Eunuch Yu An, as the Emperor’s chief eunuch, returned promptly with the book of designs.
He pointed to a page for the Emperor, "Your Majesty, this is the book from before, with designs drawn by the imperial painter. As you can see, it matches this comb perfectly."
The Emperor scrutinized the page, his expression darkening. He then ordered, "Someone, summon Miss Lipin." He paused and changed his command, "Yu An, you go personally and ensure no information is leaked."
"Yes." With a thud in his chest, Eunuch Yu An immediately turned to leave.
The Emperor glanced at Zhou Gu and He Zheng. In such a short amount of time, their injuries had stained them with even more blood. Suppressing his anger, he ordered, "Send for the Imperial Doctor."
Zhou Gu thought to himself, it’s about time His Majesty remembered to call for a doctor. It certainly took a while.
Almost at the same time as Eunuch Yu An returned with Miss Lipin, the Imperial Doctor was summoned. The Emperor ordered Miss Lipin to wait and had the doctor enter to tend to Zhou Gu’s and He Zheng’s injuries.
Upon seeing the wound on Zhou Gu’s back, the Imperial Doctor gasped and exclaimed with frown, "Young Master Zhou, how, how did this occur? This... this wound is much too deep, too serious... "
Zhou Gu remained silent.
After a closer look at the wound, the Doctor remarked, "It’s fortunate that preliminary bandaging was done and that exceptional golden wound medicine was applied. Otherwise, considering the extent of your wound and the blood lost, it could have been fatal."
Zhou Gu did not respond.
After bandaging Zhou Gu’s back, the Imperial Doctor then proceeded to do the same for his arm, blabbering, "The wound on your arm is just as severe if not more than your back wound. You must rest and refrain from moving about excessively to prevent the wound from reopening. You must also avoid getting it wet. Especially considering the amount of blood you lost, you need to go back and recover. You must be cautious, avoid running a fever at night. If a fever develops, it can be incredibly dangerous."
Zhou Gu finally responded with a nod, "Thank you, Doctor Xu."
Doctor Xu looked at him once more. Not entirely at ease, he reiterated, "If you develop a fever in the night, send for me immediately."
After this, he turned his attention to He Zheng. Though He Zheng had multiple injuries, a sword wound on his side was particularly severe. As the Doctor didn’t watch He Zheng grow up, he didn’t say much.
But He Zheng felt incredibly guilty. The wound on Zhou Gu’s back was due to protecting him from danger.
The Emperor, who had stayed and watched, couldn’t help but furrow his brows at the depth of Zhou Gu’s actual injuries. After the doctor finished, the Emperor said to Zhou Gu, "Zhou Gu, return home and recover. Leave this case..."
Zhou Gu looked at the Emperor.
The Emperor paused, "I will personally handle it."
Zhou Gu was fully aware, now that Miss Lipin was implicated and it concerned the mother of the fourth prince, even if he wasn’t injured, the Emperor wouldn’t let him investigate further. After all, he was now considered to be associated with the Eastern Palace.
He nodded, "After all, the evidence was brought into the palace by me. Should I be present when Your Majesty questions Miss Lipin? If there are questions concerning me, I could answer promptly. I can leave after."
He didn’t cling steadfastly to the case, proposing instead to merely listen and leave afterwards.
The Emperor was satisfied by his tact and nodded. He ordered Eunuch Yu An, "Yu An, bring in Miss Lipin."
Eunuch Yu An obeyed and went out to bring Miss Lipin in.
Thanks to her beauty, Miss Lipin was granted an auspicious title by the Emperor. She bore the Emperor a prince and a princess. In the palace, due to her unwillingness to participate in schemes or causing trouble, she was well-liked.
Her sudden summoning by the Emperor, with Eunuch Yu An himself sent for her, and having her Liren Palace sealed off en route, not even allowing her to take a single palace maid or eunuch with her, had all the hallmarks of trouble. Everyone who had been staying in the palace for a while knew better. This is why, upon seeing the Emperor, she withheld her fear, greeted him with a facade of calmness, but was actually in panic.
Without wasting any time, the Emperor barked, "Miss Lipin, you have audacity! Do you dare to admit you have fostered assassins to act for your benefit? What punishment do you think fits this crime?"
Miss Lipin widened her eyes in shock, "Your Majesty...why would you say such a thing?"
Although she appeared perplexed, her eyes wide open, she asked, "When have I ever fostered assassins?"
The Emperor glared at her with a stern look, his voice heavy, "Are you denying this? Do you still dare to refute?"
Miss Lipin collapsed to her knees, "Your Majesty, I would never dare foster any assassins. I have always kept to my station over the years. How could I possibly... foster assassins? I don’t even have the resources to afford such acts."
She cunningly came up with the most reasonable excuse for herself, "The Emperor knows about my humble background, not very wealthy with a spendthrift younger brother..."
