Zhende’s profile showed through the screen. Empress Lu and the others could see his mouth opening and closing.
He straightened the coronet on his head, first ingratiatingly inquiring about the Crown Prince’s health, then shook his head: “If something truly happened, the Shuntian Prefecture should have been alarmed by now. When I entered the palace, although I heard something happened outside the city, it wasn’t at Qingxu Temple but in the outskirts—it seems a wolf pack injured people…” He looked at the Crown Prince’s expression and carefully said: “I’m afraid it has nothing to do with Miss Song the Sixth.”
The Crown Prince’s gaze was somewhat scattered. It took great effort for him to concentrate and listen to Zhende speak. His head was buzzing and aching terribly. He covered his head with one hand, taking a while to recover: “No news at all?”
Zhende scratched his head, looking at the Crown Prince and shaking his head: “In the city, aside from news of your poisoning, there’s nothing else.” He sighed: “Presumably His Highness Prince Gong did not make a move…” He glanced at the Crown Prince and stopped talking, asking somewhat hesitantly: “How exactly were you poisoned? Commander Lai of the Imperial Guard has already thrown all the servants of the Eastern Palace into the prison, but hasn’t interrogated anything clear yet. Fortunately, you’ve awakened now… Do you remember how you were poisoned?”
The Crown Prince’s gaze flickered somewhat. He shifted his hand, changing to a more comfortable position lying down. He didn’t even have the strength to cough, wheezing heavily for a while before looking at Zhende with some impatience: “Where did you hear the news that nothing clear has been interrogated?”
As he listened to Zhende speak, his eyes remained fixed without moving, his thoughts drifting far away.
The people he had sent out were all well-trained death warriors. Although there weren’t many—only forty—dealing with a noble young lady who at most had household guards of an earl’s mansion should be as easy as turning over one’s hand. How could it be that until now, no one had returned to report?
His chest ached faintly. He laboriously reached out to cover his chest, only then belatedly asking Zhende: “Poisoned?”
Zhende suspected the Crown Prince might have been addled. He stood frozen in place for a long while. Seeing the Crown Prince ask again, he cautiously affirmed: “Yes, you were poisoned and fell unconscious yesterday. His Majesty and the Empress came personally, and His Majesty commanded Commander Lai to thoroughly investigate this matter…”
The Crown Prince clutched at his collar. He rubbed his brow, finally remembering what he had done before losing consciousness—he had consumed the ginseng sent up by Prince Dongping. Legend had it this ginseng was Han Zhengqing’s treasure, capable of prolonging life and strengthening the body’s foundation.
But this ginseng had problems. His eyes flickered, and he asked Zhende again: “Where is Dongping?”
Zhende was also somewhat puzzled. The Crown Prince had been poisoned—it made sense that the Grand Prince had left the city and temporarily couldn’t return, but how could Prince Dongping also be nowhere to be seen? He shook his head and honestly said: “I don’t know.”
The Crown Prince fell silent for a long while. Having been poisoned and unconscious for a day and night, his body was extremely weak, even his mind turning slower. But if he were to believe Prince Dongping had poisoned him, he absolutely wouldn’t—if he died, what benefit would there be for Dongping?
Then the ginseng Han Zhengqing sent had problems from the start… A flash of ruthlessness appeared in his eyes. He vaguely felt someone had schemed against him. But why would Han Zhengqing send poisoned ginseng? What did he want to do? Kill him to frame Dongping? What benefit would that bring him? Did he truly purely want revenge for Little Consort Fan and Han Zhi? So he wanted to kill him and Great Consort Fan’s son?
He frowned, then suddenly asked Zhende: “Bai Dong and Elder Du—have they sent out any news?”
Zhende shook his head definitely: “And Prince Gong’s messenger too—no movement at all.” He sighed: “Probably don’t have the guts. After all, no matter what, he’s still the Grand Prince…”
Since Prince Gong was unwilling to act, he could only wait for his own people to eliminate Song Chuyi, then frame Prince Gong. Fortunately, he had calculated early on that whether Prince Gong acted or not made no difference. The Crown Prince felt his neck aching terribly and reached up to press it: “Find a way to gather information. Right now, because I was poisoned, martial law is in effect—perhaps news from outside the city can’t get in. Find another way to have someone investigate and see whether anything actually happened at Qingxu Temple.”
Empress Lu couldn’t listen anymore. She averted her gaze but happened to meet Song Chuyi’s eyes. The corners of Song Chuyi’s mouth curved slightly upward, her bloodshot eyes clearly full of mocking and contemptuous laughter.
Empress Lu didn’t know exactly why she had fallen to her current state. Her skirt stirred slightly as she took two steps forward, but then stopped.
The Crown Prince’s voice came through the screen clearly and cruelly into everyone’s ears: “Be quick!” He coughed several times, intermittently continuing: “Lai Chenglong has already started investigating—you must be quick!”
Why the urgency—everyone present understood perfectly. Princess Rongcheng turned her head away.
Empress Lu finally moved. She led Princess Rongcheng into the inner hall and sat beside the Crown Prince. She first glanced at Zhende, then turned to look at the Crown Prince: “Why summon Minister Zhen as soon as you wake? What matter is so urgent?”
The Crown Prince gave him a look, his face pale as he spoke evasively: “Just a small matter.”
Empress Lu made a sound of acknowledgment, lowering her head to arrange the silk cord hanging from her waist. Her voice rose faintly: “Miss Song the Sixth left the city to perform a ritual at Qingxu Temple and unfortunately encountered assassins.” She watched as the Crown Prince suddenly raised his head, seemingly patting her chest with lingering fear: “Fortunately Weizhao arrived in time, and nothing happened. They even captured several living witnesses. The matter has caused quite a commotion—many people died at the temple. I’m afraid it can’t be separated from your poisoning incident. Perhaps it was done by the same person…”
“No!” The Crown Prince struggled to sit up. He looked at Empress Lu, the golden crown on his head trembling precariously. He had sat up too hastily, having just awakened from unconsciousness. His vision went black and he nearly fainted again. With difficulty steadying his mind, he leaned against the soft pillow, all color drained from his face, gasping for breath: “Mother Empress, you cannot have people investigate!”
Empress Lu raised her eyebrows at him without saying a word.
The Crown Prince’s expression was pained, as if he had struggled for a long while before lowering his head to look at the cold floor tiles. He paused before speaking: “Mother Empress, I’m afraid this was all Weizhao’s doing…” His face showed grief, his voice gradually lowering: “Yesterday I ate a ginseng that Weizhao presented, and that’s how I was poisoned…”
He raised his head and saw Empress Lu hadn’t even moved an eyebrow. He couldn’t help but feel uncertain—why was Empress Lu so calm? He anxiously flexed his fingers. This wasn’t normal…