Prince Jing was bound at the hands and gagged, but the ropes on his legs were untied to allow him to walk.

To prevent him from running around, Wang Daxia tied the leg rope to his bound hands behind his back, like leashing a dog, leading him along.

His pants and shoes had been stripped off by Wang Daxia and thrown off the cliff, leaving him completely bare underneath. Wang Daxia said:

“Noble Consort Lu Jing is hosting a chrysanthemum banquet down the mountain, with delicate beautiful women candidates at the feast. If we go down the mountain like this, with the lecher completely exposed below, wearing nothing and quite breezy, we might disturb Her Highness Noble Consort – that wouldn’t be good. This subordinate suggests taking the path around the mountainside and going down the western side, avoiding the chrysanthemum banquet.”

This young man was becoming more and more thoughtful. Lu Ying said, “We’ll do as you suggest.”

Hearing his mother consort was down the mountain, Prince Jing immediately walked barefoot toward Lu Ying, making muffled sounds: You should recognize me! I’m Prince Jing! Noble Consort Jing’s own son!

Though Prince Jing wore a round-collar robe on the outside covering his lower body, only exposing the parts below his ankles, Lu Ying was still a woman after all. Thinking about him not wearing pants and with his face dirty, she instinctively felt disgusted and wouldn’t look closely at his face. She raised her Embroidered Spring Blade: “Get away!”

Wang Daxia yanked the rope, forcibly pulling Prince Jing to his side, and slapped the back of Prince Jing’s head in reprimand: “Still not behaving at this point! Spying on beautiful women candidates wasn’t enough – now you want to harass our brilliant and mighty Imperial Guard Commander – no, the most handsome Commander Lu in the capital! It seems you won’t cry until you see the coffin!”

Wang Daxia picked up a tree branch and struck Prince Jing’s shoulder: “Wrong way – go west.”

When had Prince Jing ever suffered such humiliation? He glared angrily at Wang Daxia, muffled sounds from his mouth: This prince remembers you! This prince will torture you, kill you, exterminate your nine generations!

Wang Daxia struck Prince Jing again with the branch: “Still dare to roar at me, stinking lecher! Move!”

Prince Jing felt the pain. A good prince doesn’t suffer immediate losses, so he had to endure the humiliation and head west.

Though the entire path was paved with stone steps, Prince Jing, who had never walked barefoot before, had his feet bleeding after walking dozens of stone steps.

Truly leaving bloody footprints with every step. Each step felt like countless needles stabbing his feet – the pain was enough to send him to heaven!

Prince Jing’s feet hurt, slowing his descent. Wang Daxia would wave the tree branch behind him, striking away.

Walk, and his feet hurt. Don’t walk, and his shoulders hurt from the beating.

It hurt either way – when would this torment end?

Prince Jing cursed Wang Daxia countless times in his heart, imagining slicing him into pieces ten thousand times. This journey had never felt so long.

Meanwhile, at the Chrysanthemum Garden on the east side of Qionghua Island, it was getting late. Noble Consort Lu Jing announced the banquet’s end, and all beautiful women candidates bowed in gratitude to Her Highness Noble Consort for the feast.

Forty-nine beautiful women candidates were brought over; forty-eight would be taken back. The most foolish, greedy one had already flown to the treetops early – a sparrow becoming a phoenix.

Noble Consort Lu Jing was distracted, still in shock: What was so good about that Shang Qinglan? How could His Majesty like such an uncouth thing?

According to protocol, Noble Consort Lu Jing went first, with the beautiful women candidates following behind.

Noble Consort Lu Jing boarded her eight-bearer phoenix palanquin, with a hundred-person honor guard playing music as they slowly walked toward the eastern dock, the beautiful women candidates following on foot.

At the dock, just as Noble Consort Lu Jing was about to board her boat, a middle-aged eunuch hurriedly approached: “Your Highness Noble Consort! This old slave requests audience with Your Highness!”

This was Prince Jing’s chief companion and the head eunuch of Prince Jing’s mansion – Eunuch Wei. Eunuch Wei was a proper graduate of the Inner Palace School with decent learning. He worked as a scribe in the Directorate of Ceremonial. When Prince Jing began his studies, Emperor Jiajing assigned him to Prince Jing to handle writing materials and serve as study companion.

A prince’s chief companion served the prince for life, with fortunes rising and falling based on the prince’s prospects. The current Chief Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, Huang Jin, had been Emperor Jiajing’s chief companion in his youth.

