Chapter 107 Qishan Fengchan 14 Dispute
Xun Shu stood in the corner of the hall, watching the Crown Prince and the Imperial Master accusing each other, and suddenly realized that the most distinguished people in Daliang were no different from ordinary people. They would also throw dirty water on each other and quarrel with each other in order to fight for their own interests.
It’s just that ordinary people fight for the tangible things like food, oil and salt, but they fight for the invisible power.
Xun Shu took this opportunity to secretly look at the people in the hall. When his eyes fell on the face of the emperor in the front, he was stunned.
The emperor's face was naturally of inestimable value, with most of the twelve palaces being perfect, except for the Palace of Brothers and the Palace of Life.
The Palace of Brothers is located between the eyebrows. His eyebrows are of different heights. A closer look reveals that they are inverted and swirling, looking quite messy. This means that there are enemies and brothers who are not on good terms. Be careful and vigilant.
The emperor's only brothers are Prince Xiang and the recently deceased Prince Chen. If these two have ulterior motives, it would be consistent with the astronomical phenomena of the past few days.
In addition, the bridge of the nose is sunken and covered with complicated lines, which indicates the face of a person who is bedridden. In addition, the life palace is dim and lifeless, with black spots wrapped in green and yellow... This is a sign of death from illness.
Xun Shu lowered her head, her heart pounding, her mind a jumbled mess, and she didn't know what to do. She calmed down for a moment, then quietly looked up at the Imperial Preceptor. But after just one glance, she froze again.
The Imperial Master's face seemed meticulously sculpted, flawless and imperfect, leaving Xun Shu unable to detect a single flaw. But Xun Shu had seen his frail self and knew the dirty deeds he'd done behind his back. How could he have such a flawless face? Unless he'd manipulated it, hiding his true features from others. Years ago, Xun Shu had heard his master mention a secret technique for altering facial features, but because it sacrificed the lifespan of others, it had long been forbidden. He hadn't expected to see it in the Imperial Master.
However, regardless of the twelve zodiac signs, this face seemed familiar, as if it had been seen before somewhere before. But Xun Shu had no idea where exactly. She stared at it for a moment, until the Imperial Master felt her gaze, and then she looked away.
We must find a way to pass this information on to our senior brothers and sisters.
The debate in the hall continued, and the Crown Prince's questioning did not faze the Imperial Master. He straightened his sleeves, bowed slightly toward the Emperor, and then said respectfully, "Your Majesty, I have indeed refined two elixirs of immortality. I put one away because it was for Your Majesty's sake! The medicinal materials used to refine the elixir are precious and hard to find. This young Taoist priest made some mistakes when refining it, and the efficacy is probably much weaker than a normal elixir. I didn't tell Your Majesty about this because I was afraid of worrying Your Majesty. I put the elixir away because I thought that if the elixir Your Majesty took lost its effectiveness after a hundred years, you could use this elixir to prolong your life! As for Your Majesty's accusation that I wanted to embezzle the elixir, it is even more ridiculous! I am already an immortal, why do I need this elixir for immortality?"
The Imperial Preceptor perfectly displayed his concern and concern for His Majesty, and for a moment, no one questioned his fabricated story. The Imperial Preceptor, satisfied by the sudden realization in the Emperor's eyes, continued, "As for my framing of the Crown Prince and accusing His Royal Highness of the Crown Prince of murdering Prince Chen, this is sheer nonsense. I am devoted to the cultivation of Taoism, serving Your Majesty and praying for the well-being of all the people. Neither His Royal Highness of the Crown Prince nor His Royal Highness of Prince Chen has anything to do with me. Why would I do this? I am merely making inferences based on the available clues. I simply want to relieve Your Majesty's concerns!"
"Imperial Master..." The emperor sighed, his eyes filled with emotion, "You are so helpful to me, I really don't know what to do..."
