She allowed herself a cool, thin smile after hearing their long briefing. Settling back with the fragile dignity of age and the physical frailty two sleepless days had produced, Dowager Ruyan inhaled once, then studied Prince Deng. She inclined her head toward him.
"I will not block or prevent the prosecution of an offender like the royal consort," she said firmly. "But in the interests of justice I insist the court proceed carefully and conduct thorough, methodical investigations. The king's inner circle harbors many enemies; we must trace the milk that was given to him and find where it originated...and who supplied the poison that reached him inside the palace. Finally, I demand special protections and close surveillance for everything he is served. If anything happens to that boy without the truth being exposed, the responsibility will fall to me...and I will see justice done, no matter who it is."
No one in the chamber objected; they only bowed their heads in acknowledgment.
With that, Dowager Ruyan ready to leave, maneuvering her wheelchair with the remote control at her side. They watched her go in silence; some of them were inwardly seething, others quietly satisfied by the firmness of her reply. Most, however, simply wanted the matter handled so King Yibo could recover.
Outside, the council's tension finally broke into action. They paced like caged beasts, exhaling in short bursts. Prince Langya stopped first and said, "At this stage we cannot merely wound the snake...we must cut off its head. Remove this boy. Banish him and erase the name that clings to this old woman."
Prince Deng snapped back hotly, "If we spare the woman whose life in appearance is but a few days more, the boy will continue breathing...his name will persist. That cannot stand."
They stared at one another. Langya then offered, "Two birds need the same kind of stone. If not, the weak will harden."
Deng lifted his gaze and smiled...a thin, dangerous smile. "In this operation there will not be two birds, but four," he said.
Langya frowned; Deng continued, "We will first eliminate three, then the fourth will fall into place. Tomorrow we visit the witch doctor." (Barbushi)
Langya swallowed the rest of his reply and left the room, saying, "At dawn." Deng watched him go with a look that contained more plans than comfort.
- - - -

Zhan had spent three full days locked in an almost pitch-black cell, unable to tell day from night...only a thin shaft of light that sneaked through a small high window and the faint electric glow nearby marked time. He was in a state of near-hysteria: he refused meals except the milk brought once each day. From the beginning he had understood there was a knot of fate tightening around him and that Prince Deng had used him....used him despite whatever righteous rage had once driven Zhan toward action.
He now saw, in bitter clarity, that Prince Deng had always planned to use him; Deng had his own hunger for power and would spare nothing to get it. The sense of betrayal burned so fiercely Zhan's heat of grief had hardened into resolve: he wanted revenge for his two lost siblings and for the way their lives were destroyed by the marriage of Seokin's line. He felt compelled to unravel King Yibo's image and expose what he believed to be the king's crimes.
Even so, circumstances conspired against him. His enemies had been preparing for this day far longer than he'd realized, and they had scored two decisive victories at once: they'd isolated King Yibo and marginalized Zhan...both achieved without Yibo understanding the forces arrayed against him. Zhan felt himself sinking back into darkness.
He had to call that dark corner of his mind...there were too many questions brutal and raw, questions he couldn't ignore. How did Mulan become King Yibo? Did he really kill his wives if he wasn't the one? Why couldn't he speak up when the evidence demanded he should? Was the disappearance of his parents and the death of his siblings all part of Prince Langya's plan? Even Sir Fenghui, he demanded answers about what happened to him. But how? By what route?
At the moment Zhan had no idea. Hot tears, which he hadn't wiped away in three days, fell again. He squeezed his tired eyes shut and let a bitter, wounded smile slip across his face.
Zhan saw King Yibo's face like a film burned into his memory...the smile that would never be erased.
An unexpected, mocking laugh had cut that smile short, and the sudden light stabbed his eyes; after three days in darkness, his pupils were raw from the flash.
No matter how he tried, Zhan couldn't open his eyes fully...there was still that sting from the laugh, its source unknown. He bit his lip and fought to stop the trembling of his tears and to hold down the ache the laugh had left behind. His instincts pointed at Prince Deng or Prince Langya...but he didn't yet know which.
He could not lift his body from the mattress; with great effort he opened his eyes again. On the chair opposite stood Prince Deng, one leg crossed over the other; Zhan recognized immediately that Deng had been the one brought to see him. The sight tightened a knot of pain behind Zhan's eyes...he felt them swell...but he forced the gaze to remain on Prince Deng until the intruder's laughter faded into silence.
