Chapter 75: Speak of the Devil
“Yes.” Chixiao nodded. “We’ve been keeping watch outside that courtyard. At the time, we intended to seize the opportunity to rescue Physician Tan, but before long, we saw the maidservant beside Physician Tan leading a group inside. They appeared to be her own people.”
“We decided it best to observe for the time being.”
“Soon after, the sounds of fighting from within the house diminished and then faded altogether. We waited a while longer and saw the maidservant leave with her group.”
Chixiao’s brows were tightly knit; recalling the scene still left him puzzled.
“We watched carefully—the number of people she led in and out was exactly the same. Not one more, not one less. They brought no corpses out, either.”
“We thought they might return to clean up the bodies, but they didn’t.”
“This morning, the servants entered to tidy up, and nothing seemed amiss.”
Shen Yingjue idly played with two jade spheres in his hand, his eyes narrowed indifferently. “Indeed—neither living nor dead, not a trace remains.”
His face was cool, his gaze deepening with an inky shadow. “This Tan Qingjiu never fails to surprise me.”
Chixiao glanced at Shen Yingjue cautiously. “Because of the events in the Prince Ding’s manor, many in the city have their eyes on Tan Qingjiu. Your Highness, this could be an opportunity.”
“What opportunity?” Shen Yingjue asked.
Chixiao wetted his lips. “So many are watching Tan Qingjiu—not only us, but the whole city, and those in the palace as well, including the one who poisoned you. We could turn their schemes to our advantage, send someone to blend in and pretend to abduct Physician Tan.”
“Then, Your Highness could feign a poisoned-induced coma, have someone in the manor disguise as the unconscious prince, and you yourself could escape with Physician Tan, hide away in a secret place, and let her treat your illness.”
“At that point, no one would be able to find either you or Tan Qingjiu, so there’d be no worry that those symptoms she mentioned—such as excessive sleep or dulled senses—would be noticed in you.”
The jade spheres paused briefly in Shen Yingjue’s hand, then spun faster.
He glanced at Chixiao with layered meaning. “Yes, I wouldn’t have to worry about those side effects appearing in me. But then, I’d have to fear that if Tan Qingjiu wished to take my life, I’d have no strength to resist.”
Chixiao hesitated. “Physician Tan surely wouldn’t want Your Highness dead, would she?”
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“Didn’t Your Highness say that Physician Tan intends to use your name, to intimidate others and secure her footing in the capital?” Chixiao pressed.
Shen Yingjue reclined on the couch. “There’s nothing absolute in this world. One must always guard against the unexpected. Cautious or suspicious, call it what you will, but I would never entrust my life to another.”
“But Your Highness’s illness—”
Shen Yingjue was utterly nonchalant. “It’s not fatal.”
“I need to be cured. Though it won’t kill me, this ailment makes things inconvenient.”
“But I must plot carefully, find a way to seize Tan Qingjiu’s weakness, or threaten her with my life if need be.”
“I must be certain she poses no threat before I can rest easy.”
He set the jade spheres in a dish nearby, their clear ring echoing. “After all, the one in the palace even devised the marriage order. Who can say he wouldn’t send such a physician to deliberately approach me?”
“True enough.”
“By the way,” Shen Yingjue sat up again, “earlier you mentioned that night in Prince Duan’s manor, the two children by Tan Qingjiu revealed their faces—beneath their human-skin masks, they looked remarkably like the Prince Ding’s heir?”
Chixiao perked up at the mention. “Yes, at first Physician Tan had the young heir do a blood kinship test—his blood blended with hers and the princess consort’s, but not with the Prince Ding’s heir.”
“Then she had her two children and the Prince Ding’s heir do the same, and their blood fused with his.”
“Afterwards, the two children removed their masks, and beneath, their faces truly resembled the Prince Ding’s heir closely.”
“Everyone was shocked. Some claimed the two were children of the Prince Ding’s heir and Physician Tan, but the princess consort insisted they were born on the same day, and the children were mistakenly swapped. After the commotion, Physician Tan declared it all a joke, meant only to prove the princess consort had been lying from the start.”
Shen Yingjue had long heard of these events, but as Chixiao recounted them, he narrowed his eyes. “A joke, is it?”
He doubted it was merely that.
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A bell chimed in the room.
Shen Yingjue turned toward the sound, and Chixiao hurried to hide behind the screen.
Shen Yingjue raised his hand and tugged the bell cord.
Soon, the steward’s voice echoed from the inner courtyard: “Your Highness, Physician Tan requests an audience.”
“Well, speak of the devil.” Shen Yingjue’s gaze held amusement as he lifted a golden mask and donned it. “Let her in.”
Tan Qingjiu quickly entered, walking straight to a spot three steps before Shen Yingjue. “Greetings, Prince Duan.”
Shen Yingjue’s lips curled. “Ah Jiu, what brings you here today? Could it be you missed me?”
“I hear lately you and my nephew have been entangled.”
“Is having me not enough? Is the title of Princess Duan insufficient, so you seek to steal the position of Princess Ding as well?”
Tan Qingjiu lowered her eyes. “Your Highness jests. I am not entangled with anyone, be it you or the Prince Ding’s heir.”
She withdrew a white jade vial from her sleeve. “A few days ago, I received some herbs from Miao Shou Valley. Early this morning, I finally completed the first course of antidote for Your Highness, and brought it to you myself.”
“Oh?” Shen Yingjue fixed his gaze on the vial, eyes narrowing. “This is the antidote?”
“You have my thanks, Physician Tan.”
He stretched out his hand, fingers brushing the vial, but abruptly halted. Instead, his hand slid past the bottle and seized Tan Qingjiu’s wrist, pulling her closer…
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