Although the Little Prince was unconscious, one could see at a glance that this was a plump and quite robust baby.

Lin Hao couldn’t help but be somewhat surprised. This was completely different from the Little Prince she had imagined.

“The imperial physician has arrived!”

Someone shouted, and the several palace attendants surrounding the Little Prince immediately dispersed.

The imperial physician had already learned the general situation from the palace attendant who delivered the message on the way. He quickly walked over, pricked the Little Prince’s philtrum acupoint with a silver needle, then tucked a pill the size of a mung bean into his mouth.

The pill dissolved upon entering his mouth. The Little Prince, whose eyes had been tightly shut, suddenly opened his mouth and began vomiting.

Seeing this, the imperial physician breathed a sigh of relief. He carefully cleaned the vomit from the Little Prince’s mouth, then removed his clothing to reveal his body and limbs covered in protruding red welts.

“Brew medicine according to this prescription, bring soft cloths…”

The imperial physician gave various instructions, and the palace attendants bustled about in confusion. Noble Consort Zhuang held the Little Prince’s hand, her face full of worry.

Lin Hao’s gaze tightened. In that instant, she completely forgot to conceal her shock.

Was that thing on the Little Prince… a tail?

She instinctively took half a step back, tremendous waves rising in her heart.

She seemed to have discovered the secret His Majesty had tried so hard to conceal!

Crying sounds rang out. Noble Consort Zhuang breathed a sigh of relief, then caught sight of Lin Hao with a glance.

Her eyes suddenly widened, her face full of shock: “Why is the Crown Princess here!”

The others were also startled, all looking over in unison.

Lin Hao suppressed the shock in her heart, her face innocent: “Just now at Yuhe Palace, I heard my younger brother had fallen unconscious. I was very worried, so I followed Your Ladyship over.”

The usually steady Noble Consort Zhuang pressed a hand to her chest.

Which meant the Crown Princess had been here the entire time!

Noble Consort Zhuang instinctively scanned the palace attendants, seeing faces even more bewildered than her own.

“Imperial Physician, how is the Little Prince?”

Only then did the imperial physician have time to wipe the sweat from his forehead: “Being able to wake and vomit everything out means he’s temporarily out of danger. We’ll observe further after he takes the medicine…”

“How could this happen out of nowhere?”

The imperial physician walked to the table, picked up a pastry from the plate and examined it, then said carefully: “It may be related to the pastry the Little Prince ate before losing consciousness.”

Noble Consort Zhuang’s expression changed drastically: “Could this pastry be poisoned?”

Hearing this, the palace attendants all dropped to their knees with a thud.

The imperial physician tested it with a silver needle and shook his head: “It’s not that the pastry is poisoned, but rather that the pastry filling contains peanuts. Some people are naturally unable to eat peanuts. Once consumed, they may develop red rashes all over their body or even fall unconscious.”

Noble Consort Zhuang’s expression improved somewhat. She instructed the palace attendants to care for the Little Prince properly, then invited Lin Hao to the west room.

After a period of silence, Noble Consort Zhuang asked softly: “You saw everything?”

Lin Hao nodded.

Noble Consort Zhuang’s expression changed repeatedly before she finally sighed: “Although it was a coincidence, this matter cannot be hidden from His Majesty. You should return to the Eastern Palace first. His Majesty will probably summon you couple for questioning later.”

“Thank you for the reminder, Your Ladyship.” Lin Hao expressed her thanks, then hesitated before asking, “My younger brother, he… was he like this from birth?”

Noble Consort Zhuang’s face involuntarily darkened, but seeing Lin Hao’s face showed only concern without fear, her expression softened: “Yes.”

Seeing Noble Consort Zhuang clearly didn’t want to say more, Lin Hao tactfully took her leave. Upon returning to the Eastern Palace, she immediately sent palace attendants to summon Qi Shuo back.

Qi Shuo returned very quickly.

“Is there something at home?”

Lin Hao dismissed the palace attendants and said in a low voice: “I know what hidden affliction the Little Prince has.”

