Chapter 197: Discovery

The Crown Prince grew impatient, his fingers tapping lightly on the tabletop. "Is my younger brother not in his manor?"

"I don't know where he wandered off to. Shall I call the Prince back to play chess with you?" Princess Jing, who sat beside him, smiled tenderly, though her heart was brimming with murderous intent.

Every single one of them was wandering about, leaving her behind to deal with this unlucky Crown Prince.

"No need. I shall wait for my brother."

Just as he spoke, Qi Shuo walked in.

"I have kept Your Highness waiting."

The Crown Prince stared fixedly at the young man walking in, set his teacup down on the table, and stood up. "I was just wondering if my brother had slipped out through the back gate."

Qi Shuo smiled. "How could that be? My health has only just improved; if I were to go out, Imperial Mother would be the first to object."

Hearing this, a trace of disdain flashed in the Crown Prince's eyes.

A sickly wretch like this, pampered by his parents and having married a peerless beauty as a wife—did he not fear his thin luck would be unable to sustain it?

"Come, accompany me in a game of chess." The Crown Prince patted Qi Shuo on the shoulder and began walking out first. "With such beautiful weather, let's not stay indoors. We shall play in the garden."

Qi Shuo watched the Crown Prince walk ahead with cold eyes, noting how he was getting closer and closer to the wall that separated them from the General's Manor.

*Is he still not giving up on A-Hao?*

His gaze darkened.

"Your Highness, how about we play in the pavilion here?"

The Crown Prince paused his steps. "Oh, alright."

A chessboard was quickly spread across the stone table in the pavilion, with fruits, sweets, and tea arranged to one side.

The Crown Prince's mind was clearly not on the game; he placed a piece down casually. "I hadn't noticed before, but the Prince's manor and the General's manor are separated by only a single wall."

"Mhm."

The Crown Prince lifted his eyelids to glance at Qi Shuo. "Then in the future, it will be far too convenient for my brother to visit his father-in-law."

"Indeed."

The corners of the Crown Prince's mouth twitched, and the fire of irritation rose fiercely in his heart.

With such a dullard, he couldn't even stand the sight of a single strand of his hair!

"Sometimes I truly envy you, brother, having a wife who was your childhood sweetheart."

Qi Shuo smiled, his voice calm and unruffled. "It was all by the command of our parents and the arrangement of matchmakers."

The Crown Prince grew even angrier.

This sickly wretch had done nothing, yet he had obtained the very thing the Crown Prince yearned for!

If it weren't for this sickly wretch—

The Crown Prince glanced at the composed young man opposite him. This sudden thought was like a spark igniting dry grass, impossible to suppress.

If Second Miss Lin were to become a widow waiting for a husband who never returned, perhaps an opportunity would arise before he ascended the throne and she had married again.

The more the Crown Prince thought, the more agitated he became. His mouth felt parched, so he grabbed his cup and gulped down several mouthfuls of water. Even when the cup was empty, the sensation of thirst would not vanish.

Guarding nearby, Wang Fu immediately took the teapot from the Prince's servant and refilled the cup.

The Crown Prince gulped it all down, sweat breaking out on his forehead.

"It is much hotter outside the palace than inside." The Crown Prince tossed a chess piece aside and stood up.

Qi Shuo gave a light cough and smiled. "Perhaps it is because I am naturally frail, but I find the pavilion quite cool."

"Since your health is poor, do not stay to accompany me. Go back and rest quickly." Eager to return to the palace to enjoy the Five-Colored Powder, the Crown Prince turned to walk out.

Qi Shuo rose to follow. "I shall see Your Highness out."

"No need for such formalities; we are cousins, not strangers."

Despite the Crown Prince's words, Qi Shuo still escorted him to the manor gates, watching as the Crown Prince hurriedly boarded his carriage.

The magnificent, extraordinary carriage sped away, the sound of hoofbeats fading into the distance.

Qi Shuo stood for a moment before turning to walk toward the General's Manor.

"The Heir is here!" The gatekeeper of the General's Manor beamed upon seeing Qi Shuo.

After all, he was their son-in-law.

"Please inform them that I have some business with the Second Miss."

Qi Shuo waited in the hall for about half an hour before Lin Hao finally arrived.

