Gu Yanxi gave a soft cough. The Emperor came back to himself. “Rise.”

Shao Yao stood and looked toward Yanxi-brother. Gu Yanxi gave her a small, quiet nod.

Shao Yao carried her medicine box forward, placed the small pulse-taking cushion on the broad armrest of the chair, and patted it expectantly.

The Emperor laughed despite himself and set his hand upon it.

A physician’s examination typically proceeds through observation, listening, questioning, and pulse-taking in sequence. Shao Yao did it in reverse. She took the pulse first, then observed, listened, and questioned — and summarized her findings thus: “To inform Your Majesty — there is no such thing in this world as a miraculous elixir that works the instant it is swallowed. Every substance capable of producing such an effect must exact a toll on the body in exchange.”

Shao Yao tucked the small cushion back into her medicine box and continued, “If these golden elixirs were truly as potent as their promoters claim, those Celestial Masters would need not wander the world playing the sage. They could simply take the pills every day like meals and ascend to their immortality right now. Why bother entangling themselves with ordinary mortals?”

The Emperor — himself an ordinary mortal…

“The duration of your exposure should still be relatively short. While the foundation of your health has been damaged, I do believe there is still a chance of recovery.” Shao Yao shifted topics abruptly. “Are you experiencing moments now where you cannot recall things?”

“Yes—” The Emperor, having been maneuvered into answering, instinctively looked toward Gu Yanxi. As expected — a darkened expression.

The Emperor pointed at Shao Yao. Shao Yao was entirely unafraid. “These elixirs are more aggressive than anything I have encountered before. Based on what I have seen previously, they should not have penetrated the body’s core so quickly. Yanxi-brother — are the elixirs here? Let me examine them.”

Gu Yanxi glanced at his imperial uncle. “Ren Ba.”

Ren Ba pushed the door open and handed over several brocade boxes.

The Emperor turned his gaze away. Without needing to be told, he already knew — these were the ones he had kept hidden away.

Shao Yao picked up one pill, gave it a sniff, and her brow furrowed so deeply it could have crushed an insect. She took two of the boxes and rose to her feet. “Give me a room. I need to study these.”

One look at Shao Yao’s expression told Gu Yanxi things were not good. He quickly had Lai Fu escort her to the adjacent room, and sent the imperial physicians — who had been waiting outside so long their legs had gone weak — in after her with a thick stack of their consultation records, in case she had questions to ask.

Uncle and nephew exchanged a glance. Both felt a weight settle in their chests.

Nearly two hours passed before Shao Yao emerged. “The concentration of ingredients in these elixirs is four times that of any golden elixir I have seen before.”

In the imperial study, one could have heard a pin drop.

After a long silence, the Emperor asked, “If I had been taking them for longer…”

“How many pills do you take in a day currently?” Without waiting for an answer, she continued, “You would have started at two a day. A few days later it would have increased to three. Then four, then five. If my assessment is correct, you are now taking six a day.”

The Emperor remained silent — which was confirmation enough.

“The number will continue to rise. When the time comes, if you do not take them, you will have no energy. Something said in one moment will be gone from memory the next. Your concentration will fail. You may even find yourself unable to recall names. I suspect — that you are already experiencing these symptoms.”

The Emperor’s hand clenched quietly in his lap, though he could not stop the trembling. His voice came out hoarse. “Can these symptoms be eased?”

“They can.” But the damage to his foundation was already severe enough that it would be very difficult to undo. The moment she had worked out the components and concentration of the elixir, she had known it would be grave. This was not a golden elixir. It was a killing formula.

Gu Yanxi asked in a low voice, “Why did the imperial physicians not detect anything amiss?”

“I have already had them detained. Flaying and drawing out their tendons will not be necessary — leave them to me for testing medicines. I also need to review His Majesty’s dietary records for this period.”

Lai Fu understood at once, bowed, and departed swiftly.

The palace’s sky was about to change.

While they waited, Shao Yao kept herself occupied — she took the Emperor’s pulse once more with painstaking care, and then, with brazen composure, drew a small measure of his blood and went to examine it in a corner.

