Inside the carriage heading south.
Ren Ye sat on the couch and asked with a puzzled expression, "How did the Second Prince suddenly become gravely ill when he'd been perfectly fine? And he was unconscious for over a year? Was... was he born with some hidden ailment?"
"Uh, well...!" Rat Lord grew rather hesitant when faced with this question.
Watching his expression, Ren Ye became even more curious, but he added with feigned indifference, "Haha, I'm only making conversation. Don't feel obliged to answer."
"It's not that. It's just that this involves another palace secret." Rat Lord habitually stroked the false beard that had been forcibly yanked off and said quietly, "There's a story circulating in the palace. The Second Prince's grave illness may have involved a struggle within the harem. Someone secretly used Witchcraft and Gu Arts on him, causing him to fall gravely ill."
Holy shit, there's a plot twist this juicy? To tell you the truth, I've watched Empresses in the Palace over sixty times. They call me an online Huan scholar. You could say I'm the ultimate authority on harem intrigue.
Excited inwardly, Ren Ye followed up, "Do these rumors say who used the Witchcraft and Gu Arts?"
Rat Lord glanced around furtively and replied with equal relish for gossip, "Some say it was Consort Jing."
"Consort Jing?!" Ren Ye exclaimed in surprise. "Then where is she now...?"
"Consort Jing has also passed away," Rat Lord added. "She died of illness after the Second Prince awoke, but before the empress passed on."
Ren Ye fell into thought at these words.
Watching his expression, Rat Lord fanned his own appetite for gossip and said softly, "Doesn't it all seem rather mysterious?"
"It certainly does." Ren Ye nodded slightly. "The palace's official account was that Consort Jing died