They still didn’t know how the Crown Prince had been poisoned, where the poison came from, or why the Imperial Guard was running all over the city—the Ministry of Rites was such a large compound, and the Crown Prince had drunk a bowl of tea and eaten some pastries there, leaving much to investigate. This implicated many people, and right now the city gates were already closed, so not allowing people to enter was proper procedure.
Crown Princess Lu’s gaze rested on Ye Jingkuan. She nodded at him gently, then turned back to look at Court Physician Hu: “Weizhao is still outside the city right now. The palace has so many imperial physicians—perhaps that Doctor Yan wouldn’t necessarily be of use?”
Court Physician Hu was somewhat anxious. He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and shook his head vigorously: “Back then at Yangquan, when His Highness was poisoned and there was no antidote, when we were at our wit’s end, it was precisely this Doctor Yan who first conceived the method of using gold needles to suppress the poison. Only he knows this acupuncture technique. This time, the poison His Highness the Crown Prince has been exposed to is extremely virulent and truly difficult to handle. If Doctor Yan could first administer needles to delay the poison’s effects, there might still be a solution.” His lips had turned purple, whether from cold or fright: “Otherwise, the situation is dire indeed!”
Empress Lu’s right eyelid twitched violently, and her heart seemed to stop beating for a moment. Her chest felt numb. After a long while, she finally widened her eyes and asked: “What? Is it really this serious?!” The Crown Prince frequently had incidents, and illness had plagued him constantly over the years, which had made everyone somewhat numb to it. Only now, hearing that the situation was this severe, did Empress Lu belatedly realize. With a subtle feeling she herself didn’t quite understand, she asked again: “It’s not the same kind of poison as last time, is it?”
The “last time” she mentioned naturally referred to the incident when Grand Empress Dowager Rongxian had poisoned him, requiring Zhang Tianshi to be summoned. Court Physician Hu wiped the sweat from his head and shook his head: “It’s crane crest red, commonly used in the palace for executions.”
Though this poison was commonly used in the palace for executions, it wasn’t exclusive to the palace. The problem was that crane crest red’s toxicity was simply too fierce—anyone who drank it had almost no chance of survival.
Empress Lu couldn’t describe what she felt. She swayed several times, her face pale as she looked at Court Physician Hu. Her lips trembled, and after a long while, she finally asked him: “Then is there still…”
Court Physician Hu hurriedly took up her words: “His Highness consumed very little, and it was discovered relatively quickly. Your humble servant has already induced vomiting. Although there is still residual poison that hasn’t been cleared, if treatment is timely, it may not be impossible to save him. I implore Your Majesty to quickly send someone from the palace to search for this Doctor Yan—that is most urgent.”
Empress Lu nodded woodenly: “Yes, yes, yes.” She then looked toward Crown Princess Lu: “Has Weizhao mentioned where he arranged for this Doctor Yan to stay?”
Fortunately, he really had mentioned it. He was attentive to Song Chuyi’s people, especially those Song Chuyi had instructed him to care for well. Crown Princess Lu nodded: “That physician was unwilling to enter the Imperial Medical Bureau. Later, it seems he opened a medicine shop and established a practice on Zhuque Street.”
Empress Lu breathed a sigh of relief, though her heart remained suspended. She turned back and ordered Xie Siyi: “Go quickly and find him!”
Zhou Weiqi happened to meet Xie Siyi head-on. He courteously excused her from bowing and, with a haggard face and bloodshot eyes, asked her: “Where is Attendant Xie headed?”
Xie Siyi explained about needing to find Doctor Yan, hurriedly bowed to him again, and walked away with rapid steps.
Zhou Weiqi stood alone in the early autumn wind, his entire body covered in goosebumps—his hands clenched into fists, his sharp fingernails digging into his flesh, quickly breaking the skin of his palms, but at this moment he felt no pain at all—it was crane crest red. Did Han Zhengqing know or not that the rare ginseng he’d sent contained such deadly poison? The sky was clear and bright, a full moon directly overhead, not a breath of wind around, yet he was shivering from cold—how could he not know? Han Zhi had been taught by Han Zhengqing and Lady Fan. Whatever Han Zhi was like, Han Zhengqing was probably the same. Han Zhi was so shrewd, and Han Zhengqing could only be shrewder. A man like him would certainly be extremely cautious in everything he did. Unless he’d done it deliberately, Zhou Weiqi really couldn’t imagine anyone else being able to tamper with his things—this ginseng came from Han Zhengqing and had only passed through his own hands.
Though Han Zhengqing’s letter had been so clear and pleasant, Zhou Weiqi closed his eyes, feeling his entire body trembling—if Han Zhengqing truly intended to frame him, then even if Zhou Weizhao died, this matter wouldn’t end, much less could everything be pushed onto Prince Gong’s head as Qian Ying had suggested!
This was all too chaotic. He was so nervous his face had become distorted. Not until Xie Siyi hurried back and called out “Your Highness” to him with surprise and uncertainty did he come back to his senses, his face pale as he followed Xie Siyi’s footsteps inside.
But he’d only walked halfway, not yet having time to step onto the white marble steps, when considerable commotion arose outside. He turned back to look and saw Lai Chenglong striding forward with a large group of Imperial Guards swarming in.
Zhou Weiqi involuntarily took a step back, staring in panic at the Embroidered Spring Blade at Lai Chenglong’s waist. He knew how much blood these blades hanging at the Imperial Guards’ waists had drunk—in the Imperial Guard’s most glorious days, they’d casually framed and implicated ministers, even members of the Grand Secretariat had to avoid their edge, and members of the imperial clan who’d fallen under their blades were numerous indeed. He felt somewhat afraid.
Lai Chenglong seemed a bit surprised at his loss of composure. He raised an eyebrow and glanced at him, stepped forward to bow to him, then led his men past him, passing through the corridor and turning into the hall.
Not until Lai Chenglong’s back could no longer be seen did Zhou Weiqi recover from his panic. He’d thought Lai Chenglong was coming to arrest him—what a close call!
In just that moment’s delay, Xie Siyi had already gone in to report, leaving him alone still standing in the early autumn wind. He glanced at the string of exquisite palace lanterns hanging under the corridor. This sea of lights was magnificent, yet at this moment his heart sank straight down—Xie Siyi’s words truly filled him with dread. What if his father really did wake up?
He couldn’t remain in a daze for too long. In what seemed like an instant, lanterns lit up again at the palace gate, and more people filed in. He looked up blankly and could only see a middle-aged man in the middle of the crowd, carrying a medicine box and walking rapidly.
A palace attendant standing in the corridor not far from him shouted joyfully: “He’s here, he’s here! Imperial Physician Liang, Doctor Yan is here!”
Zhou Weiqi’s expression turned ugly. This Doctor Yan was precisely the renowned civilian physician who’d turned the tide at Yangquan and first suppressed the poison for Zhou Weizhao. He retreated two steps, hiding himself in the night.