When the Deposed Crown Prince Was Reborn as Troublemaker - Chapter 92

Before a private residence in Chang’an, Cui Yan was the first to jump down from the carriage, then walked straight into his own residence.

Halfway there, Cui Yan only then noticed that Xie Tan was following behind him.

“Why are you following me in?” Cui Yan turned back to look at Xie Tan and said.

Xie Tan looked at the silk handkerchief soaked in medicinal liquid in Cui Yan’s hand, then spoke. “I came to have a look.”

Xie Tan’s intuition told him that this silk handkerchief was very suspicious — otherwise Cui Yan would not have had such a drastic change in expression after a light sniff — so he ought to follow and see for himself.

Cui Yan glanced at the silk handkerchief he was holding, then glanced at Xie Tan standing before him, and said, “Fine, go find yourself a guest room to sleep in.”

“It’s no trouble. I’ll keep watch over you in the medicine room,” Xie Tan said.

He wanted to know the results as soon as they came.

Cui Yan looked at Xie Tan’s resolute expression: …Fine then.

Thereupon, Xie Tan followed Cui Yan into the medicine room.

Inside the medicine room, Cui Yan found a wide-mouthed white porcelain container, placed the silk handkerchief inside, then poured clean water into the container, after which he rummaged through his medicine cabinet.

Once the clean water in the container had turned into a murky black medicinal liquid, Cui Yan took out the silk handkerchief, smelled the medicinal liquid again, and finally actually extended a finger, dipped it into the medicinal liquid in the container, and brought it to his mouth.

“What are you doing?” Cui Yan looked toward Xie Tan at his side.

Xie Tan grabbed Cui Yan’s hand and said, “Since you already know something is wrong with this substance, how dare you taste it yourself.”

Cui Yan: …Talking about toxicity without considering dosage is being unreasonable, do you know that, Junior Minister Xie.

“This tiny bit is fine. I’ll just rinse my mouth out afterwards and it’ll be gone,” Cui Yan said.

This was a chronic poison — it would only kill a person after years and years of ingestion. The tiny amount on Cui Yan’s hand could not cause any harm.

Upon hearing this, Xie Tan carefully studied Cui Yan’s expression, and only after confirming that Cui Yan was not joking with his own life did Xie Tan release Cui Yan’s hand.

Cui Yan: …What kind of person is this.

Thereupon, Cui Yan placed his finger into his mouth, using his tongue to identify what medicines composed it.

Then, Cui Yan’s expression turned solemn, and he picked up his brush and wrote down on paper the medicinal ingredients that made up this prescription.

“Dongsheng, Jixue Grass, Snake Fruit, Qinglan…” Xie Tan read aloud the medicinal ingredient names Cui Yan had written down, his brow then furrowing tightly — even though he knew nothing of medicine, he knew that several of the ingredients listed were poisons.

Cui Yan wrote out all the medicinal ingredients in the liquid, then let out a heavy breath, and pointed at the Qinglan on the prescription, saying, “I once smelled the scent of Qinglan in His Highness the Crown Prince’s palace.”

Qinglan was an extremely rare medicinal herb, unobtainable in ordinary households and rarely used for treating illness. In this prescription it was used to balance out the medicinal properties of the various poisons, making them counterbalance one another — capable of thoroughly destroying a person’s body while still achieving the effect of a chronic poison, causing a person to die in illness and pain with no cause that could be found.

Upon hearing Cui Yan’s words, Xie Tan’s expression immediately changed drastically, and then he heard Cui Yan say, “Since taking over the Crown Prince’s treatment, I have reviewed all of the prescriptions the Crown Prince has ever used, and Qinglan was not among them.”

After all, Qinglan was not a poison either, merely a herb for balancing medicinal properties, so Cui Yan had not thought much of it — it was not until today, upon seeing this silk handkerchief, that Cui Yan had broken out in a cold sweat.

“So, someone in the palace has been using this poison prescription to harm His Highness all along,” Xie Tan said, his eyes filled with cold intent.

“That’s right,” Cui Yan said.

