After today’s confrontation with Pang Xiao, Li Qitian had dismissed some of his suspicions, knowing in his heart that there might be other hidden circumstances regarding the treasure matter.

If Pang Xiao had never touched the treasure and was honestly recuperating in Danfu County, naturally he wouldn’t need to worry about imperial wrath, much less hide his wife in advance to avoid being implicated.

If Pang Zhixi knew he was no longer favored and would be reckoned with sooner or later, such signs hadn’t been exposed just once or twice. From when he was impeached for ten major crimes and repeatedly defied imperial edicts, he should have had this awareness. Yet at that time he hadn’t hidden the Qin family, which showed he hoped the Qin family would share life and death with him, never to be separated.

But now, the Qin family had been hidden away by him.

There must be some change in the Qin family that made Pang Zhixi reluctant to let her accompany him in sharing life and death.

So the greatest possibility was that the Qin family was with child again.

A faint smile appeared at the corners of Li Qitian’s lips, and the crow’s feet at the corners of his eyes lifted slightly.

“Someone come.”

“Your Majesty.”

At Li Qitian’s command, a black shadow immediately flew down from the roof beams, kneeling on one knee with head bowed in salute.

“Go, arrange for people to investigate the whereabouts of Princess Consort Zhongshun. Once found, immediately place her under house arrest. Remember, don’t harm her life.”

“By your command.”

The secret guard cupped his hands and quickly withdrew.

Xiong Jinshui kept his head lowered. He had just been frightened into a cold sweat and secretly breathed a sigh of relief, grateful that he had managed to escape disaster. He only hoped that when the princess consort was captured later, no one would know that the cause was due to his single remark.

That very night, Pang Xiao developed a high fever.

After the imperial physician’s examination, he tremblingly came to report to Li Qitian.

“Prince Zhongshun’s injuries haven’t healed, his qi and blood are depleted, and with new injuries added, this has affected his foundation. Your subject will prescribe medicine for careful recuperation. He must rest quietly and avoid exertion in order to recover.”

Li Qitian smiled and said kindly: “Come closer.”

The imperial physician dared not disobey. He approached the imperial presence and listened as several instructions were whispered in his ear.

The imperial physician’s face immediately turned snow white with fright, his legs so weak he could barely stand.

“What? Is it difficult for you to follow my instruction to properly treat Prince Zhongshun?”

“Your subject, your subject thinks it’s not, not difficult.” Fine beads of sweat appeared on the imperial physician’s forehead.

Li Qitian smiled with satisfaction. “Very good. You handle this task with care. Director Liu has already submitted a memorial requesting retirement. Your medical skills are quite good – I think you can be put to great use.”

“Yes, your subject will definitely treat Prince Zhongshun well and properly restore the prince’s health.”

“Mm. It’s good that you understand.” Li Qitian’s smile deepened, then as if remembering something, he asked: “I still don’t know your name.”

“Your subject is Gao Yongnian.”

“Good, Gao Yongnian. I’ll remember that. You may go.”

Gao Yongnian’s back garments were soaked through with sweat. He almost burst into tears on the spot, trembling as he withdrew. Standing in the corridor wiping away sweat, thinking of his whole family, he couldn’t help feeling grief welling up from within.

How had he gotten involved in such trouble? One could guard against everything except fate’s arrangements. If he had known this would happen, he should have fallen seriously ill and not accompanied His Majesty on this journey!

During the time Pang Xiao was recovering from his injuries, Gao Yongnian’s face was wrinkled like a bitter melon, clearly showing signs of premature aging.

But the prince was truly quite willful – he refused to drink medicine, wouldn’t cooperate when medicine was applied, and would even hit people when angered. An injured tiger was still a tiger, and Gao Yongnian was almost scared out of his wits by the prince.

“Ptui, ptui, ptui! What is this stuff? Are you trying to kill this prince with bitterness!”

When Pang Xiao directly splashed his third bowl of medicine on Gao Yongnian, the temperature of the medicinal soup seeping through his robes made Gao Yongnian shiver from the heat, he finally came to his senses.

The prince might not be willful, but just too clever…

Looking down at himself, Gao Yongnian had a sudden inspiration. He repeatedly apologized, and afterward his hands and body were scalded with blisters. Before he could finish attending to the prince, he himself was scalded by the prince’s fury into developing a high fever.

When Li Qitian learned of this, he was extremely annoyed, but couldn’t very well quarrel with a lowly imperial physician. He didn’t want more people to know about this matter either, and besides, he had only brought this one imperial physician on the journey. His plan had to be temporarily abandoned, and he turned to instruct Xiong Jinshui:

“You must also take good care of the prince’s meals.”

Xiong Jinshui’s heart skipped a beat, and he quickly nodded in agreement.

Over the next several days, with Prince Zhongshun lacking the imperial physician’s treatment, his high fever wouldn’t break, he wouldn’t touch a grain of rice, and could barely be fed water. This made the personal guards around the prince cry inconsolably, kneeling on the main street in front of the government office entrance, weeping and pleading.

“Your Majesty, please show mercy and allow us to invite physicians from the city to examine our prince! The prince has served the country loyally for many years and already bears countless scars. This outbreak is severe – without good doctors, his life may be in danger!”

Tang Xiu led several Elite Tiger Guards, crying with tears and snot streaming down their faces, their appearance utterly miserable.

Their cries drew crowds of passersby to stop and watch. Among the crowd, people began discussing again.

“Did you hear what they said? Is Prince Zhongshun about to die of illness?”

“That’s right. It seems he was beaten with rods by His Majesty, and afterward his old injuries flared up. Now the people around the prince are begging His Majesty to summon doctors!”

“Hiss!” Someone sucked in a cold breath and lowered their voice: “What? His Majesty beat someone but didn’t summon doctors?”

…

The common people didn’t dare discuss this loudly, but such rumors involving imperial secrets spread like wildfire.

Hearing the commotion outside, Li Qitian was so angry that veins bulged on his forehead. He slammed the desk hard: “These dog slaves! Aren’t they making me appear inhumane and unrighteous!”

Xiong Jinshui and the palace attendants and guards who had come with them all knelt down trembling.

Li Qitian gritted his teeth, now knowing he had probably fallen into a trap.

That fellow Pang Zhixi must have been on guard against him, so he deliberately scalded Gao Yongnian and deliberately refused food and water, unwilling to touch the meals he had arranged, creating such a serious illness. If he really let something happen to Pang Xiao under his very nose, he would probably be stuck with the blame for murdering a loyal minister.

What a treacherous and cunning fellow!

“Xiong Jinshui. Go, take them out to find doctors. Tell them that I never forbade them from seeking medical treatment – why make such a scene?”

Xiong Jinshui immediately understood that His Majesty was temporarily abandoning his plan from that day. He quickly agreed and rushed out.

However, the impact created by the miserable scene of several of Prince Zhongshun’s attendants kneeling at the government office entrance, crying their hearts out, couldn’t be dispelled by Xiong Jinshui’s casual explanations.

Just as Tang Xiu was bringing the city’s old physician to re-examine Pang Xiao, the force led by Qin Yining had also avoided the crowds and arrived at Jingang.

This place was by the sea, where the ports to Goguryeo and Japan were located, and where the various warships from the former Northern Ji were also moored.

Qin Yining had now changed into smoke-blue wide-sleeved Daoist robes, disguised as a dashing young gentleman. Holding a folding fan, she stood on a cliff near the seaside, gazing far out at the warships scattered across the boundless sea.