Duoduo did not answer. Instead, she began pacing around the room.
“Princess...” Eunuch Li had just started to remind Duoduo when the emperor stopped him.
Duoduo wandered all around the hall. At last, she stopped in front of the incense burner.
She carefully sniffed it again, then rose onto her tiptoes and reached for the lid.
“Princess, let me do it!”
Eunuch Li rushed over and stopped her.
Duoduo withdrew her hand. “Take a look. Besides the incense normally used, is there anything else inside?”
Eunuch Li’s heart jolted when he heard this. The hand gripping the lid trembled involuntarily.
Clang!
The sound of metal striking porcelain was especially jarring in the Hall of Supreme Harmony.
Eunuch Li hurriedly grasped his right hand with his left, then carefully set the incense burner’s lid aside.
He examined the incense inside. Soon, he spotted a piece that looked different.
Using a pair of tongs, Eunuch Li cautiously removed it.
“Put it out!” Duoduo ordered urgently.
Eunuch Li froze for a moment, then picked up the tea beside him and poured it over the incense.
As a cloud of thick green smoke dispersed, the incense went out.
Eunuch Li caught the scent of the incense and felt slightly dizzy.
Duoduo stuck out her tongue. In her haste, she had forgotten to tell them to cover their noses.
“Grandfather, are you all right?”
Seeing Eunuch Li’s condition, Duoduo quickly pulled a small bottle from her sleeve and waved it beneath his nose.
A sharp, pungent smell rushed straight into Eunuch Li’s head.
His mind cleared instantly.
“I’m fine.” Since the emperor was farther away, he had not been affected much.
To be safe, Duoduo continued inspecting the room.
At last, she returned to the emperor.
Duoduo held out her little hand before him.
Resting in her palm was a white pill.
The emperor did not hesitate for even a moment. He took the pill and put it into his mouth.
“Your Majesty...” Eunuch Li looked horrified and hurried forward to stop him.
The pill dissolved the instant it touched the emperor’s tongue, and he had already swallowed it.
“Princess, how could you give His Majesty medicine so casually?” Eunuch Li was frantic.
“Xiao Lizi, get out of the way!” the emperor barked, waving him aside.
“Your Majesty, you must take care of your health!” Eunuch Li’s face was filled with worry.
But the emperor knew perfectly well what was happening.
Changle was saving him!
Seeing that he could not persuade the emperor, Eunuch Li dropped to his knees with a thud.
“Your Majesty, I know the truth may be unpleasant to hear, but please listen to this servant. Do not keep taking medicine of unknown origin!”
“I’ll send someone to fetch Imperial Physician Li right away!”
With that, Eunuch Li scrambled out, half crawling and half rolling, to call for Imperial Physician Li.
The emperor did not stop him. Instead, he looked toward Duoduo.
“Now, can you tell me what exactly happened?”
Duoduo tilted her little head and regarded the emperor suspiciously.
“Imperial Grandfather, aren’t you the cleverest person of all? Surely you figured out the reason long ago!”
The emperor’s expression darkened.
“So you’re saying someone really poisoned me?”
Duoduo neither confirmed nor denied it.
The emperor let out a mocking laugh.
“Changle, how long have I been poisoned?”
Duoduo thought for a moment, then held up two fingers.
“Two days?” A sarcastic smile tugged at the corners of the emperor’s mouth.
“I really should have been more careful!”
It seemed as though all the strength had suddenly been drained from the emperor’s body, leaving him looking much more exhausted.
He turned his gaze toward the extinguished incense and fell into thought.
Whoever had dared to tamper with the incense used by the emperor certainly had some nerve!
No wonder Changle’s first question had been whether Xiao Lizi could be trusted.
Imperial Physician Li soon arrived, dragged over by Eunuch Li.
“Your Majesty, please give me your hand.”
On the way there, Imperial Physician Li had already heard the whole story from Eunuch Li.
Upon hearing that the emperor might have been poisoned, Imperial Physician Li had lifted his robes and run all the way over.
The moment he entered the hall, he did not even have time to pay his respects. He immediately asked to take the emperor’s pulse.
Saving the emperor as quickly as possible was the first priority.
However, after Imperial Physician Li nervously finished taking the emperor’s pulse, his anxious heart finally settled.
“Your Majesty’s health is not in danger.”
The moment Imperial Physician Li finished speaking, he saw the emperor’s cold gaze turn toward him.
He hurriedly explained, “Your Majesty, according to your pulse, the poison has only taken shallow effect. Moreover, you have already taken an antidote, so your health is unharmed.”
“Can you determine what poison I was given?” The emperor’s face was stern, his expression imposing.
Imperial Physician Li bent at the waist.
“Your Majesty, this physician will need some time to investigate.”
“Hmph!” the emperor snorted coldly.
Imperial Physician Li was one of the most esteemed physicians in the Imperial Medical Bureau. Yet the emperor had been poisoned for two days, and Imperial Physician Li had failed to detect it when taking his pulse!
The emperor’s suspicious gaze swept over him.
Imperial Physician Li sensed that something was wrong and hurriedly fell to his knees.
“Your Majesty, the poison’s effects were still weak, and you have already neutralized it.”
“This physician does not know what kind of poison it was. I will need some time to examine it before I can give you a proper answer.”
The emperor glanced at Changle, who stood silently to one side, and his thoughts stirred.
Fortunately, he had suddenly decided to summon Changle. Otherwise, by the time this group of incompetent physicians from the Imperial Medical Bureau discovered that he had been poisoned, he might already have been lying helplessly in bed!
Imperial Physician Li, still kneeling on the ground, was also extremely uneasy.
When he had taken the emperor’s pulse the previous day, he had merely noticed that it was somewhat faster than usual.
But after examining him carefully, he had found no other abnormalities.
That was why he had said nothing.
He had never imagined that the cause would be poison!
Imperial Physician Li’s gaze suddenly fell on the embroidered shoes beneath Duoduo’s dress.
That’s right!
If even he had not realized that the emperor was poisoned, how could the emperor himself have known?
With that thought, Imperial Physician Li abruptly raised his head and looked at Duoduo.
“Princess Changle, you were the one who discovered that His Majesty had been poisoned, weren’t you?”
Duoduo pressed her lips together but did not deny it.
Imperial Physician Li’s gaze grew even more eager.
He bowed his head and knocked it against the floor once before Duoduo.
“Please, Princess Changle, enlighten this physician. What kind of poison has His Majesty been given?”
“When I took His Majesty’s pulse yesterday, I only noticed that it was somewhat fast. However, I found no other abnormalities.”
“May I ask, Princess, how you knew that His Majesty had been poisoned?”
“And could you also tell me what antidote you gave His Majesty?”
The more Imperial Physician Li spoke, the more intense his eagerness became.
Seeing that Imperial Physician Li was sincerely eager to learn, Duoduo hesitated.
“Changle, tell him!”
“Let him understand that there is always someone better.”
“As the chief physician of the Imperial Medical Bureau, he could not even tell that I had been poisoned. What a useless physician!”
The emperor’s tone was ice-cold.
“Imperial Grandfather, it’s normal that Imperial Physician Li failed to notice,” Duoduo said, thinking it over before speaking up for him.
“That’s because this poison is a slow-acting one.”
