poisoned by a Gu!" Song Jinyu said.
Zhongli Mingye knew that she never exaggerated. She must have found some evidence. "What do you think?"
"The palace is heavily guarded. How did the Gu poison get into the palace?" Zhongli Mingye asked. "We need to ask your good father if there have been any abnormal things recently," she said, calming down. She vaguely felt that this matter was of great importance. Just as the couple was discussing this in the study,
Wei Changyuan came to report. "My lord, the portrait of the woman the emperor met outside the palace is ready!"
As soon as they opened it, Song Jinyu was dazed. The woman looked 70% similar to Ouyang Jinse, but her eyebrows had more feminine charm.
Song Jinyu recalled the past. "The servants in that small courtyard called her Miss Jinyu!"
Jinyu? Zhongli Mingye frowned. It had the same pronunciation as Jinyu. Song Jinyu also thought of this, but they never expected that this woman was actually Ouyang Jinse in disguise.
After a long time, Song Jinyu said, "Is this woman Ouyang Jinse in disguise?"
"How is that possible? If she was in disguise, how could she serve the emperor in bed?"
Yes, although the emperor was lecherous, he had no interest in men.
Seeing that the investigation had reached a dead end, Zhongli Mingye told Song Jinyu to take good care of Dabaobao and then rushed out.
Just then, Dabaobao came looking for her, crying. Song Jinyu looked up at the sky, which was gradually getting dark. She was afraid it would be another autumn rain.
She just hoped the rain wouldn't be too heavy. Dabaobao was sucking his finger in his mother's arms. After a while, he rubbed against her, which attracted Song Jinyu's attention.
She put aside her disturbing thoughts and slowly walked into the house. She fed Dabaobao enough.
After lulling him to sleep, she went to the study alone. She sat down quietly. "Is it you?"
Ouyang Jinse?
Why? She clearly had a chance of rebirth. Why did she still do such dangerous things? She smiled slightly. Maybe she hated her to the core.
But... this time... is your plan to destroy Zhongli Mingye?
Her eyes gradually darkened. Unconsciously, she tapped on the desk. Suddenly, she laughed. Why did she pick up Zhongli Mingye's habit?
She saw that the drawer of the desk was half open. As expected, it was her portrait.
She felt sweet in her heart. She thought that even if she hadn't met Zhongli Mingye, she would have appeared in front of him in this lifetime just to meet him.
Feelings couldn't be forced. She was such a person. Ouyang Jinse had asked her why she didn't love. Song Jinyu frowned slightly.
She didn't understand how wonderful fate was.
Even if there was no Zhongli Mingye, she wouldn't choose Ouyang Jinse. Not to mention the enmity of her mother's death between them.
Even if there was no such enmity, it was impossible for her to fall in love with Ouyang Jinse.
Moreover, she already had the man who loved her most in the world.
"Gu poison?"
Song Jinyu picked up a pen and wrote on the paper. "The hair of a close relative, the moss on a well for ten years..."
"No, if these two are put together, it may make the Gu poison more active..."
She sighed. She was really spoiled by him. She had almost forgotten all the medical books she had read before. She smiled slightly and continued writing and drawing.
It rained all night in autumn, and there was a slight chill. Zhongli Mingye didn't come back. Song Jinyu fell asleep on the table. In her dream, she seemed to have returned to the past.
Recently, she had been having a lot of dreams. In her dreams, she often returned to the past, to Tianmen Mountain.
Maybe she missed her home? But the Song family had already moved to the capital. Now... She rubbed her forehead and tore up the paper again.
She wrote down the prescription that had taken shape in her mind.
Qingfeng came in. "Princess, the prince has sent troops to surround the mansion and ordered you not to go out."
"Okay!"
She felt a faint sense of uneasiness. Maybe it was because she hadn't been sleeping well recently. "Send someone to find the ingredients according to this prescription. After they are all collected, present them to me!"
"Yes!" Qingfeng immediately went to do it.
At this time, Zhongli Mingye was discussing with Cheng Song, Song Chuyu, Yu Nianbai, the Duke of Fuguogong and others. "My lord, if you make up your mind, your subordinate/last general will surely follow you to the death!"
He stroked the sword in his hand. Zhongli Mingye didn't want to go to this extreme unless it was absolutely necessary. But now... Thinking of the emperor's abnormal "cough" that day,
He was afraid that the situation was even worse than he thought!