Feeling uneasy, Master Zhao quickly got dressed, called the medicine boy, briefly checked the items in the medicine box, and then ran towards the east wing.

The servants in the inner courtyard of the east wing were all called up by Liu Fu, who brought the medicine box into the main room. At a glance, Master Zhao exclaimed, “Why is the young master’s face so red? Is it hot?”

Actually, Zhuang Dongqing was feeling okay, but upon hearing Master Zhao’s words, he touched his face and asked in confusion, “Is it really that red? I felt a bit hot when I just woke up, but now I feel fine.”

Master Zhao placed the pulse pillow properly and asked Zhuang Dongqing to extend his hand for a pulse check.

As soon as he touched it, Master Zhao couldn’t help but hiss softly. Compared to when he had just woken up, Zhuang Dongqing was indeed feeling a bit better, but he still looked drowsy and didn’t notice Master Zhao’s expression.

Master Zhao asked, “Did the young master say he smelled the fragrance from the master today?”

“Ah, yes, I don’t know what kind of fragrance it was, but even after the person left, the room still had a scent.”

Master Zhao inquired, “What does it smell like?”

Zhuang Dongqing thought for a moment, “I can’t really say. It’s faint, almost imperceptible, but not cloying, like a floral scent, very light.”

The fact that the room still had a scent after the person left, being faint and almost imperceptible, yet light, was somewhat contradictory.

Master Zhao suddenly became tense, switching from his left hand to his right, then back to his left, carefully checking the pulse, and beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.

“Is there anything else today that’s different from usual?”

Zhuang Dongqing’s first reaction was, “I’ve been with the prince all day.” Reluctantly.

“……”

After saying that, he felt it was inappropriate and added, “I also met a friend and had a meal outside, that’s all.”

Master Zhao set up the needles, “Young master, I’ll be needling a few acupoints. If you feel uncomfortable, just let me know.”

Zhuang Dongqing nodded.

After a few needles, Zhuang Dongqing couldn’t take it anymore. Master Zhao didn’t continue, pulling out one needle and bringing it close to the candlelight, only to see that the needle had turned slightly black.

It was exactly the same as the needle he had pulled from Cen Yan that day.

Master Zhao wiped his forehead, his hand covered in sweat.

He had begun to understand why Zhuang Dongqing’s pulse had always been off.

“Young master, there’s a precious medicine. If we need to open the storeroom, I’m afraid I’ll have to report to the prince first.”

Zhuang Dongqing nodded, not suspecting anything.

Master Zhao, sweating, hurried off, his steps quick.

After passing the message, he entered Cen Yan’s courtyard, looking for Cen Yan while sending the medicine boy to find Liu Qi, the steward.

Cen Yan put on a coat and got up, saying briskly, “What happened in the east wing? Speak.”

Master Zhao first bowed, too formally, causing Cen Yan’s heart to skip a beat.

At first, it was fine, but halfway through, Cen Yan finally realized something, his face turning ashen.

After Master Zhao finished explaining the situation, Liu Qi arrived with the medicine boy, and Cen Yan’s face was already unreadable.

Liu Qi was surprised, “Could it be…?”

Master Zhao wiped his sweat and said with difficulty, “At that time, I was puzzled. The southern border’s poison insects are usually divided into mother and child. If the poison insects were used in the medicine, why would it only affect the prince… I never expected, truly never expected…”

He had indeed guessed correctly; they had split the mother and child poison, affecting two people.

Cen Yan was silent for a moment, “Zhuang Xingchang doesn’t hold much weight in the capital. He’s just a bastard of the Zhuang family; who would specifically use this kind of medicine against him?”

Liu Qi, just waking up, wasn’t quite clear-headed: “Perhaps it was meant to target you, Your Highness?”

Cen Yan replied, “He was about to take the imperial examination and was already a juren. Even if he suffered a loss, would he really give up a bright future and go to court to accuse me of bullying?”

That was even less likely.

Scholars value their reputation; if they suffered such a hidden loss, they would have to endure it and would never make a big fuss.

Liu Qi was still processing.

Master Zhao understood Cen Yan’s meaning first, “Your Highness thinks the original target was someone else?”

Cen Yan replied, “That makes the most sense.”

