After being forced into a marriage with a wealthy family, the virtuous wife caused a huge uproar.

"Your Majesty, please give your orders." Gu Ce bowed.

"I order you to assist Tan Xingchen, the Prefect of Jingzhao, in sealing off Mingyue Tower for me." Emperor Taikang saw the symptoms of the two death row inmates and was determined not to allow such harmful methods to continue in the world.

But he did not say how to deal with the crown prince.

Rong Yingluo understood his good intentions and hoped that this incident would make the Crown Prince more restrained.

After all, the emperor currently only has one son, the crown prince, who can inherit the throne.

The fourth prince was already out of favor and was also disabled, so he was practically negligible.

Thinking of the Fourth Prince, Rong Yingluo felt a pang of sympathy for him. Should she think of a way to help him?

"Your subject obeys the decree." Gu Ce knelt down to accept the order.

Emperor Taikang went out of the palace incognito today to see the effects of the medicine on the two condemned prisoners. The effects were confirmed, but he felt even more depressed.

Rong Yingluo wanted to say something to ease the oppressive atmosphere but couldn't find a suitable topic. Moreover, she wasn't familiar with the Emperor; she had only met him once at the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet.

"Young Madam Gu, who did you learn your medical skills from?" Emperor Taikang asked casually, remembering that Gu Ce had said Rong Yingluo had discovered them.

"Your Majesty, I learned it from a Taoist priest," Rong Yingluo told the truth, but did not elaborate.

"You have such good fortune, that's impressive. Your keen observation in detecting the problem in the soup shows that your master's medical skills must be excellent. May I ask who this master is?" Emperor Taikang asked with some curiosity.

"This... Your Majesty, my master forbade me to tell anyone." Rong Yingluo was a little embarrassed.

She was deceiving the emperor. There were two people in the capital who knew who her apprentice was: Li Xuanye and Yuwen Zhang.

Moreover, her master looks so much like the late emperor, and she hasn't figured this out yet, so she can't easily tell the emperor.

She clearly wrote a letter to Qingyun Temple, but she hasn't received a reply from her master after so long. Her master must have gone on another long trip.

"Can't I even say this in front of me?" Emperor Taikang's curiosity was piqued by Rong Yingluo's changing expressions.

Gu Ce was also very curious about who Rong Yingluo's master was, who could teach her to be so quirky, lively and cute, completely different from the well-bred ladies in the capital, and not at all gentle and virtuous, yet she could always pretend to be gentle when needed, making her unpredictable.

He had asked her where she had studied, but she refused to say.

"Your Majesty, my master is just an unknown junior." Unable to find a suitable excuse, Rong Yingluo could only belittle her master's reputation.

The master truly doesn't care about status or position; unless someone invites him, he generally won't offer medical consultations or perform rituals on his own initiative.

Even so, many people still seek out a master, and those who can persuade a master are either rich or noble.

"Since you are unwilling to say, then forget it. I was just inquiring about doctors with good medical skills, hoping to find one to detoxify A-Ce. You know his condition; we haven't found a skilled doctor in all these years." Emperor Taikang glanced at Gu Ce, his concern in his eyes touching.

It turned out to be the case.

Rong Yingluo wondered if the father and son could have unknowingly built a special relationship without recognizing each other.

Otherwise, it would be a bit too much for an emperor to care so much about a subject.

"Your Majesty, rest assured, I have already figured out a way to cure his poison, including the poison in the Prince of Liao's son." Rong Yingluo was showing off her abilities, even mentioning the Prince of Liao's son.

Gu Ce was speechless. His wife really said whatever came to mind. He didn't dare to comment on the Emperor's attitude towards the Prince of Liao's residence.

"You can still save Prince Li?" Emperor Taikang was stunned.

"Yes, Prince Li and my husband can both use a toad to detoxify." Rong Yingluo, oblivious to Gu Ce's changing expression, continued to boast.

She is so unscrupulous because she relies on the Emperor's favor towards Gu Ce.

There was also the palace banquet, where she donated 100,000 taels of silver, and the emperor rewarded the Rong family with a plaque praising them as loyal and righteous merchants, and also bestowed upon her the title of a third-rank noblewoman. She had a good impression of the emperor, which is why she was not as reserved as other young ladies when speaking to him.

"Good, if you can cure them both of their poison, I will reward you handsomely." The gloom on Emperor Taikang's face completely disappeared.

