As soon as the words were spoken, someone rushed over from outside, it was the eunuch beside Sheng Fei, who exclaimed in a panic: "Your Majesty, something's wrong! Consort Sheng has fainted..."

  "How could this be!" Tuoba Hong immediately stood up and followed the inner attendant to Empress Xiang's palace.

  Lin Wan followed the emperor with some confusion, she really didn't understand how Xiang Fei could faint at this time. Did she want to ask the emperor to kill herself after knowing that she was acquitted? Even pretending to be ill to such an extent?

  This is unlikely. According to Xiang Fei's intelligence, at this time she was busy apologizing to herself and making up for the loss in the emperor's heart, how could she be so unreasonable as to ask the emperor for death?

  The Inviting Moon Building has a total of five floors, the first floor is for receiving guests, the second floor is mostly used for banquets and entertainment with the emperor, and the third floor is the bedroom. After Lin Yin followed the emperor to the third floor, she saw that Empress Xiang was paralyzed on the ground, surrounded by a group of palace maids who were busy lifting her onto the bed, the room was in chaos.

  Tuoba Hong exclaimed: "What's going on here!"

  Shangguan Li still had consciousness, she saw the Emperor and also saw Lin Yuan behind him. At this time, she no longer had the mind to think about her own grievances with Lin Yuan, she struggled to stretch out her hand to Tuoba Hong and murmured: "Your Majesty..."

  Tuoba Hong rushed forward and held her in his arms, turning around to shout for the imperial physician to come and treat her. The three imperial physicians all hastily rushed forward, the palace maid nervously covered a handkerchief over Xiang Fei's wrist, Li Taiyi reached out to press down on it, after a moment his forehead was beaded with cold sweat, he stammered as he spoke to Tuoba Hong: "Reporting to Your Majesty, Her Highness' pulse is extremely weak, it should be that her energy is exhausted..."

  "Is the lamp out of oil?" Emperor Taizong of Northern Wei, Xiao Wen Di, was furious and laughed: "My beloved empress has just fallen ill, and you say she can't be saved? You first tell me what kind of serious illness she has contracted!"

  "Your humble servant's talents are shallow and learning is limited..." Li Taizhen was kicked to the ground by Tuoba Hong before he could finish speaking.

  No need for the emperor's order, the eunuchs who ran errands had already rushed out to invite Doctor Liang, a skilled doctor from the Imperial Hospital.

  The slightly bulging belly of the Empress was matched by her pale complexion, which seemed to have lost all its blood. At a glance, it appeared that the life inside her abdomen could slip away at any moment. Although Li Taizhen and the two medical officers had no effective method to save her, there were no other people available in the house who could be of use, so Tuoba Hong could only suppress his anger and order them to come over and do their best.

  Li Taizhen trembled as he took a bundle of long needles, knowing that he couldn't even diagnose the cause of Xiang Fei's illness but still had to pretend to be a doctor. He inserted the needles one by one into the acupoints that stimulated the heart, only thinking about temporarily prolonging Xiang Fei's life. In his heart, he lamented miserably for the thousandth time, wondering which evil spirit he had offended this time - first it was Bai Xiaozhu and now Xiang Fei... Fortunately, the Emperor didn't blame him for Bai Xiaozhu's affair, but if anything happened to Xiang Fei, his entire family would be doomed.

  Who knows what kind of illness this Empress is suffering from, this palace is simply filled with evil spirits, after practicing medicine for 20 years I still can't recognize some things, how formidable... As a doctor the highest position one can attain is that of imperial physician, what an honor to be able to serve the Emperor. But only after arriving at the palace did I realize that the doctors here are not actually saving lives...

  The inner hospital and the Lingji Palace are not close, and Liang Yuan judges that an elderly person would need at least a moment to rush over. But this time, Sheng Fei fell ill with a sudden onset, her face turned pale and frightening in an instant, and her breathing sound became even weaker.

  Tuoba Hong felt the body in his arms slowly losing its temperature. He knew that there were many capable people in the harem, and naturally, there were many rare and highly toxic poisons. Over the years, it was not uncommon for people to suddenly turn from living beings into corpses. Many "illnesses" were beyond the power of doctors to cure. Now, the person in his arms didn't have much time left either.

  Tuoba Hong did not want Xiāng Fēi to make any mistakes, whether it was for personal reasons or the overall situation of the country. As for personal feelings, Tuoba Hong did not want to lose a woman who had captured his heart. He would always remember that three years ago when their son stopped breathing after birth, she tearfully said to him "I will not let Your Majesty be troubled". He liked her stunning beauty even more than he liked her understanding of the bigger picture and knowing when to advance or retreat.

  In the grand scheme of things, the head of the Shangguan clan, the father of Empress Xiang and General Wei Beidai, had no sons, only two daughters who were renowned for their beauty. If at this time the eldest daughter died, and was poisoned to death, the Shangguan family would not let the matter rest, it is unknown how much compensation they would demand from the imperial family... The three paternal uncles of General Shangguan and several brothers all held positions in the six ministries, if they were to take this opportunity to plot for a position as a first-rank minister with real power, the imperial family could not afford to not give them face.

  The Empress's birth was higher than that of Consort Shang, but she couldn't bear the fact that Consort Shang came from a military family. If the imperial family were to offend the officials, how could they not be intimidated by the power of a military general's clan? If General Wei had a daughter, it would be easy to say, just bring her into the palace and make her a consort. Unfortunately, his family didn't even have a biological niece, only distant relatives... How could this satisfy them?

  Shangguan Li is not allowed to die.

