The nights at the end of May were already carrying a hint of summer heat. Yanqing Palace was brightly lit, as the third prince had lost his ability to speak since waking up.
The imperial physicians took turns examining him but couldn't find the cause.
Consort De shook her head repeatedly: "It's impossible, this can't be happening. Physician... didn't you say the poison was neutralized? Why is this happening? Why can't the third prince speak?"
All the physicians from the Imperial Hospital prostrated themselves: "This... Your Majesty, Consort De... The poison in the third prince's body has indeed been completely neutralized. We... we don't know why the third prince has lost his voice!"
Sitting in a corner of the bed, the third prince's face was devoid of color, as pale as a sheet of paper. His eyes were blank as he hugged his knees, silently weeping.
No matter what the Xuanwu Emperor said to him, he showed no reaction.
Consort De immediately collapsed crying into the Emperor's arms: "Your Majesty, I have never done anything bad in my life. Why are those people treating Xuan like this? If they want revenge, they should come after me! Whether they want my life or to poison me mute, I'm willing to bear it all. Why must Xuan suffer this?"
The Emperor's eyes were full of pain, his throat constricting as he tightened his arms around Consort De: "Tomorrow, send the Empress's golden seal to Consort Yu and lift her confinement. Consort De, your primary task now is to take care of the third prince. As for the rest... don't worry about it."
On the surface, it seemed like he was sympathizing with Consort De, but the color drained from her face as she lay in his embrace: "I... I obey Your Majesty's command."
After all her scheming, she had ended up paving the way for Consort Yu.
Initially, she had plotted to pit Consort Yu against Jiang Xinyue, letting them fight each other. Jiang Xinyue had obliged, defeating Consort Yu as planned.
Although Consort De had originally aimed for the position of First Consort, it ultimately benefited Jiang Xinyue. Still, obtaining the Empress's golden seal was considered a significant achievement.
Now, not only were her efforts wasted, but everything had returned to square one. She had offended the Empress, fallen out with Senior Concubine Xian, and the golden seal had come full circle back to Consort Yu's hands.
Consort Yu was the Empress's lackey - what difference did it make if the seal was in her hands or the Empress's?
Would the Empress let her off?
The Emperor was now also blaming her in his heart for neglecting the third prince due to her pursuit of power in the palace, leading to his loss of voice.
This situation...
She had to break out of it!
After a heavy downpour, it seemed summer had truly arrived. The sudden change in weather caught all the palaces unprepared for the intense heat.
Jiang Xinyue woke up early, roused by the heat. As soon as she opened her eyes, she saw Xi Que bringing in a basin of ice: "My Lady, the Internal Affairs Department has only managed to chip this much ice for now. Apart from Chengqian Palace, Cining Palace, Kunning Palace, and Consort De's Yanqing Palace, only our palace received a basin."
Consort De got some because of the third prince's sudden loss of voice last night. The Emperor, feeling pity for the third prince, had specifically ordered the Internal Affairs Department to send some ice.
Jiang Xinyue got up and washed her face with cold water, finally feeling a bit cooler. She turned to ask Xi Que and Shuang Jiang: "How is the third prince?"
Both of them showed sympathy in their eyes. Shuang Jiang sighed and said: "Originally, the imperial physicians said all the poison had been cleared, and the third prince had regained consciousness. But... for some reason, when he woke up, he couldn't speak."
This is impossible!
If someone wanted to kill the third prince, it would have been with an incurable poison, and he wouldn't have had the chance to wake up. But he did wake up last night, which means the person who poisoned him must have been Consort De herself. How could she possibly make her own son lose his voice?
Of course, it's also possible that someone deliberately poisoned the third prince to make him mute, eliminating his chance of becoming the Crown Prince in the future.
In that case, the suspects would only be her and the Empress.
After all, if the third prince was incapacitated, the only beneficiaries would be the consorts with princes in the harem.
Wasn't that as good as pointing at her and the Empress, accusing them of being the culprits?
But compared to the possibility of the Empress poisoning the third prince, Jiang Xinyue was more inclined to believe that Consort De had orchestrated this drama herself.
She just hadn't controlled the dosage well, resulting in the third prince losing his voice.
Consort De had probably intended to kill two birds with one stone from the start!
The first person she wanted to harm was Jiang Xinyue, who had snatched the position of Senior Concubine. If she couldn't eliminate her, the second target would be the Empress.
For Consort De, fabricating a lie about the Empress harming the third prince to ensure the fifth prince would be named Crown Prince was a small matter.
The most pitiful one was the third prince.
The third prince was poisoned, first hovering between life and death, nearly dying, and then becoming mute...
As this news spread, everyone began to speculate: who was the real culprit behind this?
It certainly couldn't be Consort De. She only had this one son; how could she possibly cut off her greatest support?
Everyone felt sorry for Consort De.
"Crash!"
"Ah! Someone's dead!"
The Empress, who had been suffering from a headache all night - which only worsened when all the palace physicians were summoned to Yanqing Palace - was startled by the sound of breaking porcelain and screams.
She was feeling very anxious...
Yesterday, after Jiang Xinyue left, people from the Investigative Bureau had arrived, claiming that Senior Concubine Xian had lost a priceless imperial green jade bracelet. The Investigative Bureau had received a report from the staff of Hexi Palace and came to investigate.
In the past, when she hadn't lost her power, those dogs from the Investigative Bureau wouldn't have dared to search Yikun Palace.
But before she could get angry, the Investigative Bureau actually discovered that a young palace maid guarding the gate had found Senior Concubine Xian's bracelet and deliberately kept it for herself instead of returning it.
The young maid even insisted that Senior Concubine Xian had given it to her.
After the people from Hexi Palace refuted this, she tried to change her story, but was gagged and taken away by the Investigative Bureau.
As for what the young maid wanted to say - "Senior Concubine Xian eavesdropped on the Empress's conversation and wanted to silence me" - she never had the chance to utter it.
The people from the Investigative Bureau, having previously offended Senior Concubine Xian, were eager to make amends and please her. They naturally wouldn't disappoint Senior Concubine Xian when given the opportunity to serve her.
"We are the Emperor's men, why should we fear Senior Concubine Xian?"
A guard from the Investigative Bureau who didn't understand asked.
The director glared at him: "I'm not afraid of Senior Concubine Xian, I'm afraid of her pillow talk. If you don't understand such basic human relations, no wonder you're still a lowly guard after three years."
The staff at Yikun Palace was already insufficient, leading to negligence everywhere. Early this morning, another body of a woman who had committed suicide by poison was discovered in the storage room of Yikun Palace.
The woman's face was so swollen and bloody from beating that she was almost unrecognizable.
But Consort De often brought the third prince to play in Yikun Palace, so Fen Yun managed to recognize her after some effort: "My Lady, it's Ning Feixiu, the third prince's head maid."
The Empress, sensing a conspiracy, was about to order someone to examine the body when hurried footsteps were heard at the door.
Leading the group were Luyin from Consort De's palace and the Emperor.
"Your Majesty, last night Feixiu was punished and was about to faint, but she insisted on going out to fetch water to wash up. I thought something was amiss and followed her all the way to Yikun Palace... I found it strange and went back to report to my lady. We found a suicide note under Feixiu's pillow... Your Majesty, please seek justice for the third prince!"
