Chapter 46: Li Shimin, Here We Go!

A quarter of an hour later, the imperial chef from the previous night's incident was beheaded. The agonizing screams of the East Palace attendant who had delivered the medicine last night echoed from outside into Li Chengche's chamber.

"Spare my life, Your Highness! This humble servant truly knew nothing!"

"Where did a wretch like you get the audacity to plot against the Imperial Grandson? Speak! Who ordered you? Was it Li Chengqian, Li Kuan, Li Ke, or Li Tai!"

Immediately following the attendant's shrieks came Li Jiancheng's furious roar.

"Speak! If you do not confess this instant, I will have you beaten to death!"

"Your Highness! I am wronged! It truly was not the young princes of the Prince of Qin's Mansion..."

"Who was it!"

"It was the Grandson's second younger brother, the Prince of Pingyuan..."

Before he could finish his sentence, his voice was cut off entirely. "Well, what a treacherous villain you are, daring to sow discord within my East Palace! Li Shimin, the grudge between us is officially sealed today!"

It was evident that Li Jiancheng was truly enraged, to the extent that he dropped the fraternal title of "second younger brother."

Yet, regrettably, his aging father lacked even the courage to face the truth. "Your Highness, this..."

Inside the room, Cui Yingying asked Li Chengche through her tears. Li Chengche sighed and replied, "I shall continue to feign illness for another three or four days, and then slowly pretend to recover."

"Very well." Just as they were speaking, Imperial Physician Chu arrived.

Imperial Physician Chu had been summoned at the behest of Li Jiancheng. Terrified that something might genuinely happen to Li Chengche, Li Jiancheng had personally dispatched someone to bring him from the Imperial Medical Service.

Imperial Physician Chu stepped inside, and after taking his pulse for a moment, he asked, "How did his illness become so severe?"

Upon hearing this, Li Jiancheng felt a sense of impending doom, as if the heavens were collapsing. What did Imperial Physician Chu mean by this? "His Highness's illness stems from catching a chill, causing the cold to penetrate his body."

"Originally, the affliction was not severe and could have been cured within days with standard warming medicine to strengthen the constitution. However, upon examining him today, this official discovered that Your Highness is suffering not only from a cold, but also from depleted vital energy and exhaustion from overwork."

Li Jiancheng sneered. "The physician speaks the truth. That wretch runs off to the Drunken Flower House day in and day out; how could he not be exhausted from overwork?"

"Not at all. That kind of overwork involves the leakage of primordial *qi*, whereas His Highness's exhaustion stems from taxing his mind and spirit."

"Oh?" Li Jiancheng looked at Imperial Physician Chu in confusion. Frankly, he had not expected the physician to make such a remark. "Taxing his mind and spirit? What could possibly require him to tax his mind and spirit?"

"This official does not know. But His Highness's pulse at this moment is feeble and weak, and his complexion is drastically ashen. It is indeed an ailment caused by mental strain."

"That is rather strange. How could he possibly be... over-taxed in mind?"

Hearing this, Li Chengche let out a few groans and fell silent once more.

Seeing him like this, Li Jiancheng grew even more anxious. "Imperial Physician, can this illness still be cured?"

"Rest assured, Your Highness, it can be cured. However, while recuperating, His Highness must strictly avoid any further mental strain, or else chronic ailments will inevitably take root."

"Understood, Imperial Physician. You may withdraw."

"This official takes his leave." With that, Imperial Physician Chu backed out of the room.

After seeing the physician off, Li Jiancheng sighed. "I have no idea what goes through your mind day after day to bring about such an illness."

He sighed again. "Never mind, get some proper rest. If anything happens to you, His Majesty will certainly not spare me."

Li Jiancheng heard only a couple of groans from Li Chengche, who did not even bother to speak.

"Very well, daughter-in-law, take good care of him. I shall take my leave."

With that, Li Jiancheng departed.

