After the physicians and female doctors from the medical hall had taken the injured students back to be cared for, the scene still held many people — but with the Ninth Prince’s arrival, the situation was swiftly brought under control.
The guards were conducting a sweep of everyone present. It was said that anyone who had handled a thunderbolt grenade would carry some trace of its scent.
Feng Jiu’er could still pick out the smell of gunpowder herself. Apart from the brothers who had been wounded just now, the others had been standing far enough away that they should not have picked up much of the scent at all.
Very quickly, Feng Jiu’er joined the search effort herself.
She went through them one by one, smelling carefully — aside from a handful who carried the faintest traces, including herself, Mu Mu, and Xiao Yingtao, she detected nothing suspicious on the other students.
As for the injured students — because they had been wounded, they had all been carried back for treatment. Since they had been hurt themselves, they were unlikely to be the hidden assailant.
Then who, exactly, had made the move?
What was supposed to have been a pleasant barbeque had ended up like this. It truly was a lamentable turn of events.
Huo Yan immediately came forward to plead guilty: “Your Highness, it is this subordinate’s failure to maintain proper supervision. I await your punishment!”
Something like this happening at the back of the mountain, with so many brothers wounded — someone had to come forward to bear responsibility. Otherwise, there would be no way to give an account to the academy and to the innocent students.
Regardless of what had happened, before the culprit was apprehended, someone had to take responsibility for tonight’s incident.
Zhan Qingcheng said nothing. His gaze was cold, not a single word leaving him — yet this silence alone pressed down on every person present with an immense and suffocating weight.
One by one, in the darkness of the night, heads were lowered, not a soul daring to breathe too loudly.
It was impossible to say how long had passed before the Ninth Prince finally asked, in an indifferent tone: “Tonight’s gathering — who was in charge?”
“This subordinate.” Huo Yan naturally had to bear full responsibility.
But Feng Jiu’er stepped forward, her voice steady: “Your Highness, tonight’s gathering — it was proposed by me.”
Zhan Qingcheng’s gaze fell on the back of her hand. He had noticed the injury there early on, but in order to attend to the wounded students, she had paid it no heed whatsoever.
Even now, she continued to ignore it, letting the wound sit on the back of her hand, overlooked entirely.
Zhan Qingcheng withdrew his gaze and, unexpectedly, turned and walked away: “Confine her to Mingyue Court — she is not to leave without this Prince’s permission. Those who showed suspicious signs just now are to be temporarily detained at the Martial Hall.”
He left. Huo Yan walked over to Feng Jiu’er, looking somewhat troubled: “Jiu’er… you should head back to Mingyue Court.”
The Prince’s reprimand appeared to have placed the blame squarely on Feng Jiu’er’s shoulders — but it was only confinement, and to Mingyue Court, the very place where she lived and spent her days ordinarily. It wasn’t much at all.
Still, being called to account in front of so many people was, in the end, a loss of face.
Once Zhan Qingcheng and Yu Jingfeng and the others had departed, Huo Yan said quietly: “Jiu’er, please.”
“Very well.” Feng Jiu’er dipped her head and followed behind Huo Yan, walking toward the academy’s rear gate — and found it entirely reasonable.
As for the other students — even though they had still been unable to identify who had struck tonight, since the culprit had not yet been found, the only course for now was to impose some further inconvenience upon the few whose bodies had carried faint traces of the thunderbolt grenade’s scent.
In addition to Mu Mu, there was Xiao Yingtao, and a handful of other students.
Mu Mu glanced toward Feng Jiu’er, then followed the guards without a word.
Feng Jiu’er walked away too. What had been a lively and festive gathering at the back of the mountain had ended up like this — no one could have expected it.
Qiao Mu was also staying at Mingyue Court now, so with Feng Jiu’er heading back, she had no choice but to return with her.
Yet no one had expected that inside the chambers of Mingyue Court, an additional figure would be waiting.
“Seventh Princess?” Feng Jiu’er startled, struck entirely dumb. “What are you doing here?”
Zhan Luori’s attention was drawn to the wound on the back of her hand. Without saying a word, she reached into her own trunk, pulled out a small vial of medicine, and tossed it over.
Feng Jiu’er caught it, then suddenly remembered: “Hong Ying was injured.”
“I know. The imperial physician is attending to her now — the injury is not severe. It is fine.”
It’s fine? Did she have any idea how terrifying it was for a young woman to have her face wounded? And the Seventh Princess was saying it was fine.
Was it that her relationship with Hong Ying was truly that indifferent — or did having one’s face injured genuinely not count as a serious matter in the Seventh Princess’s eyes?
However one looked at this Seventh Princess, she simply did not appear to be much of a young lady at all. Her bearing, her manner, even the things she valued — all of it had a bold, dashing quality, like a man.
Qiao Mu gave a bow: “Greetings, Seventh Princess.”
Zhan Luori glanced back at her, giving only a casual nod — not particularly warm: “This Princess will be sleeping here tonight. You may go to the room next door.”
But Qiao Mu looked toward Feng Jiu’er, and Feng Jiu’er’s brow knitted slightly: “Seventh Princess, you intend to sleep here?”
“It was Huo Yan who had it arranged. Is that not acceptable?” Zhan Luori raised an eyebrow, her gaze falling once more on the back of Feng Jiu’er’s hand. “See to your wound first.”
Feng Jiu’er let out a small breath, feeling a touch helpless. She gave Qiao Mu a nod, then sat down on the bed, took out a small vial of some sort of medicinal liquid, and began cleaning the wound.
Qiao Mu gathered her belongings and, stepping out of the door, found Huo Yan right there — he had come in person to arrange her lodgings — indeed in the very room next door.
Feng Jiu’er’s injury was not serious, merely a scrape, but with Zhan Luori here, it all felt somewhat uncomfortable.
Though they were both women, Zhan Luori had very little of a young lady’s air about her. She was so tall and imposing besides, which occasionally gave one an odd illusion — as though a grown man had wandered in wearing the wrong clothes.
And besides, the two of them were not close. Sharing a room with someone unfamiliar — someone who was virtually a stranger — inevitably carried a certain awkwardness.
To avoid sinking further into a silence with nothing to say, she stood up: “I am going to bathe and rest. Seventh Princess, would you care to join?”
There was a bathing area at the back — something like a communal bathhouse in a more modern sense, shared by everyone, though each person’s space was separated by curtains, so it was not too awkward.
Zhan Luori’s expression shifted subtly, her brow creasing slightly: “No. I have already bathed and changed. Go by yourself.”
Feng Jiu’er shrugged: “Then I’ll go on my own.”
The original intention had been to find some common ground with her — after all, the better they knew each other, the less awkward it would be to live together.
Judging by the two large trunks she had brought, it gave one the distinct feeling that she intended to stay a while — to live here for at least some stretch of time.
Feng Jiu’er had always been someone who adapted easily to her circumstances. Now that Zhan Luori had come and settled herself here, what else could she do but try to get along?
Only… something told her that Zhan Luori moving in here was not nearly as simple as it appeared…
Slipping out through the rear door, she called out lightly: “Qiao Mu, come bathe.”
Qiao Mu immediately grabbed her change of clothes and came out through the rear door of the room next door, falling into step beside her toward the bathhouse.
The bathhouse was not far from the rooms, though it was not directly connected. Zhan Luori’s expression did not change — but she hesitated at the rear door.
She seemed to want to step outside and take a look, but then appeared to think of something, and a strange look crossed her face. She wavered for a moment, and in the end only leaned in the doorway, gazing at the quiet room within, lost in thoughts that no one else could fathom.