Yuan Qingling followed Tang Yang to the main hall.
On the way, Tang Yang had already told her the reason.
The Emperor was furious when he found out that she had secretly treated the Retired Emperor. He ordered Mu Ru eunuch to personally come to summon her to the palace for questioning.
Yuan Qingling was definitely a little panicked in her heart. She understood the palace rules. She was neither an imperial physician nor a doctor. She had no qualifications to treat the Retired Emperor at all.
Mu Ru eunuch sat waiting with a solemn expression in the main hall. When he saw Yuan Qingling come in, he stood up and said lightly: "Consort Qing, the Emperor has summoned you to the palace."
Yuan Qingling only asked one question, "How is the Retired Emperor?"
"The Retired Emperor is unconscious due to poisoning." Mu Ru eunuch said coldly.
Yuan Qingling lowered her eyes.
No wonder the Emperor wanted to interrogate her. If it was just a simple treatment without any incident, then naturally there was no fault or merit on her part. But once something went wrong, all the mistakes were hers.
Moreover, it was poisoning.
When she followed Mu Ru eunuch out to the gate, she saw that the commander of the imperial guards, Gu Si, was also there.
Gu Si's eyes were indifferent. "Consort Qing, please get on the carriage."
There was no footstool placed below.
Yuan Qingling climbed onto the carriage with difficulty. The moment the curtain fell, she suddenly recalled that she had forgotten to tell Tang Yang to pay attention to see if Yuwen Hao had a fever. She suddenly lifted the curtain and said to Gu Si, "I have a word I want to say to Tang Yang."
Gu Si's eyes were cold and stern. "Consort Qing, you'd better not do those useless things. Just go to the palace."
Yuan Qingling was puzzled. "Useless things? What do you mean?"
"Just take care of yourself and don't drag the Prince down." Gu Si said coldly.
Yuan Qingling sneered, "I see. Then please inform Tang Yang to pay attention to whether the Prince has a fever. If he has a high fever, let him take one of the pills I left by the Prince's bedside. It's for rapidly reducing fever."
The curtain fell, blocking her icy expression.
Her heart was chilled to the extreme. This was a society full of suspicion and distrust everywhere.
Gu Si led the way on horseback. The Emperor had maintained Yuan Qingling’s dignity by not making a big show of taking her to the palace for interrogation, but rather sent her in a luxurious carriage, saying it was to summon her for questioning.
Yuan Qingling was taken to the imperial study.
The windows and doors were closed in the study, blocking out the sunshine and making it oppressively stuffy.
The colors inside the hall were bright and magnificent. The huge sandalwood screen was carved with a pattern of soaring dragons. Yellow silk curtains hung down, their smooth folds rippling like waves on a lake stirred by the wind, distinct and clear.
Emperor Ming Yuan sat erect on the carved dragon throne, his hands placed on the huge engraved pear flower carved sandalwood imperial desk. On the desk was a bronze three-legged censer giving off curling smoke, emitting a camphor-like aroma, a overbearing smell that immediately refreshed and awakened one’s mind.
The wealth and majesty of the imperial family was everywhere, making one instantly weak in the knees with the urge to kneel down.
This was the power of the imperial authority, already permeating the air.
Yuan Qingling did not dare look at Emperor Ming Yuan. In her field of vision, she only glimpsed a shadow. She knelt down and said, "Your daughter-in-law Yuan Qingling greets Your Majesty!"
"Raise your head!" Emperor Ming Yuan's voice was not loud, but it seemed to come from all directions.
Yuan Qingling slowly raised her head, but kept her eyes downcast, not daring to look directly at Emperor Ming Yuan.
But Emperor Ming Yuan looked at her coldly and sharply. "Did you secretly treat the Retired Emperor?"
It didn't sound like he was interrogating her, but rather asking casually. Yet it contained anger.
Yuan Qingling did not dare deny it, knowing that he must have evidence. She said, "Replying to Your Majesty, yes I did."
"Where did you learn medicine from?" Emperor Ming Yuan asked again.
Yuan Qingling had thought of what Emperor Ming Yuan would ask ever since she entered the palace, so she had already prepared her response. "Replying to Your Majesty, when your daughter-in-law was young, she encountered a female wanderer, who stayed in the capital for a period of time. She was very fond of me and taught me medicine."
"How long did you study with her?"
"One year."
"What was your master's name?" Emperor Ming Yuan pressed step by step to get to the bottom of this.
Yuan Qingling said, "Your daughter-in-law doesn't know. My master never revealed her name."
Her unconvincing words were watertight, infuriating the Emperor even more.
"Did you treat the Retired Emperor on the instructions of the Fifth Prince?"
Yuan Qingling shook her head. "The Prince didn't know about this."
"He didn't know?" Emperor Ming Yuan pursed his lips tightly, his eyes narrowed as he said coldly, "The first time you administered medicine to the Retired Emperor, you entered the tent together with the Fifth Prince. Yet you're saying he didn't know?"
Yuan Qingling had no intention of dragging Yuwen Hao into this. So even though the Emperor said this, she still insisted on her own account. "The Prince really didn't know. Administering medicine to the Retired Emperor only took a moment. It was just one pill that I placed in the Retired Emperor's mouth and let slowly dissolve."
In fact, by saying that Yuwen Hao knew, she could have avoided the main accusation. The Emperor would definitely think that Yuwen Hao had ordered it. Then her life could be spared.
And Emperor Ming Yuan certainly wouldn't kill Yuwen Hao.
That was the safest approach.
But Yuan Qingling had never thought of dragging him into this. It would be very unfair to him, even though he was a terrible person.
"Was it this bottle of pills?" Emperor Ming Yuan took out a bottle of medicine from behind the memorial and placed it on the desk, asking Yuan Qingling.
Yuan Qingling raised her head to take a look. They were sublingual tablets.
She silently nodded. "Yes!"
"Even I, who doesn't understand medicine, know that this pill does not contain ginseng, bovine bezoar and other ingredients you mentioned." Emperor Ming Yuan said coldly.
Yuan Qingling said in surprise, "I...I don't know either. That was indeed what my master told me."
"Mu Ru, take one pill and have the Consort ingest it in the same way she administered it to the Retired Emperor." Emperor Ming Yuan said lightly.
Mu Ru eunuch obeyed the order, took a sublingual tablet and handed it to Yuan Qingling. Yuan Qingling took it and placed it under her tongue, pressing down on it.
Mu Ru eunuch kept watching her actions.
"Take the Consort to the side palace and have Gu Si keep watch on her!" Emperor Ming Yuan said lightly. "Summon Jing Hou."
Yuan Qingling didn't remember for a moment who Jing Hou was until after Mu Ru eunuch took her to the side palace. She then recalled that Jing Hou was the father of the original Yuan Qingling.
Her fly-by-night, selfishly opportunistic father.
Initially, Yuan Qingling was invited to Princess Ping's residence to scheme against Yuwen Hao, which Jing Hou strongly supported.
But after Yuan Qingling succeeded in marrying into Prince Chu's estate, she discovered that the daughter was not favored. Even the Thrice Gate-opening Prince didn't take her back with him, which greatly disappointed Jing Hou.
At first, he had also tried to put on the pretense of father-in-law with Prince Chu, but slowly discovered that Prince Chu didn't even look straight at him. He completely gave up and also stopped caring about Yuan Qingling.
