At Zhongshan Hot Springs Palace, from a great distance, the two could see a red, sinister flower blooming in the black night—a burning building.
Seeing this, Mu Chun’s eyes blazed with murderous intent as he spurred his horse into a wild gallop. Mao Qiang followed closely behind, shouting: “Don’t be impulsive! Everything is just speculation. Before we uncover the truth, you must not show disrespect to the princess!”
Mu Chun felt his heart being torn from his body and merging with the winter world of ice and snow. He couldn’t hear what Mao Qiang was saying—everything in the world had disappeared except the burning building before his eyes. He didn’t know how he burst into the traveling palace, heard no sounds, couldn’t even feel the scorching flames ahead. He leaped from his horse and charged into the fire.
Mao Qiang watched helplessly as Mu Chun suddenly seemed possessed, ignoring his shouts and the palace guards’ attempts to block him.
The guards at the palace entrance raised their spears: “How dare you! The princess is here! Officials dismount carriages, military officers dismount horses! Drop your weapons immediately!”
Mao Qiang thought this was bad and tried to cover for Mu Chun: “Mu Chun, your eldest sister married today, so he had too much wine and got this drunk. Open your dog eyes and see whose retinue that is ahead!”
With a swoosh, Mu Chun drew his sword and charged in on horseback.
This fellow actually attacked the princess’s guards and stormed the traveling palace!
Mu Chun was a battlefield veteran who shot forward like an arrow. The guards couldn’t stop him and scattered in retreat. Mu Chun thus burst into the palace.
Unable to block him, the guards began drawing bows and nocking arrows. Just as Mu Chun was about to become a pincushion, Mao Qiang ordered the Jinyiwei forward to stop the princess’s guards: “Mu Chun is drunk and acting crazy, thinking this is a hunting ground. Don’t act rashly—Marquis Xiping is on the southern campaign, yet you’re here trying to kill his legitimate eldest son? Preposterous!”
Hearing this, the guards temporarily held their arrows, saying: “Even so, trespassing in the princess’s traveling palace cannot be lightly forgiven. The princess is sovereign—how can a subject charge at her? Moreover, with the princess here, you Jinyiwei can’t just enter at will.”
Ji Gang had a flash of inspiration: “We saw the palace on fire and came to help fight it. What are you all standing around for? Hurry and fight the fire, save the princess!”
At Ji Gang’s rallying cry, the Jinyiwei swarmed in.
Mao Qiang thought to himself that Ji Gang’s limited intelligence had actually improved.
When Mao Qiang and others arrived, they saw Prince Consort Wang Ning ignoring the princess and servants’ dissuasion, dousing himself with a bucket of water before charging into the burning building.
Mu Chun leaped from his horse and charged directly into the fire without even dousing himself with water.
Mao Qiang quickly directed the Jinyiwei to carry water and fight the fire, asking the heavily pregnant Princess Huaiqing: “What happened? Where is Siyan Hu? What did the princess do to her?”
Princess Huaiqing ignored him, pushing Mao Qiang toward the fire: “Save the prince consort! Quickly save the prince consort!”
As the princess pushed, she kept making meaningful eye contact. Mao Qiang, who could be said to have watched the princess grow up, sensed her deeper meaning: Something’s not right—what’s going on here?
Ji Gang didn’t understand Princess Huaiqing’s meaningful looks, thinking the princess really wanted Mao Qiang to risk his life saving the prince consort. He volunteered, splashing a bucket of cold water on himself: “The mountain wind is strong, the building could collapse anytime. Please Commander Mao quickly protect the princess from this dangerous place—I’ll go save the prince consort!”
“Ah!” Ji Gang shouted and charged toward the burning building.
Meanwhile, Mu Chun charged recklessly into the house. Everything he saw was fiery red, almost blinding him.
“Sister Shanwei! Hu Shanwei!” Mu Chun shouted.
No one responded—only the crackling sounds of burning.
In winter, several pots of narcissus flowers were placed in the room. Mu Chun tore a piece from his clothing, soaked it thoroughly in the narcissus pot, covered his nose and mouth, and continued charging inward. After running just a few steps, he heard someone shout: “Watch out!”
Someone pounced from behind, tackling him from the left.