The Imperial Preceptor's eyes were filled with amusement, and he was about to speak when Yu Chang entered the hall, holding a box, interrupting him. Li Xuanhe took the box from Yu Chang, opened it, and walked up to the Imperial Preceptor. "This is the empty medicine bottle we found not far from the body of His Highness Prince Chen. Imperial Preceptor, can you identify it? Is it from your palace?"
The Imperial Master stared at the medicine bottle and sighed for a long moment, "It looks like it, but this bottle is so ordinary that I can't confirm it based on this. It's just that Xingyue Palace is missing this bottle of medicine, and there's another bottle in the small courtyard where His Royal Highness Prince Chen's body was found. How could such a coincidence happen? There can't be any other possibility. However, I haven't touched this bottle of medicine since I got it, not even breaking the wax seal. I definitely wouldn't poison it! Your Majesty, please investigate!"
Li Xuanhe put the medicine bottle away and sighed, "Don't worry, Imperial Master. There are still many suspicious points in this matter. Since the Imperial Master secretly hid the medicine, how did His Royal Highness Prince Chen know about it? Moreover, His Royal Highness Prince Chen not only knew this information, but also knew where the medicine was hidden. It is truly strange that he could enter and exit Xingyue Palace to steal medicine without alerting anyone. In addition, even if His Royal Highness Prince Chen secretly consumed the medicine, it may not be poisonous. Perhaps His Royal Highness Prince Chen accidentally ingested something else." He turned to look in the direction of the emperor in the front and bowed, "Your Majesty, please give me some more time. I will help Your Majesty to investigate the truth and find the real culprit who killed His Royal Highness Prince Chen!"
Li Xuanhe appeared to be stating facts, but between the lines he hinted that Prince Chen was extremely familiar with the Imperial Preceptor, the Hall of Eternal Life, and the Star-Moon Palace. The Imperial Preceptor's brows drooped, his heart grieved, but he could only suppress his displeasure and not lash out.
The emperor had sat there for a long time, listening to the arguments below. Both his body and mind were stretched to their limits. Upon hearing Li Xuanhe's request, he immediately agreed: "Since that's the case, I agree. The Fengshan Ceremony will be in two days. I will give you two more days to solve this case before the ceremony. If you can't do it, you will lose your position as the Junior Official of the Dali Temple. Can you do it?"
Li Xuanhe knelt on the ground without hesitation: "I thank you for your grace, my lord."
The emperor stood up and stretched his back. Just as he was about to leave with the help of the palace servants, the crown prince suddenly spoke, stopping him in his tracks. "Father, I have something else to ask. The Imperial Master has repeatedly accused me of replacing the immortality elixir with poison, as if accusing me of harming you. Now one of the two elixirs has disappeared, but the other is still in your possession, so it's likely you haven't taken it yet. How about sending someone to fetch the elixir and testing it for poison in public to clear my name?"
The emperor paused, took a look at the real elixir of immortality held in the hands of the palace servant beside him, and agreed to the prince's request.
A moment later, a palace attendant entered the palace, carrying an exquisite white jade box. The box opened, revealing a simple, unopened porcelain bottle sealed with wax, identical to the one in Li Xuanhe's possession. The attendant beside His Majesty took a bowl filled with water, removed the elixir from the bottle, and dissolved it in the water. Then, she tested the poison with a silver needle, but the needle showed no change.
The emperor stared at the silver needle that shone with white light and said to the palace servant who was testing the poison, "Drink this bowl of water."
The palace servant paused, not daring to disobey the order, and drank the potion obediently. Everyone's eyes were focused on him, and after a moment, seeing that he still did not feel any discomfort, they understood.
This pill is indeed non-toxic.
The hall was filled with silence, the atmosphere tense and awkward. Li Xuanhe broke the silence with a resounding voice: "In that case, even if Prince Chen secretly took the elixir, he wouldn't be poisoned. The Crown Prince's suspicion is now cleared."
