After last night’s tiger incident, today the imperial carriage had just returned to the traveling palace, so there should have been some commotion and busyness. However, as Hua Zhuyu walked through the traveling palace, she occasionally saw some guards and palace maids hurrying past, all with solemn expressions, and no one spoke. Though there were many people in the traveling palace, it was eerily quiet, as if she had entered an uninhabited realm, with an oppressive feeling like dark clouds pressing down on a city about to be destroyed.

Hua Zhuyu repeatedly pondered last night’s events, worried in her heart that something had happened to Huangfu Wushuang, so she walked somewhat quickly. Suddenly, a voice reached her ears, carrying several parts mockery and several parts ridicule: “Eunuch Bao is in such a hurry, where are you going? Today, don’t you need to teach Prince Xiao sword dancing?”

Hua Zhuyu was immersed in her own thoughts when she was suddenly startled. She turned her face to look and saw two people standing just a few steps away. One wore crimson official robes, one wore flowing blue garments – it was Ji Fengli and Lan Bing.

The one who had spoken was Lan Bing.

Lan Bing was born with refined and gentle features, his clothing and appearance were also extremely scholarly, just like a literati. It was just that for some unknown reason, every time this person saw Hua Zhuyu, he carried an expression of barely suppressed amusement. This kind of expression always made Hua Zhuyu immediately think of that night when she and Ji Fengli had seen each other naked. Most likely this Lan Bing knew about that night’s events.

Hua Zhuyu felt her teeth itch with hatred. She slowly gathered her composure, slowly turned her head, smiled with condensed eyes, her gaze cold, and said lightly: “Lord Lan truly knows how to joke. Prince Xiao is injured, what sword dancing would he learn? Even if Prince Xiao were not injured, after such a major incident, how could this slave still perform sword dancing entertainments within the traveling palace?”

“That’s true indeed! However, Eunuch Bao truly has great charm – having only taught Prince Xiao sword dancing for a few days, yet the feelings became so deep. Last night in such a dangerous moment, Prince Xiao actually disregarded his own safety to go rescue you. This truly moves Lord Lan greatly!” Lan Bing smoothed the disheveled hair on his forehead, smiling lightly as he spoke.

Hua Zhuyu’s heart suddenly felt alarmed.

Lan Bing’s words carried a different meaning.

Xiao Yin was a nation’s crown prince. Last night the situation was critical, yet he disregarded his own safety to go rescue her. In the eyes of others, this would definitely make them think of other things, especially someone as cunning as Ji Fengli.

Could he think that she was originally a spy sent by the Northern Dynasty?

Hua Zhuyu’s heart immediately became somewhat chaotic. She raised her eyes to glance at Ji Fengli, only to see him standing to one side with hands clasped behind his back, not looking toward her direction. His narrow eyes lightly swept toward the flower bushes beside him. Hearing Lan Bing’s words, he slightly furrowed his brows, withdrew his gaze that had been contemplating the flower bushes, and toward Hua Zhuyu, smiled warmly as he nodded, then elegantly turned back to Lan Bing and said: “Lan Bing, you’re becoming more and more outrageous!” He spoke lightly to Hua Zhuyu: “Eunuch Bao, you need not take his words to heart!”

“Naturally I won’t! I’m just a slave, how would I dare take a lord’s words to heart?” Hua Zhuyu also curved her lips in a smile, speaking elegantly: “If there’s nothing else, I take my leave!”

Hua Zhuyu performed a bow, quickly brushed past them, and headed toward the Qing Courtyard where Huangfu Wushuang resided.

Ji Fengli only felt a cool breeze pass by his side, and Hua Zhuyu’s figure was no longer before his eyes. Gazing intently at Hua Zhuyu’s retreating form, his gaze gradually became profound.

“Prime Minister, do you think this Eunuch Bao is really Prince Xiao’s person or not?” Lan Bing asked in a low voice.

Ji Fengli slowly waved the folding fan in his hand, narrowed his long eyes, and smiled lightly: “Would you risk your life to save someone you’d only known for a few days?”

