Shuse Jinjia

The next day.

Xie Zhaotang brought Xinyi into the palace, and Granny Wei brought a sedan chair to pick her up again. However, this time they did not go to the Empress's palace, but instead carried her directly to the Crown Prince's former residence in the palace.

As soon as Xie Zhaotang stepped out of the sedan chair, Duan Chengyu came out to greet him. He led Xie Zhaotang inside, whispering, "Liu Qi has brought the Poison Manual. He didn't say you have other Poison Manuals, so don't say anything either..."

"Murong Qing tried to escape halfway, but was killed by Liu Qi..."

Duan Chengyu gave Xie Zhaotang a wink.

Xie Zhaotang immediately realized that this was a warning to be wary of the Emperor.

Indeed, the Crown Prince was poisoned by someone. If the Emperor knew that he possessed the same poison manual as Murong Qing, he would be more wary of him.

Xie Zhaotang thought of Murong Qing again. Was she really trying to escape and be killed?

She thought for a moment and followed Duan Chengyu inside.

The Emperor was also in the Crown Prince's palace, along with Physician Lu, Chief Physician Luo, and several other imperial physicians.

Xie Zhaotang bowed, and Emperor Mingcheng glanced at her before saying, "Madam Huo, General Liu has brought Murong Qing's prescription for the Crown Prince's poison. I invited you here so you could see if this prescription could truly cure the Crown Prince."

"I want to hear the truth!"

Eunuch An handed a prescription to Xie Zhaotang, who could tell from the expressions of Doctor Lu and the others that they had already seen it before.

She lowered her head to examine it.

The Emperor did not show them the original manual of the Poison Codex, but only excerpted the records about agarwood.

Xie Zhaotang looked on without saying a word.

Doctor Lu remained silent. He had come to the capital because of Xie Zhaotang and had no intention of interfering in the affairs of the court.

The imperial physicians remained silent. They studied poison techniques because of the Crown Prince, seeking only to avoid mistakes and not to gain merit.

Seeing that none of them spoke, Chief Luo, as the head of the Imperial Medical Academy, dared not shirk his responsibility.

"Your Majesty, I believe that the method for preparing the poison and the antidote is clearly written in this prescription. We can prepare the poison and the antidote according to this method, test them on death row prisoners to see if they are effective, and then give them to His Highness the Crown Prince."

Xie Zhaotang looked at Chief Luo and, unable to bear seeing him bear the burden alone, stepped forward to speak.

"Your Majesty, I believe Chief Physician Luo's method is very reliable, but it may not be able to completely cure the Crown Prince's poisoning!"

"Having studied medicine for so long, I know the principle that every medicine has some degree of toxicity. His Highness the Crown Prince has been taking medicine to suppress the agarwood for many years, and his body has accumulated a lot of toxins. Moreover, the agarwood poison has penetrated deep into his bone marrow. Even if the antidote can neutralize the poison, his body is already depleted, and he may not be able to recover to the same level as a normal person!"

Chief Luo glanced at Emperor Mingcheng's expression and quickly said, "Let him recover slowly; perhaps it's not as bad as we think!"

Emperor Mingcheng's face was gloomy. He valued the Crown Prince highly and had devoted a lot of effort to him. If the Crown Prince died young, wouldn't his hopes be dashed?

Seeing his father's grim expression, the Crown Prince, who was resting against the bed, said, "Father, I agree with Chief Physician Luo's method. Let's try making the poison and antidote first!"

"I am already content that I can cure the poison; as for the rest, I will leave it to fate!"

Emperor Mingcheng remained silent for a long time before nodding: "Then, Chief Physician Luo, you should first produce the poison and antidote, and we can talk about the rest later."

"Mrs. Huo, you are still in charge of the pharmaceutical factory and the hospital. Please provide assistance to Director Luo and his team to obtain the medicinal materials for the secret formula."

Emperor Mingcheng thought for a moment and then said, "General Liu said that there are still many rare medicinal herbs growing in the Valley of Divine Physicians. I have already confiscated that valley, and the disciples of the Valley of Divine Physicians have all been arrested. Prince Duan interrogated them, and some of them are innocent. You will also take over the Valley of Divine Physicians. Go to the prison and see these disciples. Keep those who are useful."

