Chapter 74

Chapter 74

When the Second Prince was brought up, the hall was silent for a moment.

Following that line of reasoning, the two inevitably arrived at the same answer.

“That’s it, then.” Ying Fusheng gave a faint smile.

Qi Hanzhou looked at the sickly young man, having just awakened from a long illness, speaking slower than usual. This bold and absurd conjecture precisely explained all the inconsistencies in the relationship between the mastermind and the Xu family. If the child swap was a spur-of-the-moment act using the Ning family, and the Deposed Crown Prince was also a piece on the board, then the mastermind’s grand scheme was truly without a trace.

The Second Prince. His birth mother was of low status, and his maternal clan had little influence. The only somewhat favorable point was a distant kinship with the Xu family. As a result, after leaving the palace to establish his own residence, Grand Secretary Xu arranged for him to work in the Ministry of Works, where he had long been tied to the Xu family.

Due to his mediocre performance at court and his frequent cooperation with the Xu family, he had long been part of the Deposed Crown Prince’s faction.

Even when the Xu family fell into trouble, the Emperor blamed him, to the extent that the Emperor preferred to support the Third Prince, who was not involved in factional strife, rather than promote him to a higher position. Because of his close ties with the Xu family, during the Northern Mountain incident, he was dragged before the Emperor over the arrow issue. But compared to the more prominent First Prince and Third Prince, he went unnoticed.

The Second Prince had virtually no suspicious traits, including his maternal clan and his dealings with the Xu family. When the Embroidered Uniform Guard investigated the Xu family, all information on the Second Prince fell under their scrutiny... but nothing was found.

Qi Hanzhou looked at the sickly young man. He was holding a hand warmer, but Qi Hanzhou knew that when this conjecture was voiced, Ying Fusheng had already formed his deduction. “When did you notice?”

“Because at the Northern Mountain hunting grounds, everyone was drawn in,” Ying Fusheng spoke slowly, his half-lidded eyes lifting slightly as he mentioned this. “He was the anomaly.”

“Someone deliberately pushed him forward at that time,” Qi Hanzhou said. He hadn’t been at the scene, but he clearly remembered his personal guards’ report—all the princes were caught up in the hunting ground storm.

Thinking back carefully, the talk that had thrust the Second Prince into the spotlight over the arrow issue was deliberate. By then, the Second Prince had already left the Ministry of Works and had been serving in the Ministry of Personnel for some time. There was no reason for problems with the Ministry of Works’ arrows to implicate him... Everyone knew the Ministry of Works had been a huge mess earlier, with the Emperor replacing several key officials. The arrow mess could easily have been left over from the previous Minister of Works, Zhou Bingjun, and others. Dragging the Second Prince into it seemed like a deliberate ploy to keep him from staying out of the mess.

At a time when all the princes were caught up in the hunting ground storm, if the Second Prince had remained uninvolved, he would have been the obvious beneficiary.

This looked like indiscriminate attacks and mutual backbiting among the factions. But if this was the mastermind’s objective, then everything was different.

If the court and country truly fell into chaos, the Emperor wouldn’t notice this Second Prince; instead, he would focus on the other princes who were in the spotlight. The Second Prince seemed embroiled but slipped away lightly. The Deposed Crown Prince, the Eighth Prince, and the Xu family—all were pieces in the mastermind’s scheme...

Ying Fusheng sat quietly. When he put forward this conjecture, he knew Qi Hanzhou would grasp all the connections. “He used Northern Mountain to set up such a large scheme—to kill me, push the Xu family, plant hidden agents... Father wants the Xu faction to shift allegiance to the Eighth Prince, but he wants to completely consume the Xu family’s power during this time. He put together an almost exquisite scheme.”

As he spoke, his eyes flickered to his own hands, his expression detached. Fragmented memories of his past life came flooding back. Thinking of how the mastermind had toyed with him in his previous life, making him a pawn to roil the court, he looked down at his hands. That person left him with this frail body.

He raised his eyes to look directly at Qi Hanzhou, his tone slightly light. “Too bad he miscalculated—I’m still alive for now.”

“What if you had died?” Qi Hanzhou suddenly asked.

