After the rebirth, the empress took the tragic script of Meiqiang

Chapter 5 Claiming illness

After dinner, Ye Qinghuai stayed in Wenxuan Hall until late at night.

Usually at this time, she was either painting or playing chess. The palace people knew that the emperor liked to be quiet when painting and playing chess, so there was only Li Baoquan, the chief eunuch in charge of the imperial palace, waiting in the palace.

Today, Ye Qinghuai sent Li Baoquan out. When he was leaving, Ye Qinghuai ordered him to extinguish the incense in the three-legged porcelain incense burner.

The smell of agarwood soon faded, and the drowsy warmth also dissipated. Ye Qinghuai looked at the drawing paper spread out on the desk in trance. There was no ink stain on the paper, and the edge of the paperweight was

She placed the ink polished by Li Baoquan. The ink dried quickly in the winter chill, but she still had no intention of picking up the pen.

Ye Qinghuai had no intention of painting today. She thought over and over in her mind what she had said to Lu Yanchen during the day. She considered every word, trying to read some clues of rebellion from them. But no matter how she recalled it, she felt that Lu Yanchen had no intention of painting.

Yanchen was a loyal minister through words and deeds, especially his expectations and trust in Ye Qinghuai. It was really not like he was just pretending. If there was something strange about him, Ye Qinghuai had to think about it.

When I went, I only thought of two things.

First, Lu Yanchen was dissatisfied with the atmosphere in the court.

Secondly, the relationship between Lu Yanchen and Jijiu from the Literary School may not be as shallow as he said.

But these two points alone are far from enough for him to raise the flag of rebellion.

To be fair, Lu Yanchen was extremely loyal to Ye Qinghuai during the three years he took charge of Wenxuan Hall. It was precisely for this reason that in his previous life, when Ye Qinghuai saw Lu Yanchen's name on the letter, he

Still reluctant to believe it.

What did I do to make him hold such a grudge? Was it the incident at Chengtian Gate? But with Lu Yanchen’s understanding of me, how could he not guess that it was not me? Or are there some details that I have overlooked?

Ye Qinghuai was puzzled.

"Your Majesty, it's late at night. Please put your dragon body first." Li Baoquan's voice came from outside the door. It sounded a bit far away through the palace gate.

Ye Qinghuai rubbed his forehead, sighed, stood up, took out the blank drawing paper, looked at it again with a frown, and then threw it aside.

She opened the door, and Li Baoquan, who was waiting outside, immediately came forward and tied her cloak with his hands and feet quickly. Ye Qinghuai stepped onto the chariot and heard Li Baoquan's sharp voice from behind.

"Let's drive back to the palace——"

——

In the morning of the next day, Ye Qinghuai asked about the joint trial of Wang Lisong. The Ministry of Punishment stated that Dali Temple had made arrangements and handed Ye Qinghuai the agenda and jury list for the joint trial as usual.

Ye Qinghuai glanced at the list and asked doubtfully: "Why is Li Wenqing not on the list?"

An old minister with a gray beard came out of the queue and replied: "Reporting to your Majesty, Li Wenqing contracted the cold and took leave yesterday. He cannot attend this hearing."

He walked slowly, spoke slowly, and his figure was a little shaky, as if he was about to fall down at any moment.

Ye Qinghuai narrowed his eyes slightly, looked at him and asked: "Then who will serve as the judge on the Yushitai?"

"The old minister has taken charge." The old man paused, as if he remembered something, and saluted Ye Qinghuai, "The old minister is Jiang Zongwen, the imperial censor."

"I know. Mr. Jiang has been on leave for...more than a year. Why did he come to court today?"

"By the grace of God, I have recovered well in the past few days. However, the imperial doctor ordered me not to see the wind, so it has been delayed for a few more days."

Ye Qinghuai looked at the gray-haired old minister, gave a short laugh, and said: "Mr. Jiang is well, and Li Wenqing has fallen again. This censor's station is a bit interesting, even illness comes in rotation."

After Ye Qinghuai finished speaking, he glanced at the ministers, who were all motionless with their black gauze hats hanging down, as silent as a cicada.

Ye Qinghuai glanced at the silent faces of the ministers and said: "If there is no memorial, the court will be dismissed today."

"Your Majesty." Ye Qinghuai quickly left the Hall of Supreme Harmony amidst the feeble farewells of his ministers.

As soon as she left the Hall of Supreme Harmony, she ordered Li Baoquan, who was trotting up to follow him: "Go to the Taihe Hospital to find Zhou Shouyi, and ask him to go to Li Wenqing's mansion to see him immediately. Go quickly!"

Li Baoquan agreed, turned around and trotted off again.

Ye Qinghuai looked at Li Baoquan's back and felt a bad premonition in his heart.

"I hope I'm sensitive..." she murmured to herself.

——

Jingshou Palace, Qinxian Palace.

Ye Qinghuai was half-leaning on the small table on the couch, flipping through several booklets in his hands.

Although she has taken charge of the government, there are only a dozen memorials sent from the cabinet every day that require her personal approval. Most of the memorials are discussed and processed by the cabinet.

