Chapter 91
Chapter 91
Night lay heavy as spilled ink. The sky hung low, without stars or moon.
In the inner grounds of the Eastern Palace, within Qianqiu Garden, a palace maid walked ahead carrying a wind lantern. Behind her, two young eunuchs followed, together hauling a rolled felt mat.
No one could tell what was wrapped inside, but it looked rather heavy.
The two eunuchs carried it front and back, and even then, they seemed to be struggling.
All of a sudden, the one in front tripped over something. He stumbled and nearly fell flat on the ground.
The one behind was caught off guard and crashed into him. The felt mat slipped from their hands and dropped to the ground.
Then a female corpse, her clothes in disarray and her deathly state ghastly beyond words, was exposed beneath the night sky.
One of the eunuchs glanced at it and instantly went deathly pale. For a moment, he stood frozen in place.
Hearing the commotion, the palace maid in front stopped and turned back. In a panic, she hissed, “Hurry up and pick it up!”
At the sound of her voice, the two men shuddered and quickly rolled the corpse back up again. None of them noticed the pearl hairpin that had fallen to the ground.
The three of them continued carrying the corpse into the depths of the garden. Before long, their figures melted into the night.
–
Early the next morning, Ren Fengjue used the Fu Tower Case as his reason and sent a visiting card to the Eastern Palace.
However, he waited until after noon before the Crown Prince finally had time to see him.
As with their previous trip to the imperial palace, Xia Ximo once again disguised herself as Lord Ren’s young attendant and went with him.
On the way there, Ren Fengjue mentally reviewed and analyzed what he had learned that morning at the Imperial Medical Office regarding the Crown Prince’s serious illness a year ago.
According to Medical Commissioner Jiang, the Crown Prince’s condition had indeed been grave at the time. Only after the medical officials of the Eastern Palace found themselves completely helpless had the matter been reported up to the Imperial Medical Office.
After His Majesty and the Empress learned of it, they personally made a trip to the Eastern Palace as well.
Under pressure from several directions, Medical Commissioner Jiang had no choice but to take charge of the diagnosis himself.
He said that at the time, the Crown Prince had remained in a constant state of deep sleep, yet his body had been wasting away at an alarming rate.
And strangely enough, his pulse had been steady and normal. From head to toe, they could not find the slightest abnormality.
That left Medical Commissioner Jiang unable to prescribe medicine recklessly, and he did not dare administer needles either.
For a full three days, the entire Imperial Medical Office had been vexed over the matter, poring through every medical classic and ancient text they could find.
As the Director of the Imperial Medical Office, he had kept vigil at Weiyang Hall, watching the Crown Prince’s condition at every moment, not daring to relax in the slightest.
During that time, aside from using acupoint therapy to clear the Crown Prince’s meridians and giving him some nourishing tonics, they had only attempted medicinal baths twice.
But the Crown Prince showed no sign of waking.
Not only that, his originally young and robust body had withered until he was almost unrecognizable.
It was as if something had drained away his vital essence.
When he heard this, Ren Fengjue could not help asking, “Then what method was used to cure him afterward?”
At that, Medical Commissioner Jiang looked rather embarrassed.
He did not want to admit his medical skills had been lacking, but the matter truly had been that bizarre.
“No method was used. The Crown Prince… suddenly woke up.”
Ren Fengjue frowned. “When did he wake?”
“At dawn on the fourth day.”
To tell the truth, after standing watch for three whole nights, Medical Commissioner Jiang had already braced himself for the possibility of losing his head.
After all, Empress Zhang had only the Crown Prince as her son, and His Majesty valued him highly.
If the heir to the nation died, he would certainly be made to answer for it.
But who could have expected it?
On the morning of the fourth day, he had gone into the inner hall for another examination, eyes dry and sore from lack of sleep, only to find a Crown Prince who was perfectly safe and entirely unharmed.
The Crown Prince had awakened.
In just one night, he had returned to normal, without the faintest trace of illness.
After more than twenty years at the Imperial Medical Office, Medical Commissioner Jiang had nearly suspected he had seen a ghost.
He was also afraid it might be a brief rally before death, so he stayed in the Eastern Palace for another two nights. Only after confirming that the Crown Prince had fully recovered did the Imperial Medical Office dare withdraw from the Eastern Palace.
It was just that this matter could not be spread outside. It would be bad for both the Imperial Medical Office and the Eastern Palace.