Lan Bing shook his head – he naturally wouldn’t. He thought normal people wouldn’t either, and Prince Xiao was naturally a normal person. This Eunuch Bao was indeed very problematic!

Qing Courtyard.

This was the second time Hua Zhuyu had seen Huangfu Wushuang in such a violent state.

The first time was that night when they were pleasure boating on Blue Lake, when he couldn’t arrange to meet Wen Wan but saw Wen Wan boating on the same lake with Ji Fengli. That time, Huangfu Wushuang had beaten everyone on the boat. Today, as soon as Hua Zhuyu entered the Qing Courtyard, she saw that half of You Fu’s face was swollen very high, with clearly visible fingerprints, obviously having been slapped by Huangfu Wushuang. Ji Xiang’s condition wasn’t much better either – though his face wasn’t swollen, his movements were somewhat slow, likely also injured.

When Ji Xiang and You Fu saw Hua Zhuyu return, they looked as if they had seen a savior, their eyes lighting up.

“Yuan Bao, quickly go see His Highness. Since last night, he hasn’t eaten at all. How can this continue? His Highness favors you most – he’ll definitely listen to your words. Go and properly persuade His Highness.” As Ji Xiang spoke, his voice actually carried a trace of sobbing.

Did Huangfu Wushuang favor her most? Hua Zhuyu really didn’t know. These people, whenever they needed to use her, would start with this phrase, but she had never felt that Huangfu Wushuang favored her. But regardless, she still needed to persuade Huangfu Wushuang.

She lifted the curtain and entered the room. It was already close to noon, yet all the window curtains in the room were still closed, the interior dim and dark, the air so oppressive it was suffocating. Hua Zhuyu quickly walked to the windows and pulled open all the curtains in the room. In an instant, daylight streamed through the gauze windows, driving away the darkness within.

“Get out!” Along with the hoarse voice came a gust of wind – something had been hurled toward her. Hua Zhuyu’s clear eyes focused, she reached out and caught it – a vase landed in her palm.

“Your Highness, we’ve now reached a critical moment. Is Your Highness planning to admit defeat like this?” Hua Zhuyu held the vase, slowly walked to the bedside, yanked open the lowered bed curtains, and spoke slowly, word by word. The coldness in her voice would make anyone who heard it tremble with fear.

This was the first time Hua Zhuyu had shown such sharp edge before Huangfu Wushuang.

In childhood, she had practiced martial arts with her father, unable to endure her father’s strict day-and-night training. One evening, she had secretly packed her belongings, wanting to escape from her father’s side. At that time, she truly couldn’t bear it anymore and thought it would be better to return to the capital and be a young lady again. Unexpectedly, her escape attempt failed and was discovered by her father. She still remembered her father’s desolate and dim gaze – it was disappointment, and also heartbroken frustration at her failure to meet expectations.

Now, this was exactly how she felt toward Huangfu Wushuang. At this moment, she finally understood her father’s feelings at that time.

Huangfu Wushuang lay on the bed in gorgeous robes, extremely dispirited. Hearing Hua Zhuyu’s words, a trace of joy flashed through his dark eyes, and he said mournfully: “Little Bao’er, you’ve finally returned. You weren’t injured last night, were you? I was worried sick about you. After the incident, Father Emperor issued orders forbidding me to wander about. Otherwise, I would have gone to see you long ago!” As he spoke, Huangfu Wushuang blinked, and tears poured from his beautiful dark eyes: “Tell me what I should do. Father Emperor suspects that I brought the tiger, suspects that I wanted to harm him. How could I harm Father Emperor? Besides, how would I have the ability to get a tiger?”

“Since it wasn’t Your Highness who did it, go tell His Majesty. Will His Majesty believe Your Highness is innocent just by lying here?” Hua Zhuyu said coldly.

“I went to visit Father Emperor last night, but Father Emperor wouldn’t see me at all, wouldn’t even listen to my explanations. Tell me, what can I do?” Huangfu Wushuang said with a darkened expression, but still listened to Hua Zhuyu’s words and slowly rose from the bed.

