Chapter 46

A dagger plunged straight into her heart. Consort Zhen staggered and collapsed to the ground, her throat rolling and twitching involuntarily. The compassionate mask on her face was utterly shattered, replaced by lingering resentment, bitter grievance, and deep-seated regret—all the dark emotions buried at the bottom of her heart frozen onto her features.

Her unfocused eyes widened, and the cinnabar mole at the corner of her eye was as red as blood. Though her limbs were still trembling, her consciousness had already dissipated.

Consort Zhen was dead, leaving no last words.

The entire process of her death was extremely swift—so swift that while Xue Jin'an merely rolled twice on the ground to dodge the pouncing imperial guards, executing a smooth backward flip to spring back to his feet, he already heard the fourth prince's wailing cries.

The fourth prince scrambled over, falling prostrate beside her, but the imperial physicians shook their heads one after another the moment they laid eyes on Consort Zhen's dilated pupils, signaling that nothing more could be done.

"You haven't even tried, how do you know she can't be saved? My mother's chest is still rising and falling, she can still be saved, hurry up and save her!" Refusing to accept this outcome, the fourth prince, driven by some unknown surge of strength, grabbed an imperial physician by the collar and dragged the man over his mother's body with eyes red with fury.

Terrified, the physician attempted to scramble up instantly, but the sudden, chilling proximity of a blade to his throat caused his entire body to stiffen.

The fourth prince had drawn a dagger from his sleeve and pressed it against the physician's neck. Lacking proper control, the blade accidentally sliced open a thin line of blood.

The origin of this dagger was utterly ironic given the present circumstances. Prior to Xue Jin'an entering the Yihe Palace and beating him to a pulp, he had asked for the kitchen knife that had nearly carved out his heart. The next day, having a favor to ask of Xue Jin'an, the fourth prince had foolishly thought of that kitchen knife, hoping to use it to curry favor. Convinced he had already been thoroughly "disciplined," he figured Xue Jin'an wouldn't possibly stab him a second time.

However, having already thrown the kitchen knife to the imperial guards—where it had been officially classified as an assassin's weapon—the fourth prince knew without thinking that asking for it back was impossible and would only arouse the guards' suspicion. Instead, he had instructed someone to procure a dagger to carry with him, operating on the notion that one does not strike a smiling face. Armed with a gift, he assumed that even if Xue Jin'an disliked him, he would at least grant him an audience.

Yet plans could never keep up with changes. Halfway there, he had run into the fifth prince—whom he mutually despised—and was subsequently scooped up like a helpless chick by the third prince.

Yet now, at the very moment Xue Jin'an had killed his mother, this dagger, originally intended as a peace offering for Xue Jin'an, had instead become his final straw. If Xue Jin'an knew the truth, he would undoubtedly laugh himself to death.

The fourth prince found it bitterly ironic too. But driven to a dead end with no other choice, he could no longer afford any pride when his mother's life hung in the balance. With a grim and ferocious tone, his face distorted in desperation, he threatened, "If you cannot save my mother, this prince will have you die with her!"

In truth, the moment the dagger appeared, Xue Jin'an had already deduced its origin based on the fourth prince's character logic. Yet rather than laughing at the weapon, he actually felt a measure of approval for the fourth prince's actions. After all, standing at the precipice of life and death with no alternative, fighting desperately to the bitter end was a remarkably effective strategy.

Though he couldn't quite fathom why the fourth prince was attempting to save a corpse.

Beyond that, he glanced sideways, slightly amused by the fourth prince's dialogue—simply because it sounded intimately familiar.

In every ancient-setting novel featuring a medical rescue scene, which physician had ever escaped the standard warning of being buried along with the patient?

Xue Jin'an cast a brief, subconscious glance in that direction before his line of sight was promptly blocked.

The imperial guards had been given orders merely to restrain the seventh prince, not to kill him. Now that the seventh prince was unarmed and showed no further intention of violence, they tacitly formed a human wall around him, holding their blades ready while isolating this god of slaughter from everyone else.

Xue Jin'an felt not the slightest bit of panic at having his view of the fourth prince obstructed. Stuffing his hands into his sleeves, he quietly peered through the gaps in the human wall, taking in everyone's expressions while rapidly and silently calculating the feasibility of hacking down every single person here with his current strength.

