Rather than saying someone was harming him…

It was more like the heavens themselves were driving him step by step toward madness.

The foul air in Xia Hou Dan’s chest ricocheted through his internal organs, all his viscera vibrating with its echoes, yet when exhaled it emerged as nothing more than the lightest of sighs: “What an unfortunate soul!”

Yu Wan Yin’s expression was somewhat strange as she gripped his hand: “He won’t be unfortunate forever. He has us now.”

For a moment, Xia Hou Dan couldn’t even understand who this “us” referred to.

His confusion must have shown on his face because Yu Wan Yin explained further: “Me and you.”

Indeed, nothing could be extracted from the former Crown Prince’s mouth.

He knew his life was already ruined, and whenever he met anyone, he would only smile eerily, that smile sometimes matching the Empress Dowager’s exactly.

Xia Hou Dan had issued an edict stripping him of his Crown Prince position, ordering him to face the wall and reflect on his actions, but rather than killing him as he had claimed to the Empress Dowager, he instead assigned people to protect him under the guise of imprisonment.

This was mainly to irritate Prince Duan.

With the deposed Crown Prince still alive, even if Prince Duan succeeded in regicide, he couldn’t legitimately inherit the throne. Naturally, a faction supporting the former Crown Prince would emerge at court to battle with him for several more rounds.

And if they eliminated Prince Duan, they could always come back to settle accounts with the Crown Prince later.

Yu Wan Yin’s other question in her heart was soon answered as well.

This answer was brought back by Xie Yong Er: “Yes, they all think you’re pregnant. This guess began circulating on the day of your enthronement as Empress. If there’s any evidence, it’s that you exercised a little that day, and the Emperor immediately rushed to take you away. Originally not many people believed it, but then he suddenly deposed his only Crown Prince, and everyone said it was to make way for the child in your womb…”

Yu Wan Yin: “…”

Yu Wan Yin was utterly speechless: “Wasn’t the Crown Prince deposed because of his misconduct?”

“People only believe what they want to believe. The ancient mindset is ‘a mother gains status through her son.'” Xie Yong Er analyzed systematically. “But I suspect someone is exploiting this mindset to spread rumors, which is part of the public opinion warfare.”

“Prince Duan?” Yu Wan Yin was puzzled. “What’s his aim?”

“I can’t guess for now. Anyway, be careful yourself.”

Despite this, Yu Wan Yin couldn’t just announce “I’m not pregnant” herself. Unable to find an opportunity to clarify, she could only let it be.

They already knew Prince Duan’s reinforcements were on their way, so they couldn’t possibly wait for the enemy to make complete preparations.

Thus, the Imperial Astronomers suddenly calculated an auspicious burial date that occurs once in a thousand years, just three days later. Facing the assembled court officials, Xia Hou Dan frowned deeply, seeming caught in a dilemma, before finally saying: “According to custom, the body should lie in state for seven days, but since Mother Empress was blessed with heavenly fortune to coincide with such a rare auspicious date, we’ll make an exception and reduce it to three days, proceeding with an early burial.”

The former Empress Dowager’s faction couldn’t utter half a word in opposition and had to compete in praising his filial piety.

All mourning ceremonies were compressed into three days. Xia Hou Dan, dressed in mourning clothes, personally kept vigil.

On the day the Empress Dowager passed away, there were rumors of the Emperor falling ill, but now that all officials saw him kneeling properly in the mourning hall, all such rumors collapsed without needing to be refuted.

After seeing off a wave of imperial relatives and nobles, Yu Wan Yin, covered in wind and snow, returned indoors and immediately began stamping her feet: “It’s too cold, how can it be this cold? Could this temperature drop also be Prince Duan’s scheme?”

Xia Hou Dan stood up, tapping his knees: “Makes sense, he must have invented localized refrigeration.”

“It might also be that the Empress Dowager’s resentment runs too deep. Don’t you feel the ghostly wind swirling here… I just realized, her final night lying in state happens to be New Year’s Eve! With her death, she’s forcing the entire nation to miss their New Year celebrations—how deep must her resentment run…”  Yu Wan Yin muttered.

