"It's me!"
"Why?"
"Just as you said before, I should have been the chief physician of the Imperial Hospital!"
Nan Shiying sighed, "Lord Li, what's the point of saying this now that things have come to this? Do you really need to be tortured before you'll tell the truth?"
"Li Mingyi, if you confess, I promise not to involve your family. But if you conceal it, I will surely exterminate your nine generations. Before you die, I will have your wife and children killed by dismemberment before your eyes."
"Your Majesty, do you remember my daughter?" Li Mingyi asked suddenly, looking at Ji Hong.
Ji Hong paused slightly, "Consort Xiao?"
"You remember!"
Li Mingyi's daughter entered the palace eight years ago. Ji Hong enfeoffed her as Consort Xiao at the time. In fact, Ji Hong should not have chosen a consort from the daughters of imperial physicians, but his uncle's health was deteriorating, and he wanted to find a physician he could completely trust.
At that time, Wei Yuan's medical skills were truly inadequate for the position.
Li Mingyi's medical skills were good, his family background was clear, and he had a daughter of the appropriate age, so…
"My daughter adored you."
"She was unwilling, she pleaded, but I couldn't."
"Then you..." Nan Shiying frowned, puzzled. Ji Hong fell silent, "Consort Xiao passed away earlier this year."
"It was suicide, Your Majesty, suicide!"
Li Mingyi cried out. He suddenly wept, then laughed.
Ji Hong blinked.
Wasn't it a natural death?
"Until her death, you didn't know why she died."
"My daughter is dead. She was only twenty-five this year, but Your Majesty, do you know how much of her life was wasted? She loved the apricot blossoms south of the city the most, but she was confined within these palace walls. Apart from you, she had nothing. But you, why did you bring her into the palace? Did you ever pause for her, did you ever look at her?"
"I've always wondered, did my daughter really want to harm your heirs? No, she is my legitimate daughter. She understood me. She knew I would never agree. She just wanted to find a reason to die. Your Majesty, I hate, I don't hate Consort Gu, I hate you, it's you, it's you!"
Before this, Ji Hong had thought of countless reasons, but never that Li Mingyi's actions were solely for the late Consort Xiao.
Ji Hong remembered Consort Xiao, remembered she was born on New Year's Day, remembered she liked sweets.
He had favored her for a time for the sake of his uncle, but later, when the poison in his uncle's body was suppressed, he stopped visiting her.
But apart from favoring her, he had not mistreated Consort Xiao!
Seeing Ji Hong's expression, Li Mingyi only wanted to laugh. Even now, the person Yu'er longed for could not understand what it was like to be favored, then coldly abandoned.
"Your Majesty, this matter was all my doing. I beg Your Majesty for leniency and not to involve my family."
Ji Hong looked at Li Mingyi, his expression stern.
The palace, a cage that imprisoned souls. Nan Shiying had seen too many people trapped within the palace walls before ascending the throne, fighting and killing each other for the emperor's favor.
The palace walls confined them, preventing them from seeing the vast grasslands, the boundless ocean, the mountains, and the lakes. They could only live in a corner, exhausting their souls for immediate gains.
Nan Shiying did not think Li Mingyi was wrong, but unfortunately, they were on opposing sides.
"Physician Li, there is little you could have done. You could only hint to Ginkgo to pick the Muyao flower, but there is a crucial link in the entire affair. Who moved the ornaments?"
"Or rather, after Consort Xiao died, who hinted at you to seek revenge?"
Li Mingyi paused. He had always felt his actions were from his heart, but upon hearing Feng Luan's question, he suddenly realized that perhaps he had been used.
After his daughter died, he drank himself into a stupor, and then…
Li Mingyi said, "It was... it was Prime Minister Nan."
It was Nan Chaoyin.
It was Nan Chaoyin!
Ji Hong turned sharply, looking at Nan Shiying.
Nan Shiying blinked. Very good, the matter had taken a turn and landed back on that old scoundrel Nan Chaoyin.
Nan Shiying glared at Ji Hong. What are you looking at? Doubting me?
Ji Hong's lingering suspicion vanished with Nan Shiying's glare.
The general outline of the matter was clear. There was no need to interrogate those palace maids anymore. The exposed informants could be used to follow the trail.
Physician Li would not survive. Nan Shiying acted, causing him to suddenly collapse and die.
The imperial physicians examined him and concluded it was due to grief and overwork, leading to cardiac arrest.
Li's family was plunged into sorrow. Ji Hong personally appointed Li Mingyi's son, Li Changji, as an imperial censor in the Hanlin Academy, a seventh-rank official. The Li family was deeply grateful.
Ginkgo did not pick the Muyao flower, and Zou Yun'er's chambers no longer had fresh flowers. After Shen Yue's treatment these past few days, Zou Yun'er's internal heat subsided, and she suddenly no longer craved sweets or cold food.
"Strange!"
Looking at the candied yam in front of her, Zou Yun'er had no appetite. The shredded bamboo shoots with shrimp, however, smelled quite fragrant, making her mouth water.
She now preferred rich, flavorful food.
Shen Yue served her, but did not let her eat too heavily, as excessive oil and salt were also a burden on the body.
Nan Shiying found Nan Chaoyin extremely annoying. Even while under confinement, he could stir up trouble.
What was hateful was that this scoundrel was like a loach in water, slippery and elusive, and she couldn't grasp any handle on him.
Now, besides the one-third possibility in Zou Yun'er's palace, the only other person they had was herself.
She was the dark guard Nan Chaoyin had in mind—Qingyuan!
However, Nan Shiying doubted whether Nan Chaoyin still believed she was Qingyuan.
During her trip to Changming Mountain, Nan Chaoyin had not conveyed any messages to her.
Nan Shiying suspected Nan Chaoyin suspected her.
She lay in Ji Jinmo's arms, eating pastries.
It was now the end of the year, and the court was on holiday. Even the peace talks between the two countries were postponed until after the new year. Ji Jinmo was not attending court during this time and stayed in her Xinyuan Pavilion every day. When she was in Wucheng, Ji Jinmo slept in the front courtyard every night, and the manor servants thought the Prince and Princess were having another spat.
Now, it was fine. No one thought they were arguing anymore. Yesterday, Nan Shiying heard the manor servants discussing when she would get pregnant to give Ji Jinmo an heir.
She turned her head, looking at the cold and composed Ji Jinmo, who looked like a man of abstinence. If she hadn't known what kind of person he was, Nan Shiying would have been fooled by his face.
Ji Jinmo lowered his head, looking at Nan Shiying, and asked, "What's wrong?"
Nan Shiying playfully pinched his neck, looking at him fiercely, "Tell me, where did you hide the little figures from last night?"
Ji Jinmo: "..."
He pulled her hand down.
Nan Shiying: "..."
Pah!
Lecher!