Having said that, Cui Yan began to carefully examine this poison prescription, and started to recall the details of having smelled Qinglan on the Crown Prince.

“The first time I went to the Eastern Palace to take the Crown Prince’s pulse, the Crown Prince still carried the scent of Qinglan on him. The second time I went to the Eastern Palace, the scent of Qinglan was already gone,” Cui Yan said as he thought it through.

The gap between his first and second visit to the Eastern Palace to take the Crown Prince’s pulse was only one or two days — the scent of Qinglan had disappeared far too quickly. Qinglan’s fragrance was faint but nonetheless lasting; it could not have dissipated completely within one or two days.

Moreover, when he had taken the Crown Prince’s pulse at the time, he had not detected any signs of poisoning — this indicated that the person administering the poison may have only just begun, and had done so in very light doses.

Xie Tan then asked, “The second time you went to His Highness’s palace, was there anything different?”

Cui Yan suddenly realised. “The people had all been replaced, and the decorative objects in the Eastern Palace had all been swapped out as well.”

Having said that, Cui Yan looked at the poison prescription, then said softly, “In fact, this medicine need not even be drunk — it only needs to be smelled and touched day and night. The effect may be somewhat weaker than directly drinking it, but it can equally achieve the purpose of damaging the body, and is moreover less likely to be discovered.”

Upon hearing this, Xie Tan said, “All the people in His Highness’s palace were replaced, and all the decorative objects in the palace were swapped out — this indicates the one who administered the poison was likely someone formerly in the Crown Prince’s palace, and the object used to administer the poison was likely something His Highness frequently came into contact with among those decorative pieces.”

“You are right,” Cui Yan said.

“Tomorrow I need to go to the Eastern Palace and ask His Highness the Crown Prince to open his private storeroom to examine the old items. Perhaps some clues may be found among them — and I’m afraid I will need your help at that time,” Xie Tan said, then looked toward Cui Yan.

Cui Yan sighed and said, “I’ve helped you with so much, yet you give me no pay. Surely you don’t exploit the yamen runners under you like this either.”

“Once it’s done, how about I treat you at Hua’e Tower?” Xie Tan asked.

A smile appeared on Cui Yan’s face. “Now that’s more like it.”

He had been craving Hua’e Tower’s Pear Blossom White for a long time now. Unfortunately, all his money had gone toward buying various rare medicinal herbs, and he had never been able to afford a drink of that Pear Blossom White.

“However, you had best not go directly to the Eastern Palace tomorrow — so as not to alert the snake. I’ll investigate this matter,” Cui Yan thought for a moment and then said.

Xie Tan nodded and said, “I was too hasty.”

“All right, let me take a look at the note Princess Yan gave me,” Cui Yan said, and then opened the slip of paper from inside the sachet.

After reading it, Cui Yan could not help but draw a sharp breath.

“What is it?” Xie Tan asked.

Cui Yan was silent for a moment, then handed it to Xie Tan and said, “Read it yourself.”

Xie Tan read through the contents of the note at a glance, then revealed an expression of surprise. “She wants the Crown Prince to find her a medicine that renders men unable to perform — preferably colourless and odourless, so that no one can detect it.”

“When I observed her complexion earlier, it was poor — her illness had already penetrated deep into her vitals. I had thought she wanted me to save her, but it turned out…”

“It turned out she wants revenge,” Xie Tan continued.

Upon hearing this, Cui Yan said, “Prince Yan had this retribution coming to him — together with his own birth mother, they each killed one of their own kin. That in future he would be left in the cold with no one to see him off in death is only what he deserved.”

Xie Tan looked at Cui Yan. “Will you give Princess Yan this medicine?”

“Give it — why wouldn’t I?” Cui Yan countered.

By nature he enjoyed watching a good spectacle, and this sort of spectacle where heavenly justice was served in full was one he enjoyed even more. Princess Yan had come to him of all people — how could he refuse to help? Moreover, he could also help the Crown Prince rid himself of a rival who had schemed tirelessly to bring about his death. Why would he not be glad to do it?

