Chapter Thirty-Four: Investigation

“This king is confined within the palace, surrounded by countless watchful eyes and ears, making it impossible to investigate in person. Within these palace walls, though I stand above all under heaven, there are but few I can truly trust. Other than you, I have no other choice.”

Upon hearing Feng Yewu's words, Lu Jue felt a warmth blossom in his heart. His feelings for Feng Yewu had always been deeply buried, well aware that the gulf between their stations was an unchangeable fact. Now that Feng Yewu was making a personal request of him, not just to investigate a death but even if it meant braving a mountain of blades or a sea of flames, he would not hesitate to give his life.

“Your Majesty, rest assured. I will devote myself entirely to this task.”

Lu Jue immediately knelt and promised his obedience. He and Feng Yewu then conferred deep into the night.

Beyond the palace walls, the bright moon hung high. During the hours of curfew, every door on the streets was tightly shut. Only the night watchman wandered, calling out the hours in a long, languid drawl.

A shadow slipped swiftly between the buildings of the capital. Beneath the cloak of darkness, it was none other than Lu Jue. After receiving Feng Yewu's instructions, he donned his night attire and hurried out of the palace. His first destination, naturally, was the Prince Regent’s residence.

Feng Yewu had repeatedly impressed upon him the utmost importance of this matter. Should Lu Jue fail, Feng Yewu could in no way intervene to save him, lest he become the subject of courtly gossip. And if the true culprit was indeed the King of Pingyi, that adversary would certainly cling to the end. Lu Jue's infiltration of the Prince Regent’s residence, if discovered, would have him branded an assassin, and the death of the Prime Minister’s daughter could easily be pinned on him.

Swift and light-footed, Lu Jue vaulted over high walls and landed within the Prince Regent’s estate. According to Feng Yewu’s analysis, the Prime Minister’s daughter had died only that very night. Her body was still being kept in the mansion, as custom dictated that the coffin remain for three days when the elder survived the younger. However, as her elders were still alive, she could not be laid out in the main hall, so was placed instead in a side courtyard.

This was where Lu Jue now found himself, in the very courtyard where the Prime Minister’s daughter had lived. With a quick survey, he spotted the coffin. After careful observation, he noted there were no guards nearby. After all, who would trouble themselves over a corpse?

At the door to her former chambers, Lu Jue found two drowsy maids. Sidestepping them with ease, he slipped in through a window.

Inside the chamber, the Prime Minister’s daughter lay quietly in her coffin. As the day of the funeral had not yet arrived, the lid was not sealed, making it easy for Lu Jue to examine her.

He gazed at the still form, as if she were merely asleep, and bowed several times in respect. Speaking softly that he meant no offense, he then hurried to begin his inspection.

“Agonizing pain in the chest?” Lu Jue was transfixed by her expression: brows tightly furrowed, a trace of suffering etched upon her face, yet her lips were purplish and her gums a dark red—signs no ordinary illness could produce.

It was clear she had been poisoned.

His gaze shifted to her hands, which were clasped tightly over her chest. At first glance, one might assume this gesture was simply from pain. But when Lu Jue tried to move her arms, he found them stiff and rigid.

Such rigidity indicated she had died with every muscle tensed. If her death had been caused by illness, one would expect some release after the pain passed, the body relaxing in death. But this woman had died still clutching her chest.

Evidently, it was poison that caused the chest pain, the agony so intense that even as she died, she clenched her jaw—hence the dark gums—while the toxin spread through her body, leaving her limbs locked in rigor.

“In that case…”

Lu Jue drew a silver needle from his robe and carefully inserted it into her throat. After a moment, he withdrew it, but the needle showed no blackening—no sign of poison.

“So this is why the official coroners concluded it was illness, not poisoning.” But Lu Jue was not so easily deterred. If the truth could be found so simply, Feng Yewu would already know it.

He shifted his focus to where her hands covered her chest. Studying her posture, he murmured softly, “If you truly died of chest pain, why did you cover your chest so tightly?”

As the last word fell, his eyes sharpened—he seemed to have found a clue. He raised his hand, ready to pierce her chest with the needle.

It was exactly at the spot her hands protected.

Just as the needle was about to descend, a sudden force rushed from behind.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Three metallic thuds struck the coffin where Lu Jue had just been crouching. Fortunately, he had sensed something amiss and dodged in time.

He caught a fleeting glimpse of a figure outside the chamber. Moving swiftly to the coffin, he retrieved the hidden weapons embedded in the wood and gave chase, but the intruder had already vanished.

Returning to the chamber, Lu Jue discovered his silver needle was missing as well.

“Someone? Someone has broken into the young lady’s room!”

As Lu Jue hesitated, sudden clamor erupted throughout the Prince Regent’s estate. Clearly, the intruder had disturbed the household and drawn everyone this way.

Seeing the danger, Lu Jue hurriedly made his escape. Had he been caught, not only would he have failed to uncover the truth, but his own life would have been forfeit.

After a night of turmoil, dawn was breaking. Lu Jue could only take the hidden weapons and return to the palace.

At that moment, outside Feng Yewu’s chambers, the eunuch Mingde had already risen and was inquiring about the morning court.

“After the turmoil at the Prime Minister’s estate last night, I have caught a chill. Cancel court for today,” came Feng Yewu’s reply from within, his voice anxious as he sat in his chair, barely registering Mingde’s question.

A sleepless night had left Feng Yewu deeply unsettled by Lu Jue’s absence. As time wore on, his worry had only grown, leaving him in no state to face the ministers at dawn.

“Understood.”

A moment later, after Mingde had left, Feng Yewu stood abruptly and asked Han Yue by his side, “Has Lu Jue returned yet?”

Han Yue glanced at the back window—there was no sign of anyone. Helplessly, he shook his head at the anxious Feng Yewu.

Lu Jue’s departure had left Feng Yewu uneasy, even somewhat regretful for having sent him on this perilous errand.