Li Shimin noticed her change in expression and was about to speak when he suddenly caught a whiff of an unusual scent coming from Zhang Chenyue’s direction. He stepped forward and sniffed carefully, saying: “If you didn’t take anything, why do you have the smell of medicine on you?”

“I…” Zhang Chenyue stammered, unable to answer. Li Xuanba stepped forward and said: “I don’t care whether you stole any medicine formula or not. I only ask you: did you or did you not poison elder brother’s medicine?”

“No!” Zhang Chenyue quickly waved her hands: “I never poisoned anything, and besides… I have no reason to harm the eldest young master.”

Li Jiancheng suddenly said: “Has her room been searched?”

Wang Fu bowed and said: “No, but this servant took a general look and found quite a few medicinal materials in her room. This servant has seen several of them at Miss Ji’s place.”

Hearing this, Zhang Chenyue’s expression panicked, and she unconsciously stepped back. She secretly lifted her head and found Li Jiancheng staring at her, the coldness in his eyes making her hurriedly lower her head. She said helplessly: “Yes, I did steal her medicine formula, but I also received punishment. That poison truly wasn’t something I administered. It has nothing to do with me.”

“If it wasn’t you, could it have been me?” As she spoke, Jirong knelt down with tears streaming: “If this servant did all this truly just to harm the eldest young master, I could have simply made any random medicine and deceived the eldest young master by saying it was tendon-healing powder. Why would I need to wait so many days? Why would I need to work day and night, exhausting myself until I looked neither human nor ghost? Why would I need to test the medicine on myself? Moreover, if this servant truly harbored malicious intentions, I would have fled long before the incident occurred. How could I still remain in the residence? Did I not want to live?”

Her words made Li Jiancheng fall silent. Indeed, if she wanted to harm him, Jirong could have acted much earlier. The tendon-healing powder was a secret formula of the Ji family that Physician Xu couldn’t verify as genuine or fake. As for doing all this to gain his trust, that seemed somewhat far-fetched. His foot ailment was his heart’s disease—even if there was only a slim hope, he would try it.

If she had acted earlier, with Xia Houduan absent and Zhiyun not yet returned, he would have surely died. Could it be… that it truly wasn’t her?

Seeing that she had moved his thoughts, Jirong continued: “Shen Yunyi has always been close with Wu Meixue, repeatedly targeting this servant and Chunxiu. How could this servant possibly be her accomplice?”

Zhang Chenyue quickly said: “I’m not familiar with Shen Yunyi either. I’m not an accomplice.”

Li Xuanba said irritably: “In my opinion, throw both of them in the dungeon and let the dungeon interrogators question them. I don’t believe we can’t get the truth out of them.”

Li Shimin frowned tightly. Both sides claimed innocence, and for the moment he couldn’t distinguish truth from falsehood, though relatively speaking, Zhang Chenyue seemed more suspicious.

Jirong suddenly said: “This servant doesn’t mind going to the dungeon, but the eldest young master’s foot ailment is at a critical juncture. If we stop the medication now, it will cause irreversible damage. Even if there’s medicine better than tendon-healing powder in the future, it won’t be able to cure the eldest young master’s foot ailment!”

Li Jiancheng stared at her and said coldly: “Are you threatening me?”

“This servant wouldn’t dare. This servant is only worried for the eldest young master.” Speaking thus, she said earnestly: “Please believe this servant once, eldest young master. Let this servant heal your foot ailment. After you’re cured, this servant will submit to whatever punishment you decree.”

“Elder brother…” Li Shimin had only said two words when Li Jiancheng raised his hand: “I have my own judgment.” After thinking for a moment, he said: “Physician Xu, is what she said true?”

Physician Xu said with some difficulty: “This… it’s not completely impossible to cure, but it would indeed be more difficult than now.”

Li Jiancheng took a light breath and said coldly: “Wang Fu, take Zhang Chenyue to the dungeon for severe interrogation!”

Zhang Chenyue was thunderstruck, her whole body rigid. Only when the servants came to drag her away did she come to her senses, struggling in panic: “No, I don’t want to go to the dungeon! Eldest young master, I have medicine formulas too. I can also treat you.”

No one paid attention to her words, and she was quickly dragged out of Qingchun Garden. Li Shimin already understood Li Jiancheng’s thoughts and frowned: “Elder brother, wouldn’t this be too risky?”

Li Jiancheng ignored his words and stared at Jirong: “From today on, all medicinal materials will be sent to Qingchun Garden. You will prepare the medicine here. I’ll have Wang Fu and Physician Xu watch from the side. If you dare make any improper moves again, I’ll kill you immediately!” He ultimately still didn’t want to walk with a limp for the rest of his life, so even knowing Jirong was suspicious, he decided to take this risk.

Jirong repeatedly kowtowed: “Thank you for sparing this servant’s life, eldest young master. This servant will definitely not disappoint you and will definitely cure your foot ailment.”

“It better be so.” Li Jiancheng said coldly, then: “Wang Fu, take her to the west wing room and have someone watch her without leaving for a moment.”

After Wang Fu took Jirong away, Li Xuanba, who had been holding back for a long time, immediately said: “Elder brother, how can you keep her in Qingchun Garden? What if she really is an assassin? What then?”

“I’ll have Feng Li strengthen Qingchun Garden’s security. You needn’t worry.” Before Li Jiancheng finished speaking, Li Xuanba said: “How can I not worry? You just barely saved your life. How can you take such risks again? If father knew, he definitely wouldn’t agree either.”

Li Shimin also said: “Elder brother, third brother makes sense. It would be safer to put Jirong in the dungeon. As for your foot ailment, I heard there’s a famous doctor on the west side of the city who’s very skilled with bone injuries. Why don’t we invite him to take a look? Perhaps…”

“Shimin, since I haven’t been able to walk like a normal person, how many famous doctors have I sought? Father even invited imperial physicians from the palace. And the result?” Without waiting for Li Shimin to answer, he shook his head: “Nothing. Not the slightest use. I still have to walk with a limp, still have to endure others’ strange looks. You all heard what Physician Xu said just now—this is my last chance!”

Li Xuanba said urgently: “No, Physician Xu said elder brother’s foot ailment might still be curable in the future.”

Li Jiancheng said indifferently: “Then tell me, how many years must I wait for this ‘possibility’? Five years, ten years? Or twenty years, thirty years?”

“I…” Li Xuanba was rendered speechless by his question. After a long while, he said: “But what if…”

“There is no ‘what if.’ I’ll have people watch her carefully and not give her any chance to use tricks.” Li Jiancheng touched his still-swollen left leg and murmured: “I must cure this leg, I must!”

Li Xuanba was about to say more when Li Shimin pressed his shoulder and said softly: “Let’s do as elder brother wishes. With Feng Li and the others watching, I believe nothing will happen.”

Seeing that he also said this, Li Xuanba could only nod helplessly and said in a muffled voice: “Then elder brother, rest well. We’ll come see you again tomorrow. If anything happens, just have Wang Fu call us.”