Xiang Ren's forehead began to sweat. He was about to deny it when he felt a painful sensation within his body. Strangely, he couldn't speak or move; his body was frozen like a rock. The pain grew more intense with each passing moment.
Yi Ling set her cup down on the table and subtly waved her sleeve beneath the table.
Xiang Ren sat upright and looked at Yi Ling. "Yes, indeed it was one of mine," he admitted.
The Emperor spat his tea out this time. He looked at his brother in disbelief, unable to comprehend that his brother had just admitted his secret outright to a stranger.
Seeing Xiang Ren's reply, Yi Ling asked again, "Were you the one who poisoned the Crown Prince?"
The Emperor stood up instantly. "What kind of nonsense are you spouting? Even if you're from a high-ranked kingdom, that doesn't mean you can wildly accuse my little brother of harming my son!" His nerves were on edge. How dare he?! he thought. But before he could say anything else, someone else spoke.
"Yes, it was indeed me. Tsk. If it wasn't for you, Xiang He would've died in a couple of days!" Xiang Ren crossed his arms and stared at Yi Ling rudely.
"Xiang Ren!" The Emperor was stunned. His little brother poisoned his son?! What was this? Was someone pulling his leg right now?? He accidentally knocked his cup off the table, creating a loud crashing sound.
"It was all because of you, my dear big brother!" Xiang Ren glared at the Emperor. "I was fine with you ascending the throne, but you just had to marry my beloved! You stole my princess away! The Empress should've been my wife!"
The Emperor was stunned. He couldn't fathom the things his little brother was saying.
"Beloved? For what I know, I met the Empress before you did, and we were in love before you even came into the picture!" He clenched his fist.
"Tsk. She fell in love with me when she met me. She just couldn't escape your harassment and forcing her to marry you!" Xiang Ren stood up and slammed his fist on the table.
"Nonsense! The Empress never loved you! She was only kind toward you because you were family!" The Emperor couldn't bear his brother's accusations against his late wife. Was this line of thought always there? He looked at Doctor Yi, who had started all this.
"Uncle, did you kill my mother?" Xiang He decided to ask the real question. His face was already red with anger when his uncle admitted his involvement in his previous predicament.
Xiang Ren smirked. "That slut deserved to die! She dared to give birth to someone else's child! If I couldn't have her, neither could you, my dear big brother! HAHAHAHA!" He laughed evilly.
The Emperor's eyes turned red, and his veins became evident. "WHAT?! REPEAT WHAT YOU JUST SAID!!" He struggled to contain his anger. It was his little brother after all. He had doted on him so much!
"I killed the Empress! If only you could see how she begged me for her life. Ha! It was hilarious! HAHAHA!" Xiang Ren grew bolder, as if losing his mind.
Yi Ling continued to sip her tea, as if none of this was her doing. She had drugged Xiang Ren's tea. It was one of her new experiments. When someone drank it, two things happened. First, the soul separated from the consciousness of the body, causing the soul to feel gradually increasing pain while being unable to control the body. Second, the body was taken over by inner thoughts, forcefully making it admit anything without falsehood.
It was tricky, so she had to find someone crude to try it on. Xiang Ren was the perfect subject.
Xiang He couldn't take it anymore and attacked Xiang Ren. Xiang Ren, lacking his instincts due to the drug, couldn't dodge. Xiang He punched and kicked his uncle to the ground. Xiang Ren was left bruised and puking blood.
Elder Zhen silently cried while watching the Crown Prince beat up his uncle. They had waited so long; finally, they could retaliate.
On the other side, the Emperor's knees weakened, and he sat down again. His eyes were red, and tears streamed down his face.
"My dear Jing'er, I'm so sorry. I didn't know. After all these years of looking for your murderer, it was right in front of me the whole time. I even doted on him." He murmured as he cried. He looked at his beaten little brother and his son.
He stood up and clenched his fist. "GUARDS! Take this bastard to the Imperial Palace jail and await my further commands! No one is allowed to visit him without my permission!"
Two of his shadow guards appeared out of nowhere and grabbed the almost-dead Xiang Ren out of the garden. Xiang Ren continued yelling and laughing like a madman.
"I killed the Empress and crippled her son! HAHAHA! You deserve it all, big brother!!! HAHAHA!"
The people standing outside saw the dragged and bloodied man, who was yelling so loudly.
They were all shocked when they heard his confessions but were more stunned when they realized who it was. It was none other than Xiang Ren!
"Tsk... I knew that bastard was always a devil!" *ptuiii*
"What kind of person is he! And he was trying to ascend the throne!"
"A devil, I tell you!"
They all threw rocks and whatever they could find toward the dragged man.