“Yes.” After Li Yuan and the others departed, Li Jiancheng immediately summoned several palace servants waiting outside and inquired about Little Six. However, these palace servants all unanimously claimed they knew no such person.
At this moment, Duan Zhihong and Zhao Jin also hurried in. Upon awakening, they had found themselves locked in an empty room. Recalling the events of the previous night and fearing Li Shimin might be in danger, they rushed over to check, but unfortunately were still a step too late.
Duan Zhihong’s account was identical to Li Shimin’s—both said they had followed a palace servant named Little Six into the palace, then were ambushed and lost consciousness.
Seeing that no useful clues could be extracted despite continued questioning, Li Jiancheng’s brows furrowed into a deep crease. After pondering for a moment, he asked Li Shimin: “Do you still remember that Little Six’s appearance?”
Li Shimin carefully recalled, saying: “I remember about seventy or eighty percent.”
“Good.” Li Jiancheng ordered someone to bring brush and ink. After personally grinding the ink, he took the brush and handed it to Li Shimin: “This person deliberately lured you into the palace—he certainly wouldn’t use his real name, but his appearance cannot be changed. Quickly draw his likeness. Even if he crawls into a crack in the ground, I will drag him out!”
Li Shimin accepted the brush gratefully: “Thank you, Elder Brother!”
“Why speak such formal words? Right now, the most important thing is to catch Little Six and whoever killed His Majesty, to clear your name and Princess Jinyang’s.” As he spoke, he urged: “Hurry and draw—don’t wait until you forget.”
Li Shimin nodded and began sketching from memory on paper. For convenience in questioning, he drew three copies. Li Jiancheng took them and handed the portraits along with his own token to Duan Zhihong and his companion, instructing them to take these to the Palace Supervisor, who would mobilize all the eunuchs and palace maids in the palace for one-by-one comparison, determined to find this person.
After they left, Li Jiancheng saw Li Shimin’s worried expression and patted his shoulder: “Don’t worry. With Elder Brother here, I certainly won’t let anything happen to you.” After a pause, he continued: “Speaking of which, think carefully—who might want to harm you and the Princess?”
Li Shimin shook his head: “I’ve been thinking about this question since earlier, but I truly can’t think of who would hate us enough to kill His Majesty to frame us!”
Ruyi tentatively suggested: “Could it be Princess Xin’an? As soon as she entered, she determined that the Princess and Second Young Master were the murderers, repeatedly demanding the Prince of Tang seek justice for His Majesty. Perhaps she’s simply crying ‘thief’ to catch the thief.”
Upon hearing this, Jixiang hurriedly agreed: “Yes, yes, yes, it must be her! Ever since the Princess was granted marriage to Second Young Master, she’s been very displeased, coming to trouble the Princess every few days. She’s also been quite critical of His Majesty regarding the reduction of Shuangyue Hall’s expenses. Now that the Princess and Second Young Master’s wedding is imminent, she’s even more dissatisfied, so she simply went all out and set up such a scheme.”
After listening carefully, Li Jiancheng shook his head: “Dissatisfaction there may be, but to say Princess Xin’an would go through such elaborate trouble to set up such a grand scheme, even killing His Majesty, just to vent her anger—I find that unlikely.”
Jixiang was quite displeased with his words: “How is it unlikely? She has a viper’s heart—what wouldn’t she do? And moreover…” She wanted to mention how Yunyi had once wanted to quietly send Xin’an away from Chang’an, but feeling this inappropriate, she quickly stopped herself.
Yunyi looked up: “Though Xin’an hates me, she lacks the meticulous mind to arrange all this, so… it probably isn’t her.”
“But besides her, who else could it be?” No one answered Jixiang’s question, because they themselves didn’t know the answer.
After waiting a full two hours, they finally saw Li Yuan and Xin’an return, accompanied by the palace physicians. As soon as they entered the hall, Li Jiancheng hurried forward: “Father, how did it go? Did you find anything unusual in the leftover food?” His manner seemed even more anxious than Li Shimin’s.
“Nothing!” Li Yuan’s words were like cold water poured over their heads, leaving Yunyi chilled to the bone. Ruyi said in disbelief: “This servant and the Princess both collapsed after having our evening meal—there’s no way those meals were fine.” She rushed to the physicians, asking urgently: “Did you truly examine everything thoroughly? Might you have missed something?”
Xin’an stared at her with disgust: “The physicians examined all the food left from last night—there was no such sleeping drug you spoke of. Jinyang, what more do you have to say!”
“Impossible, it can’t be that there was nothing.” Jixiang said incredulously. The next moment, she gripped one of the physicians’ hands tightly: “Were you bought off to conspire against the Princess?”
The physician, pained by her grip and unable to break free, could only endure it: “How would I dare harm the Princess? I examined every single item—there truly was nothing!”
“There can’t be nothing—there must be something. Go examine again.” Jixiang tried to drag the physician back to the Imperial Kitchen. This was currently the only evidence that could indirectly prove the Princess hadn’t killed His Majesty—it absolutely couldn’t be absent.
“Stop!” Xin’an shouted sternly at Jixiang, saying coldly: “No matter how many times you examine, the result will be the same—you people killed His Majesty!”
Upon hearing this, Ruyi frantically kowtowed to Li Yuan: “Prince of Tang, please believe us—His Majesty truly wasn’t killed by the Princess, nor by Second Young Master. Someone is trying to frame us.”
“Frame?” Xin’an laughed shrilly: “Why don’t I see anyone framing me? You have the courage to kill His Majesty but lack the courage to admit it?”
She then addressed Li Yuan: “Prince of Tang, now everything is clear. May you give the order?”
Li Jiancheng quickly interjected: “Please wait a moment longer, Princess.”
Xin’an stared at him for a moment, saying coldly: “What? Does the Crown Prince wish to show favoritism?”
“No.” Li Jiancheng said: “Shimin mentioned he was led into the palace by a palace servant named Little Six. I’ve had Shimin draw his portrait and am searching for him in the palace. Let’s wait until we find this person before proceeding.”
Xin’an sneered: “What if this person cannot be found? Will this matter remain suspended indefinitely without resolution? Ha, the Crown Prince certainly has calculated well!”
Li Jiancheng said solemnly: “I’m not calculating anything—I only hope to investigate the cause and effect of this matter thoroughly, neither wrongly executing the innocent nor wrongly releasing the guilty!”
Xin’an said with a face full of sarcasm: “Second Young Master speaks so well, but unfortunately, no matter what you do, you cannot conceal the fact that Li Shimin and his cohorts killed His Majesty!”
Just as they were at an impasse, Duan Zhihong and his companion entered. Seeing them, Li Jiancheng hurried forward: “Did you find him?”
Duan Zhihong shook his head helplessly: “We compared all the eunuchs—not one matched the portrait!”
The color drained from Li Jiancheng’s face the instant he heard these words, becoming as pale as white paper blown to the ground by wind. He staggered back several steps, his thin lips opening and closing without producing any sound.