"What happened to the Empress Dowager?"
Qing'er has lived with the Empress Dowager since she was a child, and they have a very good relationship. The Empress Dowager is like a grandmother to Qing'er.
Upon hearing the maid's panicked report that the Empress Dowager was in trouble, Qing'er quickly pulled her small hand away from Jiang Yun's large hand, rushed to the door, opened it, and listened to the maid's report. Her face immediately turned ashen.
"What? You're saying the Empress Dowager has suddenly fallen ill with some strange disease?"
Qing'er's face paled, and her body went limp as she stumbled backward. Just as she was about to fall to the ground, Jiang Yun reacted quickly and rushed forward to catch her in his arms.
"Qing'er, calm down."
Jiang Yun whispered words of comfort in Qing'er's ear, but Jiang Yun knew that such comfort would not be of much use. As the saying goes, one becomes confused when it concerns oneself. So Jiang Yun asked the maid, "Has Physician Hu been summoned?"
"I've heard it. Eunuch Gao has already gone there in person and should arrive soon."
The maidservant hurriedly replied.
"That's good. Let's go see the Empress Dowager right away."
Jiang Yun spoke to Qing'er, then helped the dizzy Qing'er, whose head was spinning from the shock, to the Empress Dowager's room.
"Your Majesty..."
Upon entering the room, I saw the old lady on the bed staring blankly at the ceiling, her face sallow and her lips slightly parted.
He was shaking violently, his body was convulsing violently, and he looked like he was in extreme pain.
Seeing the Empress Dowager's pained expression, Qing'er could no longer control herself. Jiang Yun broke free from Jiang Yun's embrace, rushed to the Empress Dowager's bedside, knelt on the ground, grasped the Empress Dowager's hand, and cried loudly, her voice so sorrowful and moving.
"Your Majesty, what's wrong? Look at me! It's me, Qing'er... Waaah... Your Majesty... Ah... Your Majesty, why are your hands so hot..."
Qing'er cried out in panic, her eyes filled with deep worry.
Qing'er trembled as she touched the Empress Dowager's forehead, and suddenly realized that the Empress Dowager's forehead was burning hot, as if she had a very high fever.
Gradually, the Empress Dowager's sallow complexion began to show a hint of red, first a light red, then a deep red, and finally a purplish red.
"Waaah... Your Majesty... Please say something to me, don't scare me... I'm your Qing'er... Your Majesty, please say something to me... Waaah..."
Qing'er cried out anxiously.
Jiang Yun, standing to the side, was also somewhat confused. She thought, "This shouldn't be happening. Didn't Physician Hu say it was after a small amount of hallucinogenic drug?"
Can a woman enter a hallucination without pain? But why is the Empress Dowager in front of me in so much pain?
Just then, Physician Hu arrived, sweating and panting. Jiang Yun put down her medicine box.
He said urgently to Princess Qing, "Princess Qing, please step aside, this old minister needs to take the Empress Dowager's pulse."
"No, I don't want to leave the Empress Dowager, I don't want to..."
Qing'er refused, her voice choked with emotion.
Jiang Yun knew that she had a deep affection for the Empress Dowager, and in this situation, she was naturally unwilling to leave her side even for a moment. However, the Empress Dowager's condition was critical at the moment.
There was no time to lose, so Jiang Yun stepped forward and said gently to Qing'er, "Qing'er, be good and let the imperial physician take your pulse..."
"Waaah..."
Jiang Yun hugged Qing'er's shoulders, gently patting them to comfort her. Qing'er turned around with tears in her eyes.
Looking at Jiang Yun with a pitiful expression, Qing'er nodded slightly, then sobbed and suddenly threw herself into Jiang Yun's arms, bursting into tears.
"Waaaaah..."
His expression was sorrowful; he truly looked pitiful.
When the Empress Dowager was seriously ill, no one present paid much attention to Qing'er's actions, and even if they did, they wouldn't say anything.
However, Jiang Yun was at a loss. Qing'er suddenly rushed into Jiang Yun's arms, catching him off guard. He didn't know where to put his hands.
"Alright, stop crying. Let the imperial physician take your pulse properly first. Let's not disturb Jiang Yun, okay?"
Jiang Yun finally found the spot where his large hand landed—Qing'er's back. He stroked it, comforting her.
"Um..."
Qing'er responded softly, unaware that Jiang Yun's gentle words of comfort had calmed her heart.
"Qing'er, let's go out first, don't disturb the imperial physician here."
