Demoness, where are you Fleeing to?
Chapter 498 - 397: Shuying Says Goodbye (Seeking Monthly Tickets)_1

Chapter 498: Chapter 397: Shuying Says Goodbye (Seeking Monthly Tickets)_1

Li Xuan stayed in the East Palace until dusk before finally emerging.

He had searched the East Palace thoroughly but had found no clues. He had also questioned those present but to no avail, and the whole process had taken up until dusk.

"Please assign a group of reliable elites to preserve all items in the East Palace, including furniture, bedding, food, tableware, plants, etc. Do not allow anyone to touch them. And those people..."

As Li Xuan was talking to Zuo Daoxing, he glanced at the imperial physicians, eunuchs, and palace maids outside the gate of the East Palace: "You may use methods of coercion, but until the truth of this case is revealed, there should be no deaths or injuries among these people here."

He knew that after such a great event in the East Palace, these people were mostly to be implicated and imprisoned, and even their lives might be in danger, yet the vast majority of them were innocent.

"Yes!" Zuo Daoxing didn’t hesitate at all and promptly nodded: "I promise no one will die."

As for this case, if it were in his hands, he surely would employ brutal tortures, not caring about how many would die in the process.

But now that the Emperor had commanded that Li Xuan be put in charge of this case, he would undoubtedly not contradict the Emperor’s will.

"The residence of Prince Cheng, where the Crown Prince used to live, must also be completely sealed off, and all personnel must be guarded. I will go there later to take a look.

Moreover, the people who accompanied the Crown Prince on his return journey from Fengyang and the inns where they stayed must also be investigated. Any suspicious incidents during this period must be reported."

Li Xuan pondered about it and couldn’t help but furrow his brows. If Yu Jianji was indeed murdered, there would be too many suspicious places.

From Nanjing Jinling to the central capital Fengyang to Beijing, Yu Jianji had come into contact with countless people and things on this journey, all of which had to be investigated. This was not something that could be resolved in a short time, nor was it something he could do alone.

Right as Li Xuan was walking out of the palace gate, he saw a group of ministers also making their way out in the distance.

They were the ministers who had just had an audience with the Jingtai Emperor, including Grand Secretary Chen Xun, Cifu Gao Gu, Minister of Personnel Wang Wen, and Shaobao Yu Jie.

These individuals walked out of the palace gate while engaged in extensive discussions. Their expressions varied - some were anxious, some were sorrowful, some were perplexed, and some, despite appearing like they had just lost a loved one, were secretly excited.

"What’s going on exactly? How did he suddenly develop brain tumors? What are those in the Imperial Physician’s institution there for?"

"The Imperial Physician’s institution is naturally to blame, but the Emperor said the Crown Prince is actually still alive, yet he doesn’t allow us to visit him. What’s the meaning of this?"

"They were ringing the bell just before, and the news from inside the palace was that he had already passed away. How could he suddenly be revived?"

"What’s with that response? The Emperor said that Divine Doctor Jiang Yunqi has made a miraculous recovery, could it be false?"

"Ha! This is interesting, how can a person who has been dead for half an hour suddenly be brought back to life? There were so many people who saw the Crown Prince’s corpse with their own eyes, but now they say he’s still alive."

"Enough! Presumably, the Crown Prince just has a weak constitution and is unfit to meet people. But in this state, how can he inherit the monarchy of the Jin Dynasty?"

"Isn’t it too early to say that? The Emperor is currently in his prime, and now that the Crown Prince is alive again, he will eventually recover."

"What if he can’t recover? If anything happened to the Crown Prince, who would be the heir? The Emperor has already established a heavenly level, and it’s certain that there will be difficulties with his offspring in the future—"

Li Xuan didn’t listen to their discussions. Instead, he hurriedly walked out of the palace gate, for he still needed to go to Prince Cheng’s mansion to investigate the situation.

However, just as he was walking out of the Taihe Gate, Li Xuan heard a loud voice from behind him: "Earl Jingan, please halt! I have something to ask you."

Li Xuan looked back and discovered that the person calling out to him was Minister of War, Shaobao Yu Jie. Behind him, a crowd of cabinet ministers also stopped to look over.

Li Xuan figured out what he wanted to ask, but he still stopped and turned back: "May I ask what Shaobao wants to inquire about?"

"Earl Jingan, the Emperor said the Crown Prince had been brought back to life. Is this true?" As he asked, Yu Shao Bao walked over, looking at Li Xuan with burning eyes.

Not only him, all the ministers here were also staring at Li Xuan. Although the Emperor was unlikely to deceive them on such matters, the words of Li Xuan, the protector of Neo-Confucianism, were also very influential.

However, Li Xuan simply saluted lightly: "With Dr. Jiang’s miraculous hand, the Crown Prince is now safe, but due to excessive loss of Yuan Qi, he needs to rest quietly for a while."

The various reactions from the ministers upon hearing his words were different. Most of them were slightly relieved, yet some still remained suspicious.

Deputy Gao Gu immediately asked: "Earl Jingan, what is the Crown Prince’s condition? When will he recover? And when will he be able to meet people?"

Li Xuan looked at him steadily, then shook his head: "I am not an Imperial Physician, this matter is not something I can speak of. If any of you have doubts, you can ask the Emperor and the Imperial Physician’s institution."

Meaning, they must wait for the official news.

