No matter what waves the events in the capital stirred up, in the courtyard where Jiang Ruan was staying, she could hear not a whisper of news. The mute maid could not speak, and her only companions besides the white dog used as cover were the child in her womb. Days passed, and Jiang Ruan could feel her lower abdomen gradually swelling. Even touching it with her hand, she could clearly feel the protrusion. Now she wore looser clothing daily, and with only the mute maid seeing her, it remained undetected for the time being. But this couldn’t continue indefinitely – as time passed, her pregnancy would become more and more obvious. The people she came into contact with wouldn’t be limited to just the mute maid, so each additional day brought additional danger.
Being completely cut off from the outside world, she had no idea what the current situation was. Jiang Ruan couldn’t help feeling anxious, but now she only wanted to properly protect the child in her womb. Other matters could only be considered after ensuring the child’s safety.
This day, after Jiang Ruan had finished her meal – though the mute maid had prepared more food and added more meat using the white dog as an excuse, for someone with child, these things were far from sufficient. Moreover, Jiang Ruan had old chronic ailments and her constitution was weaker than others, so over this period she had become much more frail.
She leaned against the soft couch, casually flipping through some storybooks deliberately prepared on the table, but her gaze didn’t flow across the pages at all – she was lost in thought about her own situation. Until an unfamiliar voice spoke: “Princess Hong’an.”
Jiang Ruan looked up to see a gray-robed man standing at the door. This man wore a mask covering half his left face, revealing only half his cheek. A pair of azure fox-like eyes appeared somewhat eerie. Who else could this be but Yuan Chuan?
Jiang Ruan’s heart jumped slightly. Now that she was with child, her reactions had become increasingly sluggish – she hadn’t even noticed when someone had entered the room. She didn’t rise, remaining motionless on the couch, her loose clothing’s front panel perfectly concealing her swollen abdomen.
Yuan Chuan slowly walked in, revealing a smile on his face. With only half his face visible for expression, it appeared particularly eerie. He seated himself uninvited on the wooden chair before Jiang Ruan and spoke leisurely: “Long time no see. The Princess has grown much more haggard.”
Jiang Ruan said nothing. Yuan Chuan continued: “A few days ago I saw Prince Xiao, who also appeared much thinner. Truly husband and wife united in heart – Yuan Chuan greatly admires this.”
“The envoy’s visit today is probably not merely to discuss these matters with me,” Jiang Ruan spoke. “What business brings you here?”
Yuan Chuan smiled: “The Princess is indeed still so forthright in character, though seeming somewhat anxious. To be honest, Yuan Chuan’s visit today is indeed not for reminiscing, but to inform the Princess of something.”
Jiang Ruan’s gaze settled on him, her tone very calm: “What matter?”
Yuan Chuan paused before speaking slowly: “General Jiang has entered the dungeon, the Thirteenth Prince is under house arrest, and Miss Zhao, who was already engaged to General Jiang, now bears the crime of murder. Oh, no – not just Miss Zhao, but the entire Zhao family now bears the name of plotting against His Majesty and likely cannot be preserved.”
Jiang Ruan listened quietly, showing no emotional fluctuation at Yuan Chuan’s words. Seeing this scene, Yuan Chuan’s eyes flickered slightly, involuntarily wanting to observe Jiang Ruan’s expression more carefully.
Xuan Li was about to begin acting, and before that, he needed to test Jiang Ruan one final time. At this crucial moment, Xuan Li couldn’t show himself, and the Saintess harbored private emotions toward Jiang Ruan. Yuan Chuan didn’t believe Dan Zhen could gain anything useful from questioning Jiang Ruan, so he had to appear personally. He knew Jiang Ruan was treacherous and cunning, but after saying these words, Jiang Ruan showed not a single flaw. Yuan Chuan couldn’t help feeling somewhat suspicious.
One was her own older brother, one was her close friend, and another concerned her future master’s prospects. No matter what, Jiang Ruan shouldn’t maintain this indifferent attitude. But Jiang Ruan had always known how to control her emotions – perhaps she was just playing dumb to catch the enemy off guard.
“Envoy,” Jiang Ruan spoke while Yuan Chuan’s thoughts were racing, “Now I should call you Southern Border Envoy. Your Saintess once met with me, and from her words, it seemed you want to occupy all the Great Jin Dynasty’s territory. Perhaps I shouldn’t call it wishful thinking, but Southern Border is just a small nation. Even at your peak national strength, you weren’t the Jin Dynasty’s match. Why such arrogance now?”
Jiang Ruan didn’t pick up Yuan Chuan’s topic but discussed another matter instead. Yuan Chuan’s expression shifted slightly, then he smiled: “Is the Princess perhaps concerned about our Southern Border?”
