Chapter 146 The Visitor
"My son, are you feeling unwell? Is your chest still tight and painful?" The Empress stepped forward and looked at Qi Jun with affection.
After receiving the answer that everything was fine, she turned to look at the palace servants who were kneeling all over the room, her anger reaching its peak.
"The Crown Prince's poisoning must be related to you all. Send them all to the Imperial Prison for severe torture. I don't believe they won't vomit!"
"And you, Sun Miao, you follow the Crown Prince around all day, yet you didn't even notice that the Crown Prince was unwell. You can't do your job well, so keeping you by the Crown Prince's side is useless. Get rid of you too."
Sun Miao dared not beg for mercy, but knelt on the ground with a pale face and stammered in agreement.
Seeing that the Empress had dealt with all the servants of the Eastern Palace, and her anger had subsided considerably, Qi Jun calmly said:
"It is my fault for causing Father and Mother to worry about me. After all, Sun Miao has followed me for many years. There is no better candidate to replace him now. Instead, it would be easy for others to take advantage of the situation. It would be better to let him continue to stay in the Eastern Palace to make amends for his mistakes. If he fails to perform his duties again in the future, he can be punished accordingly."
"Your Majesty, please rest assured. Your son has already made progress. The suspicious individuals have been sent to the Censorate for questioning, along with the spies at the city gate. We expect to have results soon."
Seeing Qi Jun so calm and collected, seemingly not taking her poisoning to heart at all, the Empress felt both bitter and pained.
He was the crown prince from birth and was raised as the heir from childhood.
The first thing his teacher taught him was not the Thousand Character Classic, but the heavy responsibility of the people of Qi on his shoulders. He could not be afraid of being tired or in pain, and he could not act like an ordinary child and whine or cry to his mother.
He is only nineteen years old and has not yet come of age. Despite being poisoned by such a bizarre poison, he remains calm and composed, much to the empress's dismay.
She was about to say something more when the emperor waved his hand and said:
“Since Jun’er knows what he’s doing, you, as his mother, should let him try it himself. He knows his own body best.”
The Emperor patted the Empress on the shoulder, "I still have memorials to review, so let Jun'er rest for a while."
After saying that, he strode out of the East Palace.
"Your son respectfully sees off your father, the Emperor."
"Your Majesty, I respectfully see you off."
The emperor's imperial carriage disappeared from sight. The empress glanced at the imperial physician lying on the ground, her head throbbing with worry.
"What are you still kneeling here for? Didn't you say you were going to treat the Crown Prince again?!"
The imperial physicians were overjoyed and immediately got up. Some were flipping through medical books, some were taking pulses, and some were discussing, afraid that the Empress would think they were idle.
"Jun'er, you must never have anything happen to you. The future of Qi Kingdom and the future of the Bai family all rest on your shoulders..."
The Empress's tone held a hint of reproach, "You know the Bai family is now entirely dependent on me. For so many years, not a single member has amounted to anything. If something were to happen to you, the Bai family would..."
The Empress would talk endlessly about her maternal family, a story Qi Jun had heard countless times over the past decade, until he was completely tired of it.
His expression softened further, and he shifted his gaze from the Empress's face to something not far away:
"Your Majesty understands. If Your Majesty has nothing else to do, please return to the palace. Once the Ministry of Justice and the Imperial Physicians have news, I will send someone to report back to Your Majesty."
"Your mother just wanted to spend more time with you... Never mind, you've always been a person with your own ideas since you were little."
The mother and son exchanged a few words, and seeing that Qi Jun's expression was becoming increasingly indifferent, the Empress, even though she wanted to stay, compromised and left for the time being.
The Emperor and Empress finally left, and before Imperial Physician Wei could even breathe a sigh of relief, the Crown Prince called to him—
"Physician Wei, bring me the well water."
"!"
On the other side.
Before Xiao Yuxuan even arrived at the Princess's residence, she saw a familiar carriage parked by the side gate of the residence.
"Miss, that's the Xiao family's carriage. Is someone from the manor looking for you?"
Bi Sui had been in the Xiao family for a long time and recognized him at a glance.
"They're all embroiled in their own legal troubles, so why are they looking for girls? Surely they're not trying to drag girls down with them because of some other trouble they've gotten themselves into."
Xiao Yuxuan lowered the curtain but did not reply.
She wondered who it would be. Xiao Su and Lin Hui certainly wouldn't come in person. Xiao Jue had been demoted and was still recovering from an illness, so he definitely wouldn't come either. Xiao Min had been scolded quite harshly by her that day, so he wouldn't have the nerve to come again. That left only—Xiao Jin?
She didn't actually hate her twin brother as much as the other members of the Xiao family did.
It wasn't that he was particularly selfless, but rather that she had used a little trick to make Xiao Jin harbor resentment towards Xiao Yuyao, and stop him from constantly criticizing and hating her. At least this brother wasn't completely stupid.
The carriage slowly came to a stop, and the gatekeeper immediately came forward to report.
“Miss, the third young master of the Xiao family has arrived. He says he has important business to discuss with you. Aunt Meng has already arranged for him to enter the guest hall.”
Ever since Xiao Yuxuan was brought back to the manor by the Eldest Princess, everyone in the manor has more or less learned that the Eldest Princess is going to adopt her as a goddaughter.
Unfortunately, the eldest princess then contracted an epidemic, and the capital was not peaceful, so they had to put aside their hopes for the eldest princess's residence to have another young master.
However, the eldest princess was thoughtful and specifically instructed everyone in the household that while she was ill, everyone else in the mansion could be at Miss Xiao's beck and call.
So now, even though the formality of recognizing a woman hasn't been broken yet, almost everyone in the mansion treats Xiao Yuxuan as half a mistress, and even their address has been subtly changed from Miss Xiao to Miss.
"I understand, I'll be right there."
Xiao Yuxuan nodded and was about to walk towards the guest hall when the guard hesitated and said:
"However, I noticed that Young Master Xiao seems to be in a bad mood. Miss, you should be careful. Perhaps you should ask Aunt Meng to go with you?"
Bi Sui looked at Xiao Yuxuan worriedly. Was the Third Young Master Xiao here to cause trouble again?
She knew that none of the Xiao family members were well-behaved; they would use sweet words and flattery when they needed the girl, but would reveal their selfish nature when they didn't, showing no regard for the girl's feelings.
"Miss, maybe we shouldn't go. What if the Third Young Master says something unpleasant again..."
Xiao Yuxuan gently shook her head, "It must be no simple matter that he was able to find his way here. Even if I don't see him today, what about tomorrow or the day after? I can't hide from them forever."
That night, things happened suddenly. Apart from Xiao Su and Lin Hui, everyone else only found out afterward that the eldest princess wanted to recognize her as her goddaughter.
Although she went back later and met Xiao Min, everyone else had been behaving themselves these past few days, so there was no reason for them to come knocking on her door only today.
Something must have happened in the Xiao family for Xiao Jin to come here.
But should we go find Aunt Meng?
Xiao Yuxuan was unwilling to trouble her in private. The Princess needed someone to take care of her, and Aunt Meng was already too busy to spare any time for her to meet Xiao Jin. Why use a sledgehammer to crack a nut?
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