The imperial physicians ultimately did not dare make the decision themselves and asked a guard to enter the palace to request instructions.

By this time, Emperor Tai’an had already received news of the Crown Prince’s assassination attempt at the Wuning Marquis Estate. When the guard rushed back to report, he could only feel the oppressive atmosphere in the palace, as if a storm was brewing.

“The imperial physicians say they need to scrape the bone to treat the poison?” Emperor Tai’an paced two steps with his hands behind his back and quickly made his decision. “Tell them to do everything in their power to save the Crown Prince. They must cure him, or they can forget about keeping their heads.”

Emperor Tai’an was deep in thought and not the type of muddled emperor easily deceived. Based on his understanding of those imperial physicians’ mentality of seeking no merit but avoiding fault, if the Crown Prince’s condition were even slightly better, they would not have proposed such a drastic treatment method as scraping the bone to treat the poison.

In other words, the Crown Prince’s current situation was extremely dire, even—

Thinking of the worst possibility, Emperor Tai’an could not sit still. He walked to the palace entrance several times only to turn back, and after repeating this several times, he finally sat down and ordered with a darkened face: “Report the Crown Prince’s condition to me every quarter-hour.”

For one instant, he had wanted to go to the Wuning Marquis Estate himself, but reason still stopped him.

If the Crown Prince could be assassinated even at his father-in-law’s home, heaven knew what other hidden dangers lurked. His body was worth ten thousand gold—he could not take such risks.

This was the heartless aspect of being an emperor. Even with only two sons, even though the Crown Prince was the ironclad heir, compared to the possibility of personal danger, he still could not compare.

Of course, Emperor Tai’an would not face his own callousness directly. He waited with worry for the Crown Prince, his anxiety and irritation mounting, his rage accumulating more and more.

At the Wuning Marquis Estate, having heard the guard relay Emperor Tai’an’s oral decree, the imperial physicians dared delay no longer. They first had the Crown Prince drink numbing sleep powder, then began scraping the bone to treat the poison.

Several imperial physicians cooperated with each other, working until they were drenched in sweat. Finally, as the lamps were being lit, they waited for the Crown Prince to awaken.

The Crown Prince was awakened by pain.

Numbing sleep powder could not be administered in large doses. Once the medicine’s effect wore off, the pain of gouging flesh and scraping bone arrived.

This was no exaggerated expression—they had truly gouged flesh and scraped bone.

The Crown Prince howled in pain, unable to maintain any composure at all.

For the Crown Prince, who would want to take the life of a palace maid who combed his hair if she pulled out even a single strand to appease his fury, this pain was completely unbearable.

It hurt too much!

The imperial physicians had no choice but to brew a calming, sleep-inducing medicinal soup for the Crown Prince to drink, and only then did he quiet down.

The unconscious Crown Prince was lifted onto a carriage and, surrounded by layer upon layer of guards, returned to the Eastern Palace.

Emperor Tai’an could finally express his fatherly love with peace of mind.

Looking at the Crown Prince’s pale face, Emperor Tai’an felt very distressed. Suppressing his fury, he asked the Crown Prince’s personal attending eunuch Wang Gui: “The Crown Prince has both open and hidden guards by his side, yet they actually allowed a street performer to injure him. Are you all dead?”

Wang Gui dropped to his knees with a thud: “This slave deserves death, this slave deserves death!”

“Explain the situation at the time clearly to me in detail.”

Emperor Tai’an had already heard what happened from several people, but without question, Wang Gui was the person closest to the Crown Prince whose attention had been entirely focused on the Crown Prince.

After hearing Wang Gui tearfully finish his account, Emperor Tai’an’s face was dark as water: “So you’re saying it was the Wuning Marquis’s son Tang Hua who gave eye signals indicating that the traitor should use the red silk to send flowers to the Crown Prince?”

At this moment, the Wuning Marquis was kneeling outside the palace gates, while the other members of the Tang family were being interrogated at the estate.

Wang Gui, who had been with the Crown Prince the entire time, did not know that the Wuning Marquis had immediately come to plead guilty. Even if he had known, he would not have covered for him.

To Wang Gui, he had only one master—the Crown Prince. Even if the Crown Prince Consort had harmed the Crown Prince, she deserved to die.

“Yes, this slave saw with his own eyes Tang Hua repeatedly making eye signals at that traitor. It was because of this that the guards did not react in time…”

The more Emperor Tai’an listened, the darker his expression became.

