The moon reached its zenith, and the dark room was filled with faint light. Xiao Du sat motionlessly before the candlestick for a long time, his cheeks half illuminated in fiery red and half shrouded in darkness by the flickering flames.
At this moment, someone pushed the door open. The cold wind pouring through the door gap caused the candle flame to dance continuously. Xiao Du quickly raised his head and asked the person entering, “How was it? Did you find out?”
Xia Qing was somewhat displeased. After all, he was the dignified commander of the Imperial Forest Army, not some spy under Xiao Du’s command. There was no reason to be questioned so bluntly without even a greeting. But who told the person before him to be his brother-in-law? No matter how angry he was, there was nowhere to vent, so he could only respond begrudgingly, “Yes.”
Xiao Du had no time to consider whether he seemed unusual and only urged Xia Qing with his eyes to speak quickly. Xia Qing sighed inwardly but still spoke honestly, “I found an old palace servant who was in Zichen Hall back then. According to her, when the late emperor fell seriously ill, he first took medicine prescribed by Left Imperial Physician, who was the head of the Imperial Medical Academy at the time. Who would have thought that not only did the late emperor’s condition not improve, but it became increasingly serious. The empress dowager flew into a rage and directly stripped Zuo Qiao of his official position, replacing him with another academy head. All the prescriptions were completely changed, and from then on she personally attended to the late emperor at his bedside daily.”
“Personal attendance to what degree? Did the empress dowager personally brew and administer the medicine?” Xiao Du quickly pressed further.
Xia Qing hadn’t expected him to ask in such detail, but fortunately the palace servant had been very thorough, so after thinking he replied, “Yes, the medicine brewing was supervised by the empress dowager watching the palace maids brew it, then she personally fed it to the late emperor. It was precisely because the empress dowager served tirelessly at the bedside when the late emperor was gravely ill that this became a celebrated tale both inside and outside the palace.”
Xiao Du connected all the events in his mind, then suddenly displayed a mocking smile. “So that’s how it was. The so-called deep imperial couple’s love was indeed just a joke.”
Xia Qing stared at him uncomprehendingly, waiting for an explanation, but Xiao Du only said indifferently, “Very well, thank you for investigating these matters for me, brother-in-law. I will certainly visit to express my gratitude another day, and also see Xuan’er.”
Xia Qing immediately became somewhat annoyed. This was clearly crossing the river and demolishing the bridge! He thus spoke with displeasure, “Marquis, I’ve told you everything I know without any concealment. But since we’re allies, you should at least let me know what all this is for.”
But Xiao Du shook his head. “Now is not the time. When the time comes, I will naturally tell you.”
Seeing him adopt an attitude of refusing to speak even unto death, Xia Qing was filled with anger but couldn’t express it, so he could only snort lightly and leave with a flourish of his sleeves. But Xiao Du had no time to deal with this person’s petulant emotions—he still needed to find another person.
“You want to ask about the late emperor’s illness?” Zuo Qiao set down the cup in his hand and sighed deeply. “When the late emperor led troops on campaign, he accidentally fell into an ambush and inhaled much miasma in the forest. Though he was fortunately rescued, this left him with lasting ailments. The later onset was due to accumulated exhaustion from overwork. Actually, his body was already unable to bear the burden, but he forced himself to continue for state affairs. At that time, my colleagues at the Imperial Medical Academy and I discussed day and night, using many methods, but nothing could make the late emperor recover. Later, one day, even the late emperor himself realized…”
His gaze began to drift as his thoughts returned to the conversation at the dragon bed many years ago. At that time, Emperor Yun could still rise. He put on his fur coat and sat up, his face bearing deep melancholy as he said, “Tell me the truth—this body of mine can’t recover, can it?”
Zuo Qiao was so frightened he immediately knelt down, pressing his forehead to the ground while crying, “Your Majesty is the true dragon son of heaven, naturally protected by divine mandate. With more medicine and rest, you will certainly recover quickly.”
Emperor Yun glanced at him sideways and shook his head. “Things have reached this point—you need not deceive me.” He walked to his side and slowly helped him up, saying slowly, “Since this body of mine can no longer be cured, why not use it to do something beneficial for the state and society.”
Zuo Qiao stared blankly at Emperor Yun’s face. He didn’t understand what these words meant, only feeling some fear at the desolation and resolution in this emperor’s eyes. At this moment, Emperor Yun patted his shoulder again. “You’ve been loyal to me throughout your years at the Imperial Medical Academy. Now I’m giving you a great gift—go back and enjoy your retirement.”
