Story of Yanxi Palace, Chapter 147: Poison

“Yes.” Denial was impossible—Consort Yu had come openly to visit the sick, and countless palace servants along the way could testify to it. Wei Yingluo simply admitted, “Consort Yu ordered him to come see me and brought lingzhi and deer antler.”

Noble Consort Chun went straight to the point: “Did he eat some pastries there?”

Yingluo: “He ate one piece of lotus cake.”

Noble Consort Chun smiled. “That matches perfectly. Imperial Physician Liu!”

A certain imperial physician had already been waiting inside the palace. Upon being summoned, he stepped forward and said, “Consort Ling, the Fifth Prince has been coughing somewhat recently. I prescribed a formula centered on Sichuan fritillary bulb for treatment. However, the bulb has one key characteristic—it must never be taken together with any aconite-class medicines. Herbs such as monkshood root, aconite root, aconite daughter root, and the like are all strictly forbidden.”

The Empress: “And if they are taken together, what happens?”

Imperial Physician Liu: “In reply to Her Majesty the Empress, if taken together, it is highly likely to cause poisoning due to conflicting medicinal properties—such as whole-body paralysis, unrelenting pain, or even loss of life. When I just now took the Fifth Prince’s pulse, I already detected signs of monkshood poisoning.”

Noble Consort Chun said meaningfully, “Whether the lotus cake in Yanxi Palace contained monkshood is something only Consort Ling herself knows!”

“Why would I want to harm the Fifth Prince? Back then, it was I who saved this child.” Seeing her every word trying to tie the evidence to herself, Wei Yingluo frowned and said, “Besides, where in Yanxi Palace would such a medicine come from?”

“Consort Ling, are you pretending not to know?” Noble Consort Chun seemed to have anticipated this very question. She immediately replied, “In the entire Forbidden City, aside from the Imperial Medical Bureau, isn’t the only place that has this medicine your Yanxi Palace?”

What did she mean by that? Hongli looked toward Imperial Physician Liu, who hurriedly explained, “Your Majesty, I have heard that Consort Ling fell from a horse and injured her right hand. Imperial Physician Ye then prescribed her a monkshood head ointment specifically for treating dislocation pain, traumatic swelling, and stagnant blood. That ointment requires monkshood, so naturally… Yanxi Palace has it.”

Hongli’s brows furrowed. Consort Yu clung to his leg and began to cry again, while Noble Consort Chun leaned close to his ear and fanned the flames: “Your Majesty, Consort Ling has received such profound imperial grace yet shows no gratitude in return. Instead, she harbors jealousy toward Consort Yu and poisons the Fifth Prince to death. A woman so narrow-minded and vicious in her methods is truly outrageous and hair-raising. I understand that Your Majesty is reluctant to punish Consort Ling, but if everyone follows her example, what will become of the rules in the Forbidden City? What chaos will descend upon the harem? I venture to earnestly beg Your Majesty to punish her severely, as a stern warning to all above and below, so they will know that plotting against an imperial heir is a crime that cannot be forgiven!”

“Without even a trial, you want to convict me?” Wei Yingluo looked toward Hongli. “Your Majesty, since it was the medicine prescribed by Imperial Physician Ye Tianshi, let Imperial Physician Ye come here.”

“With both witnesses and physical evidence, what is there left to interrogate?” Noble Consort Chun also turned her gaze to Hongli. “Your Majesty, do not listen to her sophistry.”

The two of them placed themselves on opposite ends of the scale, tilting back and forth in Hongli’s heart. They waited quietly; the entire hall waited quietly. Finally one side fell, the other rose. Hongli said gravely, “Summon Imperial Physician Ye Tianshi!”

Noble Consort Chun’s face turned pale.

Imperial Physician Ye Tianshi was quickly summoned. Hongli asked, “Imperial Physician Ye, did you prescribe monkshood head ointment for Consort Ling?”

Imperial Physician Ye Tianshi: “Yes.”

Hongli: “Does monkshood head ointment conflict with Sichuan bulb?”

