After drinking the water, Leng Ruoli cleared her throat. She had been performing surgery for three consecutive hours today, and she couldn't drink water in the middle of it. After several hours, her mouth was dry and her throat felt very uncomfortable.
"Lier, did you forget to have a water bottle prepared in the side room? You look so thirsty!" Leng Jinyu asked with concern.
"Father, I cannot drink water while I'm performing surgery in the room. Drinking water mid-operation would distract the doctor, and it would be dangerous for the patient," Leng Ruoli explained to Leng Jinyu concisely and clearly.
"Is that so? Ai, you've worked so hard for your elder brother's matter."
Not being able to drink water even during surgery, and not being able to get distracted for three hours, he finally realized how exhausting it was for his daughter to complete a surgery.
This made Leng Jinyu feel full of guilt towards his precious daughter. Earlier, he had only paid attention to his son and had neglected his beloved daughter.
"I'm fine. Elder brother's surgery was successful, but you cannot go in to see him yet. You can see him in his room after he has passed the critical period. However, Father, don't worry, I will personally take good care of Elder brother these few days," Leng Ruoli said as she looked at Leng Jinyu.
"Alright, as long as your elder brother is fine. If you don't let Father in to see him, Father won't go in. I am very relieved that you are personally taking care of him. But, Lier, you must also take good care of yourself, do you understand? Father asks for nothing else in this life but for you and your brother to be happy and healthy forever."
As Leng Jinyu spoke, his voice choked with emotion.
"Father, aren't your brother and I doing well now? When you get old in the future, my brother and I will take care of you," Leng Ruoli comforted him with a smile.
"Good, good, then Father will rely on you both for his old age. Hehe..." Leng Jinyu said to Leng Ruoli with a beaming smile.
Afterward, Jun Mohan instructed Leng Ruoli's two maids to have the kitchen heat up lunch. Although it was already afternoon, neither he nor Leng Jinyu had the appetite to eat since his consort had not come out of the side room. Only after his consort finished her surgery did he and Leng Jinyu accompany Leng Ruoli for a simple lunch.
After eating, Leng Jinyu's bodyguard, Xiao Cheng, rushed to the Cold King's manor to find him. Xiao Cheng then whispered a few words into Leng Jinyu's ear, and Leng Jinyu left in a hurry.
"Jun Mohan, Father left so hurriedly. Could something have happened?" Leng Ruoli's delicate eyebrows were almost knitted together.
"It should be that something happened at the army camp outside the city," Jun Mohan said calmly.
"Jun Mohan, please send someone to check on him."
Because Leng Ruoli's eyelids were twitching severely, he was somewhat worried about Leng Jinyu's safety.
"Alright, I'll have Ye Ying take a few brothers to the army camp as well."
Jun Mohan readily agreed to Leng Ruoli's request. If something had indeed happened at the army camp, he would have to investigate the situation.
...
At the庆王府 (Qing Wang Fu).
The ointment, which Prince Qing had bought from Leng Ruoli for a hundred thousand taels of gold, was quickly used up.
The expensive ointment was indeed very effective, working instantly upon application. However, it had a fatal drawback: the medicinal effect of each application lasted only half an hour, and the quantity of the ointment was too small. It was gone after only a few squeezes.
Did he have to spend another hundred thousand taels of gold to buy another tube of ointment from Leng Ruoli? But a hundred thousand taels of gold for one tube of ointment was truly too expensive. He felt a pang in his heart, a real pang.
But if he didn't buy it, his afflicted area was really uncomfortable, it was painful, itchy, and swollen.
Damn it, he was truly unlucky!
It was all his fault for listening to that Liu Ruyi's nonsense and being harmed by that old brute from Guigu.
Now that the old brute had escaped, he didn't even have a chance to find him to settle the score.
It made him so angry.
Meanwhile, Leng Ruoli, who had been busy, was still unaware that someone would soon be coming to deliver money to her.
...
At the寿王府 (Shou Wang Fu).
Prince Shou was playing in the manor's garden with his consort and daughter.
As the family of three was having a joyous time, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest, which made the Princess Shou's face change color.
"Your Highness, Your Highness, are you alright? Please don't frighten this concubine."
"Someone, quickly go into the palace to find an imperial physician!"
As Princess Shou finished speaking, Prince Shou's head tilted, and he fainted.
An hour later, the Emperor, the Empress Dowager, and the Empress all arrived at Prince Shou's manor, and all the imperial physicians from the Imperial Academy were present. Everyone took turns lining up to feel Prince Shou's pulse, and each one who did shook their head.
"Your Majesty, Empress Dowager, Prince Shou's affliction is in his heart, and his time is short. This minister is incapable."
After all the imperial physicians had examined Prince Shou's pulse, they all reached this conclusion.
Upon hearing this result, the Emperor and Empress Dowager understood, because this elder son had had a heart condition since he was in the womb. To treat him, the Emperor, Empress Dowager, and Empress had consulted countless renowned physicians from all over the world, but none could cure his heart condition.
The Emperor waved his hand at the imperial physicians, allowing only Director Zhang to stay.
At this moment, the Empress, sitting in a wheelchair, narrowed her uninjured eye and pondered for a moment. She then asked the Princess Shou and her daughter to withdraw.
Then, she slowly said, "Your Majesty, Empress Dowager, for the sake of Eldest Brother, can you order the Cold King's consort to come to Prince Shou's manor to examine Yi'er?"
"Lier is currently performing surgery for her elder brother today, so she is not available to come at the moment."
The Emperor immediately refused. Leng Jinyu had only learned about his son's situation last night.
"If you want the Cold King's consort to treat Eldest Brother, you must go and beg her yourself. Neither I nor Mother will go," the Emperor said with an extremely cold tone.
"Your Majesty, you can hate this concubine, but Yi'er is your son! Are you just going to watch him die?"
The Empress had been ruthless for her entire life, but when she saw her eldest son lying silently on the bed, her heart ached.
Back then, knowing that her eldest son's heart condition was incurable and that he couldn't ascend to the throne, she had given up on him, cast him away in a small courtyard in the harem, and visited him no more than a few times a year.
But now, seeing her son on the verge of death, she felt great pain.
"Empress, you are truly good at shirking responsibility. Eldest Brother becoming like this is also related to you, his mother," the Emperor said, making a shocking statement.
"Your Majesty, what do you mean by that?" The Empress blinked her eye, but she dared not look at the Emperor, for she felt guilty.
"Do you really think I couldn't find out about the things you've done?" the Emperor retorted.
"This concubine doesn't understand!" The Empress feigned ignorance.
"Your Majesty, what is going on?"
The Empress Dowager, standing beside the Emperor, was also confused.
"Mother, actually, Yi'er's heart condition did not exist from the womb. He was harmed by this poisonous woman."
What the Emperor said almost made the Empress Dowager drop her jaw in shock.