“Hurry up and open the door, won’t you?” Ah Biao glared at Ah Yang.

Only then did Ah Yang react, immediately swinging open the prison cell door.

Seeing Feng Jiu’er return, Zhan Luoyi narrowed her eyes slightly. Before she could say anything, Jiu’er had already spoken: “I went to see His Highness the Crown Prince. He’s awake now, and he’s proven my innocence to His Majesty.”

There was nothing unusual in her eyes as she watched her come in; she even crouched down in front of her, wanting to undo her shackles.

With a sweep of her large palm, Zhan Luoyi pushed her hand away, her gaze darkening slightly. “What are you here for?”

“His Majesty has pardoned you. Now, I’m here to take you out.”

She was innocent? If she was innocent, then could it be that her consort mother…

Anxiety welled up in Zhan Luoyi’s heart, but Feng Jiu’er only smiled faintly. “Don’t worry. I’ve gotten to the bottom of it — the real culprit was a green-leafed snow lotus growing in the Crown Prince’s chambers.”

“What do you mean?” What green-leafed snow lotus? Zhan Luoyi didn’t understand.

Feng Jiu’er explained clearly. “Actually, there was nothing wrong with the medicine, and nothing wrong with any person either. No one poisoned His Highness at all.”

“It’s only that there happened to be a rather special green-leafed snow lotus in His Highness’s room, and since he liked the flower so much, he plucked a bloom and set it by his bedside.”

“When he drank his medicine, some of the flower’s pollen had gotten on his hands, and it accidentally fell into the medicine.”

“And in the prescription I wrote, there was a top-grade lotus seed. That lotus seed and the green-leafed snow lotus counteract each other — mixed together, they produce a deadly poison.”

Jiu’er looked at her, eyes bright and clear. “That’s exactly why His Highness was poisoned — it had nothing to do with anyone trying to harm him.”

“Now that the truth has come to light, of course both of us are cleared and released. His Highness is even grateful that you saved me at the execution ground — after all, I suppose I count as half his savior.”

Zhan Luoyi still said nothing. Others might believe such a story, but how could she possibly believe it?

Feng Jiu’er gave her hand a squeeze, and only then did she realize just how alarmingly large the Seventh Princess’s hand was — for a young lady’s, anyway.

Still, she smiled and offered reassurance. “I’m a physician.”

Zhan Luoyi stared at her face. Jiu’er merely met her gaze and smiled gently. “Trust me, it’s fine. Let’s just get out of here.”

“My consort mother went to Yuyang Hall?” Zhan Luoyi suddenly asked.

Jiu’er had already known that the excuse she’d made up on the spot would never fool her.

She nodded. “I’ve already explained the cause of His Highness’s poisoning to His Majesty. His Majesty was gracious enough to grant you permission to go straight back and rest, and he won’t pursue the matter of you storming the execution ground today either.” Since His Majesty had already agreed to all this, could the Seventh Princess still fail to understand?

Perhaps Emperor Qiwen truly lacked the bearing of a proper emperor. Or perhaps everything that happened today was simply because the Crown Prince had woken up.

Since Zhan Yuheng was willing to back this “truth,” Emperor Qiwen went along with it half-reluctantly. Whether he genuinely meant to let it go, or was simply doing his Crown Prince brother a favor, in any case, the matter was settled.

“Nanmeng Rong…” Zhan Luoyi still had her doubts.

After all, back at the execution ground, Nanmeng Rong had once threatened her using her consort mother, even declaring she’d deal with her mother.

“Empress Rong was there today too, but she got so worked up that she coughed up blood and fainted. She’s already been sent back to Xuanhua Hall, and the imperial physicians are still conferring over her case.”

This time, Empress Rong really had been badly injured. Having already been struck by one of Zhan Luoyi’s palm strikes, she’d recklessly forced herself to come anyway, heedless of the danger.

If her own martial cultivation hadn’t been fairly decent, an ordinary person with no internal energy to speak of would have already reported to King Yama by now.

This Empress Rong had spent her whole life being so fiercely competitive — ruthless toward others, and just as merciless toward herself.

Jiu’er didn’t care to pass judgment on this woman. There was nothing worth saying about someone who’d nearly caused her own mother’s death.

One day, once the realm was at peace and a wise ruler had truly unified the power of the Beimu Kingdom, she would absolutely come back and settle this score properly.

“As for Consort Jing, His Highness the Crown Prince had people escort her back to her chambers and ordered guards posted there, so she can wait at ease for you to come out.”

Zhan Luoyi immediately stood up and held out both her hands.

Jiu’er let out a breath of relief and hurried to unlock her chains, then walked out of the prison together with her.

“Miss Jiu’er, do come visit us again when you have time.” As they left, Ah Biao and Ah Yang, along with a group of fellow jailers, came to see her off.

Jiu’er’s forehead darkened with irritation; she nearly turned back to give them a scolding.

“Once I open my own clinic, I’ll let you know. If anything comes up, come find me there — just don’t make me come find you here.”

“But Miss Jiu’er,” Ah Biao said, looking troubled, “if nothing’s wrong, none of us want to go looking for you at a clinic!”

Jiu’er was taken aback, momentarily at a loss for words.

Fair enough — she herself had no wish to ever return to this prison. Why would anyone else want to fall ill just for an excuse to see a physician? Who didn’t want to stay healthy?

“Fine, then — you don’t have to come find me just to get treated. You could come find me for hotpot instead!” There, was that better?

Ah Yang still looked puzzled. “Miss Jiu’er, are you really that poor? You’d eat the pot itself?”

Jiu’er truly felt like crying out to the heavens in speechless frustration — people who simply weren’t on the same wavelength couldn’t work together; the cultural gap here was terrifying.

“Yes, yes, exactly — so poor I have to eat the pot too. Why don’t you all come along, then?”

At that, the men all scrambled backward, putting distance between themselves and her.

Eating a pot — of course they had no wish for that. The court’s treatment of its men was perfectly decent; although they were merely jailers, a jailer’s salary was more than enough for everyone to eat and drink well.

A pot? Best to leave that to someone as extraordinary as Miss Jiu’er to eat on her own.

A trace of amusement flickered across Zhan Luoyi’s eyes — she had actually smiled!

As they walked out, Jiu’er let out a long sigh. “This wretched place — I hope I never have to come back here again.”

Two stints in prison within a single month, one of which had nearly ended in her getting beheaded — it was simply unbelievable.

After all, back in the twenty-first century, she’d been a perfectly law-abiding citizen. How was it that ever since coming here, she kept ending up as a prisoner?

Zhan Luoyi said nothing more, her mind preoccupied with her consort mother’s safety; she only wanted to hurry back and check on her.

Unexpectedly, not long after they walked out of Jiantian Hall, a guard came rushing over from afar and said something to Qing Yun, whose expression abruptly darkened.

Zhan Luoyi, who had been feeling uneasy all along, immediately went over upon seeing this. “What’s happened?”

The Seventh Princess was never one to be curious about every little thing under ordinary circumstances; for her to grow this anxious now, she was likely worried about Consort Jing.

Qing Yun answered at once. “Reporting to Your Highness, Consort Jing is fine, there’s no need to worry. It’s just…”

“Just what?” Jiu’er came over as well. With him hesitating like this, could something have gone wrong after all?

The Empress had already collapsed — surely she couldn’t have crawled back up to stir up more trouble already? Did she have nine lives or something?

Qing Yun looked between the two of them, seeming torn over whether he ought to say it or not.

Taking a deep breath, he finally spoke in a low voice. “The Ninth Prince has entered the palace. Right now, he’s in the middle of tearing apart His Majesty’s Yuxiao Hall.”