Chapter 15: Something Happened to Shen Yan's Family
Dead silence.
The clue was completely broken on the beam where the court doctor hanged himself.
Shen Yanzhi stood by the window, his hands behind his back, his wide sleeves drooping, covering his clenched fist. The subtle, crisp sound of his finger bones squeezing was the only movement in the study.
The court doctor committed suicide and his family disappeared.
Good trick.
Clean and neat, without leaving a trace. It was as if an invisible hand, right under the eaves of his Jing'an Palace, wiped away everything with a casual touch.
This was no longer a secret affair of jealousy within the inner chambers; it was a slap in the face of Shen Yanzhi.
It was the most blatant provocation to his Jing'an Palace.
"Seal off the palace."
His voice was not loud, but it was like ice, and it could break into pieces if it hit the ground.
"Not even a fly is allowed to fly out."
Qi Ming, who was waiting outside the door, immediately pushed the door open and walked in, kneeling on one knee without raising his head.
"I'm here!"
Shen Yanzhi turned around slowly, his eyes as deep as a bottomless abyss, "Go to the doctor's house and dig three feet into the ground."
He spoke each word with great emphasis, his words revealing a sense of ruthlessness.
"I don't believe that a whole family could just disappear into thin air."
…
Two days passed.
Inside Prince Jing'an's mansion, even the servants walked on tiptoe, fearing the slightest noise would bring bad luck upon their master. The atmosphere was oppressive and suffocating.
In the study, Qi Ming knelt on the ground again, with his head lowered even lower.
"Your Highness, I am incompetent." His voice was hoarse, and he was exhausted from not sleeping for two days and two nights. "There was nothing left in the palace doctor's house except the beam where he hanged himself. No one in the neighborhood noticed anything unusual."
"According to reports from the nine gates of the capital, as well as from secret agents in various locations, there is no trace of the imperial physician's family."
After Qi Ming finished speaking, he closed his mouth tightly, waiting for the coming wrath of thunder.
However, the expected anger did not come.
Shen Yanzhi just sat behind the desk, quietly looking at the secret report that yielded nothing.
After a long time, he suddenly laughed softly.
The laughter was very light, but it made Qi Ming's whole body stiffen. He felt more uncomfortable than if he had been beaten directly.
"Good, very good."
Shen Yanzhi raised his eyes, there was no anger in his eyes, only a bottomless coldness.
Who on earth has such great ability that he can reach into his palace and wipe out the tail so cleanly under his nose?
A chill ran up his spine.
What he was afraid of was never that Song Qingyuan would be poisoned.
What he was afraid of was that he went to get the medicine in person that day, and in order to conceal his identity, he did not specify who it was for.
The person who poisoned the medicine only knew that someone in the palace had come to get the medicine, but he might not know who the medicine was for.
Now that the court doctor is dead, all clues are gone.
In the eyes of the other party, would it mean that... the plan to poison Prince Jing'an has failed?
So next time, will the poisoned medicine appear in Shen Yanzhi's own bowl?
Thinking of this, Shen Yanzhi's fingertips felt a little cold.
The inner room was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop, with only the lingering scent of sandalwood trying to dispel the lingering boredom in the air.
Chen Yanzhi's fingers with distinct knuckles slowly stroked the jade ring on his thumb. The fine Hetian jade was icy cold, but it couldn't suppress the nameless anger that was rising in his heart.
After two days of investigating the poisoning, there was no clue at all.
"Qi Ming."
His voice was not loud, but it was filled with a heavy sense of pressure.
"I'm here."
Outside the door, Qi Ming responded and walked in, his footsteps very light.
"How's the situation at the Song family?"
"My Lord, a maid just reported that Concubine Song has woken up, but..." Qi Ming paused, carefully observing his master's face, "The imperial physician said that Concubine Song has been coughing up blood and has damaged her lungs. She may be at risk of developing tuberculosis."
tuberculosis?
That is a fatal and incurable disease!
"Bang!"
The purple clay teacup in Shen Yanzhi's hand was knocked to the ground by him, and the sound of it breaking was sharp and piercing.
He stood up suddenly, his tall figure casting a shadow, his eyes as cold as ice, "What the hell is a doctor for?"
Qi Ming immediately lowered his head, wishing he could curl up into a ball.
Shen Yanzhi's chest heaved violently. He suppressed the rage in his heart, flicked his sleeves, and walked out. He wanted to go to Furong Garden himself to see what was going on!
As soon as I walked out of the yard, I ran into a familiar face with a smile on his face.
"Hey, where are you going, Your Highness?" The person who came was Eunuch Fu, who was beside the emperor, and his voice was sharp and thin.
Shen Yanzhi paused, his face returning to its usual calm expression, "Eunuch Fu, what does the emperor want?"
As he spoke, he gave Qi Ming a look.
Qi Ming understood what he meant and took a step forward calmly. A heavy purse was stuffed into Eunuch Fu's wide cuffs.
Eunuch Fu's smile deepened, and he weighed the weight of the item in his sleeve with his hand, and spoke even more affectionately, "Your Majesty, it's nothing. I just heard that your maternal grandfather, the Xue family, is making a lot of noise outside, and a memorial has been submitted to the emperor."
He leaned closer, lowering his voice.
"The Second and Fourth Princes are in the Imperial Court, and they are very worried about you."
Shen Yanzhi's eyes turned cold in an instant.
It turned out to be them.
His two good brothers really didn't let him have a moment's peace. Every family has its own dirty tricks, but they had to expose the affairs of his grandparents!
Good, very good!
However, if the Second Prince and the Fourth Prince, who were drinking tea and listening to music in the mansion at this moment, knew what Shen Yanzhi was thinking, they would probably cry out in injustice.
The instigator was Concubine Song’s stupid brother, Song San.
Song San received a letter from his sister, but didn't read the rest of the letter clearly.
He was clever enough to send the evidence he had collected about the Xue family's usury to the Fourth Prince in the name of Shen Yanzhi, hoping to kill someone with a borrowed knife.
The Fourth Prince got this "hot potato" and thought that Shen Yanzhi was unable to deal with his maternal grandfather's family personally due to his status, so he dragged the Second Prince to discuss it.
The two of them discussed it and decided that since this was such a thankless task, why not let the prince be the bad guy?
So, this so-called "evidence" was sent to the prince again.
The prince was worried that he couldn't find any evidence to hold against Shen Yanzhi, but when he saw this great opportunity coming to him, he was unwilling to let it go.
He immediately ordered people to find a few farmers whose families were ruined by the Xue family, and rewarded each of them with 1,000 taels of silver. He asked them to file a complaint with the emperor and make sure that the matter was known to everyone!
One thing leads to another: the fool's cleverness, the two princes' "wit", and the crown prince's instigation.
However, one day, this small matter that was supposed to be a secret matter in the harem snowballed into a huge case that could shake the foundation of the country, and was placed directly on the emperor's dragon desk.
Shen Yanzhi stood there, a chill all over his body.
The life and death of the Song family is uncertain, and close relatives are imprisoned.
His enemies were hiding in the dark, admiring his miserable appearance as he faced internal and external troubles.
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