Prince Xuan’s mansion was located in the northern part of the city, occupying an extremely vast area. Even though Qin Zhiyan was a man of simple tastes, the necessary surface formalities still had to be observed. The entire royal mansion was imposing yet retained an air of serene elegance. Three to four hundred mansion servants stood at the entrance, waiting like soldiers under inspection for Qingxia’s review.
Lian Zhou introduced them one by one: “Miss, this is the mansion’s head steward Uncle Xiang. He is the husband of His Lordship’s wet nurse and has served in the mansion for ten years.”
Qingxia nodded and bowed politely: “Uncle Xiang.”
The fifty-year-old man in blue robes had an honest appearance and quickly returned the bow: “I dare not, I dare not. Miss, please just call this humble person by my name, Li Xiang.”
Lian Zhou continued, pointing to a man in his early thirties standing second in line: “This is Uncle Xiang’s son, currently in charge of the mansion’s external procurement. He is the second steward.”
The man had an upright build, and though he wore servant’s clothing, it couldn’t conceal his capable demeanor. Hearing this, he sensibly bowed to Qingxia: “Zhentao pays respects to Miss, wishing Miss health and eternal youth.”
Qingxia covered her mouth and smiled: “I accept Brother Li’s kind words.”
Following this were the mansion’s third steward, fourth steward, Qin Zhiyan’s wet nurse, the mansion’s female servants, and servants from various quarters and halls.
Then they arranged for Qingxia to reside in Qingluan Pavilion, which was directly adjacent to Qin Zhiyan’s master bedroom, while her personal belongings were moved directly into Qin Zhiyan’s bedchamber. At this point, the servants and the accompanying brothel women finally understood Qingxia’s identity. Regardless of this woman’s origins—whose looks were not of the highest caliber—the fact that she could receive such arrangements and treatment from His Lordship undoubtedly meant she was the mansion’s mistress. The group of brothel women had mixed feelings: they were pleased that even a woman of such ordinary looks could gain His Lordship’s favor, making them feel more confident of success, but they were also worried that while they had originally heard the mansion had no female family members, now they had just arrived only to have such a favored woman appear, which was truly unfortunate timing.
Qingxia wore simple, clean clothing with a clear, beautiful countenance. Under the gaze of countless varied eyes, she slowly walked into the main hall of Qingluan Pavilion, which represented the status of Prince Xuan’s mansion’s mistress, then turned around and slowly sat down in a carved sandalwood soft chair.
“Miss,” Uncle Xiang slowly approached, presenting a golden tray covered with red cloth: “These are the mansion’s land deeds, property deeds, ground leases, account books, income and expenditure records from the eighteen commercial establishments outside, records of the finance department’s assets, keys to all the rooms, the seal of the internal affairs office, allocated funds from the court, and a list of all servants—everything is here.”
Qingxia was slightly startled as she took it in her hands. The tray wasn’t very heavy, but Qingxia felt as if a tremendous weight had been placed in her hands. At the same time, a warm feeling like a handful of fire surrounded her heart. She knew this wasn’t just Qin Zhiyan’s home, but also his complete trust in her. Perhaps from now on, this place would also become her home. The woman’s lips curved in a faint smile. She lifted the red cloth, glanced through briefly, finished checking, then raised her head and smiled at the old man: “Thank you, Uncle Xiang. I will examine everything carefully afterward.”
Uncle Xiang smiled kindly: “Miss is too kind. We’ve all been hoping His Lordship would bring back a mistress to help him manage such a large household. Now that Miss has come, it’s truly wonderful.”
This simple old man had already regarded Qingxia as Qin Zhiyan’s wife, and Qingxia didn’t refute it, accepting it gladly.
Uncle Xiang added: “If Miss doesn’t understand anything, you can ask me or my son.”
Qingxia nodded: “I understand.”
At this moment, Li Xian suddenly called from outside the door: “Sister Qing, a carrier pigeon from Penglai!” and hurriedly rushed in.
After all, Banbur and Nakedo were northerners who were single-mindedly determined to avenge their mother. When they left Bailu Plains that day, they absolutely refused to follow the Yan Character Battalion back to Xianyang. Qin Zhiyan had no choice but to personally write a letter to the northern frontier camp commanders, asking them to care for the two and arrange for them to join the army. Li Xian had considerable talent and was also Han Chinese, well-versed in military texts and extremely quick to master what Qingxia taught. To prevent Qingxia from being lonely, Qin Zhiyan brought him along as her personal guard for close protection. Since they had come to the imperial capital, the character “Xian” in Li Xian’s name was the same as Crown Prince His Highness’s name. To avoid taboo, he changed his name to Li Ye.
Qingxia took the carrier pigeon from his hands and unfolded the letter. It turned out that over the past half month, Zhu Yuanqing had finally cleared through the collapsed section of Hongtian water prison, but hadn’t found Yang Feng or the Seven Trees Demoness Lie Yunji. The two seemed to have vanished into thin air—neither their living bodies nor corpses could be found. Everyone at Penglai was completely puzzled, suspecting there might be another secret passage underground, and they were currently searching for it.
After reading this, Qingxia actually felt relieved. Since there were no large fierce beasts underground and no bodies had been found, it meant the two hadn’t died. Yang Feng’s martial arts were exceptional, and the Seven Trees Demoness’s poison skills were unparalleled. Being cautious by nature, they had presumably found another secret passage to escape. She quickly wrote a reply, telling Zhu Yuanqing to continue searching while also sealing off the passages, being careful not to let outsiders infiltrate. Then she released the carrier pigeon.
