Kunde Palace was eerily quiet.
The diagnoses of the two assistant heads matched the earlier one. Xiao Muchen sat tightly gripping Duan Mingxi’s hand, his face full of grief.
The palace attendants stood quietly on the sidelines, not daring to even breathe. Consort Shu, expression grim, confronted the Empress, demanding an explanation.
“Consort Shu, you’re going too far! Yes, Duan Wangfei collapsed in Kunde Palace, but that doesn’t mean the poison came from here! I am the Empress—why would I poison a Wangfei? Ridiculous!”
“Your Majesty,” Consort Shu said coldly, “no matter what you say, the fact is Duan Wangfei was poisoned here—shouldn’t someone be held accountable?” She paused. “If Your Majesty refuses to give a proper explanation, then I will request that His Majesty investigate this thoroughly and give Duan Wangfei justice!”
At that moment, the assistant heads finalized the prescription after comparing notes and reviewing it together. Once satisfied, they sent someone to fetch the medicine. Hearing the argument between the Empress and Consort Shu, the physicians all kept their heads lowered as if trying to disappear, eager to leave the room.
“His Majesty has arrived!”
Just then, the emperor arrived.
Everyone inside the hall rushed forward to greet him. The emperor entered with a solemn face. “What is going on?”
“Your Majesty, you must uphold justice for Duan Wangfei—” Consort Shu rushed to him and dropped to her knees with a thud, eyes red and tears streaming.
“Consort Shu, what are you doing?!” The emperor was startled by her sudden kneel and turned to Ding Zhao. “Why are you standing there?”
Ding Zhao stepped forward immediately to help her up. “Niang Niang, please rise. Speak calmly.”
But Consort Shu refused to get up. She looked up at the emperor and said, “Your Majesty, I have served in the palace for many years, always respectful toward the Empress and never overstepped. Why, then, would Her Majesty target Duan Wangfei like this? I beg Your Majesty to investigate and clear her name!”
Her words were vague. The emperor, with Ding Zhao’s support, took his seat and looked toward the Empress. “Empress, what is going on?”
The Empress took a deep breath before speaking. “Your Majesty, I was preparing to enjoy some tea today—the High Mountain Red Kui that you gifted me. It is rare and precious, and I rarely drink it.
“It was by coincidence that I heard Duan Wangfei speaking with Duchess Wei. Thinking it was fate, I asked Hu Momo to invite them in for tea. I never expected Duan Wangfei would suddenly collapse. I truly have no idea how she could have been poisoned.”
“After all, we all drank the same tea. Why is it only she had a reaction, while I and Duchess Wei are perfectly fine? I’ve been unjustly accused—Your Majesty, please investigate thoroughly and clear my name.”
The emperor lifted his eyes to look at Duchess Wei. “Is what the empress said true?”
Hearing this, Duchess Wei quickly responded, her voice tinged with alarm, “Replying to Your Majesty, what Her Majesty the Empress said is indeed true. I entered the palace today to thank Her Highness Consort Shu for her kindness in gifting me a prescription. It’s true that I was suddenly invited by the empress to the Kunde Palace for tea.”
The emperor then asked, “Why were you together with Duan Wangfei?”
“Replying to Your Majesty, my daughter-in-law is pregnant and has had a poor appetite. Duan Wangfei heard about this Dingyuan Marquis Madam, her sister-in-law, and mentioned it casually before Consort Shu. Consort Shu then gave the prescription to Duan Wangfei, who in turn gave it to me. After my daughter-in-law took it, her appetite greatly improved. I was deeply grateful, so I entered the palace to personally thank Consort Shu.”
“Since the matter came about through Duan Wangfei, I invited her to come along. That’s how we entered the palace together. May Your Majesty see clearly.”
“Consort Shu, is this true?”
Consort Shu nodded tearfully. “Your Majesty, do you still remember? Back when I was pregnant with Duan Wang, I had a terrible appetite and couldn’t eat. You were so worried that you couldn’t sleep and ordered the Imperial Medical Bureau to find a remedy that would allow me to eat normally. Eventually, the bureau came up with this prescription. It truly worked—I was gradually able to eat again, and I safely gave birth to Duan Wang.”
“The other day, when I heard Duan Wangfei mention Duke Wei’s Shizi’s Madam, whose situation was much like mine back then, I couldn’t bear to see her suffer. So I gave the prescription to Duan Wangfei and asked her to pass it to the Duke’s household, advising that a physician assess it before use. That was all.”
The emperor’s gaze turned back to Duchess Wei. “Is that really all there is to it?”
The handkerchief in her hand was clenched tightly. Of course, this wasn’t why she came—she had come to seek justice for her husband. But in this situation, she knew she couldn’t mention that. Otherwise, she would implicate Consort Shu, Duan Wang, and Duan Wangfei as well.
She bowed her head. “Yes, Your Majesty. That was my sole purpose in coming.”
The emperor gave her a complicated look, then turned to the imperial physician. “What kind of poison was Duan Wangfei afflicted with?”
The Left Imperial Inspector stepped forward and answered with a bowed head, “Replying to Your Majesty, it was a poison known as Xiao Ji San. It is not lethal, but it causes muscular weakness and physical fatigue. Unfortunately, since Duan Wangfei is pregnant and already in a weakened state, the poison caused her to fall unconscious.”
“Xiao Ji San? What is that?” Consort Shu looked bewilderedly at the emperor. “Your Majesty, I’ve never even heard of such a poison.”
The emperor frowned and looked to the physician.
The physician hesitated briefly, then replied, “Xiao Ji San is a folk remedy, often used against martial artists. Once ingested, it causes the muscles to gradually weaken, rendering their martial skills useless.”
The long-silent Duan Wang, who had been kneeling unnoticed, suddenly raised his head. He looked toward the empress, his face filled with disbelief, shock, and grief. His eyes blazed with fury, as if a thousand unspoken words were revealed in his gaze.
It was no secret in the palace that Duan Mingxi had practiced martial arts since childhood.
A poison like Xiao Ji San was useless against ordinary people like the empress or Duchess Wei—but it was specifically harmful to martial artists.
Only now did Consort Shu seem to realize something. She burst into tears, looking at the empress. “Your Majesty, I know that the Crown Prince once wanted to take Mingxi as a side consort, and he was displeased when Your Majesty betrothed her to Duan Wang instead—but you can’t destroy her over that!”
“Consort Shu!” the empress roared in fury. “I have never done any such thing!”
Her face turned ashen as she turned to kneel before the emperor. “Your Majesty, I would never be so foolish. Even if I were to harm someone, would I be stupid enough to do it inside my own Kunde Palace? Wouldn’t that be announcing my guilt to the world?”
Xiao Muchen turned to the physician. “How long after ingestion does Xiao Ji San take effect?”
The physician swallowed hard and replied, “Replying to Your Highness, if the person has very strong martial arts, it usually takes effect after three days. For someone in good health, it can begin to show effects within a day.”
Xiao Muchen looked toward the emperor. “Royal Father, did you hear that? If Mingxi were not pregnant, the poison would not even have taken effect until tomorrow. She would have already left the palace by then. Royal Father, I ask that you seek justice for both Mingxi and me!”
