Gu Chusheng emerged from the palace late at night. Spring arrived earlier in Huajing compared to Qingzhou, and it was much warmer. He stood alone in the long corridor for a moment, then took a deep breath before turning and disappearing into the night.
He first sought out the people on Wei Yun’s list. After connecting with them using Wei Yun’s jade pendant, he carefully inquired about Zhao Yue’s daily routine. Then he instructed his subordinates, “Tomorrow night, contact the Princess. My people and Wei Yun’s people will work together to escort the Princess out of the palace.”
Everyone nodded. After the two teams planned a route, Gu Chusheng waited outside the palace gates the following night.
At this time, a blind woman was led into the inner palace.
She wore a long moon-white dress. Though blind, she walked no differently from a sighted person. She entered the hall and respectfully bowed to Zhao Yue, her voice calm and composed: “Yu Linlang pays respects to the Master.”
“Rise,” Zhao Yue’s voice sounded weak. Yu Linlang’s ears twitched slightly as she stood up. Zhao Yue lifted the curtain, and in the dim light, he could make out a silhouette. He curved his lips into a smile, “I’ve heard that Lady Yu is highly skilled in medicine, yet you were born blind. Why haven’t you cured your own eyes, Lady Yu?”
“If I had cured my own eyes, would the Master allow me to stand here?” Yu Linlang replied with a smile.
Zhao Yue chuckled, “You’re indeed a clever girl.”
Zhang Hui stepped forward to support Zhao Yue with a hand pillow, then respectfully invited Yu Linlang, “Doctor Yu, please come this way.”
Yu Linlang sat down without assistance and placed her hand on Zhao Yue’s wrist.
“I’ve seen many doctors for this illness,” Zhao Yue said with a low laugh. “They all say I’m merely fatigued, but I don’t believe it. That’s why I wanted to invite Lady Yu to take a look.”
Yu Linlang remained silent, switching hands to check Zhao Yue’s pulse again. Then she carefully inquired about Zhao Yue’s daily routine, diet, symptoms, and habits. Afterward, she wrote a prescription and had someone brew the medicinal decoction. She then inserted silver needles into Zhao Yue’s acupoints, removed them, and placed them in the prepared decoction.
The decoction instantly changed color. Yu Linlang calmly asked, “What color is it?”
Zhang Hui hurried over and saw the color in the decoction growing darker until it turned completely black.
“Black,” Zhang Hui said anxiously.
Yu Linlang nodded, appearing to understand. Zhao Yue smiled and asked, “Does Lady Yu have an answer?”
“Indeed, as you suspected, Master. You’re not ill; you’ve been poisoned,” Yu Linlang said.
Zhao Yue’s expression remained unchanged; he had already anticipated this. Yu Linlang slowly explained, “This poison is rare—it’s arsenic. It requires at least a month of continuous administration. Usually, the poisoner ingests it before intimate contact, which can intensify pleasure. After two months of use, their partner will begin to experience numbness in their limbs, blurred vision, and frequent headaches. After another two months, they’ll lose the ability to speak, see, or move their limbs. Finally, they’ll lose consciousness and slowly die.”
Hearing this, Zhang Hui’s face changed dramatically. Zhao Yue’s gaze became distant and confused. After a long while, he slowly asked, “Besides intimate contact, are there other ways to administer this poison?”
Yu Linlang gave Zhao Yue a strange look, then lowered her head and said, “The key to this poison is the exchange of bodily fluids—intimate contact, sweat, tears, saliva… Any related fluid contact could potentially transmit it. Of course, if the poisoner is patient, they could administer it through scent over a long period, but that would take at least several years, so people rarely do it that way.”
Hearing this, Zhao Yue slowly smiled, “Then, are the poisoners affected?”
It was the first time Yu Linlang had heard someone ask about the poisoner. She found this Master increasingly strange, but having been paid, she nodded and said, “The poisoners themselves are unaffected. It only enhances their pleasure during intimate moments, which is why some nobles use it as an aphrodisiac.”
“Is there an antidote for this poison?” Zhang Hui, dissatisfied with Zhao Yue’s focus on what he considered unimportant matters, anxiously interjected.
“There might have been a cure at the beginning, but the Master’s poisoning is too advanced. I can only alleviate the symptoms. I’m afraid curing the poison is impossible,” Yu Linlang replied.
“How long can it be delayed?” Zhao Yue’s voice was calm, seemingly indifferent to life and death.
