With her deceased husband as her dowry, would Your Highness dare to marry her?

The Empress suddenly stood up and shouted, "Insolence! Guards, take her away!"

At the sound of the call, guards with swords entered the hall, their armor clanging.

Pei Jinxuan reacted quickly, pulling Lin Ci behind him and blocking the outstretched hands from behind.

"She is a physician I specially invited to examine His Majesty's pulse."

Pei Jinxuan stood tall in front of Lin Ci, like a thousand-year-old stone monument.

The guards with swords looked at each other, hesitant in their steps.

Immediately, Pei Jinxuan turned to face the Empress, bowed deeply, and said, "Your Majesty, this is the successor of the 'Ghost Hand of Medicine,' whose medical skills are superb. His actions just now must have been for His Majesty's health."

"What medical skills?" The Empress stared coldly at him, her voice turning shrill. "His Majesty suffers from a cold and is sensitive to the chill, don't you know that? Opening the windows to let in the wind, are you trying to make His Majesty's illness worse than it is?! Guards, seize Prince Jing'an as well!"

The guards had just stepped out when a few soft coughs came from the dragon bed.

The Emperor of Yan awoke.

The Empress's anger subsided, and she hurriedly turned around to take the Emperor's hand, "Your Majesty..."

Her voice softened, revealing her to be that of an ordinary woman concerned for her husband's safety.

The Emperor of Yan took a couple of breaths and said weakly, "Just now... I felt a tightness in my chest, but now... I feel a bit better."

Eunuch Gao knelt beside the bed, his eyes darting around before he quickly bowed and replied, "Your Majesty, it was Her Majesty the Empress who ordered the physician to open the windows for ventilation. Her Majesty is concerned for Your Majesty and has not been negligent for a moment."

In short, offend no one.

The Empress nodded in agreement with Eunuch Gao and gripped the Emperor's hand even tighter.

Emperor Yan coughed a few times and raised his hand.

The Empress quickly helped him up.

Eunuch Gao rushed to the bedside, supporting the Emperor Yan's back while whispering, "Your Majesty, be careful..."

"Where is Prince Jing'an?" Emperor Yan struggled to lift his eyelids.

"Your subject is here." Pei Jinxuan walked to the bedside and bowed.

When the Yan Emperor saw him, he smiled slightly, but before he could speak, he coughed violently again, then leaned back and fainted once more.

"Imperial Physician! Imperial Physician!!" The Empress's face turned ashen, and she waved her hands repeatedly.

Judge Xu strode forward and placed three fingers on Emperor Yan's pulse point. The moment he touched him, Emperor Yan's expression changed.

The pulse under his fingers was weak and rootless, scattered like beads from a broken string—a sign of an extremely weak pulse. For a moment, he was at a loss, beads of sweat forming on his forehead, which he wiped away repeatedly with his sleeve.

When the Empress saw that the Emperor Yan's face was ashen and his breathing was weak and rapid, she could no longer hold back her tears, which rolled down her cheeks.

"Lin Ci, quickly treat His Majesty."

In a moment of desperation, Pei Jinxuan called Lin Ci up by his full name.

Just as Lin Ci took out his pulse pillow, the Empress grabbed his wrist.

"I have never seen her before!" The Empress's fingernails almost dug into Lin Ci's flesh; she did not believe this unfamiliar woman.

Eunuch Gao quickly explained, "Your Highness must have been so anxious that you forgot. His Majesty mentioned the divine physician by Prince Jing'an's side just a few days ago; it is this very person."

"But His Majesty fell ill as soon as he returned from that one trip." The Empress looked at Lin Ci and gripped his hand even tighter.

Lin Ci glanced at the Yan Emperor's face, which was now even more ashen.

She said in a deep voice, "Human life is at stake. Let me treat His Majesty first. Any further delay..."

"With Physician Xu here, what need is there for you?" The Empress interrupted her sharply, turning to Physician Xu and saying, "Physician Xu, hurry up and administer acupuncture to His Majesty! Bring out all the miraculous medicines you have!"

Judge Xu was covered in sweat and was forced into a corner.

He gritted his teeth, took out a silver needle, and braced himself to insert it into the Yan Emperor's philtrum.

"Absolutely not!" Lin Ci urgently stopped him.

Judge Xu's hand froze in mid-air, unsure whether to stab or retract.

Lin Ci then said, "Your Majesty's vital energy is currently scattered, so gathering it is the priority."

Judge Xu understood and quickly put away the silver needles.

Enraged, the Empress berated Xu, the Imperial Physician, "You useless wretch! How could you believe such slander! If His Majesty doesn't wake up, I will hold you accountable today!"

Imperial Physician Xu knelt and kowtowed, saying, "Your Majesty, please calm your anger. She is right; this needle I administered will only make matters worse."

"you……"

"Your Majesty, please calm your anger!" Eunuch Gao suddenly prostrated himself and shouted.

