Yunyi dared not say much, only saying, “Please forgive me, Your Majesty. Your subject will certainly discipline her properly in the future.”

“I’m afraid you have the heart but lack the ability.” Saying this, Li Yuan’s eyes turned fierce, and he said to the eunuch beside him, “Gaoyang, drag this maid away and give her fifty strokes of the rod!”

Fifty strokes of the rod was equivalent to taking half of Jixiang’s life. How could Yunyi agree? She quickly knelt down and said, “Please, Your Majesty, considering this is Jixiang’s first offense, spare her this once.”

To her plea, Li Yuan only said three words: “Drag her away!”

Seeing Jixiang being forcibly dragged out by the eunuch, Yunyi was both anxious and panicked, saying again, “Your Majesty…”

“Enough!” Li Yuan interrupted her words and again said to Gaoyang beside him, “Go summon Imperial Physician Li.”

“Yes.” Gaoyang responded, and as he was about to leave, Li Yuan called him back, “Actually, summon all the imperial physicians currently in the Imperial Medical Bureau.”

Everyone understood in their hearts that he wanted the imperial physicians to examine Xing Niang’s pulse to determine whether her claim of being forced to take poison was true or false. Although Imperial Physician Li had a high reputation and excellent medical skills, he had many dealings with the Prince of Qin’s residence, and these dealings made Li Yuan unable to trust him completely.

The imperial physicians arrived quickly. Including Imperial Physician Li, four imperial physicians came in total. After each examining Xing Niang’s pulse, their statements were consistent—they all said Xing Niang had been poisoned with a slow-acting toxin that would cause no harm in the short term, but if she continued without taking the antidote, the poison would eventually take effect.

After the imperial physicians withdrew, Yunyi steadied herself and stared at Xing Niang, who had pushed them into this dangerous situation, saying, “You say I fed you poison, so you should have answered His Majesty according to what I taught you. Why didn’t you? Have you suddenly become unafraid of death?”

Xing Niang lowered her head and said, “Even ants cling to life, so how could this servant not fear death? But if this servant had spoken according to what you and Marquis Lin instructed today, the Crown Prince and the two noble ladies would have suffered because of this servant. This servant truly couldn’t bear it.” She wiped away tears and continued, “This servant thought all night yesterday. Yes, this servant is merely a courtesan, and in the eyes of Your Ladyship and so many noble persons, my status is as lowly as can be. But this servant also knows right from wrong, black from white, especially… especially after seeing His Highness the Crown Prince.” Speaking thus, she raised her head and looked at Li Jiancheng, “Your Highness, do you still remember this servant?”

Li Jiancheng looked bewildered and said, “What do you mean? Have we met before?”

Xing Niang smiled bitterly, “Your Highness is a noble person with many affairs, so naturally you don’t remember. But this servant has never forgotten Your Highness’s kindness.” After a pause, she said, “Several years ago, when His Majesty had just arrived in Chang’an, there was chaos everywhere with wars raging and people in panic. Chang’an City was in great disorder. Someone took advantage of this servant’s unpreparedness to rob me with a knife and wanted to kill this servant. Fortunately, Your Highness passed by and saved this servant. The robber even shouted arrogantly that this servant was a brothel madam engaged in the flesh trade and wasn’t worth saving. But Your Highness said that regardless of what this servant did, he had no right to kill.”

Li Jiancheng pondered for a long while, then showed a look of realization, “Now that you mention it, I do remember. Yes, there was indeed such an incident.”

“Although several years have passed, this servant has never forgotten Your Highness’s kindness. Your Highness is a truly good person who helped this servant. How could this servant repay kindness with enmity? So even if it means death, this servant must speak the truth.”

Li Jiancheng said gratefully, “Ah, you’ve truly suffered.” Saying this, he addressed the imperial physicians still in the hall, “Is there a way to neutralize the poison in her body?”

One of the imperial physicians said, “Reporting to Your Highness the Crown Prince, although this woman has been poisoned with a lethal toxin, fortunately there are still several days, so we can consider the medication carefully. Therefore, it should be no major problem.”

“That’s good.” As Li Jiancheng breathed a sigh of relief, Li Yuanji, who had not spoken until now, suddenly knelt before Li Yuan and said loudly, “Father Emperor, Marquis Lin and Imperial Consort Yang conspired to frame elder brother and the favored consorts by Father Emperor’s side. It’s truly detestable. If not for the good karma elder brother planted in the past, he would have been harmed by them by now. Please seek justice for elder brother, Father Emperor.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Madam Yin and the other also knelt down, crying, “Please seek justice for your subjects, Your Majesty!”

Before Li Yuan could speak, Marquis Lin hastily knelt down and said, “Your Majesty, this is unjust! This subject did indeed discover that Talented Lady Yin and Precious Lady Zhang were of courtesan origins, not as Xing Niang claims. Please investigate clearly, Your Majesty!”

Li Yuan laughed angrily, laughing while walking to stand before him. Before Marquis Lin could react, Li Yuan had already kicked him heavily, saying hatefully, “You do such things yet still have the face to ask me to investigate clearly. Lin Qifeng, your face is truly thick!”

“Your Majesty, this is unjust!” Seeing her brother being punished by Li Yuan, Madam Lin quickly knelt down and said, “Brother’s words are all true, without a single falsehood to Your Majesty. On the contrary, it’s this Xing Niang who…”

“What about her?” Li Yuan said expressionlessly, “Are all her words false, all framing you? Then what about the poison in her body? Is that also false, or are you saying all these imperial physicians are helping her lie? What benefit would that bring them?”

“She… she…” Madam Lin was momentarily rendered speechless by Li Yuan’s questions. After a long while, she said, “Yes, your subject did have brother investigate the backgrounds of Talented Lady Yin and Precious Lady Zhang. When the Crown Prince presented them to Your Majesty, he said they were orphans. But doesn’t Your Majesty find it strange? How could two orphan girls of common birth know so much—music, chess, calligraphy, and painting—excelling in all without exception, even surpassing many noble ladies from distinguished families? All these unusual things made your subject suspicious of them. In this world, besides those from great households and common people, there’s another type of person—courtesans. To keep clients, they learn music and poetry. When they encounter those with good natural talent, the madams will spend great money to cultivate them, hoping they’ll become the top courtesans in the future to earn money.”

“But courtesans have lowly status. How can they accompany His Sacred Majesty, let alone bear imperial sons? So your subject asked brother to investigate, and finally discovered their identities at Xinghua Brothel. At that time, Xing Niang insisted that Talented Lady Yin and the others were the two bought by a noble gentleman surnamed Li over half a year ago.”

“To maintain order in the harem, your subject had brother bring her into the palace to present before Your Majesty. Who knew she was instigated by others to say such slanderous words against your subject and others? Jixiang was absolutely right when she said her intentions were malicious.”

Madam Yin said indignantly, “Your subject has already told Your Ladyship that all this was taught by your subject’s mother. Your subject’s maternal family was of noble birth, but because she fell in love with father, who was merely a small merchant, she was expelled from the family and fell into poverty. As for Sister Zhang, she lived in the same village as my family and had an excellent relationship with us, so mother also taught her some things. Imperial Consort Yang also heard these words. Why won’t you believe them?”