Ren Fengjue pondered it to himself for a moment, then asked, “On the night before the Crown Prince recovered, did anything unusual happen inside Weiyang Hall?”
Medical Commissioner Jiang thought back for a moment before answering, “At the time, Her Highness the Crown Princess remained at His Highness’s side in the inner hall the entire time. She never left him for even a moment, and I never heard of anything unusual…”
Crown Princess Tang Yuelang?
Ren Fengjue could not help recalling what had happened in Dongsheng Hall on the princess’s birthday.
Though he had not taken the matter to heart, he still had doubts about the relationship between Tang Yuelang and the Crown Prince.
Long ago, he had heard Du Yueming mention that his spoiled young cousin had secretly given her heart to Zhao Li back when he was still Prince Duan.
Ren Fengjue had not found that strange.
After all, during their days at the palace academy, he had already known that Zhao Li and Tang Yuelang were quietly exchanging letters. The two of them should have long since shared mutual affection.
So a year ago, when Zhao Li was named Crown Prince and the Emperor and Empress immediately granted them a marriage, it should have been two joyous events in one.
And while the Crown Prince was ill, the Crown Princess stayed by his side day and night, personally caring for him. That alone showed that their feelings for each other must have been very good at the time.
But when had rumors begun to spread that a rift had formed between them?
The Crown Prince seemed to have become a different person.
The Crown Princess’s temperament had changed even more drastically.
For a moment, Ren Fengjue could make no sense of it, yet he vaguely felt that Tang Yuelang would not have changed like this for no reason. Everything had to be connected.
Just then, the carriage came to a stop.
Axia had only just pulled up when the Chief Steward of the Eastern Palace came forward to receive them, saying that the Crown Prince was waiting respectfully in the study.
The chief steward’s surname was Wang, and he had once served in Prince Duan’s Mansion.
During their days at the palace academy, he had always attended Zhao Li, and he was deeply trusted by the Crown Prince.
At this moment, Steward Wang personally led the way. Ren Fengjue, however, deliberately slowed his steps, his gaze sweeping around with quiet, careful observation.
The last time he had come to the Eastern Palace was on the day of the Crown Prince’s wedding.
He remembered that day clearly. Lanterns and decorations had been hung everywhere, red silk filled the grounds, and the whole place had been bustling with extraordinary liveliness.
Now, as they passed through corridors and courtyards, it was unusually cold and quiet.
The contrast seemed to mirror the marriage between Zhao Li and Tang Yuelang…
Just as this thought crossed his mind, Ren Fengjue suddenly asked, “Has Her Highness the Crown Princess been well lately?”
Steward Wang, walking ahead of him, stiffened slightly. A somewhat rigid smile appeared on his face as he replied, “To be honest, some days ago, Her Highness the Crown Princess entered the palace and angered Her Majesty the Empress. She is still being punished with confinement in her chambers…”
At that, Ren Fengjue remembered that he had indeed heard this with his own ears that day.
He probed further. “Then during her confinement, did His Highness the Crown Prince plead on her behalf?”
Steward Wang gave a sigh. Seeing that there was now some distance between Ren Fengjue and the “young servant” behind him, he lowered his voice and said, “Young Marquis, to tell the truth, this old servant is also deeply puzzled by the matter.”
Ren Fengjue seized the opening. “Could it be that the rumors about the Crown Prince and Crown Princess having grown estranged are true?”
Without waiting for Steward Wang to answer, he shook his head again and deliberately said, “No, that cannot be right. Although the Crown Prince and Crown Princess were married by decree of the Emperor and Empress, as far as I know, they had long been in love. The marriage decree was meant to fulfill their wishes.”
Steward Wang immediately agreed. “Exactly. But ever since His Highness recovered from his illness, everything changed…”
“Changed?”
Ren Fengjue caught the crucial point and stopped in his tracks.
Steward Wang realized he had misspoken and closed his mouth awkwardly.
But this matter had weighed on his heart for a long time, and now that he had finally let it slip, he simply drew Ren Fengjue aside and said frankly, “Young Marquis should have heard something about His Highness falling ill a year ago.”
Ren Fengjue nodded.
Steward Wang continued, “After His Highness recovered, his attitude toward Her Highness the Crown Princess changed.”
“Before, he was wholly devoted to her. But over the past year, his behavior has become dissolute. Not only has he taken in quite a number of concubines one after another, he even… even laid hands on Her Highness the Crown Princess’s personal palace maid…”
“In short, he has already… broken the Crown Princess’s heart completely.”