Close call—a burning curio cabinet crashed down horizontally in the middle, nearly crushing Mu Chun beneath it. The ready-made grill would have roasted this piece of fresh meat.
After tackling Mu Chun, the person used his soaked sleeve to extinguish the flames on Mu Chun’s hem.
Mu Chun was overjoyed, quickly sitting up and hugging the person tightly: “Sister Shanwei! Thank goodness you’re safe!”
This embrace felt wrong—this person’s back was at least twice as wide as Sister Shanwei’s, with broad shoulders and chest. Mu Chun had to stretch his arms fully just to barely embrace him.
“Has Young Master Mu hugged enough?” the person said.
Hearing the familiar voice, Mu Chun quickly let go—it was the completely soaked Prince Consort Wang Ning.
“Bah! Male beauty brings disaster! Sister Shanwei is going to be killed because of you!” Mu Chun pushed Wang Ning away and tried to charge inward again.
Wang Ning held him back: “Shanwei isn’t here. She’s safe. This is all just a play that the princess and I are performing for others. Everything was going smoothly until you rashly barged in, creating complications. How can we continue the performance now? You fool! Idiot!”
Mu Chun was stunned: What’s going on?
Wang Ning was about to explain when another thoroughly soaked person burst in: “Prince Consort! Mu Chun! Where are you?”
The person, suddenly seeing the dazzling firelight, cried out in momentary blindness, unable to see the path clearly. Like a blind man feeling an elephant, he ran around blindly and crashed headfirst into a wall, collapsing.
It was the fair-skinned, beautiful, long-legged Ji Gang.
Seeing Ji Gang, Wang Ning had an idea to turn the situation around. Under these circumstances, he could only make the best of a bad situation…
On the other side of the traveling palace, Mao Qiang forcibly escorted Princess Huaiqing, who was shouting to save the prince consort, to the sleeping quarters. The sound of their argument in the study burst through the door, reaching outside.
Mao Qiang: “Your Highness the Princess! Siyan Hu is a palace female official, Empress Mother’s trusted aide. How could you burn her alive! Such disregard for human life!”
Princess Huaiqing: “I’m a grand Ming princess, yet I’m picking up a man others didn’t want! Taking what others discarded—how can I endure such humiliation!”
Besides this, the sound of angrily smashing objects could be heard from the room.
Princess Huaiqing smashed a vase, using the sound of shattering porcelain to open a secret chamber in the wall. Hu Shanwei lay on a daybed, covered with thick blankets, her cheeks rosy, sleeping soundly.
On the other side, the Jinyiwei busily fought the fire, splashing bucket after bucket of water, but the flames were too fierce and had little effect. Fortunately, just as the building was about to collapse, Ji Gang and Mu Chun forcibly carried out the disheveled Prince Consort Wang Ning, covered head to toe in black ash.
Wang Ning screamed frantically: “Let me go! She’s still inside! Waiting for me to save her! Let me go!”
Wang Ning’s expression could be called fierce, veins bulging on his forehead, mouth wide open like a bloody maw, resembling a certain Cult Master five hundred years later who would perform an entire TV series with one roaring expression.
Mu Chun held the upper body of the roaring Wang Ning: “You can’t—it’s all collapsed inside. Even if you risk your life, you can’t save anyone.”
Ji Gang held Wang Ning’s legs: “Prince Consort, don’t be like this. You’re about to become a father—do you want your child to be posthumously born?”
The two dragged Wang Ning from the fire. To prevent Wang Ning from breaking free, Mu Chun simply tied him up like a dumpling and carried him with Ji Gang into the sleeping quarters.
The traveling palace fire burned until midnight before being extinguished by soldiers from the North District Military Commission who arrived after hearing the news. But it was too late—everything inside was basically burned to ash. Before Jinyiwei Commander Mao Qiang, they retrieved several charred pieces of human bone.
According to the official explanation from the North District Military Commission, a young palace maid at Zhongshan Hot Springs Palace accidentally knocked over a charcoal brazier, causing the fire that killed the maid.
The next day, Mao Qiang returned to the palace with weary steps, telling Gongzheng Fan and Shangong Cao, who had waited all night for news: “After Siyan Hu delivered gifts to the Marquis Xiping’s residence yesterday, seeing it was still early, she went to Jiming Temple on Zhongshan to offer incense to her deceased mother. But the mountain road was slippery, the carriage overturned, and Siyan Hu was thrown out, breaking a rib. She’s currently recuperating outside the palace. Once her health recovers, she’ll return to palace duties.”
