Empress in her second playthrough: Something's not right with this plot!

"Li Qing has taken sick leave again?"

Su Yingjie replied.

"Your Majesty, Prime Minister Li has requested sick leave today."

Normally, Jiang Qingying would have preferred that Li Ze never come to court.

But today is different; today is the last day.

All the imperial physicians in the Imperial Medical Bureau examined him, but none of them could find a cure.

If Shangguan Xuanran doesn't get the antidote today, he...

Do we really have to beg him?

Just thinking about this gave Jiang Qingying a headache.

She gently touched her forehead, sounding somewhat tired.

"I am not feeling well today. If there is nothing urgent, please adjourn the court."

……

At Weiyang Palace, Jiang Qingying went straight to Shangguan Xuanran's residence.

In the room next to Shangguan Xuanran, a dozen or so people were sitting and discussing something.

With the imperial physicians at a loss, Jiang Qingying had no choice but to seek out a renowned doctor in the capital who could detoxify her.

The people in the room were all famous doctors in the capital.

After taking each pulse, we will discuss methods to detoxify together here.

The Empress promised a great reward if someone could cure this poison.

Before Jiang Qingying even reached the door, she could hear the conversation inside.

"This poison is difficult to cure."

"If we can figure out exactly which toxins it contains through experimentation, we can find an antidote, but that will take time."

"I don't think that female official will make it through today. She won't have time for you to experiment little by little."

"It's really strange that we've encountered two kinds of strange poisons in just a few days."

"Two kinds? Besides the Thousand-Mechanism Guide, what other kinds are there?"

Upon hearing this, the Empress stopped in her tracks as she was about to enter.

The voices inside were lowered.

"A few days ago, Prime Minister Li also invited many people to treat him. It is said that he was poisoned, but no one could tell."

"Is that so?"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Qingying quickly walked into the house.

Just as she saw someone about to speak, they immediately shut up when she entered.

Upon seeing Jiang Qingying, everyone inside the room immediately bowed in greeting.

"Greetings, Your Majesty!"

Jiang Qingying walked up to the person who had just spoken.

"You just said that Prime Minister Li was poisoned?"

The speaker trembled like a leaf, but dared not answer.

Revealing a patient's condition to outsiders is a major taboo for doctors, let alone when the patient is none other than Prime Minister Li.

He had only wanted to show off in front of his peers, but who would have thought that the Empress would overhear him?

He didn't know how long the Empress had been standing at the door, and if he lied, it would be a crime of deceiving the emperor.

He couldn't afford to offend either Prime Minister Li or the Empress.

Seeing that he didn't speak, Jiang Qingying said coldly.

"Someone come here!"

As soon as he finished speaking, two guards appeared at the door to wait for him.

Jiang Qingying pointed at the person who had just spoken.

"Drag him out and behead him."

"According to the order."

Two guards immediately stepped forward, but before they could even reach the man, he immediately confessed.

"Your Majesty, spare me! I'll talk! I'll talk!"

Bang bang bang.

The man kept kowtowing, no longer daring to conceal anything.

Jiang Qingying waved her hand, and the two guards immediately withdrew.

"Explain it to me clearly, exactly as it was."

"I've only heard about it..."

After a short while, Jiang Qingying roughly understood the whole story.

In short, Li Yunsheng was poisoned, but none of the doctors in the capital could tell what kind of poison he had been poisoned with.

In other words, there is no cure for the poison he was afflicted with.

"How much longer can he live?"

This is what Jiang Qingying is most concerned about. If Li Zei is about to die, then great things can be expected.

"This humble subject cannot tell that Prime Minister Li has been poisoned, but judging from his pulse, he probably only has a year left to live."

Jiang Qingying was overjoyed and glanced at the others.

"Which of you has ever sought medical treatment at Prime Minister Li's residence?"

Almost half of the people raised their hands to indicate that they had been there.

Jiang Qingying warned.

"If I find out that someone is concealing something, then that would be the crime of deceiving the emperor."

As soon as he finished speaking, three more people raised their hands.

"Do your diagnoses match his?"

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Jiang Qingying felt the weight on her shoulders immediately lighten; Li Zei only had one more year to live, and there was hope for the future.

If she can hold out against Li Ze for another year, then Li Ze will surely die.

But what about Shangguan Xuanran?

"Have you been able to devise a method to detoxify?"

Upon hearing this, everyone fell silent.

Seeing their expressions, Jiang Qingying knew the outcome.

In truth, the imperial physicians were helpless, and she didn't have much hope for these people either.

I was just a little unwilling to give up and wanted to give it a try.

However, it wasn't entirely without gain; they unexpectedly learned a secret about Li Yunsheng.

"Alright, everyone go back now."

Jiang Qingying turned and walked out of the house.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, as if they had just escaped from the gates of hell.

Next door, Shangguan Xuanran got out of bed and stood in the room after hearing the Empress's voice.

As soon as Jiang Qingying entered, Shangguan Xuanran bowed.

"Congratulations, Your Majesty."

Seeing her like this, most of the joy in Jiang Qingying's heart disappeared.

If Shangguan Xuanran had known that Li Yunsheng didn't have much time left, he wouldn't have needed to assassinate him, and he wouldn't have been poisoned.

Now that Li Yunsheng has begun searching for renowned doctors to detoxify him, it's probably impossible for me to wait for Li Yunsheng to die from the poison.

We cannot sit idly by and wait to die. We must take the initiative and strike before Li finds a cure for the poison, so that we can seize the initiative.

"A great deal of noise..."

Shangguan Xuanran thought she knew what the Empress was hesitating about. When she heard about Li Yunsheng's poisoning, her first thought was that she might not have to die.

When faced with death, not everyone can remain calm and composed.

However, she quickly dismissed the idea.

If he were to let Li Yunsheng go in order to save her, he would be more than guilty of dying a hundred times over.

The Empress endured humiliation and hardship for so many years, all for the sake of overthrowing the Li faction and taking control of the court herself.

This is also her wish.

Jiang Qingying continued.

"I will immediately send someone to find Mr. Sun."

Old Master Sun was a renowned physician of the Great Chu Dynasty. He had lived in seclusion for many years, and anyone who tried to invite him had been turned away.

The late emperor had saved the life of Physician Sun, and since he personally invited him, he would surely appear in the world once.

With the help of the renowned physician Sun, Li Yunsheng's poison might be cured.

Upon learning that Shangguan Xuanran was poisoned and no one could cure him, this was the first person she thought of.

However, the place where this person lived in seclusion was thousands of miles away from the capital.

They sent someone to invite Doctor Sun, but by the time he returned, Shangguan Xuanran had already died from the poison.