"Son-in-law," Deng said, with a cold pride that scraped at Zhan. "I'm proud of you. You've become something I won't forget. I know I don't deserve your loyalty for free, yet now I deserve your pride. I've fulfilled what I promised...so accept this honor. I'm proud of you."
Deng's words landed like salt. A small, cruel laugh brushed Zhan's ear; he felt it intrude under his skin, yet he held himself still, eyes raw. Deng smiled wider, smoothing his posture as if Zhan's discomfort were a pleasing spice.
"I don't want you to look at me the way you do in your thoughts," Deng went on, almost teasing. "Understand that I am a man who puts himself first. I will remove anything...even my fingertip...that might block my desires."
Prince Deng stood and move to where Zhan layed, he move his hand to touch Zhan face while licking his lips, Zhan glare at him in disgust, Deng chuckled aloud, but Zhan's face remained a hard mask.
"Write it down, remember it well," Zhan said, voice low with warning. "On the day your disgusting finger dares to touch me without my consent, I, Xiao Zhan, swear I will break it. I will break you so completely that nothing of you will remain in my sight or in my heart. I'm a tough nut...try me."
His words landed like a blow, carved into Deng's pride. But Deng only let a smile curl his lips. "I won't deny your threat," he said lightly. "You are indeed stubborn, and I am the forging iron. Take this as your warning: from today your days here are numbered. I will make your live the example the whole world studies...not just the Beiping empire. Your fate begins in my hands."
He laughed...thin, triumphant. Zhan responded with a laugh of his own, harder, full of quiet defiance.

Deng paused, studying Zhan's unbroken expression with a calculating look. Then, furious that Zhan had not been rattled, he turned and left the room in a flash of wounded pride.
After Deng left, the footsteps receded; the sound of his passing finally fell away. Zhan's composure crumpled. The pretence slipped: he began to weep, the kind of keening that tore at the chest. He was not crying for himself...his grief was for the people of his country, for those who had been crushed while he and others schemed. The tears were for the desperate hunger in him to know the full, ugly truth that Prince Deng and Prince Langya had provoked. He knew now the game had been settled: the players' deck had been stacked, and there was nowhere left to run.
Even if King Yibo survived, Zhan thought, survival would be hollow. Even if some wanted him alive, he no longer wanted life as it stood.
***
Since Dowager Ruyan's order, security around Zhan's room had been tightened: not only palace guards but an entire detail of bodyguards personally assigned by the King, while Dowager Ruyan herself monitored events closely.
Even Zhan's meals were watched. By the fifth day he faint, the doctors intervened; he was finally allowed himself to eat but only three spoonfuls or three sip of milk at a time, under strict supervision.
Meanwhile the court's senior figures continued to gather evidence. The first major problem they encountered was that the CCTV footage from King Yibo's quarters....the period from the morning the incident occurred until the arrival of Daneen and Prince Deng...had gone missing.
Zhan's phone and his laptop vanished as well.
That loss sparked a furious scramble. Security arrested the officer in charge of the surveillance room, but he swore he had no idea how the footage disappeared. The attendants from Zhan's wing were questioned and detained; they swore they didn't know how Zhan's devices were taken or that anyone had entered the chamber.
Those gaps in the record deepened the division over Zhan's guilt. Prince Deng and his supporters pushed for a quick, decisive outcome... some even demanded execution. A faction loyal to late Prince Maiqing insisted on a full, impartial investigation and argued it was impossible for Zhan to have acted alone if he indeed committed the crime.
Tensions escalated to the point of a second emergency council, but no compromise was reached. The faction that favored executing Zhan was the stronger one...many of them were directly connected to King Yibo's inner circle. Only Dowager Ruyan insisted on delaying any irreversible action until the inquiry was complete. Daneen, too, refused to believe Zhan would act on his own: the evidence linking him directly to the poisoned milk was still thin, and the royal kitchen staff and Zhan's close attendants were all locked down and under scrutiny.
Prince Langya's influence tipped suspicion back onto Zhan, and the accusations hardened. For now, the princes used the crisis: Prince Deng assumed de facto control of palace affairs, pledging to steer the realm until King Yibo recovered.
