Chapter 43 Yang really courted death.
Under Wang Yi's meticulous treatment plan, Empress Zhangsun's symptoms of illness were significantly relieved. Although Li Yuan was still in a coma, his complexion was much rosier, his breathing was steady, and his pulse was strong. Li Shimin saw all this and his trust and reliance on Wang Yi increased even more.
However, beneath the calm surface, undercurrents are surging.
Demoted to commoner status and relocated to a secluded residence outside the palace, Lady Yang (formerly the principal wife of Prince Qi, Li Yuanji) never truly accepted her fate. Born into the Hongnong Yang clan, she was once the mistress of Prince Qi's household. After the Xuanwu Gate Incident, she was taken into the harem by Li Shimin (as he perceived it) because of her beauty. She bore him a son, Li Ming, who was exceptionally intelligent and deeply loved by his father (as he perceived it; in reality, Li Shimin rarely even saw his child). However, Lady Yang harbored resentment—her son, though the emperor's biological son, held a precarious position among the princes due to his mother's awkward status as his brother's wife, creating an invisible barrier between him and the legitimate sons.
“My son has the blood of the Yang family and the Li Tang royal family flowing in his veins. Why should he only be an ordinary prince?” Consort Yang muttered to herself, looking at her still beautiful face in the bronze mirror, a resolute light flashing in her eyes. “With Chengqian, Tai, Zhi… these legitimate sons blocking his way, my son will never have a chance to rise above his circumstances.”
She contacted Li Yuanji's former subordinates. These men already harbored resentment towards Li Shimin, and although they weren't purged after the Xuanwu Gate Incident, their careers were essentially over. Consort Yang's suggestion was exactly what they wanted—support Li Ming, and if successful, they would be considered meritorious officials who had helped establish the dynasty. More importantly, Li Ming was indeed Li Shimin's biological son, which was more legitimate than supporting Li Yuanji's posthumous son.
“But the Empress and those legitimate sons are our biggest obstacles,” a former general said in a deep voice. “Especially the Empress. With her around, the Crown Prince’s position is secure, and His Majesty’s preference for the legitimate sons will not change.”
Consort Yang sneered: "Isn't the Empress ill? Isn't that 'Guardian of the Nation' treating her?"
A wicked plan took shape in her mind.
Using her old connections in the palace, Consort Yang began spreading rumors. At first, they were just vague hints: "Master Wang's medicine is so peculiar, could he have ulterior motives?" "I heard that after Her Majesty the Empress used Master Wang's medicine, although her symptoms improved, she still suffers from nightmares and palpitations at night..."
Gradually, the rumors escalated: "Is Wang Yi controlling the Empress's medicine, trying to influence the Crown Prince by controlling the Empress?" "How can she, a Taoist woman, gain His Majesty's such trust? She must be using some kind of evil magic..."
These rumors cleverly avoided Li Shimin, but accurately reached the ears of several of Empress Zhangsun's children: Crown Prince Li Chengqian, Prince Wei Li Tai, Princess Changle Li Lizhi (who shared the same name as Wang Yi's daughter), Princess Chengyang, and Prince Jin Li Zhi (the future Emperor Gaozong of Tang).
Li Chengqian was fifteen years old at the time, a sensitive and rebellious age. Hearing these rumors and recalling his mother's haggard appearance during her illness, hostility towards Wang Yi arose spontaneously: "A Daoist nun of unknown origin dares to lay a hand on the Empress Dowager!"
Li Tai, thirteen years old, was a deep thinker. Although he didn't completely believe her, he began to suspect Wang Yi: "If she really had ulterior motives, why would Father trust her so much?"
Five-year-old Li Zhi was too young to understand, but the one most affected was Princess Chang Le. She had a very deep bond with her mother, and upon hearing the rumor that "Wang Yi might poison my mother," she immediately burst into tears, saying, "I want to tell Father Emperor so he can get rid of that wicked woman!"
However, when the children expressed their doubts about Wang Yi to Li Shimin, Li Shimin's reaction only made them more dissatisfied.
"Stop talking nonsense!" Li Shimin frowned and scolded, "Master Wang has done his best to treat your mother, how can you be so suspicious of him?"
“But everyone in the palace is saying…” Li Chengqian said stubbornly.
"When have there ever been any shortage of rumors in the palace?" Li Shimin interrupted him. "I have personally witnessed Master Wang's medical skills. It is also true that your mother's condition has improved. Do not be swayed by petty people."
The emperor's attitude made the children feel that their father was being misled by the Taoist nun, and they even became less attentive to their mother as a result. This resentment was exactly what Consort Yang and Li Yuanji's former subordinates wanted to see—to sow discord between Li Shimin and his legitimate children, thus creating an opportunity for Li Ming to ascend the throne in the future.
Consort Yang's scheme continued. She bribed a low-ranking palace maid in the Lizheng Hall (Empress Zhangsun's palace) to tamper with the medicine sent by Wang Yi—not by poisoning, but by adding some herbs that would cause discomfort but not death, creating the illusion that "symptoms would recur after taking the medicine."