Xie Zhaotang's face twitched. Just as she was about to say that she was too busy to decline, Duan Chengyu gave her a wink.

She could only bow and say, "Your subject obeys!"

"Step down!"

With a wave of his hand, Emperor Mingcheng dismissed Xie Zhaotang and the other physicians, including Lu Shenyi.

As they left the Crown Prince's Palace, Chief Physician Luo said, "Senior Brother, Girl, you two go back first. I'll come to the hospital this afternoon to discuss the medicine preparation with you!"

Xie Zhaotang nodded and walked out of the palace with Doctor Lu.

Doctor Lu's expression was also grim. He lowered his voice and said somewhat angrily, "Girl, is it that I can't leave?"

Xie Zhaotang said guiltily, "Master, I'm sorry, I've dragged you into this! Please bear with it a little longer. Once we've made the antidote, I will definitely find a way to let you leave."

This is not difficult. As long as she demonstrates that her medical skills are superior to those of Physician Lu, the Emperor will not insist on keeping Physician Lu.

If all else fails, stage an accident and have Doctor Lu fake his death and leave.

Knowing that he couldn't leave anytime soon, Doctor Lu shook his head and sighed helplessly, advising, "Don't show off your expertise in poisons. Your husband holds military power, which makes him easy to be feared. If you're also an expert in poisons, you'll become a target of everyone's suspicion."

Xie Zhaotang nodded humbly: "Master, I know you mean well, I will be careful."

After the two left the palace, Physician Lu went back first.

Xie Zhaotang then returned to his residence.

She went to see Old Madam Huo and told her about her trip to the palace.

The old lady frowned and thought for a moment before saying, "Just do as Young Master Duan and your master said. Don't show too much prowess in poison skills. Just do your best with the Crown Prince. Once the disciples of the Divine Doctor Valley are accepted, arrange for them to be admitted to the hospital."

"Although you are in charge of the Divine Doctor Valley, once you arrange for someone to receive the medicinal herbs, let the eldest grandson of the Emperor be listed as the head. All future profits will belong to the eldest grandson of the Emperor."

Xie Zhaotang thought so too. Even if the Crown Prince was cured of the poison, it would affect his lifespan. Giving the benefits to the eldest grandson of the Emperor would be supported by both the Crown Prince and the Emperor.

Anyway, she won't gain anything from it.

If the Huo family manages these farmlands well, it will be enough to support the whole family. Why should they risk making the Emperor wary?

"Grandmother, please keep an eye on things at home for a while. Don't rush back to the farm."

Xie Zhaotang thought that the Emperor had arranged a lot of things for him, and he was too busy to take care of the household, so he tried to please Didao.

The old lady smiled and said, "Of course, you go ahead with your work, I'll take good care of things at home!"

After Xie Zhaotang married into the family, she took the old lady's pulse and prescribed medicine for her to regulate her body. The old lady's health is much better than before.

Huo Beiyu was still at the border, and she couldn't bear to put the burden of the whole family on Xie Zhaotang's shoulders while she went off to enjoy her life.

"How has Xiaojing been lately?"

Xie Zhaotang was too tired when he returned yesterday and hadn't had time to ask about things at home.

Upon hearing her mention Huo Jing, the old lady smiled and said, "Tangtang, do you think people are truly destined for each other? Do you remember the day Rong Er forced you into marriage, when Chun'er came to find me and Beiyu, telling us about our trip to the neighboring county?"

Xie Zhaotang nodded; she remembered it.

The old lady laughed and said, "That's right. We were originally going to the neighboring county to find a match for Xiaojing that day, but we came back after receiving your message by carrier pigeon. After that, we had a lot of things to do, so we didn't go to the Zhang family again. Who would have thought that Zhang Yanqing's trip to the capital for the imperial examination was delayed because of the plague."

"My best friend, Madam Zhang, was concerned about Zhang Yanqing. When she came to Beijing to visit him, she brought him to see me. I let them stay at my house. After Madam Zhang went back, that boy couldn't stay idle, so he went with Huo Han to raise chickens and that's how he met Xiao Jing."

Xie Zhaotang, unaware of this, asked curiously, "They've hit it off?"