"The deceased's bones show normal coloration, and the buried silverware shows no signs of being soaked in arsenic or similar poisons. There are no obvious wounds on the skeleton, and after vinegar steaming and examination under an oil-paper umbrella, no injuries were detected on the bones."
Xiao Jin Yu forced a faint smile. "It's alright... After so many years, it's normal not to find anything..."
Chu Chu reached out and gently touched the corner of his strained smile. "Wang Ye, don't lose heart so quickly. I've actually discovered something."
Xiao Jin Yu froze. "What did you find?"
Chu Chu looked at him seriously, her eyes sparkling. "Wang Ye, for someone of Consort Wen's status, how many burial objects would typically accompany her after death?"
Xiao Jin Yu frowned slightly, puzzled by her sudden question, but still shook his head gently. "It varies... but gold, silver, and jade items should not exceed five pieces each."
"Are these items placed outside the shroud?"
Xiao Jin Yu nodded. "Apart from ornaments worn on the body, all other burial objects should be placed outside the shroud."
Chu Chu smiled brightly. "That confirms it!"
"...Confirms what?"
"The cause of Consort Wen's death," Chu Chu said deliberately, word by word. "She died from swallowing gold."
Xiao Jin Yu was taken aback. "Why do you say that?"
"Outside her shroud, there were two gold hairpins and two gold rings. But inside the shroud, near her abdomen, we found four additional gold rings. Doesn't that mean she swallowed them?"
Xiao Jin Yu frowned slightly. Death by swallowing gold was not uncommon in the palace. After ingesting gold, one would become disoriented, lose appetite, vomit yellowish fluid—symptoms strikingly similar to stomach illness—resulting in a natural-looking death that rarely aroused suspicion. In the palace, where major issues were often minimized and minor ones dismissed, this method was particularly favored.
However, to execute a woman who had just given birth to royal offspring and completely conceal the existence of that child was beyond the capability of ordinary palace personnel...
"Wang Ye," Chu Chu tugged at his sleeve, pulling him out of his thoughts. "If you want to know if she was your mother, why not try a blood test?"
Before Xiao Jin Yu could respond, two dry coughs sounded from outside the door. Xue Rucheng pushed it open and entered, warming his hands by the charcoal brazier while sighing unhurriedly. "Had I known earlier that Your Highness's exhumation and corpse examination were to investigate your birth mother, I wouldn't have troubled myself pleading before His Majesty... If Your Highness had doubts about your origins, why not simply ask me?" Xue Rucheng glanced at the stunned Chu Chu. "It would likely be more accurate than a blood test."
Xiao Jin Yu's typically calm face was filled with intense astonishment that Chu Chu had never seen before. Standing close beside him, she could even see his pale lips trembling slightly. "Teacher..."
Xue Rucheng, as if dissatisfied with the warmth of the charcoal, blew on his hands twice and rubbed them together before speaking slowly. "Consort Wen did indeed give birth to a son before her death, born on the same day and around the same hour as Your Highness. However, it was not you."
Chu Chu's heart suddenly lightened, and she smiled as she gently patted Xiao Jin Yu's stiffened hand. "Wang Ye, now you can rest assured!"Xiao Jinyu gazed at Xue Rucheng, who remained as composed as ever, and struggled to keep his voice steady. Yet even he could hear the unsteadiness in his own tone. "If that's the case, why did she swallow gold to end her life? And why would someone alter her medical records... and what about that imperial prince..."
Xue Rucheng let out a soft sigh, casually brushing a thin layer of dust from his sleeve. He spoke with the solemn yet calm demeanor of someone lecturing on classical texts. "Because Imperial Concubine Wen did not give birth to an imperial prince—she bore an imperial grandson."
Chu Chu couldn't quite wrap her head around this, staring blankly at Xue Rucheng. "How can one have a grandson without first having a son?"
Xue Rucheng looked at Chu Chu with the affectionate gaze one might reserve for a beloved granddaughter, almost as if he were about to pat her head. "Of course it's possible. The Daozong Empress had already given birth to her son long ago."
Only then did Chu Chu snap to understanding, her jaw nearly dropping in astonishment. She glanced at Xiao Jinyu and, seeing the stunned expression on his face, realized that even in the imperial family, such matters were far from commonplace. This brought her a slight sense of relief.
Xiao Jinyu, however, felt no relief at all—instead, his heart grew even more tightly wound. His elder brother, shortly after becoming crown prince, had committed incest with their father's consort and fathered a child. If this matter had reached his mother's knowledge and had been handled so discreetly, it meant numerous people both inside and outside the palace must have been involved. If even a whisper of this were to leak out and fall into the hands of those with ulterior motives, they could easily produce three or five so-called witnesses and use the scandal to drag his still-inexperienced nephew from the throne.
"Master..." Xiao Jinyu bowed his head and cupped his hands respectfully. "I beg your forgiveness for my momentary foolishness in trusting rumors... This matter is of grave importance. I implore you, for the stability of the state, to continue guarding this secret."
Xue Rucheng waved a hand with unshakable composure. "This old man has already kept it hidden for twenty-five years—what's another twenty-five? However, I must finish explaining this matter in one go, lest Wang Ye later recall it and start investigating recklessly, wasting effort and causing the Imperial Concubine to live in constant fear."
Xiao Jinyu flushed as if he'd been chastised by Xue Rucheng for straying off-topic in an essay. "Understood..."
Chu Chu stuck out her tongue. "There's still more to this?"
"Of course there is." Xue Rucheng picked up a cup of tea and slowly paced over to the sandalwood screen at the western wall. Savoring a sip of hot tea while carefully examining the screen's intricate patterns, he assumed the posture of someone prepared to speak leisurely while his listener absorbed every word. "I've heard that Wang Ye recently requisitioned all files and documents related to Ning Jun Wang Xiao Heng and former Grand Tutor Yun Yi from the Three Law Divisions, the Ministry of War, and the Ministry of Personnel for review?"
Xue Rucheng had abruptly shifted the conversation to something entirely unrelated, leaving Xiao Jinyu momentarily stunned before he replied, "Yes..."
"Wang Ye has always shown little interest in such old cases where the evidence is clear-cut and there are no real uncertainties. Suddenly taking an interest in this case—has someone come to plead with you to reopen it?"
Chu Chu stared at Xue Rucheng's back with a mixture of reverence and awe, as if witnessing a bodhisattva manifesting divine power. That he could even deduce this—truly, he lived up to being Wang Ye's mentor.
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