As the sound of Li Jiancheng's footsteps gradually faded into the distance, Li Chengche opened his eyes, looking entirely unlike a dying man.

"Husband, come to think of it, how did you manage to fool that imperial physician?"

"It is quite simple. One merely needs to control one's own heartbeat."

Cui Yingying had a sudden epiphany, but then sighed again as a troubling thought crossed her mind.

Although they had successfully deceived Li Jiancheng and the others today, Li Chengzong would inevitably attempt to poison him again.

"Rest assured. With such a commotion raised today, they will not dare to administer poison anytime soon."

Just as they were talking, a guard entered carrying a newly brewed bowl of medicine.

As expected, the fresh medicine had recovered the color of the original brew, and even the taste had been restored.

Under the guise of sleep, Li Chengche slowly drank the medicine spoonful by spoonful.

Once he finished, Cui Yingying used the excuse that His Highness required absolute quiet to dismiss all the weeping maids from the room.

Confirming that the maids had all departed, Li Chengche immediately opened his eyes. On that shrewd face, there was not the slightest trace of illness.

"Your Highness, judging by all this, it must have been the work of Li Chengzong and the others. Should we continue to investigate? The guard who was beaten to death surely has family members, and the beheaded imperial chef must have family as well."

"If we start with their families, we might just uncover the mastermind behind the scenes."

Li Chengche shook his head. "There is no need. They are hardly going to wait around for you to investigate. At this very moment, Li Chengzong will have already sent people to silence them."

Li Chengche's six younger brothers all held royal titles, and according to the regulations of the Great Tang Dynasty, royalty with titles were permitted to maintain personal guards.

Now that the plot had been exposed, their personal guards would have already taken action. It was far too late to investigate now.

[Ding! Detected that the host has refused to investigate the true culprit. The system judges this as intermediate loafing. Points +60]

Li Chengche had hoped that intermediate loafing would award one hundred points, but alas, it only granted sixty.

"But Your Highness, are we simply going to let this matter rest?"

"Of course not. As the saying goes, for a meal's worth of kindness I shall surely repay, and the next line is—"

"A grudge as small as an angry glare shall be avenged?" Cui Yingying asked curiously.

Li Chengche nodded and closed his eyes to rest.

Feigning illness was truly hard physical labor. Lying in bed every day was exhausting; right now, he genuinely wished he could stand up and work like those corporate slaves stuck on a 996 schedule.

Meanwhile, in Li Chengzong's quarters: "Third Brother, what kind of utter fools did you hire? I told you to administer a slow-acting poison, not to poison him directly!"

Li Chengzong looked aggrieved. "Second Brother, you cannot blame me for this! The physician said that adding that poison to the eldest brother's medicine would only cause him to waste away gradually."

"What he called 'wasting away gradually' means taking effect in a single day? Do you have any idea that the attendant beaten to death by our father today was a loyal follower I spent three hundred taels of silver to buy off?"

"Second Brother, I couldn't help it! I had no idea the poison was so potent. What do we do now?"

"What else can we do? Call off the operation for now. This time, Father's suspicions fell upon our cousins. Next time, there is no guarantee whose head will be on the chopping block."

Li Chengzong sighed. "What a pity. We failed to do away with that fellow."

Li Chengzong sneered. "You still have the nerve to speak? If he had actually died today, both you and I would be facing mortal peril!"

The night grew deeper, and the chilly autumn wind shook the fiery red maple leaves from the trees in the Crown Prince's Mansion.

Late that night, in Li Jiancheng's chamber, Li Jiancheng paced back and forth, sighing deeply with a furrowed brow. "Teacher, what on earth should we do about this?"

Wei Zheng smiled and shook his head. "Your Highness, the Imperial Grandson will be fine. The most crucial matter at present is that we ought to assemble a cavalry force as soon as possible."

"That may be true, but if that good-for-nothing wretch were to perish, His Majesty would never forgive me."