Hua Zhuyu turned to find a black robe from a cabinet on the side, threw it onto the bed, and turned her back: “Change out of that garment!” Emperor Yan was bedridden, yet Huangfu Wushuang still wore such gorgeous and ostentatious clothing. Fortunately Emperor Yan hadn’t seen him – if he had, his condition would probably have worsened from anger. Huangfu Wushuang said nothing and quickly rose to change out of his garments.

“Does Your Highness know how that dead tiger is being handled now?” Hua Zhuyu asked with focused eyes.

“The tiger?” Huangfu Wushuang’s expression tightened: “Father Emperor handed last night’s matter to Ji Fengli to handle. I heard he had people bring the tiger back.”

“Does Your Highness know where that dead tiger is now?” Hua Zhuyu’s heart sank as she asked. If Ji Fengli was handling this matter, she didn’t know if she still had any chance of success.

“It should be placed near the stables in the traveling palace. Little Bao’er, have you discovered something?” Huangfu Wushuang widened his eyes and asked.

“Last night, when this slave stabbed the arrow into the tiger’s jaw, I distinctly felt some resistance. This shows that before this, someone had already struck to save Prince Kang. The reason His Majesty suspects Your Highness is because Prince Kang wouldn’t risk his own life to frame you. However, if that tiger had truly been struck by someone else before this slave acted, it could prove that someone was secretly protecting him, and he was never in mortal danger. Then last night’s events would make him suspicious as well.” Hua Zhuyu said slowly.

“But just because someone saved him, does that really prove he might have done it?” Huangfu Wushuang asked in confusion.

“Someone saving him doesn’t prove that he brought the tiger. But if the person who saved him doesn’t dare show himself, and that person also has extremely high martial arts skills, don’t you think that’s suspicious?” The fatal spot on the tiger’s jaw wasn’t so easy to hit. She had struck it because she was too close to the tiger. But that person hidden in the shadows could use a small, hard-to-detect hidden weapon to hit the tiger’s jaw in that critical moment, showing his martial arts were extremely high. Since his martial arts were so high, why didn’t he come out to fight the tiger from the beginning? This showed there was a conspiracy.

“Our urgent task now is to examine that tiger and see if the hidden weapon in its jaw is still there.” Hua Zhuyu said clearly. Actually, she was almost certain that the hidden weapon had already been removed by the opponent, but she wanted to see if she could judge anything from the traces of the wound.

When Hua Zhuyu and Huangfu Wushuang reached the stables, they found the stables surrounded by the Imperial Guard. The one leading the Imperial Guard happened to be An. If it weren’t for An, Hua Zhuyu and Huangfu Wushuang probably wouldn’t have been able to take a single step toward the stables.

Even with An present, under the watchful eyes of everyone, he dared not show favoritism to Hua Zhuyu. He only let them look at the tiger’s jaw through the window. Hua Zhuyu was amazed to discover that besides the arrow she had stabbed in last night, there was also a short knife stabbed there.

So the hidden weapon had been removed during last night’s chaos, and a guard had been specially sent to add another stab there, eliminating traces of the wound.

The person behind the scenes truly did things without leaving any loose ends.

The only possible evidence had been destroyed. Now, all that could be done was to destroy the tiger’s corpse so that others couldn’t find traces of the tiger being controlled either. This way, even if Emperor Yan suspected Huangfu Wushuang had done it, there would be no evidence. But to destroy the tiger’s corpse, they would have to wait until nightfall. However, Hua Zhuyu worried that before nightfall, the opponent might reveal the evidence.

Sometimes when you hope for darkness, the day seems to never end, as if the sun were glued to the sky and wouldn’t move. Finally, dusk arrived, and there was still no movement from the other side. Hua Zhuyu relaxed slightly, but unexpectedly, Hui Xue came to the Qing Courtyard looking for her.

“What’s happened?” Seeing that Hui Xue’s usually calm face showed traces of panic, Hua Zhuyu’s heart sank. Could it be that in just one day of not seeing Xiao Yin, his injuries had worsened?

Hui Xue whispered: “Princess, His Highness just received news that His Majesty’s health hasn’t been good recently, so His Highness needs to hurry back. He’s leaving tonight!”

