"Alas."
Inside the imperial palace, in Xue Ye's bedchamber, he tossed and turned, unable to sleep peacefully.
There was still no news of Xue Beng. Prince Xue Xing had finally stopped parroting himself two days ago and become mute instead.
Of his four children, only Xue Qinghe remained by his side.
Of course, Xue Ye acknowledged Xue Qinghe's abilities, but aside from Xue Beng, he could actually guess that the deaths of the other two princes were connected to Xue Qinghe.
That was also why he had been reluctant to pass down the throne.
But it was only suspicion. He had no conclusive evidence that Xue Qinghe had harmed those two princes.
Yet once the seed of suspicion had been planted, it was not so easy to erase.
"Cough, cough!"
Xue Ye suddenly began coughing violently. Seeing this, the attendant at his side hurriedly brought over a basin. While serving him at close range, his eyes remained fixed on Xue Ye's condition.
Xue Ye coughed violently into the basin for a while, spitting out quite a few clots of blood. His breathing also became weak and listless.
After recovering somewhat, Xue Ye feebly waved his hand, telling the attendant to leave.
"This doesn't look right."
Danheng poked his head out from the shadows with extreme stealth, peering over. Xue Ye's condition did not look like an illness.
Could it be poisoning?
Xue Ye remained dispirited for quite some time before finally recovering his usual expression, though he still could not fall asleep.
"That attendant from earlier also has a problem. There was something off about his gaze. He should be one of that False Crown Prince's men."
Danheng thought to himself. The False Crown Prince's methods were truly impressive. Even the emperor's personal attendant had become his man.
"Hack—cough, cough."