“Concern isn’t quite right – people always enjoy watching excitement,” Jiang Ruan smiled. “I don’t know what agreement your nation reached with the Eighth Prince, but looking at the current situation, I’m somewhat confused. Your nation wholeheartedly wants to bring down the Thirteenth Prince and elevate the Eighth Prince – could it be you’re just making wedding clothes for others? Forgive my frankness, but our Eighth Prince is not someone who would hand over territory.”
“In worldly matters, where there’s gain, there’s loss. The transaction with the Eighth Prince naturally achieved equal conditions,” Yuan Chuan changed the subject. “Since Southern Border and the Eighth Prince are already allies, and the Eighth Prince’s situation looks excellent, we’re naturally overjoyed. But isn’t the Princess worried about your older brother?”
Jiang Ruan smiled slightly: “My brother has never committed any crime. Even if temporarily imprisoned, the truth will eventually come to light. Why should I worry?”
She spoke with such confidence that Yuan Chuan grew even more suspicious. Could Jiang Ruan still have some hidden move? But he couldn’t figure out what, his gaze falling on the large white dog dozing in the room’s corner. He knew Jiang Ruan had asked the mute maid for a dog, and initially wondered if there was some trick involved. But after long observation, he really found nothing suspicious. Jiang Ruan was watched by countless people whenever she left the room – how could she play any tricks? Moreover, she rarely left the room. A woman who couldn’t even leave her door naturally couldn’t stir up any trouble.
But if Jiang Ruan really just wanted a big white dog for loneliness, something still felt wrong. Yuan Chuan had a headache for the first time. He suddenly realized that Great Jin Dynasty women had more treacherous minds than Southern Border women, extremely difficult to fathom. Especially Jiang Ruan – she was the worst of all. He said casually: “The Princess isn’t deceiving me, is she? If truly at ease, why feed the dog so carelessly that it’s grown so thin?”
The large white dog looked gaunt. Jiang Ruan was slightly startled – she ate daily using the white dog’s name as excuse, but an animal’s growth was directly apparent. This dog had probably been fed too well before, and now after just a short time, it looked quite skeletal and obviously strange.
She said nothing. This silence made Yuan Chuan somewhat relieved, and he relaxed. He thought Jiang Ruan must be deliberately bluffing. Now that the overall situation was decided, whatever else happened probably couldn’t be turned around. If so, he could tell Xuan Li to act immediately without delay.
Yuan Chuan’s mood suddenly improved. He looked at Jiang Ruan – this woman had always been a thorn in the Saintess’s heart. As the Saintess’s most trusted advisor, his life’s purpose was to clear all obstacles from the Saintess’s path. Qi Man and Xuan Li wanted to keep Jiang Ruan to exchange for Xiao Shao’s power, but Dan Zhen only wanted Jiang Ruan dead. He would ultimately achieve this goal for Dan Zhen. He would find a way to sabotage Xuan Li’s transaction. Once Jiang Ruan was rescued by Xiao Shao, it would be much harder to act against her later. Yuan Chuan already had an idea for how to make this woman die without raising suspicion. He stood up again, looking down at Jiang Ruan: “Originally Yuan Chuan came today thinking the Princess was alone and unaware of outside circumstances, specifically to inform you. But seeing the Princess’s calm mind, not troubled by this, Yuan Chuan is satisfied. The Princess needn’t feel too melancholy – once the overall situation is settled, we’ll certainly provide the Princess a place to settle.”
Having said this, he left laughing heartily, not glancing at Jiang Ruan again, as if completely confident. After Yuan Chuan left, the calm expression on Jiang Ruan’s face gradually faded, her eyes showing a trace of relief mixed with tension.
Yuan Chuan’s special visit to inform her showed that Xuan Li had begun acting. Everything was developing as she’d expected. Since Yuan Chuan came specifically to test her, it could only mean the other side hadn’t discovered anything suspicious. Today she’d performed according to Yuan Chuan’s expectations precisely because she knew Yuan Chuan would report the test results to Xuan Li. With Xuan Li reassured, he would begin acting. She had to quickly push Xuan Li into action.
Everything here was predictable – the only unpredictable thing was her pregnancy and how well-hidden this place was that no one had found her yet. This made the child in her womb very dangerous. She didn’t know how long the white dog disguise would work, but each additional day brought additional danger. Today, for instance, had been extremely perilous.
Yuan Chuan left the room and happened to see the mute maid carrying leftover food to wash dishes. Yuan Chuan noticed very little food remained, while the plates and bowls appeared quite large. He was first startled, then asked: “This is prepared dog food?”
