"He's still not awake?"
Emperor Chongde glanced at the figure behind the bright yellow curtain, his expression unreadable.
The imperial physician, trembling with fear, his forehead beaded with cold sweat, replied cautiously, "Your Majesty, His Highness's arrow was extremely dangerous. It is already remarkable that he survived. He will need time to recover."
No one knew how shocked Zhong Taiyi was at this moment. He was completely bewildered by the imperial summons to the palace late at night, and he had not heard that His Majesty had been unwell recently.
With a puzzled mind, he arrived at the Hall of Mental Cultivation, only to find the Third Prince, who should have been dead, lying there. He was so shocked that he almost lost his composure on the spot!
Imperial Physician Zhong even made a bold guess: perhaps His Majesty missed the Third Prince so much that he found a lookalike to act as a substitute…
But he secretly took a look and realized that even twins couldn't look exactly alike. It was indeed the Third Prince, no doubt about it!
What shocked him even more was that the Third Prince was seriously injured and on the verge of death!
An arrow wound in the chest—that sounds so familiar.
Didn't His Highness the Crown Prince shoot down a rebel a few days ago...?
hiss!
Physician Zhong kept his head down, not daring to breathe. In the short time he had been thinking about where to bury him, he had already decided. Knowing such a big secret, would His Majesty possibly let him leave alive?
After a long silence, Emperor Chongde finally spoke in a deep voice: "From now on, you will be responsible for treating the Third Prince. If even the slightest word gets out..."
Having narrowly escaped death, Imperial Physician Zhong stared in disbelief, then looked up to meet the Emperor's deep gaze. He immediately kowtowed to the ground to pledge his loyalty: "Your Majesty, I entered the palace to treat you, and I have never seen anyone else!"
He must be tired of living to dare to gossip like that.
"Go down."
Emperor Chongde closed his eyes, looking somewhat tired.
——
"So, His Majesty really knew about it?"
Shen Tangning's heart sank, and she felt a chill run down her spine after hearing Chi Yan's words.
Chi Yan's surprise night raid was enough to catch the enemy off guard. Tang Xu's unexpected reaction showed that he did not expect Chi Yan to find them so quickly.
Otherwise, Tang Xu would never have been so foolish as to stay put and wait to be caught!
Even so, they were still a step too late.
This means that someone acted faster than them and moved the Third Prince ahead of time.
Looking at the entire capital of Yanjing, the identity of the person with such abilities is self-evident.
Chi Yan rested his chin on his hand, his eyes filled with confusion and bewilderment: "I still can't understand why His Majesty is so biased towards the Third Prince? But if he is biased, why did he so hastily order the Third Prince's death in the first place?"
Now, the Third Prince is officially a dead man, having lost his status and position as a prince. He cannot be seen in the light and can only hide everywhere. In this light, Emperor Chongde's actions seem somewhat contradictory.
"Is it possible that the Third Prince's faked death was actually orchestrated by His Majesty?" Shen Tangning suddenly asked.
Chi Yan suddenly turned his head to look at her: "But why did he do this? If he didn't want to order the Third Prince to die, there were clearly many more ways to protect him. He is the emperor, who can force him?"
“I’ve thought about this question before.” Shen Tangning narrowed her eyes slightly. “Do you think our Emperor is someone who values emotions?”
He was taken aback, thought about the question seriously for a moment, and then shook his head firmly: "It doesn't seem like it."
Not to mention that emperors have always been heartless, just take the things that Emperor Chongde did as an example: "The Empress is His Majesty's first wife. They have supported each other all the way. Logically speaking, they should have a deep affection for each other. However, His Majesty has favored Consort Li for many years. After the Third Prince made repeated mistakes, he ruthlessly banished Consort Li to the Cold Palace."
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