A week passed with no resolution..only louder accusations from every side. Zhan, meanwhile, refused all contact, trusting Dowager Ruyan's insistence on thorough investigation. That stance infuriated Prince Deng and Prince Langya, who grew increasingly impatient.
Their behind-the-scenes adviser made their options stark: either they remove Dowager Ruyan...an unthinkable and dangerous step given her seniority and closeness to the King...or they try to neutralize Dowager Taihou, whom they could use as a public lever, just as they had tried to use Zhan before. The idea of killing Dowager Ruyan was terrifying to them; she was too powerful, too close to King Yibo. So they turned their attention to Dowager Taihou, hoping to coerce her into supporting their position.
Dowager Taihou, however, remained focused only on the King's recovery and refused to be drawn into palace politics. She had, from the outset of the crisis, insisted that the palace follow due process and that no irreversible punishment be carried out until the full truth was known...an immovable stance that frustrated the princes but gave many others hope.
By now the court was split, and the streets of the Beiping empire were restless. Rumors flew; factions maneuvered. The only thing everyone agreed on was that the coming days would determine the shape of power in the palace...and perhaps the empire...far into the future.
★… DOWAGER TAIHOU …★
Her voice rang with bitter anger...so sharp it made clear how shaken she was. Since the incident, no one could say Dowager Taihou had been silent; she'd spent every moment consumed by the crisis. Her top priority now was simple: to secure King Yibo's recovery. As for punishing whoever caused the catastrophe...Zhan....she was fully aware of the public clamor, but she refused to rush into judgment. She insisted there must be a proper investigation first.
That position...calm but firm...was precisely what the others needed. They exchanged restrained looks and took their seats, reopening the difficult conversation. Prince Langya forced himself to adopt a conciliatory tone as he addressed Dowager Taihou.
"…I don't think anger or outrage will solve this. We should sit down and decide the right course before time runs out. I don't understand why you treat this lightly. From where I stand it looks like he acted alone. There's no reason to delay punishment when the facts seem so plain. Yet you insist on an inquiry. And now crucial CCTV footage is gone, and the evidence is messy. Still, our investigation shows he came here to take revenge for the deaths of his two siblings... he married Yibo to get close. That's why he made you trusted him... especially you and Daneen...so much. Now you are urging caution, as if you'd forgotten what he was supposed to be capable of."
Prince Deng's voice tightened. He cleared his throat and continued, frustrated. "I can't understand Momma's position, either. Does she value Zhan more than her grandson's safety? Why put conditions on justice now, when the circumstances are so clear? She says we must investigate, but the CCTV is missing and the record is broken....how can we proceed? I believe Zhan had the plan long before he entered the palace; he prepared to take revenge on Yibo. That's why he was patient, close to the household. It's why Momma and Daneen now appear to support him...are they forgetting their duty?"
Their words stung Dowager Taihou. The mention of Dowager Ruyan and Daneen...of their sympathy or involvement...rekindled her outrage. Jasrah, who was already at odds with Daneen, only grew angrier as Prince Langya described the case; Prince Langya's account framed every palace movement and opinion in a light that favored severe action against Zhan.
Dowager Taihou sat tight-lipped, waiting for them to finish. She was, by temperament, a woman of few theatrics; she listened and kept her composure while their arguments blustered. Despite the tension, she made it clear: she would not act rashly. She would not abandon due process.
Every entrance and exit from the King wing was now watched; CCTV cameras were posted everywhere and palace staff monitored their screens, because trust had evaporated. Dowager Taihou and the senior physicians arrived for a medical briefing, and the head doctor... who had done everything he could to stabilize King Yibo...received them with respectful formality.
The treatment chamber had been prepared like a modern clinic: top-grade equipment and a sterile, professional environment befitting the empire's reputation for medical care. King Yibo lay propped up on the treatment bed, wrapped in pale-blue recovery robes that seemed to soften his pallor. Although he showed traces of his old authority...an air of dignity in his bearing...his face and swollen eyes betrayed his weakened condition. He did not turn as they entered; his attention remained on the laptop he'd been using, working quietly despite everything.
Prince Langya and Prince Deng exchanged a look of surprise; they had not expected to find the King in this state. Since yesterday their narrative to the press had been carefully measured; the King's condition now made any pretense impossible.
Dowager Taihou, focusing on the King's wellbeing, smiled gently and settled into a chair near his bed. Her cologne reach his nose.
Zhanxianyibo💚❤️💛