The Imperial Preceptor frowned, looking at the palace maid who had drunk the potion without any harm, wondering what he was thinking. After the Emperor said, "Drink this bowl of water," the Crown Prince lowered his head, completely hiding his exhaustion. The Emperor glanced at the Crown Prince, who was not far away, and wanted to say something, but in the end, he said nothing and waved goodbye, leaving.
The crowd gradually dispersed, and the Imperial Master saw no reason to linger any longer. He was filled with rage, with nowhere to vent it. He looked at Wuweizi, who was kneeling on the ground, and said, "Why are you still kneeling here? Are you waiting for me to treat you?"
Wuweizi was dejected and unwilling to leave with the imperial teacher. He didn't know who to ask for help and who was willing to help him.
He had just betrayed the prince, and the prince would certainly not save him.
The Imperial Master's men were about to forcibly take Wuweizi away, but were stopped by the Imperial Guards. Li Xuanhe approached Wuweizi and said, "Imperial Master, this man is connected to the case, so you cannot take him away for the time being. I will keep him under strict guard until the true culprit is identified and the case is solved. Then, I will return him to your palace."
Schisandra chinensis was too insignificant to the Hall of Eternal Life; it was just a place for him to vent his anger. Seeing that Li Xuanhe insisted on keeping him, the Imperial Master didn't bother to argue any further.
This person will eventually return to his hands, so why bother fighting for a moment?
The Imperial Master snorted coldly, glared at Li Xuanhe fiercely, and left the hall with his men without looking back.
Li Xuanhe and Xun Shu were the last to leave. Xun Shu followed him with her head down, muttering occasionally, her expression serious. Li Xuanhe had noticed something was wrong with her, but with so many people in the Zhai Palace, he hadn't had a chance to ask. It wasn't until they returned to the courtyard that he asked, "Did you notice anything wrong?"
Xun Shu was about to answer, but when he looked up and saw Yu Chang and Chi Xiao following him, he closed his mouth again.
This matter was of great importance, and she didn't even dare to believe Yu Chang and Chi Xiao.
She pulled Li Xuanhe into the room, closed the door tightly, took his hand, and carefully wrote a few words on his palm.
"The emperor is about to die."
Li Xuanhe was stunned.
His Majesty's health has not been good in recent years. The Imperial Hospital has been preparing prescriptions and tonics for him to nourish his body and prolong his life, but they were disrupted by the Imperial Master and the Hall of Eternal Life. Now they can't even feel His Majesty's pulse, let alone know his physical condition.
If Xun Shu's inference was correct, Li Xuanhe thought of another possibility.
The Imperial Master did not allow the people from the Imperial Hospital to get close to His Majesty. Was it because he knew that His Majesty would not live long and wanted to conceal the matter?
Xun Shu didn't know what he was thinking, so he lowered his voice to a whisper, "It will probably be in the next few days. I wonder if I can hold on until after the ceremony."
Li Xuanhe frowned and suddenly asked, "Could it be the Imperial Master who did this?"
Xun Shu was stunned and immediately shook her head: "It's probably an illness, it has nothing to do with others." She paused and continued, "I think if this was really man-made, even if it was done by the Crown Prince, it would not be done by the Imperial Master."
"Why?"
Xun Shu picked at his fingers and whispered, "From what I've seen today, Your Majesty trusts the Imperial Preceptor more than the Crown Prince. As long as Your Majesty is here, the Imperial Preceptor and the Hall of Eternal Life's status will be unshakable. But if Your Majesty dies and the Crown Prince succeeds to the throne, he will immediately take action to eliminate the Imperial Preceptor and the Hall of Eternal Life's influence. If I were the Imperial Preceptor, I would always hope that Your Majesty would live a hundred years. If there really was an elixir of immortality, I would definitely find a way to get it for Your Majesty. The Crown Prince is different. As long as the Imperial Preceptor is here, he will instigate Your Majesty to stay away from him, and perhaps even consider replacing him as the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince should either kill the Imperial Preceptor and abolish the Hall of Eternal Life, or force his way out of the palace and ascend the throne himself. This is the most secure and direct way to preserve his position."
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