Even if the Grand Elder harbored resentment, so what? The Grand Elder couldn't do anything to them for the moment.
But the situation was different now.
The intermittent sounds were clearly the Emperor and a woman.
Who this woman was was secondary; what mattered was the Emperor.
How could they be so coincidental as to run into the Emperor specifically?
The Emperor, too, on such a cold day, why not stay inside? Why did he prefer this imperial garden?
Perhaps it was because he felt the night was exceptionally beautiful today, and the stars were exceptionally bright?
Everyone complained inwardly but dared not move.
Firstly, because the Grand Elder Sima Hao ahead had not moved, and secondly, because they were afraid of making any noise and disturbing the Emperor.
Alright, in reality, they were afraid that if the Emperor heard the commotion and saw them, he would hold a grudge and subtly make things difficult for them from time to time.
Thinking of this, everyone felt depressed again. This was truly unlucky. Was this still the New Year?
This was practically a trip to the underworld.
"Cough."
A sudden cough resounded in everyone's ears like muffled thunder, startling them to their core.
Almost simultaneously, everyone had the same thought: who on earth was so foolish to cough at this moment?
Just as they were looking around to find the culprit, they suddenly heard footsteps approaching, seemingly from the very front.
The crowd retracted their wandering gazes and looked forward in unison.
Not far ahead, Sima Hao's figure had vanished, and even the figures of Zheng Xiang and the others were nowhere to be seen.
Everyone was shocked and fearful. Where had they gone?
They were clearly here just a moment ago, and now, in the blink of an eye, they were gone?
After a while, everyone began to react. Wasn't that cough from Sima Hao?
As for now, Sima Hao must have gone ahead to find the Emperor.
If asked what business he had with the Emperor, everyone's expression froze. How could they have forgotten? The situation was almost predictable without even thinking.
For a moment, everyone stood rooted to the spot, unsure whether to advance or retreat.
As they hesitated, two people emerged from behind, walking forward without pause.
The crowd looked closely and realized it was Yi Zhi Xie and Sima Han.
Seeing this, everyone's expression grew even stranger.
Logically speaking, these two had sensitive identities and had only recently returned to the capital. Shouldn't they be avoiding such troublesome matters as much as possible?
Yet, look at them, deliberately heading towards the front.
As the figures of the two gradually moved away and disappeared, some began to follow.
As the old saying goes, where there's one, there are two.
Gradually, almost everyone followed.
The remaining few were those who never wanted to get involved in any trouble.
As they moved forward, the sounds from ahead became clearer, reaching their ears without any omission.
Some with a stronger sense of gossip secretly wondered who this lucky yet unfortunate woman was.
There was a pavilion ahead, with windows on all four sides. The windows were currently closed, and it was dark inside, making it impossible to see the situation.
Directly in front of the pavilion stood Sima Hao, leading Zheng Xiang and a group of people. Not far from them were Sima Han and Yi Zhi Xie.
Although the court officials were curious, they also knew that getting too close would only invite trouble, so they stopped where they were.
Jiang Yu Bao glanced at where the court officials were standing, then walked over to Sima Hao and whispered a few words into his ear.
Sima Hao listened impassively and simply gave a soft hum.
Everyone stood outside quietly, for a good half hour, before the sounds from inside finally ceased.
At this moment, a person suddenly emerged from behind the pavilion. Upon closer inspection, it was Wang Lin, the chief eunuch by Sima Zhu's side.
Wang Lin's expression was hurried, as if he had seen something or had an urgent matter.
Because he was in such a rush, he didn't notice Sima Hao and the others. He walked directly to the pavilion door, knocked, and said, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, Your Majesty..."
"Your Majesty must be tired and asleep. Where have you, this dog servant, been instead of attending to His Majesty?"
A sudden reprimand startled Wang Lin to the brink of losing his soul.
Turning around, Wang Lin saw Sima Hao standing there with a stern face, full of anger.
Beside Sima Zhu, and not far behind, were all the court officials who had attended the banquet today.
Wang Lin's mind went blank, unsure how to react.
Logically, it was not an extraordinary matter for the Emperor to indulge in a whim and favor someone.
But it happened on such a special occasion, and it was witnessed by so many people, which was a bit...
As Wang Lin was lamenting inwardly, he heard Sima Hao speak again, "Hurry in and check. If anything happens to His Majesty, how many heads do you have to compensate?"
"Yes, yes, this servant will go in now."
Wang Lin wiped the sweat from his forehead, mumbling continuously, his actions not slowing down at all.
Wang Lin carefully pushed open the door. The sight that greeted him was darkness. He softly called out "Your Majesty," but there was no response.
With no reply, Wang Lin's heart sank.
Something seemed wrong.
Under normal circumstances, even if His Majesty was tired and asleep, he would surely respond to his voice.
But now...
"Your Majesty?"
Wang Lin raised his voice and called out again, but still, there was no response.
"Why are you dawdling? Hurry up and light the lamp to see what's going on."
Sima Hao's scolding voice came from behind again, clear as a bell.
