Han Chan was temporarily settled in the side hall of Zhaochun Palace.
He had developed a fever. His face was flushed from the heat, yet his lips were pale and dry. His black hair, which was always meticulously arranged, had fallen loose around his face. There was also noticeably more silver at his temples than before.
Li Zong did not enter; he stood outside in the courtyard, looking from a distance at the figure lying inside through the open palace doors. Beside him, Cui Xin held an umbrella, whispering, "The wind is strong out here. Shouldn't Your Majesty go inside to check on him?"
“……” Li Zong did not answer, simply standing motionless where he was.
After a long while, the imperial physician finally finished his procedures and, after administering another bowl of medicine, ordered the attendants to keep watch. Only then did he close the doors and come out.
As soon as he stepped outside, he encountered the gathering of people in the courtyard. The imperial physician was startled, hurried forward to pay his respects, then promptly reported on Han Chan’s condition.
“Imperial Tutor Han’s illness was caused by a chill entering his body, which led to a high fever. Fortunately, he was in relatively good health beforehand, and his constitution is strong. This humble servant administered timely acupuncture treatment. As long as he gets through tonight, there should be no major danger.”
Li Zong gave no response. He merely waved his hand.
The imperial physician hurried away, and Zhaochun Palace became quiet once more.
Originally, this had been an extremely remote and abandoned palace. Because the imperial harem was empty, no one had lived here for a long time. Only occasionally were there calls of several birds perched in the withered trees outside, which made the silence seem even more desolate.
After standing exposed to the bitter cold for a long time, Li Zong finally entered the hall.
Four warming stoves placed at each corner ensured the interior wasn't chilly. However, an unmistakable scent of decay hung heavy in the air
When Li Zong reached the inner room, he raised his hand and gestured. Cui Xin immediately understood and stopped outside the door.
Li Zong entered the inner chamber alone. Han Chan lay on the bed, while the palace attendants withdrew with knowing discretion. Li Zong walked to the bedside and looked down at the unconscious man.
The person who had been sick had lost a great deal of weight. For all these years, Han Chan had always been cold and distant, impossible to approach, and proud to the point of seeming untouchable. Li Zong had never seen him display such a fragile appearance before. Li Zong's gaze slowly moved from his silver-streaked temples to the fine lines at the corners of his eyes. That face was still as cold and beautiful as ever, but the corners of his eyes already carried the traces of age.
Li Zong's hand trembled involuntarily. He couldn’t help but reach out. But just as his hand was about to touch him, he suddenly stopped and withdrew it.
The person lying unconscious seemed to sense something. His eyelids moved beneath their thin skin, and his cracked lips parted slightly, producing a murmur like the whimper of a young animal.
Li Zong leaned closer. Only then did he hear clearly that he was calling: “Zong'er…”
Li Zong's eyes flickered. He turned away awkwardly. His hands clenched into tight fists at his sides, betraying his emotions.
Only when he was young had Han Chan called him that. His voice then had been clear and light, mirroring the icy chill of his face. But each time he called him “Zong’er”, it felt like frost melting into water, carrying with it a warmth suffused with tender affection.
Later, after he had grown up, Han Chan had never called him by that name again. He had only called him “Crown Prince” or “Your Majesty,” forms of address that were cold and distant, devoid of the slightest warmth.
Li Zong closed his eyes. It took all his strength to suppress the emotions rising inside him.
When he looked again, Han Chan seemed to have fallen back into unconsciousness, as though that faint murmur had merely been an illusion.
Li Zong stared silently at him for a long time before finally turning around and leaving.
As soon as he stepped outside the inner chamber, Cui Xin approached and bowed.
“Your Majesty, Minister Ye requests an audience. He has already been waiting in Taiqian Palace for some time.”
“Prepare the carriage for Taiqian Palace,” Li Zong said and walked away.
Cui Xin fell one step behind him, looking back at the tightly closed doors before following.
---
At Taiqian Palace, Ye Boru had already been waiting for some time. He'd crafted his excuses well on the way here.
And so, when met with the emperor, he confidently reported everything that had happened in the secret chamber.
By exposing the secret chamber, he achieved two goals: first, even if Han Chan regained favor, he couldn't investigate the theft of the antidote from the chamber; second, if those memorial tablets truly involved the Zhao family, it would give the emperor another lever against Han Chan, further deepening his trust in Ye Boru.
"Zhao Mingquan, Zhao Mingxi..."
After listening, a thoughtful expression crossed Li Zong's face. "When my imperial grandfather was still alive, there seemed to be a Zhao family."
Li Zong wasn't born yet back then, so he'd learned about many events later from his father and old ministers. Zhao Mingquan once held the position of Minister of Works and enjoyed great trust from his imperial grandfather, the Emperor Chengzong, allowing the Zhao family to rise rapidly. Later, Zhao Mingquan became Grand Preceptor to Crown Prince Li Xun, making him quite powerful.
However, while Crown Prince Li Xun was managing flood damage in the southern regions, he tragically contracted an epidemic and died. Emperor Chengzong then named Li Zong's father as the new crown prince.
Zhao Mingquan had disagreed with his father on politics. He even openly opposed his father being named crown prince during court sessions. After heated arguments, he angrily resigned from his post in disgust. Years later, for inexplicable reasons, the Zhao family became involved in a treason case and was sentenced to execution, wiping out the entire clan.
"Cui Xi," Li Zong said, "bring me the Zhao family files. I want to know if any men survived that day."
Cui Xi left the palace to find the records. After about half an hour, he returned with two scrolls.
