“Who is he?”

“Chu Li.”

“Who is Chu Li?”

“The current Crown Prince.”

“Heh…” Qing Xia couldn’t help but sneer coldly, her voice light, carrying a trace of barely perceptible mockery. “If he were merely the current Crown Prince, do you think you could still be kneeling here safe and sound? You keep saying you want to see Chu Li, but have you ever asked yourself if you have the face to see him again?”

“This is between him and me. It’s not your place to interfere.” Noble Concubine Xiao’s face was pale as she raised her neck high and spoke coldly.

Qing Xia sat calmly in her phoenix carriage, looking at this woman kneeling in the cold wind. Her heart suddenly turned ice-cold. She supported her chin with one hand and spoke slowly: “Who would have thought that today we’d see a reenactment of the ancient drama where Concubine Zhu murdered her own biological son for the sake of an illicit affair. Noble Concubine Xiao, since I was able to come here today, I have the qualifications to speak with you. Chu Li is unwilling to see you – don’t you understand?”

“What right does he have to refuse to see me!” Noble Concubine Xiao angrily stood up, her white fox fur coat fluttering in the strong wind, her black hair flying, her face full of hatred as she said venomously: “Without me, where would he be today? I am his mother! This unfilial son – conspiring to usurp power, cunning and shameless, his crimes are unforgivable…”

“Silence!” Qing Xia suddenly stood up, looking down from her high position and shouting sternly, saying coldly: “Even at this time and place, you still have the face to stand outside this Eastern Palace gate and claim you are his mother?”

Qing Xia walked down from the phoenix carriage step by step, her eyes coldly fixed on Noble Concubine Xiao as she said in a deep voice: “When you cruelly sent the young him to Qi as a hostage for your own selfish purposes, did you realize you were his mother? When he returned from Qi after escaping death nine times, and you made him go to the battlefield in place of your younger son, did you realize you were his mother? When you conspired to usurp the throne and plotted with your lover to overthrow the kingdom your own biological son won with his blood, did you realize you were his mother? You have always used him, deceived him, even attempted to kill him, yet you still have the face to stand here spouting nonsense about being his mother? You gave birth but didn’t raise him – you’re unworthy of being a mother! Conspiring to bring chaos to the nation – you’re unworthy before the world! Unfaithful to your husband – you’re unworthy of being a wife! Now, your conspiracy has been exposed and your lover captured, yet you still stand here so arrogantly, relying on that pitiful blood relationship, trying to demand that your son follow filial piety and release your lover. A woman as shameless, faithless, and heartless as you – how dare you stand here and repeatedly say he is your son!”

Noble Concubine Xiao’s face instantly turned snow-white. She stared blankly at Qing Xia, her lips trembling, then suddenly collapsed and screamed like a madwoman: “You bitch! What status do you have to dare speak to me like this? Call Chu Li out! I want to see him! I want to see him!”

The noble concubine behind her had instantly become a madwoman. Qing Xia knew it was because everything she had said, Noble Concubine Xiao had thought about thousands of times in her heart, but had never been willing to face it directly. She still relied on her identity as Chu Li’s mother, naively thinking everything would be calm and peaceful. Now awakening from her great dream, she suddenly understood that everything was beyond salvation, which was why she was so desperate and out of control.

Pitiable people must have detestable qualities. This woman’s bitter fruit today all stemmed from her past actions – she couldn’t blame heaven, earth, or others, only herself.

“Your Majesty, the night is cold. Please return to the carriage,” Rong Yuan said softly from the side.

Qing Xia shook her head, wrapped in her heavy long fur coat, turned around, raised her head, and walked on the spacious, long straight path, slowly heading toward the magnificent Crown Prince’s Eastern Palace. Behind her were hundreds of servants and maids with lowered brows and heads, and a golden phoenix carriage. The night wind blew gently, passing over her heavy fur coat and pale face. Behind her, Concubine Xiao’s cries and shouts echoed in the grand Eastern Palace forecourt, witnessed by the dark red walls and the majestic stone lions at the gate – all witnessing the decline of this empire’s first lady.

The huge moon hung brightly in the sky, radiating a yellowish glow. Qing Xia sat by the pond with her knees drawn up, surrounded by silence except for unknown insects chirping loudly.

In the blink of an eye, a month had passed. Everything felt like a great dream, and her life had taken a huge turn in a strange arc. Many mornings when she woke up, she couldn’t tell whether it was reality or a dream. It seemed she had never clearly faced this question. Although she was a soldier, she was also a woman, with psychological tendencies to avoid things she didn’t want to face.

But this time, the deaths of the people in Lanting Hall deeply shocked her.

She realized that in this world, there was truly never such a thing as staying out of it completely.

The entire Crown Prince’s Eastern Palace was framed for suspected witchcraft, with only Lanting Hall and Yunxiang Hall spared. She didn’t know how Concubine Dan discovered it, but she had discovered hundreds of mysterious people with strong martial arts hiding in the plum grove. Thus, Lanting Hall was spared disaster, but the enemy discovered the flaw.