Xia Hou Dan: “Come here, I have something for you.”

“What is it?”

Xia Hou Dan pulled out an object from beneath his voluminous mourning clothes and placed it in her hands: “Hold this.”

It was a hand warmer.

Yu Wan Yin smiled: “You’re something—no wonder you can kneel for so long.”

Xia Hou Dan lowered his voice: “Any movement outside?”

Yu Wan Yin shook her head.

Around the seemingly empty mourning hall, countless imperial guards were hidden.

According to Xu Yao’s information, Prince Duan had two plans.

The first was to send assassins to kill Xia Hou Dan while he kept vigil, leaving no wounds, and creating a supernatural scene.

The second was during the funeral procession. According to Great Xia customs, the final stretch of road before entering the mausoleum required the Emperor to carry the coffin. This road happened to pass through a valley at the foot of Bei Mountain. If people were positioned on the mountain to push down boulders, disguising it as a landslide, those in the valley would have no escape.

The two plans shared a common point—both could blame the vengeful spirit of the Empress Dowager, perfectly aligning with the previously spread rhetoric that “a tyrannical ruler lacking virtue would face heaven’s punishment.”

Xia Hou Dan planned to set ambushes in advance at both the mourning hall and Bei Mountain. If they could catch the enemy in the act before they struck, they could legitimately eliminate Prince Duan—that would be the best outcome. If the enemy escaped capture through cunning, or if those captured couldn’t be linked to Prince Duan, they would still eliminate Prince Duan. As for public opinion and the people’s hearts, they could slowly restore those after preserving their lives.

So these days, imperial guards would report immediately at the slightest movement.

However, perhaps because the ambush was too comprehensive, it aroused Prince Duan’s suspicion. They waited in the mourning hall for a full two days without seeing even a ghost.

Outside the encirclement, several eunuchs and palace maids had been spotted peering around. If these were also sent by Prince Duan, it seemed too amateurish—rather than “preparing to make a move,” it looked more like “pretending to prepare to make a move.” Fearing they might be creating a diversion, the guards, while watching the mourning hall, deployed even more people to scout around Bei Mountain.

This was the most oppressive Spring Festival Yu Wan Yin had experienced in her life. Music was forbidden during the mourning period, and the palace was deathly silent, with everyone from top to bottom confined indoors. The sense of impending disaster hung like a mountain, making even the snowflakes seem to fall more slowly.

The only consolation was that Xia Hou Dan’s condition appeared to be improving.

Xiao Tian Cai sneaked in daily to examine him, carefully checking through looking, listening, questioning, and pulse-taking, making thick notes in an attempt to deduce the composition of the poison in his body. Xia Hou Dan’s expression was relaxed, saying only that his headache hadn’t worsened. Curiously, the wound on his chest was recovering rapidly, and now he could turn and raise his arms without much difficulty.

Yu Wan Yin: “I have a bold idea.”

Xia Hou Dan: “What?”

“Think about it, at the time, Tu Er claimed this wound couldn’t heal, but on your body, it mysteriously healed. After your headache attack, the wound healed even faster—don’t you find that strange?”

Xiao Tian Cai interjected from the side: “Put that way, it is indeed unusual.”

Experienced web novel reader Yu Wan Yin: “In your medical texts, is there a concept of ‘fighting poison with poison’?”

Xiao Tian Cai: “Ah.”

After pondering for a moment, he nodded: “If both poisons are from the Qiang people, their medicinal properties might indeed counteract each other.”

Yu Wan Yin was greatly encouraged: “Go and investigate, my intuition tells me this is the right answer.”

Xiao Tian Cai agreed, but hesitated without taking his leave: “Your Majesty, may I speak with you privately?”

Yu Wan Yin was surprised, her heart sinking. A doctor asking to “speak privately” rarely brought good news.

But Xia Hou Dan smiled and patted her: “Go ahead.”