Seeing Eunuch Wei’s panicked expression, Noble Consort Lu Jing sensed trouble and dismissed everyone to ask: “What has you so flustered?”

Eunuch Wei’s voice trembled as he spoke: “Your Highness, Prince Jing… has disappeared.”

“What?” Noble Consort Lu Jing was shocked. Her life’s hope rested on her son. After years of maneuvering in the harem, she wasn’t content to stop at the consort position – Empress Dowager was her ultimate goal.

But without her son, she couldn’t dream of becoming Empress Dowager. Noble Consort Lu Jing asked: “Where did he disappear? Why didn’t you say so earlier! Are you all useless?”

Eunuch Wei prostrated on the ground: “Today Prince Jing entered the palace, saying he was paying respects to Your Highness. Learning Your Highness was at Qionghua Island, he took a boat here. But after landing, Prince Jing said he wanted to walk around alone and sent this old slave and all the guards away.”

“When Prince Jing left, he ordered this old slave not to have hidden guards follow from a distance – we all waited at the dock for the prince’s return. This old slave thought that Qionghua Island, surrounded by water, was a peaceful place. Though there are some rare birds and beasts, none are fierce. Prince Jing had wandered here since childhood and wouldn’t get lost, so this old slave didn’t assign guards for protection.”

“This old slave waited and waited at the dock but Prince Jing never returned. When we sent someone to inquire at the chrysanthemum banquet, they said Prince Jing never appeared there and never paid respects to Your Highness Noble Consort.”

“This old slave thought Prince Jing was enjoying the scenery and lost track of time, so we sent people to search nearby but still couldn’t find Prince Jing. However, this old slave found this at Penglai Pavilion on the mountainside—”

Eunuch Wei opened a bundle with trembling hands, revealing a broken Western telescope and shattered glass pieces – not only that, but some glass pieces had bloodstains on them!

“Your Highness, this is Prince Jing’s treasured possession. This old slave couldn’t be mistaken – the copper telescope bears a flying eagle brand mark, Prince Jing’s personal seal.”

Noble Consort Lu Jing examined the broken telescope carefully – it was indeed so.

Noble Consort Lu Jing said urgently: “Prince Jing must have had an accident! Why didn’t you say so earlier? Have all the guards and palace servants on the island search together!”

Eunuch Wei said: “When Prince Jing came to the island, he didn’t inform the island guards. He said he was paying respects to Your Highness Noble Consort but never appeared. Moreover, with the beautiful women candidates’ chrysanthemum banquet here, the situation is complicated – how dare this old slave act on his own authority? This subordinate just discovered this object and immediately brought it to request Your Highness Noble Consort’s decision.”

Eunuch Wei feared taking responsibility – he was just a head eunuch of a princely mansion, not palace personnel.

This place belonged to the West Garden of the Forbidden City, where the Emperor resided. For Prince Jing as a feudal prince to come uninvited without informing anyone – what would the already suspicious Emperor Jiajing think?

So Eunuch Wei preferred to delay and throw the difficult problem to Noble Consort Lu Jing. Noble Consort Lu Jing was, after all, the favored consort managing the harem – her orders carried more legitimacy than those of a princely mansion’s head eunuch.

Noble Consort Lu Jing, frantic with worry for her son, disregarded the forty-eight beautiful women candidates following behind her and immediately ordered: “All personnel, whether my attendants or island guards, form a circle from the mountain base and search upward like casting a net to find Prince Jing!”

Eunuch Wei said: “If we only form a circle at the mountain base, we still might not have enough manpower.”

Seeing the blood on the glass pieces, Noble Consort Lu Jing was beside herself with anxiety and angrily said: “Including you and myself, bring all forty-eight beautiful women candidates and their accompanying wet nurses! Everyone help search for Prince Jing!”

Noble Consort Lu Jing abandoned her consort’s dignity, changed into soft-soled embroidered shoes, and personally climbed the mountain to search for her son.

Everyone, including court physician Wei Caiwei, went up the mountain to search for Prince Jing.

Wei Caiwei was puzzled: What’s going on? How did Prince Jing come to Qionghua Island? And he’s missing? Such a big incident – why hadn’t Lu Ying and the others mentioned it?

Even with Wei Caiwei’s rebirth, she couldn’t imagine that Prince Jing was the very lecher Lu Ying and Wang Daxia were supposed to arrest!