Hua Zhuyu’s heart sank. Last time at the Muda Conference, she had felt that the Northern Emperor seemed somewhat listless, but hadn’t expected he was actually ill. If it were just a minor illness, they certainly wouldn’t send a letter across thousands of miles. Xiao Yin had come to the Southern Dynasty for her sake. If something happened to the Northern Emperor and he couldn’t return in time to see him, how could she bear it?

“Where is he now?” Hua Zhuyu asked. No matter what, she should go see Xiao Yin off.

“His Highness went to bid farewell to the Southern Dynasty’s emperor. He shouldn’t be there much longer before coming out. Our carriages and horses are already outside the traveling palace. Princess, come with me directly to wait at the palace gate!”

“You go first, I’ll come later. I’ll wait for you on the mountain path down.” Ji Fengli already suspected her – she absolutely couldn’t go with Hui Xue now.

Hui Xue nodded and left by herself.

At dusk, in the western sky, clusters of clouds seemed painted with rouge, gorgeous and dazzling. The mountain wind brought waves of coolness, and wildflowers along the roadside and in the mountains drifted out wisps of fragrance with the wind.

Liu Feng, Hui Xue, Qing Yun, Bi Yue, and Xiao Yin’s accompanying guards were all mounted on tall horses, escorting a carriage slowly approaching. Having just been injured, Xiao Yin couldn’t ride a horse this time.

With Emperor Yan injured and the traveling palace in complete chaos, Xiao Yin’s departure wasn’t made with great fanfare. Emperor Yan only sent two officials to see him off, and one of these officials was actually Physician Wen.

One of the officials spoke some polite words to Xiao Yin through the carriage window, then left, but Physician Wen spoke through the window for a very long time, making Hua Zhuyu, hiding in the bushes, quite impatient. She truly didn’t know what Physician Wen and Xiao Yin had to talk about that could take so long.

Later, Xiao Yin apparently grew impatient and urged the guards to depart. The carriage gradually moved away, and Physician Wen reluctantly gazed at the carriage until it turned a corner and disappeared, yet he still stood there looking.

Hua Zhuyu sensed something was amiss. When the carriage reached her hiding place, she quietly leaped onto the carriage shaft and slipped through the curtain into the carriage.

The sky had grown somewhat dark, and night pearls emitting soft light hung from the four corners of the carriage roof.

Xiao Yin reclined against the couch, his face still somewhat pale, looking tired and melancholy. Only those purple pupils, carrying a trace of reluctance, gazed deeply at the suddenly appearing Hua Zhuyu.

The carriage interior didn’t contain only Xiao Yin. Beside him sat another person – a woman. She sat with her back to Xiao Yin, facing a corner of the carriage, apparently weeping.

That woman seemed to hear the commotion and slowly turned her face. On a delicate, beautiful face hung two lines of clear tears, like pear blossoms wet with rain, evoking pity.

Hua Zhuyu looked at the familiar face before her and was immediately stunned.

This woman was actually Wen Wan.

Wen Wan was actually sitting in the carriage with Xiao Yin – what was going on?

She remembered that at the welcoming banquet Emperor Yan had held for Xiao Yin, Xiao Yin had specifically requested to hear Wen Wan play the qin. Originally, seeing Wen Wan’s portrait had already moved his heart, and now seeing the real person, he was probably moved again.

At the banquet, Emperor Yan had also said that if he took a liking to anyone, that person could marry into his dynasty. Presumably, he had asked Emperor Yan for Wen Wan before leaving. However, Wen Wan was already a selected maiden, yet Emperor Yan had still agreed and quietly let Wen Wan marry into the Northern Dynasty. No wonder Physician Wen had been so reluctant earlier!

Xiao Yin had risked himself to save her, which moved her greatly. But perhaps he had only done so to protect his sister. If she didn’t have Princess Zhuo Ya’s identity, he might not have done so.

Thinking this, Hua Zhuyu’s heart slowly sank. She forced out a smile and said hoarsely: “Hearing that Your Highness was returning to the Northern Dynasty, our Crown Prince specifically instructed this slave to come bid farewell. May Your Highness have a smooth journey and reach the Northern Dynasty safely.”