Xie Tan looked at Cui Yan. “Just be sure you know what you’re doing, and don’t leave any evidence behind.”

“I won’t,” Cui Yan said with a smile.

What he intended to give Li Xiyue was a medicine to be used on herself, but one that would simultaneously render men sterile — and no ordinary physician would be able to find any cause for it whatsoever. However, the impact on a woman’s body was also considerable — such as the inability to bear children.

But Li Xiyue, ever since that miscarriage, had already lost any possibility of having children. For her, this was no side effect at all.

“All right, since we already know the results, can you go home now?” Cui Yan said to Xie Tan.

In truth, he had always been rather uncomfortable sharing a room with Xie Tan — there was always a feeling of being overshadowed. Now that Xie Tan already knew the results, there was no reason to keep him.

But Xie Tan said calmly, “Chang’an’s curfew hour has already arrived.”

Cui Yan: …He absolutely had no choice but to keep this person, didn’t he.

The following morning, Xie Tan departed from Cui Yan’s private residence, carrying a box of already-cold zongzi as he returned.

The moment he stepped through the gates of the Xie residence, Xie Tan was intercepted by Xie Yi.

“Why have you only come back now?” Xie Yi said with a stern expression.

Yesterday he had heard that the Crown Prince had personally wrapped zongzi and sent some over for him, so he had been waiting at home for Xie Tan to bring the zongzi back — yet from dawn to dusk he had waited, and this unworthy descendant had only now come home!

The zongzi he had been longing for had surely already gone cold long ago! Having missed the chance to eat zongzi freshly out of the pot, wrapped personally by Suisui, he, this old man, was deeply heartbroken.

“Something came up last night and delayed me,” Xie Tan replied.

“Something came up?” Xie Yi scolded. “What could possibly be more important than bringing me my zongzi?!”

“Just see if I don’t beat you to death.” Having said that, Xie Yi began taking off his shoe, preparing to wallop someone.

Xie Tan, holding the food box: …Ever since the Crown Prince and Grandfather had reconciled, Grandfather’s temperament had grown increasingly erratic.

Just as Xie Yi was wielding his shoe and chasing Xie Tan all around to hit him, Gu Shen arrived at the door.

Gu Shen, who had come to find Xie Yi for a fishing trip, could not help but speak up upon seeing this scene. “Why are you hitting the child first thing in the morning? Isn’t that rather unseemly?”

Upon hearing this, Xie Yi scolded. “This wretched boy — Suisui personally wrapped zongzi yesterday, and he only now brings them back to me. If I don’t hit him today, I won’t be able to swallow my anger.”

Having said that, Xie Yi grabbed his shoe again and went to chase Xie Tan.

Xie Ling, standing to one side, quickly tried to intercede. “Grandfather, Grandfather, at least put your shoes back on before chasing him!”

“Grand Preceptor Gu, please, quickly talk some sense into my grandfather!” Xie Ling could not help but look toward Gu Shen.

Gu Shen, standing to one side, looked at Xie Ling beside him. “The Crown Prince personally wrapped zongzi yesterday?”

“Yes, yes he did,” Xie Ling said, puzzled as to why Gu Shen had suddenly asked this.

“Did you get to eat some?” Gu Shen asked.

“I did,” Xie Ling answered — he had eaten some while still in the palace.

“Well then! So all of you got to eat zongzi personally wrapped by the Crown Prince, and yet I had none!”

“Does he have any regard for me as his teacher at all?!”

With those words, Gu Shen swept his sleeves and turned to leave. “I’m going to the Eastern Palace to demand an explanation!”

Upon seeing this, Xie Ling was left dumbstruck on the spot. He called out loudly. “Grandfather, stop hitting — Grand Preceptor Gu has gone to the Eastern Palace to make trouble for the Crown Prince!”

At that, Xie Tan and Xie Yi both turned around at once and immediately got into a carriage to go to the Eastern Palace.

You Yusui, who had been spending time at the Eastern Palace, had never in his wildest dreams expected that a whole group of people would come demanding an explanation over a single zongzi.

You Yusui: …Utterly speechless.