"I changed my clothes; I've kept you waiting." Seeing Qi Shuo for the second time in a single day, Lin Hao was in a very good mood.

Qi Shuo's gaze swept over Lin Hao, and he fell into a brief silence.

*It doesn't seem any different.*

"What did you come to see me for?" Lin Hao asked casually, resting one arm on the table.

Qi Shuo's eyes couldn't help but drift toward the arm resting before him.

He was not a man lacking self-control, but he felt as though a faint fragrance was right at the tip of his nose, making him afraid to even breathe too heavily.

Seeing this, Lin Hao didn't think much of it; instead, she became delighted. "I applied fresh floral dew after my bath. Is the scent stronger?"

Qi Shuo breathed a sigh of relief.

So it was newly applied floral dew, not his imagination.

"A-Shuo—" Seeing his silence, Lin Hao called out.

Qi Shuo snapped back to his senses. Though his heart was drumming like a war drum, his expression remained perfectly calm. "The Crown Prince just left. I discovered there is something wrong with him."

"Something wrong?" Lin Hao immediately sat up straight, casting aside her casual posture.

"It is very likely that something is wrong with his body..." Qi Shuo carefully explained the Crown Prince's reactions during the chess game. "No matter how hot the weather is, it shouldn't result in that kind of state. His reaction was more like someone suffering from a certain disease, or—"

"Or what?"

"Or perhaps the use of a certain drug that causes—"

"Five-Colored Powder," Lin Hao blurted out.

Qi Shuo was startled. "What?"

"A-Shuo, do you think it might be the Five-Colored Powder that was once popular in the previous dynasty?"

During the two years Emperor Pingle reigned, diplomacy had been weak. Perhaps as a means of escape and venting, the social atmosphere was far more decadent and corrupt than it is now, and many nobles took pride in consuming Five-Colored Powder.

The reason her first thought went there was because the exiled Emperor Pingle still could not live without the Five-Colored Powder; his teacher had tried to dissuade him, warning that the substance harmed the body, which had repeatedly displeased the Emperor.

Qi Shuo had also heard of the Five-Colored Powder. He murmured, "The Crown Prince's reaction truly does resemble the effects of consuming Five-Colored Powder."

Unable to suppress her excitement, Lin Hao leaned her head closer. "Consuming too much of that substance can be life-threatening. A-Shuo, does this count as us gaining something without working for it?"

She had been waiting for the repeatedly struck Crown Prince to bring ruin upon himself, but she hadn't expected him to provide such a massive surprise.

"Whether consuming this substance leads to death depends greatly on one's physical constitution, but it is certain that the Crown Prince's end will not be a good one." Qi Shuo's tone was slightly cold. "The current Emperor banned the Five-Colored Powder immediately upon ascending the throne. For the Crown Prince to obtain this, the person providing it certainly isn't wishing for his longevity."

Lin Hao smiled. "Regardless, as long as the Crown Prince meets his misfortune, it's fine."

"A-Hao, do you think the person providing the Five-Colored Powder to the Crown Prince might be Perfected Master Mingxin?"

The current Perfected Master Mingxin, disguised as Mr. Wang, was a favorite of Emperor Taian.

Lin Hao denied it without hesitation. "Impossible. Perfected Master Mingxin loathes the Five-Colored Powder."

Qi Shuo, however, thought differently. "Perfected Master Mingxin loathes the Five-Colored Powder because of Emperor Pingle's use of it, right? But what about someone else? What if it's the current Crown Prince, whom Emperor Pingle wished to eliminate once and for all?"

Lin Hao thought carefully, but still shook her head. "A-Shuo, you haven't spent time with Perfected Master Mingxin. I believe he is the type of person who has principles of what he will and will not do; otherwise, he wouldn't have ended up being killed by the monarch he was wholeheartedly loyal to."

Even if the teacher escaped, the side of Emperor Taian would not let him live. He had risked his life to advise Emperor Pingle to give up the throne purely for the sake of the Great Zhou.

She did not believe that such a person as Perfected Master Mingxin would induce the Crown Prince to consume the Five-Colored Powder to achieve a goal, just as she and Qi Shuo would not.

(End of Chapter)