Qun Qing said, “My apologies—I have a habit of seeking high ground to avoid water, so I went to the pavilion on Chaofeng Tower.”

From that elevated vantage point, she had a complete view of the entire process—Cui Ying falling into the water and Zhu Su and the others fishing her out.

Juan Su and Zhu Su exchanged glances: What a formidable lady—truly the oriole behind, while the mantis stalks the cicada.

“Did you see who did it?” Lu Huating asked.

“That person wore a straw raincoat—I couldn’t see their face clearly, but judging by the figure, it was a woman.” Qun Qing said. “She also departed in the direction of the Six Bureaus.”

Xiao Jingxing quickly said, “Lady Qing need not worry. Just take the examination as usual. This person is most likely a Nan Chu spy, and we will definitely catch her.”

Lu Huating watched Xiao Jingxing comfort Qun Qing, and she actually nodded seriously. He held back from speaking and looked toward the wall. “Where’s the token?”

“Cui Ying’s token fell at the examination site during the test, and this servant picked it up.” Qun Qing’s expression didn’t change. “This servant saw Cui Ying fall into the water and the Chief Administrator pull her out. Setting aside whether Cui Ying could be saved, the Chief Administrator has experience substituting corpses. This servant thought, if something were to happen to her and this servant had her belongings, wouldn’t it be impossible to explain if discovered?”

“Rather than be passive, it’s better to proactively turn myself in to the Court of Judicial Review at the first opportunity, hand over the token and clues—perhaps there might be a turn for the better. I happened to run into Scholar Xiao at the entrance.”

That address of “Scholar Xiao” was intimate. Lu Huating looked at Qun Qing in surprise, while Xiao Jingxing continued, “Lady Qing came incredibly fast. If she hadn’t told me you had a hand in this, I truly would have been caught off guard by the corpse the next day, possibly ruining your plans.”

At the time, Qun Qing had requested to enter the cell herself, sitting on this cramped chair to give instructions: News of Cui Ying’s disappearance would take time to spread, and news of finding the body would take several more days to reach outside the palace. Taking advantage of this time, she had the Court of Judicial Review dispatch two female officials in disguise, carrying Cui Ying’s token, to ride swiftly to the Cui family’s ancestral home in Shannan Circuit, impersonating maids retrieving items for their mistress.

“Cui Ying had a violent temper and would beat and dismiss her maids at the slightest displeasure, so her personal maids changed frequently. The people at the ancestral home saw the token and didn’t suspect anything, opening the door to let them in.” The firelight made Xiao Jingxing’s eyes shine brightly. “Though they didn’t find the most important account book in Cui Ying’s and Cui Zhu’s rooms, they did find other incriminating evidence.”

Lu Huating’s fingers in his sleeves curled slightly. Without Xiao Jingxing elaborating, he could already imagine the scene. He looked at Qun Qing’s silhouette in the darkness, inexplicably feeling somewhat displeased. How many people could burst forth with such brilliance? Was this how she won over those ministers who served under her skirts?

So it wasn’t just him—others could see it too.

Xiao Jingxing had a cold, hard temperament and rarely took others seriously, yet in just one day, the two seemed more familiar than they were with him. He couldn’t help interrupting Xiao Jingxing’s account. “When will you release her?”

Lu Huating’s tone was calm, yet carried a certain indescribable coldness, like breaking ice and shattering jade.

“Oh, innocent persons involved in palace cases can be released after one day and night of detention according to Da Chen law.” Xiao Jingxing called a junior official to open the cell door. “Lady Qing may also leave now.”

The cell door opened with a creak.

Xiao Jingxing tilted his head. Lu Huating stood with the lamp in the distance, Qun Qing sat inside—the two separated by a confrontational distance, seemingly sizing each other up, but neither moved.

“Don’t you two know each other?” Xiao Jingxing was somewhat puzzled. “Last time with the umbrella… Fine, I won’t mention it.” He looked at Lu Huating. “Lady Qing has no one to escort her. Since you’re here, please see her back.”