Li Zong took them, reading carefully. His eyes stopped at one point, his expression changing as if in realization. "So there was someone..."
The files stated that after the Zhao family's involvement in the treason case, they were all sentenced to death. However, Zhao Mingquan's younger brother Zhao Mingxi's second son had been away, receiving treatment for poor health in Qianzhong. This son had coincidentally escaped the massacre. The government had issued arrest warrants and searched for months but found nothing.
Counting the years since the Zhao incident, this second son would have been around Han Chan's age now.
"So he really is a survivor of the Zhao family..." Li Zong murmured, holding the scroll tightly. A faint light seemed to flash in his downcast eyes. "No wonder... No wonder."
He suddenly recalled something Han Chan had once told him.
Han Chan had said that his father's rise to power was tainted, and that the reason his eldest brother was named crown prince so early and worked hard to suppress all his other children was due to a fear of history repeating itself. Han Chan had also told him that when the Crown Prince died while serving in the south, the Crown Princess had been pregnant.
After hearing the news of the Crown Prince's death, she had been so shocked that she had gone into premature labor. But during labor, a fire broke out in the Eastern Palace, killing everyone in the delivery room.
In reality, no one knew what really happened during that fire. The crown princess must have sensed danger coming and done everything she could to deliver the baby before escaping with it...
Li Zong's eyes darkened as he remembered this point. At the time, he’d questioned how Han Chan knew these old secrets. Han Chan had only said that it was because of something his father told him on his deathbed: that if anything ever happened to him, he needed to cut off all threats at the root.
But looking at all the evidence before him now, Li Zong suddenly doubted that explanation.
Perhaps Han Chan knew about these events not because of some dying wish from his father but because he was actually an orphan of the Zhao family.
No one knew what the second son of Zhao Mingxi looked like, since he’d lived far away in Qianzhong for years. It wouldn’t be impossible for him to change his appearance after the Zhao family met disaster. And if he truly was a lost member of the Zhao family, then all his actions made sense.
Zhao Mingquan had once been the Crown Prince's tutor, and the Zhao family were key supporters of his faction. The treason case they'd been involved in was full of holes from the start. What's more, the main judge was none other than Li Zong's father, the current emperor who had already been named Crown Prince at the time. Putting all this together, it seemed far more likely that the emperor had used this treason case as a way to silence those who might expose him.
If Han Chan had narrowly escaped that catastrophe and later changed his identity to enter the palace, then everything fit.
He was doing it for revenge.
But Li Zong’s father had died many years ago. So why was Han Chan still not stopping? Was he trying to settle the old score with him, or perhaps even with the entire Beizhao imperial family?
If that was really the case… Li Zong subconsciously ran his fingers over the scroll in his hands.
He felt a strange sense of relief.
At the very least, Han Chan did not seem to hate him enough to want him dead. He had merely been implicated due to the reckless actions of his father.
"You may all withdraw," Li Zong said, putting away the scrolls. His intense gaze swept over everyone present. "I do not wish for anyone else to know of this matter."
Ye Boru and Cui Xi bowed together. "This subject will obey His Majesty's command."
Only then did Li Zong sweep back his sleeves, taking the two scrolls with him as he headed towards Zhaochun Palace.
Once everyone had left, Ye Boru finally straightened up slowly. He felt the coolness of the small white jade bottle in his sleeve, and the corners of his mouth unconsciously curved into a slight smile.
Cui Xi glanced at him and suddenly asked, "Vice Minister Ye, have you heard of the Imperial Tutor's deeds?"
“?” Ye Boru composed himself, feigning ignorance. "Of course I've heard of them. The Imperial Tutor is incredibly talented and admirable." He put on a show of sighing. "To think he's ended up in this state... it’s really..."
Cui Xi watched him with a half-smile, hands clasped before him as he spoke deliberately. "Imperial Tutor Han Chan is so cunning it borders on sorcery. As devious as any fox."
Even more confused, Ye Boru wondered why Cui Xi would bring up Han Chan now. But Cui Xi was one of the emperor's trusted confidants, so he didn't dare show impatience. With a perfunctory smile, he said, "As the Emperor's teacher, the Imperial Tutor naturally stands above ordinary people like us."
Seeing that Ye Boru still couldn't grasp his meaning, Cui Xi shook his head with a smile. As they passed each other, he chuckled softly. "Your last remark, Assistant Minister Ye, was indeed spot-on."
With that, he strode out of the hall, leaving behind only a hazy silhouette against the snow.
Ye Boru watched him go, then once again touched the jade bottle in his sleeve before hurrying out of the palace.
---
Meanwhile, Li Fengqi had received a letter from Ye Boru. The letter invited him to meet at Chuyun Temple the following day. The letter also deliberately mentioned that Ye Yunting must come, and that clues concerning the antidote had been found, to ensure that Li Fengqi would show up.
"Tsk," Li Fengqi flicked the message with his finger. "With that sly old fox Han Chan around, could he really find an antidote so easily? I don't believe it."
Ye Yunting's eyes fell on his name in the invitation. He picked up his teacup, took a sip, and smiled. "Why not go take a look tomorrow? If it's fake, we won't be out anything except for a wasted trip. If it's real... well, that would be even better."
Li Fengqi thought about it and decided it made sense; he wanted to see what other tricks Ye Boru might have up his sleeve.
=== Author's Notes ===
77: The melon seeds are ready. Please begin your performance.
Ye Boru: “???”
=== Translator’s Notes ===
I truly appreciate how Li Zong is written as a villain.
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