The mute maid opened her mouth “ah ah” and nodded randomly. Yuan Chuan frowned: “Eating so much, how is it still so skeletal…” The food in the mute maid’s hands looked substantial, but the white dog he’d seen at Jiang Ruan’s place today didn’t look plump at all – it was actually quite thin. Normally, Yuan Chuan wouldn’t notice such small matters, but anything related to Jiang Ruan made him feel things weren’t simple – he had to get to the bottom of it. So looking at this, he pondered hard.
The mute maid stumbled and accidentally dropped the plates on the ground. Yuan Chuan snapped out of his thoughts, looking with some disgust at the mess on the ground. Unable to figure out the reason, he turned and left in frustration.
In the Jinying Prince’s mansion, Xiao Shao changed into official robes. Since he rarely attended court and mostly traveled outside, he seldom wore official robes, so they were still quite new. The golden embroidered qilin was very imposing – once he changed into these fine clothes, he immediately appeared majestic and dignified.
He was naturally handsome, a stunning beauty even in crowds, but today a strange man accompanied him. This man wore dark red court robes with floral patterns in a somewhat old style, seeming like a design from years past. Yet on this man, it didn’t appear outdated at all, but had the mellow fragrance of aged wine.
This was an extremely handsome middle-aged man. Even now his features were very distinct, not to mention his youthful splendor. He seemed to have a scholar’s refined elegance mixed with casual worldliness, giving an interwoven feeling between maturity and youth.
This man looked at Xiao Shao: “Master, let’s go.”
Outside the mansion, two horses stood tethered side by side – one black, one white. Xiao Shao leaped onto the black steed while the man naturally mounted the white one. They spurred their horses and rode off. Behind them on the mansion’s rooftop, Jin San spat out the grass he’d been chewing: “Never expected Steward Lin to really be a handsome man. Previously thought he was talking nonsense.”
Jin Si shook his head: “You can’t judge by appearance. When this person gets serious, he looks somewhat unfamiliar.”
These days, almost everyone in the Jinying Prince’s mansion had noticed Steward Lin’s changes – more youthful and handsome each day. Besides disguise techniques, there was probably no way to make someone more attractive in this world. And disguises were usually instantaneous – how could there be such gradual progression? But the Imperial Guards had all traveled the martial world for years and were well-experienced. Watching carefully, they understood the secret. Steward Lin had probably previously taken some drug to make himself ugly and old, concealing his appearance. Now he’d probably taken an antidote and was gradually returning to his original looks.
“Searching so long for an antidote, he must be very happy,” Jin San sighed. “Now no one will doubt his claims of being a handsome man.” From ugly to beautiful – anyone would feel happy. Who would dislike being good-looking? Steward Lin also cared about appearance. Even in his previous state, he’d often comment on his looks. Now with a face matching his clothes, wasn’t this life’s great joy?
“Not necessarily,” Jin Si shook his head. “All these years, he honestly played a steward’s role. He might not have been unaware of ways to restore his appearance. Just like we must hide our identities on missions, Steward Lin probably did this to conceal his identity too.”
“Then why restore his appearance now?” Jin San felt Jin Si made sense but still didn’t understand.
Jin Si sighed: “Probably something happened that forced him to reclaim his identity. His previous concealment is now useless. Haven’t you noticed Old Lin’s personality is becoming less and less like Old Lin?”
Jin Si lay down with hands behind his head: “The Jinying Prince’s mansion is about to lose Old Lin.”
The old Lin was gone. Once that handsome middle-aged man reclaimed his original identity, he probably wouldn’t return to be a small steward. Such a person must have great background.
Jin San also fell silent, saying after a long while: “Hope they have a smooth journey and don’t waste sacrificing Old Lin’s identity.”
Upon entering the palace, Xiao Shao and Steward Lin immediately separated at the entrance, obviously taking different routes. Steward Lin walked through the garden via the front corridor. His appearance was completely unfamiliar, so eunuchs and guards came to stop him. But Steward Lin casually removed a bronze token from his waist and waved it before the guards. The guards were shocked, seemingly unable to believe what they saw, and looked at the token again before reluctantly stepping aside. After Steward Lin passed, they continued staring at him.
A curious little eunuch approached eagerly: “Brother, what did that person show you? Why did you let him pass? He looked completely unfamiliar.”
“What do you know?” The guard quickly urged him to lower his voice, answering: “He held the late Prince Hongxi’s passage token. There are only two such tokens – I’ve only seen one once. Eunuch Li has one, but after Prince Hongxi left, Eunuch Li never used it. Never expected to see one today.” At this point, the guard was also puzzled: “But who is that person to have such an item? He seemed very familiar with the palace, not like a stranger. Could he be an old friend of Prince Hongxi?”
