I only wished to take up my fiefdom, but my elder brother forced me to rebel.

Soon, a palace maid led a Taoist priest in quickly.

"Get out of here! No one is allowed to come near!"

After receiving the order, the palace maid quickly closed the palace gates and led several eunuchs to retreat outside the courtyard.

The Celestial Master wore a gray-white Taoist robe, his hair was secured with a wooden hairpin, and a whisk was draped over his arm.

"This humble Taoist priest greets Your Highness, the Imperial Concubine!"

"Celestial Master, please excuse the formalities. I have invited you to the palace today to ask for your assistance in dealing with Lu Yuan."

"Does Your Highness intend for this humble Taoist to attack the Ninth Prince?"

Consort Shen returned to her seat and gestured for the Celestial Master to take his seat.

"I want Lu Yuan dead, and I want Cheng'er to be named Crown Prince and inherit the throne."

The Celestial Master did not sit down.

Instead, he twitched the corner of his mouth hard.

"His Highness the Ninth Prince is a prince."

"This matter concerns the very foundation of the nation."

"Does Your Highness know the consequences of allowing this humble Taoist priest to intervene in the struggle for the throne?"

Consort Shen took out an old jade pendant and placed it between the two of them.

One side of the jade pendant is missing, and the character "沈" is engraved on the front.

"Twenty years ago, the Celestial Master was being chased by his enemies in Hexi and was injured. It was my father who hid you in a caravan and brought you to the capital."

"When you left the Shen residence, you left this jade pendant with your father."

Consort Shen pushed the jade pendant in front of him and said, "You once said that if the Shen family had any problems they couldn't solve, they could use this to come to you."

"No matter what happens, you will do this for the Shen family!"

The Celestial Master held the jade pendant and touched the notch with his thumb.

"I will always remember your life-saving grace!"

Consort Shen stared at him and asked, "Does your promise from back then still stand?"

"To be counted".

"it is good."

Consort Shen reached out and had a palace maid bring over a wooden box.

The box contained more than a dozen folded paper documents and a list of things Lu Yuan had done during this period.

From horseshoes and cement to the squabbles at the Hundred Flowers Banquet, even the production time of snowflake salt is clearly written.

After reading a few pages, the Taoist priest frowned.

"Did the Ninth Prince make these things recently?"

"All of them!"

Consort Shen stood up and walked to him.

"Lu Yuan used to be just a lazy prince who did nothing but eat and drink. No one in the court paid any attention to him."

"But in the last few days, he first brought out horseshoes, and then he got cement and snow salt."

"His Majesty is paying more and more attention to him, and even the Su family is standing behind him."

"He disappeared after being assassinated last night. His Majesty mobilized the Imperial Guards to seal off the capital and ordered the Three Departments to jointly investigate the case."

Consort Shen gripped the edge of the wooden box, her eyes filled with hatred.

"Give him some more time, and His Majesty will surely grant him the position of Crown Prince."

The Taoist priest closed the folding book.

"The Second Prince is also His Majesty's son."

"If you want to obtain the throne, you should fight for it in the court. Why must Your Majesty destroy the Ninth Prince?"

"Because he won't let Cheng'er off the hook!"

Consort Shen took two steps forward. "Liu Ruyan has already been taken into his mansion, and the Liu family is also under investigation by the Imperial Clan Court."

"If he can investigate the Liu family today, he can investigate my maternal clan tomorrow."

"Once he becomes the crown prince, will Cheng'er still have a chance to survive?"

The Taoist priest looked at her and asked, "Are you really going to take this step?"

Consort Shen lowered her voice.

"I want Lu Yuan dead."

……

Inside the Imperial Medical Academy, several jars of strong liquor had been completely distilled.

Lu Yuan picked up the last porcelain bottle and examined the wine against the light.

The wine was clear, without any impurities.

Xie Guangkun squatted down next to the distillation apparatus and personally inspected the copper tube connections.

"Your Highness, according to your method, five jars of strong liquor can only yield less than one jar of alcohol."

"This stuff is more precious than wine."

"It's normal for gold to be precious."