If Zhuang Dongqing was sent by someone, he wouldn’t want to leave the prince’s residence and would even actively seek to secure the status of the legitimate child for the baby in his belly. After all, he was of noble birth, though his status was slightly lower, he could still be a proper consort.

If not, then that night was just too coincidental. Cen Yan didn’t quite believe that Zhuang Dongqing had mistakenly wandered in.

Trying to recall how many footsteps there were outside that night, Cen Yan couldn’t remember clearly. His own situation wasn’t good, and he naturally couldn’t observe the changes in his surroundings keenly.

“Then, how do we confirm this?” Liu Qi asked, confused.

Cen Yan exhaled, “Simple, call Liu Fu over.”

Liu Fu had been following Zhuang Dongqing, responsible for his daily life. If there was anything, asking him would be the most direct.

When Liu Fu arrived and saw Cen Yan, Liu Qi, and Master Zhao in the west wing, he felt a bit awkward.

But since Zhuang Dongqing was unwell, whatever they asked, Liu Fu would answer without holding back.

So, in less than a tea’s time, everyone in the west wing knew about Zhuang Dongqing blocking the wine for Li Yang.

Cen Yan pressed his fingers to his temples.

Master Zhao was speechless, “This, this is truly a vicious scheme!”

If Cen Yan and Li Yang had something going on, it would be a huge scandal involving the prince and the favored consort’s child, and it would surely lead to a deadly feud.

However, Cen Yan’s focus wasn’t on that. He asked Liu Fu, “Did he get drunk from that wine?”

Liu Fu nodded.

Cen Yan felt a headache coming on. If he felt strange after just one cup, how much medicine was in that wine to make him drunk?

No wonder his antidote worked, but Zhuang Dongqing’s was still dormant in his pulse.

Knowing they still had things to discuss, the servants led Liu Fu out first.

For a moment, the west wing was silent.

Master Zhao and Liu Qi were both anxiously watching Cen Yan.

After a while, Cen Yan looked at Master Zhao and slowly spoke, “The precious medicine you mentioned, it wouldn’t be referring to me, would it?”

Master Zhao replied, “……”

Master Zhao was drenched in sweat, “If we need to use the medicine, we indeed need to open the storeroom to find a southern border medicinal herb.”

Cen Yan smirked, “Got it, my plan can’t be executed, but there are still backup plans.”

Master Zhao lowered his head, not daring to say a word.

Knowing it wasn’t the time for blame, Cen Yan paused and said, “What should we do about this?”

Master Zhao replied, “If he was poisoned that day, after that night, the poison should have been mostly resolved.”

Cen Yan thought of Zhuang Dongqing’s dazed appearance while resting and found it hard to say.

Not arguing, he gestured for Master Zhao to continue.

Master Zhao looked up at Cen Yan, seeing his expression was blank, and said, “If, if Your Highness is willing, then naturally, according to the original method of detoxification, that would be best…”

Before he could finish, Cen Yan interrupted, “Is there no other way?”

Cen Yan was unwilling, but Master Zhao had already prepared himself for this. Hearing it, he wasn’t surprised and changed his words, “The young master should only have residual poison in his body now. This kind of poison is based on poison insects, and the poison carries the characteristics of the insects. Even if it’s resolved, it can remain dormant in the body for a long time and will take time to gradually dissipate.”

“The symptoms aren’t severe. I was thinking, using some southern border herbs that are harmless to the fetus to brew water, and with my needling, it might suppress it.”

“But whether it can be completely resolved, I can’t guarantee.”

Cen Yan wasn’t surprised, “The poison used against me and the prince must have been carefully selected, so it’s normal that it’s hard to detoxify.”

After a pause, he decisively said, “Let’s try this method first.”

Master Zhao agreed.

• In the middle of the night, both the east and west wings were brightly lit. The medicinal herbs were taken out from the storeroom, first boiled to neutralize the poison, then diluted and given to Zhuang Dongqing.

Then Master Zhao began needling.

Not sure if he had drawn out the residual poison from Zhuang Dongqing, Cen Yan just sat in the courtyard waiting and didn’t enter the main room.

When dawn broke, Master Zhao came out.

Wiping his sweat, he said, “It’s been temporarily controlled.”

Cen Yan also breathed a sigh of relief, “That’s good.”