Imperial Physician Ye Tianshi: “Yes.”

Murmurs rippled through the crowd. Hongli looked at Wei Yingluo in puzzlement. “Yingluo, what exactly do you want Imperial Physician Ye to tell me?”

Wei Yingluo’s expression was extremely calm. “Imperial Physician Ye, I do not understand medicine, but when a person has eaten something wrong, what is the very first thing that should be done?”

Imperial Physician Ye Tianshi’s peripheral vision glanced toward Yongqi lying on the bed. “Eaten something wrong?”

Yingluo: “Yes—whether a small dose of poison or food that conflicts in nature.”

Imperial Physician Ye Tianshi immediately answered, “Induce vomiting.”

Everyone turned to look at Imperial Physician Liu. From the beginning, this man had fed the Fifth Prince decoctions and, from head to toe, had never once attempted to induce vomiting.

“This… this…” Imperial Physician Liu, thinking quickly, said, “The Fifth Prince’s body is weak. I did not dare to induce vomiting lightly, so I could only administer a detoxifying decoction.”

Wei Yingluo: “Has the young prince now escaped danger?”

Imperial Physician Liu glanced at Noble Consort Chun: “This…”

“It seems Imperial Physician Liu’s skills are inadequate.” Wei Yingluo immediately turned to Hongli and said, “I beg Your Majesty to allow Master Ye Tianshi to examine Fifth Prince and diagnose his condition.”

Upon hearing this, Imperial Physician Liu’s face turned ashen. Noble Consort Chun repeatedly shot glances at Consort Yu, who hurriedly stepped forward: “Your Majesty, Yongqi’s body is frail; he cannot endure any more torment! If anything happens to him, I will have no reason to go on living! How can Your Majesty believe the words of a murderer? Consort Ling, that vile woman, clearly intends to harm Yongqi!”

Since the balance had already tilted to one side, Hongli was hardly going to listen to her easily—especially since he had not missed the meaningful looks exchanged between her and Noble Consort Chun. He said coldly, “Master Ye Tianshi, he is in your hands.”

After inducing vomiting, although Yongqi still had not woken up, his complexion looked much better than before; he was no longer groaning incessantly in his sleep. Master Ye Tianshi held the spittoon and studied its contents for a long time before concluding: “Your Majesty, there is no aconite monkshood in here.”

Imperial Physician Liu interjected: “Once aconite enters the stomach, it dissolves quickly—that’s why it cannot be seen.”

“Aconite may have dissolved, but the ginseng is still there. And I found a large amount of undissolved ginseng slices—this is truly strange,” Master Ye Tianshi said, looking toward him.

“Fifth Prince suffers from lung deficiency leading to cough, which is why ginseng was used to tonify qi,” Imperial Physician Liu said with difficulty. Anyone could hear the guilt in his voice.

“If Fifth Prince needed to tonify qi, steeping ginseng in tea would have sufficed—why swallow so much of it!” Master Ye Tianshi sneered. “Abusing ginseng causes external pathogens to linger for a long time. Especially since Fifth Prince is young and fundamentally healthy, excessive ginseng consumption instead causes qi stagnation, reversal of stomach blood, and severe damage to the body—naturally leading to unconsciousness! Imperial Physician Liu, you specialize in pediatric formulas—how could you make such a grave mistake!”

The Empress had been standing by with folded arms, not involving herself in the matter until this moment, when she spoke a single sentence—one sufficient to seal Noble Consort Chun’s fate. Smiling, she said: “Unless he was instructed by someone else and deliberately framed Consort Ling!”

Imperial Physician Liu could no longer bear the pressure—especially after realizing that both Hongli and the Empress were standing on Wei Yingluo’s side. With a thud, he knelt down: “Your Majesty, spare my life! This subject… it was Consort Yu who insisted on using ginseng slices. This subject tried to dissuade her, but Her Ladyship would not listen! Today she also insisted that Fifth Prince had taken aconite, which is why this subject misdiagnosed the pulse!”