Wang Lin inwardly lamented but could only bow his head in agreement.
Relying on his memory, he fumbled to light the lamp.
As the light came on, though still somewhat dim, the situation inside the pavilion was clearly visible.
Upon seeing the situation, Wang Lin silently clicked his tongue...
"En!"
The silence of the room was broken by a sudden woman's moan.
Hearing the sound, Wang Lin was momentarily stunned. That voice sounded so familiar.
However, there were more pressing matters at hand, so Wang Lin didn't ponder it further.
He ignored everything else and searched for Sima Zhu's figure.
After searching around, Wang Lin finally found Sima Zhu under the round table in the center of the pavilion.
Sima Zhu's pale body was exposed naked to the air.
Although it wasn't snowing tonight, winter nights were still very cold.
To be lying on the ground naked in such weather, it could be imagined that if he lay like this all night, he would surely fall seriously ill.
Seeing this, Wang Lin dared not delay for a moment. He quickly scurried over, picked up the scattered clothes, and draped them over Sima Zhu, repeatedly calling out, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty."
After calling out several times, he found that Sima Zhu remained completely unresponsive, which made Wang Lin anxious.
What had happened?
Anxiously, Wang Lin's tone became much louder, and his movements were not slow either. He continuously shook Sima Zhu's body.
But after a while, Sima Zhu still showed no reaction.
At this point, Wang Lin was completely panicked.
Had His Majesty encountered some problem?
Overwhelmed with worry, Wang Lin could no longer concern himself with anything else. The concern he had earlier about saving Sima Zhu's face had been thrown to the back of his mind.
If a royal physician wasn't called soon, he would likely lose his life.
At this point, who cared about face?
In his panic, Wang Lin stood up, but not quite steadily, stumbling forward.
After regaining his balance, he turned without hesitation and ran out of the pavilion.
As soon as he reached the outside, he shouted to those outside, "Quick, go call the royal physician."
No matter what had happened inside the pavilion, Sima Zhu was still His Majesty, and Wang Lin was still the chief eunuch. His words were naturally effective.
As soon as his words fell, someone immediately responded with a loud "Yes" and turned to leave.
But before he could run, he was stopped by someone next to him.
Seeing this, Wang Lin frowned. Who was this? What was he trying to do?
Could this be someone from the Grand Elder, deliberately obstructing them from calling for help, hoping that His Majesty would have an accident?
In an instant, countless scenarios filled Wang Lin's mind.
Whichever one it was, it was almost always a conspiracy theory.
However, what happened next completely exceeded his expectations.
The young eunuch who stopped him ignored the person in front of him. Instead, he turned and looked at Wang Lin with urgency, saying, "If we go to call the royal physician now, won't it take too long? There are royal physicians attending the banquet today."
As soon as the young eunuch finished speaking, Wang Lin's eyes lit up.
Yes, how could he have forgotten this?
"Imperial Physician Wang, Imperial Physician Li, why aren't you coming over quickly?" Wang Lin called out loudly to the group of court officials standing a short distance away.
The court officials had been watching and listening to Wang Lin's every move and word.
Now, hearing Wang Lin call out to them, all their gazes shifted to the two named imperial physicians.
Imperial Physician Wang and Imperial Physician Li were the best imperial physicians in the Imperial Hospital. Although they were not the director, they had always been the Emperor's personal physicians, also known as Taiyi.
Being summoned to personally attend to the Emperor as his Taiyi was originally an immense honor, but in this situation, it was not a very happy occasion.
The reason was obvious.
At this moment, everyone was unaware of the situation inside the pavilion, but judging from Wang Lin's actions, they could infer that the situation inside was likely not optimistic.
Even if His Majesty was not seriously ill, if they saw what they shouldn't have seen or knew what they shouldn't have known, they would still have a bad ending.
At this time, there was no need to consider whether they would be promoted or become rich.
Those who could attend the palace banquet were all extraordinary officials.
To have reached this point and ascended to this position, every single one of them was a shrewd individual.
Naturally, they all understood the implications in an instant.
Therefore, their gazes towards Imperial Physician Wang and Imperial Physician Li became exceptionally complex.
If they were lucky and saved His Majesty, then promotion and wealth would be guaranteed in the future.
If they were unlucky, it was questionable whether they could even survive tonight.
Imperial Physician Wang and Imperial Physician Li lamented inwardly, but their actions were not delayed in the slightest.
To refuse to go or to pretend not to see was absolutely impossible.
Even if they were to die tomorrow, they had to live today.
They quickly approached Wang Lin and waited for Wang Lin's next instructions.
Wang Lin was about to lead them inside immediately, but as he was about to enter, he suddenly remembered seeing two other pale, naked bodies inside earlier, and they were women.
He was a eunuch and a trusted confidant of His Majesty, so it didn't matter if he saw them.
But Imperial Physician Wang and Imperial Physician Li were both grown men. If they saw them, then even if they weren't meant to die originally, they would likely end up dead.
And that moan he had heard earlier, he had now recalled whose voice it was.