Di Jinghan covered his mouth and stared wide-eyed at the portraits of A Zi. They were so lifelike and charming that they depicted A Zi's beauty so vividly. It was clear that the painter had engraved the person in the painting in his heart to be able to depict her so vividly.
Even Di Jinghan, who was used to seeing big scenes, was so shocked that he couldn't speak for a long time. This world was too absurd. What was going on? Did the Emperor know what the Second Emperor was thinking?
It took her a while to find her voice: "Fuzi! Fuzi!"
Fu Zi walked in with her head down, never daring to raise her head from beginning to end: "Princess."
Di Jinghan took a deep breath, recalling his elder brother's words of reassurance before he left. Could it be that his elder brother already knew that his second brother's beloved was his sister-in-law? His sister-in-law was currently very weak and about to give birth; how could he possibly have her flesh cut and blood drained?
"Fu Zi, did Second Brother make all of these himself?" Di Jinghan was still looking at the portraits in amazement. Second Brother is really audacious!
"Your Highness, that's right. Now, only Her Majesty the Empress can save the Prince." Fu Zi was also very distressed. It would be easy to help anyone else, but the Prince's beloved is his sister-in-law, the current Empress.
Di Jinghan stepped out, calming his agitated emotions: "You must keep a close watch on this place and make sure no one else finds out."
"Princess, rest assured, this servant understands."
Di Jinghan nodded, and the two watched as the bookshelf slowly closed, exactly as it had been before leaving the study.
"Fu Zi, you and the imperial physician take good care of the second prince."
“Princess, then…” Fu Zi hesitated, not daring to utter the rest of her words.
"No matter what, I, the princess, will find an antidote for my second brother."
Di Jinghan left with Ning Hui. She had originally intended to go to the main hall, but considering that her sister-in-law had been frightened that day, and that her brother must be troubled as well, she turned back to her own palace.
Inside the main hall of the Imperial Palace, Emperor Jingcheng sat on his couch, gazing affectionately at the sleeping Azi. Thinking about what the imperial physician had said earlier that day, his heart was filled with complex emotions.
Putting aside the damage this would do to Azi's reputation, he simply couldn't bear the thought of cutting off her flesh and bleeding her. His Azi was already delicate, and now, pregnant and about to give birth, she had just lost so much blood; she simply couldn't withstand it.
Since Bei Xiang could administer poison, there must be an antidote! He refused to believe that this was the only unreliable method of treatment.
"Your Majesty, Cheng Er has arrived." Zheng He'er's voice rang out, and Di Jingcheng came back to his senses. He leaned down and placed a warm kiss on A Zi's forehead before getting up and walking out.
Di Jingcheng already knew who was behind everything that happened today, but he never expected that it would be so difficult to guard against, with Dongyang and Beixiang coming together! This allowed Beixiang to take advantage of the situation, which is why Di Jingyuan was injured.
All the evidence had been gathered, but Di Jingcheng found it quite strange that Cheng Er had said Liu Xinqi and Li Li had entered and exited the Beast Garden together and had talked a lot with a palace maid on the palace road.
Who is that palace maid?
"The people following them were too far away to hear their conversation clearly. After they separated, our people followed them to the laundry department. The palace maid seemed to be Cai Ning, a former maidservant of Consort Wu."
Di Jingcheng finally understood. It turned out that the person who was following Liu Xinqi had gone to the laundry department halfway through the journey, which was why he had let his guard down.
"Does it take so many people to follow a palace maid? Even Liu Xinqi's infiltration went unnoticed!" Di Jingcheng was clearly furious. Something that could have been avoided had happened because of a small mistake.
"Your Majesty, please calm your anger. I am willing to bear all the blame."
Di Jingcheng was in no mood for punishment at the moment; finding the antidote was the top priority: "Punishment is a must, but Prince Yuan is in imminent danger. The antidote for the red poison must be found within three days, or you will have to atone with your death."
"Your subject obeys the decree." A murderous glint flashed in Cheng Er's eyes; this time, he had indeed failed to oversight.
"Your Majesty, what should be done with that palace maid?"
"They will definitely continue to contact each other, so we need to keep them under close surveillance. The most urgent task is to find an antidote."
"yes!"
...The next morning, Di Jinghan hurriedly brought Ning Hui to the Ganzheng Hall.
Emperor Jingcheng dismissed court today and stayed in the palace to watch over Azi as she awoke, while also worrying about Emperor Jingyuan's life. Moreover, he hadn't slept all night and looked quite unwell.
After finishing breakfast, Azi asked Di Jingcheng to come to bed with her for a while, but unexpectedly Di Jinghan arrived.
"Let her in." Di Jingcheng said calmly, hoping that Di Jinghan wouldn't say anything wrong later, since Azi wouldn't agree to send her back now.
Di Jinghan tried his best to appear normal, and walked in with a smile: "Jinghan greets Your Majesty and Your Majesty's wife!"
"Jinghan arrived so early, has she had breakfast yet?" Azi asked considerately.
Di Jingcheng glanced at her, the warning in his eyes not too obvious, and then smiled: "Um... Sister-in-law! It's been a long time since I've had a private conversation with you, so I came over as soon as possible today."
Azi nodded, puzzled, feeling that the brother and sister were hiding something from her.
"By the way, Jinghan, how is Prince Yuan's injury?" Azi felt the atmosphere was a bit awkward and didn't know what to say. She was also still vaguely worried about Di Jingyuan's injury.
"Ah...you mean my second brother? He's recuperating in his palace. Sister-in-law, don't worry, the imperial physicians at the Imperial Hospital can cure anything." Di Jinghan's palms were sweating with nervousness. Her brother's nonchalant glances made her uneasy. To make it seem more convincing, she only dared to speak in a half-truthful tone.
“Ah Cheng, let’s go see him together in a few days.” Ah Zi turned her gaze to Di Jingcheng, who was sitting next to her, and the man immediately put on a gentle smile.
"Okay, we'll go once we're feeling better."
Ah Xin felt much relieved; it was good that Di Jingyuan was alright, otherwise she would have felt terribly guilty. Her own health wasn't cooperating right now, and going there would only cause trouble. She'd go in a few days; presumably, Prince Yuan wouldn't blame her.
Di Jinghan stood to the side, her thoughts racing, unsure how to end the situation. Di Jingcheng raised an eyebrow and glanced at her: "Zheng San, prepare breakfast for the princess in the outer room."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Emperor Jinghan breathed a sigh of relief, glanced gratefully at his elder brother, smiled and bid farewell to Azi before hurrying out.
Azi felt that Di Jinghan was acting very strangely, and so was Di Jingcheng, but she still couldn't quite put her finger on what was wrong! She stared at Di Jingcheng suspiciously, her bright eyes darting around, her little hands touching him all over, trying to distract him and take the opportunity to see what he was thinking.
But Di Jingcheng had surprisingly good self-control. He watched her little movements and expressions with doting eyes, only stopping after a long while. He took her little hand and gently rubbed it: "Baby, what's wrong?"
Azi gave a soft snort and said in a coquettish voice, "Are you and Jinghan hiding something from me?"
Di Jingcheng gently shook his head: "Baby, what could we possibly be hiding from you? It's just that Jingyuan is injured, and Jinghan is overly worried, so she's talking incoherently. Let's not think about it anymore, okay?"
Ah Zi thought about it and agreed; she didn't have many things to worry about.
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