Meanwhile, she had someone imitate Wang Yi's handwriting to forge a "secret letter" implying that Wang Yi had connections with certain court officials and planned to influence politics by controlling the Empress. This letter was "accidentally" discovered by Crown Prince Li Chengqian's men.
The incident erupted one afternoon. After Empress Zhangsun ingested the tampered medicine, she suddenly experienced shortness of breath and turned pale. Although Wang Yi arrived in time to provide emergency treatment and the empress was out of danger, this incident brought all suspicions to a head.
Li Chengqian, his eyes red, stormed into the Lizheng Hall, pointing his sword at Wang Yi: "You wicked Taoist! You dare to harm my mother!"
"Your Highness, there must be some misunderstanding..." Wang Yi calmly tried to explain.
Seeing Wang Yi's attempts to argue, Li Chengqian finally couldn't hold back any longer.
"Misunderstanding? Then what is this?" Li Chengqian tossed out the forged secret letter.
When Li Shimin arrived at the scene, he saw his eldest son pointing a sword at Wang Yi, glaring angrily. His other children were gathered around the Empress's bedside, also looking at Wang Yi with hostility. Empress Zhangsun, though weak, tried to comfort her children: "No...it can't be Wang Zhenren..."
Li Shimin's entrance was quite a commotion, naturally alerting the group that was facing off.
"Father, please look!" Li Chengqian handed the secret letter to his father.
Li Shimin quickly scanned the letter, his brow furrowed. The handwriting on the letter was strikingly similar to Wang Yi's, and the content was even more shocking. Yet, deep down, he still refused to believe that Wang Yi would do such a thing.
"Wang Yi, what is your explanation?" He looked at Wang Yi, his eyes filled with complex emotions—trust, doubt, disappointment, and a hint of hurt he refused to admit.
Facing everyone's gaze, Wang Yi quickly analyzed the situation in her mind. She realized that the current situation was like a tangled mess for her; all the clues were intertwined, and she couldn't distinguish which piece of information was useful. More importantly, it now seemed that this was not only a conspiracy against her, but also a comprehensive scheme to sow discord between Empress Zhangsun, Li Shimin, and his legitimate children.
She took a deep breath and was about to speak when she suddenly saw a furtive figure outside the window of the Lizheng Hall—it was the bribed palace maid who, seeing that things had escalated, was trying to slip away quietly.
“Your Majesty,” Wang Yi’s voice was unusually calm, “could you please have the guards stop the palace maid who is about to leave outside the palace?”
Li Shimin's eyes sharpened: "Stop her!"
The guards acted swiftly, and the palace maid was brought into the hall, trembling with fear.
"Speak! Did you tamper with the Empress's medicine today?" Li Shimin asked sternly.
The palace maid fell to her knees with a thud: "This servant...this servant didn't..."
Asking Li Shimin about catching thieves red-handed would be pointless.
Wang Yi walked to the dregs of the medicine, examined them carefully, and then picked out a few leaves of herbs that shouldn't be there: "Your Majesty, this herb is not in my prescription."
To be honest, Yang was a bit dim-witted. If you wanted to administer medicine, you could have put in a similar-looking medicine and cooked it until it all clumps together. Even the imperial physicians might not be able to tell the difference. But instead, she chose a medicine with a very distinctive appearance so that even someone who doesn't understand pharmacology could tell the difference just by looking at the dregs.
And that's how Wang Yi got hold of something.
She turned to the palace maid: "Has anyone touched the Empress's medicine today? Don't make baseless accusations. If the person you implicate is later proven innocent, then the problem lies with you."
Under Li Shimin's imposing gaze and the guards' intimidation, the palace maid finally broke down, crying out, "It was...it was Consort Yang's people who made me do it! They said...they said that as long as the Empress felt unwell after taking the medicine, it wouldn't really harm her...I didn't know it would be this serious..."
"Yang Shi?" Li Shimin's expression changed drastically. Sure enough, two kinds of people can't sleep in the same bed. If Li Yuanji was like that, how could his principal wife be any better?
Wang Yi understood perfectly well that this woman was truly unbelievable. Why couldn't she just focus on raising her son peacefully? Why did she have to jump out and stir up trouble at this time? Was she afraid of not being able to ruin her son or herself?
The medicine was confirmed to be Yang's doing, and Li Shimin suddenly remembered the letter.
"And what about this letter?" Li Shimin held up the secret letter.
Wang Yi carefully examined the letter and the ink: "Your Majesty, may I see the quality of the paper and the scent of the ink in this letter?"
Taking the letter, she sniffed it gently and examined it carefully against the light: "This paper is of the finest quality, but a small amount of musk has been added to the ink. I never add fragrance to my ink, because musk can affect the efficacy of certain medicinal herbs. If Your Majesty does not believe me, you may send someone to Qixia Garden to retrieve my usual ink sticks for comparison."
She examined the handwriting again: "The handwriting is very well imitated, but there are subtle differences in writing habits. When I write the character '之', I tend to pause slightly at the end, but the character '之' in this letter is written smoothly."