  Taohong thought so, and his hands held it tighter and tighter.

  But Liang's verdict has not yet arrived. Watching Dr. Li shaking his hands as he sewed, he became increasingly annoyed, wanting to get angry but afraid of delaying Empress Xiang.

  Just as he was about to lose his temper, a slender palace maid suddenly squeezed into the crowd. She knelt before the emperor and begged: "Please let me try, Your Majesty."

  Tuoba Hong furrowed his brow, and beside him, Yao Fusheng immediately stepped forward and used a feather duster to swat the palace maid's back, scolding: "The imperial carriage is here, yet you dare to come over and cause trouble! If you delay Her Majesty, your entire family will lose their lives!"

  But the palace maid still refused to back down and insisted: "Let me, your servant Rui'er, save you, Your Highness."

  Tuoba Hong originally wanted to have her dragged away, but seeing how persistent she was, he looked at her a few more times. His impression of this palace maid wasn't deep, only remembering that she was beside Xiang Fei and not one of the more capable palace maids. However, with Xiang Fei in critical condition, Li Taiyi helpless, and Liang Yuan still on his way... Tuoba Hong's brow furrowed even tighter as he asked the palace maid Rui'er: "The imperial physicians are all powerless, you're just a lowly palace maid, what method could you possibly have?"

  Nui'er heard this and immediately felt a glimmer of hope, hastily saying: "My family is also in the medical profession, I have some basic understanding..."

  "At present, as long as you understand medicine, you can come and try. If it's useful, I'll reward your father with a noble title." Tuoba Hong interrupted her: "However, if you have any intention of harming people..."

  "Mr. Li, Mr. Du and Mr. Feng are all here, I will let the masters see everything I do!" Rui'er was young, but she didn't flinch when she heard the emperor's harsh question. Tuoba Hong saw that she spoke clearly and convincingly, thinking that this palace maid was not ordinary, and since Empress Xiang couldn't be delayed any longer, he nodded in agreement.

  Ruirui pressed her fingers on Xiangfei's wrist under the gaze of everyone in the room, and with her other hand, she took out three small white bottles from her waist. Shangguan Li looked at Ruirui with half-closed eyes, and as soon as she saw her, she mustered all her strength to grasp the bed and speak word by word: "No, you quickly retreat..."

  "Mother, it's too late!" Rui'er bowed her head and advised her: "You can't wait for Master Liang, and even if he comes, I'm afraid there's nothing he can do to save you. There are many things that a doctor cannot do."

  "But..."

  "Mother, it's already this late, let's just sacrifice the smaller one for the bigger good."

  Shangguan Li lowered her head and took a glance at her abdomen, but saw that the skirt under her was slowly being stained with bright red. She knew she couldn't wait any longer, steeled herself, and finally nodded to Rui'er.

  Nui immediately opened the porcelain bottle in her hand, took out a small black pill the size of a fingernail and fed it to Shangguan Li, then said to Yao Fusheng and other slaves: "Please open all doors and windows in the room, extinguish all incense and candles."

  Yao Fu Sheng hesitated for a moment, and then Tuoba Hong said: "Listen to her."

  "Thank you, Your Majesty. Also, please have Imperial Physician Li review this prescription. If there's no issue, I'll go decoct the medicine immediately." Rui'er had already swiftly written out a prescription while speaking with Consort Shang, not daring to delay for even an instant.

  Li Taizhen took the prescription and looked at it twice, then clapped his hands and said: "Miss is really a strange person... I'm not talented enough to explain the wonders of this prescription, but looking at it should be an antidote." He asked Doctor Feng to brew the medicine himself.

  Li Taizhong, as an imperial physician, spoke such words of praise and even adoration that Lin Yu heard the gasps of shock from several trusted palace attendants who were present at the imperial court.

  Tuoba Hong's gaze towards the palace maid Rui'er became very complicated.

  Upon hearing Rui'er and Imperial Physician Li's words, even those who didn't understand medicine realized that Consort Shang had indeed been poisoned. It was astonishing that a small palace maid like Rui'er possessed the skill to antidote poison, making Lin Yuan think that she had underestimated Consort Shang and the Shangguan family, for they were able to have a more capable palace maid than even the imperial physician in the palace.

  However, the fact that someone could harm Xiang Fei to such an extent right under Yu'er's nose is also astonishing. The poison used must be something that even Yu'er couldn't identify in a short period of time, and it wasn't until Xiang Fei collapsed from poisoning that she realized what had happened, showing just how formidable the opponent was.

  Lin Yan felt only fear at this moment. Today was a day of disaster, two things happened at the same time.

  Chu Hua Xian framed her first, and she joined forces with Chu Huashang to clear her name; later, someone else wanted to kill Sheng Fei.

  Chu Hua Xuan originally wanted to kill two birds with one stone, but unfortunately, her trick was not enough to deceive Rui Er. As soon as Rui Er took the bowl of soup, she could tell and pulled Bai Xiuyi as a shield. Shang Fei narrowly escaped disaster, but did not expect that there was another plot behind, and the poison she had just taken might have been tampered with by someone at the banquet.

  You can't hide from the 15th even if you hide on the first, even with a capable and loyal maid by her side, Consort Shang was still taken advantage of. In this palace, anyone who is pregnant will be met with countless open and secret attacks.

  Lin Wan felt that Xiang Fei was also bringing this upon herself. She had already been poisoned just now, but she still put her mind on herself and asked the Emperor to grant her death, completely unaware of the hidden deadly crisis. If she could have let go of her own affairs earlier, perhaps she would not have ended up in such a half-dead state as she was today.