Chapter 93: Spicy Pot (Part 19)
Leng Yue knew very little about the Late Emperor, but judging from how he never appointed another empress after the previous empress passed away, it made sense that he would devise such a plan for himself.
However, if everything was exactly as Jing Yi described, then one matter seemed utterly baffling.
The moment Leng Yue furrowed her brows, Jing Yi nodded in understanding. "Yes, Xiao Zhao Ye had long known about the Late Emperor's arrangements for himself..."
At some point, Leng Yue had grown accustomed to this phenomenon where her slightest thought would elicit a response from him. Thus, upon hearing his words, only one thing struck her as incredible: "Even the Crown Prince and your Old Master were unaware of this—how could he have known?"
Jing Yi lightly pursed his pale lips, infusing a hint of self-mockery into his bitter smile. "The most ruthless move Xiao Zhao Ye pulled was using his mother's funeral to portray himself as the world's most filial son..."
Whether Xiao Zhao Ye was genuinely filial or merely pretending was already crystal clear. Yet, feigning filial piety to win favor wasn't just common in imperial families—even ordinary households saw it regularly. After all, even if one didn't end up with the largest share of inheritance, they could at least secure a good reputation, making career-building and marriage arrangements much smoother.
For a moment, Leng Yue truly couldn't grasp what made Xiao Zhao Ye's overused tactic so exceptional.
As her eyebrows lifted slightly, Jing Yi shook his head and explained, "This maneuver had nothing to do with pleasing the Late Emperor... Think about it—for a filial son to perform his duties perfectly, he must thoroughly understand the habits and preferences of the person he's honoring, right?"
Leng Yue found herself nodding almost involuntarily.
"So..." Jing Yi sighed softly. "When a renowned filial son inquires with physicians about his father's illness or probes his father's attendants about daily routines, everyone naturally assumes he's gathering information to fulfill his filial duties. Touched by this, they'd divulge everything they know—whether appropriate to share or not... As long as he isn't foolish, piecing together these scattered clues would inevitably reveal the Late Emperor's intentions."
Though no charcoal fire burned in the room and the windows remained shut, Leng Yue felt a chilling sensation creeping up her spine. Her voice wavered slightly as she spoke, "Xiao Zhao Ye is only fifteen or sixteen now—how old was he when Consort Hui passed away? How could he have conceived such schemes at that age?"
Jing Yi shook his head faintly. "Someone must have taught him, but no one in the court appears particularly close to him... If not for his aloofness—creating the illusion that he'd abandoned all worldly desires after his mother's death—how could the Late Emperor, wise throughout his life, have fallen for such a ploy?"
Remembering how Xiao Zhao Ye had deceived his own father, Leng Yue abruptly straightened her posture. "Wait—even if he possessed the wit to deduce the Late Emperor's arrangements, how could he, stationed outside the capital, ensure the Late Emperor would drink that specific batch of poisoned tea at that exact moment? Was the palace attendant who prepared the tea that day in league with him?"Jing Yi shook his head without hesitation. "If it really was that eunuch who did it, to ensure absolute success, he could have simply grabbed a handful of poisoned tea and put it in the cup before retreating. Otherwise, if someone else happened to feel like using the tea containers placed further away while brewing tea, wouldn't all his efforts be in vain? Actually, there's no need to look for any accomplices at all. The Late Emperor would definitely drink that particular tea at that specific time that day."
Whether it was because of his unkempt beard or his slightly hoarse voice after prolonged suffering, even though Jing Yi had wrapped himself in a quilt like a zongzi dumpling, Leng Yue felt he appeared more serious, steady, and mature than ever before. So much so that whatever he said, she believed there must be logic behind it, even if she couldn't immediately figure out where that logic lay.
"Why?"
Jing Yi smiled gently, as if it were perfectly natural for Leng Yue not to follow his reasoning. "This is also related to court politics..."
Ever since she entered the capital city gates, these past dozen or so hours of heart-pounding turmoil had all been thanks to these two words. Now, whenever she heard them, Leng Yue couldn't help but get a headache. "What does this have to do with court politics again?"
"Think about it..." Jing Yi said patiently from within his quilt. "If the Late Emperor hadn't been poisoned by the tea from Cheng Family Tea House that day, but instead finished arranging his affairs while drinking their tea, then peacefully passed away in bed, this account spread through the golden words of the various princes would make Cheng Family Tea House's tea the very tea the Late Emperor couldn't forget even on his deathbed. Guess how many times the price of that tea would multiply?"
Leng Yue felt she was finally beginning to vaguely understand what was meant by imperial intention.
The higher the price of the Cheng family's tea rose, the more silver would flow from wealthy families with money to burn into the national treasury. This would make disaster relief - the matter that had given emperors throughout history the biggest headaches - much easier. To put it plainly, the Late Emperor intended to use his last bit of strength to pave the way for the Crown Prince.
An indescribable warmth rose in Leng Yue's heart. If anyone told her again that there was no father-son relationship in the imperial family, only that between ruler and subject, she would definitely be unable to resist glaring a hole through that person.
Moved as she was, Leng Yue wasn't some young maiden whose sole responsibilities were embroidery and feeding birds. For her, being moved and being swayed were two completely separate things.
"Wait," once her moment of emotion passed, Leng Yue immediately furrowed her handsome brows. To Jing Yi's eyes, this expression didn't seem at all mismatched with her soft and charming dress. "I still think there must have been an accomplice working with him in the palace. We don't know when the poisoned tea was mixed in. What if the Late Emperor had accidentally drunk it before that day?"
