Duoduo looked at her father curiously. “Father, you weren’t waiting outside every day for me to leave the palace, were you?”
Xiao Yi chuckled and lightly tapped Duoduo on the head.
“Do you know that your Second Uncle has been made Crown Prince?”
The smile vanished from Duoduo’s face at once.
She nervously studied her father. Seeing her expression, the corners of Xiao Yi’s lips curved upward.
“What is it? Are you worried about me?”
Duoduo honestly nodded.
“Mm-hmm! I’m worried about you, Father!”
Xiao Yi stroked her hair. “There’s no need to worry.”
“The Second Prince has only just become Crown Prince. He won’t dare make a move against anyone else yet.”
“That’s also why I came to wait outside the palace.”
Duoduo understood.
“Father, because Second Uncle became Crown Prince, you guessed that Grandfather would send me home, so you came here especially to pick me up?”
Xiao Yi nodded.
Duoduo gave him a thumbs-up. “Father, you’re amazing!”
The corners of Xiao Yi’s lips lifted.
“What is it? Are you trying to comfort me because you’re afraid I’ll be sad?”
Duoduo stuck out her tongue, embarrassed that he had seen through her intentions.
Xiao Yi found it amusing. “Don’t worry. Your father isn’t that fragile!”
Duoduo nodded in agreement. “Father is the best!”
Xiao Yi looked at Duoduo strangely. “Did you eat honey at the Office of Discipline? Why are you so sweet-tongued today?”
Embarrassed, Duoduo buried her head in Xiao Yi’s arms.
She suddenly remembered something and was just about to speak when she recalled that she had promised the Imperial Grandfather she would not tell her father.
Xiao Yi immediately noticed her hesitant expression.
“What is it? Did something happen that you want to tell Father?”
Duoduo hesitated for a moment.
“Father, apart from the Imperial Hospital, who else in the palace knows medicine?”
Xiao Yi looked surprised. “Why are you suddenly asking that?”
Duoduo did not answer. “Father, answer me first.”
Xiao Yi thought carefully for a moment.
“If you mean people who truly understand medicine, then naturally it would be the physicians of the Imperial Hospital.”
“If you mean people who know a little, then many people in the palace have some knowledge.”
Seeing the confusion on Duoduo’s face, Xiao Yi explained.
“The eunuchs and palace maids all know a little basic medicine.”
“Everything in the palace costs money.”
“Their wages and status are not enough to let them afford a physician.”
The palace maids and eunuchs could not leave the palace without permission.
And the imperial physicians charged high fees, not to mention the expense of finding someone to purchase medicine for them.
“So when they suffer from minor ailments, they usually find medicine and treat themselves.”
“Some consorts also take an interest in medicine and study it on their own when they have nothing else to do.”
Life in the inner palace was lonely. The consorts had to find something to occupy them through the long, endless nights.
Duoduo blinked her large eyes.
“Father, I’m asking whether there’s anyone like Master Zhang.”
Xiao Yi’s expression immediately turned grave.
Master Zhang specialized in poison.
Was someone in the palace using poison?
Xiao Yi’s mind raced.
He discreetly studied Duoduo, trying to detect any clue.
“I don’t know,” Xiao Yi replied.
“Using poison in the palace is strictly forbidden.”
Duoduo shook her head again. “I don’t mean someone who uses poison. I mean someone who studies both medicine and poison.”
Xiao Yi stared intently at Duoduo.
“Duoduo, has someone used poison?”
“Was it used on Father?”
Xiao Yi had keenly guessed the truth.
Duoduo covered her mouth and shook her head vigorously.
“I promised Grandfather I wouldn’t tell!”
Xiao Yi understood immediately.
Someone must have poisoned the Emperor, and Duoduo had discovered it.
Xiao Yi fell into deep thought.
Who could it be?
The Emperor’s residence, the Hall of Supreme Harmony, was heavily guarded. Ordinary people could not enter.
Other than the eunuchs who served the Emperor, the only others were those who went to visit him.
The eunuchs serving the Emperor were all his trusted confidants.
That left only the visitors.
As far as Xiao Yi knew, ever since the Emperor had fallen ill, he had seen only a handful of people.
The first was Consort Li.
The second was Prince Ling.
And the third was Imperial Physician Li.
Xiao Yi immediately dismissed Imperial Physician Li as a suspect.
Imperial Physician Li was the Emperor’s personal physician. If anything happened to the Emperor, he would be the first person held responsible.
Thus, his suspicion was the weakest.
Of course, it was not impossible that he had been bribed.
Xiao Yi suddenly remembered that he had also been poisoned while undergoing treatment at the Imperial Hospital.
However, the person who had treated him had not been Imperial Physician Li.
“Father, have you remembered something?” Duoduo asked curiously when she saw her father’s brows draw tightly together.
Xiao Yi spoke without thinking.
“I suspect someone from the Imperial Hospital.”
Duoduo blinked her large eyes. “Father, there’s something I need to tell you.”
Xiao Yi focused his attention on her.
“What is it? Are you allowed to tell me?”
Xiao Yi was worried that she might be about to reveal a secret that could not be discussed casually.
Duoduo thought for a while.
The Imperial Grandfather had not seemed to say that she could not tell her father about taking on a disciple.
He had only said that she could not tell her father about his physical condition.
“Father, I took on a disciple today.”
Xiao Yi was somewhat surprised.
“You took on a disciple? What is he learning from you?”
Duoduo flashed a sly smile.
“He’s learning medicine from me.”
Xiao Yi knew that Duoduo’s medical skills were quite good, so he did not think much of it. He merely asked, “Will you have enough time? You still have to attend the Imperial Academy, and in your spare time, you need to manage your own businesses.”
Duoduo nodded lightly.
“We agreed to meet only once every few days.”
Xiao Yi’s thoughts remained focused on who could have poisoned the Emperor.
He suspected Consort Li and Prince Ling.
Consort Li was in charge of the inner palace. It would be far too easy for her to act in the Hall of Supreme Harmony.
When he had gone to see Duoduo a few days ago, she had not mentioned anything about this.
That meant the poisoning had probably happened within the past two days.
Prince Ling had already become Crown Prince. Why would he still poison the Emperor?
Wouldn’t that be completely unnecessary?
Or was he simply trying to make doubly sure?
Xiao Yi shook his head inwardly.
He had been at odds with his brothers for a long time, and Prince Ling was the most difficult of them to deal with.
By all rights, he should not be foolish enough to do something like this!
But the Emperor had only seen these three people.
If it was not Consort Li or Prince Ling, then the only possibility left was Imperial Physician Li.
Xiao Yi’s brows knitted together.
Could the Imperial Hospital truly be bold enough to poison the Emperor?
Who, then, was their backer?
Duoduo noticed that after she finished speaking, her father did not respond.
His brows were furrowed, and he was deep in thought.
She did not dare make a sound, afraid of interrupting him.
But the words were burning on the tip of her tongue, and she found it difficult to hold them back.
After waiting for a while, Duoduo could bear it no longer.
She gently tugged on Xiao Yi’s sleeve.
“Father, aren’t you going to guess who my disciple is?”
