CH 17

TN: Posting all of Thursdays chapters early and in one go as I’m getting my booster and don’t know if my arm will be sore after.

After announcing his withdrawal, the crown prince hurried away from the palace hall. Looking at his back, the ministers all had different thoughts.

The imperial palace is not an iron plate. Many ministers will bribe small eunuchs and occasionally learn about the imperial families movements. What his highness has done in the past half a month has long spread out from the palace.

Every day after finishing morning court, his highness the crown prince will routinely visit the emperor’s bedroom. It is said that he will tell the emperor everything that happened in court that day. Even if the emperor is unconscious, he will not neglect for a day.

The officials who were worried that the prince would have a complete change of temperament after being poisoned completely relaxed their hearts.

——The prince is still the previous kind and filial prince!

If his majesty wakes up and learns what his son has done, will he be greatly moved?

The emperor replied: … No.

… he’s really not moved at all, okay?

Since the sudden coma half a month ago, the emperor was not completely unconscious. Most of the time, his consciousness was awake.

However, it was like being shut into a small dark room. He couldn’t find the door to go out. No one responded no matter how he shouted inside, but he could hear the voices of others outside through the walls.

These days, in addition to empress Zhou’s constant nagging in his ears, the most diligent visitor is the crown prince. He came back every day to report what happened in court.

In the eyes of others, this is undoubtedly the expression of supreme filial piety. But for the emperor, this is clearly provocation!

He just wants the crown prince to shut up immediately!

I don’t want to hear how you cut off some more heads today!

I don’t want to hear that another part of my force has been wiped out in one go!

I don’t want to hear those secretly loyal courtiers read one by one in my ears and told they were never seen again!

——Crown prince, you, enough, enough!!!

… Can’t you shut up quickly?!

For more than half a month, the grievances accumulated in the emperor’s heart almost erupted like a volcano.

At the beginning he was so enraged that he wanted to tear the prince apart. Later, he became “tranquil and even tempered”. Finally, the emperor is powerless and can only crazily curse his ten generations of ancestors.

No one understands what kind of bumpy journey he has experienced.

He only knew that if he went on like this, sooner or later he would be driven mad by the crown prince!

——Is this the crown prince’s purpose?

The emperor suddenly turned vigilant.

At this time, a voice suddenly sounded in his ear.

“Your Highness.”

Xiao Zhiyi, wearing the official robes of the imperial physicians, came in from outside the hall with a medicine box. When the palace attendants had been ordered out, he tentatively looked at Yuan Buwei.

He happened to see the prince finish talking, drank a mouthful of water, and picked up a piece of jade like sweet and soft cake on the table.

All in one mouthful!

Over the years, the imperial chef in the palace has been familiar with the taste of the crown prince. The cakes are sweet and moderate, and they can’t be more delicious. Of course, if Qi Yu were to evaluate it, he would probably say, “I’d rather choose death.”

Licking the crumbs on his lips with the tip of his tongue, he spread out on the back of the chair and narrowed his eyes with satisfaction. Then he looked at Xiao Zhi and nodded slightly: “What’s the matter?”

This was the sign. There are no walls with ears here. You can say anything safely and boldly.

So Xiao Zhi said, “Your Highness asked for ‘half a day drunk’, was it in preparation for this day?”

Yuan Buwi picked up another piece of cake. His eyes captivated by the cake, as he nodded carelessly: “Yes.”

It seems that for him, the emperor’s life and death is not as attractive as some cake.

The so-called ‘half a day drunk’ is the poison used on the Emperor.

This is a poison developed by Xiao Zhi alone. That day, he took the initiative to find it. He didn’t want to confess, so he asked him for a special poison. The “half day drunk” perfectly meets the original requirements.

The toxicity is intense and the effect is very fast. It often takes only half a day. Whenever the mood is stimulated, it is easy to attack. The symptom after the attack is that the limbs are out of control and fall into drowsiness.

Although Xiao Zhi knew that someone was plotting against the crown prince behind the scenes and that the crown prince asked for poison mostly for revenge, he didn’t think it was the emperor. But now the “half day drunk” poisoning the emperor indicates the truth.

Guessing this, he could not help but have a deeper understanding of the courage and boldness of his Highness the crown prince.

On the front foot he got the poison from him and on the back foot the Emperor was poisoned

It seems that all the shackles bound to people by monarchs, ministers, father and son, three cardinal principles and five constant secular moral rules have never had any impact on the crown prince!

Xiao Zhi asked curiously, “The restrictions in the palace are strict, especially around your majesty. Sorry for the impoliteness, but how did your highness position his majesty?”

He really didn’t understand, since the crown prince had such means, he should have placed secret hands in the imperial palace long before. How could he be poisoned by the emperor unprepared?

Instead of continuing to eat his pastry, Yuan Buwei looked up and smiled, “Where is the difficulty?”

“Didn’t my father call me into the palace alone?”

When he said this, Xiao Zhi reacted.

He was talking about the day when the prime minister’s house held the wedding banquet!

Using that day’s opportunity, his highness the crown prince personally brought the poison into the palace. In the afternoon, covertly poisoned the emperor. Then in the evening, he ran to the prime minister’s house to catch people. The next morning, the emperor was so angry that he fainted on the spot… From poisoning to revealing the poison, it only took half a day.

Such accurate time control, is it not a coincidence but all planned by the crown prince?

The emperor is in a coma, and the crown prince naturally supervises the country. He can take advantage of this opportunity to eradicate the emperor’s confidants

After thinking about it, Xiao Zhi almost broke out in a cold sweat.