This was said rather formally – there was no choice, because Wen Wan was in the carriage. She couldn’t say any words of farewell, so she could only speak this way, saying she had come under Huangfu Wushuang’s orders.

After hearing Hua Zhuyu’s words, Xiao Yin sighed deeply, reached out his slender, strong hand to gently cover Hua Zhuyu’s hand, and lightly squeezed it, as if wanting to transfer his strength to her through touch.

“Hmph, who would have thought that the dignified Northern Dynasty Crown Prince would actually be a cut-sleeve, actually liking a eunuch. Haha…” Wen Wan said coldly from the side, her voice cold and disdainful.

Hua Zhuyu’s heart was startled. She flicked her sleeve to shake off Xiao Yin’s hand, raised her eyes to stare coldly at Wen Wan: “Miss Wen, you’ve misunderstood!”

“Misunderstood?” Wen Wan had wiped away the tears from her face. She now held her head high, her cloud-like hair like smoke and mist, the hairpin swaying at her temples, truly noble and imposing. She wore a cold, beautiful smile at the corner of her lips, slowly turned to look at Xiao Yin, and asked coldly: “Does the Northern Dynasty Crown Prince also think Wen Wan has misunderstood?”

Xiao Yin’s slender sword-like brows knitted together. He turned back to smile lightly at Wen Wan, his purple pupils rippling, thin lips slightly curved, like flowers blooming in the dark night. Those who rarely smiled often had fatal smiles.

But Hua Zhuyu knew that Xiao Yin’s smiles often marked the beginning of the other party’s misfortune. She couldn’t forget that soul-stirring smile before he threw her into the red tent. Sure enough, before Wen Wan could recover from Xiao Yin’s enchanting smile, she heard Xiao Yin say lightly: “Yes, you have indeed misunderstood!” As soon as he finished speaking, Xiao Yin pointed with his finger, hitting Wen Wan’s sleep acupoint.

“I know that even though Father Emperor is ill, you still don’t want to come with me, isn’t that right?” Xiao Yin gazed at Hua Zhuyu with complex eyes, as if he had seen through her thoughts, and said slowly: “I said I wouldn’t force you to return. Since you insist on staying, I’ll fulfill your wish. It’s just that the Southern Dynasty’s situation is now turbulent and extremely dangerous. In such circumstances, how can I leave with peace of mind! This woman…” Xiao Yin glanced at the unconscious Wen Wan and said quietly: “She’s actually a good bargaining chip. If my rescuing you last night aroused their suspicions about you, then with this woman taken away by me, I believe they won’t dare do anything to you!”

Hua Zhuyu’s heart warmed. She had never thought that Xiao Yin’s taking Wen Wan away was also for her sake!

“How could the Emperor agree to let you take her away?” Hua Zhuyu couldn’t forget that it was precisely because they were unwilling to let Wen Wan marry that they had chosen to let her go as a substitute bride. Moreover, Wen Wan was already a selected maiden now.

“This is thanks to the Southern Dynasty’s current internal strife, and with no generals like Hua Mu guarding the borders, they have some fear of me. Besides, at the banquet, Emperor Yan did promise that no matter which family’s daughter I took a liking to, he would agree to the marriage alliance. Even if he’s unwilling, he can’t refuse. It’s just a selected maiden – even if she were a consort, he would have no choice but to let her go.” Xiao Yin narrowed his eyes and spoke with commanding authority.

Xiao Yin was right – circumstances compelled people, forcing even Emperor Yan to bow his head.

“So are you planning to make her Crown Princess?” Hua Zhuyu asked casually.

“Crown Princess?” Xiao Yin’s thin lips curved, blooming into a faint smile: “Girl, your big brother probably will never have a Crown Princess in this lifetime, and I don’t want even a concubine.”

His tone gradually became low and slow, mixed with an indescribable sorrow. Hua Zhuyu felt her breathing suddenly become heavy. After a long time, she raised her eyes lightly, curved her lips in a mocking smile, and said: “Could it be that big brother has fallen ill? Has no interest in women anymore?”

