In the dim light, he stood with his back to the lamp’s glow. Even concealed beneath his loose robes, his tall, finely honed frame still radiated a captivating beauty of strength.

With a creak, the door opened, and a guard entered with his head lowered, carrying an oil lamp in his hands.

In the dimness, his features still could not be made out clearly, only that his jawline was firm and resolute, his features carved as if by a sculptor, and a pair of deep, unfathomable eyes lay sunken in restrained composure—though what exactly he was restraining, none could say.

“My lord, shall we dispose of the woman inside?” the guard asked respectfully, rising on his toes to drape a large robe over him.

“The poison has been fully transferred into her. Do you think she’ll live past three days?” he countered, his voice colder than the autumn night itself.

The guard didn’t dare press further. Nation’s Beauty belonged to Prime Minister Han’s territory, and this woman was none other than the Second Young Lady of the Han household, Han Ziqing, who had been schemed against by the Eldest Young Lady and sent here.

The prince had merely made use of this Second Young Lady to draw out the venomous poison lodged within his body that he could not otherwise expel. To kill her now would only arouse suspicion—far better to leave the matter to the Eldest Young Lady to handle.

The Charm Fragrance poison in the prince’s body had been planted by Consort Yi, the emperor’s favored consort. Once internal energy was used to force the poison out, it would transform into an aphrodisiac—this poison had no cure, and the only way to expel it was through relations between a man and a woman. The prince had always kept his distance from women, but tonight, driven to such extremity by Consort Yi, he hadn’t even had time to return to his residence, and had come directly to Nation’s Beauty—only to stumble upon this convenient opportunity arranged by the Eldest Young Lady.

“Has that man been silenced?” he asked coldly. The Eldest Young Lady had not only sent her younger sister here but had also arranged a man for her—it was only unfortunate that he himself had intercepted the affair.

Of course, had Han Xi’er not done this vile deed, he might have found himself in considerable trouble tonight.

“Rest assured, my lord, that man will certainly keep his mouth shut! The Eldest Young Lady’s scheme proceeded exactly as planned—no one knows that you came to Nation’s Beauty tonight,” the guard answered respectfully.

He nodded in satisfaction, then turned. In that very instant, he waved his hand and extinguished the lamp, never once sparing so much as a glance at the woman lying unconscious on the seat.

…

Soon, the sky grew bright.

“Who is this? Could she have been thrown out from Nation’s Beauty? What a beauty!”

“Ah, so it really is Nation’s Beauty. Look at that figure, tsk tsk tsk, one wonders how much silver a night with her costs… heh heh…”

“Well, well, a feast for the eyes so early in the morning—today’s quite the lucky day!”

…

The lewd laughter rose one after another. Ziqing, still hazy, slowly opened her eyes to find a large crowd of men gathered around, gawking. She immediately snapped awake and sat bolt upright, only to discover she was lying right at the entrance of Nation’s Beauty, wrapped in nothing but a thin layer of white gauze, barely enough to cover her modesty!

Everything from the night before flooded back into her mind at once. She had clearly guessed that Han Xi’er would still be waiting for her, yet she had been unable to fight off the drug’s effects and had fallen asleep! Damn it!

She swept the crowd with a cold glance and was about to rise when a middle-aged woman, leading a group of guards, suddenly shoved through the surrounding men and strode forward, swinging a slap straight at her without warning!

“Han Ziqing, you shameless girl! Your mother, before she died, begged me over and over to look after you properly, and yet you go and do something as disgraceful as stealing another woman’s man! How can you face me? How can you face your father? How can you face your mother in the afterlife?”

“Han Ziqing, you may be a concubine’s daughter, but you are still a member of this Prime Minister’s household! And yet you dared to steal a man! Stealing a man is one thing, but to do it out in broad daylight, in front of everyone… you… you… you’ve dragged this entire household’s reputation through the mud!”

This woman was none other than Han Xi’er’s mother—Madam Han.