Jiang Yun continued.
"No...I want to stay here..."
Qing'er's face was full of determination.
"Listen to me, okay? I want the Empress Dowager to get better quickly, so just listen to me, alright?"
Jiang Yun patiently discussed it again and again.
"Oh well."
After thinking for a moment, Qing'er glanced at the Empress Dowager with reluctance and followed Jiang Yun to the outer room. A group of maids and eunuchs also came out, leaving only one or two shrewd maids to serve inside.
Walking out into the outer room, Jiang Yun comforted Qing'er and helped her sit down in a chair. Then she went to Eunuch Gao's side and said in a low voice, "Eunuch Gao, you are a senior eunuch in the government. There are some things that I don't need to say, right?"
The eunuch Gao lowered his head and said, "Your Highness, rest assured, this old servant knows what to do."
Hearing Jiang Yun's reply, Jiang Yun nodded in satisfaction.
Then, Eunuch Gao walked up to the maids and eunuchs and said sternly, "If any of you dare to leak even a whisper about what happened today, you'll lose your lives!"
"Yes, yes, Eunuch Gao."
These maids and eunuchs, who were always afraid of Eunuch Gao, all lowered their heads involuntarily and responded in horror.
Then, Eunuch Gao walked back to Jiang Yun's side and asked, "Your Highness, I believe Jiang Yun and the others wouldn't dare to spread this. What should we do next? Should we send someone to inform the Emperor?"
The eunuchs in the Empress Dowager's palace usually followed her lead, and also obeyed Qing Gege's orders. However, seeing that Qing Gege listened to Jiang Yun, Eunuch Gao asked Jiang Yun for advice.
"Let's not make a fuss for now and wait for Physician Hu's results before we talk about anything else."
Jiang Yun sighed, waved her hand, and Eunuch Gao, half-bowed, waved for the maids and servants to leave.
While pacing anxiously back and forth in the outer room, growing impatient, Physician Hu emerged with a grave expression. Upon seeing Jiang Yun, Qing'er and Eunuch Gao rushed to greet him.
"Doctor Hu, how is the Empress Dowager?"
"Qing'er asked anxiously."
"this..."
Physician Hu hesitated for a moment, then looked at Jiang Yun. Seeing Jiang Yun's calm gaze, he said, "The Empress Dowager is suffering from two kinds of poison."
"Two kinds of poison?"
Jiang Yun, Qing'er, and Eunuch Gao all asked at the same time, their foreheads filled with doubt.
"How can there be two kinds of poison?"
Jiang Yun's suspicions ran even deeper than those of Qing'er and the other person, even though Jiang Yun had only used a bewitching drug.
"Yes, there are two kinds of poison. One is a hallucinogenic drug, and the other is a soul-capturing pill. It comes from Miao territory and is a kind of poison that can make people lose their minds. It is said that Miao soul-exorcising masters use this pill to grind it into powder to drive away souls."
Physician Hu explained solemnly.
"Hallucination drugs and mind-altering pills..."
Qing'er murmured the names of the two medicines repeatedly, her face blank and at a loss.
Jiang Yun pressed on, "The Bewitching Soul Pill from Miao territory—besides Soul Chasers, who else possesses this kind of Gu poison?"
"I heard...it's...it's..."
Physician Hu stammered.
"Speak quickly, what are you dawdling about?"
Jiang Yun reprimanded him with dissatisfaction.
"Red Lotus Sect".
Physician Hu said, "I once read a medical book that talked about the Gu poison of Miao territory. The book mentioned that the Soul-Bewitching Pill is a sacred medicine of the Red Lotus Sect. It is a unique secret recipe passed down through generations. Only the sect leader can have the formula, and it is passed down to women, not men!"
"The Red Lotus Sect?"
A huge question mark appeared in Jiang Yun's mind. He quickly grasped the key point and asked, "You mean to say that, apart from Soul Masters, only members of the Red Lotus Sect possess Soul-Bewitching Pills?"
"That's right. Moreover, the profession of Soul Master is too mysterious. It's still unknown whether it even exists. So, generally speaking, only people from the Red Lotus Sect have the Soul Elixir. Even if outsiders offer ten thousand taels of gold, the Red Lotus Sect will not sell it to outsiders."
Physician Hu replied.
Jiang Yun nodded, then turned to the panicked Qing'er and asked, "Qing'er, has the Empress Dowager eaten anything unusual today?"
