“Yelu Chenguang!” Yelu Qianqian ground her teeth.

“Yes, it was the Eighth Prince. Princess Qianqian, please, just kill me with one stroke! This lowly one asks for nothing else, only a swift death!”

A single finger had already left Termu wishing for death — he couldn’t even imagine what it would feel like if all ten fingers were pierced.

Yelu Chenguang — this outcome came as no surprise at all!

Yelu Chenguang wanted nothing more than for both her and Situ Haonan to die, so that no one would contest his claim to the throne, no one would be left to hold him in check!

“Don’t worry, I won’t kill you before I’ve seen my father the Emperor,” Yelu Qianqian said with a cold sneer. In the past she never would have had this kind of resolve, but these past months had matured her a great deal.

“Princess Qianqian, this humble physician is willing to go before His Majesty together with him to confess his crime!” Imperial Physician Beiqiu said hastily.

But just then, Xuanyuan Lige spoke up calmly. “Termu, datura like this is extremely rare. I’d very much like to know where you obtained it — and in such quantity, no less!”

To keep Situ Haonan perpetually unconscious would require continuous dosing for at least half a year — that quantity of medicine was no small matter; even the resources of a royal house might struggle to obtain it.

Xuanyuan Lige’s words jogged Imperial Physician Beiqiu’s memory too, and he immediately demanded angrily, “Tell me — where did the drug come from! Did you come up with this scheme yourself, or did the Eighth Prince give it to you?”

Faced with Yelu Qianqian’s ruthless threat, Termu didn’t dare withhold the truth.

“The Eighth Prince gave me the drug, and taught me the method too — otherwise, with my own skill alone, I could never have concealed it from my master’s eyes!”

“And how would the Eighth Prince know to use such a method, where would he get so much datura?” Xuanyuan Lige pressed further.

“That, this lowly one truly doesn’t know — I only followed orders! I beg Princess Qianqian to kill me!” Termu pleaded over and over, the pain from his finger already spreading toward his heart, leaving him utterly drained of strength!

Having committed such a heinous crime, death was surely inevitable for him — and having offended the Eighth Prince, he’d die without even a proper burial.

But no one paid his pleading any mind.

“There’s someone behind the Eighth Prince — and… someone highly capable,” Imperial Physician Beiqiu murmured. Someone without medical knowledge might not grasp it, but anyone versed in medicine would understand at once.

Datura alone, concealed from the eyes of so many physicians — that was simply impossible.

Whether judging from the patient’s reaction to the medicine or the scent in the herbal decoctions, this had been done so flawlessly that even a joint consultation with Sha Qiuzi and Imperial Physician Gu had turned up nothing — which could only mean the person administering the poison possessed extraordinary skill.

That person must have thoroughly understood Situ Haonan’s condition, his medication regimen, and his entire treatment plan in order to slip datura into his daily medicine without anyone noticing at all.

And Situ Haonan’s condition, his medication, his treatment plan — these weren’t things the Eighth Prince could possibly have understood in such depth.

It was unlikely the Eighth Prince had simply relayed secondhand information.

The mastermind behind this must personally know Situ Haonan’s case in great detail.

Someone with that level of skill, among Xijing’s physicians, would have to rival Imperial Physician Beiqiu himself in ability!

In other words, whoever stood behind the Eighth Prince wasn’t among Xijing’s physicians at all — yet knew Situ Haonan intimately! Someone fitting that description could only be…

“Imperial Physician Gu… and Sha Qiuzi…” Xuanyuan Lige murmured to himself.

The moment he said this, Yelu Qianqian and Yingzi were so stunned they could hardly believe their own ears. Not just them — even Imperial Physician Beiqiu himself couldn’t accept it. “Impossible!”

But being a physician himself, he understood all too well just how plausible it actually was.

For a moment, everyone turned to look at Yingzi, who shook his head over and over. “No! Impossible! They want nothing more than for Young Master Situ to wake up soon — why would they harm him?”

Sha Qiuzi went without saying, and though Imperial Physician Gu sided with Prince Baxian and had little regard for the Princess Consort, he had no reason to do something like this to harm Situ Haonan either!

He wanted to know the truth too, wanted to avenge Prince Yao as much as anyone!

“This old man can vouch with his own life for Sage Physician Sha Qiuzi’s integrity — but Imperial Physician Gu…” Imperial Physician Beiqiu said, turning to look at Yingzi.

Only Yingzi truly understood the kind of man Imperial Physician Gu was.

Faced with everyone’s questioning gaze, Yingzi wavered. He only knew it seemed unlikely — but he couldn’t bring himself to state it with certainty either.

All he knew of Imperial Physician Gu was that he was a stubborn old man who held grudges, but was utterly, absolutely devoted to Prince Yao — everything he did was for the Prince’s own good.

“Princess Qianqian, in my opinion, we shouldn’t let your father the Emperor know about this just yet. Let’s have the Eighth Prince tell us himself exactly who’s behind him,” Xuanyuan Lige said calmly.

“If he dared do this, he won’t confess it — only father can force it out of him!” Yelu Qianqian said urgently.

But Xuanyuan Lige only smiled. “If the datura fails to work, don’t you think the Eighth Prince will go running back to that person again?”

“You mean…” Yelu Qianqian looked thoughtful, and Imperial Physician Beiqiu immediately understood, saying at once, “What a brilliant plan! Leave this to this old man!”

For now, they couldn’t afford to spook the snake — because the real venomous serpent hadn’t shown itself yet. As long as Imperial Physician Beiqiu spread word that Situ Haonan was showing signs of waking, Yelu Chenguang would surely panic, and would surely go seek out his mastermind behind the scenes.

Then they could simply follow the thread back and find that mysterious mastermind with ease.

Once Yelu Qianqian nodded, the matter was settled.

For now, Imperial Physician Gu was the prime suspect. After leaving the chamber, Yingzi grew increasingly restless, feeling he ought to do something!

If Imperial Physician Gu really were the mastermind, why would he do this? Could it be he didn’t want Situ Haonan to reveal the truth?

Could it be he already knew something?

Would he use the same method against Prince Yao too? Should he warn Sha Qiuzi? But nothing was confirmed yet — how could he give a warning? What if it turned out to be a misunderstanding? Imperial Physician Gu was not a man who let things go easily, and with Prince Baxian backing him now, provoking him would be unwise.

Yingzi agonized over it all day, and finally could only tell himself: just a few more days, wait for the truth to come out.

Meanwhile, in the capital of Da Zhou, Imperial Physician Gu remained entirely oblivious to all of this. Since that recent consultation, he’d grown completely at ease about Situ Haonan, and had thrown himself into studying Jun Beiyue’s constitution.

That day, just as he stepped out of Xuanlong Palace, a medicine boy came hurrying up to report, “Master, that Miss Bai says she wants to see you — she’s throwing quite the tantrum, smashed everything in her room.”

“A prisoner, still putting on the airs of a young lady?” Imperial Physician Gu said with contempt. If Bai Mengmeng weren’t still of some use to him, he’d have killed her outright long ago!

“She’s making quite a scene — says if Master won’t see her, she’ll break out,” the medicine boy reported in a low voice.

This actually startled Imperial Physician Gu. “She wouldn’t dare!”

With that, he hurried off toward the imperial physicians’ quarters.