Amid the chaos, I seemed to hear Aunt Qin urgently ordering someone to report the matter, and I also seemed to hear dense, heavy footsteps approaching from afar.
In my hazy consciousness, someone appeared to have come to my bedside. A slightly cool hand rested on my forehead. The touch felt unfamiliar, yet carried a strange hint of familiarity. I wanted to open my eyes to see who it was, but my eyelids were as heavy as mountains.
A low, steady voice pierced through the ringing in my ears and sounded very close by, carrying an unquestionable authority: "What are you panicking for. Go fetch the 'Nine-Revolution Heart-Guarding Pill' that I brought. Dissolve it in water and feed it to him.
Convey my verbal order: have the Director of the Imperial Medical Institute come at once and remain here. If anything goes wrong again, she alone will answer for it."
That voice… it was… Xiao Yuhuang? How could she be here? At a time when even she could hardly protect herself, when she was being denounced by countless voices?
I wanted to struggle, to ask, but I could not even move a single finger. Only the lingering warmth left by those cold fingertips, and that calm, almost cruel tone, were clearly branded at the edge of my dim consciousness.
The bitter liquid of the dissolved pill was carefully fed into my mouth. Carrying a clear yet domineering medicinal force, it slid down my throat and miraculously suppressed, for the moment, the surging blood energy and burning pain in my chest. I fell into a deep sleep.
I did not know how much time passed before I slowly woke up. Only a single dim yellow lamp was lit in the room. Aunt Qin was dozing by the bedside, her breathing even. Outside the window was pitch-black; it was already deep into the night.
I moved slightly, and Aunt Qin immediately startled awake. "Young Master, you're awake? How do you feel?" Her face showed exhausted relief.
"Just now… who came?" I asked hoarsely.
Aunt Qin's gaze flickered for a moment before she lowered her voice. "It was… the Third Highness. No—now she should be called… His Majesty sent one of her most trusted female officials to deliver a secret palace medicine and ordered the imperial physicians to stand guard."
A female official? No. That voice, that tone, that unquestionable sense of control—it was clearly her herself.
She actually came in person at the height of this storm? Just to see me once, to deliver a single pill?
"Outside… what is the situation now?" I asked with difficulty.
Aunt Qin was silent for a moment before speaking slowly. "His Majesty… has acted with thunderous force. A few days after the accusation made by the Eldest Highness spread, the Ministry of Justice, the Court of Judicial Review, and the Inner Palace Guard Bureau joined forces.
With lightning speed, they raided several hidden properties and contact points in the capital belonging to the family of a certain disgraced consort of the late emperor.
They uncovered clues linked to many pieces of physical evidence in the 'Assassination of the Heir' case, as well as… correspondence intended to frame others and sow discord within the imperial family. The evidence and the culprits were seized together."
My heart jolted.
"At the same time," Aunt Qin lowered her voice even further, almost to a whisper, "several eunuchs and matrons of considerable rank, who had close dealings with the maternal families of the two deceased imperial princesses, were secretly executed on charges of 'colluding with external relatives and spying within the inner palace.'
Several officials who had been the loudest and most aggressive in recent days in demanding severe punishment of the Third… His Majesty, also had their residences or businesses under their relatives' names exposed for various illegal activities. Some were impeached, others reprimanded."
"At noon today, His Majesty issued a clear edict: the remnants of a disgraced consort, wolfish in ambition, had lain dormant for years, framing the Crown Prince, harming the imperial princesses, and driving a wedge within the imperial family—crimes unforgivable and deserving of death! From this day forth, all remaining accomplices are to be thoroughly investigated, with no leniency! As for what the Eldest Highness said while unconscious…" Aunt Qin paused.
"His Majesty was grief-stricken, declaring that it must have been the work of traitors exploiting the elder sister's grave injuries and delirium, using sorcery to confuse her mind or drugs to control her, in an attempt to slander the imperial person and throw the court into chaos! His Majesty vowed to drag out the mastermind behind this and tear them to pieces."
What a masterstroke of removing the firewood from under the cauldron, of diverting disaster elsewhere! What righteous indignation, what impassioned sorrow!
Not only did she instantly wash away all suspicion from herself, she also poured all the filth onto a politically correct target that could no longer testify—the "remnants of the former dynasty"—and used the opportunity to carry out a thorough purge.
Those palace servants who were dealt with, those officials who were struck down, were probably not all "remnants." More likely, many were dissidents who had jumped out at the last moment to oppose her, or who might pose a threat to her.
The speed of the action, the ruthlessness of the methods, the depth of the布局—it was chilling.
Did that so-called network of "disgraced consort remnants" truly exist, or was it a "perfect scapegoat" she had long prepared, ready to be cast out at the critical moment to appease public fury and clear away obstacles?
I lay beneath the soft brocade quilt, yet felt a chill shoot from the soles of my feet straight to the top of my head.
She had won. In this round of heart-stopping accusation and counterstrike, she had completed a reversal with absolute calm—almost cruelty—and used it to seize power even more firmly in her grasp.
She was only one step away from that position.
And I, this "piece" she had shown such "concern" for, personally stabilizing me with a delivered pill—what role did I play in this now-clear grand game? A weakness, an ornament, or… something else?
Seeing my suddenly pale face and unfocused eyes, Aunt Qin let out a soft sigh and tucked the blanket around me. "Young Master, the medicine has not yet worn off. Sleep a little longer. No matter what happens outside, the most important thing for you now is to recover your health."
I closed my eyes, but sleep would not come.
In my ears, it seemed I once again heard Xiao Linyue's words: "That so-called 'affection' she has for you is utterly fragile before power."
And I also heard Xiao Yuhuang's vow beneath the plum trees: "I want that position, and I want you too."