Seeing Jiang Yun's solemn expression, Qing'er took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down, and carefully recalled. Suddenly, her eyes lit up, and she said, "The Empress Dowager has had a poor appetite for the past few days. She only drank a bowl of white fungus and lotus seed soup and ate a few persimmon cakes all day."
"White fungus and lotus seed soup? Dried persimmons?"
Jiang Yun was surprised; there really were dried persimmons. She then asked, "Who delivered them?"
"The white fungus and lotus seed soup was sent by Cuilian, and the persimmon cake was sent by Huazhi. Cuilian is an old palace maid in our palace, while Huazhi is the Empress's maid."
"Eunuch Gao quickly explained."
"Huazhi? Cuilian? Arrest them and interrogate them thoroughly."
Jiang Yun said coldly.
"Yes, Master Fu."
Eunuch Gao readily agreed and turned to walk out, when suddenly Jiang Yun spoke up, "Wait..."
Eunuch Gao turned around and looked at Jiang Yun questioningly.
"First, take Cuilian into custody. I suspect she has connections with the Red Lotus Cult, but remember, be careful and don't let anything slip by, lest you alert them."
Jiang Yun gave stern instructions.
"Yes, Master Fu, this old servant understands."
Eunuch Gao agreed and left quickly, but he was quite puzzled as to why Jiang Yun was so certain that Cui Lian was related to the Red Lotus Sect, rather than Hua Zhi.
However, when Jiang Yun secretly led a few guards to retrieve Cuilian, Cuilian hanged herself, thus resolving Eunuch Gao's doubts.
Hearing the news from Eunuch Gao, Jiang Yun sighed and said to Qing'er, "Qing'er, Huazhi is the Empress's maid."
I fear this matter will implicate the Empress, so I request that you step in and sound out her opinion, then have Huazhi detained and interrogated rigorously!
"But the Empress Dowager's illness..."
Qing'er refused to leave, worried about the Empress Dowager. Just as Eunuch Gao left, Physician Hu revealed the Empress Dowager's condition.
It turns out that the Empress Dowager was suffering from two kinds of evil poisons: hallucinogenic drugs and mind-altering pills. These two evil poisons happened to be compatible, and they fused together in the Empress Dowager's body to form a new evil poison called "Laughing Half-Step Stun".
Qing'er had never heard of this kind of evil poison, but Jiang Yun was quite surprised. He had seen it in a novel from his previous life: "Lustful Laughter Half-Step Stun," a top-grade aphrodisiac.
It will make people delirious and have an intense desire for sex. If they cannot satisfy their desires, the poison will be incurable. After ten hours, the poisoned person will explode and die.
As Physician Hu just said, the person who could cure the Empress Dowager's poison is already dead. Qing'er didn't understand what he meant, but Jiang Yun did.
The Empress Dowager was the emperor's mother, of noble status, and her body was naturally of the highest rank. Apart from the deceased emperor, who could touch her?
Jiang Yun then asked, "Doctor Hu, is there no other way besides this?"
"Sigh, it's difficult, unless..."
Physician Hu paused.
"Unless what?"
Jiang Yun and Qing'er asked urgently.
"Unless it is a master of internal energy who can force the toxins out of the Empress Dowager's body, it might be possible to control the spread of the toxins."
Physician Hu said leisurely, thinking to himself, "Masters of internal energy are all hidden deep in the mountains and forests. Where can we find them in a short time?"
"A master of internal energy?"
As if grasping at a straw, Qing'er looked at Jiang Yun and asked, "Doctor Hu, isn't Jiang Yun a master of internal energy?"
"this..."
Physician Hu dared not respond to this. He was a physician, skilled in pulse diagnosis, even though he did not know martial arts.
But Jiang Yun can distinguish who is a master of internal energy and who is not by looking at the meridians in the human body. Jiang Yun is still far from being a master.
However, if Jiang Yun says no, then he will offend Jiang Yun. Having witnessed Jiang Yun's ruthlessness before, he would rather keep a low profile.
However, Jiang Yun didn't say anything. Instead, he said anxiously, "Whether it works or not, there's no other way now, so let me give it a try."
"Yes, Jiang Yun, I believe in you. You must force the Empress Dowager's poison out, okay?"
Qing'er looked at Jiang Yun expectantly.
"Yes, I will do my best."
Jiang Yun solemnly assured her, but in his heart he thought, "Do my best? With my meager internal strength, I can force out the poison from the Empress Dowager's body? That's a pipe dream. However, in order to save the Empress Dowager, I will reluctantly play the role of the late emperor!"