The angle was wrong — she could not make out the situation on the bed.
Jiu’er raised her gaze, confirmed no sunlight would appear anytime soon, then once more carefully lifted a second roof tile.
Still impossible to see the situation on the bed clearly. However, the clothing of the person seated at the bedside — that she could make out.
Someone this noble, and seated upon the bed — who else could it be but the Crown Prince? Zhan Yuheng had truly regained consciousness.
There was one other presence that also caught Jiu’er off guard: Qing Yun!
He stood not far from the bedside, just as before, keeping watch over Zhan Yuheng.
Even Qing Yun had been released from prison. By all appearances, Zhan Yuheng was now at least conscious, able to make decisions, and capable of speech.
Jiu’er let out a quiet breath of relief. She had been somewhat on edge coming here, unsure of how the imperial physicians had ultimately drawn out the poison, and afraid that things had not gone well — that the Crown Prince might still not have regained consciousness even now.
Inside the room, Noble Consort Jing was kneeling, yet she knelt with absolute composure and perfect uprightness.
She had just come to kneel before Zhan Yuheng? Although the Crown Prince held an exalted status, kneeling so formally before someone of a younger generation still seemed somewhat contrary to propriety.
After all, she was truly kneeling — not merely inclining herself briefly in courtesy.
Qing Yun looked at Noble Consort Jing, his expression impassive. “You said — the poison was administered by you?”
“It was.” Noble Consort Jing met both their gazes coldly. Her complexion was pale, and though she was in the act of confessing, there was not the slightest trace of fear or remorse about her.
Zhan Yuheng’s complexion was still very pale. Having escaped death by the narrowest margin, his breathing had not yet recovered even now.
Though he was able to speak, his voice was so faint it could barely be heard. Had the hearing of the two on the rooftop not been exceptional, what he was saying just then might truly have been impossible to catch.
“This palace does not recall ever having offended you. My regard for the Seventh Imperial Sister may not have been particularly warm, and we may not have been especially close — but neither do I recall ever having treated the Seventh Imperial Sister poorly.”
“So first there was the Seventh Imperial Sister coming forward to admit to poisoning this palace, and now you have come to confess in her stead. Noble Consort Jing, can you give this palace an answer — why do you bear such deep hatred for this palace? So deep that you would stop at nothing short of this palace’s death?”
Noble Consort Jing offered not a single word of explanation. She merely knelt upon the ground and said, in a voice of utter indifference: “It was indeed I who administered the poison. It has nothing to do with Ri’er. She only guessed that it was my doing — and to protect me, she came forward and confessed on her own.”
“Now Ri’er is confined in the dungeons of the Jiantian Bureau, her life and death uncertain. Yet she is truly innocent. Your Highness the Crown Prince — please show mercy and release Ri’er. From childhood to now, she has never harbored enmity toward anyone, nor has she ever done anything wicked or harmful.”
So the Seventh Princess had confessed, and was now being held in the dungeons?
But she had only come to rescue Feng Jiu’er. Why would she confess?
Just as Zhan Yuheng had said — he and the Seventh Princess had no grudge and no grievance between them. Why would the Seventh Princess poison him? It made no sense at all.
What was more, no matter how one looked at the Seventh Princess, she was thoroughly upright and principled — not the sort of person who would administer poison in the least.
“Then, Noble Consort Jing — you are absolutely set on refusing to tell this palace your reason for administering the poison?”
Zhan Yuheng gave a light cough. From the sound of his coughing alone, it was plain enough that his body was still very weak — in all likelihood, even getting out of bed and walking was not easy for him.
Noble Consort Jing said nothing, continuing to kneel with perfect uprightness. This was very different from the Noble Consort Jing that Feng Jiu’er had seen at the academy before.
The Noble Consort Jing before her now was calm, proud, and unyielding — like a winter plum in full bloom. Even the frost and weathering of the years could not conceal the cold, unyielding beauty of her bearing.