The corners of Ying Fusheng’s lips lifted, but there was no trace of a smile. “Then he would have won.”

Qi Hanzhou saw the unfathomable depths in his gaze. After days apart, Ying Fusheng seemed unchanged. There was no visible trace of the illness on him. This man could fall into a silent sleep for days, then open his eyes and speak of such a colossal conspiracy. It was as if, in his eyes, life and death, victory or defeat were all calculable schemes—victory or defeat hinged on a single thought.

Ying Fusheng leaned back against the bedding piled behind him. The sickbed was piled with quilts, a testament to the servants’ careful care in Wanchun Hall—every spot where he might bump into something was padded. His dark hair spilled down as he tilted his head back to look at the high ceiling of the bedchamber, a position that seemed comfortable to him.

When he turned his head, Qi Hanzhou had been silent for a long time.

He was wondering what Qi Hanzhou was thinking when he suddenly heard a soft rustle. Qi Hanzhou reached out and placed a hand on his forehead. His palm was warm, but the wrist guard was cool. Ying Fusheng, startled by the sudden closeness, lost his train of thought. When he came back to himself, Qi Hanzhou was right in front of him.

It seemed they had never been this close before. His sudden approach cut through the stifling medicinal smell in the hall, and Ying Fusheng caught the crisp, clean scent from him.

Ying Fusheng suddenly went still.

Qi Hanzhou touched his forehead—it was burning hot.

“Your hand,” Qi Hanzhou said.

Just as Ying Fusheng was about to pull his hand back under the covers, Qi Hanzhou seized his wrist instead.

This man—why was he suddenly being so unreasonable?

This thought flashed through Ying Fusheng’s mind. Seeing that Qi Hanzhou was feeling his pulse, he had no choice but to give up struggling. “Chen Xuqiu has already examined me.”

“The hall should be burning soothing incense. You switched it out,” Qi Hanzhou said.

Ying Fusheng was briefly speechless. Chen Xuqiu and Song An had lit soothing incense in his hall—he couldn’t hide that from him. But he couldn’t afford to sleep too long. If the soothing incense burned, he would sleep for twenty hours a day.

“I’ve slept enough,” Ying Fusheng said.

Qi Hanzhou pressed three fingers to his pulse, his touch steady and firm, the calluses on his knuckles from years of sword practice.

Only now, up close, did Ying Fusheng realize.

A few years ago, Qi Hanzhou had still been a youth. But four years had passed since his rebirth.

This face had gradually become sharp and cold, the murderous aura between his brows gradually converging. Since returning to the capital as an Embroidered Uniform Guard, he still carried the blood and grit of the border battlefield.

When Qi Hanzhou moved his hand away, the pulse under his fingertips had already revealed the truth.

A weak pulse—not the sign of a long life.

Qi Hanzhou had known since meeting him a few years ago that his health was poor, that he might never be as robust as an ordinary person. But over these years, as he gradually came to terms with this fact, he suddenly wanted to see him live a little longer.

A person like him shouldn’t be plagued by chronic illness.

Setting aside the issue of imperial power, with his abilities, he should have been a spirited prince.

He had once told him that great intelligence leads to early death.

That one sentence seemed to be slowly turning into reality.

Qi Hanzhou said, “The Embroidered Uniform Guard will investigate the Second Prince. A guess is just a guess without evidence.”

“Your Highness’s fever hasn’t subsided. You should rest.”

Ying Fusheng looked at him oddly. Qi Hanzhou stopped discussing matters.

It was as if everything that needed to be said had been said. Ying Fusheng knew that, given Qi Hanzhou’s temperament, he wouldn’t discuss anything further with him tonight. But why had he stopped talking after just a few sentences?

Yet he noticed Qi Hanzhou’s expression—it was an angry look.

Ying Fusheng pondered what had gone wrong. Shouldn’t a possible link between the mastermind and the Second Prince be a good thing? Why was he angry?

Unable to find an answer, the two lapsed into silence.

Ying Fusheng had no choice but to close his eyes and go along with him.

But when he opened his eyes again, Qi Hanzhou was still standing beside him.

He leaned against the edge of the bed, not too close.

