Chapter 86: Spicy Pot (Part 12)
Leng Yue straightened up from Jing Yi's slightly cool embrace, lifted the slipping quilt by its corner, carefully draping it over his body that had turned cold after the effects of the medicine subsided. Only then did she sit down beside him, frowning as she asked, "According to my second sister, all the princes currently in the capital rushed into the palace that day. Why?"
Jing Yi answered succinctly and clearly, "The Late Emperor summoned them, saying it was for a council meeting."
Leng Yue's frown deepened. "Aren't there still several princes who haven't reached the age to participate in court affairs? Why summon them for a council meeting?"
Jing Yi shook his head slightly, offering a faint, bitter smile. "Just to make up the numbers..."
Leng Yue roughly understood what he meant by "making up the numbers." The target of this matter was clearly the Crown Prince, and behind him, the Jing family. As for the other princes, what else were they if not just filling the numbers?
But there was clearly another layer of meaning in Jing Yi's words.
"Are you saying the summons was fake, deliberately arranged by the person who poisoned the Late Emperor?"
If it wasn't intentionally arranged, how could it be considered "making up the numbers"?
Jing Yi still shook his head. "I don't know... At least, I can't see any falseness in it."
Leng Yue was taken aback, her phoenix eyes widening in astonishment. "You... don't tell me all this mess was deliberately orchestrated by the Late Emperor."
No matter how confused an emperor might appear on the surface, sitting high and seeing far, their hearts are always as clear as a mirror. If the Late Emperor had long known about Prince Hui's temperament, he could have taken advantage of this most restless son being outside the capital to summon all the well-behaved sons to his side. Using his own long-lingering life, he could have framed these sons severely. The restless son would naturally be overjoyed, growing restless and eager to act, inevitably becoming more foolish the more he acted, and acting more the more foolish he became, until he became foolish enough to be justifiably dealt with by their group.
Even a vicious tiger doesn't eat its own cubs. If he couldn't bring himself to do it, he might as well harden his heart to let others do it. Given the Late Emperor's trust in Prince An, Leng Yue believed the Late Emperor was capable of such a thing.
After listening to Leng Yue's serious, emotionally charged speculation, Jing Yi remained silent for a long while before slowly nodding. "It could become popular..."
Jing Yi's words were spoken softly, and Leng Yue thought she had misheard, asking blankly, "Become popular?"
As if pondering it further, Jing Yi nodded deeply and affirmed, "If this part were adapted into a storybook, it would definitely become popular."
"..."
Leng Yue felt that, to some extent, Jing Yi should be grateful to Xiao Zhao Ye and Uncle Qi. It was only because of the severe harm left by their previous torment that she could resist the urge to reach out and strangle him to death right now.
Jing Yi nestled in the soft quilt, lifting his haggard face to look at her with his innocent, fox-like eyes, and added with utmost sincerity, "Really, it sounds more believable than what I made up."
"..."
Leng Yue took several deep breaths before glaring coldly at him, grinding her teeth as she said quietly, "What did you make up?"
Jing Yi shrank further into the quilt, reducing the part visible to Leng Yue, and said, "Ghosts."
"..."Leng Yue felt a vague unease about her future. Once this little one nestled in her belly came out, if he bore even a trace of resemblance to his biological father, her life would surely be thrown into chaos.
"Really, it was just like a haunting..." Jing Yi furrowed his refined brows, adopting an expression of deep contemplation before speaking gravely. "Actually, before Prince An left the capital, the Late Emperor was already bedridden. I even visited the palace once—he was so ill he couldn't utter a complete sentence. The eunuch attending him secretly wept while telling me he couldn't even swallow a proper meal... Yet that day, His Majesty was sitting fully dressed in the imperial study reviewing memorials. He could rise, sit, and walk without assistance, held his teacup without trembling, and his complexion looked quite well. Aside from being terribly thin, he appeared completely normal."
Leng Yue froze momentarily, unable to suppress a frown.
It was true that many dying people experienced a final rally, but given the Late Emperor's advanced age and prolonged illness, such a sudden recovery—from being bedridden and incoherent to speaking clearly and moving deftly—meant that even if it wasn't supernatural, there was certainly something sinister at play.
"And then?"
"Then he passed away."
"..."
Leng Yue felt that even if she strangled him right then, his great-grandfather buried beneath the daylilies wouldn't offer any protection.
Jing Yi, however, remained utterly oblivious to the inadequacy of his explanation and calmly added, "Yes, he was perfectly fine one moment, then suddenly coughed up blood and passed away before any matters could be discussed."
Remembering she couldn't linger much longer—Leng Yan would soon arrive at the gate as promised to escort her back to Crown Prince Manor—Leng Yue temporarily stored this grievance in her heart and patiently asked, "Were the imperial physicians summoned immediately?"
Jing Yi nodded. "Several came... One claimed it was poisoning, but the rest all called him nonsense, insisting it was just the final rally before naturally ascending to heaven. Eventually they unified their statement, declaring it a death from illness..." He recounted this lightly with a faint, bitter smile. "But changing their story was useless. His nails and lips had turned dark—even the two young princes who hadn't finished memorizing the Four Books and Five Classics could tell it was poisoning. Who could they possibly fool?"
