After another moment of silence in the hall, Empress Dowager Lu behind the screen suddenly stood up. No longer able to care about anything else, she turned out from behind it and looked at the Taibai Immortal, complex emotions flashing in her eyes as she urgently asked, “Are you certain of what you say?!”
Everyone in the hall immediately fell to their knees in unison. Grand Secretary Chang was also trembling as he was about to kneel when Empress Dowager Lu stopped him.
The Taibai Immortal also knelt down with displeasure. Hearing Empress Dowager Lu ask this, he frowned and widened his eyes. “What’s there to lie about?! Of course it’s true! This is obviously poisoning!”
Physician Hu prostrated on the ground, his hands shaking violently. He looked up in bewilderment, only able to see the golden curtains. Suddenly he felt somewhat dizzy. It really was poison! He had once suspected that Emperor Jianzhang had been poisoned, but Zhang Tianshi had clearly said it wasn’t poison… In his panic, he glanced toward Zhou Weizhao. Zhou Weizhao still stood straight as ever, his expression… he didn’t know if it was Physician Hu’s illusion, but he felt His Highness’s expression was inexplicably somewhat… strange.
Empress Dowager Lu took a deep breath, her heart pounding continuously. She clenched her fists so tightly that her nails dug into her flesh. “What poison?” By the time she finished speaking, her voice had become parched and carried several traces of fear.
The Taibai Immortal frowned and lifted Emperor Jianzhang’s eyelids again before shaking his head. “I don’t know yet. I need to observe further.”
He paused, then suddenly asked, “Isn’t Zhang Tianshi also in the capital? Longhu Mountain has done extensive research on these matters. I’d like to discuss it with him.”
The great hall became frighteningly quiet. No one opened their mouth to answer his question.
The common people were spreading rumors that His Highness the Grand Prince had poisoned and plotted against Emperor Jianzhang, wanting to cover up his crime. And who was Zhang Tianshi? Zhang Tianshi was Zhou Weizhao’s master, the one who had single-handedly rescued Zhou Weizhao from the Four Gates Pass and raised him to this age!
“The common people can truly see clearly who is loyal and who is treacherous!” Xu Da stood in the top-tier room of the inn, tossing a strawberry picked from the greenhouse in his hand and popping it into his mouth. After chewing a few times, he felt the lingering fragrance on his lips and teeth and was in an excellent mood. Seeing Academician Chen enter, he beckoned to him. “How is it? Did they make a big fuss?”
Academician Chen wiped the sweat that had flowed from his forehead due to running too hastily, his face showing both excitement and smugness as he smiled. “Of course it was big! I heard that Grand Secretary Chang agreed to Liang Tong and the others’ request on the spot, deciding to temporarily suspend the Grand Prince’s regency and even suggesting that Empress Dowager should reclaim her authority over palace affairs…” The smile on his face grew deeper and deeper, until he seemed almost ready to fly with joy. “The Taibai Immortal has a straightforward temperament. When Empress Dowager just said it might not necessarily be poison, saying the imperial physicians had examined him for so long without daring to say it was poison, the Taibai Immortal stood up and flicked his sleeves ready to leave, saying if they trusted the imperial physicians and not him, they might as well not believe him. It was only because Grand Secretary Chang and the others desperately held him back that the Taibai Immortal was willing to stay and continue treating him.”
His eyes gleamed as he looked at Xu Da. “But can the Taibai Immortal really cure His Majesty?”
Xu Da snorted coldly, almost wanting to laugh. “What poison did we use? The imperial physicians are at their wits’ end and don’t even know if it’s poison at all. The Taibai Immortal is as renowned as Zhang Tianshi. Do you think the Grand Prince and his people wouldn’t have invited Zhang Tianshi to examine him first? Since even Zhang Tianshi couldn’t save him, how much more so the Taibai Immortal?”
He smacked his lips. “However, this Taibai Immortal…” He muttered, “I wonder if he would know on his own if we didn’t tell him it was poisoning.”
Thinking of this, he waved his hand dismissively. Anyway, the trap had already been set. Seeing that the fish had all been caught in the net, they only needed to wait to pull it in. These details didn’t need to be examined too closely.
Academician Chen was so happy his eyebrows were dancing. He stared at Xu Da and sighed with satisfaction. “Now there’s nothing left to worry about.” Then bowing his body respectfully, he asked Xu Da, “As for His Highness…”
Mentioning the Prince of Dongping, Xu Da’s brows suddenly became gloomy, and he gripped his cup tightly. His arrival in the capital could be considered extremely smooth, except for this one matter regarding the Prince of Dongping, which had been extremely difficult.
And this difficulty and obstruction didn’t come from others, but from the Prince of Dongping himself. If he had such an ungrateful son, he would have slapped him awake long ago, regardless of whether he lived or died.
But their lord valued this son incomparably, to the point where he was more important than anything else. As a subordinate, he couldn’t say much about it.
Sighing, he shook his head. “The little eunuch Xiaodouzi from the palace has disappeared. By the looks of it, he’s been dealt with by our prince again.” As he spoke, his voice suddenly dropped, his tone becoming cold and severe. “I really don’t know if His Highness understands that we’re doing this for his own good. What benefit does he get from staying in the palace now?!”
Academician Chen had been temporarily bought off by Xu Da. Having been afraid of poverty and hardship since childhood, he really didn’t want to live in poverty again. But being an official, though prestigious, was also truly poor. In this world, without money you couldn’t move an inch. Even his wife’s family looked down on him. Living in the capital was extremely difficult, and he still had to support his parents and raise his children. Moreover, Prince Gong was advancing unstoppably—who knew when he might attack the capital? He didn’t have such high moral consciousness. Better a dead friend than a dead pauper—what did other people’s lives and deaths have to do with him? He only needed to take care of himself. And now to take care of himself, he naturally had to cling tightly to Prince Gong. To cling to Prince Gong, he naturally couldn’t avoid the Prince of Dongping, who was Prince Gong’s beloved.
He thought for a moment but couldn’t come up with any good way to make the Prince of Dongping come around. But he also knew how to comfort Xu Da. “Once the Grand Prince is finished, he’ll naturally know that what we said isn’t false.” Seeing Xu Da’s brow relax slightly, he quickly continued, “Moreover, before we were worried that if His Highness the Grand Prince and Empress Dowager discovered us contacting the Prince of Dongping it would be detrimental to him. But now the palace is in such chaos, who has time to pay attention to the Prince of Dongping? He’s temporarily safe. We can only wait for him to come around on his own.”
That was true. At least his safety was guaranteed. Otherwise how would they answer to Han Zhengqing when they returned? Xu Da let out a stifled breath and instructed Academician Chen, “Go inquire again about what the Taibai Immortal has to say.”
Seeing Academician Chen agree and about to leave, he called him back. After thinking, he instructed, “Also, doesn’t the Prince of Dongping have several subordinate officials by his side? Go cultivate connections with them and have them whisper in the Prince of Dongping’s ear. Now that things have reached this point, unless he’s stupid, he should know he has no better path to take. Could it be he really plans to die together with those surnamed Zhou? After all, his surname isn’t Zhou.”