Lu Yuan plugged the porcelain bottle with a cork and poured the remaining liquor into a clean wine jar.

"This isn't for you to drink. It can heal the wounded and help more soldiers return safely from the battlefield."

A young craftsman looked at the wine jar and couldn't help but ask, "What if someone secretly drinks it?"

"Make him pay up."

Lu Yuan picked up the wine jar and walked out.

Xie Guangkun immediately went after him.

"What should be done with Your Highness's belongings?"

"Seale everything. Those involved in the trial production will remain in the palace until Father Emperor issues the decree. Also, if anyone steals a drink, I will give them twenty strokes of the cane."

The craftsmen quickly suppressed their curiosity.

Lu Yuan passed through two courtyard gates and went straight to He Shen's room.

There were many ice blocks in the room, and wooden boards were used to separate the room to prevent the cold air from blowing directly to the bedside.

Lu Cangqiong has never left.

He sat on the edge of the bed and supported He Shen's arm with his hand.

Zhou Fu watched from the side, while Liang Zhongwen summoned two imperial physicians to bandage He Shen's wounds.

He Shen has also woken up.

However, his face was pale, and with each breath, the wound on his chest rose and fell.

"Sister...brother-in-law..."

He Shen turned to look at Lu Cangqiong, "I have something... I'd like to ask you..."

Lu Cangqiong immediately squatted down.

"Let's focus on healing our injuries first, and we can talk about everything later."

He Shen shook his head. "I'm worried that there won't be another chance. Xiao Jiu's assassination attempt shows that someone has already started paying attention to him."

"If I'm gone, there will be no one in the Imperial Guard who can do things for him... to do things for him."

Lu Cangqiong held his hand.

"You'll be alright, Xiao Jiu has already figured out a way to save you."

He Shen's lips twitched.

"You don't need to comfort me. In all my years in the army, I've seen many soldiers wounded every year, but how many of them actually die from swords and spears?"

"Most of them die slowly because their wounds ooze pus."

Liang Zhongwen lowered his head and remained silent, not daring to refute.

The Imperial Medical Academy could stop bleeding, remove arrows, and use medicine to sustain the lives of the wounded.

However, if the wound becomes red, swollen, and suppurates, and is accompanied by a high fever, there is not much they can do.

He Shen looked at Lu Cangqiong.

"Don't trouble Xiao Jiu. That child may seem heartless, but she's actually the most sentimental."

"If I die, don't let him avenge me, and don't let him fight to the death with the princes because of me."

Lu Cangqiong's expression was extremely solemn.

"Shut up! I told you, live well!"

However, He Shen did not stop.

"My sister entrusted Xiao Jiu to me before she died..."

"But I'm not capable."

"Over the years, all I could do was guard the Imperial Guards and shield him from troubles in the palace."

"Now that I'm leaving, my sister's only child... will have to be entrusted to my brother-in-law."

Lu Cangqiong's eyes reddened, and he tightened his grip.

"You take care of him yourself!"

"I won't care about that for you!"

He Shen managed a weak smile.

"I didn't expect to see my parents and sister so soon."

"If my sister knew I abandoned her child, she'd probably scold me, right?"

She won't yell at you.

Lu Cangqiong pressed his hand back under the covers.

"You must hold on for me."

"The ninth brother hasn't even taken that position yet, and you, as his uncle, already want to wash your hands of it?"

He Shen was taken aback.

Zhou Fu also raised his head and looked at Lu Cangqiong.

Lu Cangqiong did not change his mind.

"If you die, who will protect Xiao Jiu's empire?"

He Shen's eyes welled up with tears.

He had been waiting for these words for far too many years.

But when he looked down at the bandaged wound on his chest, he ultimately shook his head.

"I... am beyond saving."

"If Yama, the King of Hell, decrees someone to die at midnight, who can keep them alive until dawn?"

The door to the inner room was pushed open.

Lu Yuan, carrying a wine jar, rushed in with Xie Guangkun and several imperial physicians in a great hurry.

"If Yama, the King of Hell, dares to come claiming my life, I'll smash his underworld!"