Chapter 608

“Prince An, His Majesty has sent this old servant to escort you into the palace,” Eunuch Liu said ingratiatingly.

“Eunuch Liu, you must be mistaken. I’m no longer Prince An. I’m merely a prisoner awaiting trial, guilty of the grave crime of treason,” Xu Heming said with a mocking smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

“Prince An, what are you saying? This is all a misunderstanding—a misunderstanding.” Eunuch Liu hurriedly tried to smooth things over with a smile.

“A misunderstanding? Lord Lu clearly said that I was certain to die.” Xu Heming gave an inscrutable smile and looked toward Lord Lu beside Eunuch Liu.

“Please forgive me, Prince An. This subordinate was ignorant and misunderstood the situation. It was all a misunderstanding.” Lu Zhengyu wiped the cold sweat from his forehead while cursing inwardly.

That constable had truly been useless. If he had dealt with Prince An just now, none of this would have happened. He could then have claimed that Prince An had taken his own life out of guilt.

“Prince An, let’s hurry and go,” Eunuch Liu said, still smiling obsequiously.

Xu Heming had not intended to let Eunuch Liu have his way so quickly.

But then he remembered that Li Zhiwei was still waiting for him.

He rose and walked outside.

Seeing this, Eunuch Liu breathed a sigh of relief and hurried after him.

Lu Zhengyu watched Xu Heming’s departing back with a dark, unreadable expression.

His heart was filled with unwillingness.

He had been so close—so close! His plan had almost succeeded!

In a fit of anger, Lu Zhengyu kicked the constable who had just failed him, blaming the entire failure of his plan on the man’s incompetence.

As Xu Heming reached the entrance of the prison, he glanced back at Lu Zhengyu, whose face was gloomy.

He felt somewhat suspicious, but there was no time to dwell on it. For now, he had more important matters to attend to, so he hurried toward the imperial palace.

When Zhu Jingchen saw Xu Heming, he was overjoyed. He stepped forward and patted Xu Heming on the shoulder.

“Prince An, you’ve rendered another great service this time. I truly don’t know what reward I should give you!”

“So ​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​​‍His Majesty’s reward was to have me thrown into prison?” Xu Heming asked, looking at Zhu Jingchen with a mocking smile.

“It was a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding. I never issued such an order. The people below simply misinterpreted my intentions.” Zhu Jingchen hastily explained.

“Back then, Qingshi insisted on going to look for you all. I had no choice but to order people to keep watch over Prince An’s Residence,” Zhu Jingchen continued hurriedly.

“I never expected others to take my words literally and even have you thrown into prison.” Zhu Jingchen looked somewhat troubled. Those who presumed to guess his intentions were truly infuriating.

“Your Majesty, I’ll settle today’s matter with them another day. For now, I beg Your Majesty to send several highly skilled imperial physicians with me to save my wife!”

Xu Heming wanted to drag the culprits out and deal with them immediately.

But Li Zhiwei’s condition could not wait.

“Prince An, rest assured. I’ve already sent everyone from the Imperial Medical Academy to the Li residence to examine Princess Consort of An,” Zhu Jingchen said quickly.

After all, Li Tianyou had just led the others back home.

“In that case, if Your Majesty has no further instructions, this subject will take his leave first.” Without waiting for Zhu Jingchen to say anything else, Xu Heming turned and strode away.

“Jin Yan, investigate who ordered Prince An’s arrest!” Zhu Jingchen said furiously.

“Yes!” After receiving the order, Jin Yan withdrew.

“Liu Xi, go to the treasury and select some medicinal materials to send to the Li residence.” Zhu Jingchen rubbed his forehead wearily before giving Eunuch Liu another order.

“Yes!” Eunuch Liu accepted the command and hurried off to choose the items. He knew that His Majesty was likely in a foul mood at the moment.

He, too, cursed those who had arrested Xu Heming under his breath.

After leaving the palace, Xu Heming went straight to the Li residence.

When Li Tianyou saw Xu Heming, the worry that had been weighing on his heart finally eased.

“You’re back!” Li Tianyou said, patting Xu Heming on the shoulder.

“I’m sorry to have worried you, Father-in-law. How is Weiwei?” Xu Heming asked anxiously.

“The imperial physicians have examined her. They’re still discussing the matter.” Li Tianyou sighed. None of them had come up with a solution yet.

Upon hearing this, Xu Heming hurried straight to Li Zhiwei’s Banyue Pavilion.

“Weiwei!”

Seeing Li Zhiwei lying on the bed without a trace of movement, Xu Heming’s heart sank.

He could not understand how she had suddenly ended up like this when she had been perfectly well before.

By then, Zhiya had learned of Li Zhiwei’s condition. Without worrying about anything else, she rushed into Banyue Pavilion. When she saw Xu Heming grieving beside the bed, she did not dare make a sound and quietly stood to one side.

In her heart, she prayed that Prince An would leave soon. Then she could secretly examine her mistress and see whether there was any way she could save her.

However, Zhiya waited for a long time, yet Xu Heming showed no sign of leaving. She began pacing anxiously nearby.

“Zhiya? What are you doing here?” Cuiguo asked, looking at Zhiya in confusion.

Li Zhiwei had arranged separate courtyards for each of them, and under ordinary circumstances, none of them came to Banyue Pavilion.

“Cuiguo, I want to examine Mistress,” Zhiya said somewhat awkwardly.

“Zhiya, Mistress still hasn’t woken up. Even the imperial physicians have examined her.” Cuiguo sighed. In her heart, she did not really believe that Zhiya could wake Li Zhiwei.

After all, the imperial physicians of the Imperial Medical Academy were all highly skilled. If even they were helpless, Cuiguo did not believe that Zhiya could have a solution.

Besides, now that Xu Heming had returned, he surely would not allow Zhiya to approach Li Zhiwei.

Cuiguo looked at Zhiya. She wanted to tell her to return first, but somehow, she could not bring herself to say it.

“I know that many people have already examined Mistress. But my grandfather was especially skilled in treating difficult and unusual illnesses, and I saw many cases while studying under him. Mistress’s condition is very similar to that of a patient my grandfather treated before. I want to try,” Zhiya said, biting her lip as she continued to plead for a chance to treat Li Zhiwei.

After hearing this, Cuiguo glanced into the room. Xu Heming was still sitting beside the bed, holding Li Zhiwei’s hand.

“You wait here for a moment. I’ll speak with the master and madam first,” Cuiguo told her.

Cuiguo naturally did not dare try to persuade Xu Heming, but she did dare speak with Li Tianyou and Lady Yao.

Perhaps they would be willing to let Zhiya try.

Zhiya nodded when she heard this, a glimmer of hope rising in her heart.

When Li Tianyou and Lady Yao heard what Cuiguo had said, both of them frowned.

“Master, Madam, I was thinking that Mistress has shown Zhiya great kindness. Surely she wouldn’t make such a claim without reason. Since Mistress remains unconscious, what harm would there be in letting her try? Perhaps Zhiya really does have a way to help,” Cuiguo advised carefully.

“Master, what do you think we should do?” Lady Yao asked, looking at Li Tianyou imploringly.

“She truly said that her grandfather had seen a patient with the same condition?” Li Tianyou asked.

He did not really believe that a young maid could have a solution to an illness that had left all the imperial physicians helpless.

Yet deep down, he hoped that the girl really had seen such a case before—and that she truly possessed a way to save his daughter.