After hearing her describe what she had seen at Yungui Palace, Qi Shuo was also shocked into silence for quite a while.

A baby with a tail—no wonder His Majesty wouldn’t let the Little Prince see people.

“Presumably it won’t be long before Father Emperor summons us.” Lin Hao’s tone was complex.

“Knowing this secret isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Father Emperor shouldn’t make things difficult for us.”

Lin Hao leaned against Qi Shuo’s arm, her tone hesitant: “A’Shuo, I’m having some trouble deciding.”

“What’s wrong?”

“In my previous life, on my way fleeing back to the capital, I encountered something peculiar. A baby was thrown into the river by his own father and rescued by someone passing by. They discovered the baby had six fingers on one hand. The baby’s father wanted to throw him back into the water. None of the onlookers stopped him, until finally one person stepped forward, saying the extra finger could be removed…”

“You’re thinking—”

“I was avoiding pursuit and didn’t stay long. I only know the baby’s family ultimately agreed to let that person remove the baby’s extra finger. As for what happened afterward, whether it was successful, I have no idea.” Lin Hao’s brows furrowed slightly. “A’Shuo, what do you think—if an extra finger can be removed, could a tail also be removed?”

Qi Shuo was more cautious: “After all, the location is different. I’m afraid we’d need someone proficient in such techniques to examine him to know for sure.”

Lin Hao pressed her lips together slightly: “This is exactly what I’m hesitating about. Such a procedure couldn’t possibly be without risks. If we propose it and something happens to the Little Prince, there will inevitably be trouble. If it succeeds—”

She didn’t finish her sentence, silently meeting Qi Shuo’s gaze.

If it succeeded, there would also be trouble.

If His Majesty had a healthy, normal biological son, perhaps not in one year, perhaps not in two, but given enough time, would he develop thoughts of making his biological son the heir?

They weren’t people who coveted power and position, but once you truly stood in that position, even if you wanted to yield it, others might not feel secure.

Qi Shuo squeezed Lin Hao’s hand. He understood her best after all: “But if we act as though we know nothing, you won’t feel at ease either, will you?”

Lin Hao nodded.

A child with a tail—one could imagine what kind of suffering he would endure throughout his life.

“Do you still remember where you encountered this matter? What did that person look like? I’ll first arrange for people to investigate, then we’ll discuss based on the situation.”

“That person’s appearance was somewhat different from people of Great Zhou…”

Before long, an inner court attendant from Qianqing Palace came to summon them. Upon seeing Emperor Tai’an, they naturally gave various assurances that they would strictly guard the Little Prince’s secret.

Even so, Emperor Tai’an still lost his temper in front of Noble Consort Zhuang.

“Today it’s the Crown Princess—what about in the future? I knew it—as long as the person is alive, there are no walls that don’t let wind through!”

This terrified Noble Consort Zhuang into kneeling and pleading on the Little Prince’s behalf for quite a while before the murderous intent in Emperor Tai’an’s eyes receded.

More than a month later, the people Qi Shuo had sent out brought back news.

That baby was now eight or nine months old. Having had his extra finger removed, he was very healthy and had become the talk of the surrounding ten li. The person who saved him was also temporarily staying in the village and, coincidentally, was preparing to set out for the capital.

“That person’s journey to the capital will be under our people’s watch. When he arrives in the capital, I’ll meet him personally.”

“Let me meet him instead. A’Shuo, you appear in various settings quite frequently. I’m a woman—wearing a veiled hat to meet someone won’t seem strange.”

Half a month later, Lin Hao, using the pretext of visiting her grandmother, met this extraordinary person in an inconspicuous civilian residence.

He was a man with a high nose bridge and deep-set eyes. Though he had black eyes and black hair, one could tell he wasn’t from Great Zhou or Qi.

“Who are you? Why did you bring me here?”

Lin Hao stood and bowed to the man: “I sincerely apologize. The reason for inviting you here, sir, is that I have a favor to ask.”