Jirong had no objections to this outcome. In fact, within the Great Tang, there truly was no one more suitable than Li Shimin. While massaging Li Jiancheng’s shoulders, she said, “Three hundred thousand troops, plus the Prince of Qin—it seems Father Emperor has made the decision to make Western Qin disappear.”

Li Jiancheng set down his untouched cup of tea heavily on the small table, saying coldly, “If this battle is won, who knows how arrogant and presumptuous the Prince of Qin’s residence will become.”

Jirong remained silent for a moment, then suddenly said, “In my opinion, it would be good if they truly became arrogant and presumptuous.”

“What do you mean by that?” Li Jiancheng knew that Jirong was not one to speak carelessly. Since she had said this, there must be some purpose behind it.

Jirong spoke softly, “The more merits the Prince of Qin establishes, the more his subordinate generals and soldiers will feel he has been wronged, believing that he should be the one residing in the Eastern Palace, becoming the Great Tang’s heir apparent.”

Upon hearing this, Li Jiancheng immediately showed displeasure, saying, “He is merely the second son, and has committed great wrongs before. What qualifications does he have to be heir apparent?”

Jirong smiled and said, “Your Highness speaks correctly. So as long as even the slightest word of such talk reaches Father Emperor’s ears, it will arouse his suspicion and displeasure, making him think that the Prince of Qin covets the Eastern Palace position, or even… the imperial throne!”

Li Jiancheng pondered this carefully for a long while, then his anger turned to joy as he clapped his hands approvingly, “Excellent, excellent! The more merits Shimin establishes, the more Father Emperor will suspect him. Great merit that threatens the master!”

“Your Highness is wise. Rather than us taking risks to eliminate the Prince of Qin ourselves, it would be better to use His Majesty’s hand to eliminate him openly and legitimately.”

“Excellent, excellent.” Li Jiancheng nodded repeatedly, then grasped Jirong’s delicate hand, examining her up and down carefully. She was confused by his stare and asked puzzledly, “Why is Your Highness looking at me like this?”

Li Jiancheng said with a half-smile, “I’m thinking, you’re clearly just a woman, so how can you have so many schemes that even I feel ashamed in comparison.”

Jirong understood his meaning and said coquettishly, “Good! Your Highness is criticizing me for having too many schemes in a roundabout way.”

Li Jiancheng drew her slender waist close, laughing, “Over these years, you’ve constantly given me counsel and strategies, helping me so much. I cherish you dearly—how could I bear to criticize you?”

After this playful exchange, Jirong said softly, “How goes the investigation into the Gaoqi matter?”

Li Jiancheng’s expression turned cold. “Gaoqi’s appointment as imperial physician was indeed recommended by the Zheng family. Though he’s been an imperial physician for less than a year, he’s already purchased a residence in the city with all necessary furnishings, and hired several servants to attend him in the house. All this would be absolutely impossible with just his imperial physician’s salary.”

“Furthermore, I investigated the residence he bought. It originally belonged to the Zheng family. Though not large, it’s located in a prosperous area and worth at least a thousand strings of cash. Yet the price Gaoqi paid was merely one hundred strings.”

“One hundred strings?” Jirong asked in surprise. “That’s almost like giving him the house for free.”

Li Jiancheng said coldly, “Exactly. Apart from bribery and winning him over, I can think of no other reason for the Zheng family to do this.” Before he finished speaking, he had already slammed his palm heavily on the armrest. “This Zheng woman—she previously targeted you several times and harmed Chengzong. I had already forgiven her out of consideration for our husband-wife relationship. Not only has she not restrained herself, she’s done such things.” Having said this, he patted Jirong’s hand. “Rest assured, this time I will not forgive her!”

“Thank you, Your Highness.” Jirong was secretly delighted. Though she had been spared in the previous Li Chengzong incident due to lack of evidence, Li Jiancheng had still harbored some suspicions. Now with the additional matter of bribing Gaoqi to deceive her about the false pregnancy, perhaps… the Zheng woman would find it difficult to maintain her position as primary consort.

“What about you? Have you found who administered the drug?” Faced with Li Jiancheng’s question, Jirong shook her head heavily, “I’ve investigated very carefully, but still haven’t discovered anything.”

During these days, she had strictly investigated all those around her, but still hadn’t found who administered the drug, nor even where the drug was administered. The only thing she knew was that the drug continued to be administered, because her pulse remained that of pregnancy without recovery.

Every time she thought of this, she felt restless. If… the other party had administered not this mild drug, but poison deadly enough to kill, she would have died countless times by now.

Li Jiancheng was also very surprised. “Not a single clue?”

“None.” After a moment of silence, Li Jiancheng said, “Could it be in the fetal protection medicine?”

“Both Physician Zhou and I have examined the fetal protection medicine—there’s nothing abnormal about it. Moreover, I stopped taking the fetal protection medicine long ago. If it were truly related to that, how could the pulse remain unchanged?”

“That’s true.” Li Jiancheng pondered for a long time but couldn’t figure out where the drug was administered. He said coldly, “Since we can’t figure it out, let’s ask someone who knows.” Before Jirong could understand, he had already called out, “Someone come! Summon Gaoqi!”

Following Li Jiancheng’s command, a eunuch quickly went to the Imperial Medical Institute to summon Gaoqi. Meanwhile, Jirong sent someone to fetch Zhou Quan.

After about half an hour, both Gaoqi and Zhou Quan arrived as summoned. After paying their respects, Gaoqi said respectfully, “I wonder why Your Highness suddenly summoned this humble official here. What are your instructions?”

Li Jiancheng stared at him and deliberately said, “Consort Ji has been pregnant for three or four months now. Why does her abdomen still look the same as usual, showing no enlargement? Is there something wrong with the fetus?”

Gaoqi cupped his hands and said, “Your Highness, please rest assured. Consort Ji’s fetal qi is stable with no problems. As for the abdomen…” He secretly glanced at Jirong’s still flat abdomen and said, “Some pregnant women show early, others hide it. Those who show early display obvious signs in just two months, while those who hide it often don’t show obvious traces until after four months. Consort Ji should be the latter type.”

“Hiding it…” Li Jiancheng sneered. “Gaoqi, you’re quite composed in crisis, able to fabricate lies at will.”

Gaoqi was startled by his words and asked uncomprehendingly, “What does Your Highness mean by this?”

Li Jiancheng’s face turned cold as he snorted, “Even now, you still won’t tell the truth?”

Seeing his stern expression, Gaoqi panicked and hurriedly said, “This humble official truly doesn’t understand Your Highness’s meaning. Please clarify.”

Jirong stepped forward and said, “Imperial Physician Gao, I’m not pregnant at all, am I?”

Gaoqi’s face turned pale with shock as he stared at her. “Your Ladyship’s pregnancy is absolutely true. Why do you say such words?”

Jirong turned her gaze to Zhou Quan nearby, who understood and said to Gaoqi, “I have taken Her Ladyship’s pulse. On the surface, it indeed appears to be a pregnancy pulse, but every so often, the pulse becomes steady and slow—a condition that absolutely cannot occur in pregnant women. Furthermore, Her Ladyship’s abdomen is hard with softness, showing there is no fetus within. As an imperial physician, don’t you know even this?”

“I…” Gaoqi had never pressed Jirong’s abdomen, so how could he answer? After a long while, he said, “Consort Ji’s pulse is fast and slippery, which must indicate pregnancy.”