Zhou Weiqi’s eyes gradually lit up with realization. This wasn’t entirely impossible—he knew his father well. His father disliked Zhou Weizhao, but despised Prince Gong even more. He didn’t want to deal with Zhou Weizhao personally, so he’d instigate Prince Gong to act, intending for both Prince Gong and his detested son to fall together. His mouth opened and closed several times before he finally managed to say, “But we don’t know Father’s specific plan, much less how he intends to frame Prince Gong after having Miss Song killed.”

The situation was too urgent—he no longer had time to care about proper forms of address or careful wording. The word “frame” had simply slipped out of his mouth.

The room fell into silence. After a long while, Huang Yiqing finally licked his lips and asked, “In this matter, shouldn’t Vice Minister Wang know something about it?”

Vice Minister Wang was, after all, one of Fan Liangdi’s old trusted subordinates, and Fan Liangdi’s people were essentially the Crown Prince’s people. Now that the Fan family was too far away, and Minister Fu and His Highness the Crown Prince were no longer of one mind, surely Lord Zhende and Vice Minister Wang must know something about this?

Zhou Weiqi opened his mouth to call someone to fetch Vice Minister Wang, but Qian Ying immediately stopped him: “Your Highness, now is not the time!”

His shout was rather loud. Zhou Weiqi froze in place, raised his hand to rub his temples, and looked at him. “What do you mean?”

How confused could he be? Qian Ying felt somewhat incredulous. He thought Zhou Weiqi was being foolish, but given the current circumstances, being confused was understandable. He himself felt equally dizzy. He organized his thoughts and looked at him: “Right now, His Highness the Crown Prince’s condition is unclear. Imperial physicians and court physicians are crowding his chambers, and His Majesty and Her Majesty the Empress have both come in person. If you go looking for them now…”

Zhou Weiqi understood at once and nodded repeatedly. He shifted his position, moving slightly to the side, seeming to speak both to himself and to Qian Ying and Huang Yiqing: “Then for now, it’s best to hope Father doesn’t wake up…”

If the Crown Prince didn’t wake, this matter could still potentially be pinned on Prince Gong. But if the Crown Prince did wake—if he woke up, how could the matter of the ginseng be explained away? Even if the Crown Prince knew that Han Zhengqing had sent the ginseng, Han Zhengqing could still wash his hands of it completely, saying the ginseng was fine when he sent it. Then wouldn’t he himself be unable to defend himself with a hundred mouths?

His heart held some panic and some fear, but even more than that was a hidden, uncontrollable excitement—thinking carefully, if the Crown Prince died, it wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing. If the Crown Prince died, and Zhou Weizhao and Song Chuyi also died, and this matter could be pinned on Prince Gong’s head, that would be absolutely wonderful. Then he would be the Eastern Palace’s sole heir!

Having thought this far, he could no longer sit still. He stood up and paced urgently around the hall several times. One moment he wanted to send someone outside the city to check on the situation and see whether Song Chuyi and Zhou Weizhao had actually been eliminated by the Crown Prince, the next moment he was thinking that if the Crown Prince died and Zhou Weizhao and Song Chuyi also died, how he should redirect suspicion toward Prince Gong. He was extremely restless.

Qian Ying was getting dizzy watching him pace and couldn’t help but interrupt: “Your Highness, you should go to His Highness the Crown Prince’s bedchamber right now.” The Crown Prince had always favored Prince Dongping the most. At this time, Zhou Weiqi should be at the Crown Prince’s side awaiting news, fulfilling his filial duty as a son, so as not to give people anything to criticize or arouse suspicion.

Zhou Weiqi frantically clapped his hands together: “Yes, yes, Teacher’s reminder is correct. That was exactly my intention—I’ll go to the front to watch over Father.”

If the Crown Prince truly could wake up, he needed to be there so he could promptly beg his father’s forgiveness and perhaps still obtain his pardon. His head was a chaotic mess, confused as if he’d thought everything through clearly, yet also as if he couldn’t understand anything at all. He stood up and headed toward the main hall.

Empress Lu had already been there for quite some time. Emperor Jianzhang, worried that she might become too distressed, specifically comforted her: “Nothing will happen to him.”

The Crown Prince’s health had been poor since childhood. Several times he’d nearly failed to recover, and precisely because of this, Emperor Jianzhang had always been extremely tolerant of this son who’d been born with poor health and suffered so much torment in his youth because of him. Even though in recent years he’d discovered that the Crown Prince wasn’t as magnanimous as he’d imagined, and that his conduct had much that invited criticism, he still maintained some fatherly affection for the Crown Prince.

Empress Lu’s eyes welled with tears as Princess Rongcheng and the Crown Princess supported her on either side. She choked up, almost unable to speak, but in truth, her heart wasn’t as sorrowful as her face showed. In fact, she even couldn’t help but feel a sense of relief—perhaps the Crown Prince’s recent madness had ignited all at once the anger she’d accumulated in her heart over these years. This time, hearing that the Crown Prince had been poisoned, she no longer felt the same tension and pain as before.

Outside, Eunuch An entered and informed Emperor Jianzhang in an extremely soft voice: “Your Majesty, Commander Lai requests an audience.”

Lai Chenglong had gone to interrogate those cooks and food tasters—he must be here to report. Emperor Jianzhang nodded, turned back to comfort Empress Lu with a few words, then quickly led Eunuch An out the door.

Court Physician Hu and Imperial Physician Liang emerged wiping sweat from their brows. They first bowed to Empress Lu, the Crown Princess, and the others, then asked the Crown Princess: “May we inquire where His Highness the Grand Prince currently is? Miss Six has a Doctor Yan by her side. Though he’s a civilian physician, his medical skills are actually quite remarkable. I’ve heard that after returning to the capital, he’s been attending His Highness the Grand Prince. We wish to borrow this Doctor Yan from His Highness.”

Empress Lu looked blankly at Crown Princess Lu: “Weizhao hasn’t returned yet?”

Crown Princess Lu nodded in response: “After leaving the ministry, he came back to pay his respects to me and His Highness, but afterward we don’t know where he went. People have been sent to search for him.”

Before she’d finished speaking, Xiang Ling ran in from outside and whispered in her ear: “Your Highness, His Highness has gone outside the city…”

The Crown Princess’s brow furrowed involuntarily—Zhou Weizhao had always been an extremely proper person. Even if he’d gone outside the city, given his status, at this time he should have returned long ago. How could he possibly linger outside the city? Given how much he valued Miss Song, how could he bear to damage Miss Song’s reputation?

Empress Lu had already looked over: “Gone outside the city? Even if he went outside the city, he should have returned by now at this late hour.” As she spoke, her expression suddenly turned cold: “Could something have happened to him?”

Crown Princess Lu’s face paled at her words, and she nearly couldn’t stand steady—what Empress Lu worried about was exactly what she worried about. The Crown Prince had been poisoned; perhaps someone was truly targeting the Eastern Palace. Wouldn’t Zhou Weizhao, who was outside, be in even greater danger?

It was Ye Jingkuan who remained most clear-headed: “He probably can’t enter because the city gates are sealed. Your Majesty, please don’t worry too much. I’ll go check.”

Empress Lu nodded repeatedly: “First go to your Imperial Father and request an edict to leave the city. Considering the Crown Prince has been poisoned, and the Imperial Guard has made such a commotion searching the Ministry of Rites, there must be chaos everywhere. At this time, it’s possible Weizhao simply cannot enter the city.”