Yu Wan Yin had no choice but to walk out. Without eyes in the back of her head, she couldn’t see Xia Hou Dan’s threatening glance at Xiao Tian Cai behind her.

The two walked to a side hall, where Xiao Tian Cai turned and went straight to the point: “Does Your Majesty remember your previous promise?”

Yu Wan Yin had been waiting for news about Xia Hou Dan’s condition, and at these words she paused, suddenly reviving: “Oh, about releasing Consort Xie, right? I thought it was something else. No problem, no problem. After we determine the outcome with Prince Duan, I’ll take responsibility and ensure her safe departure from the capital.”

But Xiao Tian Cai seemed to have more to say.

Yu Wan Yin: “?”

Xiao Tian Cai appeared to be struggling to choose his words: “His Majesty is naturally blessed with good fortune… but Prince Duan is cunning…”

Yu Wan Yin understood.

What he wanted to say was: What if Prince Duan wins? Wouldn’t Xie Yong Er be unable to leave?

Yu Wan Yin hadn’t considered this aspect carefully before. If it were her former self, she might have nodded immediately and released the person in advance. But times had changed; having witnessed the world’s treachery, she couldn’t help but think: What if Xie Yong Er joined Prince Duan after leaving? Even if Xie Yong Er truly wished to retire from public life, would Prince Duan easily let go of this intelligence source?

“Let’s do this,” she said slowly. “On the day of the Empress Dowager’s funeral, after Prince Duan follows the procession out of the city, I’ll send people to escort Consort Xie out in the opposite direction.” By then, it would be too late for Prince Duan to find her.

She had expected Xiao Tian Cai to argue further, but unexpectedly, this young man was quite sensible and immediately knelt, giving a deep bow: “Your Majesty’s great kindness, I shall remember forever.”

Yu Wan Yin hurriedly helped him up: “Don’t be like this, I’m unworthy of such respect. I promised before to let you leave with her, but right now His Majesty’s poison still has no antidote, and we truly need to rely on you.”

Xiao Tian Cai was silent for a moment, then said gently: “I never thought of leaving. As long as Consort Xie lives well for the rest of her life, I have no other wishes.”

Yu Wan Yin couldn’t help but look at him with the eyes of someone admiring a true romantic: “Actually, you can have other wishes too, we wouldn’t mind.”

Xiao Tian Cai froze, uncomfortably lowering his head: “I… I know I cannot enter her eyes or her heart. Rather than creating mutual disgust, it’s better to send her away. In the future, wherever she goes, perhaps she will occasionally remember an old acquaintance when she sees certain landscapes.”

A true romantic, this was truly a romantic master.

Yu Wan Yin rose in respect: “Don’t worry, I’ll arrange it.”

Having received her promise, Xiao Tian Cai left with countless thanks. As he departed, he kept his back bent, not daring to let her see the guilt on his face.

His urgency to send Xie Yong Er away wasn’t entirely out of fear of Prince Duan. He also feared Yu Wan Yin discovering that even if he stayed, he wouldn’t be of much value.

The Emperor’s threatening glance earlier was reminding him not to say what shouldn’t be said.

For instance, the poison in his body had been there since before birth, accumulating until today, reaching an irreversible state. The large dose of poison from the former Crown Prince’s ambush was just the last straw that broke the camel’s back.

Also, the Empress Dowager’s dying words were four characters: “This poison has no cure.”

In the mourning hall, Xia Hou Dan watched the two walk away, immediately sought a chair to sit down, and pressed his hands against his forehead with such force as if trying to crush it.

Amid the unceasing pain, memories that had become blurred suddenly resurfaced before his eyes. He saw again his grandmother from many years ago, gasping for breath on her sickbed, waiting for death. For a month before her final breath, the poor woman screamed incoherently every day. No one knew what she was screaming about then.

If the same fate awaited him…

Xia Hou Dan gave a derisive laugh.

That kind of nightmarish scene—he certainly didn’t want her to witness it.