At the time, Old Master Song had only thought Song Chuyi was comforting him. Such a young girl, having just been told she had a bloody disaster in her fate and pushed to the forefront of controversy, still managed to maintain her composure and share his worries. Even with a heart of iron and stone, he couldn’t help but soften. He turned around and told Old Madam Song: “Why don’t we move up Second Son’s date? It’s only marrying a second wife anyway. Since the candidate has been decided and that side’s dowry has been prepared, why not urge them again… advance the matter and conclude it, then send the two children to Jinzhong to stay for a while.”
This would also avoid the gossip and scheming in the capital—never mind others, once the Chen family heard Master Yuanhui’s rhetoric, who knew how they would view Song Chuyi as a thorn in their side, wishing to remove her as quickly as possible.
Old Madam Song pondered briefly and agreed. She had originally been thinking about whether to raise this matter with Old Master Song. The date for going to Jinzhong had long been set, but now it seemed a bit late. Better to pick an auspicious day now to first settle Song Yi’s matter, so that after the new year Song Chuyi and Song Yan could immediately set out for Jinzhong.
Having made up her mind, in the afternoon she would have First Madam send a card the next day to the matchmaker, urging the matchmaker to press the matter. But before she could send someone to that household to inquire, Madam Cui and Yun Shi arrived first, both looking preoccupied.
Cui Yingshu came to see Old Madam Song first, then immediately went to the study in the front courtyard to find Old Master Song. Upon entering, he said: “All the imperial physicians in the palace have been summoned and gathered at the Eastern Palace. The Crown Prince is gravely ill, and Prince Dongping has also fallen ill from overexertion while attending to his sickness.”
Old Master Song’s pen movements paused. Yesterday hadn’t been his duty day—the one sleeping in the Xiyuan duty room should have been Elder Chen…
The Crown Prince’s health had never been good. From the time he could eat, he had been taking medicine. However, after so many years of careful recuperation, plus the pills sent annually from Longhu Mountain after His Highness the Crown Prince’s return, he had improved considerably. At least for the past year or two, there had been no word of the Crown Prince frequently summoning the consecrated imperial physicians.
Yet now such a commotion had erupted. Old Master Song couldn’t help but think of the previous time when the Crown Prince was poisoned. That time was the same—all the imperial physicians and consecrated doctors in the palace had gone to the Eastern Palace… And this time even Prince Dongping had fallen ill together…
His face dark as water, he glanced at Cui Yingshu, his expression extremely grave, his beard trembling. After a long while, he slapped the table: “Quickly go invite Master Cheng and Master Shan!”
Song Jue and Masters Cheng and Shan arrived quickly. Song Chengru first asked Master Cheng: “Did anyone seek an audience today?”
By rights, with such a major incident occurring at the Eastern Palace, his people in the court couldn’t possibly have heard not a whisper of it.
Ever since Old Master Song had resolved to walk the path of a pure minister, he had truly adopted the posture of a pure minister—forming no factions and making no alliances. Apart from hosting banquets at home, he had never privately received colleague officials.
But there were always a few exceptions. For instance, First Master Song always had some close friends, and Song Jue was young and vigorous, currently in the spotlight, so he also had colleagues with whom to socialize and conduct business.
After Master Cheng heard Song Chengru and Cui Yingshu explain the matter, he shook his head: “This matter probably hasn’t spread outside so quickly… Those who truly know and dare to leak information to you won’t arrive until tomorrow.”
Song Chengru’s brow furrowed even more severely as he asked Cui Yingshu: “Is the information reliable? Do you know why the Crown Prince fell gravely ill?”
Cui Yingshu looked at Old Master Song, hesitating for a long time before finally sighing: “I came precisely to ask Miss Xiaoyi.”
Masters Cheng and Shan exchanged glances, both looking thoughtful. As Old Master Song’s advisors, they understood well that this Sixth Miss Song was no less important to Old Master Song than the eldest son Song Jue. Indeed, the Sixth Miss was truly exceptionally intelligent.
But why would Cui Yingshu, this Junior Minister of the Court of Imperial Stud who also held the position of Vice Minister of Works, come to ask the Sixth Miss about secrets even he didn’t know? Such matters concerning palace secrets—shouldn’t Princess Duanhui be sent to the palace to gather information instead?
Song Chengru also raised his eyebrows somewhat puzzled.
It was Song Jue who reacted quickly, recalling how Song Chuyi had previously told him to abandon investigating Han Zhi, saying that even if Han Zhi didn’t go to Xibei, he would be of great use. His heart stirred—could it be that Han Zhi had played some role in this? Otherwise, why would even Prince Dongping have fallen ill together?
Shocked as he was, Old Master Song still reacted swiftly and immediately ordered someone to summon Song Chuyi.
Madam Cui was also speaking to Old Madam Song in a low voice about this matter: “The Crown Prince has fallen ill again, and this time it’s not light… The day before yesterday I accompanied the Empress to see him. His complexion was extremely poor, as if his essence and spirit were completely gone.”
Old Madam Song now least wanted to hear about Eastern Palace matters. Upon hearing this, she nearly couldn’t catch her breath, feeling it ominous. She patted her chest to calm herself down, frowning with deep incomprehension: “Didn’t the Crown Prince just recently climb the Qingxu Temple with His Majesty to accompany His Majesty in burning green memorials? At that time he seemed fine—though somewhat thin, his spirits were good. Moreover, with imperial physicians constantly watching over him, how could he suddenly fall gravely ill without the slightest warning?”
“Even Prince Dongping fell ill.” Madam Cui sighed, feeling uneasy for some reason: “The Empress is extremely anxious, blaming the palace servants for poor care, finding fault even with the Crown Princess and Fan Liangdi. I vaguely heard some rumors, saying that… saying that after the Marchioness of Jinxiang entered the palace to express gratitude once, the Crown Prince and Prince Dongping both fell ill right after.”
What she vaguely heard wasn’t really rumors—it was complaints Princess Rongcheng inadvertently let slip. She had never liked the elder Lady Fan and was much closer to her legitimate cousin, Crown Princess Lu. Now that the Crown Prince had fallen ill because of the younger Lady Fan, she naturally detested the elder Lady Fan even more, revealing a few hints in her words.
Old Madam Song’s heart gave a heavy thump. Recalling what she had discussed with Song Chuyi before about the rivalry between the Fan sisters, her mood gradually calmed considerably.
Just a few days ago they had spoken of coldly watching the two Fan sisters compete. Now it seemed the Marchioness of Jinxiang ultimately couldn’t restrain herself. It was just unknown what leverage she held over Fan Liangdi that upon hearing the Crown Prince had fallen ill, even Prince Dongping had collapsed together.
But she didn’t want to know at all. Many things—the more one knew, the more dangerous it became.
She shivered, grasped Madam Cui’s hand and patted it, meaningfully instructing her: “After all, this matter has nothing to do with us. We needn’t be like last time with the poisoning incident… You must understand the principle that saying more leads to more mistakes. This is ultimately the Eastern Palace’s family matter…”