Qi Hanzhou hadn’t left. It was as if he actually intended to wait until he fell asleep.

The hall suddenly became quiet, so quiet that only the sound of their breathing remained.

Ying Fusheng lay on his side, looking at Qi Hanzhou.

He thought to himself, since when does an Embroidered Uniform Guard watch over a prince while he sleeps?

And then he thought, true, it had been like this in the previous life too.

Qi Hanzhou didn't move either, simply letting him stare. In this lifetime, the two of them had spoken too many schemes when they met, but times like this when they were truly quiet and discussed nothing at all were almost nonexistent. Had there been such moments in the previous life? Ying Fusheng's thoughts were muddled as he pondered. The moment he quieted down, a dense throbbing pain surged from his forehead, pulling all the way to his eye sockets, a sour, swollen ache that left him utterly exhausted.

He slowly curled up. Qi Hanzhou paused, noticing his distress.

Ying Fusheng muttered something in a muffled voice.

Qi Hanzhou stirred slightly, bending down to listen more closely: "I'll go find Chen Xuqiu."

"Useless," Ying Fusheng said.

Qi Hanzhou recalled what Chen Xuqiu had said—that the poison had damaged his cognitive functions, and even after recovery, he might be left with chronic headaches.

The pain surged like a tide, and Ying Fusheng's consciousness grew hazy. "Qi Hanzhou, your hand."

Qi Hanzhou reached out to touch his forehead, but the moment he made contact, Ying Fusheng slumped forward, leaning into him. Qi Hanzhou quickly steadied him to keep him from falling off the bed. Ying Fusheng's forehead nestled into Qi Hanzhou's palm, as if pressing against something could ease the unbearable ache.

"Let me lean for a while."

Qi Hanzhou's movements stilled. He crouched low, and the other's hot, rapid breaths fell against the inside of his wrist. Given his current condition, acupuncture to relieve the pain might worsen things; Chen Xuqiu hadn't used acupuncture.

Gradually, the other's breathing slowed.

Qi Hanzhou didn't withdraw his hand. He softened his movements, quietly undoing his wrist cuff.

Doing his best to let him sleep more comfortably.

That night stretched long. Only when the man was completely asleep did Qi Hanzhou silently rise.

The court was in turmoil, but he hoped Ying Fusheng could have a peaceful sleep.

The next day, the Emperor allowed Empress Xu to enter the imperial prison to see the Deposed Crown Prince for the last time.

By the time Qi Hanzhou arrived at the imperial prison, Empress Xu was already there.

After days of confinement and interrogation, the Deposed Crown Prince had become increasingly disoriented. When he saw Empress Xu, he scrambled on hands and knees to the cell bars, reaching out to grasp the hem of her robe. "Mother, save me! They've wronged me! It was my maternal grandfather's side that made me do it—no, it was the former dynasty's spies! They threatened me… I never meant to harm Eighth Brother, I just wanted him to get a little hurt…"

Empress Xu listened a long while, then finally tossed a few items in front of him. "And what about these?"

They were birthday gifts the Deposed Crown Prince had hidden in the Eastern Palace, gifts from Consort Ning.

The Deposed Crown Prince's face stiffened instantly. He looked at Empress Xu, his earlier pleas for help turned into incoherent explanations.

"Mother, I was just afraid…" The Deposed Crown Prince had been tortured beyond recognition during this time. The Emperor and the Imperial Guards had worn themselves out trying to pry information out of him, but he knew limited things—he had already confessed everything they could squeeze out. "I was afraid that once you knew the truth about the child swap, you wouldn't look after me anymore. You've protected me since I was little; I didn't want to lose you."

"So you wanted to kill him," Empress Xu said.

The Deposed Crown Prince froze. Then he argued, "I didn't mean to! It was *them* who wanted to kill him, not my idea. I already told Father everything—it was all their scheme—"

Empress Xu steadied herself with difficulty against the railing, staring at the Deposed Crown Prince.

Her heart shattered. Her eyes turned red as she looked at the child she had raised. He knew everything. Again and again, he expressed malice toward Ying Fusheng. He feared the truth of the swap would become known to the world, feared the crown prince position would be given to someone else, and had even secretly conspired with evil people, nearly cost her son his life in the Northern Mountains.

