When the attendant brought the Succession Edict into the inner chamber, Xue Ye had already sat up with the Imperial Physician's support.
His face was still pale, and his breathing was much heavier than usual, but clarity had returned to his eyes. After the edict was placed before his couch, he did not immediately look at the name written on it. Instead, he raised his eyes to Qian Renxue.
"How much of an uproar is there outside?"
Qian Renxue concealed nothing, briefly recounting what had happened that morning. The Imperial Clan Chief was then summoned in and reported anew how the Imperial Seal had been stolen, how a false seal had been delivered to the Ancestral Temple, and how Lu Yuan had recovered the genuine one. He also presented the Imperial Clan Chief's Waist Token that had come from Prince Zhao's Residence.
Xue Ye did not interrupt. Only when he heard that the genuine Imperial Seal had been hidden inside the seal courier's Soft Armor, while the Ancestral Temple had nearly sealed the counterfeit inside the Imperial Treasury, did he reach for the bronze token and glance at the private mark on its back.
"Where is Prince Zhao?"
"He remains in the outer chamber."
Xue Ye asked again, "He hasn't been convicted?"
The Imperial Clan Chief shook his head. "The Crown Prince only ordered him to remain in the palace pending investigation."
Xue Ye looked up at Qian Renxue, his gaze lingering for a moment. He offered no judgment, merely setting the bronze token back beside the table before asking why he had fallen unconscious that morning.
The Imperial Physician standing beside the couch stepped forward. "Your Majesty, I have just reexamined the medicine, tea, and food you consumed last night. There was nothing wrong with the Calming Decoction itself,