Zhu Nanxian said nothing more.

He knew that Su Jin feared her momentary loss of composure from concern would implicate him, so she requested punishment to distance herself from him.

But at this point, what difference did it make whether such superficial gestures were made or not?

He was at others’ mercy. Being able to see her today was already quite good.

Zhu Qiyue said, “Censor Su belongs to the Imperial Censorate. Now that today’s matter is concluded, let Lord Zhao take her back to the ministry to be punished according to the Imperial Censorate’s rules.”

Zhao Yan understood that Zhu Qiyue was intentionally letting Su Jin off easy. He immediately bowed in thanks. “Yes, thank you for Your Highness’s and Her Ladyship’s magnanimity. I will handle this impartially.”

Only then did Zhu Qiyue say to Su Jin, “Rise.” He continued, “Since Censor Su has already clarified the truth, you shall compile the cause and effect of this case.” He instructed a clerk at his side, “He will speak, you will record.”

After the clerk spread out paper and brush, Su Jin said, “Although the Congealed Char case came to light today, the actual poisoning occurred on the eighth day of the first month.

“On the eighth, someone brought Congealed Char into the Eastern Palace and hid it in a concealed location along the road from the main hall to the inner hall.

“Later that day, this piece of Congealed Char was retrieved by a palace eunuch. Afterward, he went to the inner hall of the Eastern Palace and placed the Congealed Char in the incense burner in the courtyard.

“Because the Thirteenth Highness paid respects before the incense burner three times daily for his brother and sister-in-law, the Congealed Char dispersed from the scalding incense ash and entered His Highness’s body—this was the entire poisoning process.”

“As for why the poisoning was executed today,” Su Jin thought for a moment and said, “there are three reasons. First, today outer court officials’ female family members came to the Eastern Palace to mourn. There would inevitably be some unfamiliar faces. Therefore, only today would the appearance of this snake charmer outside the palace walls not arouse suspicion.

“Second, so many snakes—whether they were originally in the Eastern Palace or thrown over the walls into the palace courtyards—could not be made to obey commands by a snake charmer’s flute alone. Therefore, within the Eastern Palace, there should have been someone working in coordination with the snake charmer from the inside. This person was the slave girl. This humble servant doesn’t understand snake charming methods, but presumably they involve scents, medicinal powders, and such to lure them. Your Highness need only order an interrogation of this snake charmer to learn the details.

“Third, a diversionary tactic. The Thirteenth Highness is a martial artist, and the inner hall is strictly guarded by the Eagle Guards. Even with many more snakes, under the protection of over a hundred Eagle Guards, they presumably couldn’t harm the Thirteenth Highness in the slightest. However, if there were a group of female family members of immeasurably noble status outside the hall, that would be different. The main hall of the Eastern Palace had ordinary defenses, yet the snakes appeared in the main hall first. The Twelfth Highness, unable to deploy personnel in time, would inevitably take away the Eagle Guards from the inner hall, leaving the Thirteenth Highness without protection. Being bitten by snakes, he would naturally need to use medicine from the Imperial Medical Bureau.

“You must understand, the poisoner’s true intention was precisely to have this powder for treating snake and insect bites come into contact with the Thirteenth Highness’s wound. In other words, to have the River Lamp Grass in the powder come into contact with the Congealed Char within the Thirteenth Highness’s body—this is the entire sequence of events in the case.”

Having said this, Su Jin paused briefly, waiting for Zhu Qiyue’s clerk to finish writing before continuing, “Beyond this, there are two other points that require Physician Jiang from the Imperial Medical Bureau to clarify.”

Her gaze fell on the white rat. “First, why did the white rat become poisoned? In this humble servant’s humble opinion, the rat’s body was originally poison-free. However, after being bitten by a snake and unable to move, and being near the incense burner, it inadvertently inhaled the Congealed Char vapor into its body.”

