The empress swayed slightly, and the composure on her face shattered instantly.
She stared at Gu Nian'an's collar, a chill running down her spine.
She had no idea what was going on.
Why are there two more ingredients?
"Nonsense!"
The empress's voice suddenly rose, her fingertips digging fiercely into the tender flesh of her palm.
"The prince's clothing is all arranged according to regulations; how could I possibly use such a vicious substance?"
Chu Tianxing chuckled, and instead of backing away, he leaned in again to smell Gu Nian'an's collar.
He turned his head and glanced sideways at the Empress.
"You don't know? This is genuine, top-grade South China Sea dragon scale agarwood."
"This stuff has another amazing use: if a woman is exposed to it for three consecutive months, she will never be able to conceive."
Chu Tianxing patted his sleeve.
"Your Majesty, your methods are truly ruthless."
"I wonder how many concubines in this harem you have harmed!"
The floor tiles inside the Hall of Supreme Ultimate were bluish-gray, and a chill crept up the legs of my trousers and into my bones.
Elder Shen lay on the ground, his forehead pressed against the smooth cloud and dragon stone carving, his nostrils filled with the dampness seeping from the cracks in the brickwork.
He knelt at the very front, his eyes directly facing Gu Moli's drooping sleeves.
Others couldn't see it, but he had worked his way up in the Imperial Medical Bureau for decades and saw it clearly just now.
The moment Gu Moli raised her hand to put her arm around the Sixth Prince's shoulder, she very lightly twisted the plain handkerchief hidden in her sleeve, and a layer of almost invisible medicinal powder fell down her collar and onto the back of Gu Nian'an's neck.
This princess, who had eaten austere vegetarian meals at Ganye Temple for several years, was even more adept at administering medicine than the imperial pharmacy could at cutting raw herbs.
Since Chu Tianxing has publicly torn down this facade, if the Imperial Medical Bureau continues to turn a blind eye, once Palace of Phoenix Ceremony recovers, dozens of lives will have to be thrown into a mass grave.
Rather than waiting to die, it's better to stake this old body entirely.
Elder Shen gritted his teeth, braced his hands on the blue bricks, straightened up, and kowtowed heavily to the dragon bed.
His forehead struck the stone brick with a dull thud.
"His Majesty!"
Elder Shen raised his head, cold sweat sliding down his cheeks, his white beard trembling violently.
"Every word spoken by the physician from Chu is true."
Even if it costs me my head, I will present Your Majesty with the case files that have been hidden in the Imperial Medical Bureau for sixteen years!
Chu Tianxing stood to the side, rubbing the bridge of his nose, and nudged the hem of Elder Shen's robe with the tip of his boot.
" Old Shen, you've finally said something sensible. I thought your Imperial Medical Bureau was all made of clay."
Elder Shen ignored Chu Tianxing, his thin neck veins bulging, and a hoarse voice came from his throat.
Sixteen years ago, Consort Noble Consort Chen gave birth to a princess. She was initially in excellent health after childbirth, but then she inexplicably vomited blood and was bedridden for three years, which ultimately damaged her uterus, making it difficult for her to conceive again.
"Back then, the old court judge, along with his senior officials, secretly collected the remaining incense from the palace for testing. It took them three years to discover that it was mixed with South China Sea Dragon Scale Agarwood and Western Regions withered blood vine."
The words landed on the floor tiles of the main hall.
The empress, who was standing in front of the couch, slipped and stepped on the hem of her palace robe, taking two steps back before she could barely regain her balance.
"You old slave, stop spouting nonsense!"
The empress's face was drained of color, and a stray lock of hair fell loose from her temple.
"The spices allocated from the Imperial Treasury are all recorded in a fixed register. When have I ever seen any secret medicines from the Western Regions?"
Elder Shen crawled half a step on his knees, took out a worn and yellowed blue booklet from his wide robe sleeves, and held it high above his head.
"The original ingredient list was sealed in the Imperial Medical Bureau's secret treasury. Recently, in order to devise prescriptions for His Majesty, I often carry the list with me and flip through it whenever I feel like it."
"Back then, that batch of dragon-scale agarwood totaled three catties and six taels as tribute. After deducting the expenses for the emperor's use, the remaining three catties were all sent to the private treasury of the Palace of Phoenix Ceremony. The vermilion seal of the Empress Phoenix is clearly stamped at the end of the book!"
"If this old minister has uttered even the slightest lie, I am willing to accept the punishment of being slowly sliced to death, and to have my entire family executed!"
Chu Tianxing casually picked up the booklet and flipped to two pages.