The Crown Prince lying on the bed suddenly frowned, his expression pained.

Emperor Tai’an hurriedly called out: “Yuan’er, Yuan’er—”

The Crown Prince’s head moved slightly, then there was no further reaction.

Emperor Tai’an’s face changed: “Imperial physician—”

The imperial physician who had been waiting nearby stepped forward to examine him and reported: “His Highness is still sleeping.”

Only then did Emperor Tai’an breathe a sigh of relief. He rose and walked to the outer chamber.

Consort Zhuang, who had been waiting in the outer chamber, urged: “Your Majesty, it is very late. You have been worrying all day. Please rest early—the dragon body is important.”

“With Yuan’er in this condition, how can I rest easy?”

“The Crown Prince has heaven’s protection and will surely be fine.”

Emperor Tai’an, accustomed to living in comfort and luxury, was indeed tired after being mentally tense for so long. At Consort Zhuang’s urging, he nodded.

The various consorts who had rushed over to express their concern for the Crown Prince all performed courtesies toward the departing backs of Emperor Tai’an and Consort Zhuang: “Respectfully seeing off Your Majesty.”

Among them, at the forefront was Consort Jing, the mother of Prince Wei.

Once the Emperor had left, the consorts naturally dispersed. One consort who delighted in chaos said to Consort Jing: “Sister Consort Jing arrived even earlier than Sister Consort Zhuang, but unfortunately His Majesty does not know…”

Consort Jing acted as if she could not hear the implied meaning at all. She pulled at the corners of her mouth and left.

The consort left behind was so angry she flung her handkerchief and silently cursed Consort Jing for being worthless mud that could not be molded.

If Prince Wei were her son, how could that base woman Consort Zhuang have her moment of glory?

Speaking of which, they still did not know how the Crown Prince would turn out. Could Prince Wei possibly have a chance—

The consort’s heart went cold with alarm. She dared not continue such wild thoughts.

Emperor Tai’an went to Consort Zhuang’s bedchamber and, attended by Consort Zhuang, retired for the night.

The night was deep and heavy. The glazed tiles were covered with pristine white snow, and snow continued to fall.

The Wuning Marquis kneeling before the palace gates had become a snowman, no longer able to feel the existence of his hands and feet, yet he dared not rise.

His Majesty had never agreed to see him.

Could it be that he would kneel here until he died?

The Wuning Marquis rolled his eyes to look at the fluttering goose-feather snow, his body swayed, and he allowed himself to fall unconscious.

The eunuch who received the news dared not disturb His Majesty, but also feared that if the Wuning Marquis truly froze to death there would be trouble. He ordered people to send him back. After all, the Wuning Marquis Estate was surrounded by so many government soldiers—if the Wuning Marquis were to be convicted, he could not escape even with wings; if he were not to be held accountable, sending him back to the estate would be even less problematic.

The next day, Emperor Tai’an postponed the morning court session and went first to visit the Crown Prince.

As for the matter of the Wuning Marquis collapsing from kneeling at the palace gates, after hearing about it, Emperor Tai’an did not even lift an eyelid, causing the palace attendants serving him closely to vaguely guess at the Emperor’s attitude.

On the way, a eunuch reported in a low voice: “The Crown Prince Consort has been kneeling in her bedchamber all night and has not yet risen.”

When the Crown Prince had his accident, the Crown Prince Consort should have been guarding by his side, but since the Crown Prince was attacked at the Wuning Marquis Estate, even if people did not believe the Wuning Marquis Estate would harm the Crown Prince, out of caution they could not let the Crown Prince Consort get close to the Crown Prince again.

Hearing that the Crown Prince Consort had done this, Emperor Tai’an merely said lightly: “Tell her to rise.”

He was still waiting for the identity of the performing youth. As for how to deal with the Wuning Marquis Estate, if they had even the slightest connection to the assassin, he would naturally show no mercy. If they had purely been used, the severity of punishment would depend on the Crown Prince’s condition.

Emperor Tai’an’s ascension to the throne had not been entirely proper. When he first sat on that dragon throne, he had dealt with quite a few officials with thunderous force. Later, once his position was secure, he did not particularly want to leave his subjects and people with an impression of cold ruthlessness.

Though he was angry with the Wuning Marquis Estate, for now he had no intention of being too harsh.

Emperor Tai’an had just walked to the Crown Prince’s sleeping palace when he heard the Crown Prince’s wailing cries.