“Your Majesty, I didn’t know that taking too much ginseng could be dangerous. I was ignorant—I am guilty! It’s all my fault. I harmed Yongqi for no reason and wrongly accused Consort Ling!” Consort Yu said in panic.

“You are guilty. As his own birth mother, you were willing to harm Yongqi’s health just to frame Consort Ling—you are utterly unfit to be Yongqi’s mother!” Hongli sneered coldly. “I know you wouldn’t have the courage to do this on your own. Speak—who gave you the nerve?”

Wei Yingluo added: “Consort Yu, if you do not confess honestly, you will become the chief culprit.”

To her surprise—she had expected Consort Yu to struggle desperately for a while—Consort Yu immediately turned and cried out: “It was her! It was Noble Consort Chun! Everything was instructed by Noble Consort Chun!”

Noble Consort Chun clearly had not expected her to confess so quickly. For a moment she couldn’t even think of an excuse to defend herself, only managing a dry denial: “Consort Yu, I have always treated you generously. You acted out of momentary jealousy and framed Consort Ling—that I can understand. But now, to save yourself, you want to drag me down with you!”

“Your Majesty,” Consort Yu said, suddenly extremely calm—calm in a way that made Wei Yingluo feel something was odd. “The plan came from Noble Consort Chun. Naturally, the ginseng was also provided by her. If you do not believe me, please investigate the records of the Imperial Household Department storehouse—you will surely find the record of ginseng issued to Zhongcui Palace.”

Noble Consort Chun was furious and was about to rush forward to argue when she suddenly heard Hongli exclaim in delight: “Yongqi!”

It turned out that Noble Consort Chun’s sharp cry had awakened Yongqi, who had been in a deep sleep. Hongli quickly walked to his side and placed a hand on his forehead: “How are you? Feeling better?”

“Royal Father…” Yongqi’s face was covered in fine sweat. His condition was neither terrible nor particularly good, yet he still forced himself to sit up, enduring the coughs, and spoke to Hongli in halting, broken sentences: “Father… cough cough… it was Noble Consort Chun… I personally heard her force mother to use ginseng every day. Mother was always crying… always crying… cough… mother was forced!”

“You—” Noble Consort Chun looked at him, then at Consort Yu kneeling nearby, and suddenly realized. “You mother and son… you mother and son joined forces to harm me!”

Hearing her actually say such words, the disgust in Hongli’s eyes grew even stronger. In the treacherous intrigues of the inner palace, he did not trust the consorts—but he did trust his own son. Yongqi enjoyed an excellent reputation both among the scholars at the study hall and among the servants: talented, upright, intelligent, and most importantly—Hongli had never once seen him tell a lie.

“How could such a child end up being used to frame you?”

“Come!” Hongli closed his eyes. “Take Noble Consort Chun and Consort Yu back to their respective palaces and imprison them. As for everyone else—send them to the Bureau of Careful Punishment. Before the sun sets today, I want answers!”

Noble Consort Chun collapsed on the floor. Together with Yuhu and the others, they were all dragged away by the eunuchs. One of the eunuchs approached Consort Yu. Before he could help her up, Yongqi staggered off the bed and threw himself onto Consort Yu. His small arms clung tightly to her as he cried, “Don’t take my mother away! Mother! Don’t go, mother!”

Consort Yu held back her tears, gently stroked his temple, and whispered something into his ear. Yongqi froze, even forgetting to cry.

Wei Yingluo took in the entire scene, and a wave of doubt rose in her heart.

Compared to Noble Consort Chun, Consort Yu’s behavior seemed unnatural in many ways—even contradictory. If she was truly loyal to Noble Consort Chun, she had confessed far too readily. If she wasn’t loyal, then her involvement in the whole affair had been far too deep. After thinking it over again and again, Wei Yingluo suddenly shuddered as an extremely absurd possibility occurred to her…

“Impossible,” she murmured to herself, yet she could not convince herself otherwise.

Because when everything was connected, this was almost the only plausible explanation.

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