“Ill? Yes, big brother has fallen ill, and perhaps this lifetime he’ll never recover, never recover.” He smiled mournfully, his eyes filled with the sorrow of longing but not obtaining, seeking but not being able to have.

Such sorrow was hidden in the depths of his eyes – he didn’t want to reveal it openly before her.

If she had never heard his words when drunk, perhaps she wouldn’t understand the sorrow in his eyes, wouldn’t understand what illness he was actually talking about.

Hua Zhuyu’s clear eyes slightly focused, and she said lightly: “Have a smooth journey! Please don’t make things difficult for this Miss Wen!” No matter what, Wen Wan was forced to go to the Northern Dynasty because of her.

“I will!” Xiao Yin promised, glancing at Wen Wan and sighing: “Wasn’t she supposed to be weak and sickly? But I see her body is quite robust. The Northern Dynasty’s wind and frost won’t defeat her. Don’t you hate her? After all, it’s because of her that you suffered so much.”

“Hate – how could I not hate?” Hua Zhuyu said leisurely. If not for substituting for her, Jin Se wouldn’t have died. It’s just that in all this, she wasn’t the direct culprit. Hua Zhuyu was someone who distinguished between gratitude and resentment. As for Wen Wan, no matter how you looked at it, her crimes didn’t deserve death! She hadn’t wanted to marry into the Northern Dynasty, but after going around in circles, she still ended up in the Northern Dynasty – this could be considered punishment.

She turned to lift the carriage curtain, about to leave, but that burning gaze behind her made her pause. After thinking it over, she suddenly said quietly: “When I was in the Northern Dynasty, I did do something that wronged you. When you return, go ask Lady Bai Ma – she knows about it!”

She didn’t have the courage to speak of that matter now. She also didn’t know how he would react if she told him. So she chose to hide it for now. Fortunately, Lady Bai Ma knew about it. He only needed to ask to find out.

She stood under an ancient tree by the mountain path, watching that convoy of carriages and horses gradually disappear along the winding mountain road until she could no longer see them.

The setting sun had slowly sunk, night fell, and heaven and earth were shrouded in darkness. Birds fluttered their wings toward the forest because their nests were there. Yet she wasn’t even as good as a bird – she didn’t know if the nest where she sheltered would still allow her to roost tonight.

Returning to the Qingjiang Traveling Palace, Hua Zhuyu headed toward the stables where the tiger was kept. She wanted to wait until completely dark, then have An quietly send someone to set fire to the stables. But before she reached the stables, she received a message sent by An’s men, saying the stables were under martial law. Zhang Qing, the Minister of Justice, had personally brought coroners to examine the dead tiger.

Minister of Justice Zhang Qing had originally remained in the capital and hadn’t accompanied the imperial procession to the Qingjiang Traveling Palace for summer retreat. For him to travel from the capital to the Qingjiang Traveling Palace by water would take at least two and a half days, and by land, though faster, would still require at least a day and night. Last night’s incident had only just occurred, yet tonight the Minister of Justice had arrived – truly remarkably fast.

Hua Zhuyu knew things were going badly. She had originally planned to set the fire after dark, but the opponents weren’t giving her any opportunity at all. The situation was now too passive. She suddenly turned and headed toward the Qing Courtyard.

Huangfu Wushuang wasn’t in the Qing Courtyard. Only You Fu was there, saying Huangfu Wushuang had taken Ji Xiang to petition Empress Nie. It seemed Huangfu Wushuang also knew there was no longer any room for turning things around. He had always harbored great resentment toward his mother, but now he was willing to beg her.

“You Fu, come here. Search through His Highness’s room and see if there are any suspicious items!” Hua Zhuyu said with furrowed brows. Though she didn’t know what could make the tiger attack only Emperor Yan and Huangfu Wushang, she was certain such things existed.

You Fu agreed and hurried with Hua Zhuyu to Huangfu Wushuang’s bedchamber, searching thoroughly but finding nothing suspicious. What kind of thing could it be that she just couldn’t find? Just then, several dog barks came from outside the door.

Hua Zhuyu’s heart jumped in alarm, and she hurriedly went out with You Fu to meet them.