When Empress Xu walked out, her steps were unsteady. Qi Hanzhou was quick to support her. "Your Majesty, the imperial prison reeks of blood. Please take care of yourself."

Empress Xu said nothing. Once steady, she straightened her back and walked out.

Her maids helped her into the carriage back to the palace. Qi Hanzhou turned and saw the ground—the birthday gifts shattered into pieces. The Deposed Crown Prince was wailing, trying to make Empress Xu change her mind. Among the broken gifts were jade pieces for blessings and precious ornaments; for the Ning family, these were considered generous and valuable.

Qi Hanzhou thought back to years ago when he had searched the Weiyang Palace and seen Ying Fusheng's sleeping chamber.

Sparse and clean… there was almost nothing lavish in the hall. A few deliberately displayed items were unremarkable, trinkets that could be bought for a few copper coins in the streets of the capital, yet they had been dearly treasured by their former owner.

"Report what happened in the prison to His Majesty," Qi Hanzhou instructed as he turned.

Ye Xuanjiu nodded.

The carriage back to the palace swayed gently. Empress Xu sat inside, clutching a sachet tightly in her hand.

The sachet was an old style from years ago. She had sent people to search through rural temples before they found one similar to the sachet from that palace banquet years ago. But the one Ying Fusheng had given her—she could no longer find it.

One discovery led to another, and each discovery caused her immense pain.

When Empress Xu visited the Huguo Temple to pray, she saw the longevity lamp Consort Ning had lit years ago. Ignoring the monks' warnings, she opened it on a whim. The lamp Consort Ning had lit used the same birth date and time, but the slip inside bore another person's name—placed in the temple as a covert swap.

That day, after examining all the lamps, she realized that in the Hall of Longevity at Huguo Temple, her son had not had a single longevity lamp lit for him before the age of eleven.

Her entire past life felt like a joke manipulated by others.

For the Xu family, for her child… in the end, her whole life had been toyed with by others.

Empress Xu's palm showed red crescents from her nails. She slowly loosened her grip, the pain in her eyes turned into burning hatred. She thought of the recent rumors from the imperial prison and the intelligence from the Xu family…

She murmured, "The former dynasty, is it?"

How can those who harmed her and her son live freely and carefree?

…

That night dragged on. Ying Fusheng never knew when Qi Hanzhou had left.

His health was poor; sometimes he would sleep for an entire day and night.

By the time he woke up, many changes had occurred at court.

Ying Fusheng hated losing control.

The matter of the possible connection between the mastermind and the Second Prince had been handed to the Imperial Guards, but it had sunk like a stone dropped into the sea. Not only the Imperial Guards, but even Ying Fusheng's own investigations turned up nothing. His second imperial brother, from birth to present, whether in the palace or at court—every detail—was almost flawless, with no trace of suspicion found.

Qi Hanzhou came every few days. But after discussing the important matters, he would say no more.

The calming incense was replaced. The palace maid who had secretly swapped Ying Fusheng's calming incense earlier was sent to the pharmacy by Song An on some excuse.

After transferring her, Song An would actually come over obediently to report to him.

With someone who had a nose like a wolf's, none of his actions escaped Chen Xuqiu's notice.

Ying Fusheng's convalescence lasted longer than he had anticipated. From spring to summer, he never left the Wanchun Hall.

The exhaustion caused by his weakened body was more troublesome than he had imagined. When he first woke up, he was so weak he couldn't even get out of bed. It was only later, through acupuncture treatments by the imperial physicians, that he gradually regained strength. But if he rested poorly, his head would ache; if he walked too much, his limbs would feel weak and sore. Such circumstances forced him into a prolonged period of recuperation.

The Emperor's purge swept across virtually the entire court and country. Better to kill a thousand by mistake than let one guilty escape. Grand Secretary Xu's protégés in court were more or less implicated. But the court had seen too much upheaval in recent years—officials involved in corruption and fraud, the Ministry of Works scandal… some officials the Emperor left untouched, but he silently transferred them to other departments.

Perhaps because the court turmoil was too great, the mastermind made rare moves during this time.

