"Chen Feng".

Xie Jingyan called out, and Chen Feng jumped through the window and entered the room. "What are your orders, Master?"

"Send Doctor Tao to Prince Cheng's residence."

Chen Feng accepted the order and withdrew.

As Shen Wan ate her food, she thought about the Crown Prince's critical illness. In her previous life, she had not heard that the Crown Prince was critically ill at this time. However, the Crown Prince had been suffering from a congenital illness and was always taking medicine. If they hadn't been in a hurry to invite Doctor Tao, they probably wouldn't have known.

Chen Feng escorted Doctor Tao to Prince Cheng's residence in the early evening, and returned even later. By then, the prince had already returned from his study, carried Shen Wan, who was still reading, to bed, and prepared for her to retire.

Just as he put Shen Wan down and was about to lean in, there was a knock on the window, and Chen Feng's voice came, "Master?"

The pleasant atmosphere was interrupted, and Xie Jingyan's brows furrowed into a knot.

Shen Wan blushed and pushed him away, saying, "Chen Feng must have something urgent to report..."

Xie Jingyan stood up with a dark expression.

He was curious to know what urgent matter Chen Feng had that couldn't wait until tomorrow to report, and had to say it tonight.

Chen Feng waited outside the window. When the message was delivered, he saw his grandfather's face, which was covered in soot. Chen Feng's heart trembled violently at the sight.

He won't ruin my plans, will he...?

Chen Yu said, "Grandpa just got back to his room."

Xie Jingyan frowned and asked, "What do you want to report?"

Chen Feng steadied himself and said, "Tonight, Doctor Tao went to treat the Crown Prince of Cheng and discovered that the Crown Prince's illness is not just a matter of being born weak. Rather, he has been secretly poisoned over the years. The poison was mild before and went unnoticed, but this time, for some reason, the poison was more severe. Doctor Tao detected it from his pulse."

"This time, it wasn't just Doctor Tao who took Prince Cheng's pulse; several other imperial physicians did as well. Since none of the other physicians mentioned poisoning, I don't know if they couldn't detect it or were afraid to say so, so Doctor Tao didn't mention it either."

In Dr. Tao's eyes, concealing the cause of illness is tantamount to aiding and abetting evil.

He refrained from telling Prince Cheng and Princess Cheng, but when he returned, he couldn't help but tell Chen Feng.

Chen Feng felt this was no small matter. Prince Cheng was the Emperor's own brother, born of the same mother. It was unimaginable that someone had been poisoning Prince Cheng's son right under his nose for years.

Not to mention Chen Feng, who couldn't imagine it, even Xie Jingyan and Shen Wan found it unbelievable.

Poisoning someone once is easy, but poisoning someone year after year is not something that can be done easily.

Even the strongest body would succumb to years of poisoning, let alone the fact that the Crown Prince was born weaker than most. It's truly remarkable that he's survived this long.

Thinking of how, after the death of the Crown Prince, the Princess Consort of Cheng could not bear the blow and jumped into a well in the palace to her death, and how Princess Yong'an was married off to a distant place by the Empress Dowager while still in mourning, Shen Wan felt unbearable pain.

Saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda. If you don't know, then so be it. But if you do know, you must save Prince Cheng. Besides, Prince Cheng only has one son, so even if he doesn't help them in the future, he can't help Xie Jingyin suppress them.

After Chen Feng finished his report, he withdrew. Xie Jingyan closed the window, turned around and walked towards the bedside. Shen Wan looked at him and said, "We must tell Prince Cheng about this."

Xie Jingyan said, "If we could tell King Cheng, given Tao Dafu's personality, he would have said it back then, but he chose to tell me, which must mean that King Cheng had some concerns."

Shen Wan looked at Xie Jingyan with a puzzled expression. The Crown Prince's illness told the Prince of Cheng that he had some concerns, so who else could he tell?

Xie Jingyan said, "Let's go to sleep. I'll ask Doctor Tao tomorrow and then decide."

Shen Wan was about to say something more, but Xie Jingyan had already continued what they hadn't finished, and Shen Wan was quickly led by him to put the matter out of her mind.

