Chapter 532 The Culprit

Zhong Lin felt like he was about to be driven mad by Wuxin. He had pleaded for him, yet Wuxin didn't even try to soften the situation by saying a few words, instead asking for punishment, as if he was afraid his master would be easy to talk to and not punish him?

Then, Zhong Lin heard Yun Yichen slowly say, "Wuxin failed in his duties and was punished with twenty strokes of the cane. After the punishment, go back and keep an eye on things for me. If this happens again, you don't need to show up again."

Twenty strokes of the cane was the lightest punishment Yun Yichen could receive. Although he had no intention of demanding any further punishment, he couldn't help but feel a surge of emotion upon hearing this.

The main house of the Third Prince's residence.

Lu Youming struggled to avoid the imperial physicians' examination, but with his tendons severed, he was already grimacing in pain and could hardly escape the clutches of so many physicians.

"Imperial Physician Hu, how is the Third Prince?"

Seeing her son sweating profusely from the pain but unable to cry out, Consort Liu felt as if her heart was being torn apart.

Upon hearing this, Physician Hu wiped the sweat from his forehead, his face grave. "The villain was ruthless, each cut was extremely vicious. This old minister had no choice but to prescribe some pain-relieving remedies to alleviate Your Highness's pain."

"And what about Your Highness's hand? Can it recover?"

"I'm afraid Your Highness will have to be taken care of for the rest of your life."

Physician Hu didn't directly say that Lu Youming was ruined, but the implication was the same.

"Mmm..."

Lu Youming tried desperately to say something, but without his tongue, he couldn't make a sound no matter how much pain he was in.

"My poor son!" Consort Liu sobbed as she looked at Lu Youming, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth. She then knelt down by the bed and wept loudly.

Standing to the side, Minister Liu remained unusually calm. "Imperial Physician Hu, is there really no other way to treat His Highness's hand? For example, could we reconnect the tendons in his hand and foot?"

Theoretically, since Lu Youming's accident was recent, his tendons and ligaments should be able to be reattached.

However, Physician Hu shook his head after hearing this, "If anyone could do what you said, I'm afraid it would only be the late Prince Luo."

Although Physician Hu had never personally witnessed Luo Yu's medical skills, he knew from the fact that the Gu family had been saved several times that this young master's abilities fully deserved the title of "divine physician."

Unfortunately, fate is cruel to the talented; with Luo Yu dead, the Third Prince was doomed.

Minister Liu had thought there was still a sliver of hope, but after hearing Physician Hu's words, even that last bit of hope vanished completely.

Looking at the suffering Lu Youming, Minister Liu clasped his hands in a fist salute to Physician Hu, saying, "Please prepare medicine to alleviate some of the Third Prince's pain."

"Rest assured, Your Excellency, I will do my best." Physician Hu said as he led his men to prepare the medicine.

After Liu Fei stayed with Lu Youming and shed tears for a while, she was then summoned to a side room by Minister Liu.

"Now that the Third Prince is in this state, Your Highness should probably make some plans sooner rather than later."

As Liu Fei's brother, Minister Liu's words naturally wouldn't offend her. However, if it were anyone else, given that her son had just suffered such a mishap, she would surely chop off their head if they dared to mention it in front of her.

"What are your plans? The Liu family has been doing their best to cultivate Youming all these years, and now the position of crown prince is vacant, but he has done this."

If Consort Liu had previously wanted to take a chance, now she has no desire to fight at all. With her son in such a state, she has no chance of becoming Empress Dowager anymore, so what plans does she have?

Consort Liu was disheartened, but Minister Liu was unconcerned. Although Lu Youming's plans had failed, it didn't mean Consort Liu had no chance.

"Your Majesty, who do you think could have been so cruel to His Highness?" Minister Liu asked.

Consort Liu, who was wiping away tears, was stunned when she heard this. She was grieving for her son's miserable state and had not yet thought about why Lu Youming had become like this.

"Brother, do you mean...?" Consort Liu was so shocked by the possibility that she couldn't help but cover her mouth.

Seeing that she had the point, Minister Liu immediately nodded, "Now that the Fifth Prince has made repeated mistakes and the Third Prince is showing signs of being installed as heir, if something happens to the Third Prince at this time, Your Majesty, who do you think will be the biggest beneficiary?"

Although Lu Yuanbin's reputation is already ruined, if he is the only son among the emperor's sons, would the emperor still care about the things he did in the past?

The answer is naturally no. Not only will he not be supported, but the emperor will also support him again and groom him to be the next emperor.

"What a vicious heart! When faced with a desperate situation, they resort to such desperate measures."

Anger blazed in Consort Liu's eyes. She had always been the most amiable woman in the harem and had never disobeyed Consort Sun's wishes. But Lu Yuanbin had actually dared to lay a hand on his own brother; it was utterly despicable.

"Brother, what do you think we should do next?"

Consort Liu no longer looked heartbroken as before, but instead wore a resentful expression. Seeing this, Minister Liu leaned close to Consort Liu's ear and whispered a few words. Consort Liu's pupils contracted in surprise, and then she nodded solemnly.

After returning to the palace from the Third Prince's residence, Consort Liu was so heartbroken that she fainted in the corridor.

Upon learning of this, the emperor rushed to Consort Liu's bedchamber. Seeing how haggard she had become from grief, he couldn't help but feel a pang of pity.

As intelligent as the emperor was, he naturally considered the same things that Minister Liu and Consort Liu had thought of. But he only had a few sons. Lu Tianhua was no longer a royal heir, and Lu Youming had become a cripple. The only person he could rely on was Lu Yuanbin, the culprit in his heart.

So even though he was very dissatisfied with Lu Yuanbin's actions, he still had to treat the matter as a common crime committed by a criminal.

At the Fifth Prince's residence, Lu Yuanbin was naturally unaware that he had already been labeled as a perpetrator of violence.

Upon learning of Lu Youming's ordeal, Lu Yuanbin was overjoyed and almost shouted out in excitement.

If Luo Yuying hadn't reminded him, Lu Yuanbin probably would have already prepared a grand banquet to celebrate.

Luo Yuying was also pleased about this. Previously, Lu Yuanbin had tried several times to win over important officials, but ended up losing more than he gained. Now that Lu Youming was in trouble, Lu Yuanbin no longer needed to try to win anyone over; those people would naturally come knocking on his door.

"Your Highness, such a serious matter has happened to the Third Prince. Shouldn't you prepare a generous gift and go to visit him?"

Seeing that Lu Yuanbin was so happy that he forgot who he was, Luo Yuying couldn't help but remind him.

"Look, we really need to take a good look. Steward, go and prepare some top-quality ginseng immediately. I'm going to visit my third brother."

Lu Yuanbin wasn't stupid. Since Luo Yuying had reminded him, he naturally had to go see Lu Youming. However, what Lu Youming thought was none of his business.

After Lu Yuanbin and the other stewards prepared the gifts, they took Luo Yuying to the Third Prince's residence. As soon as they arrived at the gate, they heard a commotion.

When Luo Yuying lifted the carriage curtain, she was surprised to see that it was none other than the Fourth Prince, Lu Changqing.