What kind of prince would do something as outrageous as spying on his father’s women? That would be too lustful for life!

Wei Caiwei wore convenient soft sheepskin boots for walking.

This caused suffering for the beautiful women candidates. When they came, to make their figures and walking postures look good and stand out from the crowd, the wet nurses had them change into wooden-soled platform shoes (similar to modern rocking-bottom platform shoes, high in the middle with a flat bottom, toes and heels curved up at both ends, the sole shaped like a curved little boat).

These shoes were fine for flat surfaces – quick steps that made them look taller – but they were terrible for mountain paths. Swaying unsteadily, most beautiful women candidates were assigned search areas with no smooth steps to walk on. Wearing platform shoes to climb mountains through rocks and forests was truly dangerous.

Soon beautiful women candidates were spraining ankles and falling. Wei Caiwei, being a doctor, quickly shouldered her medicine bag to provide bone-setting treatment for the injured candidates.

The most unlucky candidate stepped on a loose stone, lost her footing, and actually rolled down from the mountainside.

Ah!

The candidate screamed as she tumbled down the slope, knocking down two other climbing candidates along the way – all three rolled down together.

The scene was so frightening that all the other candidates didn’t dare move, clinging desperately to trees or stones.

Wet Nurse Song, being elderly, became dizzy after climbing briefly and was about to be struck by the tumbling candidate.

“Wet Nurse, be careful!” Li Jiubao grabbed Wet Nurse Song’s hand and pulled her to the pine tree she was hugging.

Three candidates rolled down – two were blocked by pine trees partway down, but the unluckiest one rolled all the way to the mountain base, striking a rock hard. With a dull thud, the candidate stopped moving immediately. Blood flowed from her forehead, spattering on her python robe and the chrysanthemum insignia on her chest.

“Someone’s dead! Help!” The candidates screamed for rescue. After all, they had lived together in Chuxiu Palace for over half a month – seeing such a tragic scene, they felt the sorrow of the rabbit dying while the fox grieves. They all stopped, ignoring Noble Consort Lu Jing’s mountain search orders, took off their hindering platform shoes, and wearing only socks, went toward the three fallen candidates to rescue them.

Li Jiubao, who had climbed roofs and done household chores since childhood with a healthy body, was the first to take off her shoes and run down the mountain to rescue the candidate who hit the rock, checking for breath: “Still breathing!”

Wei Caiwei left the lightly injured candidate and ran to rescue the unconscious one, immediately taking out blood-stopping powder to sprinkle on the candidate’s forehead, then wrapping it tightly with gauze.

Eunuch Wei was still urging from above: “Prince Jing hasn’t been found yet – we can’t stop! Everyone come back up here!”

The candidates had no choice but to stop and climb up wearing only socks – there was no help for it, wearing platform shoes might be fatal.

Hearing Eunuch Wei’s selfish indifference, Wei Caiwei’s anger exploded. The aura of the previous life’s palace favorite, Female Official Wei, was immediately provoked, and she shouted at Eunuch Wei:

“Eunuch Wei is the head eunuch of Prince Jing’s mansion. Your salary comes from Prince Jing’s accounts. They are beautiful women candidates from Chuxiu Palace, selected by the Directorate of Ceremonial from thousands throughout the capital region. Does a eunuch from a princely mansion have the right to casually command beautiful women candidates of the Forbidden City?”

Eunuch Wei angrily retorted: “What does a small female physician know! This is Noble Consort’s order!”

Wei Caiwei immediately countered: “Times change. Now lives are at stake – three seriously injured, five lightly injured. Noble Consort is benevolent – how could she possibly know there are tigers in the mountains yet still send beautiful women candidates to die in vain?”

Seeing Wei Caiwei’s sharp tongue and sound reasoning that he couldn’t refute, Eunuch Wei pointed at her and cursed: “Audacious female physician! How dare you spread confusion and sow discord here! Someone, arrest her!”

“Who dares touch me!” Wei Caiwei raised her waist token. “I am female physician Wei Caiwei, personally recommended to the Directorate of Ceremonial by Imperial Guard Commander Lu! My responsibility is protecting Chuxiu Palace’s beautiful women candidates. You people from Prince Jing’s mansion don’t respect Commander Lu and dare to assault me in the Forbidden City – are you planning rebellion?”

Author’s Note: Hahahaha things are getting bigger and bigger, wildly spilling dog blood drama