The people in the plum grove didn’t know her identity, so they naturally locked onto the two palaces that weren’t implicated as targets. At that time, the rebellion hadn’t started yet, and rashly killing her would cause unnecessary trouble and danger, so they blocked the palace’s information channels and detained the people from both palaces together after the operation began, just to conveniently set fire and kill them without anyone knowing.

Such a crude killing scheme – how had she not thought of it? If she had stayed there, she definitely wouldn’t have let people quietly set fires and kill.

Unfortunately, she had overestimated her own importance. She had always looked down on these ancient people, thinking she had superior knowledge and insights beyond the times. She had always been like a spectator, coldly observing the people and events here, but it was precisely this arrogant mentality that created today’s situation.

After the fire that day, she had personally seen the charred corpses of everyone in Lanting Hall – those hideous remains whose faces couldn’t be distinguished hit her heart like heavy hammers, making her immediately emerge from her dream. Did she really think she was invincible? Such an attitude could only harm the people around her.

Like those palace maids who died tragically, Xiangju whose face was beyond recognition, and the innocent people from Yunxiang Hall who were implicated.

She could no longer be so careless and passive. Qing Xia stood up, frowning as she looked toward the direction of the dead silent plum grove to the west.

The Thirteenth Prince? She wouldn’t swallow this loss silently.

Just as she was lost in thought, a noisy commotion suddenly came from the woods on one side of the pond. Qing Xia’s train of thought was interrupted. She quietly walked over and parted the bushes, only to see a group of low-ranking guards gathered together fighting.

The harem of South Chu was different from the ancient times in Qing Xia’s memory. Unlike later dynasties where only eunuchs – men who weren’t really men – walked around, South Chu’s palace guards, medical officials all had their own residential palaces within the harem. They only avoided the areas when noble ladies were passing through. Now that the palace had just experienced turmoil, many more guards had been added, so occasional fights were minor matters as long as they didn’t disturb those above.

Qing Xia didn’t want to meddle in these affairs and turned to leave.

“Noble Concubine Lan’s carriage is coming!”

A sudden cry rang out. Upon hearing this, all the fighting guards immediately scattered like birds and beasts, leaving only a thin young man in blue leather armor lying on the grass, hunched over, apparently beaten quite badly.

Qing Xia immediately stopped in her tracks, frowning as she looked toward the nearby low trees. She saw a young guard in blue clothes suddenly jump out from behind the low trees, moving agilely and quickly. In a few steps, he ran to the beaten guard’s side, helped him up, and said in a low voice: “A Yu, how are you?”

“I don’t need you to care!” The beaten guard pushed him aside with one motion, raised his bruised and swollen face, and said sternly: “Why aren’t you going to fawn over and flatter that cheap woman? No need to waste time on me.”

“Let’s go quickly,” the blue-clothed guard didn’t mind at all, but stepped forward again to support the beaten young man, saying in a deep voice: “If they discover later that Noble Concubine Lan didn’t pass through here, they’ll definitely come back.”

“If you’re afraid, go by yourself, you coward! You only know how to please those stinking women, you useless waste!” A Yu cursed as he stood up, shaking off the blue-clothed guard’s support.

“A Yu…”

“Get lost!” A Yu roared angrily: “Yang Feng, starting today, I no longer recognize you as a brother! I’ll avenge the master by myself! I’ll rescue the young miss by myself too! I don’t need you, you heartless bastard!”

Yang Feng was pushed by A Yu and staggered back two steps. A Yu stood trembling, looking at Yang Feng with hatred, his face bruised and purple, his nose still sporting a trail of blood. Seeing Yang Feng say nothing, he continued cursing loudly, almost with a crying tone: “Back then, if not for the young miss, you and I would have starved to death on the streets of the capital long ago. I, Chen Yu, am a person with a conscience! Unlike you, who only knows how to flatter those coquettish cheap women all day long. Have you forgotten all the oaths we swore back then? The young miss is still suffering in that kind of place, yet you’re living comfortably here. Do you have no conscience!”

Chen Yu wiped his still-bleeding nose with his hand, suddenly stumbled, and fell to the ground again. One leg was bleeding profusely – apparently injured in the earlier scuffle.

Yang Feng had originally remained silent while Chen Yu scolded him, but seeing him fall, he quickly ran forward and said in a deep voice: “Is it fractured? Let’s quickly go back and have Old Hu take a look.”

“Whether I live or die is none of your business! Go seek your promotions and wealth!”

“A Yu!” Yang Feng suddenly roared, his sword-like eyebrows entering his temples as he said in a deep voice: “You and I have been companions since we fled from Nanjiang to the capital at age eight. After more than ten years, don’t you know what kind of person I am?”

“Yes!” Chen Yu shouted loudly: “It’s precisely because I know what the former Yang Feng was like that I don’t understand now – why have you become like this? You didn’t go to the master’s execution, and when the young miss was sold to the official prostitute camp, you didn’t go rescue her either! Now the Lin family has been raided, yet you’re here revolving around those women. How can you face the master’s years of nurturing kindness?”