Chapter 120: Chapter 112: Could it be Bage? The Eighth Prince’s fever refused to subside, instead burning hotter with each passing moment. If this continued, even if he awoke in two days, he would be left a fool. The Imperial Physician tried various methods but couldn’t reduce the Eighth Prince’s fever. It was Zhao Yao who remembered a method: using strong liquor to rub the body. A few months ago, Zhao Yao had recurrent fevers, one being particularly severe. At that time, Doctor Lu said if Zhao Yao didn’t reduce his fever, he might not survive. Liang Zhaoyi recalled an old remedy from home, rubbing the body with strong liquor to lower the fever. It worked; Zhao Yao’s high fever subsided. Yu Hai and Zhao Yao worked together to rub the Eighth Prince’s body with strong liquor, carefully tending to even the armpits, popliteal fossa, and soles of his feet. Not long after, the Eighth Prince’s fever finally began to subside. Seeing the fever temporarily diminish, the Imperial Physician hastily prescribed medicine. After taking the medicine, the Eighth Prince’s fever finally subsided completely and did not return. The Imperial Physician stated that with the fever gone, the Eighth Prince was no longer in mortal danger. From now on, he only needed to rest well, and he would gradually recover. Learning that the Eighth Prince was out of danger, the Crown Prince and Zhao Yao both breathed a sigh of relief. On the eve of the late Empress’s memorial day, the Eighth Prince, who had been unconscious for three days and nights, finally awoke. However, his body was too weak, and shortly after waking, he fainted again. Seeing the Eighth Prince awakened, Zhao Yao was finally at ease and suddenly had an appetite for the vegetarian meals at Hulong Temple. As the next day was the late Empress’s memorial day, the Fourth Prince and Third Prince arrived at Hulong Temple a day early, while the Emperor, preoccupied with affairs, did not arrive early. At present, Zhao Yao was dining with the Fourth Prince. The flavor of Hulong Temple’s vegetarian dishes was excellent, especially the pickled radish, crispy, delicious, and very appetizing. Even without eating rice, Zhao Yao could eat several bowls of just the pickled radish. As Zhao Yao dined, he enthusiastically introduced the vegetarian dishes of Hulong Temple to the Fourth Prince. Already delicious, the vegetarian dishes seemed even tastier under Zhao Yao’s compliments. The Fourth Prince, who usually only ate two bowls of rice, found himself eating an extra bowl unknowingly. The Fourth Prince held high standards for himself. He calculated precisely how much he would eat each meal, never overeating. No matter how delicious the food, he would not indulge. Yet today he ate an extra bowl of rice, breaking his own rule, which made him very regretful. Thus, he dragged Zhao Yao to walk in Hulong Temple to aid digestion. "Fourth Brother, we’ve been walking for an hour, isn’t that enough? It’s just an extra bowl of rice, do you really need to go that far?" "Not enough, let’s walk another hour." Zhao Yao sat directly on the ground, "I’m not walking anymore." The Fourth Prince came back and pulled Zhao Yao up, holding his hand to continue walking. "Fourth Brother, I can’t walk any further, I don’t want to walk..." "We ate too much tonight, we must walk more, or else we’ll suffer from indigestion." The Fourth Prince firmly led Zhao Yao to continue the walk. Zhao Yao mischievously clung to the Fourth Prince, letting the Fourth Prince "carry" him. The Fourth Prince let him cling like a plaster, "After we walk another hour, we’ll go back and copy Buddhist scriptures." "Fourth Brother, I really can’t walk anymore." Zhao Yao sat down again, hugging the Fourth Prince’s leg persistently. Seeing Zhao Yao’s antics, the Fourth Prince said helplessly, "Then let’s go back." Upon hearing "let’s go back," Zhao Yao stood up abruptly and strode towards their quarters, which was the Crown Prince’s Courtyard. The Eighth Prince resided in the Crown Prince’s Courtyard, and when Zhao Yao came to Hulong Temple, he stayed in the room next to the Eighth Prince. When the Fourth Prince arrived, worried about Zhao Yao, he stayed with him in the same room. Under normal circumstances, the Fourth Prince would never have stayed next door to the Eighth Prince. The Eighth Prince had an inexplicable dislike for the Fourth Prince, and the feeling was mutual for the Fourth Prince. The two were disdainful of each other. Returning to the courtyard where the Crown Prince resided, the first person to greet should have been the Crown Prince, but the Crown Prince was spending the night in the Main Hall to chant scriptures and pray for the late Empress, and was not in the courtyard. Zhao Yao first went to check on the Eighth Prince. He arrived just as the Eighth Prince woke. "Eighth Brother, you’re awake." Seeing the Eighth Prince awake, Zhao Yao was overjoyed. Seeing Zhao Yao’s bright smile, a faint smile appeared on the Eighth Prince’s pale face. However, the moment he saw the Fourth Prince behind Zhao Yao, the smile disappeared instantly. Zhao Yao approached the Eighth Prince’s bedside and asked with concern, "Eighth Brother, how do you feel, any better?" 