With few able officials left at court, the Emperor reopened the imperial examinations that year.

Shen Yunfei took first place in the military examination, becoming the military top scholar. When he paraded through the streets on horseback, it was the first time Ying Fusheng had left the palace since his illness. Accompanied by Weng Yanqing that day, he saw the spirited and proud Shen Yunfei—so different from the stubborn, crippled man of the previous life. When he asked Weng Yanqing, the latter answered mildly. Shen Yunfei had entered the Ministry of War alongside Shen Changcun, and with Shen Changcun's tacit approval, he wielded real power.

Although Ying Fusheng had assumed Shen Yunfei would follow his father into the Ministry of War for training, he resolutely joined the Imperial Guard instead.

When Consort Ning died, the palace claimed it was a sudden, violent illness.

Ying Fusheng knew it was his father's doing—the sudden illness was merely a story to placate him and the harem consorts.

"The poisoned wine was brought by the Empress," Song An said.

On the day Consort Ning was executed with poisoned wine, Empress Xu went personally.

She watched the madwoman struggle and spew curses as the poison took effect, spewing vile words that even the attending physicians avoided, never having seen such a venomous woman.

Empress Xu listened calmly, then watched her die in agony.

The Emperor did not depose the Empress; the Eighth Prince still needed her. When the Xu family fell into trouble, Empress Xu did not intervene. Instead, she submitted part of the evidence against the Xu family, protecting the Eighth Prince and several court officials. Some of Grand Secretary Xu's disciples were truly upright officials who served the people. The Emperor needed them temporarily, and Empress Xu understood this, so she secured a way out for them as well.

Ying Fusheng knew that this way out also included him.

After that day, Empress Xu requested to go to Huguo Temple to pray for the people.

But she would send palace attendants to deliver blessing sachets every month. The sachets carried prayers to dispel illness and were hung on the lintel of Wanchun Hall.

For many days he had been in a daze, and after Empress Xu left that day, the Deposed Crown Prince went mad. Lost in a daze, one night he dreamed of all officials bowing as he, clad in dragon robes, stood high above. His rival, the First Prince, became a prisoner, and the Sixth Prince was jailed for treason, who had also gone mad.

He was overjoyed—he would be the one to ultimately sit on the throne!

But in a flash, the wine goblet presented by the ministers became an ordinary white porcelain cup. He woke from his dream, and in another flash, a eunuch stood before him, shattering his dream of becoming emperor. "What does this mean?"

Eunuch Rong showed no courtesy. A cup of poisoned wine was placed before him.

"No! I am the Emperor! I am the Emperor!" The Deposed Crown Prince struggled desperately to shake off the poisoned wine, but the Embroidered Uniform Guards restrained him. The poison burned his throat as he drank, and he still laughed, raving about his dream of ascending the throne.

Only in his final moment did he wake from his dream into terror.

"He was still caught up in his dream last night, shouting in the prison that he was the Emperor," Ye Xuanjiu described the scene. The Emperor was still alive, yet he dared to proclaim himself sovereign.

Before his death, the Deposed Crown Prince screamed and struggled in the prison. The former Crown Prince of Dayuan, once groomed as heir, became a stray dog in jail—where was the majesty of his past glory when he ascended the throne?

Ying Fusheng listened to Ye Xuanjiu's account and had an extra bowl of congee.

Is that so? How pathetic.

The Deposed Crown Prince was executed for embezzling military funds, colluding with remnants of the former dynasty, and plotting against his brothers.

Any one of these charges was enough to condemn him irredeemably.

The Emperor ordered that he not be buried in the imperial mausoleum.

Ying Fusheng remained bedridden until autumn, and then winter arrived.

His body struggled through the harsh winter. For the first time, he was forcibly confined to Wanchun Hall. The Empress Dowager forbade it, as did Chu Taiyi and Chen Xuqiu. Finally, Qi Hanzhou sent Ye Xuanjiu to stand guard, so he had no choice but to stay inside.

When winter arrived, he fell ill on and off.

Indeed, Chen Xuqiu's decision proved correct. Only when winter ended did Ying Fusheng truly feel like he had come back to life.

Before he knew it, the new year began. Ying Fusheng turned fifteen.