The investigation quickly yielded results.

The palace maid’s name was Mu Qing. She served in Hanzhang Hall as a second-rank maid, specifically responsible for tending to the flowers and plants.

Because of her quiet and aloof nature, she disliked socializing, so she usually had a very low profile.

If she hadn’t saved Hua Manman’s life, Li Ji wouldn’t have even known such a person existed in Hanzhang Hall.

Chen Wangbei said, "Your subordinate also learned that Mu Qing has fallen ill these past two days and has been recuperating in her quarters."

Hearing this, Hua Manman couldn’t help but worry.

The Imperial Hospital had not only Imperial Physicians but also many Medical Women.

These Medical Women were the equivalent of nurses. They had a basic understanding of simple medical principles, and if any palace maids or eunuchs fell ill, it was the Medical Women who would help treat them.

However, the Medical Women’s skills were very limited, and they couldn’t freely use the herbs and medicines from the Imperial Hospital.

Thus, the treatments they could offer were, in fact, quite restricted.

Hua Manman guessed Mu Qing had probably gotten sick from being caught in the rain. ’In an era without antibiotics, a simple cold and fever can be fatal.’

She really couldn’t set her mind at ease, so she made a request to Prince Zhao.

"May I go see Mu Qing? She did save my life, after all. I can’t just stand by and do nothing."

Li Ji heard her thoughts. ’What in the world is an antibiotic?’ he wondered.

Her way of thinking was truly strange.

’What does she mean, "an era without antibiotics"?’

’Could it be she’s not from this era?’

Li Ji’s suspicion of Hua Manman deepened, but his expression remained impassive as he asked.

"Do you know where Mu Qing lives?"

Hua Manman, of course, did not know. She quickly said, "I can ask around."

Li Ji replied, "If you do that, won’t everyone find out that it was Mu Qing who saved you in Chaoyang Palace that night?"

Hua Manman asked, perplexed, "So what if they find out? Saving someone isn’t a bad thing."

Li Ji spoke unhurriedly.

"Saving someone isn’t a bad thing, no. But her appearing in Chaoyang Palace in the middle of the night is another matter.

You should know that the Imperial Palace has many rules. Palace maids are not allowed to wander about at night.

She went to Chaoyang Palace without permission, which is already a violation of palace regulations. If discovered, she will certainly be punished.

Besides, Chaoyang Palace is no ordinary place. It’s rumored to be haunted.

If people learn that Mu Qing was in Chaoyang Palace in the middle of the night, they will likely connect her with those ghost stories.

She wouldn’t be able to clear her name even if she had a hundred mouths."

After hearing his analysis, Hua Manman agreed that she shouldn’t visit Mu Qing with such fanfare.

Although she still didn’t know why Mu Qing was at Chaoyang Palace in the middle of the night, she understood that the fewer people who knew, the better. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

Hua Manman humbly asked for his advice, "Then what do you think I should do?"

Li Ji said, "Leave it to me."

That afternoon, Chen Wangbei took Prince Zhao’s Token to the Imperial Hospital and requested an Imperial Physician to accompany him to see Mu Qing.

After the Imperial Physician’s diagnosis, it was confirmed that Mu Qing had caught a chill from the rain.

Her illness was quite severe, but not incurable.

The Imperial Physician first performed acupuncture on her, then had someone help her drink some medicine.

After she broke out in a sweat, her condition finally improved slightly.

The Imperial Physician gave detailed instructions to the palace maid who lived with Mu Qing and said he would return for a follow-up consultation the next day before leaving with his medicine box.

After seeing the Imperial Physician off, Chen Wangbei returned directly to Hanzhang Hall to report.

Originally, Mu Qing had a very low profile among the palace maids. But now, because Prince Zhao had personally ordered an Imperial Physician to treat her, many people in the palace immediately took notice of her.

Even the Emperor heard about the matter.

His curiosity piqued, he specifically had someone investigate the relationship between Prince Zhao and Mu Qing.

In the end, he learned that the two had only met once.

’Could Prince Zhao have fallen for Mu Qing at first sight?’

Although the Emperor thought Mu Qing’s looks were only average, if Prince Zhao liked her, it wouldn’t hurt to give her to him.

Not long after this thought occurred to him, the Emperor heard that Prince Zhao had sent someone to the Imperial Hospital again.

This time, Prince Zhao didn’t summon an Imperial Physician to treat a person, but to tend to an injured sparrow.

The reason was that while Prince Zhao was on a walk, he happened to find a small, injured sparrow. Wanting to heal it, he had someone take his Token to the Imperial Hospital.

Even knowing their patient was a bird, the Imperial Physicians dared not refuse and obediently went along.

Over the next few days, Li Ji sent someone to the Imperial Hospital almost every day. Sometimes it was to treat people, sometimes to treat animals, and one time, he even went so far as to outrageously demand treatment for flowers and plants!

He had thrown the entire Imperial Hospital into chaos, and they were complaining endlessly.

The Emperor simply couldn’t stand it anymore. That evening, he summoned Prince Zhao and asked him what had been going on lately. Why was he constantly sending people to the Imperial Hospital?

But Li Ji just let out a long sigh, looking utterly helpless.

"I don’t want this either, Your Majesty. It’s just that my Princess Consort insists on it.

She says I was born under a baleful star and must perform more good deeds and accumulate merit to dilute the malevolent energy in my destiny.

This is to avoid any more disasters involving bloodshed in the future.

She’s like she’s been possessed. No matter what she sees, as long as it’s alive and sick or injured, she wants to save it."

The Emperor couldn’t help but laugh after hearing this.

"Princess Consort Zhao is doing all this for your own good. It’s one thing not to appreciate it, but how can you say she’s been possessed?"

The Emperor didn’t believe that accumulating merit could change one’s fate, but he admired Hua Manman’s devotion to Li Ji.

In the Imperial Palace, nothing was more important than a sincere heart.

They chatted for a while longer.

The Emperor also casually asked Li Ji for his opinion of Mu Qing.

In response, Li Ji asked a question of his own.

"Who is Mu Qing?"

The Emperor said helplessly, "You just sent someone to have her treated. How could you forget her so quickly?"

Li Ji replied nonchalantly, "She’s just an insignificant person. Why should I remember her?"

Seeing that he was genuinely uninterested in Mu Qing, the Emperor dismissed the idea of giving her to him.

As Li Ji’s health continued to improve, he no longer needed daily follow-up consultations with the Imperial Physicians and could finally go home.

Hua Qingqing had specially requested the Emperor’s grace to come and see Prince Zhao and his wife off.

Accompanying Hua Qingqing was a Beauty named Liu Seward.

Liu Seward was a major supporting character in *Palace Intrigue*. She and Hua Qingqing had entered the palace selection at the same time, which was how they met and gradually became friends.

Although they were both Concubines, Liu Seward had little affection for the Emperor; instead, she was very close with Hua Qingqing.

The two of them looked out for each other in the palace and later became confidantes who could talk about anything.

Unfortunately, Liu Seward’s ending was not a happy one.

She eventually died in childbirth, and her child also passed away not long after being born.