"I only wished to ensure Fifth Sister's safety, and thought to seek out the vile dog who dared plot against her."
Unaware of what was going through the Crown Prince's mind at that moment, Yun Chuhuan continued earnestly.
"But I truly had no idea how to begin searching. So I simply led Ziming and the others out of the private room to wander around a bit. I figured we might come across someone behaving suspiciously.
As fate would have it, we hadn't gone far before we happened upon Eldest Brother—he was leaning in close, eavesdropping outside the Crown Prince's door."
"I've been wrongfully accused!" the Eldest Prince cried out at once.
Heavens bear witness—he did indeed harbor ill will toward the Crown Prince. After all, with the Empress now sent off to Longhua Temple and the Crown Prince having fallen from favor over the failed marriage proposal to the Shen family girl, how could he not be pleased?
He had considered tossing a bit more fuel onto the fire to accelerate the Crown Prince's downfall. But his own troubles weren't yet fully resolved, and he had only just begun trying to regain favor with Imperial Father. So after some internal struggle, he had decided it best to lay low and do nothing beyond currying favor for now.
As for why he ended up eavesdropping at the Crown Prince's door today…
"Truly, I was only thinking how impressive Imperial Sister's restaurant is, and went walking about for a look. I happened to pass near the Crown Prince's room and caught a few odd-sounding words from inside. Curiosity got the better of me, and I edged closer."
Who could resist such a golden opportunity when it walked right into their hands?
The Eldest Prince felt thoroughly wronged.
"I had only just begun to listen when Sixth Brother and the others showed up. I suppose he was curious too, because he pulled Young Master Liu and Young Miss Cen along, squeezing in with me.
But he charged too quickly. The three of them lost their balance and—well—they ended up crashing the door open!"
"And then we saw… we saw—"
The Eldest Prince stammered, too mortified to continue.
In the end, it was Yun Chuhuan, blissfully unaware of propriety and utterly unfiltered, who blurted it all out:
"We saw Crown Prince Brother and Miss Shen from the Shen family fighting! When we broke in, she was already in tears!
Her clothes were disheveled, and her neck had—"
"Enough!"
Emperor Xuanwu's voice cracked like a whip through the room. He didn't spare a single glance at the mortified Shen Jingzhu, who looked as though she wished to bury her head between the palace floor tiles.
Fury darkened his face as he snatched up a memorial from the table and hurled it at the Crown Prince's head.
"You dare!"
"I have been falsely accused, Father Emperor!"
Things had already veered far off the path the Crown Prince had envisioned.
His original plan was simple: after he and Shen Jingzhu had consummated matters in the private room, the two of them would appear before Imperial Father together. They would admit their guilt and request a marriage decree, claiming they had been drugged.
He had even prepared false evidence in advance—some pointing to Yun Shu, some to the Eldest Prince. Whoever took the fall, it would work in his favor.
But he had never expected things to spiral so quickly. Before he and Shen Jingzhu had even finished what they'd started, the Eldest Prince and the others had burst in. The noise they caused drew out even the Left and Right Prime Ministers to investigate.
Now Shen Jingzhu's reputation was utterly ruined. He didn't even know if that would affect his alliance with the Right Prime Minister…
The Crown Prince's expression was one of deep anguish, as though he had suffered a grave injustice.
"Father Emperor, your son was drugged! Someone seeks to frame me, to ruin me utterly!"
"Drugged?"
Emperor Xuanwu let out a cold laugh.
"Have you proof?"
"I do!"
The Crown Prince nodded swiftly.
"Once I regained clarity, I immediately had all the dishes brought here. They were packed in front of the Left Prime Minister, the Right Prime Minister, and Sixth Brother. There was no chance for substitution!"
"Very well," Emperor Xuanwu said, expression unreadable.
"Bring in the dishes. Sun Taiyi!"
"Your servant is here!"
Physician Sun stepped out from behind the screen without delay.
The Crown Prince's heart seized in alarm.
Why had Sun Taiyi been behind the screen all this time?
An ominous feeling surged in his chest.
Emperor Xuanwu gave him a scathing look before turning to the physician.
"Examine every dish thoroughly. We shall see what fool dares to poison the Crown Prince!"
"...Yes, Your Majesty."
Internally groaning, Sun Taiyi cursed all members of the imperial family ten generations deep. Yet not a flicker of emotion showed on his face as he bowed respectfully and approached the food.
He checked every dish with utmost care.
At last, wiping the nervous sweat from his brow, he said quietly under the intense gaze of the throne:
"Your Majesty, all the dishes are… perfectly normal. No trace of poison was found."
"Impossible!"
The Crown Prince blanched.
"You must have missed something! Your skills are lacking!"
"Oh? You seem very sure."
Emperor Xuanwu's restraint finally snapped. He seized a nearby brush holder and flung it at the Crown Prince with such force that it clattered to the floor behind him.
"Perhaps you are still wondering why the sweet and sour fish you laced with medicine no longer contains it. Because that dish was switched out!"
He even knew which dish had been tampered with!
The Crown Prince's face drained of all color. Chaos surged through his mind. Just how much did Imperial Father already know?
It was the Right Prime Minister who quickly stepped in, sensing danger.
"Your Majesty, surely there is some misunderstanding. Why would His Highness the Crown Prince drug himself?"
"That is a question for him to answer."
Emperor Xuanwu slammed a palm down on the dragon-carved table before him, voice thunderous with wrath.
"Disloyal, dishonorable, inhumane, unfilial, unruly, foolish, and untrustworthy! The Crown Prince We raised has become a creature of all seven vices!"
"Your Majesty, please calm your anger—this must be a misunderstanding!"
The Right Prime Minister paled. Such a condemnation—if it were to spread—would strip the Crown Prince of his position without a doubt.
In panic, he nudged the Crown Prince, urging him to pull himself together and explain.
But perhaps it was Emperor Xuanwu's precise words from moments earlier—naming the very dish he had tampered with—that shattered the last of the Crown Prince's composure.
He sat kneeling, frozen, for a long moment.
Then suddenly, he gave a bitter, broken laugh. There was despair in that sound.
"So Father Emperor truly meant to depose me all along."
"Insolence!"
Emperor Xuanwu's rage surged anew.
"You wretched child! You commit wrongdoing and instead of remorse, you seek to shift blame?"
"Have I spoken falsely?!"
The Crown Prince looked up sharply.
"Was it not you, Father Emperor, who first grew suspicious of me—of the Shen family?
I acted merely to protect myself. What crime is that?"
…Hiss.
So that was the limit of the Crown Prince's mental strength?
As expected, someone who had always been favored, always affirmed by Imperial Father, and had never tasted failure—had a mind far too fragile to withstand pressure.