Physician Jiang said, “That is precisely so. Although Congealed Char needs two or three days to congeal into lethal poison in the human body, the white rat is so small that presumably just these one or two hours would be sufficient to kill it.”

“Another point,” Su Jin said, “although the Thirteenth Highness is currently unharmed, the poison of Congealed Char still lurks within His Highness’s body. I wonder if Physician Jiang has any good methods to detoxify His Highness of this poison.”

As she spoke, she bowed deeply to Physician Jiang. “I must trouble Physician Jiang.”

Su Jin was a fourth-rank Vice Censor-in-Chief. How could Physician Jiang accept her courtesy? He returned an even deeper bow before saying, “Lord Su, rest assured. Although the poison of Congealed Char is dangerous, it’s very easy to resolve. The Thirteenth Highness need only take some detoxifying decoction made with kudzu powder. In less than a day, this poison can be eliminated.”

Before long, the Eagle Guards had cleaned up everywhere in the Eastern Palace and also sprinkled realgar powder all around. With such an incident today, continuing with sutra chanting and mourning was impossible. Several palace eunuchs and maids pushed open the inner hall doors and knelt outside to see off Consort Qi as she led the consorts and female family members away.

Shu Rongxin lagged at the rear of the group of officials’ daughters. Glancing back, she saw Qiling still standing fixedly in place, apparently lost in thought, so she called out, “Ruyu?”

It took Qiling a long while to respond. She asked, “Rongxin, did you hear clearly what the Thirteenth Highness called Lord Su?”

Shu Rongxin said, “Su Shiyu. I’ve heard my elder brother mention it—the characters Shiyu are Lord Su’s courtesy name.” As she spoke, she propped up her chin thoughtfully, then slowly smiled. “Previously when I heard my brother speak of how the Imperial Censorate’s Censor Su possessed extraordinary intelligence, I only thought it ordinary. But seeing him today, I’m utterly amazed. Such an intricate scheme, yet he could penetrate its mysteries within an hour. Calling him the Zhuge Liang of our age would not be excessive.”

But hearing Shu Rongxin say this, Qiling felt exceptionally bewildered.

She recalled again the Su Jin she had seen in the mountain cave during the winter hunt—black hair cascading over both shoulders, handsome features and face reflecting the rosy glow, making it difficult to distinguish male from female for a moment.

An absurd thought arose in Qiling’s heart: what if this modern-day Zhuge Liang were a woman?

She didn’t know if she had truly uncovered this so-called secret, but she knew this secret could cost lives—Su Jin’s life. And if it could cost Su Jin’s life, presumably it could also cost the Thirteenth Highness’s life.

Thinking of this, Qiling’s gaze fell on Shu Rongxin. Seeing she was still looking at Su Jin, she couldn’t help saying, “Let’s go quickly.” Without waiting for her, she turned and hurriedly left.

After the officials’ daughters left, Zhao Yan also took Su Jin and Zuo Qian to bid farewell to Zhu Qiyue and paid respects to Zhu Nanxian.

Zhu Nanxian was silent for a moment, then suddenly said to Zhu Qiyue, “Give me the time it takes half a stick of incense to burn.” He added, “I have words I wish to speak privately to Censor Su and General Zuo.”

This was the first time since Zhaojue Temple that Zhu Nanxian had initiated conversation with him.

Zhu Qiyue was stunned for a moment before nodding. “Very well.”

The elm tree in the courtyard had already sprouted new branches, with new leaves clustered densely on them. Although Zhu Qiyue had already taken the Eagle Guards far away, Zhu Nanxian still led Su Jin and Zuo Qian to take shelter under the elm tree before saying, “These past days, has Zhu Zhaowei made things difficult for you and Shen Qingyue?”

Su Jin shook her head, lowered her eyes, and answered irrelevantly, “Lord Shen and I sent Seventeen away.”

She didn’t mention that Shen Tuo had been detained and charged with crimes, much less that yesterday morning an edict had stripped Vice Minister of Revenue Shen Xi of his position pending investigation.