Yu Linlang hesitated for a moment before finally saying, “The survival time is hard to predict. Given the Master’s current condition, it could be as short as half a month or as long as a year. However, I can at least ensure the Master leaves with dignity.”
“What do you mean by leaving with dignity?” Zhao Yue laughed.
Yu Linlang calmly explained, “To let the Master remain as normal as possible, not becoming a living corpse. You can do whatever you usually do until the day you must go. However, if we take this approach, I’m afraid your survival time won’t be very long.”
Zhao Yue remained silent. Beside him, Zhang Hui angrily shouted, “What nonsense are you spouting? You quack! Talking about death! You must cure our Master, or I’ll kill—”
“Uncle Zhang.” Zhao Yue’s voice was calm, and Zhang Hui’s voice froze. His eyes reddened, but he finally stepped back.
“Lady Yu,” Zhao Yue lifted the curtain, dimly seeing Yu Linlang’s silhouette. He spoke softly, “My child will be born in about four months. If I ask for dignity, can you help me last until the child is born?”
“This…” Yu Linlang hesitated for a moment before finally saying, “I’ll try my best.”
“Thank you, Lady Yu.” Zhao Yue smiled, his brow and eyes curved. If not for his imperial yellow robes, the gentleness in his eyes would have made him look like an ordinary scholar.
“Then,” he sighed lightly, “please, Lady Yu, give me one last dignity.”
“Rest assured, Master,” Yu Linlang said calmly. “I’ll do everything I can.”
Zhao Yue nodded. Yu Linlang called Zhang Hui over and gave him a prescription. She instructed him to make herbal packs and bind them over Zhao Yue’s eyes with cloth strips.
“Apply this overnight, and you should be able to see tomorrow,” she said.
“Thank you,” Zhao Yue replied.
Zhang Hui saw Yu Linlang out. When he returned, he found Zhao Yue sitting alone on the golden throne. He wore the imperial yellow nine-dragon robe, a crown on his head, and a white cloth covering his eyes, tied at the back of his head with the ends hanging down.
He maintained a slight smile, sitting quietly. Zhang Hui approached, hesitated for a moment, and finally said, “Your Majesty need not listen to the ramblings of that quack doctor. I’ll send people to find better physicians.”
“Whether she’s spouting nonsense or not, don’t we both know the truth?” Zhao Yue stood up, and Zhang Hui immediately moved to support him. Zhao Yue felt his way towards the palace gates and slowly said, “Have all the incense removed. From now on, no one around me is allowed to wear perfume.”
“Your Majesty…” Zhang Hui’s voice trembled. “All this time, you’ve only been intimate with Consort Mei…”
Zhao Yue paused briefly, then said with certainty, “It’s not her.”
“You once had her husband killed, killed her brother, and sent her only daughter to marry in a foreign land…” Zhang Hui had been shaking, wanting to say these words for a long time. But these were words no one dared to utter. Everyone knew the position Consort Mei held in the Emperor’s heart, but now, he had no choice but to speak.
“Such deep hatred…” Zhang Hui finally said, “Do you think she has let it go?”
Zhao Yue remained silent. He stood in the long corridor, the night breeze gentle, carrying the vitality of spring.
“When I was young,” he slowly began, “I once thought the world was all beautiful. I believed that if one lived a virtuous life, doing good deeds, they would receive good in return. But my kindness didn’t bring rewards, only constant bullying.”
“I was the Crown Prince of the founding emperor, yet no one respected me. My stepmother and half-brother tried to kill me repeatedly, humiliating me time and again, while my father, the King, did nothing. Many times, I felt that my death would be a blessing for everyone.”
“Only she didn’t treat me that way.” Zhao Yue’s lips curved into a smile. “She was good to me, exceptionally good. When everyone looked down on me, and thought I was the redundant one, only she protected me and stayed by my side. I once wanted to be a good person, Uncle Zhang,” Zhao Yue’s voice lowered. “When I had her, I thought that for this lifetime, I just needed to stay by her side. But later I realized that my tolerance, and my soft-heartedness, resulted in her marrying Mei Hanxue. So I returned to Tai’an, became the Crown Prince, and had Mei Hanxue killed. Do you think she didn’t know? She knew.”
Zhao Yue let out a light laugh. “I guess she knew. But when the founding emperor fell, she still saved me.”
“Between us, there are generations of blood feuds. Her father killed my grandfather, her brother killed my father, and I killed her husband and her brother. We’ve long been entangled in a sea of blood and hatred, yet I still liked her time and again, and she still spared me time and again. From my youth until now, every time I fell, she never gave up on me. Uncle Zhang, everyone in this life might betray me, but she won’t.”
