Chapter 187 Entering the game
Jiubeile Mansion
Yinzhen was talking to his wife, "Sister-in-law is very ill. According to my brother's personality, Prince Yong's mansion must be under martial law. We won't cause any more trouble. Pick out some of the best tonics and send them over. Send a smart person to talk to the people around my sister-in-law. If there are any rare herbs that are hard to find, just let us know."

"Alas, Fourth Sister-in-law's illness is very severe. I heard that the imperial physician didn't dare to leave the palace. I prayed for her safety and sent her there together." The Ninth Concubine and Yihuan have always been good friends.

"Cough cough." Yinzhen couldn't help but cough a few times.

The Ninth Lady quickly brought over the ginger soup and said, "Master, you have forgotten to drink this these days. It is snowing and cold now, and your health is important. I know this soup is not tasty, so you can drink some preserved fruit to subdue it."

Yinzhen frowned and drank it all in one gulp, pushing the preserved fruit away: "It's food for women, I don't need this."

The eunuch beside the Ninth Master was peeking at the door, obviously he had something to ask him. The Ninth Lady saw it clearly and walked out of the study with the food box she had brought.

She walked to the door and looked back at the quiet house. Ever since the two of them had "shared hardships", Jiu Ye's nature of catching cats and dogs and flirting with women had completely changed.

The Ninth Lady once secretly suspected that the Ninth Master might be... no longer able to make it, but of course this guess was later overturned by facts.

The Ninth Lady recalled the extremely fragile Ninth Master who had just kept coughing, and sighed. That sunny and high-spirited young man has completely become a thing of the past. She didn't know when he would be able to come out of the shadow of the past.

I touched my belly, hoping that this new life could pull Jiu Ye back from the abyss.

Yinzhen stared at the figure of the Ninth Lady leaving for a moment in a trance: "What's the matter?"

"News came from the palace that Miss Huo was exposed."

"The Emperor is really getting old. He should have noticed it earlier." Yinzhen sighed, "The medicine is almost gone."

"I estimate that I can hold out for seven to ten days."

"Have you arranged the people?"

"Master, rest assured, his family has been settled." Eunuch Chang Tao hesitated for a moment and continued, "Do you really want to do this?"

"Once the arrow is shot, there is no turning back. I can't turn back now." Yinzhen said lightly and started coughing again.

After a long time, Yinzhen finally calmed down and clenched his fists.

Father Emperor, please don't blame your son for being cruel. You just let it go when my brother did so many outrageous and presumptuous things. It's all because of you that your son has become this half-human, half-ghost state.

******
Ten days passed in peace but with undercurrents. When Liang Jiugong once again forced her to make tea, Huo Taoer refused.

"I don't have that medicine anymore."

Kangxi took opium extract for several months in a row, and his withdrawal reaction was extremely strong on the first day. He barely managed to get through the morning court session, and after returning to the Palace of Tranquil Longevity, he began to smash things like crazy and beat anyone he saw. Liang Jiugong was not spared, and his forehead was scratched by broken porcelain pieces, leaving a scar.

The imperial physicians all envied Imperial Physician Jiang's good luck. Why didn't their horses go crazy? They would rather break their legs than serve an emperor who was like a bomb.

There was also an imperial physician who had a bad idea and gave himself a strong laxative. As a result, Kangxi, who was ill at the time, became completely irrational and directly sent the patient and his entire family, who were squatting in the toilet, to prison and exiled them.

The imperial doctors were also helpless. Kangxi's dependence on drugs had reached the level of addiction. Either he could get through it with his outstanding willpower and physical fitness, or he would have to drink poison to quench his thirst and continue to use these deadly drugs to stay awake.

The opium cream secretly sold on the market is not pure enough and may not work well. This is an unsolvable ending. Either you go crazy now or you go crazy later.

Liang Jiugong looked at the emperor with eyes as red as a beast, and had no choice but to choose to go crazy first. He had collected a lot of this kind of medicine during this period, and after careful consideration by the imperial physician, he gave some to Kangxi.

Sure enough, after a cup of tea, his expression became clear.

When the imperial doctors came out of the Palace of Tranquil Longevity, they felt as if they were in another world. It was great that they had survived today.

They dared not show that they knew nothing. Liu Taiyi's intention to conceal the truth was considered a crime of deceiving the emperor by Kangxi. Now they could only take things one step at a time. The smart ones began to think about how to send the children away. Sooner or later, they would be buried with the emperor.

Huo Taoer was brought in covered in blood. Kangxi had just ordered her to be locked up in the Ministry of Punishment.

"How do you contact each other? Who is the other party?" Kangxi asked, panting.

"I was sent here by the Ninth Prince. Although the other party did not say it explicitly, I have a badge from the Ninth Prince's mansion on me. If it were not for my sister, I would not work for the Ninth Prince." Huo Taoer seemed to be convinced by the defeat and answered whatever was asked.

"I have only seen him once. He was a familiar little eunuch. Later we agreed that on the first day of every month, the gap in the lower right corner of the fifth rockery in the Imperial Garden would contain the amount of medicine for that month."

"I went to get it while visiting the garden, and never saw the real person again. But I am sure that he is the eunuch of the Yangxin Palace, and he follows Eunuch Liang."

Liang Jiugong knelt down immediately after hearing this and said, "I am guilty of not being able to identify people. How about I call all the eunuchs in the Yangxin Palace and ask Huo to identify the person."

"Forget it, you can't find it." Kangxi waved his hand. The little eunuch was most likely dead.

"I believe you have other channels of communication. Write to your master and tell him that you found out that I was drafting a will and you saw your name on it. In order to keep it confidential, you need to meet him." Kangxi thought of a way to catch the perpetrator red-handed.

Huo Tao'er hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded and said, "I obey your command. Please forgive me, Your Majesty. I don't want to go to the Ministry of Punishment again!"

"Tao'er, you can choose between the Ministry of Punishment or the Red Tent in the military camp," Kangxi said coldly.

Huo Taoer shuddered and said nothing more.

******
On a dark and windy night, Kangxi prepared a dragnet and captured the man who had successfully joined forces with Huo Taoer.

He looked ordinary and there was nothing memorable about him. He was wearing eunuch's clothes and one could tell at first glance that he was a fake eunuch.

When the man was caught, he was panicked at first, and then he shouted at Huo Taoer in anger: "Bitch, how dare you betray your master?!"

"Who is your master?" Liang Jiugong's face was gloomy. He brought the man and Huo Taoer to Kangxi.

In just a few days, Kangxi lost at least five kilograms, his cheeks became sunken, and his eyeballs bulged out, as if he had just recovered from a serious illness.

The man was stunned when he saw Kangxi. He kept kowtowing as if he had been frightened by the emperor's majesty.

"Who is in the hall?"

"I am Shen Ming, the owner of the makeup shop, and a retainer of the Ninth Prince." The man buried his head between his knees. Only his trembling voice could be heard, but his expression could not be seen.