The brochure in her hand was handed over by the governor of Leizhou County. It was a brochure reporting the flood in Leizhou and requesting the imperial court for funding. Because the money requested exceeded the authority of the cabinet, it was sent here.

In fact, sending it to her is just a formality, approving it, and stamping it. If the cabinet does not agree with the petition, it will not be sent to her.

Ye Qinghuai was flipping through the pages when suddenly there were rapid footsteps coming from outside the door, gradually approaching.

She closed the fold in her hand and looked toward the door. Sure enough, not long after, a thin old man appeared at the door. He had two gray beards at the corners of his mouth. He was wearing the official uniform of a doctor from the Taiyuan Hospital and had a pair of clothes on his shoulders.

Carrying a square medicine box on his back, Li Baoquan followed behind him. After he was brought to Ye Qinghuai, he bowed to Ye Qinghuai and then exited, closing the door tightly.

When the imperial doctor saw Ye Qinghuai, he was about to salute, but Ye Qinghuai stood up and walked to him in two steps to support him.

"Grandpa Zhou, there are no outsiders here, so there is no need to bow. Is Li Wenqing really sick?"

Looking at the whole scene, there are only two people who know that Ye Qinghuai is a woman, one is Aunt Fanghua, and the other is the thin old man in front of him - imperial physician Zhou Shouyi.

After Queen Mother Jingmin passed away, they were the two people Ye Qinghuai trusted most in the world.

Zhou Shouyi shook his head and said: "I haven't seen him. There is no one in his house."

"No one?" Ye Qinghuai was surprised.

Zhou Shouyi sighed softly and said: "There was no one in his house, so the old minister asked around. Neighbors said that he lived in poverty, only married one wife, and had a son who was about five or six years old.

Two servants."

"A family of five, and none of them are missing?"

"The neighbor said he heard him and his wife quarreling frequently last month, and then one day his wife took her son back to her parents' home."

"Then he is alone in Beijing. Have you heard that he has been ill recently?"

"The neighbor said that he had seen Li Wenqing until the day before yesterday and found nothing unusual."

Ye Qinghuai couldn't help but frown.

"Your Majesty, there is another thing that I learned from the watchman."

"What's up?"

Zhou Shouyi turned around and glanced at the door intentionally or unintentionally. When he saw that the door was closed, he lowered his voice and said to Ye Qinghuai: "The watchman said that during the third watch the night before yesterday, he saw a carriage coming.

Stop in front of the Li Mansion."

Ye Qinghuai was shocked and asked, "Have you seen who it is?"

Zhou Shouyi shook his head: "The car is covered with black cloth, so you can't see where it came from."

The old man and the young man fell into silence. After a while, Ye Qinghuai seemed to have returned to his usual demeanor. He smiled at Zhou Shou and said, "Excuse me, Grandpa Zhou, for making this trip."

"Don't bother me." The old doctor knew that he had finished reporting on his official business, so he bowed, stood up straight, changed his expression, looked at Ye Qinghuai up and down, his expression suddenly became cold, and said, "

Why are you wearing so little?"

Ye Qinghuai lowered her head and looked at herself. She was only wearing a bright yellow middle coat. The outer robe of the winter coat was a bit stiff. She never liked wearing it and often took it off as soon as she got inside.

"It's hot in this room. I'm young and full of energy, so I can't stand it." She looked at Zhou Shou's ready scolding in his eyes and couldn't help but smile with a guilty conscience.

She has been most afraid of Zhou Shouyi since she was a child, and would always make her drink medicine or give her injections.

"Why is the fire so strong?" Zhou Shouyi said angrily. The beard at the corner of his mouth trembled, and Ye Qinghuai's heart also trembled. The old man frowned and said, "Your sunflower water will be here soon. I'll give it to you."

Make some warm palace soup."

Ye Qinghuai's expression changed drastically when he heard this. He immediately pulled off his robe from the hanger and put it on himself. Then he smiled at Zhou Shou and said, "Grandpa Zhou, look, I've already put it on. This...

Let’s skip the Nuangong Soup this time..."

After the last time she drank it, she never wanted to drink the Laoshizi Warming Palace Soup again in her life.

Zhou Shouyi restrained his anger, gave her a satisfactory look, and said, "I'll ask Li Baoquan to bring in another brazier later. This room faces east, and it's still a bit cold in the afternoon."

Ye Qinghuai was complaining in her heart. She could feel herself sweating when she heard the word "brazier".

However, he still had a smile on his face and said: "Let Grandpa Zhou worry about it."

Zhou Shou waved his hand, stopped talking to her, turned around and went out to look for Li Baoquan.

Li Baoquan used his super powerful actions to show Ye Qinghuai what it means to be an imperial steward. Less than half a moment later, a second brazier was lit in the small Qinxian Palace.

Amidst the faint crackling sound of silver charcoal, Ye Qinghuai stared at the red charcoal fire and fell into deep thought.

It seemed that Li Wenqing was not only seriously ill this time, but also very ill. Vaguely, she always felt that there was an undercurrent that she could not see in this seemingly peaceful palace.

(End of chapter)