Regardless, no matter the reason, as long as the Emperor still harbored feelings for this deposed Crown Prince, she had a way to help him escape death.
"Your Majesty! The Crown Prince is innocent!" A cry pierced the entire prison, instantly drawing everyone's attention.
"Audacious!" The Empress stepped forward, casting a cold, piercing glance at Yan Weichi. "Who are you? How dare you question His Majesty's judgment!"
It was His Majesty who had found Shangguan Xi guilty, and it was His Majesty who had stripped him of his status as Crown Prince. To claim the Crown Prince was innocent was, in effect, to challenge the Emperor himself.
On the surface, the Empress was right. Yet, to Yan Weichi, this Emperor’s entire face seemed to spell out "unspeakable suffering." With her current status, opportunities to speak were rare, so she had to say what was vital before the Empress ordered her execution.
Yan Weichi blurted out, "Your Majesty, I beg you to look clearly! The Crown Prince suffers from impotence. I ask you, how could a man who cannot perform force himself upon Beauty Xu? The Crown Prince is innocent!"
Her words hit like a bolt of lightning. The crowd gasped in astonishment.
"You... what kind of nonsense are you spouting?" The Empress stared at her in shock.
Yan Weichi replied with a straight face, "I'm not spouting nonsense. I was sent by His Majesty to the Crown Prince to bear an heir; everything I just said is from personal experience. If Your Majesty doesn't believe me, why don't... you take a look for yourself?"
"Absurd!" the Empress reprimanded sharply.
Yan Weichi curled her lip and turned to Emperor Kangwu. "Your Majesty, what I say is true. If the Empress is too embarrassed to look, why don't you have the Imperial Physician check?"
"The person is already dead; what is the point of looking at those things now?" The Second Prince, Shangguan Li—the Empress's son—could not help but roll his eyes at her.
Yan Weichi retorted, "You can't say it like that. As the saying goes, 'Fear not being smashed to pieces, so long as I leave a clean name in the world.' Even if the Crown Prince is dead, if we prove his innocence, he can still be buried with the honors befitting a Crown Prince. Since I’ve spent some time with him, I might at least get to be a Crown Princess, right?"
"Whose daughter are you? You are utterly shameless! Guards, drag her out!" The Empress immediately ordered, attempting to silence the babbling Yan Weichi.
Yan Weichi hurriedly backed away, increasing the distance between herself and the Empress, then continued, "Your Empress, don't change the subject. I may be shameless, but you must follow the rules. Since there are major doubts in the case, shouldn't it be sent back for retrial? Well? Your Majesty, am I right?"
Emperor Kangwu’s gaze had not left Shangguan Xi’s face. Only when he heard the words "sent back for retrial" did he speak, his voice choked with emotion. "Correct! This case, send it back to the Court of Judicial Review..."
"Your Majesty, the man is dead! Is there any need for this? Besides, he was seen holding the murder weapon, his hands stained with blood. Everyone saw it. How could there be a mistake?" the Empress argued vehemently.
"Hey! Catch!" Yan Weichi’s sudden shout caught everyone off guard.
At the same time, she threw a pouch at the Empress, who instinctively reached out and caught it.
"You have such audacity! How dare you strike me?" the Empress asked, unable to believe her eyes.
Yan Weichi hummed lightly. "Your Empress, now my pouch is in your hands. Does that make you the thief who stole it?"
The Second Prince, Shangguan Li, shouted, "What nonsense are you talking about? You clearly threw the pouch at my mother!"
"Oh, fair point. I can throw a pouch at the Empress, so couldn't the real killer have placed the murder weapon into the Crown Prince’s hand? You only saw the scene after the crime, but did anyone see the act itself? Did anyone see the Crown Prince commit the murder with the blade?" Yan Weichi’s questions left the crowd speechless.
Emperor Kangwu, who had been silent for a long time, spoke immediately: "Correct! This case is full of doubts. My decree: send it back for retrial!"
"Your Majesty..." The Empress tried to dissuade him, but the Imperial Physician spoke first: "Your Majesty, please restrain your grief. The Crown Prince... he has passed away!"
Upon hearing this, the Empress and the Second Prince both showed triumphant expressions, while Emperor Kangwu turned deathly pale and nearly collapsed.