"Your Majesty, this vermilion seal is stamped perfectly straight."
You say it was an outsider who framed her? Could it be that sixteen years ago Noble Consort Chen sneaked into Palace of Phoenix Ceremony to steal spices and deliberately made herself into a sickly woman who couldn't have children?
The Queen's ears were ringing, and the golden pillars and bed curtains in front of her began to sway and overlap.
She was indeed responsible for the Dragon Scale Agarwood incident back then.
The withered blood vine from the Western Regions was also a secret medicine secretly purchased by the Palace of Phoenix Ceremony.
But the chief eunuch who handled the case back then has long been drowned in the moat, and there's no way to verify the truth of this old story. How could it be brought up again today?
Before stepping into the Hall of Supreme Ultimate today, Gu Nian'an's brocade robe was changed into by her own eyes, and it contained absolutely no trace of those two poisons.
The only unexpected event...
The Empress's gaze suddenly shifted to Gu Moli, who was huddled up on the other side of the dragon bed.
Gu Moli's eyes reddened, she covered her lips with a handkerchief, slid down the bed frame, her shoulders heaving violently, and intermittent sobs escaped her throat.
"Mother... how could you have treated my mother like that back then...?"
Gu Moli's voice was weak and trembling with sobs. "My mother prayed and chanted sutras in the palace every day, yielding at every turn, yet you wouldn't even leave her a way out back then..."
Her frail and helpless appearance made her look like a weak princess who had suffered countless injustices.
However, the Empress could see clearly through the edge of the plain white handkerchief.
Gu Moli's lips, hidden beneath the handkerchief, parted smoothly. Her eyes held no moisture, only a deep, cold darkness.
Great! Excellent!
There is only one truth.
That is.
Sixteen years ago, Noble Consort Chen knew there was something wrong with the incense, but she endured it for three years.
The woman was using her mutilated body as bait to show the suspicious emperor that she had no intention of vying for power, to protect her children, and at the same time, to tightly fasten the noose around the neck of the Palace of Phoenix Ceremony.
Noble Consort Chen!
You have such ruthless methods!
"You madwoman... you vicious mother and daughter, you've been feigning madness with me all this time!"
The Empress ripped off the silver hairpin from her head; the sharp end of the hairpin pierced her palm, drawing several streaks of blood.
She pointed at Gu Moli and shouted angrily, "It was you! It was this lowly maid who smeared poison powder on the back of Nian'an's neck just now!"
Your Majesty, open your eyes! This demoness has learned a whole host of evil arts at Ganye Temple, and today she's going to wipe out everyone in this hall!
Gu Moli shrank back slightly, grabbed the old emperor's hand that was draped over the brocade quilt, and pressed her cheek against the edge of the wooden couch.
"Father... I'm scared... Mother wants to kill me to silence me..."
Chu Tianxing scoffed from the side. "Your Majesty's explanation is rather clumsy."
The princess arrived empty-handed, without even a sachet on her person. How could she possibly grind up the withered blood vine from the Western Regions, a substance whose supply had ceased sixteen years prior, in the main hall?
Could it be that the princess could be hiding a stone mill in her sleeve?
"Shut up! How dare you, you lowly street ruffian, deceive the emperor!"
The Empress's face twitched, and she lifted her long skirt, ready to rush forward and tear Chu Tianxing apart.
"Your Majesty! I have served you for over twenty years and managed the six palaces. Nian'an is my last resort. How could I possibly harm him!"
On the dragon throne, the emperor's chest heaved violently.
Half of the body was stiff and heavy as iron, while the other half, with its remaining sensation, was twitching wildly.
His eyes were bloodshot and he stared intently at the distraught empress before him.
The crown prince is useless, the fifth prince died a violent death, and the second prince raised an army in rebellion in Anyang.
Now, right here in this bedchamber, someone is even bringing poison right up to his nose.
This woman clearly felt that his time was not yet over and was eager to send him to his death.
The old emperor's still-mobile left hand groped along the edge of the bed, his withered knuckles scratching white marks on the hardwood edge, before he suddenly grabbed the jade medicine cup that had just been placed on the low table.
The jade wall was icy cold, and there was still a small amount of bitter medicine left inside.
The old emperor let out a rough breath from deep in his throat, and with his remaining strength, he raised his hand and smashed the jade cup towards the empress's face.
A bluish shadow swept across the dim light.
The jade cup slammed heavily onto the Empress's forehead.
The crisp sound of shattering echoed in the empty hall.
The hard jade shattered into several pieces and fell to the ground. Dark red blood flowed down the empress's brow bone, covering half of her face.