The Rebirth of an Ill-Fated Consort (Chapters 1- 203)

Chapter 158 : The Curtain Falls

Translated by : Shl

Edited by : Anks & Ely

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The Emperor's expression was inscrutable as he asked, "What did you discover?"

The Crown Prince simply smiled and looked at Xia Qing to say, "Divine Physician Xia, kindly tell Imperial Father what you have discovered."

With clasped hands, Xia Qing quickly moved to greet the Emperor respectfully before saying, "To respond to Your Majesty, when this commoner observed the corpse of Princess He Yi, I found that the corpse's expression was slightly off, there was something strange about the livor mortis, and the corpse's colour was even more peculiar. Those who practise medicine must be scrupulously attentive to detail and must not make even the smallest of mistakes. Although Princess He Yi was a member of the imperial family, normally it would be overstepping boundaries for this commoner to look closely at the corpse, but one cannot be the slightest bit careless in handling matters. For medical practitioners, it is especially taboo to miss the big picture by focusing only on one aspect[1], and so this commoner was so bold as to take a good look at the corpse. From this, this commoner discovered that Princess He Yi's lips were bluish-black, there were small rashes on her body, her four limbs were not stiff, and her hair was matted together . . ."

[1] 管中窥豹 (guan zhong kui bao) – lit. to look at a leopard through a narrow tube (and therefore see only one aspect of it). fig. to miss the big picture.

This man was clearly obsessed with medicine, long-windedly spouting a heap of phrases which the entire hall could not make head nor tail of. Xia Qing himself was unaware of the situation, describing the symptoms with gusto and deadly earnestness. Even the Emperor's face betrayed his growing impatience. Finally, after Xia Qing had finished detailing all his doubts about Princess He Yi's corpse, he said, "From these observations, this commoner knows that Princess He Yi used a kind of 'Xian Ji Powder'[2]. This powder is colourless and odourless, and once ingested and activated by burning spiced incense, it is possible to preserve the freshly-deceased appearance of a corpse. When this commoner smelled the fragrance of the incense on Princess He Yi's corpse, this commoner came to the conclusion that 'Xian Ji Powder' was used on her."

[2] 鲜肌散 (xian ji san) – lit. fresh/bright flesh powder.

"Rubbish!" Imperial Consort Shu burst out. "What Xian Ji Powder, He Yi was clearly murdered by Jiang Ruan!"

"Imperial Consort, please don't be too hasty," Xia Qing said. With grave composure, he continued, "This commoner knew that this was fishy, and used the method Master taught to purge the Xian Ji Powder from Princess He Yi's corpse. After the removal of that drug which hid the truth from our eyes, the corpse could no longer lie, and the true time of death was revealed. This commoner observed that Princess He Yi's wound had turned green, and gauging the time, the time of death was at least a day earlier than the time determined by the coroner."

As soon as these words were uttered, Golden Throne Hall erupted into chaos.

Xia Qing's words intimated that Princess He Yi had died long before Jiang Ruan went to Mu Feng Pavilion. If this was the case, the murder charge against Jiang Ruan had no basis at all; on the contrary, what Xuan Pei and the Crown Prince had just said was true. Moreover, on thinking further about what Xuan Pei had said, that the palace maids had brought Princess He Yi to Mu Feng Pavilion and Xuan Lang had also been present- why else would he be with Princess He Yi's corpse? Wasn't it highly likely that Princess He Yi had been killed by him, and this situation was his grand performance to cover up his crime and shift the blame to someone else[3]?