The next day, when Shen Wan woke up, she was told that Doctor Tao had arrived and was talking to Xie Jingyan in the study.

While eating breakfast, Xie Jingyan put some food on Shen Wan's plate and said, "I'll be going to the palace in a little while."

Shen Wan looked at him, "Are you going to tell the Empress Dowager?"

Telling the Empress Dowager and telling King Cheng makes no difference.

Xie Jingyan said, "Tell the Emperor."

Shen Wan, “…???”

I feel like my brain isn't working properly.

The Crown Prince of Cheng was poisoned, but instead of telling his father, the Prince of Cheng, or his grandmother, the Empress Dowager, he told the Emperor…

Shen Wan couldn't figure out why Xie Jingyan was doing this, so she asked directly, "Why?"

Xie Jingyan said, "You'll find out later."

Why did you deliberately keep her in suspense? Couldn't you have told her beforehand?

After breakfast, Xie Jingyan went to the palace. Shen Wan took a stroll in the garden and then returned to her room to embroider and pass the time.

While she was embroidering, Dong'er came in and said, "Your Highness, the Crown Prince of Cheng is critically ill. The Emperor consulted the Imperial Observatory, who said that the Crown Prince's chance of survival lies in Huguo Temple. When the Empress Dowager learned of this, she immediately ordered Prince Cheng to send the Crown Prince to Huguo Temple to recuperate."

Without a doubt, this was Xie Jingyan's idea.

Sending Crown Prince Seong to the Huguo Temple was indeed a good idea.

The fact that someone could poison the Crown Prince right under King Cheng's nose for so many years shows that the person who poisoned him had the deep trust of King Cheng and Queen Cheng.

Telling King Cheng directly might not be enough to find the culprit, and it might even alert him. Sending him to Huguo Temple, where he will live and eat with the monks, will prevent anyone from poisoning the Crown Prince and will be beneficial to his health. If someone in the shadows is determined to eliminate the Crown Prince, they will try to poison him even while he is at Huguo Temple. As long as someone is secretly watching him, we will have no trouble finding the culprit.

When it was lunchtime, Xie Jingyan still hadn't returned, so Shen Wan waited for him for a quarter of an hour before eating by herself.

After finishing lunch and putting down their chopsticks, Xie Jingyan returned as the maid cleared away the food. Shen Wan asked, "You're only back now? Have you had lunch?"

"I've already eaten at the palace," Xie Jingyan said.

Shen Wan's eyes widened. "Eating with the Emperor?"

If we save Crown Prince Cheng, we won't be at the Emperor's mercy, right?

Xie Jingyan said, "I'm eating with my father-in-law."

Shen Wan was embarrassed.

She said, "Why would he stay in the palace to have lunch with the Emperor? Turns out, his father is here too."

He knew Xie Jingyan wouldn't give the Emperor face, but he wouldn't disrespect his father-in-law.

Shen Wan felt heartbroken for the Emperor.

Xie Jingyan poured himself a cup of tea, and just as he picked it up, Dong'er came in to report that the coffin of the Fourth Master of the Left Prime Minister's Mansion had been transported from Meizhou to the capital.

Xie Jingyan only sent a condolence gift to the Left Prime Minister's residence through Steward Zhou, and did not intend to go in person.

When Shen Wan woke up from her afternoon nap, Yin Shuang grinned and told her, "Your Highness, the Empress was reprimanded by the Emperor."

Upon hearing this, Shen Wan asked, "What has the Empress done wrong?"

Yinshuang said, "The Empress asked the Emperor to grant a coffin to her elder brother, Master Song, which angered the Emperor, and she was then reprimanded by him."

Chen Wan remained silent.

I've never seen anyone so eager to be insulted.

Master Song went to Meizhou to investigate a case, but he didn't believe there was an earthquake there. He went to a brothel to have some fun and was killed by a collapsing beam, which disgraced the court. The emperor did not pursue the matter with the Left Prime Minister's family, but Empress Song was still not satisfied. She wanted the emperor to bestow a coffin so that Master Song could be buried with the honors given by the emperor.

If the Emperor were to actually grant it, wouldn't that be condoning court officials' pursuit of pleasure?