Qun Qing, not wanting Lan Yue and the others to worry, hadn’t notified them. Sitting here for a day and night was indeed uncomfortable. She moved her own legs down—they had gone so numb they had almost no sensation.

She struggled to walk out. When her feet touched the ground, they felt soft and weak, as if thousands of extremely fine needles were pricking them. She finally understood why Bao Shu had walked that way when leaving.

Her stomach felt somewhat acidic. Qun Qing’s vision went white. In that instant, Lu Huating suddenly gripped her arm. The force and warmth transmitted through her sleeve into her body, supporting her as she spun, helping her stand steady.

The grip seemed to tighten, then suddenly loosened. Then someone pressed a cloth pouch into her palm. “Lady Qing seems to have a constitution that cannot tolerate hunger. You should carry some food with you.”

It was Lu Huating’s characteristically pleasant yet casual tone. Though it was somewhat strange to learn about her own body from a political enemy’s mouth.

Qun Qing couldn’t worry about that now. She was indeed hungry. Opening the cloth pouch, she found paper-wrapped osmanthus candies inside. She bit into one, and the sweet fragrance of osmanthus spread. Then she sealed the pouch and returned it to him.

Lu Huating held the lamp, looking at the path ahead, not reaching out to take it. “It’s cheap goods—you keep it, my lady.”

Meaning it wasn’t something valuable, and since she had touched it, he might as well give it to her.

A civil official probably wouldn’t carry osmanthus candies on his person—perhaps it was a gift from some wine house. Qun Qing was speechless. She carefully wrapped it and tucked it in her own pouch. She didn’t find it cheap. It had been a long time since she’d eaten this kind of handmade osmanthus candy—she actually found it refreshingly sweet.

The palace had already been locked for the night. There were no palace servants outside, and the air after the rain was expansively fresh. Qun Qing heard Lu Huating say, “One Lady Wang the Wardrobe Supervisor died, and now there’s a woman in a straw raincoat. It seems you’ll need to be careful in the palace from now on—you won’t have such good luck every time.”

It seemed he already knew that the Nan Chu spies were mutually suspicious of each other and was deliberately mocking her predicament. Qun Qing said, “As long as the Chief Administrator doesn’t make things difficult for me, I can keep having good luck.”

Lu Huating couldn’t help turning to look at her, meeting Qun Qing’s eyes that reflected the moonlight—seemingly innocent yet engaged in a game. He lowered his lashes to look at that pool of moonlight, saying softly, “I gave you a chance, my lady. You insisted on making me your enemy.”

Serving Prince Yan at Prince Yan’s residence was impossible. The fact that she hadn’t personally killed Prince Yan was something Li Huan should thank her mother for. Lu Huating’s heart was like stone. His reaction was within Qun Qing’s expectations, so she said nothing more.

It seemed that today he had gone to Xiao Jingxing’s place to cover for her only to ensure the second visit to Four Nights Tower would go smoothly.

Everything he did targeted the Cui and Meng families. If it was about competing with Prime Minister Meng, that aligned with Qun Qing’s notes, but what she heard today surprised her.

“Are you and Bao Shu truly siblings?” she couldn’t help asking.

Unexpectedly, wariness suddenly showed in Lu Huating’s eyes. Cold intent seemed to burst from around him as he said coldly, “Given the relationship between us, does my lady need to know this much?”

Without waiting for Qun Qing to answer, he glanced back, saw that the Court of Judicial Review was far enough away to be invisible, and thrust the lantern handle into Qun Qing’s hands before striding quickly into the night.

Qun Qing held the lantern, not expecting to have defeated Lu Huating so easily. He probably hadn’t expected her to be at the Court of Judicial Review, otherwise he wouldn’t have given her the opportunity to learn such secrets. She watched that figure disappear into the night and called out, “Chief Administrator.”