Gu Yanxi had already turned the entire situation over in his mind. He rose and went to the adjacent room.

“Send for Qu Qi to see me.”

Qu Qi arrived in the garments of a palace attendant — eyes lowered, manner mild as any servant one might pass in a corridor.

He knelt on one knee before Gu Yanxi. “Chief.”

“Has there been anything unusual from the Second Prince recently?”

Qu Qi considered briefly, then shook his head. “This subordinate has observed no irregularities.”

Gu Yanxi, too, considered the Second Prince the least likely suspect. The First and Third Princes both held more power than he did. Even the newly emergent Fourth Prince, backed by his formidable maternal family, was not inferior to him. To make such a move while his wings were still unformed — and with no certainty of who would ultimately benefit — was not in character. Furthermore, his mother, Noble Consort Hui, was not favored, which meant there was no pillow talk of consequence to be had.

“Go and investigate the First Prince— wait, no. That’s not right.” Gu Yanxi’s brow settled into cold, still lines. “Deploy palace contacts to watch Noble Consort Rong, Noble Consort Liang, and Imperial Noble Consort Xu. I want to know who they have met with during this period, and whether they have had any contact with their families beyond what is ordinary. Additionally — release word that the Seven Lodges has apprehended a Celestial Master.”

“Yes.”

The First Prince’s mother was Noble Consort Rong. The Third Prince’s, Noble Consort Liang. The Fourth Prince’s, Imperial Noble Consort Xu. The problem had to lie with one of these three — with the first two being the more likely. Gu Yanxi turned the jade thumb ring between his fingers. Not a drop of blood spilled yet, and your ambitions are already large enough to swallow the sky.

A sharp crack rang out. Gu Yanxi’s figure flashed — and he was already at the door, speaking rapidly to Xiao Wu, who stood guard outside the imperial study. “Keep close watch.”

“Yes.”

Inside the imperial study, the room was in chaos — objects overturned, things shattered. The Emperor stood before his wide chair, breathing in heaving gasps. Lai Fu knelt to one side, head pressed to the floor, not daring to look up. Shao Yao was entirely unaffected, cradling the dietary records and studying them with focused intensity.

Gu Yanxi rushed to his imperial uncle’s side and steadied him. Even through the layers of robes he could feel the blazing heat radiating from the man’s body. “Shao Yao — come and look. What is happening?”

“Nothing to worry about. The hour has passed since his last elixir, and the absence of it is making His Majesty agitated. When that agitation met with something that unsettled him, this happened.” Shao Yao looked up. “Yanxi-brother — someone has tampered with the dietary records. The amount of strong-smelling meats and rich, pungent foods is vastly excessive — roughly double the normal proportion by my comparison. Under ordinary circumstances, if His Majesty were not taking the elixirs, this would amount to nothing more than an overly rich diet. The trouble is that he is taking them. This has been accelerating the elixirs’ potency.”

“Very good. So that is how eager they are.” The Emperor let out a cold laugh. “We shall issue a decree this moment. Yanxi — you shall become Crown Prince.”

“Those with marred appearances are prohibited from entering court service.”

“We are not appointing you to serve — We are appointing you to reign!”

“The rules cannot be broken.” Gu Yanxi did not so much as blink. “If Your Majesty feels this face of mine is not ruined enough, your servant can take another blade to it.”

A sharp crack — the Emperor’s palm struck him across the face. The Emperor’s chest heaved violently. But the words appointing a Crown Prince would not come again.

He had known it, even then, when Yanxi first bore that wound to his face — it was not as the young man had claimed, suffered against an opponent in battle. It could only have been self-inflicted. To set his mind at rest. And to set certain others at ease.

He saw clearer than anyone how little regard Yanxi had for that position. He even believed that if not for this uncle of his, Yanxi would never have taken on the mantle of Seven Lodges Chief at all — he would long since have left the capital, left the court, and gone far away. Only after the Empress Dowager departed this world would he have returned — for his mother, and for Shao Yao, to settle what needed to be settled.

He had always known this. He had not wasted his affection on this child.

Author’s Note: Please do not fact-check the elixir details, dear readers — I can only write them to be as plausible as I reasonably can.