A guard rushed in, looking at the people in the room and hesitating to speak.
King Ji saw he had something to say and immediately said, "Everyone here is my most trusted friend, so speak freely."
Then, the guard said, "Your Highness, someone from the palace is here, saying that the Eleventh Prince and Twelfth Princess have met with an accident, and the Emperor wants you to come to the palace immediately."
"What happened to the Eleventh Prince and Twelfth Princess?" King Ji asked with confusion.
The guard helplessly walked to King Ji's side and whispered a few words into his ear.
After hearing what the guard said, King Ji's eyes widened, and he was utterly astonished.
Even King Ji's Consort, sitting beside him, was startled by King Ji's expression.
"Cold King, Cold Consort, I need to go to the palace urgently. I will take my leave first," King Ji said with a solemn expression.
Leng Ruo Li and Jun Mo Han saw the solemnity on King Ji's face and guessed that the Southern Zhao imperial palace must have encountered a difficult situation.
Jun Mo Han looked at King Ji and casually said, "Is there anything you need our help with, King Ji?"
Hearing this, King Ji was slightly taken aback. The Cold King and his Consort were both exceptionally intelligent. One was a skilled physician, and the other was a martial arts master. If they could bring these two along to the palace, it might indeed be of great help.
"Cold Consort, can you perform autopsies?" King Ji asked.
"Your Highness King Ji, although I learned medicine to save lives, I do know some of the things a coroner does," Leng Ruo Li answered earnestly.
"Then I would trouble the Cold King and Cold Consort to accompany me to the palace, but you will need to change into the uniforms of King Ji's Mansion guards," King Ji said to the Cold King and his Consort. "Also, the Cold King's purple eyes need to be concealed, as there are very few people with purple eyes nowadays. I fear you might be recognized by those with ulterior motives."
"There will be no problem with that. I have a medicine here that, once taken, can immediately turn my King's purple eyes black."
As Leng Ruo Li finished speaking, she took out a bottle of medicine from her sleeve, which she had developed in her spatial dimension some time ago, capable of changing Jun Mo Han's eye color.
She handed the bottle of medicine directly to Jun Mo Han. Jun Mo Han narrowed his eyes and drank the medicine in front of everyone.
A moment later, Jun Mo Han opened his eyes again, and his purple eyes had turned black, astonishing everyone.
"Cold Consort, your medical skills are truly incredible. The Cold King's purple eyes are hereditary, and I never expected their color could be changed with medicine," King Ji's Consort praised.
"My Consort is right, Cold Consort's medical skills are indeed extraordinary," King Ji added in agreement.
The conversation between King Ji and his Consort made Chu Yi Chi, standing behind Leng Ruo Li, feel a pang of bitterness.
He, Chu Ming Xuan, was born into a family of physicians and grew up surrounded by the practice of medicine. By the age of three, he could identify hundreds of herbs. Although he tragically lost his family and the opportunity to study medicine when he was young, he later stumbled upon Ghost Valley and resumed his medical studies. In total, he had been studying medicine for over a decade, yet his skills were no match for Leng Ruo Li; he felt like a mere novice.
Alas, Chu Ming Xuan felt utterly useless.
While he was lost in thought, King Ji had already instructed the guards to fetch two sets of guard uniforms for Jun Mo Han and Leng Ruo Li to change into.
After Jun Mo Han and Leng Ruo Li changed their clothes, they entered the Southern Zhao imperial palace as guards of King Ji.
When they arrived at Zhong Cui Palace, the Emperor was seated inside, with Consort Rou sitting beside him, and on the other side sat the mother of the Eleventh Prince and Twelfth Princess, who had just regained consciousness. The room was already filled with royal relatives, and even King Kang was present.
King Ji strode into the hall, glanced at everyone present, and immediately walked up to the Emperor.
Jun Mo Han and Leng Ruo Li followed closely behind King Ji, stealing glances at the people in the room. When they saw Consort Rou, with her silver hair, they were momentarily stunned. This woman looked so much like the ugly woman they had pursued last night.
However, the ugly woman they pursued last night had skin so shriveled it was like dried leather, while the woman beside the King of Southern Zhao had skin as white as snow, smooth and delicate, making her appear worlds apart from the ugly woman of last night.
Even though she had used a pleasant, mixed floral scent to mask her bloody odor, she could not deceive Jun Mo Han's nose, and he could still smell the blood on her.
Jun Mo Han then subtly tugged at Leng Ruo Li's sleeve. Leng Ruo Li immediately understood Jun Mo Han's meaning; Consort Rou was indeed highly suspicious.
"Your humble son greets Father Emperor!" King Ji bowed respectfully.
Leng Ruo Li and Jun Mo Han behind him also feigned a bow.
When the King of Southern Zhao saw his most capable son enter, he seemed to regain his composure.
"Xiao Er, you've finally arrived. I asked your two brothers to help with the Eleventh and Twelfth's matters, but they both found excuses to refuse. I can only rely on you to handle this."
"Yes, Father Emperor, your humble son is willing to accept this command," King Ji replied respectfully.
"Alas, with your words, Father Emperor is at ease. You must catch the blood-sucking demon hidden in the palace, otherwise, the entire palace will be in a state of panic, and I don't wish for such a thing to happen again," the Emperor said earnestly.
As he had few offspring, with only three sons and two princesses currently alive, he truly did not want to lose any more children.
"Your humble son understands!" King Ji replied calmly.
Consort Rou, beside the Emperor, had not taken her seductive gaze off King Ji since he entered the hall.
However, King Ji completely ignored her, treating Consort Rou as if she were invisible.
"Your Majesty, you can rest assured with King Ji's handling of matters," Consort Rou said deliberately to attract King Ji's attention.
"My beloved Consort speaks wisely. Xiao Er's actions indeed make me most at ease," the Emperor sighed.
As he spoke, the sickly King Yu, standing to King Ji's left, showed no expression, while King Kang, standing to King Ji's right, wore a slight smirk.
Hmph! What would this old man's reaction be if he knew that the hidden blood-sucking demon in the palace was the woman who slept beside him every night?
King Kang was quite curious.
Afterward, King Ji led Jun Mo Han and Leng Ruo Li out of the hall. Consort Rou looked at the two receding figures behind King Ji and felt a sense of familiarity, but upon closer inspection, they seemed like strangers.
After King Ji led Jun Mo Han and Leng Ruo Li out of the main hall, they immediately went to the Eleventh Prince's chambers. The Eleventh Prince's body was still on the bed, and no one dared to approach to handle it.
King Ji walked to the bedside, lifted the bed curtains, and glanced at the hideous corpse on the bed, its blood drained. He was also shocked.
He had heard descriptions of children in Bianjing whose blood had been drained by demons, but the appearance of this body was even more grotesque and terrifying than the descriptions.