Crown Prince Qi Ling's recent series of thunderous measures still left many households in the capital shuddering with fear. The entire Sun Family had been convicted, the Tongbao Money Shop had been sealed, and officials great and small who had dealings with the Second Prince were investigated and punished one by one. Several rounds of notices had gone up at the market execution grounds, each bearing new names. Those who had once watched from the shadows, believing the Second Prince might be able to contend with the Crown Prince, now cowered in their residences, scarcely daring to breathe, terrified that one day the Imperial Guards would knock on their gates. The tide in the capital had turned completely. Before, some had muttered in private that the Crown Prince was still young and might not be seasoned enough in his methods. Now no one muttered anymore.
They also understood that the Fourth Prince was the one person neither the emperor nor the Crown Prince would allow anyone to touch.
Qi Yu was still recuperating in the sleeping quarters of Xuanzheng Hall. An imperial physician came to take his pulse every day. Imperial Physician Zhou, who was over sixty, set out from the Imperial Medical Bureau before dawn each morning with his medicine chest and crossed more than half the palace grounds to reach Xuanzheng Hall. When he knelt on the footstool to take Qi Yu's pulse, Qi Xiao stood beside him and watched. After finishing, Imperial Physician Zhou withdrew his hand and carefully chose his words as he said that His Highness's pulse had become steadier, the remaining poison was almost entirely cleared, and he simply needed more time to recover his strength. After listening, Qi Xiao asked several more questions about dietary restrictions, whether the prescription needed adjusting, whether Qi