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞 "A bit better." Yu Hai, standing aside, said, "Your Highness, he just had a bowl of porridge." "That’s great," Zhao Yao said happily, "Eating shows you’re getting better, Eighth Brother." The Fourth Prince stood behind Zhao Yao, saying nothing. "Eighth Brother, you need to eat more now, that’s how you’ll recover faster." Zhao Yao did not stay long with the Eighth Prince. The Eighth Prince was weak and should not speak much. Shortly after, he left the Eighth Prince’s room and returned to his own. "Fourth Brother, why haven’t Father and the others found out who’s behind all this yet?" Zhao Yao originally thought the Emperor and others would find out the mastermind within two days, but it had been almost three days with no news. "Who sent people to assassinate the Crown Prince?" The Fourth Prince didn’t know who the mastermind was either, as there were too many suspects, but he was sure the mastermind was among them. "Father will surely find out, don’t worry about it." "True." Zhao Yao stopped discussing the matter and focused on the new arithmetic book the Fourth Prince had brought today. The Fourth Prince lowered his head and continued copying Buddhist scriptures. Zhao Yao wrote arithmetic for a while when a sudden realization struck him. Wait, is it possible that this assassination was staged by the Crown Prince himself, framing Second Brother for the crime of assassinating the Crown Prince? It’s not impossible. The more Zhao Yao thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. The Crown Prince likely wouldn’t have thought of such a plan, it must have been Duke Zhen’s idea. With Duke Zhen’s cunning, he wouldn’t directly frame Second Brother, he would instead cleverly plant clues pointing to Second Brother. If it truly was the Crown Prince orchestrating it, then Eighth Brother’s serious injury was truly an unforeseen disaster. However, since Eighth Brother was injured saving the Crown Prince, the Crown Prince would certainly value and treat Eighth Brother well in the future. Treat Eighth Brother well... Zhao Yao had another thought: could this assassination have been orchestrated not by the Crown Prince, but by Eighth Brother... Startled by his own thoughts, Zhao Yao quickly shook his head, denying it in his heart. It couldn’t be, Eighth Brother was nearly killed, he wouldn’t do that to his own... Then Zhao Yao suddenly thought of Eighth Prince’s potential to be ruthless... If it was Eighth Brother... it’s not impossible... Thinking the mastermind could possibly be the Eighth Prince made Zhao Yao draw a sharp breath in shock. If it really was Eighth Brother, what would be his purpose? Could it be to earn greater trust and reliance from the Crown Prince? Eighth Brother always stayed by the Crown Prince’s side, and the Crown Prince trusted him quite a bit. He didn’t need to go to such lengths, since Eighth Brother relied on the Crown Prince to live well in the palace. It’s said the assassins had been lurking at Hulong Temple for a long time, with the attack on the Crown Prince being long-prepared. Eighth Brother must have had a deeper purpose. To intensify the rivalry between the Crown Prince and Second Brother? Not likely. Eighth Brother still needed to depend on the Crown Prince, and needed to lie low by the Crown Prince’s side, so it was unlikely he’d cause trouble now. If it was to deal with Second Brother, there was no need to go that far. Besides, taking down Second Brother now wouldn’t benefit Eighth Brother at all. If not targeting the Crown Prince or Second Brother, then perhaps Third Brother’s group? Had the Wang Family, Xun Family, or Yuan Family behind Third Brother’s group offended Eighth Brother somehow, or was there something Eighth Brother needed? No, it’s said the assassins were suicide squad members, where would Eighth Brother get suicide squad members from? Suicide squads are usually cultivated by established families. Eighth Brother didn’t have maternal relatives. Even if he did, they were ordinary civilians and wouldn’t have the ability to cultivate suicide squads. Then it’s not Eighth Brother. Zhao Yao dismissed the thought of the Eighth Prince being the mastermind, but he still felt in his heart that the Eighth Prince was behind it.