Other potential suspects with both motive and means were one by one ruled out, leaving King Heng with no choice but to turn his suspicious gaze toward the one person he had always overlooked—the one who could barely walk, who he had never wanted to acknowledge as the Crown Prince, yet who still felt like a fishbone stuck in his throat—his Second Imperial Brother, Chu Heng!
Years ago, the Lin Imperial Concubine, in collusion with the Lin Family, poisoned the Pure Empress, who was close to giving birth. Although all blame was shifted onto a palace concubine of no renown, resulting in her execution and the extermination of her entire family to close the case, the shocking affair was rife with doubts. Everyone knew there was more to it, yet no one dared to investigate further because Emperor Huian himself had verified the case and personally ordered the execution of the palace concubine and her family.