“Noble Consort Jing, this palace has no great feelings of animosity toward you. Even though you confess to having poisoned this palace, this palace does not truly feel that there is so much hatred between us — enough for you to be so ruthless.”
Zhan Yuheng’s words caused Noble Consort Jing’s eyes to grow heavier and more guarded.
She clenched her palms. In truth, her inner defenses had already begun, by just a little, to crumble. Though she gave no outward sign of it, even Feng Jiu’er, hiding on the rooftop, could sense that her emotions were being forcibly suppressed.
She appeared calm on the surface, yet beneath that calm, the agitation she was holding back had already neared the point of bursting.
“Noble Consort Jing — was the poison truly administered by you?”
“It was.”
“Walk me through it.”
“That day, when Qing Yun came to deliver the medicine — did he happen to see someone fall into the lake?”
The moment Qing Yun heard this, a sudden wave of remorse washed over him. He said in a low voice: “Your Highness, the fault was mine. I was far too careless.”
“No — you were not careless. That day, circumstances simply conspired unexpectedly.”
Noble Consort Jing said this clearly to avoid implicating Qing Yun: “That too was something I had not anticipated. I had genuinely intended to administer the poison — I had been plotting it for a long time. But that day, the timing, the place, and the opportunity all aligned perfectly.”
“His Highness the Crown Prince had been attacked and wounded. Qing Yun was at the lakeside helping to rescue someone — and I happened to be passing by.”
“So you had been carrying that poison on your person all along, prepared at any moment to harm this palace?”
Zhan Yuheng coughed again — he seemed to have grown slightly agitated.
To know that someone was wholeheartedly and single-mindedly bent on killing you — it was not difficult to imagine what that felt like.
Noble Consort Jing did not hesitate for even a moment, and replied with perfect composure: “Yes.”
“Why!”
Still she said nothing. Zhan Yuheng took a deep breath, and with great effort steadied his breathing.
His brow furrowed sharply, and a thread of displeasure gradually crept into his voice: “If you will not speak, then do not blame this palace for ordering punishment to be carried out upon the Seventh Princess!”
“This matter has nothing to do with Ri’er!” Of all the things in Noble Consort Jing’s life, the only one she truly cared for was this child.
Her usual composure — upon hearing Zhan Yuheng utter the word “punishment” — had begun to slip from her grasp.
“If you will not speak of the reason, this palace will have no choice but to go to the Seventh Imperial Sister. And if the Seventh Imperial Sister also refuses to speak — then punishment, I’m afraid, will be unavoidable.”
“She is your Seventh Imperial Sister — how can you bear to have her put under the rod?”
Noble Consort Jing’s fingers curled tightly, her sharp nails digging almost into her own palms.
“Since you know that this palace is her Imperial Elder Brother — how could you bear, then, to poison this palace?”
“I…”
Noble Consort Jing seemed about to say something more when, from outside, the voice of a young eunuch suddenly rang out: “Her Majesty the Empress has arrived!”
The Empress!
At those two words, Noble Consort Jing’s body went rigid all at once. And beyond the hatred, Feng Jiu’er noticed something else — her body had begun to tremble, ever so slightly.
It was fear. Yes — that was the feeling of fear.
So the one Noble Consort Jing despised was the Empress. Yet at the same time, she was also deeply afraid of the Empress.
Nanmeng Rong swept in with stormy urgency. The ruined face beneath was now hidden behind a veil, yet even so, the scars upon her face could not be concealed.
“Noble Consort Jing — what are you doing here? If you have anything to say, come find this palace!” The moment the Empress entered, she went directly to Noble Consort Jing and delivered a kick. “You’ve come to confess? You’re the one who administered the poison?”
Noble Consort Jing had no time to dodge. She was sent stumbling to the ground by the kick. What struck Jiu’er as strange was that although the kick had looked fierce, the force behind it was pitifully weak.
Noble Consort Jing had merely been knocked into a forward tumble. Yet as for the Empress herself — she had gasped from the effort of delivering that single kick, and could not catch her breath. She… began to spit blood.