After hearing this, Deputy Gao Jie nodded slightly, then asked again: "I just heard the Emperor say that he has appointed Earl Jingan to investigate why the Crown Prince fainted and almost died. But I heard that the reason for the Crown Prince’s vomiting of blood and fainting was due to a brain tumor?"

Li Xuan’s eyes narrowed slightly: "I don’t know who told Deputy Gao this, but all I can say is that it’s too early to say anything about this matter."

The man standing behind Gao Gu, the Vice Assistant Minister, immediately frowned: "With the numerous Imperial Physicians of the Imperial Hospital, all have diagnosed it as a brain tumour. The setup was left behind by the rebel monk Zhenru in the past, and it was not caused by any external forces. What more is there to investigate?"

The Emperor let his emotions take over because of the Crown Prince’s serious illness. As Protector of Neo-Confucianism, don’t you know how to advise?"

Li Xuan recognized this person, who was Xiao Ci, the Shangshu of the Ministry of Revenue and a member of the cabinet. He responded calmly: "Everything is still early, Shangshu Xiao. Are the words of those imperial physicians sacrosanct? We can only make a judgment after the investigation."

Having said that, Li Xuan stood with his hands behind his back, staring meaningfully at the people and officials present: "I can probably guess what you all are worried about. But how can we dispel the doubts of the courtiers and His Majesty if we don’t investigate till everything is clear?"

After hearing this, Xiao Ci frowned and didn’t say anything more.

"The matter should be investigated to the end. The Crown Prince took the throne and nearly died after just seven days. This can’t be explained simply by a ’brain tumor’. If it can’t be clearly investigated, even I will not give up on the matter,"

At this time, Shaobao Yu walked over and grabbed Li Xuan’s arm tightly: "I have a favor to ask the Earl Jingan."

His hand was extremely strong, and his voice was grave: "There’s a formidable enemy in the north, don’t stir up major chaos!"

Li Xuan’s expression tightened, and then he respectfully saluted: "I understand!"

Of course, he wouldn’t wrong anyone, but if the Crown Prince’s near-death episode was indeed man-made, he wouldn’t consider anything else.

※※ ※※

After leaving the palace, Li Xuan spent an entire night investigating at Prince Cheng’s Mansion. It was not until the Hour of Zi that Li Xuan returned to Earl Jingan’s mansion, his body exhausted.

After all, compared to the East Palace, Prince Cheng’s Mansion was more suspicious.

According to Yu Hongchang, the Crown Prince began to have incessant nosebleeds after receiving the imperial decree to ascend the throne at Prince Cheng’s Mansion. At that time, there were signs of a brain tumor. Therefore, the cause of the Crown Prince’s death is more likely to be at Prince Cheng’s Mansion,

Unfortunately, despite checking all the people and things the Crown Prince came into contact with after returning to the capital, Li Xuan still didn’t find anything suspicious.

At this point, even Li Xuan got the feeling that the Crown Prince’s brain tumor attack, seven days after taking the throne, might just be a coincidence.

The reason he’s still carefully checking is out of his own doubts and sense of responsibility.

And after returning to the mansion of Earl Jingan, although he was exhausted, Li Xuan did not rest, but began to practice "Tiebushan" boxing in the courtyard,

The Tiebushan and Gold Bell Cover, two techniques to increase physical endurance, couldn’t be practiced by sitting quietly. They must be cultivated with boxing, oiling, medicinal baths, etc.

After obtaining the ’Shenyuan Stone’, Li Xuan’s training has been advancing rapidly these days.

Originally, he had just entered the fifth house level, and it would be difficult to improve in a short period of time. Even with a large number of Spirit Pills, it would take five to six months to move into the sixth house level.

But with the help of the ’Shenyuan Stone’, whether he was training his physical body or cultivating his internal energy, everything was advancing at an astonishing rate.

At this point, he’s already anchored his Wuyi of ice, thunder, fire, and sun within his own consciousness and flesh. If he wanted to, he could now cultivate a powerful Golden Body and step into the seventh house level.

However, there is currently two areas of imperfection: one is the ’Nuclear Fusion’ visualization, which has not yet been transformed into the instinct of his flesh and consciousness, the so-called Golden Body is simply to incorporate Wuyi into oneself as an instinct, forming muscle memory.

The other imperfection is in the Tiebushan and Gold Bell Cover Techniques, which still have a significant gap between them and the next level: the third level ’Iron Skin Steel Bones’.

Li Xuan had a premonition that if he could achieve these two points, his Martial Law Golden Body would be unmatched in strength, and could benefit greatly from the world around him.

The time is also almost at hand, Li Xuan estimates it will come in two days.

The regrettable thing is that the Shenyuan Stone in his hand has been depleted to the size of a little finger.

It was Li Xuan’s prediction that this object could only last him until the time he enters the seventh house level.

For this reason, when in the palace today, Li Xuan was never considering using the stone to save Yu Jianji’s life. Mainly because he knew that such a small Shenyuan Stone couldn’t have any effect on Yu Jianji’s survival.

Just as Li Xuan finished practicing the Gold Bell Cover, he suddenly looked towards the outside of Earl Jingan’s mansion. At this time, an unexpected figure came to the door of Earl Jingan’s mansion, hesitating there.

"Lord?"

Li Xuan looked astonished, then quickly put on his clothes and went outside.

"I don’t know what brings the lord here?"

Especially at this time of the night, not far from the Hour of Zi.

"Li Xuan, you’re here?" Ao Shuying saw Li Xuan then and her face lit up, then she became serious again: "I came to say goodbye to you."