Jiang Yubai was no longer in danger. He originally wanted to go to the clinic with Shen Jiujiu, but Shen Jiujiu sent him back, asking him to recuperate at home and not go anywhere.
Pei Zheng accompanied him to the clinic every day, one for the purpose of managing the clinic's accounts, and the other for keeping an eye on the patients and their families coming and going in the clinic. Once he found someone in close contact with Shen Shijiu, he would have a cold face, as if he wanted to throw that person out.
For this reason, Shen Shijiu often taught Pei Zheng not to be so harsh to others. Pei Zheng actively admitted his mistakes, but was determined not to change.
The people who were sent out to help Zhao Litang find people have not brought back any useful information for several days. It seems that the people may really not have been to the Northern Territory.
There were not many people in the clinic that day. After finishing the diagnosis early, Shen Shijiu came out of the cubicle and stood in front of the counter, staring at Pei Zheng.
Pei Zheng lowered his head and pretended to be sorting out the account books.
"Brother Pei!" Shen Shijiu shouted angrily.
"Hey, honey, I'm here."
Pei Zheng raised his eyelids, smiled at the person in front of him, put down the account book in his hand, and reached out to hug him.
—A small hand pushed against his chest, Shen Shijiu pushed him away and refused to let him hug her.
"Brother Pei! What did you promise me? You disturbed me twelve times today! I told you that if you do this again, I will... I will..."
Pei Zheng held the hand on his chest, pulled the man over, and asked with a smile, "What about you?"
"I'm just ignoring you... I'll ask Brother Tang to help me. He has nothing to do at home anyway..." Shen Shijiu raised his eyes to look at Pei Zheng, with blame and complaints in his eyes, all because Pei Zheng always went to the cubicle to see him, causing him to be distracted all the time.
Pei Zheng snorted coldly, flicked the forehead of the man in front of him, and said threateningly, "If you dare to get so close to Zhao Litang again, don't think I won't be reluctant to punish you..."
He seemed to have thought of something, a smile appeared on the corner of his lips, and he whispered something in Shen Shijiu's ear.
The originally fair and delicate earlobe immediately turned pink. Shen Shijiu was angry and annoyed. He glared at Pei Zheng half shyly, and then said aggrievedly, "Brother Pei, you...what are you talking about...you bullied me again..."
Pei Zheng's heart softened when he saw him like this. He had to comfort the man who had provoked him. "Okay, okay, I was just kidding, okay? Don't be angry."
The slender fingers pinched the small earlobe ambiguously, and the tone was low and deep, "Instead of having so many children, let's have another one, okay? Give Li'er a sister, a beautiful little daughter, and let her be your little cotton-padded jacket, okay?"
Shen Shijiu looked away, unwilling to look at Pei Zheng, and felt his cheeks burning.
Pei Zheng didn't say that just now. He just said that he really wanted to tie Shen Shijiu up at home, not allowing anyone to see him or talk to anyone else, and then let him give birth to several children for him.
"I'm just angry... Humph... I don't want to pay attention to you..." Shen Shijiu got out of Pei Zheng's arms and walked towards the door.
Pei Zheng hurriedly followed him, thinking that this little guy was already a parent, but his temper was still the same as before, and he had even been spoiled even more in recent days. He couldn't even take jokes, and when he got angry, he wouldn't let anyone hug him or touch him, and would just turn around and walk away.
But Pei Zheng sometimes liked to tease him. Seeing him blushing or crying with shame, he felt that his expression was particularly endearing.
Unexpectedly, just as Shen Shijiu took a step forward, a group of people suddenly gathered at the door of the clinic. They were wearing brocade armor and holding weapons. They looked like guards from the palace.
The leading guard stepped forward and asked, "Who is Divine Doctor Shen?"
Shen Shijiu was a little stunned, and pointed at himself and said, "I... I am..."
The guard gave a look and the clinic was surrounded, with several guards surrounding Shen Shijiu.
"Doctor Shen, the emperor has ordered that you come with us to the palace immediately."
"Do you want me to enter the palace? But..."
Shen Shijiu looked back and saw Pei Zheng standing by the door, looking at him with a slightly frown, as if thinking about something.
The guard was already a little anxious, "Doctor Shen, this is an order from the emperor. If you fully cooperate, we will definitely not make it difficult for you. But if you disobey the order, then..."
A voice came from behind, "He can go with you, but may I have a few words with him first?"
The guards looked at Pei Zheng and saw that he had an extraordinary demeanor and outstanding appearance, and did not look like an ordinary person, so they nodded in agreement.
"Just a few words, and as quickly as possible."
Pei Zheng said, "Okay."
Then he stepped forward and pulled Shen Shijiu back into the clinic.
“Brother Pei... why did they take me into the palace..." Shen Shijiu held Pei Zheng's hand with some fear and was unwilling to let go. The palace was not unfamiliar to him, but that place that was like a cage did not leave him with a good impression.