She didn’t want him to worry further.

Su Jin continued, “Your Highness can rest assured. Zheng Yun escorted Seventeen away. They’ve been driving day and night—by now they’ve long since passed Suzhou Prefecture. That day I already sent urgent letters ordering the censors along the route to provide assistance, and also sent urgent letters to Nanchang Prefecture requesting Your Highness’s personal guard troops in Nanchang Prefecture to meet them. Surely Seventeen will be safe.”

Zhu Nanxian looked at her. In just a few short days, she had become much thinner. The haze between her brows that had been smoothed with such difficulty seemed to have risen like fog once more.

He shifted his gaze away, letting it fall on the distant palace pavilion, and said indifferently, “I’m giving you the Jinwu Guard.”

Su Jin suddenly raised her eyes to look at him.

“Zuo Qian.”

Zuo Qian clasped his hands. “This subordinate is here.”

“This prince commands you from this day forward to obey only Censor Su of the Imperial Censorate, and to protect her life as you would protect this prince’s own life.”

Zuo Qian said, “Censor Su and Your Highness are the closest of friends. Even if Your Highness didn’t mention this, this subordinate and all the officers and soldiers of the Jinwu Guard would spare no effort to protect Censor Su’s safety.”

Zhu Nanxian nodded slightly. “If one day the overall situation becomes critical, then send her away.”

“Yes.” Zuo Qian said, then paused and added, “But this subordinate will also risk his life to rescue Your Highness.”

Zhu Nanxian’s face had long been pale and bloodless. Su Jin had originally wanted to say something more, at least to tell him that as long as he remained in this palace for one day, she would stand guard for one day and would not leave no matter what.

But looking at Zhu Nanxian’s condition, knowing he was severely injured and exhausted, barely able to stand at this moment, she feared that saying things contrary to his wishes would worry him. So she could only say, “I’ll leave first.” She added, “Your Highness, take care.”

Zhu Nanxian hummed in acknowledgment and nodded slightly. “You take care as well.”

After Su Jin and Zuo Qian left the rear palace, they felt something was amiss in their surroundings.

The hour of shen had already passed. Ordinarily at this time, all the ministry offices would have ended their shifts. Moreover, court hadn’t yet reconvened—there were plenty leaving early. Why were they all hurrying in one direction today?

Suspicion arose in Su Jin’s heart. She immediately stopped someone passing by and asked, “What are you all doing?”

This person was a sixth-rank secretary from the Ministry of Justice, surnamed Wu.

During the national mourning period, everyone wore blue robes with black sashes. Secretary Wu was stunned for a moment, then discovered that the two people before him were actually Censor Su from the Imperial Censorate and General Zuo of the Jinwu Guard. He hurriedly bowed. “Greetings to Censor Su, greetings to General Zuo.” Then he raised his head and asked, “An edict was just transmitted saying punishment would be carried out at Xuanyuan Platform at the second quarter of the hour of shen. Didn’t Lord Su and General Zuo receive it?”

Su Jin and Zuo Qian had both been at the Eastern Palace just now and indeed hadn’t received any edict.

Secretary Wu, thinking that Censor Su of the Imperial Censorate and Vice Minister Shen were close friends, couldn’t help saying, “Then Lord Su should hurry over to take a look. The one being punished is precisely Vice Minister Shen Xi. I heard it’s to be eighty strokes of the rod.”

Upon hearing this, Su Jin was stunned. After a long while, she heard her own somewhat hoarse, somewhat angry voice: “There must be a trial before there can be punishment. Right now the new year period hasn’t passed, it’s during the national mourning, and court hasn’t yet reconvened—what crime could possibly warrant punishment at Xuanyuan Platform?!”

Who knew that upon hearing her question, Secretary Wu would also be confused. “Censor Su belongs to the Imperial Censorate—don’t you know this case was tried by the Imperial Censorate?” He paused and added, “It’s precisely the grain tax embezzlement case from Shaanxi Circuit.”