Li Shimin compared the handwriting with that of Wang Yi on the spot and indeed found discrepancies. His expression grew increasingly grim—not because he suspected Wang Yi, but because he realized the meticulousness and malice of this conspiracy.
To be honest, after he smelled the musky scent on the paper, he was already certain that it was Yang who did it, because only Yang's palace had multiple places where she had arranged for musk to be placed, and this ink block, being made of Chinese medicine, was particularly well-suited to masking the smell, so a lot of musk was placed there.
"Yang... what a Yang!" A murderous glint flashed in Li Shimin's eyes. "I have treated her well, yet she dares to..."
“Your Majesty,” Wang Yi suddenly spoke, his voice soft yet clear, “this matter is probably not the work of Consort Yang alone. How could a demoted commoner like her bribe palace maids? How could she imitate my handwriting to such an extent? There must be someone else behind this.”
She paused, then looked at the princes and princesses who still wore expressions of doubt: "Moreover, why did the rumors specifically reach Your Highness and the princesses? Why create discord between His Majesty and his own flesh and blood? This scheme is insidious in its attempt to sow discord among the imperial family."
Upon hearing this, Li Chengqian and the others' expressions shifted slightly. Although they were young, they were not stupid, and Wang Yi's words made them begin to ponder the strangeness of the whole matter.
Li Shimin closed his eyes briefly, then opened them again, his imperial composure restored: "Issue my decree: thoroughly investigate Lady Yang and her accomplices. All palace servants involved in this matter must be severely interrogated. The Crown Prince, the Prince of Wei, Chang Le..."
He looked at his children, his tone softening: "I understand your concern for your mother today. But we must remain calm and investigate thoroughly, and not believe only one side of the story. Master Wang..." He turned to Wang Yi, his eyes filled with apology and deeper emotion, "I shouldn't have doubted you."
Wang Yi bowed slightly: "Your Majesty is too kind. The most urgent task is to find out the truth and ensure the safety of Her Majesty the Empress."
But just then, a eunuch rushed in, panicked: "Your Majesty! Something terrible has happened! News has come from outside the palace that Consort Yang... Consort Yang has committed suicide in her villa! She left a note saying... saying that she felt ashamed before Your Majesty and wanted to atone for her sins with her death..."
The hall was completely silent.
Wang Yi sneered inwardly—a brilliant move to ensure no one could testify after death. With Consort Yang dead, the trail went cold, and Li Yuanji's former subordinates could safely remain hidden. Moreover, her death actually confirmed the possibility of her "acting alone," making it difficult for Li Shimin to investigate further.
More importantly, Consort Yang's death would inevitably leave young Li Ming without his mother. The child was already in an awkward position because of his mother's status; now that she had "committed suicide out of fear of punishment," his situation in the palace would become even more difficult. And this was perhaps exactly what Li Yuanji's former subordinates wanted—a helpless and easily manipulated prince was their ideal puppet.
Moreover, now that I think about it, even if Yang was stupid, she couldn't have been that foolish to use such an obvious method of poisoning. Now that they have just found a clue, Yang is dead. Maybe the person behind this didn't want Empress Zhangsun's life in the first place, but Yang's.
It seems that by the time Lady Yang had left enough leverage to harm the Empress, the other side had already made arrangements.
As soon as Empress Zhangsun fell ill, the person behind her simply killed Lady Yang.
Even if he hadn't found the problem with the dregs of the medicine, his suspicion would likely have been cleared quickly. When Empress Zhangsun was poisoned and Lady Yang committed suicide out of fear of punishment, the investigation would have revealed the dregs as irrefutable evidence, and the palace maid would have been the witness.
With such a meticulous plan, no one would believe it wasn't orchestrated by the Five Clans and Seven Families.
As expected, Li Shimin had thought of everything Wang Yi had thought of. After a long silence, Li Shimin finally waved his hand wearily: "Let him be buried with the rites due to a commoner. Li Ming... bring him to the palace to be raised by the concubines." He looked at Wang Yi, his eyes filled with complex emotions: "Wang Yi, you still need to take care of the Empress and the Emperor Emeritus's illnesses."
"It is my duty," Wang Yi replied calmly.
The crisis was temporarily averted, but Wang Yi knew this was only the beginning. Li Yuanji's old subordinates were still lurking in the shadows, and their hatred for Li Shimin would not disappear. Furthermore, this incident had created a rift in her relationship with the princes and princesses, making her future path in the Tang court even more precarious.
As night fell, Wang Yi returned to Qixia Garden and stood alone by the window. The lights of Lizheng Hall could be faintly seen in the distance; it was where Empress Zhangsun was recuperating, and also the center of today's turmoil.
“Li Ming…” she murmured to herself. She knew the child’s historical fate—Li Shimin did indeed enfeoff Li Ming as the Prince of Cao in his later years, but during Emperor Gaozong’s reign, he was implicated in a rebellion, demoted, exiled, and ultimately committed suicide. Now, because of her appearance, this child’s destiny had changed, but whether it would bring fortune or misfortune remained to be seen.
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