“If even she betrays me,” Zhao Yue paused, then said in a low voice, “who else can I trust?”
So she wouldn’t betray him, couldn’t betray him. In this lifetime, she was the only one he could trust.
“But people’s hearts can change,” Zhang Hui anxiously spoke. “Your Majesty, people can forgive someone once or twice, but not…”
“Zhang Hui!” Zhao Yue raised his voice. “Silence!”
Zhang Hui froze. After a long while, he knelt, closed his eyes, and said with a trembling voice, “This servant knows his mistake.”
Zhao Yue didn’t speak. He seemed to feel cold. After a long time, he pulled his robe tighter and finally said, “When the time comes, use the passage in the underground palace to take Consort Mei out. Don’t let her wake up. Once you’re out, protect her and the young prince well. If there are any other unexpected situations, you can leave on your own.”
“I’ve prepared new identities for you and the others in the Northern Di. Go there and live well.”
“Your Majesty…” Zhang Hui’s voice was choked with tears.
But he couldn’t say anything more. There was nothing he could say. The monarch he served, in his final moments, was still providing them with an escape route.
So it wasn’t that he didn’t know, but that knowing, he had to pretend not to understand, forcibly grasping at an illusory dream.
While Yu Linlang was examining Zhao Yue, Gu Chusheng’s people made contact with the Princess. Zhao Yue rarely visited the Princess now, and she slept alone at night. With the Princess’s cooperation, the plan proceeded exceptionally smoothly. Gu Chusheng waited outside the palace gates for a short while before the Princess urgently appeared before him, anxiously asking, “What’s going on?”
“Get in the carriage first.” Gu Chusheng lowered the carriage curtain, letting the Princess board. Once she was inside, Gu Chusheng said in a low voice, “Chu Yu has been captured by Zhao Yue, used to threaten Wei Yun. Now I plan to use you as a bargaining chip to exchange for Chu Yu.”
The Princess was slightly taken aback, then immediately nodded, “Alright. He’s very concerned about the child now. Although he rarely comes to see me, he often sends people to inquire about the child’s well-being.”
“How is his health now?” Gu Chusheng quickly inquired.
The Princess stiffened, then lowered her head and said, “He often has headaches, starts to forget things, and his eyesight is failing. He’s afraid to let others know, but I’ve noticed. He’s been looking for famous doctors everywhere recently, thinking I don’t know.”
“Even if he finds a famous doctor now, it’s too late to save him. However, if he knew you were the one who poisoned him…” Gu Chusheng frowned.
The Princess let out a light laugh, “He has so many consorts in his harem, I don’t believe he hasn’t slept with them. Can he investigate them one by one?”
There was a coldness in her voice. Gu Chusheng noticed her unusual tone and looked up at her, saying calmly, “Don’t be sad.”
“What are you saying?” The Princess smiled, tucking her hair behind her ear. “I’m not sad. I’m delighted that he’s going to die.”
Gu Chusheng hesitated for a moment, then finally said, “I’m curious. Do you truly have no feelings left for him?”
“I do,” the Princess laughed softly. “How could I not? But, Master Gu,” the Princess looked up at him, “life is never a straight line. Just because I love him doesn’t mean I won’t kill him. I love him, but the family grudge is real, the humiliation is real, his favoring of others is real, and his unfitness to rule is real. Whether for my family, my daughter, myself, or the common people and the country, I must kill him. After I kill him, I will have him enter my coffin and posthumously title him as Prince Consort.”
“I don’t deny that I love him,” the Princess’s voice was calm. “There’s no shame in that. However, it doesn’t change anything. Rest assured, Master Gu.”
Gu Chusheng remained silent.
He was reassured.
In the previous life, the Princess had done exactly this. Even though she loved him, she resolutely killed him, then posthumously titled him Prince Consort and had him interred in the imperial tomb.
Gu Chusheng lowered his eyes. The Princess glanced at him and said knowingly, “Master Gu seems quite different after this return?”
Gu Chusheng didn’t respond. The Princess turned her head towards the direction of the Huguo Temple and said softly, “The Buddhist temple is peaceful. I’ve been feeling unsettled lately, so I often recite sutras and pray to Buddha. If Master Gu can’t let go of his attachments, perhaps you could try it.”
“Thank you for your advice, Princess,” Gu Chusheng sincerely expressed his gratitude.