There were their people in Noble Consort Liang’s palace as well. This person was given to Shen Xihe by Shen Yun’an. During the previous emperor’s reign, he had greatly expanded the back palace, with palace maids exceeding ten thousand. Various factions had seized the opportunity to place their people inside.
Even after the Youning Emperor ascended the throne and conducted several major purges, there were still deeply hidden spies who remained.
She had specially prepared a hand cream with the fragrance that Noble Consort Liang liked, mixing it into the palace supplies. Once she saw it, she wouldn’t be able to resist it. As for how to make her see it, that was just a matter of some silver.
The hand cream contained something that would agitate cats. For this, she hadn’t experimented on short-lived rats – the cat’s claws contained Sui Axi’s newly concocted poison, which would lie dormant in the body for three days before showing signs of fever.
At this point, if the poison was discovered, there was still hope for survival. But once Zixue Dan was taken before discovery, it would be nearly impossible to save the person.
Whatever Noble Consort Liang had done, her confidants must have known about it. It couldn’t have been her hanging the scented balls in Bian Xianyi’s room. When Shen Xihe took the scented balls to confront Noble Consort Liang that day, this matter couldn’t have been kept from her confidants either.
No matter what, Noble Consort Liang’s confidants should have been suspicious of Shen Xihe.
“Could someone be helping the Princess?” Hong Yu thought of the Crown Prince.
Shen Xihe’s needle pierced through, the red embroidery thread gleaming: “No.”
Since she had personally gone to find Xiao Huayong, stating that she only needed him to ensure Medical Official Huang would attend when Yilan Palace called for a physician, Xiao Huayong wouldn’t have done anything unnecessary.
“Princess, yesterday Prince Dai and the Twelfth Prince had a conflict,” Mo Yuan said.
“Oh?” Shen Xihe was slightly surprised, but after careful thought, she smiled in understanding. “So that’s it.”
“So it was the Twelfth Prince who helped the Princess.” Hong Yu suddenly realized.
Shen Xihe’s needle paused briefly. She smiled faintly but said nothing.
In her heart, she found the Emperor’s princes truly interesting – not one of them was a fool, which was itself a kind of capability.
She had seen many great families where even when one generation had many talents blooming together, there would still be some cousins of mediocre ability. But from what she had seen so far of the Emperor’s princes, none were simple.
“Your Highness, won’t you tell the Princess about how you helped her?”
In Yilan Palace, Dai Yi, the Twelfth Prince Xiao Changgeng’s trusted eunuch, asked in a low voice.
“I didn’t help the Princess,” Xiao Changgeng set down his brush after finishing his calligraphy practice, examining his writing with some dissatisfaction. “Rather, the Princess helped me.”
He spread out a new sheet of paper heavily, picked up his brush to ink it, applied force to his wrist, and in one breath completed a powerful rendition of the character “endure.”
He was fourteen now, no longer the prince who needed to be raised by palace consorts. He had been in Yilan Palace for eight years since he was six.
Although Noble Consort Liang had never been harsh to him, she and everyone in the palace had ignored him. All these years he had been careful, not a day passing without longing for freedom. He was eight years younger than Prince Dai, and Noble Consort Liang feared he would show any sign of intelligence that might diminish Prince Dai.
In his younger years, he was naive and didn’t understand, thinking that diligent study at the Department of Books would earn the Emperor’s recognition. But later he nearly lost his life from this and realized that a prince without a mother had no right to shine.
Without full-fledged wings, one shouldn’t spread them and let others know of their ability to soar the nine heavens.
Princes were supposed to attend official offices at the age of ten, but Noble Consort Liang never helped bring this up to the Emperor, and the Emperor deliberately overlooked him, leaving him a prince with nothing even now.
When Shen Xihe moved against Noble Consort Liang, he discovered it after seeing someone tampering with Noble Consort Liang’s cat. After a secret investigation, he guessed it was Shen Xihe. Though he didn’t know the reason or extent of her move against Noble Consort Liang, he still gave it a push.
He longed to leave the palace, to move into the Sixteenth Prince’s residence, to be his own master with no one controlling his daily necessities anymore.
What could be more natural than Noble Consort Liang’s passing?
Otherwise, he would have to endure two more years before he could move out of Yilan Palace on account of coming of age to understand matters between men and women.
He had thrown Noble Consort Liang’s maid down a well, covering for Shen Xihe’s people switching the hand cream.
Making Noble Consort Liang’s death an unsolved case.
“But now… everyone in the palace is saying that you…” Dai Yi felt somewhat distressed.
Now that the cause of Noble Consort Liang’s death couldn’t be found, a rumor was running rampant in the palace – that the Twelfth Prince, who had just started participating in government affairs, was an ungrateful wolf who had poisoned Noble Consort Liang.
After all, outsiders could hardly enter the palace, the back palace was locked, and only Xiao Changgeng could have poisoned Noble Consort Liang so quietly without alerting others.
“Let them investigate. I’m innocent and unafraid of their investigation. The more they spread these rumors, the better.” Xiao Changgeng’s thin lips curved slightly.
The more they slandered him, the more compensation he would receive once his innocence was proven.
These rumors even had his subtle encouragement.
After writing the character for “endure,” Xiao Changgeng wrote the character for “two”: “She helped me twice.”
The first time the Emperor no longer ignored him, giving him the right to participate in government affairs; the second time sent away Noble Consort Liang, giving him the right to establish his own residence.
Her appearance had changed his fate…
“Tian Yuan,” in the Eastern Palace, Xiao Huayong lazily spoke while looking through official documents, “I’m feeling somewhat uneasy.”
Tian Yuan stammered: “Your Highness…”
“Little Twelve is quite sensible, not trying to curry favor with Youyou.” Xiao Huayong closed a document. “But could he have developed improper thoughts about Youyou?”
Tian Yuan: …
Tian Yuan didn’t know how to respond. He wanted to say the Twelfth Prince had barely met the Princess a few times, and this intervention was merely for his benefit – how could it involve having thoughts about the Princess?
He suddenly realized His Highness had developed an illness, a suspicious illness that only manifested regarding the Princess. Whenever any young man met the Princess, His Highness would suspect them of coveting her.
“He wants to move out of the palace. What do you think about me bringing him to the Eastern Palace?” Xiao Huayong suddenly smiled somewhat mischievously.
“Your Highness, the Twelfth Prince is clever. If he comes to the Eastern Palace…” Tian Yuan felt this was a risky move.
“Being clever is good. Like Sixth Brother, it saves trouble in everything.” Xiao Huayong’s smile deepened.
Bringing him to the Eastern Palace would let him see clearly what kind of person his Seventh Brother was, and after weighing himself against that, he would understand what it means to know when to retreat and when to be sensible.
Tian Yuan knew he couldn’t stop it now. Xiao Huayong again requested a physician, and when the Emperor learned of this, he naturally came to visit.
Xiao Huayong took the opportunity to say tactfully: “Cough cough cough cough… Son has a heart ailment. The other day… seeing several brothers laughing and talking at the horse grounds cough cough cough cough, son’s health is poor, could only envy the brothers’ frequent gatherings, all living as neighbors. Son often thinks, if mother were alive if son had siblings from the same mother, they wouldn’t be… distant because of sons… Crown Prince status…”