"Investigate! Investigate! Even if Chujing is dead, I will clear his name! Whoever dares say another word shall accompany Chujing on his journey!"
The Empress and the Second Prince exchanged looks and dared not speak again.
Yan Weichi thought to herself, *Indeed, only when you truly lose something do you know what it means to regret, and only then will you spare no effort to make amends. Hah!*
Just as Yan Weichi was feeling proud of her small success, the Empress hissed viciously, "The case can be retried, but this foul-mouthed wench is to be dragged out and beaten to death immediately!"
*Great! Talk about inviting disaster.*
Though the situation was critical, it was still manageable. Yan Weichi immediately shouted, "No! You cannot kill me!"
"Cannot?!" The Empress stared at her in shock, thinking she had misheard. Who did this girl think she was, daring to talk back to the Empress of the Six Palaces?
While the Empress was stunned, Yan Weichi hurried to look at Emperor Kangwu. "Your Majesty, I am the only one who can prove the Crown Prince’s impotence, which makes me the key witness in this case. Since the case is being retried, killing the witness before the trial has even begun doesn't seem appropriate, does it?"
Emperor Kangwu frowned at Yan Weichi, his thoughts in a whirl; he didn't even know whose daughter she was. Yet, that she dared to tell the Empress "no" in front of so many people made him look at her with a new sense of regard.
Looking past Yan Weichi’s petite figure to the lifeless, battered Shangguan Xi behind her, the Emperor’s grief and indignation reached a breaking point.
He shouted angrily, "Guards, take her to assist in the investigation. I will bring justice for Chujing in this case!"
Yan Weichi raised an eyebrow, sensing that half the battle was won. Since the Emperor had promised to bring justice, it wouldn't just be a simple retrial—it would have to result in an outcome that satisfied him.
Guards immediately stepped forward and dragged Yan Weichi away. Before leaving, she glanced back at Shangguan Xi and thought, *You will wake up in an hour, and when you do, I will have a grand gift for you!*
Yan Weichi went to the Court of Judicial Review. She did not know, however, that the moment she left, Shangguan Xi opened his eyes.
Shangguan Xi cast an imperceptible glance toward the direction in which Yan Weichi had departed and thought to himself, *You idiot, I told you I was suffering from the Cold Gu Poison—how could a mere fake-death drug hold me down?*
Though Yan Weichi’s poison had not affected Shangguan Xi for long, the favorable situation she had secured was extremely useful to him. Thus, he held his breath and, without moving a muscle, allowed the young eunuchs to carry him away.
—
Jiulong Hall.
After leaving the prison, Yan Weichi was not taken to the Court of Judicial Review but instead brought directly to Jiulong Hall. It was the place for morning court, but now it had become a temporary tribunal.
Pang Heyu, the Chief Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, arrived upon summons, looking at the kneeling Yan Weichi with suspicion. "Your Minister greets Your Majesty, greets the Empress."
Emperor Kangwu said in a deep voice, "Rise."
Pang Heyu stood up and couldn't help but glance at the disheveled, unkempt Yan Weichi. She caught his look and curled her lips in a mocking smile. It made Pang Heyu shiver; he felt as if something was going terribly wrong.
As expected, the Emperor’s next words were, "Pang Heyu, do you know your crime?!"
*My crime?* Pang Heyu’s body stiffened, and he hurriedly knelt again. "Your Majesty, please calm your anger. Your Minister... is terrified and does not know what crime he has committed."
Emperor Kangwu snorted coldly. "The case of the Crown Prince murdering his stepmother and brother was overseen by you personally, but now the Crown Prince's..." The Emperor hesitated, not knowing how to define Yan Weichi’s identity.
Yan Weichi didn't stand on ceremony. She interrupted, "Wife! His formal wife! Your Majesty, I am the Crown Prince’s first woman."
Emperor Kangwu thought that since Shangguan Xi was already dead, he shouldn't leave him to travel the afterlife alone. He stated firmly, "The Crown Princess, who has personally admitted that the Crown Prince had a hidden ailment and could not..." The Emperor stumbled again.
"...could not perform!" Yan Weichi interjected.
The Empress, sitting on the high seat, scolded, "Silence! How dare you interrupt His Majesty repeatedly? You have no manners!"