Pei Zheng held him in his arms, patted his back to comfort him, "Don't be afraid, listen to me, I did hear a little about what happened in the Northern Territory Palace, but I don't know whether it's true or not. You are a famous doctor in Weiyang City, so you were summoned to the palace because someone in the palace needs treatment. Just be good this time and do whatever they ask you to do. I will find a way to find you, so don't be afraid, trust me."
Shen Shijiu nodded obediently, "I understand, Brother Pei, I will be obedient, but you have to come to me quickly, I will be scared alone, understand?"
Pei Zheng smiled and placed a gentle kiss on his forehead, "Okay, I understand, go ahead."
Shen Shijiu followed the guards.
After entering the Northern Territory Palace, Shen Shijiu was taken directly to a palace in the harem. This palace was full of red, red palace walls, red silks and satins, and even the empress living in the palace was wearing a fiery red dress.
Shen Shijiu knelt obediently in the center of the palace until a palace maid came over and invited him to the inner hall to take the pulse of the empress who lived in the palace.
A fair and slender wrist stretched out from behind a layer of red gauze-like curtain, but there were some faint red marks on it, like some kind of scar.
The palace maid said, "My queen is ill, please give her a thorough diagnosis, Master Doctor."
Shen Shijiu responded "yes" and put his finger on it.
But after taking the patient's pulse for a long while, he found nothing abnormal.
"Madam, could you please stretch out your other arm so I can feel your pulse?"
The person inside did not hesitate and obediently stretched out his other arm.
Shen Shijiu felt the pulse again, then frowned slightly. There was indeed nothing wrong with the pulse. The empress was just a little weak, but this was not a disease. As long as she had a good rest, she would recover on her own. And the imperial physician in the palace must have given the empress medicine, so what illness did she need him to see
The maid next to her asked anxiously, "Master Divine Doctor, is there any way to cure my queen's illness?"
Shen Shijiu withdrew his hand, with an innocent expression, and blinked at the cute little palace maid.
"My lady...what disease do you have?"
The palace maid was a little surprised. "Master Divine Doctor, can't you see it? Oh, no wonder the doctors who came before couldn't see it either. Now it seems that those people are too pitiful. Because of their inadequate medical skills and inability to cure the queen's muteness, they were all ordered to be executed by the emperor. Master Divine Doctor, why don't you take a closer look? You are the Divine Doctor in Weiyang City. If even you can't cure it, then there is really no way my queen can be cured."
"So it's muteness..." Shen Shijiu touched his chin and said, "Madam, can I take a look at your throat?"
The palace maid was horrified. "You must not do that, Master Divine Doctor. Previously, a doctor also requested to do this, and the emperor agreed. However, the doctor still could not see anything in the end, and was also..."
The palace maid made a gesture on her neck, which frightened Shen Shijiu so much that his face turned pale.
"But... but if I don't check my throat, I... I can't do anything..."
The person behind the curtain suddenly waved and called the little palace maid in.
After a while, the little palace maid came out and asked a few people to keep watch at the door, and then said to Shen Jiujiu, "Master Divine Doctor, what the Queen meant just now is that the Emperor is not here now, so you should take a quick look. If the Emperor comes and sees it, he will definitely be angry, so please do not tell this to anyone. The Queen is doing this for your own good."
Shen Shijiu nodded heavily, "Don't worry, Madam, I won't tell anyone else if I don't tell them!"
Then the curtain was lifted.
After Shen Shijiu's careful diagnosis, he finally came to the conclusion, "The Queen's muteness must have occurred when she was very young, so this is not a sudden illness, and it has been so long, it should be... there is no way to cure it..."
When the little palace maid heard the news, she threw herself on her queen's lap and started crying. On the contrary, the queen smiled politely at Shen Shijiu and then had someone send him out.
Shen Shijiu was led to the palace gate, where he happened to meet the Emperor of the Northern Territory who was sleeping there.
When the emperor heard Shen Jiujiu say that this muteness could not be cured, he became furious as expected, and wanted to have Shen Jiujiu thrown into prison. He would only release him when a cure was found.
Fortunately, before Shen Jiujiu was taken away, the empress in the bedroom ran out and pleaded with the emperor, asking him to let Shen Jiujiu go.
In the end, Shen Jiujiu was not thrown into prison, but was placed under house arrest in a side hall in disguise, and the empress was directly carried back to the inner hall by the emperor.
Shen Shijiu was locked up alone in a side hall, with guards guarding the door. He was very scared, fearing that he would be killed by the emperor who looked very fierce.
He hugged himself and buried his head in his arms, "Brother Pei... why don't you come to see me... I'm not angry with you anymore, and I don't blame you anymore. I want to have a little daughter with you... Come quickly..."