The Glory

"Yоu must hаve guessеd whу hе wеnt tо the battlefiеld?" Аt this point, Imрerial Рhуsiсiаn Wu раused and аsked Han Yan.

"Beсаuse оf the Еmрrеss Dоwagеr?" Наn Yаn vеntured сautiously.

Imреrial Рhysician Wu tоok a siр of teа аnd соntinuеd.

In fасt, there wаs аnothеr rumоr in thе pаlaсе that Cоnsоrt Jing was killеd by the Emрress, but that was mеrеlу heаrsay. On thе dау Cоnsоrt Jing gаvе birth, thе Еmprеss wаs at Мount Wutаi praуing for thе sаfе arrivаl оf thе third рrince. She оnly learned of thе tragedy invоlving Consоrt Jing and hеr сhild the fоllowing day. Moreover, the Empress had always treated the eldest prince and Fu Yunxi so kindly that the rumor naturally fell apart. In his youth, Imperial Physician Wu was a free-spirited and unrestrained man. The late emperor valued his medical skills and brought him into the palace, but he was a lawless character by nature. Gradually, he became someone no one in the palace dared to offend—except for one person: Fu Yunxi.

Imperial Physician Wu was lawless, but Fu Yunxi was even more so. Often, Imperial Physician Wu would see something in this much younger man that made his heart tremble. Over time, as they grew acquainted, they developed something of a friendship that transcended age. The first time Fu Yunxi fell ill, he came straight to Imperial Physician Wu.

Imperial Physician Wu would never forget that scene: the young man was as cold as ice, his jade-like skin taking on the hue of snow. His gaze was icy, as if the one about to freeze to death was not him. His lips were blue and purple, and he stared indifferently at Imperial Physician Wu, uttering two words: "Save me." Then he collapsed to the ground.

Imperial Physician Wu dragged him back into the room. With his extensive experience, he managed to deduce from these strange symptoms that Fu Yunxi had been afflicted with a rare cold poison. When this poison flared up, the entire body would turn icy cold, enduring pain as if ice needles were piercing the bones. As the person grew older, the toxicity would invade more fiercely. Once the cold poison completely infiltrated the internal organs, all sensation would be lost, turning the person into an ice statue—terrifyingly, the body would still be alive.

This was a slow-acting poison, meaning Fu Yunxi had been poisoned from a very young age.

"You are so clever, you must know who the poisoner was?" Imperial Physician Wu said, looking up at Han Yan.

Han Yan stared at him, her voice becoming slow and faint. If one didn’t listen carefully, it might seem as if she had only moved her lips without speaking at all.

"The Empress Dowager?" she asked.

Imperial Physician Wu nodded.

The fact that only Fu Yunxi was poisoned while the Emperor was not was already highly unusual. But at that time, what Fu Yunxi discovered went even further. After the late emperor passed away, among the many princes, only the Emperor and Fu Yunxi stood out as the most exceptional. At that time, the Empress Dowager doted on them as if they were her own precious treasures, specifically ordering the palace physicians to procure the most valuable snow lotus to prepare medicinal meals to nourish the two brothers. What the Empress Dowager didn’t know was that the two brothers were always close. When Fu Yunxi was young and less healthy than the Emperor, the Emperor would give his share of the medicinal meal to Fu Yunxi. The problem lay in that medicinal meal.The medicinal cuisine had been laced with this incurable poison. Since the Emperor did not touch the medicinal cuisine, he naturally remained unharmed. Fu Yunxi, however, ingested a double dose of the poison, intensifying its effects and causing the symptoms of poisoning to manifest during his youth. Under normal circumstances, this poison would only show its effects after one reached adulthood.

Fu Yunxi’s early onset of poisoning inadvertently led to its discovery by Imperial Physician Wu. Over the years, Imperial Physician Wu had exhausted every possible method to treat Fu Yunxi’s condition, yet he could only slightly alleviate the symptoms. Although Fu Yunxi had long stopped consuming the medicinal cuisine and no longer ingested the poison, the double dose from his youth remained deeply entrenched within his body.

The hot spring within the palace’s forbidden grounds was specifically built by the Emperor for Fu Yunxi. The Emperor knew that Fu Yunxi was afflicted with a cold poison but refused to believe that the Empress Dowager was responsible. Even when Fu Yunxi later presented the medicinal cuisine as evidence, perhaps due to bribery, no trace of wrongdoing could be uncovered. Without proof, he could not convince the Emperor, yet the cold poison grew increasingly severe day by day. The hot spring could alleviate the chill and provide some warmth to his body. Whenever the illness flared up, Fu Yunxi would retreat there.

Han Yan recalled the time she herself had been poisoned with an aphrodisiac. It was indeed in the hot spring pool that she had discovered Fu Yunxi. That place was truly a forbidden area, devoid of even a single eunuch or palace maid. At first, Han Yan thought she had merely stumbled upon Fu Yunxi by chance, but now she understood—Fu Yunxi must have been suffering from an episode of his illness, seeking relief in the hot spring.

In the matter of the poisoning, beyond the threat to his own life, what likely struck Fu Yunxi the hardest was the betrayal by the Empress Dowager. A woman he had revered since childhood, the closest person to him aside from his own mother, turned out to be a ruthless executioner, constantly seeking the lives of him and his brother. Even the deaths of his mother and younger brother might be connected to this woman. To call this situation "taking a thief for one’s father" would be an apt description.

"The Emperor and the Prince are blood brothers," Han Yan voiced her doubt. "Even if the Emperor trusts the Empress Dowager deeply, once the Prince raised suspicions, the Emperor should have become wary. How could he still place such unwavering trust in the Empress Dowager?" The Emperor’s attitude toward the Empress Dowager even surpassed that of a typical mother-son relationship, which was truly peculiar.

Imperial Physician Wu shook his head. "When the Emperor was young, the Empress Dowager once saved his life. He had fallen into a lake, and with no eunuchs or palace maids around, the Empress Dowager jumped in herself to rescue him. Because of this incident, she contracted a persistent cold and would cough incessantly whenever it rained. For all these years, the Emperor has carried a deep sense of guilt."Han Yan raised an eyebrow but said nothing. In her eyes, the Empress Dowager's actions were nothing remarkable. Living in a grand mansion, those who saved you might not hesitate to kill you later. Han Yan even suspected that the Emperor's fall into the lake might be connected to the Empress Dowager. Truly malicious people never reveal their intentions on the surface. They appear kind and amiable, willing to sacrifice for you, seemingly devoted to your well-being, all to gain your complete trust—only to push you into an abyss when you least expect it. Just like Madam Zhou and her daughter in her past life. Having died once, Han Yan saw it all clearly. But the Emperor was different. Growing up in the royal family, where familial bonds were inherently cold, and having lost his birth mother early, deprived of maternal love, the Empress Dowager's actions could easily become his emotional anchor. It was entirely possible for him to see her as a second mother.

The Emperor did not trust Fu Yunxi—or perhaps he was unwilling to believe. Acknowledging the Empress Dowager's sinister intentions would shatter his illusion, his dream of a mother. The Emperor might deceive himself, but this self-deception only brought misery to Fu Yunxi. Forced to watch his enemy and his elder brother perform scenes of maternal affection and filial piety day after day, what could Fu Yunxi do? He could only vent his resentment on the battlefield, growing swiftly, becoming stronger—so strong that his adversary would no longer dare to underestimate him, even fear him and yield under his pressure.