As for why he would consider such a thing, the answer was simple: these two culprits were merely the masterminds behind Consort Zhen's death, but they were not the ones who had killed the original owner—or at least, not entirely.

According to the original text, the original owner's death was characterized by: all four limbs shattered, both wrists crippled, and bleeding from all seven facial orifices.

Bleeding from the seven orifices indicated poisoning by gu worms. There was an 85% probability this was caused by Consort Zhen, a 14% probability by Noble Consort Rong, and a 1% chance due to sheer force majeure.

Once poisoned by the gu worms, the original owner's death was already certain. Thus, the shattering of his limbs and crippling of his wrists resembled torture far more than mere execution. Either the original owner had been subjected to interrogation before death, or his assailant harbored a deep, consuming hatred for him.

Xue Jin'an favored the latter hypothesis, which also aligned with the countless old scars coating the original owner's body. Initially, Xue Jin'an had assumed these were the result of the fourth prince's long-term bullying, but as days passed, the fourth prince's utterly abysmal combat capabilities steadily diminished that suspicion.

Of course, while those bone-deep scars might not have been inflicted by the fourth prince, his torment of the original owner in the original text was genuine. Adhering to the principle of equivalent exchange, Xue Jin'an intended to return every bit of it.

To summarize, there was still another culprit residing deep within the palace who harbored an intense hatred for the original owner—someone who had colluded with court factions to form the core of that massive interest group.

Xue Jin'an cared little for the consequences of that person's death. His logic was straightforward: human beings were adept liars, and distinguishing truth from falsehood required vast amounts of data to compute accurate conclusions. Gathering that data took time; the moment he struck, he had to eliminate all threats at once, lest a single survivor retreat into hiding.

Xue Jin'an chose the shortcut. After all, karma did not rely on evidence—it relied on intuition. If he hacked his way through everyone until he found the one whose elimination brought him peace of mind, that person was undoubtedly the killer.

Consequently, his cyborg brain and human brain went to work simultaneously: the former calculated movement vectors and success rates, while the latter monitored human expressions for subtle anomalies.

First was the Empress Dowager, who held the lowest suspicion rating. Firmly guarded behind Lu Bingzhu and Nanny Su, her expression was completely invisible. Lu Bingzhu's martial arts skills were formidable, and he excelled at hidden weapons; without a weapon of his own, Xue Jin'an's win rate against him was zero.

Xue Jin'an severed that line of inquiry and shifted his gaze to the imperial concubines.

Cyborg brain: Imperial guards present, though limited in number; ambush routes available, but success rate moderate... combat plan temporarily shelved.

Meanwhile, the imperial physician, held at knife-point and forced to comply, reached out to check Consort Zhen's pulse. The verdict, however, was painfully obvious.

Trembling so violently that he dared not even lift his head, the physician spoke with a voice on the verge of tears, "This... this... Her Ladyship has already passed on, this humble subject is truly—"

"Impossible!" Abandoning the dagger instantly, the fourth prince lunged forward to inspect her himself.

Head Physician Hu reacted with lightning speed, kicking the dagger away, hauling his unfortunate colleague to his feet, and pushing him behind him as he stepped directly in front of the fourth prince.

The fourth prince had no time for their petty maneuvers. Pressing his hands against Consort Zhen's skin as if seizing a lifeline, he grasped her desperately, crying out in a frenzy, "A dead person's hands are cold, but Mother's hands are still warm! She's still alive! Use whatever ultimate medical techniques you have, hurry!"

Head Physician Hu sighed heavily. "Consort Zhen has already departed. Even if the entire Imperial Medical Academy were to forfeit its lives, she cannot be saved. If Her Ladyship were to see you in this state, her spirit would know no peace... Fourth Highness, let Her Ladyship rest in peace."

"I won't let her rest! I want my mother! Mother, don't leave me! Xuan'er begs you, don't leave! Xuan'er will be good, I'll study hard, I'll never, never be lazy again! Don't leave me alone, I'm scared, I'm so scared, Mother—" Collapsing over Consort Zhen's corpse, the fourth prince broke down into agonizing, wailing cries.

