"Were there any suspicious people in the Cold Palace before?" the Crown Prince asked.

"Your Highness, no, no one has come to the Cold Palace. Apart from the person who delivers the meals every day, no one has come at all!" Guard A said.

Who are the people delivering the meals?

"It's the same people every day! Even the servants aren't quite sure who they are!"

"You drank alcohol while on duty, do you know your crime?" the crown prince said grimly. The two men smelled faintly of alcohol, but it was still noticeable.

"This servant knows his mistake, please forgive him, Your Highness!" Guards A and B immediately bowed their heads and admitted their mistake, their legs trembling as they knelt on the ground.

"Brother, let's deal with them according to the rules!" the Crown Prince said to his eldest son.

“Your Highness, didn’t you give us a chance to redeem ourselves?” Guards A and B crawled on their knees to the Crown Prince.

The Crown Prince sneered, "If I hadn't given you a chance to redeem yourselves, you wouldn't even have the chance to speak to me now!"

To bring good fortune to He Xue, it's best to avoid bloodshed now, otherwise he would definitely kill the two of them.

"Brother, please take the three people who delivered food to the Cold Palace to the Censorate and interrogate them severely. There's definitely something wrong with one of them!"

The Crown Prince felt that the concubines in the Cold Palace couldn't possibly know He Xue; someone must have instigated it. Since the people in the Cold Palace couldn't contact anyone else, it could only be those three people who delivered the food.

"Arrest all three? What if we wrongly accuse someone else?" The eldest prince felt that this was not a good idea; surely all three of them could be involved in something.

"Better to kill the innocent than let the guilty go free! Brother, I don't want to waste time finding out who's behind this. I won't let anyone who's a suspect go!"

"Alright then, I'll get on it right away!" The eldest prince felt that the crown prince seemed to be filled with resentment and self-blame.

"Second brother, we didn't want to see He Xue get hurt. Don't blame yourself too much. We should find the murderer as soon as possible and avenge He Xue."

"You are the Crown Prince now, you can't be too willful. You can't interrogate anyone you suspect. If those censors find out, you'll probably be in big trouble!" The eldest prince comforted the Crown Prince.

"I understand, elder brother!" the Crown Prince said. "Thank you for your trouble. I'll go find Father Emperor; this matter still needs his attention!"

"Go ahead, I'll handle things here!" The eldest prince patted the crown prince on the shoulder.

The crown prince nodded and turned to go to the Qianqing Palace.

"What? He Xue was stabbed?" Kangxi asked in shock, and in the Imperial Garden no less! Who would dare to do such a thing? Could it be someone from the former Ming Dynasty? Are they treating his Imperial Garden as their own backyard? They have no respect for him, the emperor!

"What are the guards in the Imperial Garden doing? They're a bunch of useless trash!" Kangxi cursed.

"Father, the guards in the Imperial Garden have been transferred. This time, someone is specifically targeting He Xue."

"The person who stabbed He Xue is the concubine from the Cold Palace!" The Crown Prince naturally knelt in the center of the hall.

"I beg Your Majesty to severely punish the murderer to console He Xue for her suffering and to comfort Su Hetai! Otherwise, how can Su Hetai train his troops with peace of mind!" the Crown Prince said firmly, kneeling before Emperor Kangxi.

"I know what to do!" Kangxi said.

"Does the Empress and Imperial Noble Consort know about this?" Kangxi asked the Crown Prince.

"Mother Tong doesn't know yet!"

"I will inform the Imperial Noble Consort. Send someone to inform the General's Mansion that He Xue is injured. It would be inappropriate not to tell them!" Kangxi instructed the Crown Prince.

"Your subject obeys the decree!" the Crown Prince replied.

After leaving the Qianqing Palace, the Crown Prince returned to the Princes' Residence.

The Fourth Prince has already brought Imperial Physician Liu into the palace.

"Second Brother, Physician Liu is treating He Xue inside the room," the Fourth Prince said to the Crown Prince, and then returned the Crown Prince's token to him.

"Second brother, if I had been any later, Physician Liu would probably have been summoned away!"

"It seems that the palace and the outside world have joined forces to put He Xue to death!" the Crown Prince said coldly.

"Second Brother..." The Fourth Prince hesitated as he looked at the Crown Prince.

"Oh, right, Fourth Brother, I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to make a trip again!" The Crown Prince turned to the Fourth Prince and said, "Go to the General's Mansion and tell the General's wife about He Xue's injury!"

"Yes, Second Brother, I'll go right away!" The Fourth Prince swallowed back what he was about to say, deciding to wait and see.