Chapter 82 I Want You to See Me
Xiao Lingdang was appointed as the Assistant Imperial Physician of the Imperial Medical Bureau, in charge of treating His Majesty's headaches.
Because His Majesty's headaches have indeed improved considerably recently, he trusts and values her greatly.
Li Yuanzhao, who had recommended him, also received many rewards, and the emperor's favor towards him was even greater than before.
After all, Li Yuanyou always angered His Majesty, and Li Yuanshu only knew how to persuade him to take medicine. Only Li Yuanzhao gave him real hope of curing his headaches.
He deliberately cultivated Li Yuanzhao because this ailment often flared up, leaving him mostly unable to handle state affairs, so he needed to find someone to share the burden.
But if his headaches can be cured now, and he is full of energy, why would he need to give up his power?
On this day, Little Bell came to Xihe Palace to report to the Princess.
"Although His Majesty's headaches are excruciating and he looks like he's about to die, according to my diagnosis, his constitution is not yet depleted. If he continues to be treated according to the previous prescriptions from the Imperial Medical Bureau, he should have at least four or five more years of stable life."
"But now that I'm taking care of him, I'm afraid his lifespan will be greatly reduced."
Li Yuanzhao sat on the soft couch by the window, his fingertips casually resting on his forehead, tapping lightly, his face devoid of any emotion. "How long can it take at the fastest?"
Little Bell replied truthfully, "It will take at least half a year."
“Half a year…” Upon hearing this, Li Yuanzhao’s fingertips paused, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes.
That's enough.
Six months was enough time for her to defeat Prime Minister Cui, bring down Li Yuanyou, and even more enough time for her ailing father, the Emperor, to relent and appoint her as Crown Prince.
But as soon as the thought crossed her mind, she remembered something, her gaze suddenly falling on Little Bell's face, her tone turning colder, "Won't someone discover something?"
"Don't worry, sister." Little Bell immediately responded, her tone full of certainty. "The herbal decoctions and ointments I gave His Majesty were all thoroughly checked by the Imperial Medical Bureau. The prescriptions are mild and there is absolutely no flaw in them."
As she spoke, she slowly raised her hands.
Those fingers were like jade, with a faint warm pink hue on the pads. They were long and well-proportioned, and anyone who saw them would exclaim, "What beautiful hands!"
But at this moment, under the candlelight of Xihe Palace, there was an indescribable danger.
"But who knew that my poison would be placed on these very hands."
Her voice was very low, with an almost eerie danger in it, “When I massage His Majesty’s meridians every day, the toxins on my fingertips will melt when they come into contact with heat, and with the force of the massage, they will seep into the skin and penetrate into the internal organs along the blood vessels.”
“Accumulate little by little, one more point today, one more point tomorrow, and in less than half a year, His Majesty’s health will be beyond saving.”
"Not bad." Only then did a faint hint of satisfaction appear on Li Yuanzhao's face. "Go down."
Xiao Lingdang bowed and had just turned around and taken two steps when Li Yuanzhao's voice suddenly came from behind her: "By the way."
She stopped abruptly, her heart leaping into her throat, terrified that His Highness would ask about Chen Yanqing.
Sure enough, what I feared most came to pass.
Li Yuanzhao spoke directly, "Didn't you say that the poison I asked you to put on Chen Yanqing's face would cause him to die from facial ulceration within three months?"
Her voice turned colder, "But now, I've been looking at him for five months, and his face is still perfectly fine?"
Upon hearing this, Little Bell's face paled almost imperceptibly, and her heartbeat grew louder and louder.
She really shouldn't have acted on her own.
Xiao Lingdang lowered her eyes, not daring to meet Li Yuanzhao's gaze, her tone somewhat unnatural, "This... I can't say for sure. Logically speaking, that poison should have taken effect by now, could it be... that my poison was ineffective against him?"
Li Yuanzhao didn't suspect much.
After all, this wasn't the first time she had encountered Chen Yanqing's "special" nature.
Last time, he was given fifty lashes. While others would need six months to recover from an injury, he recovered in less than two months, and there wasn't a single scar left on his back.
Even if you were to slash his face to pieces, he could probably grow back to be perfectly fine.
Seeing her silence, Xiao Lingdang became even more flustered and tentatively asked, "How about... I try another poison?"
"No need," Li Yuanzhao said calmly.
Since it's already been determined that ruining his face won't work on him, why bother with such a pointless effort?
Then we'll have to think of other methods.
"Go down."
Little Bell felt as if she had been granted a pardon and withdrew.
A short while later, Ru Mo strode forward and reported in a low voice, "Your Highness, Wang Li is dead."
Upon hearing this, Li Yuanzhao was somewhat surprised.
Although Wang Li was a newly promoted official, he was particularly active in impeaching the Second Prince.
He faced the questions from his ministers several times in court, and his sharp words left the veteran officials speechless. He is a promising talent.
Such a useful person, suddenly gone?
"How did you die?" Her tone was devoid of emotion.
Ru Mo continued, "The Dali Temple's preliminary investigation said that he fell into the moat while drunk and drowned."
"A slip?" Li Yuanzhao chuckled.
It seems that Choi Sang-hsiang's faction has been quite active, and has already begun to take action.
She pressed further, "Have you investigated? Who did he see before the incident, and where did he go?"
Ru Mo's expression was not good. He replied truthfully, "We found out that he was drinking with Lord Du Cong at a restaurant before the incident. Afterwards, Du Cong explained that the two parted ways after leaving the restaurant, and he did not expect that an accident would happen."
After these words were spoken, the hall fell silent for a moment.
Ru Mo knew that the princess had long suspected Du Cong and had sent her to investigate.
She later discovered that the top two scorers had both run into trouble, and although there was no clear evidence to suggest that Du Cong was involved, all signs pointed to him.
However, at that time, the court was in dire need of capable people, so His Highness suppressed the matter and did not take action against him.
Therefore, outsiders might genuinely believe it was an accident.
But His Highness and those who knew the details so well could naturally guess who was behind it.
After a long pause, Li Yuanzhao finally spoke coldly, "It seems I really have raised a 'good dog'."
When Du Cong stepped into Xihe Palace, his face was calm, showing no sign of fear.
He knelt down respectfully to pay his respects, his eyes remaining lowered without even blinking, truly appearing to have a "clear conscience."
Li Yuanzhao leaned back in his chair, looking at the person in front of him, his tone unreadable, "Speak, what happened?"
Du Cong remained kneeling, his voice steady, “Your Highness, it was my dereliction of duty. Last night, I was drinking with my brother at a restaurant. I knew he had drunk too much, but I did not personally escort him back to his residence. I never expected that he would fall into the river... causing such a disaster. I am willing to accept punishment.”
"Accidentally fell into the river?" Li Yuanzhao suddenly laughed. "Du Cong, are you thinking I'm easy to fool?"
She could have simply had someone deal with this scheming person who plotted against his colleagues.
The reason she would listen to his explanation now was because she still had some doubts.
If Du Cong truly intended to betray, he could have simply defected to Cui Shiliang, wouldn't that have been faster?
Why bother with all that roundabout methods? Just kill a minor official who wasn't yet "indispensable" to her.
This illogical behavior made her want to hear what his reason was.
Du Cong knew he couldn't fool her, so he slowly raised his head, looked directly into Li Yuanzhao's eyes, and said, "Because... I want you to see me."
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