Indeed, in the palace’s complex pathways, Steward Lin walked steadily. Though many things had changed over the years and the palace had added many gardens and courtyards, the general layout remained unchanged – just like human hearts, the easiest and hardest things to change. Steward Lin’s feelings were very complex. He couldn’t describe his current emotions. If possible, he’d rather never enter the palace again. His prospects, glory, ambitions, and close friends had all been buried in this cold palace. Steward Lin understood the palace’s cruelty better than anyone. But he still came today – not for anything else, but for a promise.
He walked toward Cining Palace.
Aunt Yang carefully massaged Empress Dowager Yide’s shoulders. Her technique was perfect – having served Empress Dowager Yide for decades, Aunt Yang was always so considerate. Usually at this time, Empress Dowager Yide would be completely comfortable under her care, but today, her brow never relaxed, as if encountering some unsolvable problem, remaining tightly furrowed.
Aunt Yang silently sighed. News of Xuan Pei’s possible regicide ultimately couldn’t be hidden. Even trying to conceal it completely, with such an opportunity to attack Xuan Pei, how could the Eighth Prince’s faction let it pass? Now memorials flying throughout court all hoped to quickly establish an heir – the Thirteenth Prince lacked virtue and was unfit to be emperor, while the Eighth Prince was the undisputed future master of the Great Jin Dynasty. Though these voices weren’t openly clamorous, they’d almost spread throughout the entire court. Xuan Pei was under house arrest and naturally unaware of outside events, which was perhaps fortunate. Aunt Yang thought that child was just young – facing such fratricide and moral confusion at this age was too cruel.
These cruel realities Xuan Pei didn’t directly face, so all pressure fell on Empress Dowager Yide. The Empress Dowager ruling behind the curtain couldn’t last too long, or she’d face universal criticism, like a previous dynasty’s Empress Dowager who personally governed after the emperor’s death. No matter how well she ruled, she ultimately couldn’t escape being called a demon empress and was eventually overthrown by officials and the regent prince.
If Empress Dowager Yide continued not taking a stance, ministers would think she wanted to control politics herself. But once Xuan Pei was involved in this matter, Empress Dowager Yide couldn’t openly support him. Under current court conditions, some of Xuan Pei’s original followers had also defected, while Xuan Li’s forces were much more numerous.
Aunt Yang understood Empress Dowager Yide’s thoughts. Originally the Emperor wanted to establish Xiao Shao as heir, but Xiao Shao never had such intentions. Empress Dowager Yide felt she owed Xiao Shao and couldn’t ignore his wishes. If Xiao Shao didn’t want to be emperor, Empress Dowager Yide naturally wouldn’t force him. Between the remaining Eighth and Thirteenth Princes, frankly speaking, Empress Dowager Yide choosing either side wouldn’t harm her. She remained the imperial grandmother – neither Xuan Pei nor Xuan Li could do anything to her unless they wanted to be drowned in the people’s saliva.
With Empress Dowager Yide’s original nature, she definitely wouldn’t act. But the Jinying Prince’s mansion had clearly indicated standing with Xuan Pei, representing Xiao Shao’s attitude. Though this was certainly due to Jiang Ruan, later facts proved that since Xuan Li had unclear relationships with Southern Border, in Empress Dowager Yide’s view, he was an unusable chess piece.
So Empress Dowager Yide wouldn’t publicly support Xuan Li. Even if the tide was turning, Empress Dowager Yide would endure countless pressures and hold on. This woman, even in the bloodiest and most cruel times, was like an iron mirror, never yielding to anyone.
“Your Majesty, now…” Aunt Yang finally couldn’t help asking the question that had long puzzled her: “Why do you struggle so hard? What is it for?”
“To wait for an opportunity,” Empress Dowager Yide said with closed eyes.
“An opportunity… is it the Thirteenth Prince’s opportunity?” Aunt Yang asked.
“If he only has the ability to wait, then he needn’t think about that position,” Empress Dowager Yide opened her eyes, her gaze full of clarity and sharpness, with some other emotion flashing by that Aunt Yang didn’t catch.
“Your Majesty has worked so hard,” Aunt Yang said softly. The palace’s gloom never lifted for a day, and outsiders could only see a small part of what Empress Dowager Yide did within it.
Just as she was thinking, a young eunuch’s announcement came from outside: “Report to Your Majesty, someone outside holds a token requesting audience—”
The little eunuch presented the token with both hands. Aunt Yang received it and handed it to Empress Dowager Yide. When Empress Dowager Yide’s gaze touched the token, she first froze, as if falling into some memory. Then her expression suddenly sharpened, and she said gravely: “Bring him in!”