After the battle at Bailu Plains, Penglai Immortal Valley’s fame spread far and wide, appearing before the world’s eyes, with nobles from all nations taking notice. Fortunately, Penglai’s terrain was treacherous—except for inside collaborators with status like Tan Suning’s, or those with bodies immune to all poisons like the Seven Trees Demoness, no one could descend to the valley bottom. Now that Zhu Yuanqing held power and was cautious by nature, the probability of inside collaborators was very small. Even if experts could descend to the valley bottom, eight or ten people wouldn’t affect the overall situation.
“Miss, it’s time for your medicine,” Bi’er said, carrying a medicine bowl as she walked in. Qingxia took it and drank it all in one gulp. Before she could even wipe the corners of her mouth clean, she heard someone hurriedly running in from outside, whispering to Lian Zhou outside the room. Qingxia raised her eyebrows slightly, then saw Lian Zhou walk in with a furrowed brow, saying gravely: “Miss, orders have come from Taihe Palace commanding you to enter the palace immediately.”
“Enter the palace?”
Qingxia raised an eyebrow and said gravely: “Who issued the decree?”
“It was…” Lian Zhou thought for a moment and said gravely: “It was an imperial decree from Consort Yao.”
“Consort Yao?” Qingxia frowned slightly, completely unaware of this Consort Yao’s identity or why she would summon her.
Lian Zhou reminded her: “Consort Yao is His Highness’s birth mother.”
The current Qin King Qin Zicheng was the eighteenth son of the previous generation’s Emperor Qin Mugong, born to an unfavored concubine. In his youth, he wasn’t particularly outstanding—even Qin Mugong himself often forgot he had such a son. Throughout the dynasties, the Qin royal family had always been extremely prolific. The previous generation’s Qin Mugong was even more valiant than the current Qin King. During his twenty-year reign, he had forty-seven sons, with countless daughters. Combined with the Qin royal family’s wariness of external ministers, this resulted in various princes being enfeoffed to all directions with divided territories and power. Finally, during Qin Mugong’s twilight years, Qin erupted into massive internal chaos, with more than twenty evenly matched princes competing for power and position, nearly destroying Qin’s century-old foundation.
Like a mantis stalking the cicada while unaware of the sparrow behind, the turmoil continued for three years. Several princes originally favored by the people successively fell, while Qin Zicheng, who joined the struggle last, ultimately gained the throne. Having spent the first half of his life in the fires of chaos and cunning schemes, Qin Zicheng naturally developed deep suspicion toward human nature. The carriage was still more than three li from Taihe Palace when it was stopped and subjected to the first round of strict inspection before being allowed to proceed.
After finally reaching the Xuanwu Gate of Taihe Palace, they had already been inspected by four waves of personnel under orders. Qingxia wore a blue and white brocade robe with her cloud-like hair pinned high, her appearance beautiful and refined. Standing beneath the towering, majestic Xuanwu Gate with an unruffled expression on her face but raging fury in her heart, she walked step by step under the palace attendants’ surveillance toward the inner palace.
How she had once despised the imperial palace, even willing to fight to the death to escape, yet at this moment, enduring these inhuman stares and arrogant rudeness, she willingly walked step by step into this magnificent, gorgeous cage.
When the heart is trapped, everywhere under heaven becomes a prison; when the heart finds peace, even a humble cottage becomes a paradise beyond the world.
Qingxia stood expressionlessly in a palace hall, allowing four wrinkled, sharp-eyed old matrons to remove her clothes and inspect her body for hidden weapons. They nearly stripped off all her clothing. One old matron even took apart her hair arrangement, searching carefully through it as if it might conceal a sword or saber. Qingxia’s chest and abdomen heaved, her eyes half-closed, remaining quietly silent.
Finally, the complex inspection was completed. The several old women found nothing and seemed quite unwilling to accept this, standing aside resentfully with no intention whatsoever of helping her put the removed clothing back on.
Qingxia dressed herself, arranged her hair in front of the mirror, straightened her neck, bowed to the several old matrons, looked harshly at each of their faces, then turned to walk outside.
She currently had no name or status, merely an ordinary woman that Prince Xuan had brought back to his mansion. In this inner palace, even a seventh-rank serving girl had higher status than her. With someone giving hints from within, these people naturally wouldn’t regard Qingxia with any respect. Just as she was about to leave, suddenly one old matron called loudly: “Stop!”
Qingxia slowly turned around and spoke for the first time since entering, saying gravely: “I wonder what else the matron requires?”
Having spent years in the military, Qingxia’s hands were stained with blood, and every movement and word carried powerful killing intent. At this moment, she merely raised an eyebrow slightly, and one cold, stern look was enough to make the old matron tremble. However, remembering her powerful backing, she immediately regained confidence and shouted loudly: “Take off your shoes—we need to inspect them.”
Qingxia’s eyes turned cold, the corners of her mouth pursed as she slowly sat in a chair, saying in a leisurely manner: “Please forgive this common woman—I recently suffered severe chest and abdominal injuries and still cannot bend at the waist. If the matron wishes to inspect, she might as well do it herself.”
“What?” Another old matron glared and shrieked: “What is your status that you would have us remove your shoes for you?”
Qingxia smiled faintly and said slowly: “What my current status is, the matrons naturally understand in your hearts, but what my future status will be, you may not be able to predict. You are all advanced in years—in conducting yourselves and handling affairs, you should still leave yourselves some room for maneuver. Making things convenient for others makes things convenient for yourselves, lest you regret it deeply in the future with no place to voice your grievances.”