Seeing Lu Huating turn back, Qun Qing glanced at the lantern and said, “Let’s walk a bit further, to the bridge before we part.”

Under the moonlight, the bloody mark from the guard ring on her cheek had a vivid color. Perhaps because of the facial injury, she seemed to have shed her cunning disguise, appearing particularly sincere.

Lu Huating paused for a moment, then actually slowly returned from the forest, walking beside her. He said nothing, so Qun Qing raised the lamp to illuminate this last stretch of shared path.

Lu Huating glanced sideways. Qun Qing’s skin was fair and white, making those finger marks particularly obvious.

With this thought, they had already reached Ten Thousand Leaves Bridge, the rippling water reflecting moonlight. He stopped and withdrew his gaze.

Unexpectedly, Qun Qing suddenly thrust the lantern into his arms, nearly pushing him into the bushes. By the time he steadied it and looked up, she had already lifted her skirt and run far away, her shawl fluttering. From afar, she turned her head back, seeming to smile.

Lu Huating was momentarily speechless, his heart beating violently as he slowly brushed the leaves from his sleeve.

—

When word of the incident during the Bureau of Imperial Wardrobe examination reached Li Xuan’s ears, the Eastern Palace moved to Qingxuan Pavilion, and Qun Qing reported to him, “The first and second tests went smoothly. We’re just waiting for the third and fourth tests.”

Li Xuan waved for Qun Qing to rise. He wasn’t so concerned about the examination now—he just wanted to ask about the death. As soon as Qun Qing raised her head, his gaze fell on her right cheek. He froze. “Your face—what happened?”

Qun Qing could feel the fine, dense pain on her cheek. Touching it, it had indeed swollen, though compared to the pain of bone-setting, this was nothing. She said, “Han Wanyi struck me.”

Before Li Xuan could speak, she had already bowed. “This servant has reached an agreement with Han Wanyi. As long as we help her deal with that dragon heir, Han Wanyi is willing to form an alliance with Your Highness.”

In Emperor Chenming’s harem, the most intelligent and strategic was Han Qingxu. Compared to Qun Qing, Han Wanyi also had ready-made power and influence. If he could bring this Han Wanyi to the Crown Prince’s side, when she left the palace, the possibility of Li Xuan forcibly keeping her would decrease.

After a long silence without hearing Li Xuan speak, Qun Qing glanced at him. Li Xuan’s expression as he looked at her was extremely complex.

She was too fast.

He had merely asked Qun Qing to take an examination. Not only did she take the exam and get beaten, she had actually managed to recruit Han Wanyi as well.

“How to resolve…” Li Xuan paused, forcing himself to say it. “Resolve that dragon heir—do you have an idea?”

“This servant does not.”

“You dare to agree when you don’t have one?” Li Xuan was annoyed.

“This servant thought, with ten months of pregnancy, there are still several months left anyway.” Qun Qing’s eyelashes trembled as she probed. “We can think of something slowly in between.”

Li Xuan’s expression darkened. The former him could never have imagined that one day he, the Crown Prince, would be led by Qun Qing to conspire with the harem on such deception of the monarch, deceiving the Emperor. But having reached this point, what else could he do?

He said indifferently, “Bring the jade face cream.”

Just as Li Xuan opened the lid of the medicinal ointment, Qun Qing said, “Thank you for Your Highness’s gift. This servant will apply it herself when she returns.”

His hand paused, and he set the box down. After a long while, as if unwilling to concede, his phoenix eyes stared directly at Qun Qing as he said mockingly, “Don’t worry—this palace has no interest in you.”

“This servant knows.” Qun Qing’s face showed no embarrassment whatsoever, and only then did she tuck the jade face cream into her sleeve.

“Shouxi mentioned that in the third test, Han Wanyi gave you a difficult problem?” Li Xuan’s fingers tightened as he asked about the examination.

