"What do you mean, what should we do? Send people out to search!"
"I... I have already sent the palace servants from the storeroom to search... but... but they couldn't find her."
The palace is so vast that even if one were to search it without eating, drinking, or sleeping, it would probably take a month to cover the entire area.
Who knows where Xiao Ronghua has hidden herself?
"Slap!"
Another slap landed: "How do you do your job? Can't even keep track of someone who is seriously injured? Find her within ten days, or all the palace servants guarding the storeroom will be thrown into the fish pond."
Luyin trembled, as if recalling something terrifying, her lips losing all color from fear.
Recently, the weather has been hot, and Consort De was unable to accompany the Emperor to the summer palace. Even her third prince was forcibly taken away, causing her temper to grow increasingly volatile.
If it weren't for Consort De's excessive torment of the timid and cowardly Xiao Ronghua, she wouldn't have risked her life to escape.
"What are you afraid of?"
Consort De helped the trembling Luyin to her feet: "You are my confidante. I would never harm you, but I hope you don't keep disappointing me. Do you understand?"
Luyin felt the hair on her arm stand up where Consort De grasped it and quickly nodded: "I understand, Your Highness."
As soon as she left Yanqing Palace, Luyin headed straight for Hexi Palace.
Jiang Chuan put on his outer garment again and walked alone to the vegetable garden. He had been feeling strange lately. Ever since the collapsed wall was repaired, some of the garden's fruits and vegetables seemed to be disappearing.
If it were anything else, he wouldn't have paid much attention. The surplus fruits and vegetables in the garden were meant for the palace servants to pick and eat.
But the ones missing were the newly cultivated Ziyu grapes by the palace gardeners.
The Empress always longed for the grape vines in the Palace of Exile, saying she had entered the Palace of Exile too late to taste them and wanted to try them.
Before Xiao Xuanzi went to the Palace of Exile, he worked in the flower house. He knew which skilled gardeners were being suppressed and invited them to cultivate a new variety of Ziyu grapes that were much tastier than those in the Palace of Exile for the Empress.
Before leaving, the Empress repeatedly instructed to take good care of these grape vines. Once the grapes ripened, they should be picked and kept chilled so that Shuang Jiang and Xi Que could taste them when they returned.
There were only a few vines on the trellis, bearing about twenty grapes. Jiang Chuan hadn't dared to taste any, and the palace servants knew these grapes were specifically for the Imperial Noble Consort, so they tended to them carefully, waiting for the old gardeners' command to harvest them.
However, during the day, Jiang Chuan counted again and found that the twenty grapes had become fifteen.
He didn't know if any other fruits were missing, but if the Ziyu grapes were stolen, he wouldn't be able to fulfill his duty.
So, under the cover of night, Jiang Chuan quietly went to the vegetable garden alone.
The summer heat was so intense that even the night breeze was warm, though it was less stifling and somewhat refreshing.
The dark, empty vegetable garden, still damp from the rain a couple of days ago, was filled with the fragrance of fruits.
Jiang Chuan was cautious and didn't reveal himself immediately. Instead, he hid behind a fruit tree, waiting for the "fruit thief" to appear.
"Swish, swish, swish..."
A large disturbance came from the dark corner of the wall. From the thicket of berry trees, something human-shaped, neither human nor ghost, crawled out.
Her body twisted and crawled in the darkness, her messy hair obscuring her face, her clothes so dirty they couldn't be recognized, and her nails-less hands digging holes in the ground.
Her mouth emitted a heavy, terrifying sound: "Hungry... hungry... hungry..."
Oh my life!
There's a ghost in the vegetable garden!
Jiang Chuan struggled to suppress his fear, covering his mouth to prevent himself from screaming, but his eyes were already filled with tears of terror.
What should he do?
Would he die here tonight?
Empress... Shuang Jiang... Xi Que... Xiao Xuanzi...
See you in the next life, wuuuu...
Suddenly, the "female ghost" leaned on the grape trellis and slowly stood up, reaching out to grab the Ziyu grapes.
"Stop!"
Jiang Chuan instinctively shouted: "I can't take it anymore. Even if you're a ghost, you should have some morals. There are so many fruits in this garden. Why do you have to eat the Ziyu grapes meant for our mistress? There are only a few left. Just take a few, but don't take them all. Are you a hungry ghost? I warn you, don't eat me! I haven't bathed in over ten days. You'll get diarrhea if you eat me."
The "ghost" paused in her action of picking the grapes, the posture even more eerie. Both sides were sweating profusely, not daring to make any sudden moves.
"Jiang... Jiang Gonggong?"
A voice broke the deadlock, and Jiang Chuan opened his eyes, which he had closed in fear: "Luyin?"
What a surprise, why is someone from Yanqing Palace also here in Hexi Palace?
...
Summer Palace—
Jiang Xinyue cleaned the blood from the Emperor's mouth and had him rinse before signaling to Shuang Jiang: "Bring the soup over."
She had personally cooked a spinach and liver soup to help the Emperor replenish his blood.
After vomiting blood four or five times a day, the Xuanwu Emperor was completely exhausted.
To be honest, there was a bit of heartache.
The next moment, she shook her head vigorously, no, no, no, no, feeling sorry for a man brings bad luck for a lifetime.
Why feel sorry for him?
He was cursed because he didn't keep his male virtue, sleeping with every woman he met. It's a miracle he didn't catch a venereal disease. Just being cursed is nothing.
Better feel sorry for herself!
As the Emperor drank the warm blood-replenishing soup, his heart also warmed. Jiang Xinyue fed him spoon by spoon, thinking privately: She needed to talk to Dr. Yan and have him secretly check if the Emperor had any sexually transmitted diseases.
Otherwise, if she got infected, it would be more difficult for a woman to speak out.
In this era, most physicians were men, and female doctors were rare, not to mention their medical skills were not passed down from the orthodox male doctors. They only allowed female doctors to assist and learn superficial knowledge.
Female doctors who could truly learn the essence of medicine were few and far between.
Women with private gynecological diseases, sometimes not their own fault but infected by men, were too ashamed to speak out.
A plan began to form in her mind, but she didn't yet have the capability. Despite being an Imperial Noble Consort, her family background was humble, and she only fully controlled the imperial kitchen in the palace.
She could only wait until the Jiang family rose in power and she controlled the entire harem to realize her ambitions and benefit herself and the people.
Perhaps because the Xuanwu Emperor was diligent and caring for the people, and she was constantly exposed to him, she had developed a sense of responsibility and affection for the people of this dynasty.
Until the soup was finished, Jiang Xinyue wiped the oil from his mouth and handed him a book to read.
