Although the marquess had agreed to bring up Xiao Jie’s princedom, someone in the Inner Palace would also have to agree for this plan to work flawlessly. The first person that Lin Qingyu thought of was the empress. In the past, she had cared for him greatly—once he’d remarried to Gu Fuzhou, though, she became visibly colder toward him. Lin Qingyu visited Fengyi Palace several times but was always barred from entry.
The empress was only loyal toward her own family. In her eyes, Lin Qingyu had betrayed Lu Wancheng by marrying someone before the vigil period of his widowhood21 had finished, so she no longer needed to treat him like a family member.
Thankfully, the empress had another relative besides Lu Wancheng. In fact, this relative was more important to her than anyone else.
One day, after Lin Qingyu took the emperor’s pulse, Hu Ji had also just finished his shift. They walked together to the library of the Imperial Academy of Medicine. There, Lin Qingyu walked straight to the back to a locked metal door. He had a permission slip from the emperor explaining that he wanted to see all his previous diagnoses, starting from the moment his migraines had begun.
After the library guard opened the door, Hu Ji asked curiously, “What are you looking for, Physician Lin?”
“Sixth Prince Xiao Li’s diagnosis.”