“This servant was just about to report to Your Highness. The embroidery fabric used in the third test was Snow-Dissolving Gauze. This servant has never embroidered with it before, so I don’t know the technique.” Qun Qing said. “I’ve heard this gauze was tribute from the Fusang Kingdom, for making prayer robes for the nobility to wear when welcoming Buddha’s relics. Your Highness should also have some…”

“You want to use this palace’s prayer robes for practice?” Li Xuan found it absurd. “This palace only has two sets total—one backup. If you puncture it, this palace will have nothing to change into that day.”

But fearing Qun Qing might fail at this stage, he still had Shouxi fetch a set of prayer robes. “Surely the others don’t all have problems?”

“The noble family ladies seemed very skilled—they must have practiced at home beforehand.” Qun Qing received the snow-white prayer robes from the tray, touching the fabric with her fingers to feel its texture. The material was thin as cicada wings—the slightest carelessness would pierce it. Therefore, she had to change the force with which she used the needle.

The speaker was casual, but the listener took note. Li Xuan, a crown prince of the nation, only had two prayer robes, yet where were all those people obtaining large quantities of Snow-Dissolving Gauze to let their daughters at home practice embroidery?

“No wonder Father Emperor is so angry. This palace also feels we must make an example of someone to make these great clans show some respect.”

Qun Qing picked up the prayer robe but only cut a narrow strip from the hem to get a feel for it. Then she shook out the prayer robe. “Does Your Highness feel this garment doesn’t fit properly anywhere?”

Li Xuan didn’t understand her meaning.

Qun Qing had him stand up and helped him put on the prayer robe. Li Xuan looked down. “These shoulders seem somewhat raised, and the front hem droops downward.”

Qun Qing measured with her hands, noting everything down. When her hands brushed over his shoulders, light as feathers, yet her expression was serious and meticulous, Li Xuan held his breath and didn’t move at all.

“Your Highness only has two sets of prayer robes in total. This servant cannot ruin them just for practice.” Qun Qing said. “Please lend the prayer robes to this servant, and I will do my best to return them to Your Highness intact.”

Outside, Lan Yue rose at night and on impulse wanted to go check how Zheng Zhiyi was sleeping. She yawned outside the window, but unexpectedly saw shadowy figures inside. Qun Qing, who should have been holding a lamp, was serving Li Xuan in changing clothes.

Because Li Xuan feared assassination, he was wary of others coming close. Usually when changing clothes, he never let palace maids attend him—this scene was even more bizarre.

Lan Yue thought she was dreaming. She rubbed her eyes and indeed saw Li Xuan talking with Qun Qing, their manner intimate.

In the tent, Zheng Zhiyi was still asleep. Lan Yue’s head buzzed, not knowing what to do.

—

Qun Qing returned to the side hall. She placed the prayer robe made of Snow-Dissolving Gauze to one side and quickly lit candles and lamps, cutting a sheet of paper.

Though it was already deep into the night, she felt no fatigue whatsoever—her heart beat in her chest. While reviewing memorials today, she had seen an important piece of news.

The Western Xiafan Kingdom had been defeated and was withdrawing. Prince Yan and Prince Zhao had won a great victory. Prince Yan was taking the Jiannan Circuit route back to the capital, expected to return to Chang’an by the end of the month. Prince Zhao would first go south to inspect flood control before returning.

Li Huan was coming back!

She committed the battle report to memory word for word and passed it to An Lin.

An Lin had previously persuaded Crown Prince Zhao of Nan Chu to wait until Li Huan returned to the capital to ambush and assassinate him. But An Lin had asked whether she was certain about taking action, and Qun Qing had some hesitation.

She certainly wanted to kill Li Huan, but she worried this action would affect her leaving the palace.

While contemplating, Qun Qing also unwrapped several wax pills from her cosmetics box—all given to her by Su Run. He was trembling with trepidation at Princess Danyang’s residence yet insisted on doing things for her. Qun Qing had privately given him a skylark, telling him to send her a message when in doubt.

Su Run only thought he was her subordinate and practically reported everything about the princess’s residence, inside and out, daily routines and all. Qun Qing only read them for amusement.

