To plot against an imperial heir is a capital offense.
Without asking any questions, Ye Jingchen immediately accused Imperial Physician Tao of plotting to harm the imperial heir. If this charge were proven true, not only would Imperial Physician Tao be unable to escape death, but his family would also be implicated.
The person who had been relatively calm suddenly lost their composure and collapsed to their knees.
"I have only treated the Fifth Prince a few times. How could I be accused of plotting against the imperial heir? I beg Your Highness to see the truth!" Physician Tao said in a mixture of fear and apprehension.
"Didn't you tell Consort Shu that the Fifth Prince had epilepsy?" Ye Jingchen asked, resting his chin on his hand with a curious expression.
"After all, you're the only one who has ever treated the Fifth Prince, aren't you?" Ye Jingchen added with a smile.
Perhaps it was because Ye Jingchen's voice was too calm and his expression showed no anger, that Physician Tao hesitated for a moment before firmly saying, "Your Highness, the Fifth Prince does indeed suffer from epilepsy. I have practiced medicine for decades and would never misdiagnose him."
"If it was you who made the diagnosis, then it's not like I wronged you. Guards, drag him away and throw him into the prison to be executed in the autumn!" Ye Jingchen said this with a smile on his lips.
As soon as Ye Jingchen finished speaking, the well-trained Donggong guards stepped forward to drag the person away.
"Your Highness, I am innocent! I was merely examining the Fifth Prince, what crime have I committed?" Physician Tao cried out as he was dragged away.
"Your Highness, I am not convinced! Even if you are the Crown Prince, you cannot treat human life so lightly!"
"Your Highness—"
Ye Jingchen watched with amusement as the Eastern Palace Guards dragged the man away. Imperial Physician Tao struggled incessantly, but his efforts were insignificant compared to the well-trained Eastern Palace Guards. He was about to be dragged out of the main hall—
"Wait a minute," Ye Jingchen said slowly.
"Since you're not convinced, then I'll reason with you and let you die knowing the truth," Ye Jingchen said, raising his hand.
So the palace guards dragged the person back like a dead dog.
“The royal bloodline is so noble that princes with epilepsy are not allowed. You’re saying the Fifth Prince has epilepsy, which means you want him to die. Isn’t that plotting against the imperial heir?” Ye Jingchen asked with a smile.
Physician Tao collapsed to the ground, his face ashen.
Ye Jingchen stepped down from the platform and came to the side of Imperial Physician Tao. He looked down at him for a long time and then revealed a bright smile. "Don't worry, after you die, I will definitely send your family down to reunite with you, so that you will not be lonely on your way to the underworld."
Although he lowered his voice intentionally when he said this, everyone in the hall could hear him clearly.
Suddenly, the hall fell into a deathly silence; you could hear a pin drop.
Physician Tao looked at Ye Jingchen in horror; in his eyes, Ye Jingchen had transformed into a vengeful ghost seeking death.
"Don't look at me like that. If you have any hatred, hate it for your prized medical skills and for the person who instructed you to diagnose the prince with epilepsy!"
Upon hearing this, a look of shock flashed across Physician Tao's previously despairing face.
"It seems I guessed right. The Fifth Prince is not sick. It's just that some people want him to have epilepsy, right?" Ye Jingchen asked with a smile.
Doctor Tao's lips twitched, and he was about to speak when Ye Jingchen interrupted him.
"Think carefully before you answer, after all, your answer concerns the life and death of your entire clan."
Throughout the entire interrogation, Ye Jingchen maintained complete control of the pace.
From the moment he stepped into the Eastern Palace, Imperial Physician Tao's fate was sealed.
Perhaps having figured this out, when Doctor Tao spoke again, he was surprisingly calm, a kind of desperate calm.
"The Fifth Prince is not ill; the epilepsy is indeed a fabrication."
“A year ago, shortly after Consort Shu gave birth to the Seventh Prince, Changchun Palace summoned me to see him on the grounds that the Fifth Prince had a fever. But when I arrived, I found that the Fifth Prince was not sick at all. It was Consort Shu who summoned me.”
"Now that Consort Shu has her own son, the existence of the Fifth Prince seems superfluous. However, she cannot give up the Fifth Prince on her own initiative, so she came up with this plan. The Fifth Prince is already out of favor, and his birth mother is of low status. If he were to also suffer from epilepsy, His Majesty would definitely abandon the child."
"The Consort Shu first promised me great rewards, but when I remained unmoved, she threatened me with the lives of my family. I was just a lowly imperial physician, my life and death were not in my own hands, so I had no choice but to—"
"Enough!" Ye Jingchen interrupted his sob story, his smile fading as he coldly asked, "What exactly did you do to the Fifth Prince? Why did he suddenly go berserk?"
"I gave the Fifth Prince a medicine I made myself. Whenever he is stimulated, he will go mad. The symptoms are very similar to epilepsy, and no one can tell the difference," said Physician Tao with a hint of pride.
Ye Jingchen couldn't hold back and kicked Doctor Tao in the chest, sending him sprawling to the ground.
"Since it was a drug you made yourself, hand over the antidote, and I might consider letting you die a quicker death!" Ye Jingchen pressed.
"There is no antidote," Physician Tao said calmly, remaining in the same position without getting up.
"If you want to experience the ten most cruel tortures, I won't mind granting your wish!" Ye Jingchen said through gritted teeth.
"'Reluctance' is my proudest masterpiece. It can't be considered a poison, so there is no antidote. Even if His Highness the Crown Prince used all ten of the most cruel tortures on me, I still wouldn't have an antidote," Physician Tao said with a smile.
Unbeknownst to them, their emotions had reversed.
At first, Ye Jingchen was calm and composed, but now it was Physician Tao who was calm and composed.
If looks could kill, Ye Jingchen would have loved to skin the person in front of him alive.
When he was furious, he actually calmed down.
"It seems you're no longer afraid of death," Ye Jingchen sneered. "However, I firmly believe that everyone has things they care about, things that are above their own life and death. If I want to investigate, you hold no secrets from me!"
The smile on Physician Tao's face disappeared.
"They all say that His Highness the Crown Prince is just a spoiled fool, but it seems the rumors are unreliable. Seeing him today, His Highness is clearly incredibly intelligent, almost supernatural, and doesn't seem like an eight-year-old child at all," he said.
"Whether Your Highness is genuinely worried about the Fifth Prince's safety or has other plans, there's no need to worry. My medicine is not fatal or particularly harmful. It will only cause the Fifth Prince to occasionally go berserk, irritable, and appear like a madman. This outcome should be most advantageous for Your Highness, because the Fifth Prince will absolutely not be able to threaten you in the future, will he?"
"Hahaha—" Doctor Tao laughed loudly, and as he laughed, a trickle of scarlet blood dripped from the corner of his mouth.
"Uh—" The laughter stopped abruptly.
Upon seeing this, the guards of the Eastern Palace quickly stepped in front of Ye Jingchen to block his view.
Ye Jingchen had lived for thirty years and had never seen anything like this in real life. He wanted to see it but dared not.
"Your Highness, Tao Zhi has committed suicide by poison." After a long while, someone told him.
Tao Taiyi, whose given name is simply "Zhi", is certainly no ordinary person who could become a royal physician.
Although he deserved to die, Ye Jingchen never intended to kill him with his own hands; he should be punished by law.
Ye Jingchen covered his eyes with his hands, hiding all his emotions. After a long while, he finally spoke, "Take him out and bury him!"
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