Chapter 36: Is It Time to Leave with Me?

"What?"

"Who is the Princess Consort of Prince Duan? Who?"

Everyone was stunned by Prince Duan’s words. Even Tan Qingjiu couldn’t help but raise her eyes to look at him, unable to conceal her astonishment.

A faint smile played at the corners of Prince Duan’s lips. “Why, it’s the Miracle Physician, of course.”

“My imperial father learned that the medicine prescribed by the Miracle Physician could suppress my strange illness. He was overjoyed and announced on the spot that he would grant a marriage between me and the Miracle Physician.”

“I am here now to escort the Miracle Physician into the palace to meet my father.”

As Shen Yingjue finished speaking, his gaze swept over the corpse lying on the ground and the kneeling woman. “Who could have foreseen running into such an inauspicious affair?”

“There are those attempting to slander my future princess consort, accusing her of killing a patient, and there are others who dare cast those vile, lascivious eyes upon her—should I not be angry? Should I not be outraged?”

Tan Qingjiu watched in silence as Shen Yingjue’s imposing presence swept across the room, at a loss for words.

Originally, this woman, these constables, and Chen Yueru had all come to find fault with her, hoping to destroy her reputation.

She had already come up with a countermeasure.

But with Shen Yingjue’s arrival, he single-handedly overpowered everyone present, leaving her no room to act at all…

And he claimed to have come to escort her into the palace for an audience? Was that true?

Chen Yueru’s face was filled with disbelief. “Wha…what? Her? The future Princess Consort of Prince Duan?”

The composed mask on Chen Yueru’s face began to crack, and she was at a loss as to how the situation had devolved so rapidly. “Your Highness, you have just arrived. I doubt you know what happened before. This Miracle Physician is actually the Tan family’s second daughter. Six or seven years ago, she became pregnant out of wedlock and was even drowned in a pond for it—but her fate was strong, and she survived…”

“So what?” Shen Yingjue’s eyes swept coldly over Chen Yueru’s face. “If the woman I wish to marry became pregnant before marriage and has two children, I would still marry her without hesitation.”

“If I do not wish to marry a woman, even if she is as beautiful as a fairy and gentle as spring water, I would not spare her a single glance.”

Though Shen Yingjue seemed to be defending her, for some reason, hearing this, Tan Qingjiu felt not the slightest joy.

This could hardly be considered a compliment.

Yet Chen Yueru seemed deeply stung—the change in her expression was plain to see.

The onlookers, meanwhile, began to cast Tan Qingjiu sympathetic glances. Earlier, they had doubted her skills, suspecting the Miracle Physician was a fraud and perhaps even a killer—someone to be despised.

But now, hearing Prince Duan declare that His Majesty would grant her in marriage to the prince, they suddenly felt she was rather pitiable.

Becoming the Princess Consort of Prince Duan was no ordinary fate.

After all, the precedent was set just a month ago: on his wedding night, Prince Duan had strangled a princess consort to death.

That, too, had been an imperial marriage.

As whispers spread through the crowd once more, Shen Yingjue paid them no heed. He cast a casual glance at the constable whose eyes had been pierced by hidden weapons and whose face was covered in blood, then beckoned to his attendants.

The attendants hurried to bring a chair down from the carriage. Shen Yingjue seated himself and said, “Take that blind fool away. His bloody face is an eyesore.”

Once the constable had been dragged off, Shen Yingjue spoke again. “Now, let us proceed. Weren’t you investigating the case? I will watch as you do so. The sooner you finish, the sooner I can bring Physician Tan to the palace for an audience.”

“I am curious to see how you go about investigating.”

Having said this, Shen Yingjue ignored the constables, who were trembling and exchanging helpless glances, not knowing where to start. He merely crooked his finger at Tan Qingjiu. “Come here.”

With downcast eyes, Tan Qingjiu meekly walked to Shen Yingjue’s side.

Shen Yingjue cast her a half-smile, but when he turned to the constables, the smile vanished entirely. “Well? Isn’t there a case to be solved? What are you waiting for? Must I investigate it for you?”

His voice was not loud, yet it sent a shiver through every constable, and they hurriedly replied, “We’ll begin at once!”

“Should the coroner examine the corpse first?”

“Or should we interrogate the woman?”

A dispute broke out among the constables, but under Shen Yingjue’s icy gaze, they felt their legs nearly give way. Drawing a deep breath, one of them said, “Let’s do both at once.”

Perhaps it was Shen Yingjue’s formidable presence, or perhaps it was the chilling reminder of what had happened to the constable who lost his eyes, but from then on, whenever anyone so much as mentioned the Miracle Physician being a killer, a cold gaze would sweep over them and they would falter.

As a result, the investigation proceeded with unusual speed.

The woman, now aware she was pregnant and thoroughly cowed by Shen Yingjue, had none of her former bravado and confessed everything in detail.

“Someone came to me, gave me poison, and told me to mix it into my husband’s medicine—to poison him.”

She collapsed to the ground, her face ashen. “That person promised me a hundred taels of silver if I poisoned him, made a scene here, and claimed that the Miracle Physician had killed him.”

“My husband and I used to get along, but after he lost the use of his legs, he was bedridden, unable to move, and I had to care for his every need. Our savings quickly dwindled, and we couldn’t even afford rice or flour.”

“And perhaps because he had just lost his legs, he became irritable. At the slightest provocation, he would curse me, or even throw things at me.”

“I thought, if he is suffering so much, and I am suffering too, perhaps it would be better if he died. At least I could get some silver and not worry about starving.”

Tears streamed down her face. “I didn’t know—I didn’t know I was pregnant! If I had known, I never would have…”

Meanwhile, the coroner finished his examination. Though the officials had been bribed before, with Prince Duan seated there and the fate of the blinded constable as a warning, none dared to falsify the findings.

“He died of poisoning.”

Shen Yingjue arched an eyebrow. “So, Physician Tan has been falsely accused? This woman tried to frame her?”

“Yes.”

“Then take this woman to prison and interrogate her thoroughly. Make her confess who put her up to this. I will not allow my future princess consort to suffer such baseless slander, her reputation nearly ruined.”

The constables dared not disobey, and nodded vigorously. “Yes, we will interrogate her thoroughly.”

Shen Yingjue gave a cold laugh and rose, looking at Tan Qingjiu, who stood quietly by as if unconcerned with the whole affair. “Physician Tan, now that this matter is resolved, shouldn’t you come with me?”