Yu Feng, "..."
He quickly took a silver needle and inserted it into the pastry. It was not poisoned.
Shen Xiabai, his face pale, took another bite and chewed...
Gag...
Yu Feng said, "Master, perhaps... you should stop eating."
Shen Xiabai dry-heaved, the veins on his forehead bulging and extending all the way into his collar. In a short while, his face turned red.
Yu Feng winced, watching him chew and then gag...
Just how terrible must it taste?
There was a reason why Prince An and the Crown Prince looked down on Eldest Miss Cui.
Yu Feng felt quite full at this moment; he could go a whole day without eating.
The word "unpalatable" was vividly demonstrated through Shen Xiabai's continuous gagging.
Perhaps unable to bear it any longer, he threw the pastry in his hand. It landed on the desk, directly knocked over the inkstone, and then rolled onto the floor, remaining completely intact.
Yu Feng, "..."
He bent down, picked it up from the floor, and knocked it against the desk. A few crumbs fell.
The pastry suffered minor injuries.
"..."
Yu Feng twitched the corners of his lips. "Master, your teeth are quite strong."
If you threw this thing at a dog, it would yelp in pain.
This wasn't pestering; this was clearly an attempt to poison the master.
Shen Xiabai drank tea for quite a while before finally recovering a bit. Yu Feng picked up the food box to throw it away but was stopped by him.
He watched as his master took a piece of rice paper, wrapped up a piece of pastry, and tucked it into his robes against his chest.
...
Yu Feng felt as if a bolt of lightning had just struck him out of a clear blue sky.
"Change my clothes and prepare the carriage. We are going to the palace." The Emperor's decree had arrived early in the morning, but he had forcibly delayed it until now.
The Emperor summoned Shen Xiabai in the Imperial Study. At that time, Crown Prince Xiao Chen was also present, and the atmosphere in the room was extremely chilling.
Shen Xiabai paid his respects and stood up.
"I heard that my beloved subject Shen was unwell yesterday. Are you feeling better now?"
"Replying to Your Majesty, I am much better."
The Emperor narrowed his eyes. "What illness was so severe that you couldn't even move?"
"My body was burning, my footsteps were unsteady, and my heart would sometimes stop and sometimes beat extremely fast. I suppose I caught a cold."
It was the first time the Emperor had heard of such symptoms. "Later, have the imperial physician take a look at you."
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Shen Xiabai smoothly accepted.
"You must have heard about what happened in the royal court yesterday, beloved subject Shen. What are your thoughts on the matter?"
"I believe that everything should prioritize the common people and the Great Liang empire. The Crown Prince and His Highness Prince An, as imperial princes, have a duty to eliminate threats for the country and the people."
The air pressure in the room was low, and it was dead silent. After a long while, the Emperor suddenly let out a cold sneer.
"So to speak, apart from the Cui and Tang families, there are no good officials in my court! From now on, I will have to rely on their Cui and Tang families to maintain peace and prosperity!!"
The Crown Prince and Shen Xiabai knelt down at the same time. "Please quell your anger, Your Majesty. I absolutely did not mean that."
The Emperor's gaze shot towards the Crown Prince, extremely dark and deep. "I feel as though the Crown Prince doesn't seem to value this position as the heir apparent."
Liu Wanting was a secondary consort personally bestowed upon him by the Emperor. His recent actions were a slap in the Emperor's face.
It implied that the Emperor was a poor judge of character.
"May Imperial Father see clearly. What this son did was also for Imperial Father. The Liu family deceived Imperial Father and committed heinous crimes. If they were not eliminated as soon as possible, I fear they would have further implicated Imperial Father's reputation."
He remained respectful, but he lacked his usual extreme caution.
The Emperor sneered and leaned forward slightly. "Is that all? Did you really not have any other intentions?"
"I did. This son's legitimate child died in the womb. This son also had selfish motives."
The Emperor's expression turned cold. "Are you blaming me?"
"This son would not dare."
"Would not dare? Then what is this?" With a flick of his wrist, the Emperor threw the memorial from his desk, landing it at the feet of Shen Xiabai and the Crown Prince.
"The officials have jointly submitted a memorial to transfer the eldest son of the Cui family back to the capital. Crown Prince, did you know about this?"
Shen Xiabai's gaze circled the memorial.
The Crown Prince replied, "Answering Imperial Father, this son has indeed heard of it. It is said that something has gone wrong in the mountain range guarded by the eldest son of the Cui family. Strange phenomena have frequently occurred, and local officials have reported them one after another. Some even claim it to be a dragon vein. I assume the court officials were uneasy because of this and thus petitioned to transfer the Cui family son back to the capital."
"He is a subject after all. If that mountain truly has auspicious signs, it should be guarded by members of the imperial clan."
The Emperor was unaware of such twists and turns. He furrowed his brows slightly and asked, "What dragon vein?"
The Crown Prince shook his head. "This son does not know the details. Why doesn't Imperial Father choose a trusted confidant to go and investigate? If someone is truly playing tricks, we can catch them all in one fell swoop."
The Emperor furrowed his brows, falling into brief contemplation.
Feng shui layouts were believed not only by the common people but also by noble families and the imperial clan. Otherwise, where would the saying "True Dragon Son of Heaven" come from?
But Grand Tutor Tang had just fallen, and now this happened. The Emperor was no fool; he leaned more towards the Cui and Tang families or the Crown Prince playing tricks.
"Those officials who jointly submitted the memorial are all your people."
The Emperor pointed at the memorial on the ground.
The Crown Prince kept his head bowed, his expression unchanged and his voice still steady. "As the heir apparent, the matter of a dragon vein is truly of great importance. I imagine those ministers were worried that the rumors might endanger the state and became anxious for a moment."
"Beloved subject Shen, what do you say?"
Shen Xiabai withdrew his gaze from the character "Cui" on the memorial on the ground.
"Without knowing the full picture, I dare not speak recklessly."
The Emperor stood up and walked down the steps. "If there are such rumors, I also do not want the Cui family son to return to the capital. Beloved subject Shen, do you have a good plan?"
He dragged out the end of his sentence, his voice sharp and chilling.
The Crown Prince slightly raised his eyes to look at Shen Xiabai.
The Emperor's meaning was obvious, and Shen Xiabai naturally understood it. "I believe it is inappropriate."
"Why?" the Emperor asked coldly.
"As the saying goes, even a cornered rabbit will bite. With the matter of Grand Tutor Tang, Prime Minister Cui has already stood in defiance. If something were to happen to the Cui family son at this time, I am afraid the royal court would once again be swept into a storm of blood and violence. Without the premise of absolute victory, a method that results in mutual destruction is not appropriate."
Moreover, the two princes were already fully fledged. In a chaotic situation, brothers turning against each other or killing their father to seize the throne was not impossible.
The coldness in the Emperor's eyes slowly subsided. He said, "In the past, when beloved subject Shen mentioned the Cui and Tang families, you did not have this attitude."
Shen Xiabai ignored the scrutinizing gaze in his eyes and said, "I am merely discussing the matter as it stands."
The Emperor sat back down in the dragon throne and said coolly, "Now, the only one who can keep the Cui and Tang clans in check is beloved subject Shen."
The Crown Prince could no longer be counted on, and Prince An was even harder to control.
The Crown Prince's eyelashes trembled violently, and the fingers gripping his sleeves tightly relaxed slightly.
His lowered eyes carried a trace of coldness.