His heartbreaking cries echoed through the silent grand hall. The concubines wore mixed expressions, their eyes harboring lingering shock.

They were shocked by Xue Jin'an's sheer audacity, and equally shocked that Consort Zhen had died so easily. Beneath their shock, a myriad of complex emotions surfaced on their faces—expressions too intricate for Xue Jin'an's inexperienced human brain to parse, prompting him to simply feed the data into his cyborg brain and abandon further analysis.

Among the concubines, only Noble Consort Rong, following her initial shock, pointed at Consort Zhen's corpse and burst into a wild, triumphant laugh. "Hahaha, Chu Wenwan, Chu Wenwan! For all your scheming, didn't you still die before this consort? This is your fate! Hahahaha—"

Her manic laughter cut off abruptly as Li Chunhe, having slipped behind her at some unknown moment, clamped a hand firmly over her mouth, muffling her sounds back down her throat. The Emperor's icy gaze swept across the scene before instantly shifting away.

It was no wonder that among so many eunuchs, an old fox like Li Chunhe had risen to become the Head Eunuch. He owed his position precisely to this sharp intuition and daring grit, capable of preempting the Emperor's thoughts and executing decisive action.

Standing tall upon the jade steps, the Emperor gazed remotely at the spot where Consort Zhen had fallen, frowning slightly before smoothing his expression.

Originally, he had only intended to let one of the two—Consort Zhen or Noble Consort Rong—survive. In terms of temperament, Consort Zhen was aloof and exceptionally difficult to sway, whereas Noble Consort Rong, accustomed to fawning and clinging to power, was relatively pragmatic and easier to control.

Yet Noble Consort Rong's breeding of gu worms had touched the Empress Dowager's ultimate taboo. Chronologically speaking, while Zhang'er's death was unrelated to her, the sudden and tragic demise of the tenth prince was undeniably tied to her. What ultimately tilted the Emperor's favor toward sparing Consort Zhen was the discovery that Xiao Shu had even targeted little Wu!

The cruelty of those gu worms was enough to chill anyone's heart, yet Xiao Shu had used them on little Wu for years without a shred of maternal pity—her methods were far too vicious. On the other hand, although Consort Zhen's words had contained omissions and falsehoods, the fact that the tenth prince had died by gu worms was indisputable, and her vengeance for her son was genuine. Her various statements established her victim status firmly enough that keeping her alive would not provoke widespread alarm. Furthermore, with little Si in the picture, Consort Zhen would likely be more willing to spit out the truth and confess the web of interests behind her.

He simply hadn't expected Baoning to be so impatient, and possess the genuine capability, to strike down Consort Zhen right past the layer upon layer of imperial guards, forcing him to alter his choices.

Xiao Shu herself was not necessarily a poor choice. On the contrary, someone as utterly selfish as her, when faced with the crisis of death, would surely confess far more.

However, the Empress Dowager already despised Noble Consort Rong. Now that the calamity of the gu worms had implicated three princes, sparing her life was utterly out of the question. The Emperor had already promised the Empress Dowager he would deal with the culprit, meaning he could grant Xiao Shu at most another day or two of life.

Had Xue Jin'an disrupted the Emperor's plans by killing Consort Zhen right before his eyes? Was the Emperor angry? Indeed he was, but he was a man who weighed gains and losses far more than mere emotions. Compared to the deceased Consort Zhen, his focus shifted primarily onto Xue Jin'an.

Li Chunhe had previously reported that Lu Bingzhu considered Baoning to possess supreme physical aptitude—an ideal seed for martial arts. If he began cultivating inner energy and tempering his physique now, within five years he could cross the threshold of a top-tier master, and dominating the martial world within a decade was not entirely out of the question.

At the time, the Emperor hadn't paid it much mind; after all, no matter how formidable a martial artist might be, mortal flesh could hardly withstand overwhelming numbers, let alone blades, swords, and massive armies. Yet seeing it now, Xue Jin'an—devoid of even inner energy—had managed to take Consort Zhen's life amidst a ring of armed guards. If he were to truly master martial arts in the future, wouldn't he be capable of taking the head of an opposing general amidst a million-strong army!