Chapter 25: She Is Ruthless Enough

Although the flute was ready, to play it, one needed a melody.

Li Zhi'an looked toward Cheng Xi.

Almost everyone present was looking at Cheng Xi; Cheng Xi felt everyone's gaze, yet she looked straight at Li Taifei.

Li Taifei met her eyes, and for some reason, she felt subconsciously nervous, her entire face tightening.

Having drifted through the inner palace for decades, she had originally thought Cheng Xi was just a little girl she could deal with in a few moves, but she had not expected to encounter such a tough nut to crack.

Cheng Xi withdrew her gaze from Li Taifei and revealed a meaningful smile.

Li Taifei let out a cold snort in her heart; thinking a single flute could deal with a blood-gu worm was simply laughable.

However, Cheng Xi's expression was too resolute, making it difficult for her to guess whether she was doing it on purpose or just bluffing.

"The Great Bright Mantra, can you play it, Chief?"

"What?" Li Zhi'an's mouth twitched; she wanted him to play the Great Bright Mantra on a flute, a Buddhist Zen chant?

"Can you, or can you not, Chief?" Cheng Xi asked again, her voice light and slow, a hint of composed laughter at the corners of her eyes.

"…I can." Li Zhi'an stiffened his face and placed the flute to his lips.

As he played the Great Bright Mantra on the flute, the expressions of everyone present were extremely strange; the Little Emperor did not quite understand these things, his eyes fixed tightly on the Empress Dowager and Prince Ke, his whole body tense as if trying to confirm something.

The melody was halfway through, yet there was not the slightest abnormality.

The Regent's eyes, which had seen much of the world, could not help but fall on Cheng Xi again; it was a very strange feeling, for when facing Cheng Xi, he found it difficult to look at her with a scrutinizing gaze.

There was a kind of aura about her that made him feel very settled.

He had been able to walk this path to the present, standing at the very peak of power, but it was not because of luck.

It was because he was ruthless enough.

Just then, he watched as Cheng Xi suddenly took a pellet of incense from her pouch, looked around, and asked a palace servant to bring over a small incense burner and a fire starter.

The incense pellet was lit in the burner, and a very strange scent began to spread through the hall.

Li Taifei's expression changed abruptly, and she suddenly spoke up: "Cheng Xi, this is not Cheng Fu; your incense is of unknown origin, how dare you use it in the Emperor's presence? Extinguish it at once."

"Li Taifei, are you afraid?"

Cheng Xi's words were vague, and the gazes of the Regent and the Empress Dowager shifted to her almost immediately.

"What would I be afraid of?" Li Taifei only felt her heartbeat suddenly accelerate, her fists clenched tightly together, her sharp fingernails digging painfully into her palms.

"Since Li Taifei is not afraid, why the obstruction?"

The Little Emperor's expression changed, and he turned to look at Cheng Xi, "What is this incense?"

"In reply to the Emperor, this is 'worm-luring incense' that this subject's daughter made casually when she had some free time. Does the Emperor not feel his heartbeat accelerating and his breathing becoming rapid, feeling quite uncomfortable right now?"

The Little Emperor had felt quite uncomfortable all over after smelling the incense just now, but he had been pretending, not wanting anyone to discover it.

He was the Emperor, and even if he was young, he knew he had to maintain the dignity of the throne.

Especially in front of the Empress Dowager and Prince Ke, he did not want to be looked down upon or mocked by them.

"Worm-luring incense?" the Little Emperor muttered to himself, "So, is there really a worm in my stomach?"

"Yes," Cheng Xi said.

The Little Emperor's face changed repeatedly, his lips pressed tightly together, stubbornly refusing to make a sound, his eyes growing increasingly cold.

The Empress Dowager's face turned ashen, and she turned to look at Cheng Xi, "Cheng Xi, if you can cure the Emperor's gu-poison, this Dowager will surely reward you heavily; whatever you want, this Dowager will do her best to satisfy."

"Very well, then it is a deal." Cheng Xi liked this transaction.

The flute music stopped, and the scent of the worm-luring incense grew even richer; Li Zhi'an caught a somewhat familiar scent, and she watched the person speaking with the Empress Dowager without changing her expression.

He had once used this incense pellet to lure and capture a Four-Eyed Demon Fox.

Now Cheng Xi was using it to catch a gu-worm; what exactly was this incense pellet for?

Li Zhi'an was not well-versed in pharmacology, but he knew that a Four-Eyed Demon Fox and a gu-worm were completely different things.

Before Li Zhi'an's confusion could be resolved, a sudden change occurred; Prince Ke, who had been completely inconspicuous, suddenly convulsed and fell to the ground, fresh blood spilling from his lips.

"Yu'er, what is wrong?" The Empress Dowager rushed over to hold her son, using a handkerchief to wipe the blood from his lips.

Cheng Xi did not look at the Empress Dowager or Prince Ke, but kept her eyes fixed on Li Taifei; the moment Prince Ke fell and vomited blood, she saw Li Taifei make a move to rush over, but she stopped herself in time.

"Emperor, Prince Ke has suddenly vomited blood; this might have something to do with Cheng Xi. She is harming a member of the royal family, which is a grave crime."

Li Taifei looked at the Little Emperor and spoke.

The Regent's eyes had been shifting between the Emperor, Prince Ke, and the Empress Dowager, finally landing on Li Taifei with a trace of confusion.

Strange, very strange.

The poison of the blood-gu, those closest to one another—it was now certain the gu-worms were in the Emperor and Prince Ke, but both palms and the backs of hands are flesh; the Empress Dowager could not possibly poison her own children.

If the Empress Dowager had preferred Prince Ke to ascend the throne, she would not have fought to protect the Emperor in the first place.

So, where exactly was the problem?

The Regent's gaze landed on Li Taifei.

Li Zhi'an, however, had a sudden realization, his expression turning stern, and he suddenly spoke: "Li Taifei, what is your relationship with Prince Ke?"

These words were very sudden; the Empress Dowager was still holding Prince Ke, trying to stop his bleeding, and she looked at Li Zhi'an in a daze, "What are you saying?"

"Empress Dowager, have you not figured it out yet? Since the blood-gu worm was not planted by you, then it must have been someone else. The Emperor did not move against Prince Ke, so the person who planted the poison might be Prince Ke himself."

"Impossible," the Empress Dowager said immediately, "Prince Ke has been frail for years and cannot leave the palace; where would he get such a thing?"

"You make a valid point; then if it was not Prince Ke who acted, who else could it be?"

"You suspect Li Taifei?" The Empress Dowager frowned, "Why would Li Taifei do such a thing? She has always been dissatisfied with how much I care for Prince Ke and has repeatedly sown discord in front of the Emperor; how could she harm the Emperor?"

The Regent reached out to summon a trusted aide and whispered a few words to him; the guard immediately retreated quietly.

Both Li Zhi'an and Cheng Xi noticed the Regent's small action, but neither spoke, nor did they even glance in that direction.

Cheng Xi was surprised by Li Zhi'an's keenness, and even more surprised by the Regent's efficiency; these father and son truly had a tacit understanding.

"Chief Li, one cannot speak nonsense; do you have any evidence?" Li Taifei said angrily, putting on an expression of indignation at being wronged.

The Little Emperor subconsciously looked toward the Regent, wanting to say something; the Regent shook his head slightly at him, and although the Little Emperor was unwilling, he still closed his mouth.

However, his eyes kept darting back and forth between the Empress Dowager and Li Taifei.

Who exactly was it that harmed him?

Why did they want to harm him?