Yan Weichi pouted. "Empress, His Majesty is a man of dignity and finds some things hard to say. But my husband is dead, and I have nothing left to lose, so naturally, I must be the one to say it."
Emperor Kangwu, feeling impatient, said, "You say it!"
Yan Weichi immediately responded, "Minister Pang, simply put, the Crown Prince was impotent; he was incapable of violating Beauty Xu, so there is a problem with this case. I demand a reinvestigation, starting with an autopsy on Beauty Xu and the little prince!"
"Wha... what? An autopsy?" Pang Heyu stared at her in disbelief, thinking he had heard wrong.
Yan Weichi nodded. "That's right, an autopsy. Don't you know how? No matter, I will!" She beamed at Pang Heyu, looking entirely prepared to take the lead.
Pang Heyu frowned. "Are you mad? Beauty Xu and the little prince have been dead for days. The coffins have been sealed, awaiting burial. Why disturb the peace of the dead?"
Yan Weichi was unmoved. "Minister, you are mistaken. In my view, only by identifying the cause of death and bringing justice to the deceased can they truly find peace. Besides, according to palace rules, a consort who has borne an heir must lie in state for seven days before burial. By my count, today is exactly the seventh day!"
In other words, now was the perfect time for an autopsy.
On the high seat, the Empress exchanged glances with her son, Shangguan Li, who nodded slightly, indicating that Yan Weichi was correct; Beauty Xu’s body had not yet been buried.
The Empress’s brow furrowed. As she pondered how to obstruct this, the Emperor had already commanded, "Then perform the autopsy!"
He stood up, clearly intending to observe the procedure himself.
—
Qinghe Palace.
The principal consort of Qinghe Palace was Consort Xian, and Beauty Xu had lived in the side courtyard. Emperor Kangwu ignored Consort Xian, who had come to welcome him, and headed straight for Beauty Xu’s living quarters.
Inside, white banners hung high and incense wafted in the air—the room was still a funeral hall. Beauty Xu’s coffin was left half-open, revealing her head and shoulders for mourners to view. The little prince had already been sealed in his casket and sent to the Cihang Temple outside the city for prayers.
As they entered, Pang Heyu spoke first. "Your Majesty, both Beauty Xu and the little prince had their throats slit; the cause of death is clear. There is really no need for an autopsy!"
The Emperor ignored him and looked at Yan Weichi. "You, go and look!"
Yan Weichi nodded and walked quickly to the coffin. Though Beauty Xu had been dead for seven days, the weather in the third lunar month was cool, and preservative powder had been sprinkled around the body, so it remained intact without much odor.
Yan Weichi tried to push the heavy coffin lid, but it wouldn't budge.
The Emperor said coldly, "Guards, go and help her."
The palace maids and eunuchs looked at the Empress. Clearly, in their eyes, the Empress’s command carried more weight than the Emperor’s. Yan Weichi found this strange, but it was not the time to investigate. She barked, "Are you all deaf? Did you not hear what His Majesty said? Or do you wish to defy an imperial decree and follow Beauty Xu to the grave?"
The group shivered in fear. The Empress glared at Yan Weichi; she wondered where this wretched girl had come from, and why she was so incapable of reading the room.
Just as the Empress moved to intervene, the Second Prince whispered, "Mother, let her examine. Shangguan Xi is already dead; don't cause a rift with Father for the sake of a dead man."
The Empress paused, realizing his point. The Crown Prince was dead; a new one would soon be chosen. The Emperor had many sons, and Shangguan Li faced many rivals. They truly could not afford to offend the Emperor now.
She glared at Yan Weichi and snapped, "Guards, open the coffin."
The eunuchs stepped forward and removed the lid. Yan Weichi stood beside the coffin and immediately saw the wound on Beauty Xu’s throat. It was deep, cutting through the flesh. On the surface, it did indeed look like a fatal wound.
But this wound...
Yan Weichi reached out to pull at the collar of the corpse’s robe, trying to examine the edges of the wound more closely. Her actions not only stunned those present but also caught the attention of two men watching from the shadows.
One man, dressed in pink and possessing refined but somewhat effeminate features, twirled a lock of his long hair and chuckled, "My, my, which young lady is this? She isn't afraid of the dead at all. Tch, tch, and she doesn't even mind the filth!"
