Chapter 137: Something Fishy (II)
Translator: Storm in a Teacup
The former Long Xiaoyuan went to visit Consort Rong twice in the past.
Moreover, Consort Rong was on good terms with the late empress.
When the late empress was still alive, they had much contact and the empress treated Consort Rong very well.
However, after Long ascended the throne, Consort Rong stopped caring much about the affairs in the imperial palace, although she still lived there.
At this moment, Lady Shan said that she was here for Consort Rong… The whole thing was so strange!
Shi narrowed his eyes and said, “No matter what her reason is, in case that she’ll do as what Lady Rou did last time, I’ll go to meet her.”
Seeing that Shi wasn’t in a good mood, Long didn’t stop him.
So, Long nodded. “Okay, I’ll leave her to you.”
Shi nodded. Instead of letting Lady Shan in at once, Shi leisurely finished his breakfast and asked the servant to clean up the table. After that, Shi allowed her in.
Lady Shan came in. Seeing that there was only Shi waiting for her there, Lady Shan felt things might not go smoothly.
However… there was no other way.
After Lady Shan went in, she knelt down to greet Shi.
Shi didn’t tell her to get up immediately. With a cup of tea in hand, Shi drank slowly.
Lady Shan was so nervous that the beads of sweat rolled down her forehead.
Shi ignored the sweat on Lady Shan’s face. In fact, his eyes seemed to be focused on the tea cup in his hand.
After a long time, when Lady Shan could hardly hold on, Shi finally opened his mouth.
“Get up, Lady Shan.”
Lady Shan tried to stand up, but she couldn’t keep her feet.
Shi looked at Lady Shan while her maid helped her up.
Shi said again, “Sit down.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty,” Lady Shan said at once.
Shi watched Lady Shan sit in the chair with the help of her maid.
Then, Shi began to speak. “Lady Shan, I heard that you came here for Consort Rong. I wonder what’s wrong with her.”
Hearing this, Lady Shan immediately lowered her head and said, “Your Majesty, Consort Rong has been ill for more than half a month. I went to visit her the day before yesterday. To be honest, she is dying… She summoned the imperial doctors, but no one was willing to treat her. I can’t bear to see that, so I came here to beg His Majesty.”
“What?” Shi looked very serious. “Consort Rong is seriously ill, but the imperial doctors don’t go to treat her? Are you telling the truth?”
“Absolutely true,” Lady Shan said at once.
Shi said, “I’m aware of this. If what you said is true, I’ll surely make those imperial doctors pay!”
Lady Shan said, “Thank you, Your Majesty.”
“All right, Lady Shan, you can go back.”
Lady Shan didn’t say too much and just left then.
After Lady Shan left, Shi became very serious and summoned the Shadow Guardians to investigate the matter.
Shi and Long had a lot of things to deal with recently, so they didn’t pay much attention to the harem. The palace where Consort Rong was living was remote, but it was still in the imperial palace. Despite of that, they still didn’t know that she was seriously ill.
Lady Shan said Consort Rong had been ill for half a month, which was quite a long time!
Shi ordered the Shadow Guardians, instead of eunuchs, to investigate the matter, because only the Shadow Guardians could find out what was happening in the dark in the shortest amount of time…
Soon after, Long came out of his study. “She’s gone? What’s the matter?”
Seeing that Long had come out, Shi immediately said, “It’s been more than half a month since Consort Rong got seriously ill. She summoned the doctors, but no one went to treat her… Of course, this is just Lady Shan’s side of the story. We still need to investigate.”
“Consort Rong has been ill for half a month?” Long was also surprised to hear that. “You really need to investigate thoroughly. Consort Rong isn’t a guilty person. Why didn’t the doctors go to treat her?”
“I have no idea,” Shi said.
“Let’s ask Zhang Yuan,” Long said.
Shi nodded. Although the Shadow Guardians had gone to investigate it, they might know the truth earlier if they asked Zhang.
Zhang was working in the palace on this day, so he arrived soon.
After Zhang greeted him, Long asked directly, “Zhang Yuan, let me ask you. Did Consort Rong ever send someone to the hospital to ask for help these days?”
“Consort Rong?” Zhang was a little confused. “No… At least I don’t know. As for the others, I need to ask them later.”
Long slightly pursed his lips. “Oh? So you don’t know?”
“No, I don’t.”
Long and Shi looked at each other, and then Shi said, “Is there anything wrong in the imperial hospital recently?”
After thinking about it carefully, Zhang shook his head. “I didn’t find anything wrong.”
Long glanced at Shi.
Doubt flickered in Shi’s eyes. A moment later, Long said, “Okay, Doctor Zhang, you can leave.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
After Zhang left, Long stood up from his chair.
“Qingzhou, why do I feel this is so strange?” Long was confused and frowned.
Shi nodded. “It’s really strange. Normally… even the lowest-ranking eunuch has access to the imperial hospital, but now it seems that no one in Consort Rong’s palace has gone there. This is really weird.”
“Unless all the people that work for Consort Rong have been controlled… But if that’s the case, how did Lady Shan get in there and then get out safe and sound?”
Long looked at Shi and said, “Do you think… there is something fishy about it?”
Shi nodded. “There must be, but I don’t know what on earth is going on. The Shadow Guardians will come back soon. It’s not too late to take action until we know the truth.”
“Mhmm.” Long nodded in agreement.