“So your later dismissal from office was actually the late emperor’s intention,” Xiao Du couldn’t help interrupting. Zuo Qiao emerged from his memories, his expression still somewhat dazed. “I was confused and didn’t understand what the late emperor meant at the time. But later the empress dowager issued an edict saying I had failed in treatment and dismissed me from office. By then I was already disheartened, with only concern for His Majesty’s health remaining. After I left, someone quickly replaced my position as head of the Imperial Medical Academy and personally treated His Majesty.”
“That person—is he still at the Imperial Medical Academy now?” Xiao Du quickly asked.
Zuo Qiao shook his head with a bitter smile. “That person is already dead. He died in the same year the late emperor passed away. Sometimes I think, if I hadn’t been dismissed, perhaps the one who died would have been me. This might be the great gift the late emperor spoke of.”
Xiao Du let out a long breath, his fingers tapping lightly on the desk. At this moment, the speculation in his heart was slowly taking shape. But if this speculation were true, the calculations and treachery hidden between emperor and empress made him shudder involuntarily.
“What? You’re saying this prescription was a trap the late emperor deliberately set?” Yuanxi’s eyes widened in disbelief.
Xiao Du nodded, his gaze fixed on the somewhat aged tiger skin paper in his hand. On the golden yellow writing paper, a row of prescriptions was copied in delicate, beautiful handwriting, clearly from a woman’s hand. This was what Master Hongyu had given him that day.
According to Master Hongyu, when the late emperor was gravely ill, he had specifically sent his most loyal eunuch to summon Master Hongyu to the dragon bed under the pretext of performing prayers for blessings. Taking advantage of when no one was around, he solemnly placed a small sandalwood box in his hands and repeatedly instructed him that except for Xiao Du, he must not give this item to anyone else, not even the future emperor.
Inside the sandalwood box was this transcribed prescription. Tiger skin paper was paper that only emperors and empresses could use. Xiao Du had speculated about this prescription for a long time, suspecting it very likely came from the empress dowager’s hand. So he specifically had Xia Qing help him investigate the events of those years and made a special trip to find Zuo Qiao, indeed uncovering a shocking secret.
“What exactly happened that year?” Seeing him not answering, Yuanxi couldn’t help pressing further.
Xiao Du sighed. “I had Left Imperial Physician examine it. Two of the medicines in this prescription are individually beneficial drugs, but if combined and taken for a long time, they become deadly poison.” He raised his head, staring intently at Yuanxi. “This is the prescription the empress dowager used when serving the late emperor during his final days.”
Yuanxi gasped. She pondered this statement repeatedly for a long time before murmuring, “You mean…”
“Exactly.” Xiao Du gripped the paper in his hand tightly. “That year when the late emperor was gravely ill, the Imperial Medical Academy used many methods but couldn’t help him recover. The late emperor understood his time was limited, but the crown prince was still young and had always been under Empress Dowager Xia’s control. The late emperor was unwilling to see the Great Mu kingdom fall into the Xia clan’s hands, so he devised a desperate stratagem. He deliberately revealed his dissatisfaction with Zuo Qiao. The empress dowager had always wanted to completely control his condition, so she took advantage of the situation to dismiss Zuo Qiao and replace the academy head with her own trusted person. The late emperor knew clearly that in the final moments, the empress dowager would certainly attend personally at his side—both for her future reputation when wielding power and to closely monitor the late emperor’s every move to ensure her son could ascend the throne. She would perform this act well.” He raised the prescription in his hand and continued, “But the empress dowager certainly never expected that the person she thought was her trusted ally was actually a chess piece the late emperor had planted beside her. Under the late emperor’s direction, he prescribed this medicine with conflicting properties and somehow made the empress dowager personally transcribe a copy. Thus the medicine the empress dowager fed the late emperor daily became deadly poison. All her machinations at that time had personally led her down a path to death.”
Yuanxi felt a chill run through her body. “But since the late emperor had this evidence—that is, he had the empress dowager’s weakness—if this matter were exposed, the empress dowager would certainly die. Why didn’t he give it to the current emperor back then, instead hiding it with Master Hongyu to wait for you to discover it at some unknown time?”
Xiao Du sighed. “Because he could never completely trust the current emperor. No matter what, the current emperor is still the empress dowager’s biological son. That’s why he wanted to give this item to me, for me to judge how to handle it. Perhaps he still hoped that the current emperor and I would work together to bring down the Xia clan.”
He looked at the yellow paper in his hand, his heart surging with turbulent emotions. This was a father who had traded his own life for an opportunity for his child, and also an emperor who hoped to exchange stability and enlightenment for his people and state. But he hadn’t thought that many years later, his two sons would become such bitter enemies. Now, what should he do?