Before Gongzheng Fan could speak, Shangong Cao asked: “Where is she currently recuperating?”
Mao Qiang said: “Zhongshan Hot Springs Palace. Her injuries are severe—the doctor says she cannot be moved carelessly or she’ll be permanently disabled.”
Shangong Cao obviously didn’t believe it: “Commander Mao, let’s speak plainly—was it really an accident? Since this girl entered the palace, she’s been stirring up trouble everywhere, a source of disaster. Whoever gets involved with her suffers bad luck.”
“However, since she belongs to the Palace Administration Bureau, I must take responsibility for her safety. If her injuries are too severe to return to the palace, then I’ll request imperial decree from Empress Mother to leave the palace and see for myself whether this was natural disaster or man-made! Is the Siyan position cursed? Previously Siyan Liu died with no remains, and now even the strong-willed Hu Shanwei has had an accident!”
Shangong Cao strode off to find Empress Ma. Mao Qiang was about to follow and explain when Gongzheng Fan stopped him: “Commander Mao, last night there was a fire at the traveling palace that reportedly killed a young palace maid. Is Hu Shanwei’s carriage accident related to this? Or… was the person burned to death actually Hu Shanwei?”
Female officials were not to be trifled with, especially Gongzheng Fan. Mao Qiang had crossed swords with her several times without gaining advantage. This woman saw through problems very clearly, unlike Shangong Cao who was easier to deceive.
However, Gongzheng Fan wasn’t as impulsive and quick to anger as Shangong Cao—she could keep secrets. So Mao Qiang told Gongzheng Fan the truth: “Hu Shanwei is fine. Here’s what really happened…”
Princess Huaiqing loved watching opera, especially the currently popular “The Lute Song.” Since her pregnancy, she rarely went out, so the Imperial Music Bureau came to the princess residence almost daily to perform.
The lead actress playing Zhao Wu Niang caught Princess Huaiqing’s eye and became a regular at the princess residence. She also frequently entered the palace to perform before the throne, using these opportunities to meet with her sister who was also an official slave—the young palace maid Haitang beside Hu Shanwei.
Both sisters were official slaves from an official family that was ruined when implicated in the Hu Weiyong treason case. Nearly all their family members died, and they were separated from their brother who was exiled to the northwest frontier.
However, one day when this popular lead actress was performing “The Lute Song” at a pleasure house near Huitong Bridge where the Imperial Music Bureau performed for commoners, she suddenly spotted someone among the tea customers who resembled their brother on northwest garrison duty.
The brother shook his head at her while an elderly man beside him made meaningful eye contact, as if controlling him.
After the performance, the elder brought the puppet-like brother to find the lead actress, making a request she couldn’t refuse: find an opportunity to tell Princess Huaiqing a secret and incite the princess to kill her romantic rival.
The secret was that Prince Consort Wang Ning had once been engaged to Palace Siyan Hu—they were formerly passionate young lovers. Though they appeared as strangers on the surface, they were actually having an affair, with the prince consort unable to forget his old flame.
For these two years, the brother had been mining coal in northwestern mines. Before turning seventeen, he was already hunchbacked, his soul numb like a thin puppet manipulated by the elder.
If successful, the elder would free the brother, stage a mining accident to let the brother “die,” use death to eliminate his official slave status, then give him commoner registration for rebirth.
If the lead actress refused, the elder would kill the brother, trapping him in the mine to starve to death.
Unable to bear her brother’s cruel death, the lead actress agreed. But involving a princess and the palace, she dared not act rashly and consulted with sister Haitang.
Who knew Haitang would desperately advise her sister not to trust the elder’s words. First, Haitang felt Hu Shanwei had always been good to her—kind and approachable. She couldn’t betray Hu Shanwei by watching her die.
Second, Haitang believed this mysterious elder’s motives were unclear. Why did he want the princess and prince consort to turn against each other and harm Hu Shanwei? Haitang served Hu Shanwei personally and had never seen any affair between her and Wang Ning. Such slanderous accusations were too unconscionable.