Gu Ce's eyes lit up as well.

This shows the Emperor's attitude towards the Prince of Liao's residence.

It's only natural for emperors to be wary of the excessive power held by princes of different surnames, lest they threaten the imperial authority. However, a truly wise emperor is one who can maintain a proper balance between the emperor and the princes, ensuring the princes' loyalty to the emperor. This balance is the most beneficial to the country.

Rong Yingluo smiled and her eyes narrowed upon hearing the Emperor's words.

"The King of Liao is a capable general who guards the border of my Southern Xia. With the King of Liao guarding the northern border, he has protected my territory and the country's gates, saving me countless worries."

Prince Li has been poisoned, and I summoned him to the capital specifically to detoxify him. There are far more skilled doctors in the capital than at the border. I've been worried about this for a year; those old fogies in the Imperial Medical Academy have disappointed me greatly.

The King of Liao is already forty-three years old and is about to retire. However, his heir has been killed by the Beicang Kingdom. If the King of Liao's mansion has no successor, the border will be in danger.

"You have given me a great surprise today, and I am very pleased," Emperor Taikang continued, this time genuinely happy.

It's truly a great joy that his two key ministers are likely to be spared.

If the Crown Prince of Liao hadn't been poisoned and unable to fight, his martial arts skills were said to be even better than his father's, and he had also inherited the true essence of the old King of Liao's military strategies.

The Liao Prince's Mansion only has this one legitimate son. If the poison cannot be cured, the throne will fall to the son born to a concubine.

The upbringing of illegitimate sons is never as good as that of legitimate sons. Emperor Taikang said he was worried about this for a year, and he was not lying.

"Your Majesty, rest assured, once the Red-banded Toad is found, Prince Li's poison will be cured quickly. My husband, on the other hand, will need to wait a while," Rong Yingluo assured her.

Emperor Taikang arrived with a heavy heart but left with a joyful heart.

Rong Yingluo returned to the mansion just as she received a letter from her master.

The answer was simply: "When the time comes, I will tell you. Don't overthink it."

Despite the chaotic scene at the chrysanthemum appreciation banquet, many things have changed.

Originally, the son of the second branch of the Gao family was to be engaged to Gu Qingwan, the second branch of the Gu family. However, Gao Zhixian was embraced by Cui Liyuan, and in the end, the Dingxi Marquis's Mansion and the Gao family became engaged.

The second branch of the Gao family naturally preferred to marry the legitimate daughter of the Marquis of Dingxi. Gu Qingwan was merely the legitimate daughter of the second branch of the Gu family, and Gu Jingcheng was not very promising, just a minor captain in the city defense camp.

This perfectly suited Rong Yingluo's wish to ruin Gu Qingwan's marriage to the Gao family; it was truly an unexpected stroke of luck.

In the outer courtyard, Gu Ce was handling official business when the gatekeeper came to report that Prince Li had come to visit.

That day, I knocked the boy unconscious and had An Wu throw him directly into the carriage of the Li family and send him back to the Liao Prince's villa.

My health is really poor. I suffered so much, and it took me five days to recover before I could go out.

Thinking of that guy's frail body, Gu Ce felt that apart from his monthly poisoning flare-ups, he was much stronger than him.

"Lord Gu, how vicious you are! Knowing full well that my health is fragile, you still attacked me so severely." Li Xuanye began to complain as soon as he entered the study.

Before he was knocked unconscious that day, he had already seen half of Gu Ce's face.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have stayed in the manor for five days without going out, only coming out after he had recovered. Knowing that it was Gu Ce who made the move, he knew that the young Taoist priest would be alright.

He asked Pan Zhenming to inquire about what happened at the Gu residence that day, but he couldn't find out anything. He only knew that the young Taoist priest was unharmed.

Gu Ce glanced at him, closed the folding book in his hand, and got up to walk to the coffee table.

"Hey, tell me quickly, what happened after that day?" Li Xuanye picked up the tea that Gu Ce had poured, acting as if they were old friends.

"You want to know?" Gu Ce gave him a mysterious look.

"Of course, after that day, the Crown Prince brought a concubine back to his residence, and several young ladies from various families in the capital were sent out of the capital. I also heard that several ladies were confined to their residences. Don't you think these things are suspicious? Tell me quickly, are these things related to the Gu family?"

The fire of gossip burned fiercely in Li Xuanye's eyes.