“Princess Danyang summoned two male lute musicians today and had me attend. Because I couldn’t propose toasts, the princess scolded me.”

“Princess Danyang had me perform a dance. I would rather die than perform such seductive acts. The princess scolded me and docked my wages.”

“Princess Danyang scolded me again today because I wouldn’t drink with the other household stewards. My mother and older sister warned me beforehand—I don’t touch a drop of alcohol, so I truly cannot comply.”

Qun Qing read through them one by one, only feeling that Lu Huating sending Su Run to Princess Danyang’s place was indeed too underhanded. Fortunately, Su Run was relatively tenacious and could still endure.

Princess Danyang was also beyond her expectations. Qun Qing had thought she was biding her time and building strength. Could it be that after the Emperor stripped her military authority, she had completely fallen into decline?

“Recently Meng Guanlou has been visiting. This morning Princess Danyang removed her clothing and lay on a low couch, having me paint her. This act is inhuman. Helpless against the princess’s decree and coercion, I truly don’t know how to respond and seek assistance from my lady.”

Seeing today’s message, Qun Qing suddenly sat up straight and wrote, “Wait—would rather be punished, do not act.”

Previously it was just drinking and dancing. Princess Danyang shouldn’t suddenly do something so absurd—she was probably using Su Run as a pawn to provoke Meng Guanlou.

She quickly kneaded the wax pill and placed it in the groove beneath the window sill.

The matter in her heart also reached a decision.

The assassination would be done by Nan Chu spies. She was merely a link in passing information, and the information went through layer after layer of transmission—who would know she was the source? Even if they could trace it, presumably by then she would have already left the palace.

Since there was an opportunity to kill Li Huan without bloodying her own hands, in this life, she was still willing to try.

Cold, condensed hatred sank in her chest then rose again. Qun Qing’s expression turned resolute as she wrote stroke by stroke under the lamplight: Take. Action.

The wax pill was silently tossed into the bushes.

At that moment, there was a faint sound beneath the window sill. Qun Qing’s spine went cold, thinking she’d been discovered. She suddenly pushed open the window, nearly colliding with Lan Yue’s face. Her expression showed some evasion.

“What are you doing outside the window? Why not come through the door?” Qun Qing’s gaze softened, though the nerves in her heart never relaxed.

In the lush bushes beneath her side hall window, wax pills were often hidden.

That wax pill was currently being stepped on by the unknowing Lan Yue’s embroidered shoe.

“I saw you still hadn’t slept so late… I…” Lan Yue really couldn’t hold it in anymore and blurted out, “Just now I saw you with the Crown Prince… Are you two all right?”

“You saw the Crown Prince speaking with me?” Qun Qing’s heart settled, and she wasn’t flustered. “I’m handling tasks for His Highness—my duties are similar to Shouxi’s. Because His Highness doesn’t want others to know what I’m doing, he hasn’t announced it.”

Lan Yue’s expression immediately relaxed as she patted her chest. This explanation was obviously much more reasonable than what she’d imagined. “No wonder you suddenly wanted to take the Six Bureaus examination. I didn’t dare ask—was this also His Highness’s intention?”

Qun Qing looked at her. “His Highness had me go to the Six Bureaus just to help him gather information. I may not pass the Six Bureaus exam, and even if I do, I won’t stay. You know I want to leave the palace.”

“That’s right—you’re still waiting to leave the palace.” Seeing her so resolute, Lan Yue’s face showed a wistful expression. Finally setting her mind at ease, she said apologetically, “I was overthinking. I’ll go sleep now.”

Lan Yue withdrew her hand from the window. Her wide sleeve brushed across the window sill, accidentally sweeping the wax pill from the groove. Two skylarks fell down one after another, examined things for a moment, each took a wax pill and flew away.

With no one around, Qun Qing saw the skylarks fly off. She checked outside the window—no suspicious traces remained—closed the window, and lay exhausted in her bedding.