"The Late Emperor was raised in luxury since childhood. Do you really think he couldn't tell how terrible that tea tasted? When someone is that seriously ill, who would willingly subject themselves to such discomfort..." Jing Yi seemed to enjoy how seriously Leng Yue was taking his words and refuting them with equal seriousness. After saying this with mixed amusement and exasperation, he narrowed his eyes slightly as if carefully considering something, then said softly but firmly, "The poisoned tea was probably delivered to the palace around the tenth of mid-August."
Mid-August, around the tenth.
That was when she had just married Jing Yi. Just married.
Besides this, Leng Yue truly couldn't recall anything else particularly special about that date."That was right after we got married. I took three days off, and the Dali Temple was swamped with work, so they made an exception and urgently recruited a few new people..."
Perhaps it was because Jing Yi's voice was too gentle, creating an illusion, but Leng Yue felt he was speaking with unusual caution, as if carefully presenting something extremely precious, afraid it might get stained or damaged.
After Jing Yi softly finished these words, he took a breath, and the feeling in his subsequent words faded.
"Cheng Xun, the youngest son of Cheng Family Tea House owner Cheng Ru, was among them."
Cheng Xun.
He was one of the few corpses Leng Yue had handled whose lively, energetic appearance she had seen in life. Moreover, she had not only seen his clean exterior but also his hollowed-out insides, so she would definitely never forget him in this lifetime.
How could the son of a merchant like Cheng Xun qualify to become an official? This question had crossed Leng Yue's mind many times, but each time it was pushed aside by other doubts. Still, Leng Yue could swear that even if she had focused entirely on this question from the very beginning, she would never have guessed the truth.
"You mean..." Leng Yue ventured, "Cheng Xun helped smuggle the poisoned tea into the palace, and in return, Xiao Zhao Ye got him a position as an official in the Dali Temple?"
Jing Yi gave a weak smile, acknowledging it. "I had dinner with some friends at Cheng Xun's place before. Back then, he expressed his desire to become an official. I was a bit drunk and didn't take it seriously... The Crown Prince sending Feng Si'er to Cheng Xun's side was actually a well-thought-out move..."
Leng Yue silently pondered for a moment, then reluctantly nodded, her voice low with a mix of unwillingness and indignation. "So... Xiao Zhao Ye found an opportunity to flee far away when the time was right, then waited safely until the Late Emperor passed away before returning cleanly?"
Jing Yi nodded slightly, lowering his head to take a sip of the now lukewarm soup from the bowl.
Seeing Jing Yi looking so utterly worn yet completely at ease, Leng Yue's heart ached faintly. In that moment of pain, she suddenly realized she had forgotten one thing from start to finish.
If their deductions were correct, how could Jing Yi have ended up in such a state here?
"Wait..." Leng Yue stared blankly at Jing Yi, who looked exhausted after a yawn. "If the Late Emperor summoned his sons to give his final instructions, why would he call for you?"
Too lazy to pull his hands out from the warm, soft quilt, Jing Yi licked the soup from the corner of his mouth and shook his head somewhat absently. "Maybe he was so used to calling me 'little brat' that in the end, he really thought of me as his own kid..."
This explanation clearly wouldn't satisfy Leng Yue, but seeing how deeply tired Jing Yi was, she couldn't bring herself to press him further. Instead, she refilled his bowl with soup, scooped up a half-spoonful of the warm liquid, and brought it to his lips.
"Oh, right... Your Old Master asked me to tell you that he found a place to store the thing you entrusted to him and that you should stop worrying about it."
Jing Yi accepted the sip of soup with a touch of pleasant surprise, nodding casually in the process.
Leng Yue scooped up another spoonful of soup and brought it to Jing Yi's mouth."The Crown Prince also told me that you asked him to help find Hua Mei's younger brother... He was found this morning."
Jing Yi was slightly taken aback.
That the Crown Prince could locate the person was something he had anticipated. What he hadn't expected was that he could clearly detect from Leng Yue's words that there was more to come—these initial sentences were merely prefatory remarks spoken to fill the silence while she hesitated over what followed.
This hesitation of Leng Yue's made his heart ache.
Jing Yi slowly swallowed his second spoonful of soup, gently pressed his lips together, looked directly into Leng Yue's slightly evasive eyes, and smiled gently. "Do you think my Old Master finds it exhausting to speak that way?"
Leng Yue didn't understand why he suddenly brought this up. After a moment's pause, she answered without hesitation, "Exhausting."
"Then do you know why he chooses to speak in such an exhausting manner?"
It seemed as if Jing Yi had poured out all the seriousness he had accumulated over the past ten-plus years today. Every word was spoken with such sincerity that Leng Yue couldn't bring herself to respond carelessly. So, although completely baffled by his question, she still shook her head earnestly.
"Because when serving as an official in the capital, especially in a position like his, one wrong word could mean never having the chance to take it back."
Such chilling words were spoken by Jing Yi with a smile in a gentle, soft voice, leaving Leng Yue's heart in turmoil. For a moment, she didn't know how to respond and could only nod blankly.
Jing Yi gave a slight smile, his expression carrying just the right amount of warmth as he said meaningfully, "You can always take back what you say to me. As long as you want to change it, you can go back and forth as many times as you like. So just speak your mind as you always have—say whatever you want to say without hesitation."
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