"You guys eat first, I have something to do!"

The Empress threw down her chopsticks and rushed out. Before Chuanwen could react, the Emperor also hurriedly threw down his chopsticks and followed her. After taking a couple of steps, he turned back and grabbed Chuanwen, saying, "Hey, hey, I haven't eaten yet!"

Chuanwen is so upset. What kind of mess is this? Can't people even eat?

"When you return, I will treat you to a Manchu Han Imperial Feast!"

The emperor was already getting excited. If his son was really faking illness, he would definitely reward Chuanwen handsomely! Not to mention a Manchu-Han Imperial Feast, he would even give her the chef!

The group arrived at the East Palace in a great hurry, but before they even entered the Crown Prince's room, the sound of violent coughing could be faintly heard.

The Emperor and Empress's hearts, which had been pounding just moments before, sank slightly, their excitement turning into unease. Was their son truly feigning illness? Yet, the cough sounded so unmistakably real!

The Empress's hand trembled slightly as she pushed the door open, and after the door was opened, the Emperor and Empress's hearts sank completely.

The room was filled with a strong medicinal smell, the kind that comes from years of taking medicine. Behind the white curtains, the prince’s frail body trembled violently from coughing.

The empress could not bear to watch any longer. She turned back, buried her face in the emperor's shoulder, covered her mouth, and tears streamed down her face uncontrollably.

The emperor's majestic eyes welled up with tears, but as a man, he had to be strong at this moment, gently patting the empress's shoulder to comfort her.

Well, the Crown Prince's illness has been going on for a while now, let's just take it as Chuanwen playing a joke on them.

Chuanwen felt a pang of sympathy upon hearing the coughing sound from behind the curtain. [This man is quite ill; even if he doesn't die saving the Crown Prince, he probably won't live much longer.]

What! ! !

The emperor and empress paused. Wasn't the crown prince the person behind the curtain?

The two women didn't believe it, but in order to find out whether the Crown Prince was actually sick or not, the Empress still tentatively walked behind the curtain. At this moment, the Crown Prince's weak voice came from behind the curtain.

"Mother, please stand there."

The Empress paused, hesitating slightly. "Yi'er, your mother hasn't seen you for many years. Please let your mother take a good look at you."

As the Empress spoke, the tears she had just stopped falling fell again. There was a moment of silence behind the curtain, and as the Empress lifted her foot again, she quickly said, "I look unwell and I'm afraid I'll frighten you, Mother. You should go back quickly."

The prince's illness began five years ago. At first, he was just weak and sweaty, then he developed a cough and weakness, and three years ago he was bedridden and had difficulty getting up.

In the past, the emperor would have advised the empress to go back at this time. As men, he naturally understood his son's behavior of not wanting them to worry and not letting them see his sick appearance. After all, his son could not eat a bowl of rice a day and was given medicine at every meal. His son might already be emaciated.

But today, the emperor hesitated only slightly before, before the palace maids and eunuchs could react, he took three steps in two and walked behind the curtain. Then, he froze.

The person on the bed had sunken cheeks and a sickly pale face. Although his forehead was covered with beads of sweat, he seemed very cold. He was covered with thick blankets, and the exposed part of his arm looked like lifeless bark waiting to die. His cloudy eyes looked at him in terror as he suddenly barked in.

The emperor was shocked by the man's haggard and sickly appearance on the bed, and even more shocked that this man was not his son!

Although he knew it was immoral, the emperor felt immense relief and wanted to laugh out loud. However, his emotions were quickly overwhelmed by anger, especially when he saw the real crown prince peek out from behind the bed!

"Yi'er!"

Seeing that there was no movement inside, the Empress followed her in. Then she saw the Crown Prince peeking out from behind the bed. She screamed and quickly walked over, grabbing the Crown Prince and looking him up and down, left and right.

Are you really okay?

[That's for sure, with that broad-shouldered, burly build, he eats half a pig in one meal, does he look like he's in trouble?]

The Crown Prince was feeling guilty when he was suddenly interrupted by such a voice. He looked at Chuanwen with surprise in his eyes, but before he could ask anything, a crisp and loud slap rang out in the room.

The crown prince's head was knocked to the side, and the empress's hand was also sore. The emperor quickly came over to blow on it, then squinted at the innocent-looking crown prince and said to the empress, "Jinmei, step back a bit, don't get splattered with blood."

As she spoke, she rolled up her sleeves and stepped back, not forgetting to pull back the messenger who was trying to join in the fun.

"Come, come, Wenwen, what would you like to eat? I'll have someone make it for you right away."

The Empress now finds Chuanwen more than just novel; she likes him. Chuanwen glances at the curtains, where there are loud crackling sounds and screams of agony!

"Then... roasted chestnuts, stir-fried pork kidneys, deep-fried prawns, braised beef, sliced ​​pork... and a cucumber salad to cut through the grease."

"Okay, okay, I'll make them all for you."

The Empress's tone was almost indulgent; if Chuanwen wanted the moon, she would get it for him.

Chuanwen had eaten and drunk his fill, while the Crown Prince, kneeling below, watched with longing. However, until the matter was fully explained, the Emperor and Empress would not allow him to eat a single bite.

The story begins five years ago.

Five years ago, the Crown Prince began to feel unwell. At first, he didn't take it seriously. After taking medicine for a few days, his condition did not improve. Instead, he continued to sweat and felt weak, so he gradually became concerned.

However, the imperial physicians could not find the cause of the illness, nor could they tell if it was poisoning. The crown prince could only rest and recuperate. However, he did become more attentive to the things around him. Until three years ago, when he was completely too weak to get out of bed, it was at that time that he discovered the clue.

The reason was that one day when he was sitting on the bed reading a book, the window was not closed, a gust of wind blew in, and some dust fell from the roof beam above his head, landing right on the book he was holding.

He initially intended to brush it away, but upon touching the dark substance, he realized it wasn't dust but incense ash.

He couldn't help but look up at the roof beam, filled with doubt. Why was there incense ash there?

He dared not act rashly, and only sent his personal guard Ye Li to check at night. Sure enough, he found traces of incense ash again.

I don't know who lit incense on his roof beam. Although there wasn't much ash, probably because the person cleaned it up after each time, something so delicate would always leave a trace.

So every day after that, Ye Li carefully watched the rooftop, and sure enough, after guarding it for half a month, they caught the person at the end of the month.

However, before they could interrogate him, the man bit through the poison hidden between his teeth and died.

Although I don't know who's behind this, at least I got that incense stick.

Before finding out who was behind it, the Crown Prince did not want to make a big fuss, so he asked Ye Li to take it to the Ghost Market to inquire. He then learned that it was a kind of slow-acting poison from the Western Regions, and that it would not be easy to find an antidote.

It took the Crown Prince a year to completely cure his poison. However, during that time, he pretended to be terminally ill, never attending court or leaving the house, hoping to find out who was behind it all. But ever since they captured the man in black, the mastermind seemed to have forgotten about him, and no one else came to poison him.