Chapter 26: Of Course He

A strange silence filled the hall.

The Empress Dowager's expression shifted again and again; her hands, which had been clutching Prince Ke, slowly dropped, and Prince Ke's body curled up, slumped on the floor, his face deathly pale, a greenish hue visible on his small face.

Li Taifei suppressed the urge to lunge forward and glared fiercely at Cheng Xi.

She had to think of a way, otherwise Prince Ke would truly die!

Li Zhi'an listened to Li Taifei's questioning and only then raised his head to look at her; those pitch-black eyes held not a trace of warmth. "Wanting evidence is simple. Li Taifei has no talent for cultivation, so she does not know that at Qinghe Academy, there is a method to measure bone age and also to test blood relations. Whether the Grand Concubine has a connection to Prince Ke, it would suffice to have someone from Qinghe Academy come here once."

"You mean Prince Ke is Li Taifei's son, then what about my son?" The Empress Dowager stood up abruptly, staring fixedly at Li Zhi'an. "Is Prince Ke really Li Taifei's son?"

Li Zhi'an replied with an unchanging expression: "Empress Dowager, judging by the current situation, it should be so."

"Impossible. Back then, when I gave birth to Prince Ke, Li Taifei had a miscarriage due to poor health; where would she have gotten a child from?" The Empress Dowager remembered it clearly; it could not be wrong.

Li Zhi'an said softly: "So, Li Taifei and the Empress Dowager were pregnant at the same time back then, is that correct?"

"Yes." The Empress Dowager stared at Li Taifei, struggling to recall the events of that year.

The Former Emperor's inner palace had countless beauties; the Empress Dowager was the Empress back then, and if not for the support of a powerful family, she might not have been able to sit securely in the position of Empress.

Li Taifei had sought refuge with her, and she had always trusted her deeply, even willing to let Li Taifei bear a child, but unfortunately, her own body was not up to the task, and in the end, the child was not saved.

"I have already had the Imperial Physician who diagnosed Li Taifei back then brought here."

The Regent spoke suddenly, and the entire hall fell into sudden silence.

The Regent looked at Li Taifei. "Does the Grand Concubine wish to tell the truth herself, or wait for this Prince to uncover the facts?"

The Little Emperor was trembling all over; he forcibly suppressed his shaking body and looked at Li Taifei with a pale face.

Li Taifei did not look into the Emperor's eyes, and she dared not meet the Regent's gaze either; she was also trembling, knowing that this Regent was a ruthless man who killed without blinking.

Her face gradually turned pale, yet Li Taifei did not speak.

The Regent said in a loud voice: "Give the Imperial Physician who originally determined Li Taifei had a miscarriage thirty strokes of the rod, and bring his family into the palace."

Thirty strokes was a warning to strike fear.

The Imperial Physician's family was the trump card; if the Imperial Physician refused to tell the truth, his family would accompany him on the road to the underworld.

As soon as the Regent's voice fell, the sound of rods landing came from outside, along with the heart-wrenching screams of the Imperial Physician.

"One... five... nine... twenty-one..."

As the counting gradually ended, the screams of the Imperial Physician outside also gradually faded into silence.

"Drag him in."

Two Imperial Guards dragged the blood-soaked Imperial Physician into the hall and threw him onto the floor like a dead dog.

A winding trail of blood spread from outside the hall all the way into the interior.

Cheng Xi tilted her head slightly, and Li Zhi'an looked at her, his eyes carrying a hint of surprise; he had thought she was afraid of nothing.

Cheng Xi did not see Li Zhi'an's gaze; she was merely thinking that for the Regent to reach this position, he was indeed formidable.

This decisiveness in killing was extremely rare.

"What is your name?" the Regent asked.

The Imperial Physician lying on the floor caught his breath before saying: "This official is Feng Li, Head of the Imperial Hospital."

"Feng Taiyi, this Prince asks you: was Li Taifei's miscarriage back then diagnosed by you personally?"

"... It was this official."

"Did Li Taifei truly have a miscarriage?"

Feng Li's breathing grew rapid; he instinctively looked at Li Taifei. Their eyes met, and Feng Li immediately averted his gaze, lowering his head as he replied: "Yes."

The Regent swept a glance at Feng Li and asked again, "Were the medical records of Li Taifei from that year brought here?"

"Replying to the Prince, they are all here." An Imperial Guard entered the hall carrying a stack of medical records.

The Regent did not go to look through them, but instead asked again: "Has Feng Taiyi's family been brought?"

"The entire family of twenty-three, all have been detained in the palace."

Feng Li's face turned ash-gray in an instant, his entire body tensing up.

"Regent, what are you doing? Not only are you using torture to extract a confession, but you are also threatening others with their families; is this an attempt to force a confession through duress?" Li Taifei said in a deep voice.

The Regent turned to look at Li Taifei. "The Grand Concubine need not worry; this Prince has killed too many people in this life; whether someone is lying, I can tell at a glance."

"You... Regent, do not go too far. In front of His Majesty, do you dare to be so presumptuous?"

"Li Taifei is a suspect in this case and has yet to prove her innocence, so it would be best to keep quiet."

Although the Regent's voice was not sharp, Li Taifei's face turned even whiter. She looked anxiously at the Emperor, hoping the Little Emperor would say something, but the Little Emperor did not look at her at all.

Li Taifei gritted her teeth; a wolf with a white-eyed nature is always a wolf. Even though she had been so good to him for so many years, he was of no use at a critical moment.

"Feng Taiyi, this time you must think carefully before answering. Once you answer incorrectly, one person from the Feng Family will lose their life."

"Prince!" Feng Li's face was ash-gray and his whole body was shaking; he suddenly opened his eyes. "I will speak! I will speak, please, Prince, release my family!"

"You have no qualifications to negotiate with this Prince!"

Feng Li's face was deathly pale; looking at the medical records scattered before him, he closed his eyes and said: "These medical records were all forged by me. The real medical records are buried under the tree in my study."

"Feng Li!" Li Taifei shouted to stop him.

"Li Taifei, I said, please do not speak for now. Does the Grand Concubine wish for me to have the Li Family brought into the palace as well?"

Li Taifei stumbled slightly; she regretted it. She should not have listened to the instigation of Li Shi to take action against Cheng Xi. Had she not made things difficult for Cheng Xi, there would not be today's disaster!

"Back then, Li Taifei threatened me with the lives of my family, making me do things for her, concealing the truth of her pregnancy, and making me deceive the Empress Dowager that she had not saved the child and had a miscarriage."

The Empress Dowager looked at Prince Ke in disbelief, then looked at Li Taifei, her legs going weak, nearly collapsing to the ground.

"Empress Dowager!"

A palace servant rushed over to block the Empress Dowager and support her. "Empress Dowager, are you alright?"

The Empress Dowager shook her head, pushed the servant away, and stepped forward aggressively to grab Li Taifei. "Where is my son?"

Li Taifei let out a loud laugh. "Of course he's dead!"

With a "slap," the Empress Dowager struck Li Taifei across the face, "I will make the entire Li Family be buried with my son! And as for Prince Ke, I will send him to the Yellow Springs with you!"

The smile on Li Taifei's face stiffened, "You cannot do this. You have raised Prince Ke for so many years and loved him so dearly; can you bear to let him die?"

At this moment, Cheng Xi suddenly said, "Empress Dowager, your son is not dead."