Minister of Justice Zhang Qing personally led several guards through the Qing Courtyard’s moon gate, slowly pacing over. The leading guard held a hunting dog.

“Lord Zhang, what are you doing?” Hua Zhuyu’s heart was alarmed, but her face remained composed.

Zhang Qing wore official robes and coldly swept a glance at Hua Zhuyu, saying lightly: “Eunuch Bao, is His Highness present?”

“His Highness has gone out. Is there something Lord Zhang needs?” Hua Zhuyu raised her eyes and asked with a light smile.

Zhang Qing produced a token from his hand: “This official has received imperial orders to search all courtyards!” Having said this, he gestured for the guards to take the hunting dog inside.

Hua Zhuyu had been extremely nervous, but by this point, she had become calm. What was meant to come would eventually come. It seemed Huangfu Wushuang wouldn’t be able to escape this calamity. Sure enough, before long, a guard emerged carrying a box: “Lord Zhang, this is what Da Hei brought out.”

“Good, take it away.” Zhang Qing didn’t open the box and led the guards away from the Qing Courtyard.

Huangfu Wushuang was imprisoned.

The box found in the Qing Courtyard contained a painting – the bamboo painting Wen Wan had made that day in the Bamboo Courtyard. That painting was stained with a certain scent, and the clothes Emperor Yan and Huangfu Wushang wore that night also carried this scent. According to the coroner, the tiger that night had caught this scent from Emperor Yan and Huangfu Wushang, which was why it had attacked only those two people.

This scent came from a strange flower called xinyi flower. This flower’s fragrance was extremely faint – humans couldn’t smell it, but tigers were extremely sensitive to it. They could smell it from far away, and upon smelling it, they would go mad.

This bamboo painting should have been kept together with the flower’s pollen. After the incident, the pollen had been disposed of, but Huangfu Wushuang couldn’t bear to throw away this painting, so it remained and became evidence.

Such testimony made even Hua Zhuyu somewhat believe it. Because if flower pollen had been found directly in Huangfu Wushuang’s room, it would seem like framing. If Huangfu Wushuang had truly done it, unless he were a fool, he wouldn’t still keep such things. But finding the bamboo painting made it believable. Ordinary people couldn’t smell that flower pollen, so Huangfu Wushuang might not have known the painting carried the scent. Since this was painted by his beloved, he had kept it.

Though this painting was given by Wen Wan, Wen Wan wasn’t under suspicion. Because that day, Wen Wan had decided to paint on the spot and hadn’t brought ink, brush, paper, and inkstone. The materials for painting were all temporarily fetched from the Qing Courtyard by Huangfu Wushuang’s people, and she had painted in front of everyone.

After hearing the Minister of Justice’s report, Emperor Yan flew into a rage. He wouldn’t even listen to Empress Nie’s pleas, had Huangfu Wushuang arrested, and that very night had him sent back to the capital. Hua Zhuyu, along with Ji Xiang, You Fu, and other servants close to Huangfu Wushuang, naturally couldn’t escape involvement and were escorted back with Huangfu Wushuang.

Two days and nights by boat – how glorious their arrival had been, just as wretched was this return journey. Though Huangfu Wushuang’s position as Crown Prince hadn’t been stripped yet, having committed such a grave crime, the Imperial Guards escorting them on this journey were truly numerous.

On the third day at dusk, they reached the capital and disembarked, then boarded carriages.

Throughout this journey, Hua Zhuyu had been imprisoned together with Huangfu Wushuang. All along the way, Huangfu Wushuang had remained silent. Having experienced such dramatic changes, he seemed to have matured. Perhaps he had already cried enough before Emperor Yan – now there wasn’t a single tear on his face. Just like her that day, all tears had probably dried up!

The carriage traveled for about two hours before finally reaching the imperial palace.

Though they were still in the imperial palace, they wouldn’t return to the Eastern Palace. Instead, they traveled westward to the most remote part of the imperial palace – the Inner Disciplinary Court.

This place could be called the coldest part of the imperial palace, because this was a prison – a prison for incarcerating imperial clan members who had committed grave crimes. This place was even more sinister and terrifying than the Cold Palace, spoken of with dread.