Speaking blatant falsehoods was an innate survival instinct for the imperial family, so Leng Yue wasn't surprised such an obvious matter could be concealed for so long. However, one thing puzzled her.
"Was the poison in the tea the Late Emperor drank?"
This was the most logical deduction. That Leng Yue immediately thought of it didn't surprise Jing Yi in the least, though he still looked at her with a "well done" expression and nodded approvingly.
"Then why suspect all of you instead of the person who served the tea?"
Jing Yi lifted the corner of his mouth and pointed at his own nose, somewhat helplessly explaining, "Because I was the one who served the tea..."
Leng Yue stared in shock. "You served the tea?""Then what?" Jing Yi said with a bitter expression, his tone resigned and matter-of-fact. "After all of us arrived, the Late Emperor dismissed everyone else. In the study, aside from him, there were only me and a few princes. Then the water on the small stove boiled, and everything on the tea tray was prepared—clearly waiting for water to brew tea. As the only attendant present, could I just stand there waiting for the masters to brew it themselves..."
So it was Jing Yi who brewed tea for the Late Emperor. No wonder...
Leng Yue suddenly felt that Jing Yi's current predicament perfectly exemplified the saying "to do a thankless task."
"Just because of this, you became the prime suspect?"
Jing Yi seemed to hesitate for a moment before nodding thoughtfully. "More or less... Because the investigation found that the remaining boiled water in the kettle wasn't poisoned, and I had rinsed the cups with hot water from the kettle before brewing—any poison would have been washed away. So when they discovered only the brewed tea was poisoned, wasn't I naturally the most suspicious?"
Just as Leng Yue was about to nod, she mentally retraced Jing Yi's tea-brewing process and suddenly noticed a missing link in his seemingly logical explanation. "What about the tea leaves?"
Jing Yi again gave Leng Yue that "you're brilliant" look.
"The poisoned element was the tea leaves..." Before Leng Yue could ask who had placed the poisoned tea in the imperial study, Jing Yi continued, "The tea was from Cheng Family Tea House."
Leng Yue was stunned once more, but upon reflection, it didn't seem strange. Rumors about the Late Emperor's preference for Cheng Family Tea House's tea had circulated for ages—it seemed only natural that their tea would be stocked in the imperial study.
Yet this coincidence intertwining with the Late Emperor's poisoning made Leng Yue feel something was amiss.
Jing Yi clearly read the questions written all over Leng Yue's face. The corners of his mouth lifted slightly into an understanding smile. "You also think this seems both reasonable and suspicious, don't you?"
Leng Yue nodded.
Jing Yi sighed slowly, like a veteran recalling past battles. "That's because this incident could have been much bigger... The idea to use Cheng Family Tea House came from the Old Master, with assistance from Prince Rui and Prince An. If someone used this handful of tea leaves to bring down the Old Master—who has the most disciples in court—along with Prince Rui who manages finances and Prince An who oversees justice, what would be left of the court?"
Though Leng Yue wasn't well-versed in the complex division of officials in the capital, her three idle months at the Suzhou magistrate's office had taught her about local government operations. The two most critical functions in any office were justice and finance—the same likely applied to the imperial court. If the court's most solid faction were eliminated while those controlling these two functions could be manipulated, even someone illegitimately claiming the throne would face few who dared oppose them openly.
By then, truly nothing would remain of the court.
A chill ran down Leng Yue's spine.
She had to admit—whoever devised this scheme understood efficiency perfectly. A handful of tea leaves had not only poisoned the Late Emperor but nearly wiped out half the court."Then... those poisoned tea leaves haven't been discovered yet?"
Jing Yi nodded lightly. "There happened to be a jar of tribute tea from Jiangnan nearby that looked identical to this variety. While no one was paying attention, I swapped the two jars. They thought I was brewing from that tribute tea jar... It's quite difficult to distinguish between the two jars just by appearance without tasting, but fortunately no one dared risk their lives to sample the poisoned tea. So they concluded the tea leaves themselves weren't poisonous, and I must have added poison while brewing."
This substitution was undoubtedly the method the Crown Prince mentioned - Jing Yi deliberately drawing suspicion onto himself.
Though Jing Yi now recounted it casually, considering the circumstances at the time - the sudden recovery of the Late Emperor followed immediately by his sudden collapse before everyone's eyes - the panic must have been unimaginable. Yet Jing Yi managed to weigh all these complex considerations in such a short time, make the decision to sacrifice himself, and methodically turn himself into the prime suspect in this regicide case right under so many watchful eyes...
Leng Yue wondered if anyone outside of storybooks could possibly accomplish such a feat.
Just as a wave of profound admiration began to rise in her heart - she swore it hadn't even reached her face yet - she saw Jing Yi break into an exceptionally innocent smile, like a child seeking praise, saying, "Aren't I amazing?"
"..."
If Leng Yue had any candy in her hand, she would have stuffed one into his mouth.
Now this was truly spooky...
Feeling somewhat guilty, Leng Yue straightened her face that had nearly flushed red, adopting an official tone. "Since they couldn't find any evidence on you, they placed you under house arrest?"
Jing Yi pouted unhappily but still nodded. "And my home... they turned the entire place inside out, pocketed some valuable items, and then left it like this..."
"...Pocketed items?"
Leng Yue was thoroughly stunned.
Pocketed items? Shouldn't those people have been searching for evidence?
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