Master Zhao continued, “Right now, it’s just controlled. Whether the poison can be detoxified, I’m afraid we’ll need to observe for a while.”

“How long?”

Master Zhao estimated, “Give me a month. I’ll needle him once every three days. If there’s no improvement, I’m afraid…”

Cen Yan interrupted, “Got it.”

The next words were unspoken between the two; Cen Yan didn’t want to hear it, and Master Zhao didn’t bring it up again.

Standing up, Cen Yan thought for a moment and still asked, “How is he?”

Liu Fu replied, “He sweated a bit and felt better, then went to sleep.”

Cen Yan nodded, glanced at the main room, but ultimately didn’t go in. He turned and returned to the west wing to catch up on sleep.

When it was just the two of them on the way, Liu Qi said, “Your Highness, actually…”

Knowing what Liu Qi wanted to say, Cen Yan calmly replied, “Yesterday, I talked to him about the child. He himself has no intention of entering the prince’s residence.”

Liu Qi was stunned, “Ah?”

Cen Yan stopped there and didn’t say more.

• In the following days, the day for Zhuang Xingchang and his family to leave the capital arrived. Zhuang Dongqing kept his word and went to see them off.

Zhuang Xingchang held his hand and said a lot, and Zhuang Dongqing picked through it, analyzing the main idea: work well for Cen Yan, speak well of him, and in the future, he would rely on Zhuang Dongqing when he returned to the capital.

Zhuang Dongqing put on a fake smile and agreed to everything.

But in his heart, he thought that after this departure, the Zhuang family must never return to the capital again.

The madam, the eldest young master, the third young master, and the fourth young lady were all in the carriage and didn’t show their faces the entire time. Zhuang Dongqing was very satisfied; he didn’t expect them to say thank you, as long as they didn’t appear in front of him, he would be grateful.

Then the imperial edict regarding the crown prince being confined to death finally came down.

But at the same time, the emperor was too heartbroken, bedridden for years without going out. This year, he finally decided to start the spring hunt and planned to stay at the palace for a while to relax.

When Cen Yan received the news, he was working at the Dali Temple.

Suddenly inspired, he casually asked the commander of the imperial guards for the spring hunt.

He got a few familiar names, and his forehead couldn’t help but twitch.

“Then do I need to lead the personal guards to protect…”

Before he could finish, he was interrupted by a smiling eunuch delivering the edict, “No need, His Majesty specifically instructed that this time it will only be for half a month. The King of Dingxi hasn’t hunted in a long time, and His Majesty is considerate, so just prepare your riding gear and go have fun.”

“Your servant obeys the edict.”

That evening, he returned to the prince’s residence to discuss who to bring.

Everything else was easy to decide, but the only difficult part was that Cen Yan hadn’t anticipated Zhuang Dongqing.

He needed to needle him every three days, so he couldn’t be away from Master Zhao, but Master Zhao was a divine doctor left to Cen Yan by the old prince, responsible for keeping Cen Yan safe. Wherever Cen Yan went, Master Zhao would definitely follow.

Cen Yan thought for a moment and asked about the arrangements for the spring hunt in the capital. The names of the commanders he received made him press his temples.

For a moment, Cen Yan even doubted whether Zhuang Dongqing knew something, otherwise, how could it be so coincidental…

Shaking off the thoughts in his mind.

Cen Yan was always cautious in his work.

Since both sides were about the same, Cen Yan decisively said, “Then let’s bring him along.”

This way, the elite forces in the residence wouldn’t need to be scattered and could all go to the palace together.

Zhuang Dongqing was already worried that there might be a coup in the capital. After receiving the news, he thought for a moment and nodded decisively.

After all, he didn’t know where was safe, so it was better to stay by Cen Yan’s side.

Cen Yan was someone who could make it to the end, so following him, he would most likely be safe.

After both sides discussed and settled, the residence was busy packing for a day.

The next day, as the imperial carriage drove out of the palace, the carriages belonging to the King of Dingxi waited at the designated spot, ready to merge into the procession as the imperial carriage passed by.

Inside the carriage, Zhuang Dongqing leaned against the pillow, sleeping soundly.

Cen Yan sat opposite him, resting with his eyes closed, out of sight, out of mind.