Better to confess honestly to the prince consort and princess, seek forgiveness, and not harm innocent lives. Using the prince consort and princess to save their brother’s life was better than trusting a mysterious stranger.
Haitang convinced the lead actress. The sisters first confessed to Wang Ning, who knew this matter would become a hidden danger if kept from the princess, so he confessed to Princess Huaiqing.
Having been married for half a year, Wang Ning understood Princess Huaiqing somewhat. The princess was reasonable—she had tender, girlish moments, but most of the time she was a noble, proud Ming princess who wouldn’t impulsively kill Empress Mother’s Siyan female official over old romantic grievances.
Moreover, with birth mother Noble Consort Chengmu Sun Shi already deceased, if she also lost Empress Mother’s favor, Princess Huaiqing’s future would be bleak.
Indeed, hearing Wang Ning recount the past, Princess Huaiqing was stunned for a long time, then sighed: “I truly admire Hu Shanwei. When she recommended ‘The Lute Song’ before the throne last year, how much courage did that require? Before mother consort died, the palace performed ‘The Lute Song’ almost daily. Seeing the stage performances, how did she maintain such composure? This woman is frighteningly calm and strong.”
Wang Ning swore to heaven: “Siyan Hu and I have always been completely pure with no impropriety. I didn’t mention the former engagement to the princess before because His Majesty forbade complications, protecting the princess’s peace of mind for marriage.”
Princess Huaiqing said: “I know—Imperial Father has always loved me. I won’t resent Siyan Hu. Without her, there would be no ‘Filial Piety Record’ promulgation, and without the ‘Filial Piety Record,’ my mother consort…”
Mentioning Noble Consort Chengmu Sun Shi, Princess Huaiqing’s eyes reddened: “My mother consort wouldn’t have had such a grand burial with Prince Zhou presiding over the funeral. Hmph, certain people call Hu Shanwei a sycophant, but didn’t my mother consort deserve someone to preside over her funeral after dedicating her life to the imperial family and helping Empress Mother manage the harem? Certain people were unwilling to preside and didn’t want others to do so for my mother consort either—what logic is this? Violating human relations—shouldn’t this be changed?”
“Certain people” referred to Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace. Princess Huaiqing dared not criticize publicly but vented to her prince consort privately.
Seeing Princess Huaiqing’s reaction, Wang Ning knew Hu Shanwei’s life was saved. Indeed, a princess was a princess—her perspective differed from ordinary short-sighted women. This behind-the-scenes plot to kill with borrowed knives truly underestimated the princess. Compared to love, the princess cared more about interests.
Princess Huaiqing played along, pretending to be swayed by the lead actress, burning with jealous rage, striking while Hu Shanwei was outside the palace delivering gifts.
At the wedding banquet, they had Haitang drug Hu Shanwei’s wine to make her drunk. After getting her into the carriage, Haitang told the driver and eight Imperial Guards: “Siyan Hu says it’s still early—she wants to visit Jiming Temple in the north district to offer incense to her deceased mother.”
Hu Shanwei often went to Jiming Temple to pray for her deceased mother. The driver and guards were accustomed to this and found nothing strange, so they changed routes toward Jiming Temple. Passing Zhongshan Hot Springs Palace, they encountered the princess’s procession.
Princess Huaiqing invited Siyan Hu to view plum blossoms at the traveling palace. The carriage thus entered the palace, where princess residence staff invited the driver and guards to drink and warm themselves. What could happen to the princess? Everyone was completely unguarded and “got drunk.”
They awoke the next day.
That night, the princess and prince consort performed their marital discord drama, creating the fire as a diversion. Who knew Mu Chun and Mao Qiang would appear as unexpected complications, nearly ruining the plan? Fortunately, both were clever and quickly understood, cooperating to complete the performance while making it more convincing.
“…That’s how it happened. To avoid mistakes, even Hu Shanwei herself doesn’t know. The so-called maid’s bones are just leftover lamb ribs from last night’s late meal. I pretended to cover up the ugly scandal of a princess killing a female official for the imperial family, creating a series of false impressions to cooperate with the princess and prince consort in finding the mastermind behind this.” Mao Qiang explained to Gongzheng Fan. “Ji Gang has secretly followed that elder northwest to uncover the mastermind. Once found, Hu Shanwei can return to the palace.”