He knelt down, and all the palace servants bowed their heads, their voices trembling, "Your Majesty, please calm your anger."

The Empress's anger subsided, but a sense of helplessness welled up inside her.

She released Lin Ci's hand, her eyes brimming with tears as she gazed at the Yan Emperor on the bed, unable to utter a single word for a long time.

"Your Majesty, please let me try," Lin Ci said softly.

The Empress looked up, her gaze still filled with suspicion.

Pei Jinxuan approached and said in a deep voice, "Your Majesty's illness has progressed to this point, so why not take a gamble? She is the successor of a divine physician whom I have searched for a long time to find, and I trust her."

A simple sentence caused Lin Ci's heartstrings to tremble slightly.

Following up on his words, Imperial Physician Xu said, "Yes, Your Majesty. I can testify that this lady's medical skills are no less than mine."

Upon hearing this, the Empress hesitated for a moment. She looked at the dying Emperor Yan on the bed and nodded helplessly.

Lin Ci placed the pulse pillow under the Emperor Yan's wrist, placed three fingers on the cun-kou point, and closed his eyes.

Silence fell over the hall.

The cold wind whipped at the palace gauze curtains, rising and falling intermittently.

Grandpa Gao knelt before the bed, gazing anxiously at it, his heart burning with worry.

The lives of everyone in the hall hang on these three fingers. If they can be saved, all will be well; if not, some may not make it through the night.

Pei Jinxuan stood with his hands behind his back beside the couch, his face expressionless, but his mind was in turmoil. He had invited Lin Ci to the capital, but before he could even grasp the basics of the art of reviving the dead, the Yan Emperor was already on his deathbed. If the Yan Emperor were to pass away, the Liang King would surely take action, and the world would not be at peace for more than a few days.

Pei Jinxuan made the worst-case scenario plan in her mind.

In order to stabilize the country, he had to make arrangements in advance, even if it meant playing the villain.

Pei Jinxuan turned to the Empress and said, "Your Majesty, this hall is crowded and stuffy, which is not good for His Majesty's condition. Please have all irrelevant people leave the hall, and no one is allowed to enter."

The empress paused, looking at him with a mixture of belief and doubt.

Pei Jinxuan didn't have time to explain to her. He took a half step closer and said something in a voice only the two of them could hear.

"This concerns the safety of the nation and the Crown Prince; you must listen to me."

The moment the word "Crown Prince" was uttered, the Empress's eyes lit up. As if waking from a dream, she quickly turned to the palace maid beside her and said, "Quickly, quickly bring the Crown Prince here."

The palace maid bowed and quickly left the hall, soon bringing the young prince back.

The prince was only three years old and was being held in his wet nurse's arms. He had his eyes wide open, completely unaware of what was happening.

The Empress stepped forward, took the young prince from the wet nurse, and carried him to Emperor Yan.

The young prince saw the Yan Emperor lying on the dragon bed with his eyes closed and innocently called out, "Father."

The Yan emperor did not agree.

The young prince tugged at the Empress's sleeve again and said, "Oh dear, why is Father asleep? He's sleeping so soundly, is he still checking my homework?"

The Empress's eyes welled up with tears as she listened. She pulled the Crown Prince into her arms, and tears streamed down her face.

But there were so many eyes watching from inside the palace. Helpless, the Empress hid her face behind her son's small shoulder and, in a trembling voice, ordered Eunuch Gao, "Have all irrelevant people leave. Guard the area outside the palace strictly; no one is allowed to enter."

Eunuch Gao bowed and accepted the order, then dismissed all the palace servants.

As the palace doors closed, the Empress's shoulders slumped slightly, her voice trembling with a sob, "Your Majesty... is there any hope?"

Lin Ci frowned and did not respond.

Three fingers remained on the pulse, his expression calm and serene.

She remained silent, which made the Empress even more anxious. Just as she was about to ask again, Pei Jinxuan raised his hand to stop her.

"If my brother truly cannot escape this calamity," he looked at the Yan Emperor on the bed, took a deep breath as if gathering all his strength, and then uttered, "that is also the will of Heaven."

"No!" the Empress said sternly, her eyes red as if about to bleed. "His Majesty must live. If he's gone, what will become of the Crown Prince and me?"

After saying this, she covered her face with her sleeve and began to cry.

Although the Empress lived deep within the palace, how could she not know the situation in the court?

Currently, Prince Liang wields considerable power and holds military authority. Once the Yan Emperor passes away, he will be a sharp knife hanging over the Crown Prince's head.

Even though her family controlled three prefectures, no one dared to say whether they could defeat the King of Liang.

Right now, the person we can rely on the most is this Prince Jing'an.

He and the Emperor of Yan were born of the same mother and had a deep bond since childhood.

But you can't judge a book by its cover, so who can guarantee that he hasn't had any designs on the throne? She sees everyone as an enemy and can't trust anyone.

Just then, a eunuch's loud announcement came from outside the hall: "Prince Liang has arrived!!!"