Staying at the hunting grounds without hunting or holding evening banquets—even those below who wanted to pretend they knew nothing couldn’t manage it. Both inside and outside the temporary palace were shrouded in an eerie silence.
Fortunately, on the evening of the day the Grand Secretaries departed, news came that the hunt would proceed as normal the next day, with an evening banquet as well.
Song Chuyi had already attracted enough attention in the previous days, so naturally she didn’t want to join any more excitement at this time. Nestled in her tent, she listened to Qing Ying report news from the capital, “I heard that when the Imperial Guard went to raid and confiscate the Li residence, it wasn’t Commissioner Chen Xiang who went, but Commander Lai Chenglong.”
As she spoke, she suppressed a smile and handed over a letter, saying it was from Lai Chenglong, “Commander Lai said that last time he didn’t handle things properly—he left the person with your people and departed, completely forgetting to ask whether you could manage or not. This contains his apology gift.”
Not apologizing sooner or later, but choosing this moment to send an apology? It was clearly because he knew that Cui Shaoting and others had been fanning the flames behind Prince Duan’s affair this time. With Chen Xiang also implicated, Lai naturally advanced further—he had come to send a thank-you gift.
Song Chuyi wanted to laugh a bit, but after pulling the letter from the envelope, she couldn’t laugh anymore. She furrowed her brow and let out a cold laugh.
In the previous years, she’d been busy entangling with Song Chuning, then Han Zhi appeared. Now that she’d finally freed her hands to plan to completely eliminate Prince Duan, this person who kept trying to dig pits for them behind their backs, she had forgotten that Prince Duan still seemed to have a dog that could bite.
Chen Xiang was deeply calculating and patient. These past few years as Imperial Guard Commissioner, he had not only kept his tail between his legs but also started doing good deeds—not only had he stopped creating unjust cases, he had even gone to the imperial prison to redress grievances for those inmates, uncovering many who truly had been wronged. Just the documentation alone reportedly filled three entire rooms of the Northern Pacification Office.
It seemed he hadn’t completely withdrawn after all. Otherwise, at this moment, he wouldn’t be so desperate as to think of causing her trouble. Song Chuyi placed the letter on the table, contemplating where Chen Xiang would strike from.
In the letter, Lai Chenglong told her that Chen Xiang had probably learned the news from Prince Duan and suspected this affair couldn’t be unrelated to her, so he had decided to eliminate the threat at its roots.
For people like this, making up their minds was sometimes a matter of a single thought, especially for those like Prince Duan and Chen Xiang who licked blood from knife edges. When pushed into a corner, they wouldn’t beg for mercy but would try every means for mutual destruction, dragging their enemies down to hell together.
Song Chuyi didn’t think there was anything wrong with this. Just like in her previous life when she was about to die, her heart had been full of resentment and regret. If she had possessed Chen Xiang’s and Prince Duan’s capabilities then, she wouldn’t have been willing to die so quietly either. At the very least, she would have dragged Song Chuning and Shen Qingrang down to hell together, or at least pulled a few people down to accompany Song Yan in death.
But this was also an opportunity. Chen Xiang had been entrenched in the Imperial Guard for too long—even Xingfu’s affair hadn’t managed to pull him down. Even if this matter with Prince Duan would implicate him, he probably wouldn’t die so easily in the short term. Striking a snake without hitting its vital point, unable to deliver a killing blow, would only bring endless future troubles. If he turned to Zhou Weiqi, that would truly be the beginning of disaster.
So the fear was precisely that Chen Xiang wouldn’t act. If he truly struck this time, she could make him fall into misfortune along with Prince Duan.
Seeing her expression suddenly change, Qing Ying thought something urgent had occurred and asked with her heart in her throat, “Miss, what happened?”
She vaguely knew that the Cui and Song families were both involved in Prince Duan’s affair this time, and moreover that Song Chuyi had devised the strategy. She immediately wondered whether there was a problem with the plan that caused Song Chuyi’s expression to suddenly change.
Lai Chenglong had mentioned in his letter that Emperor Jianzhang hadn’t summoned Chen Xiang back to handle the Li family matter this time, nor had he indicated Chen Xiang should return with the Grand Secretaries to await orders. This meant Emperor Jianzhang was deliberately isolating Chen Xiang from this affair—probably the Xingfu matter had still left some lingering resentment in Emperor Jianzhang’s heart. Previously bringing Chen Xiang along had been a sign of favor, but now the implications might not be the same.
Chen Xiang was so close by, and his men were all Imperial Guards who killed without blinking. If he truly wanted to do something to her, there were plenty of methods at the hunting grounds. She alone couldn’t guard against everything—she could only seek help.
Since it concerned the Imperial Guard, Song Chuyi couldn’t drag Zhou Weizhao or Ye Jingchuan into this. After thinking it over, she told Qing Ying, “Make a trip to my aunt’s place.”
But they went at an inopportune time. Madam Cui had a visitor—and the visitor was none other than Master Yuanhui, the eminent monk from Huangjue Temple who had been specifically named by Emperor Jianzhang to accompany them and was now staying at the Tongyuan Temple outside.
Song Chuyi had a deep impression of this Master Yuanhui—it had been he who debated scriptures with Master Yuankong at Huangjue Temple back then, delaying them for an entire day. Now he had suddenly appeared at Princess Duanhui’s residence…
Seeing her remain silent, Madam Cui smiled and beckoned to her, “This is truly an inexplicable fate—we were just mentioning you, and here you are. Come quickly and pay your respects to Master Yuanhui.”
The people of Great Zhou devoutly believed in both Buddhism and Taoism. Both monks and Taoists held transcendent status in Great Zhou. Zhang Tianshi of the Taoist Longhu Mountain and Master Yuankong of the Buddhist Huangjue Temple were both highly revered enlightened masters whom even Emperor Jianzhang regarded with special favor.
Princess Duanhui was no exception. She had always worried about Song Chuyi’s destiny—in her dream, she wasn’t long-lived. She feared this dream would come true and often worried so much she couldn’t sleep. After corresponding several times with her mother-in-law far away in Jinzhong, they unanimously decided that when the time came, they would take Song Chuyi to Longhu Mountain to have Zhang Tianshi divine her fate. However, they had never been able to make the trip.
Now that Master Yuanhui had suddenly appeared unexpectedly, it stirred up her concerns even more. She pulled Song Chuyi to pay her respects, then got straight to the point asking Master Yuanhui to read her face, “What is this child’s destiny?”
Master Yuanhui asked Princess Duanhui for Song Chuyi’s birth date and time, then raised his eyes to look at her, “This young lady has two destinies—truly a rare occurrence.”
Song Chuyi’s fate in the dream and her current fate were completely different—wouldn’t that make two destinies? This statement precisely addressed Princess Duanhui’s concerns. She glanced at Song Chuyi and quickly asked, “Two destinies? What does that mean?”
Song Chuyi looked at her own palm, inwardly sneering coldly.
Master Yuanhui looked at her carefully, “One dies young, one reaches extreme nobility. Yet both share one thing—she must first overcome her parents.”
Princess Duanhui was so anxious her voice changed pitch. Shocked, she gripped Song Chuyi’s hand, thinking of the departed Madam Cui. She nodded hurriedly, “She has already overcome them.”
Master Yuanhui smiled slightly, “If so, there’s nothing else to say. Both destinies from here onward show the Star of Calamity—indicating bloodshed and disaster.”