Not to mention why the crown prince of a country is so proficient in poisoning, he shudders at the seemingly simple and crude but effective scheme of the crown prince.

When the script is finished, the emperor must have no way to live. What will happen to the person who personally participated in it, not only gave poison, but also knew most of the plans of the crown prince?

Xiao Zhi, who always cherishes his life, is inevitably worried.

Yuan Buwei seemed to have noticed his thoughts. He didn’t stand up and only glanced at him lightly.

“Don’t worry, Gu has no habit of killing his own people.”

He glanced at the emperor on the bed indifferently.

“What’s more, let’s suppose you did leak this?”

Xiao Zhi smiled bitterly, sighed, bent over to salute: “Your highness, please forgive this humble servant, who has always been timid and cherished life. It’s really difficult to keep calm before life and death. The mind was temporarily confused and showed something embarrassing in front of your highness.”

He answered frankly without deliberately hiding his mind. These days, Xiao Zhi has seen that his Highness the prince is a person who doesn’t care for superfluous pleasantries. While his highness didn’t mind careful thinking. On the contrary, he disliked falsehood from his people.

Yuan Buwei did not pursue it. He just nodded and asked him to complete today’s “diagnosis and treatment” first. While he slowly left the emperor’s bedroom.

Before leaving, he took half a plate of pastries by the way.

… the posture is smooth and practised.

With half a plate of white jade cake1, he stepped out of the door of the bedroom with a large stride. The sun outside the palace was just right.

He raised his face, bathed his whole face in the warm golden glow, and smiled.

A little round dumpling who ran over just happened to see this real smile and was stunned.

“Imperial brother! Are you free?”

He called out, and rushed to Yuan Buwei step by step. His round body seemed to contain a small whirlwind and he was full of spirit.

Yuan Buwei nodded: “Are you coming to see imperial father?”

Qi Yu quickly shook his head: “No, I’m here for my imperial brother. Does imperial brother have time now?”

Yuan Buwei blinked a little in surprise. And walked together with his little dumpling. He picked up a pastry and fed it while the little guy was unguarded, the sequence of movements natural.

Before Qi Yu could react, he had a piece of cake in his mouth. He blinked in a daze. In the face of his imperial brother’s rare kindness, he couldn’t spit it out or swallow it.

After hesitating for several moments, he closed his eyes, chewed a few times with a face of accepting death, and swallowed it whole.

… died on the spot.

… worthy of being his imperial brother who survived through poisoning. It’s terrible orz.

From beside him he heard his imperial brother’s inquiring voice: “How is it? This is a new cake made by the imperial kitchen after receiving my guidance. These chefs have some talent.”

His voice rose slightly at the end, as if with a trace of pride.

Qi Yu forced a laugh while giving his support: “Imperial brother, you are learned in the art of desserts? So fierce…”

“No.” Yuan Bwei shook his head and said naturally, “But I know what kind of desserts are delicious.”

As a gourmet, those imperial chefs naturally understand it with a few words. Sure enough, the original unqualified cakes were quickly eliminated, and a new dessert with double the delicacy was made.

Qi Yu:… Emmm, has there been a misunderstanding about the word delicious?!

Seeing that his imperial brother was in high spirits and seemed to want to feed him more, Qi Yu’s desire for survival exploded in an instant.

Little dumpling closed his eyes a few times and seemed to linger on the aftertaste for a moment. Then he solemnly sighed: “As expected, imperial brother still has good taste. The level of the imperial kitchen before was really not good. After the advice of imperial brother, they were reborn!”

… if you eat it, you can go to heaven on the spot.

“Unfortunately, I just ate at imperial mother’s palace…” he said, shaking his head regretfully and looking at the remaining pastries.

Of course, the poor acting skills of this little round guy can’t fool Yuan Buwei. He just hummed with a smile and finished the remaining pastries as Qi Yu had hoped.

Tactfully escaped death again. Qi Yu couldn’t help secretly praising his intelligence. Only then did he mention the reason why he came to find Yuan Buwei.

Little dumpling frowned slightly in distress, quietly approached Yuan Buwei and whispered, “Imperial brother, something is strange about imperial mother these days…”

The emperor was poisoned and unconscious. No matter what her heart thought, all the imperial concubines in the palace looked sad, but the performance of empress Zhou was obviously different.

Her grief is true, and her worry is also true, but under this worry and grief, it is clear that there are a few hidden fears, anxieties, and suspicions.

Qi Yu, who has always had very keen emotional perception, naturally noticed her abnormalities.

He grew up in the harem from a young age and didn’t spend much time with the emperor, but his biological mother the express treated him well. Qi Yu naturally wanted to share her worries.

Subconscious intuition led Qi Yu to find Yuan Buwei. Perhaps in his opinion, this omnipotent imperial brother must be able to solve all difficulties?

Listening to him carefully count out all the strangeness of empress Zhou, Yuan Buwei hooked up his lips: “Don’t worry, there’s nothing wrong with imperial mother. She’s just too worried about imperial father.”

The emperor’s attitude towards the crown prince, as someone who shares the same pillow, maybe the empress has long been aware of it. However she never thought that the father and son had reached the point of life and death. Now it must be difficult to accept this suddenly discovered truth.

Although the emperor’s sudden illness was unclear, with the emperor unconscious the empress should be worried that the crown prince will take this opportunity to kill him?

Qi Yu was ignorant of this and just looked at him suspiciously.

Yuan Buwei lowered his eyes and smiled: “Just tell her that physician Xiao has an understanding of imperial fathers poison. At least after  three to five days, or at most ten days to half a month, imperial father will wake up.”

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