"And what about the Fourth Prince? I’ve heard that he secretly runs his own businesses and even manages to finance a cabal of death warriors." The Emperor interrogated.
Lipin’s face lost its color immediately, "Your Majesty, Rui is only fifteen..."
The Emperor coldly huffed, "Fifteen is not so young anymore. One can start taking responsibility from the age of seven or eight." He threw a comb from his table at her, "Is this comb yours?"
Lipin got hit by the comb directly in the forehead, tearing her skin there. But she held in her screams and yelps of pain. Trembling slightly, she took in the comb with a pale face. Having looked at it, her face grew even paler, "Your Majesty, how did you get this comb?"
"I am asking you, isn’t this the comb that I had gifted you?" the Emperor asked.
Lipin nodded, "This...this comb is indeed Your Majesty’s gift to me." But she wanted to clarify, "However, this comb was lost four or five years ago."
The Emperor grunted in surprise, "Lost?"
Lipin quickly nodded, "Yes, Your Majesty, the people in my palace can testify that the comb has been missing for four or five years. I suspect it was stolen by some servant. I even sent people out to look for it and registered it as lost property. Because it was a royal object, and also because Your Majesty gifted it to me, it was as if it had my name written on it. How could I not take good care of it? How could I let it go out casually?"
Hearing this, the Emperor turned to Eunuch Yu An, "Yu An?"
Eunuch Yu An quickly responded, "This old servant will go and check at once."
Losing items in the palace would be reported and recorded. He did not remember Lipin recording any lost items, but there was a period of time not too long ago when things were often stolen and sold by palace maids. Many concubines had lost property during that time. As the chief eunuch in charge, most of the time he would only remember matters concerning the Emperor. As for the concubines, there were so many, how could he remember all of them? He could remember the gifts given by the Emperor, but as to how the concubines used them and whether or not they were lost, he had no idea. Especially concerning something as trivial as a little comb. He did well enough just to remember where it came from.
He turned around and ran out, but after a few steps, came back and asked Lipin for confirmation, "Miss Lipin, please think carefully. Was it four or five years ago, a specific year, or month? It would be easier for this old servant to search."
Lipin thought for a moment, then reported the date, "About four and a half years ago. I cannot remember the exact date, but I do know that it wasn’t found."
Eunuch Yu An nodded in affirmation and hurried off again.
The Emperor didn’t allow Lipin to stand, making her continue to kneel.
Eunuch Yu An was very efficient. After not too long, he returned with a stack of records. He pointed to one of the pages and said, "Your Majesty, Miss Lipin was right. It was indeed four and a half years ago. I went and checked already."
The Emperor looked and sure enough, it was recorded there: a peach blossom comb, gifted by the Emperor. It matched the appearance of the comb in front of them down to the last detail.
The Emperor took a deep breath and glanced at Lipin, "Lipin, do you know where we found this comb? From the bodies of today’s fallen death warriors who went to assassinate Zhou Gu. Out of hundreds of death warriors, only your peach blossom comb was found."
Finally, Lipin understood what was happening and immediately cried out in her defense. She wailed, "Your Majesty, I swear I’m innocent. This matter has nothing to do with me. I can swear that if any of the death warriors are under my control, I will not die peacefully."
To fund and control death warriors, that was surely not something a concubine of the harem could handle. Even among the ministers of the court, it would take colossal courage to carry out such an act. To top it off, calling upon hundreds of death warriors to assassinate the young master of Duke Residence? She knew exactly what kind of punishment awaited her if the Emperor were to wrongly convict her.
The Emperor sternly said, "Is that all you have to say? Do you have anything else to add? If yes, then tell me, think carefully!"
Lipin seemed to think hard about it for a while but after long, eventually shook her head, "Your Majesty, I don’t know how this comb is related to the death warriors. I swear I lost this comb... I beg Your Majesty’s wise judgment."
With a stern face, the Emperor said, "I will investigate this thoroughly; you, the people in your palace, your maternal family, and even the Fourth Prince."
Afterwards, the Emperor commanded, "Yu An, isolate and watch over Lipin. Then bring in the people from Liren Palace one by one for questioning."
Eunuch Yu An agreed and gestured to Lipin, "Miss Lipin, please."
Lipin stood up nervously, performed a parting bow and followed Eunuch Yu An out of the room.
After she left, the Emperor turned his gaze to Zhou Gu and then He Zheng, "Both of you, go and rest. This case...", the Emperor felt troubled, fearing the difficulty in finding the truth. His promise to personally review the case was more about showing concern. He needed a trustworthy person to investigate on his behalf. But who among his ministers could he trust? He finally turned his gaze towards Rui’an King.
Rui’an King shivered involuntarily, quickly declining, "Your Majesty, I have a big case on my hands waiting to be solved."
This case involved a concubine and a prince, it was a hot potato and he had no desire to handle it.
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