Ji Feiyu spent over a month traveling to the Northern Cold Region. During this period, Yong Yaxuan was in a complete muddle.
Let's rewind to a month ago. News came from the palace that Concubine Zhen had had a miscarriage. When Yong Yaxuan rushed back, his expression was solemn. He first went to visit the Empress Dowager, who had fallen ill because of this.
"Your son is back late," he knelt before the Empress Dowager's bed.
The Empress Dowager didn't want to see him and had the thick bed curtains drawn on the phoenix bed.
Yong Yaxuan knelt for a while before he heard the Empress Dowager say,
"Leave. I don't want to see you. For the Ji family, you could abandon your kingdom and your unborn heir, causing his premature death. What's the use of your coming back now?"
"Your son is sorry, Mother. Please take good care of yourself. Your son will take his leave first." Yong Yaxuan kowtowed heavily several times and then left.
Behind the bed curtains, the Empress Dowager let out a sigh.
After bidding farewell to the Empress Dowager, Yong Yaxuan went to visit Concubine Zhen.
Concubine Zhen was crying piteously. Yong Yaxuan softly comforted her a few words.
Concubine Zhen said sorrowfully, "Your Majesty, you must seek justice for your concubine!"
Yong Yaxuan said, "Now that I'm back, I will surely give you an explanation."
He returned to Zixiang Palace exhausted. Then he received a request to see him from a secret agent.
"Admit him," he said.
Seeing this, Eunuch Li couldn't help saying, "Your Majesty has just come back and has rushed to two places. Why not take a short rest before admitting him?"
Yong Yaxuan rubbed his temples with his hands. "I can hold on."
Eunuch Li had no choice but to go and admit the agent. The agent came to the door and presented a wrapped item. Standing outside the door, he said, "Your Majesty, I present the evidence first. This evidence is poisonous. Your Majesty must wear anti - poison gloves before checking it."
Yong Yaxuan frowned upon hearing this.
Soon, someone presented the evidence, and someone else prepared anti - poison gloves.
After being searched, the agent entered Zixiang Palace, a place where the emperor never discussed affairs.
When Yong Yaxuan saw the agent come in, he put on the gloves and opened the evidence. Inside, he saw a dagger with a blue - glinting blade.
His heart skipped a beat when he saw it. He hurriedly asked, "What is this? Where did you find it?"
The agent bowed to the emperor and said, "Your Majesty, I dug this out from the soil in a corner of the Cold Palace. As time has passed, over four months have gone by. The Cold Palace is now in a desolate state, overgrown with weeds. When I went there to investigate this time, I found a place where no grass grew. I thought it was strange, so I dug it up and found this."
Yong Yaxuan said coldly, "How could there be a sharp blade in the Cold Palace? Where was it buried? How deep?"
The agent said, "It was buried near the place where the Empress lived in the Cold Palace. It was buried very deep. I think it was probably buried by the Empress."
Yong Yaxuan couldn't help thinking of the scar on Ji Feiyu's hand. He also remembered what the Flower Butterfly had said about him putting her in danger. His heart ached.
The agent continued, "Because of this dagger, I checked its style. It's just an ordinary dagger, but it doesn't come from the palace. It comes from the civilian world. Someone must have deliberately bought it outside the palace. Since the dagger is poisonous, I don't know if the Empress was stabbed. So I also checked the records of purchases outside the palace and the records of summoning imperial physicians in the palace."
"What's the result?" Yong Yaxuan was a bit impatient.
The agent said, "There is no record of summoning an imperial physician in the Cold Palace, but there are indeed records of going out to buy medicine. I traced back two or three days according to the records of the Cold Palace's medicine purchases. During this period, the palaces of Concubine Ning, Concubine Zhen, and Concubine Li sent people out to buy supplies, but there was no dagger in their purchase lists."
Yong Yaxuan said coldly, "Naturally, there won't be. It's a prohibited item."
The agent added, "Moreover, I also found that the list of medicinal materials purchased by the Cold Palace is not very clear. Although there is no record of the Cold Palace in the records of summoning imperial physicians, there is another record that caught my attention. That is, during Concubine Zhen's pregnancy, she only summoned the same imperial physician. If this imperial physician was absent for some reason, Concubine Zhen wouldn't summon another imperial physician even on the day when she was supposed to be examined."
Yong Yaxuan narrowed his eyes, as if thinking of something. "Was it still this imperial physician who examined Concubine Zhen during this miscarriage?"
The agent replied, "Yes. When I checked the records of the imperial physician, Concubine Zhen hadn't had a miscarriage yet, so I didn't pay much attention. But as soon as this news came out, I remembered it. To confirm, I went to check the records of the imperial physician's visits again before I came. Sure enough, it was still him."
"Summon him to me," Yong Yaxuan frowned.
Eunuch Li quickly went to summon the imperial physician.
The agent continued, "The cause of the fire in the Cold Palace has been found. It was Concubine De who set the fire. In the conclusion of the case at that time, it was written that a little maid saw Concubine De holding a torch and laughing maniacally in front of the main hall of the Cold Palace that night. If it was due to dry weather and an overturned oil lamp that caused the fire, even if Concubine De was crazy and went around setting fires, what she got should have been a burning stick. But I asked the little maid again, and she was sure it was a torch, not a stick. It can be seen that someone transported a dagger and a torch into the Cold Palace. Obviously, they wanted to get rid of the Empress with Concubine De's hand."
Yong Yaxuan was extremely angry. "How hateful! Their hands have reached into the Cold Palace!"
Just then, Eunuch Li came to report. "Your Majesty, it's bad! That imperial physician has committed suicide."
Yong Yaxuan's breath caught in his throat. He seemed to see an invisible black hand manipulating everything.
"Investigate the anti - miscarriage medicine he prescribed for Concubine Zhen, Concubine Zhen's recent diet, and his recent communication records."
The agent asked, "Should we investigate the case of Concubine Zhen's miscarriage together with the case of the fire in the Cold Palace?"
Yong Yaxuan said, "You can divide the work and investigate them together, but focus on the fire in the Cold Palace."
The agent nodded.
"Do you have any other news?" Yong Yaxuan felt so tired.
The agent said, "Zhang Fugui, the steward of the Cold Palace, also died in the fire. It's a pity. Otherwise, the investigation would have been much easier. Regarding him, I found that someone saw him meet Eunuch Wang while the Empress was in the Cold Palace."
Hearing this, Eunuch Li immediately said, "I was also there when Zhang Fugui met Eunuch Wang. In fact, because I didn't get along well with Steward Zhang, I was afraid that if I tried to take care of things myself, it would be disadvantageous to the Empress. So I asked Eunuch Wang to help me take care of things. I deserve to die for hiding this from Your Majesty."
Yong Yaxuan frowned. "Get up. So you didn't directly tell Zhang Fugui your request? If Eunuch Wang had done something in between, wouldn't you have harmed the Empress instead?"
Eunuch Li lamented, "I know my mistake. Please punish me, Your Majesty."
Yong Yaxuan said, "You're still useful for now. I'll fine you half a year's salary."
Eunuch Li couldn't help crying with gratitude. "Thank you, Your Majesty. I'll accept the punishment."
Yong Yaxuan said to the agent, "Since we can't find out anything about Zhang Fugui because he's dead, then investigate the people he last contacted, such as Eunuch Wang..."