Time Travel: Pampered by the Aloof Prince
Chapter 314: Those Family Letters Were Forged

Chapter 314: Chapter 314: Those Family Letters Were Forged

Chen Shi had not expected he would be ambushed, and although he was shocked, he was even more astonished.

The Princess was skilled in medical arts, a fact not even the Empress knew.

Moreover, with just a single silver needle, she had weakened him to the point of kneeling helplessly on the ground, indicating that the Princess’s medical skills were definitely not merely "slight".

He coldly watched the young girl before him as she toyed with a silver needle, her expression lively and mischievous, making it hard for anyone to truly hate her.

After a moment of mutual gaze, Chen Shi was the first to be defeated, awkwardly averting his eyes as he said, "What exactly does the Princess intend to do?"

Qi Yu retracted the silver needle into her sleeve, reached out and grasped his chin, forcing him to look at her.

Her eyes sparkled with intensity, but her expression was exceptionally serious as she interrogated, "The Empress has killed so many people, do you still intend to fight on her behalf?"

Chen Shi’s pupils shook, and he stiffened his neck before replying, "This has nothing to do with the Princess."

"Nothing to do with me?" Qi Yu scoffed, loosening her grip as she coldly said, "The Empress has been plotting against me and the Prince for not just a day or two. After returning to the capital, she even intensified her efforts, employing various poisonous schemes. Were it not for the Princess’s fortunate fate, these filthy maneuvers would truly be unbearable!"

Chen Shi lowered his head, closing his eyes as if in doing so, he could shut out her words.

Seeing his self-deceptive demeanor, Qi Yu almost laughed in frustration.

She spoke deliberately and pointedly, "You said it yourself, as a doctor, curing and saving people is your duty. Now, Princess would like to ask, Chen Shi, where is your conscience?"

This statement struck him like thunder, exploding in Chen Shi’s mind.

His eyes suddenly opened, his breathing grew rapid, appearing even more human than his previously calm demeanor.

Qi Yu knew well the principle that psychological tactics were supreme. Intimidation and enticement were useless against a person like Chen Shi.

She needed to methodically dismantle what he held dear, crush his self-regard, before he would escape from his retracted shell.

Although Chen Shi appeared unworldly and did not engage with others, it was not because he was loftily self-contained but because he dared not.

Every move of his was under the Empress’s surveillance; he had to maintain his role without dare engaging in anything outlandish, nor did he wish to implicate others because of himself.

The reason she was so certain of the truth was straightforward—it was those few family letters.

"I don’t understand what the Princess means," Chen Shi said, his face pale and his tone slightly trembling, yet firm.

Qi Yu smiled slightly, her eyes intensely fixed on him, "Those few family letters are forged."

Chen Shi suddenly looked up, his expression filled with fright.

Qi Yu continued, "A few days ago, I had my master find an excuse to make you leave the room; the real intent was to draw out the tiger from the mountain. But unexpectedly, we stumbled upon something even more interesting."

She pulled out several crumpled papers from her bosom and unfolded them in front of him, speaking in an unhurried tone, "These are the cooling prescriptions you personally wrote that day. Imperial Physician Chen, how do you explain that the handwriting on these, and that of those family letters you wrote, are identical?"

The discovery was also by chance, Mo Qingshan, after Chen Shi had finished writing these prescriptions, wisely took a couple of sheets and handed them to Shi Zhou, asking her to take them back to Qi Yu.

The prescriptions themselves were unproblematic, but Shi Zhou stared at the handwriting on them for a long time before oddly remarking, "This handwriting looks somewhat like that on the family letters I saw in Chen Shi’s room."

Initially, Qi Yu didn’t catch on, thinking it was not unusual for the handwriting to be similar.

Considering Chen Shi’s impoverished background, he probably could not afford to send many family members to learn to read and write; perhaps his family learned by mimicking his handwriting.

But she suddenly realized, what family letters? They were actually written by Chen Shi himself.

Chen Shi remained silent for a moment before saying, "Princess, this reason might be a bit far-fetched. Although my family can only afford to educate me, it does not mean that I cannot teach them to read and write."

Qi Yu raised an eyebrow, "That could be possible, but Doctor Chen, where is your family? And how did they manage to send letters into the Imperial Palace?"

Chen Shi shuddered, lowered his head, and remained silent.

Qi Yu watched him, speaking slowly and with a heart-piercing tone, "If I remember correctly, you initially mentioned that you no longer had any family."

She had dug a hole early on and was waiting for him to fall into it step by step.

Chen Shi could no longer pretend, he laughed at himself somewhat derisively, his tone ironic as he addressed her, "What does it matter if they were forged? I no longer have a family, can’t I even write a few self-deceptive family letters?"

Qi Yu scoffed lightly, "Doctor Chen, until when do you plan to remain deluded?"

She threw the paper in her hand onto his face, sneering, "Did you really think I couldn’t decipher the secrets hidden in those family letters of yours?"

Chen Shi’s eyelids trembled, his expression was somewhat horrified, but in a moment, it was calm again, his tone neither sad nor happy, "Please elucidate, Princess."

Qi Yu closed her eyes, her tone somewhat heavy, "If I am not mistaken, the initial letter of each sentence in those family letters you personally wrote, when connected together, must reveal your intended message, right?"

Chen Shi’s complexion turned as pale as frost, he didn’t know whether to cry or laugh.

Qi Yu opened her eyes, her expression complex as she looked at him, her tone grave and emphatic, "The leading sentence is, ’In Qingzhou, plague prevails, officials do nothing, people do not live, heaven and earth obliterate.’ Correct?"

At the end, her voice also weakened.

Chen Shi laughed miserably a few times, "Princess, your words are exactly right."

Qi Yu was silent for a moment, then produced a silver needle, allowing him to stand up.

Chen Shi shakily stood up, bowed his hands, "Thank you, Princess."

Qi Yu no longer knew how to feel towards him; the truth of the matter was indeed simple, but also very heavy.

Chen Shi, however, showed no excess emotion. He began to speak and recounted everything that had happened during this period.

Two hours later, he carried his medicine chest and left the Zhaoyang Palace.

Qi Yu watched his clear, fading figure disappear into the distance, her eyes dimming.

Right now, the Empress’s sinister plots were no longer important.

The hundred thousands of common folk deeply mired in Qingzhou - as well as the surrounding counties, including Tulan just across from Qingzhou, were in a dire state.

She stood silently for a moment, said goodbye to the Virtuous Princess, and returned to the Prince Residence.

As soon as she got off the carriage, she asked Li Bo, "Has the Prince returned?"

Li Bo shook his head, "Not yet."

Qi Yu gestured weakly with her hand and walked heavily toward the back courtyard.

She had an antidote in her bosom, which Chen Shi had just handed her.

At that moment, Chen Shi had given her the antidote, his tone neutral yet somewhat reluctant, "With things as they are, there’s no turning back, Princess, you might as well act as though you never heard any of this."

Qi Yu clasped the antidote in her hand, her eyes dim yet resolute as she responded to him, "No, man shall conquer nature."