Another, wearing gold robes and looking heroic, frowned. "A reckless girl who nearly ruined the Eldest Senior Brother’s plans. I wish I could throttle her!"
"Hah! Throttle her? You? She knows how to use poison!" the pink-clad man licked his lips, looking quite intrigued by Yan Weichi.
As they discussed her, Yan Weichi had already reached a conclusion.
"Your Majesty, Beauty Xu did not die from having her throat slit!"
"What? What did you say?" Emperor Kangwu hurried toward her.
Yan Weichi pointed at the wound. "Wounds on a body are categorized as 'pre-mortem' and 'post-mortem.' A wound inflicted while alive will show skin retraction, dark purple blood clots around the edges, and hematomas. This is a vital reaction. But a post-mortem wound leaves the skin smooth, with no clotting or hematomas, just as we see here."
The Emperor and Pang Heyu leaned in to look; it was just as she had described.
Yan Weichi continued, "This is basic knowledge that any experienced coroner should have seen. Why did not a single person point it out?"
Pang Heyu stiffened and lowered his head, avoiding her gaze.
Yan Weichi sneered, ignoring him. "Your Majesty, since the wound was inflicted after death, her true cause of death was poisoning."
"Poisoning? Someone used poison in my harem?" The Emperor looked coldly at the Empress.
The Empress went rigid. "You... you must be clear! How could it be poison? The coroner checked her thoroughly with silver needles; there were no signs of poisoning!"
Yan Weichi picked up Beauty Xu’s arm and said calmly, "One man’s meat is another man’s poison."
She pushed up the sleeve to show the Emperor. "Your Majesty, look. Although the body is pale, one can clearly see dark red scars on the skin."
The others leaned in and indeed saw the uneven skin tone.
"Why is this?" the Emperor asked.
"An allergic reaction," Yan Weichi replied.
"An allergy?" The Emperor did not quite understand the term.
"It is a skin condition. Eating certain things can trigger a breakout," she explained.
The Emperor frowned in thought and then nodded. "I recall now. Beauty Xu could not touch peach blossoms; doing so would give her symptoms of a cold and red rashes. The Imperial Physician once called it a skin condition."
"That is exactly an allergy to peach blossoms," Yan Weichi said, letting go of the arm.
"But even an allergy wouldn't cause someone to die suddenly, would it?" Pang Heyu asked suspiciously.
"Allergies vary," Yan Weichi continued. "A mild one causes a runny nose, sneezing, or itching. But a severe one can cause respiratory failure, spasms of the trachea, fainting, and eventually death by suffocation."
The Emperor nodded slowly. "You mean someone used peach blossoms to kill Beauty Xu, and then framed Chujing, don't you?"
Yan Weichi could see the Emperor was eager to settle the case and clear Shangguan Xi’s name. She nodded. "Exactly."
"Impossible!" the Empress interrupted. "Your Majesty, do not forget that when Beauty Xu’s body was found, she was naked and bore signs of... relations. In the entire harem, aside from you, there are only eunuchs. Only this Crown Prince, who could move freely through the harem, could have done this!"
The Second Prince added, "Exactly. On the day of the Flower Festival, only my brother entered the harem. Everyone else was at the Hundred Flower Garden. Who else could it be?"
Yan Weichi scoffed. "Empress, don't be so anxious. Even if something was found inside Beauty Xu, it doesn't mean it came from the Crown Prince. It is not impossible that someone took the evidence from outside the palace, brought it into the harem, and placed it inside her body after she was already dead!"
...
"Pffft..." The man in pink hiding in the shadows couldn't help but let out a laugh. "Oh my, this little girl is truly unfiltered. Interesting, so interesting!"
The youth in gold frowned. "Though her words are wild, they are not without reason. Who on earth is she to know so much?"
The others present shared this doubt. Who was this disheveled, ragged girl who knew so much?
The Empress barked, "Nonsense! You are an unmarried girl, what do you know? Do not speculate without evidence!"
Yan Weichi pouted. "Make bold hypotheses and seek careful verification; isn't that the foundation of solving any case? Besides, you only found the evidence inside her—no one actually saw the Crown Prince put it there!"
At this, the men present felt awkward, and the women lowered their heads.