"Slander?"
Feng Qingheng immediately chimed in, "Consort Yu slandered you for poisoning His Imperial Uncle and plotting against His Majesty. Duke Hua slandered your mother for impersonating Princess Anyang and being a bandit. I slandered your father for colluding with the Xiliang people and smuggling iron sand. Why is everyone slandering your entire family and not others? Lu Qingwan, do you take everyone for a fool?"
Feng Qingheng's objective was clear: to convict Lu Qingwan through the testimonies of different witnesses. However, if Lu Qingwan were that easy to slander, her alias as the Demoness would be in vain. Thus, after Feng Qingheng finished speaking, before he could see Lu Qingwan being condemned by the masses as he wished, he himself received a resounding slap across the face.
The entire assembly was stunned at the sight of a prince slapping a woman in public. Especially Feng Qingheng, who clutched his face and roared in disbelief, "Lu Qingwan, you dare to hit me?"
"I slapped you, and it's not the first time. Why be so surprised?" Lu Qingwan leisurely retracted her hand. "But it is strange, isn't it? You ask why I only hit you and not others? It's because you're too deserving of a slap, it's not that I wanted to slap you!"
At such a serious moment, some officials could barely stifle their laughter. Feng Qingheng, enraged and embarrassed, raised his hand to strike Lu Qingwan again. Prime Minister Wen timely called out, "The imperial physicians are here!"
"Head Physician Zhao, quickly come and see, what exactly is wrong with His Majesty..." Consort Yu urgently called out. Lu Qingwan, however, looked at Tang Xiao in astonishment, "Where is Meng Tang?"
"I have already apprehended that physician surnamed Meng," Feng Qingheng declared, tilting his chin with pride, as if he had finally gained the upper hand. He looked at Lu Qingwan with a hint of triumph. "Ever since he entered the palace, His Majesty's health has worsened. I strongly suspect he is merely a quack. It is possible that he bears responsibility for His Majesty's current condition."
Feng Qingheng clearly knew that she was Lin Sa, yet he deliberately concealed it. He insisted that Head Physician Zhao examine Emperor Jing You, evidently forcing her to reveal her identity. However, with Emperor Jing You in trouble, revealing her identity would only provide them with an excuse for further accusations. Lu Qingwan knew this hurdle would not be easy to overcome. Ignoring the triumphant and provocative gazes of Feng Qingheng and Consort Yu, she fixed her eyes on Emperor Jing You, hoping that Head Physician Zhao was not an associate of Feng Qingheng. Even if he were just an ordinary physician, as long as he could detect the silver needles in Emperor Jing You's body, it would suffice.
Unexpectedly, as she thought this, Head Physician Zhao exclaimed, as if he had made a diagnosis. Everyone anxiously inquired, "Head Physician Zhao, how is His Majesty? Has he been poisoned?" The closest was Prime Minister Wen, and the most authoritative among the officials was also Prime Minister Wen. Head Physician Zhao shook his head at Prime Minister Wen and replied, "Reporting to Prime Minister Wen, His Majesty is not poisoned. Someone has inserted silver needles into his body."
"Silver needles in the body?!" The officials exclaimed in surprise. Lu Qingwan, however, breathed a sigh of relief. Since it had been detected, even if Head Physician Zhao could not immediately remove the silver needles from Emperor Jing You's body, at least he could ensure they would not further endanger His Majesty's vital organs. Just as she was contemplating how to remind Prime Minister Wen to prevent Emperor Jing You from suffering further harm, Head Physician Zhao spoke again.
"That's right, silver needles in the body, and not just one." He raised his hand, his fingertips pinching a thin silver needle, about an inch long. "It's this kind. In my humble opinion, someone must have first administered a pain-numbing medicine to His Majesty, and then scattered these silver needles in His Majesty's bedding. This way, even if the needles pierced his body, His Majesty, with his pain suppressed, would not have noticed."
Lu Qingwan's heart skipped a beat. Did the other party know that Emperor Jing You had taken pain-numbing medicine? As expected, in the next moment, someone shrieked, "It's her, it's the Regent's Consort! I personally saw her use this kind of silver needle!" Lu Qingwan looked towards the voice and saw the "know-it-all" she had publicly rebuked earlier. She couldn't help but give a wry smile inwardly; it was the consequence of being too high-profile!
Consort Yu seized the opportunity and said, "No wonder His Majesty's health has been poor lately, and after taking the medicine you gave him, he could suddenly move like this. Regent's Consort, you have gone to great lengths to harm His Majesty!"
The words of Head Physician Zhao and Prince Dong already made it seem plausible that the silver needles in Emperor Jing You's body were Lu Qingwan's doing. With Consort Yu's accusation, the officials now looked at her as if she were the perpetrator of regicide. Feng Qingheng's eyes revealed undisguised triumph, yet his face was one of solemnity. "Lu Qingwan, you plotted against His Majesty. The evidence is conclusive. Do you have anything else to say?"
Lu Qingwan ignored him and directly stated, "Your plan is indeed meticulous. I have nothing to say." Before Feng Qingheng's triumphant expression could fully surface, she spoke again, astonishingly, "But I can save His Majesty and have him wake up now. Feng Qingheng, do you dare to wait here until His Majesty wakes up and personally identify who harmed him?"
"Impossible!" Feng Qingheng denied Lu Qingwan's request without a second thought. "You have already harmed Father Emperor like this, how could I possibly let you touch him again? Guards, arrest Lu Qingwan and escort her to the Imperial Prison to await sentencing!"
"Let's see who dares to touch me?" Lu Qingwan pulled out a bamboo whistle and blew it. Immediately, she flashed forward, and the hairpin on her head was placed at Feng Qingheng's neck. "You've prepared quite thoroughly, first by trying to poison me during the tea ceremony, and then framing me with His Majesty. You've gone to a lot of trouble, haven't you?"
Feng Qingheng, confident that his plan was flawless and victory was assured, showed no signs of nervousness. He even feigned ignorance, saying, "What are you talking about? It was Father Emperor's decree for the Prince and Consort to offer you tea. I had no idea you would be here before entering the palace, so how could I have offered you tea? Furthermore, the silver needles in Father Emperor's body are identical to the ones you used when you administered acupuncture to the Prime Minister. It is only someone with your exquisite medical skills who would think of killing people invisibly with silver needles. I am not capable of such a feat, am I, Regent's Consort? Or perhaps, I should address you as Divine Physician Lin?"
As soon as Feng Qingheng uttered these words, Duke Peiguo immediately followed suit, as if feigning immense surprise, "What does Prince Chen mean by this? What connection does the Regent's Consort have with Divine Physician Lin?" While ostensibly asking out of curiosity, he feared that anyone remaining in the vast Weiyang Palace who did not know that Lu Qingwan was Lin Sa would now be informed.
Feng Qingheng also complied, saying, "Do you all not know yet? Our Regent's Consort is quite formidable! To get close to Father Emperor, she deliberately adopted the identity of a divine physician, trying every means to conceal her identity before the Emperor. You could have treated Father Emperor as the Regent's Consort, yet you insisted on this charade. Lu Qingwan, you claim you did not intentionally harm Father Emperor. Look around Weiyang Palace, who would believe you?"
The officials were greatly astonished. Even the Minister of Justice, Qu Huaizhong, and the Minister of Rites, Jing Chunnan, who had always respected Lu Qingwan, as well as the Minister of Dali Temple, were filled with shock and bewilderment, unsure of what to do.