Actually, Lu Ying had come to Guanghua Temple seeking a chance to “encounter” Prince Yu. She had secretly followed from Guanghua Temple all the way to the restaurant. Just as she was struggling to find an excuse, she happened to see Wang Daxia and Wei Caiwei eating barbecue, so she called over the server under the pretense of looking for Wang Daxia to attract Prince Yu’s attention.
What an excellent strategy of besieging Wei to save Zhao.
Indeed, Li Fang had the sharpest eyes, recognizing Lu Ying and alerting Prince Yu.
Prince Yu usually only dealt with the mansion’s subordinate officials and clerks. Though cabinet minister Xu Jie and other civil officials constantly submitted memorials urging Emperor Jiajing to establish the eldest son Prince Yu as crown prince on the grounds of “establishing the imperial heir early” and “when there’s no legitimate heir, establish the eldest,” Prince Yu avoided suspicion by not associating with external officials. Lu Bing was the emperor’s confidant, making Prince Yu even more distant toward him.
Therefore, Prince Yu merely nodded at Lu Ying in greeting before entering the warm pavilion to dine.
Today being his eldest daughter’s death anniversary, Prince Yu ate no meat and took no life. A bronze hotpot sat on the table with clear, bland broth, plates filled with various vegetables, mushrooms, and tofu.
Guanghua Temple also offered free vegetarian meals for guests, but free lunches were often the most expensive. Eating the temple’s arhat vegetarian feast required donating at least fifty taels in incense money, while the restaurant’s vegetarian hotpot cost less than two taels of silver for a complete meal. Obviously the restaurant was more economical.
Prince Yu hadn’t taken a penny of the two years’ back pay that Yan Shifan had provided, giving it all to Princess Yu for household expenses. He remained an impoverished prince struggling to maintain life by selling the mansion’s appointment certificates.
Li Fang knew Prince Yu’s preferences and first put mushrooms in the hotpot to cook.
Prince Yu was about to eat, but how could Lu Ying miss this heaven-sent opportunity? She pulled Wei Caiwei and the limping Wang Daxia to the adjacent warm pavilion. Li Fang was inside serving Prince Yu’s meal while three guards stood at the door.
Lu Ying said, “Having encountered His Highness Prince Yu, how can I not pay proper respects? This humble minister has come to offer salutations.”
The guards went in to announce her.
Prince Yu watched mushrooms bobbing in the boiling water and waved his hand. “Tell her she’s excused from the formalities—no need to perform them.”
Li Fang said, “The two people behind Lu Ying have significant backgrounds—one is the Northern City Four Scourges who caused chaos at Qionghua Island, the other is Dr. Wei Caiwei, most favored by Noble Consort Shang.”
“Oh? It’s them.” Prince Yu immediately became interested. “Is he the Northern City Four Scourges who drove Prince Jing to his fief?”
Wang Daxia, this troublemaker, had long since flowed beyond the Northern City to cause havoc in the Forbidden City—disaster water flows to others’ fields.
Li Fang said, “Precisely, though the relationship between these three is rather complex…”
Li Fang recounted the tangled emotional history of the three, leaving Prince Yu dizzy. He pointed at the nest of hand-pulled noodles on a plate. “How is their relationship even more tangled than these noodles? Interesting. Let them in.”
Lu Ying led in paying respects and introduced Wang Daxia and Wei Caiwei.
Prince Yu glanced at the crutch. “Captain Wang seems to have a leg ailment? Li Fang, have all three sit and speak.”
The three thanked him. Wang Daxia smiled sheepishly, “Last night walking in the dark, the road was slippery and I took a fall.” Actually he’d been struck by a self-moving mooncake.
Lu Ying immediately borrowed the opening: “In this bitter cold with troubles both inside and outside the palace—talk of black specters and such—one must be more careful walking at night.”
Upon hearing this, Wei Caiwei said, “There are also black specter troubles outside the palace?”
“This—” Lu Ying looked at Prince Yu, reluctant to gossip about princely household matters.
Prince Yu spoke openly, “Last night several night patrol guards at my mansion also claimed to see a dog-shaped black specter emanating green light.”
Wei Caiwei was shocked: How could there be supernatural trickery at Prince Yu’s mansion too? Lan Daoxing clearly never participated in succession struggles, only caring about his standing before Emperor Jiajing!
Regarding Wei Caiwei convincing Yan Shifan to repay debts, Princess Yu had already told Prince Yu, but he remained half-believing. Li Jiubao had also told Prince Yu that Dr. Wei repeatedly insisted it wasn’t her achievement, leaving Prince Yu confused. However, Wei Caiwei’s good relationship with his favored concubine Li Jiubao, coming monthly for treatments, made Prince Yu very fond of her. Seeing her shock, he said:
“I don’t believe in demons and monsters. Perhaps the night patrol guards drank too much wine to keep warm, and with rumors of palace black specters spreading throughout the city, they had hallucinations. It’s nothing serious—I’ve already ordered the mansion’s people not to believe or spread rumors.”
However, while Lu Ying worried about Prince Yu’s safety, Wei Caiwei’s concerns lay elsewhere. She asked, “Your Highness, was Lady Li frightened last night?”
Prince Yu felt somewhat embarrassed—she slept with me last night. He said, “Dr. Wei need not worry. Lady Li is perfectly safe.”
But Wei Caiwei couldn’t feel relieved! Having personally witnessed the destructive power of black specters releasing black smoke—causing fainting, madness, even death—last night’s brief specter appearance was just an appetizer. The “main course” hadn’t been served yet.
When black specters truly acted up, even Shang Qinglan in the palace, protected by layers of guards, was eventually frightened into unconsciousness. What if Li Jiubao got hurt?
All of us will need to rely on Li Jiubao as our great patron in the future!
Wei Caiwei said, “Your Highness, regarding black specters, I personally experienced them in the palace and have many questions. Having studied medicine since childhood, I don’t believe in demons and monsters either. This month I’ve treated five palace servants from Yude Palace who were affected by black specter demonic energy. They all showed symptoms of fever, skin redness, dilated pupils, convulsions, and delirium. Superstitious people say they were possessed by demonic energy or ghosts. But I believe their symptoms exactly match those of people poisoned by hallucinogenic substances like datura flowers. Except for one death, the other four regained consciousness after twelve hours and have returned to duty at Yude Palace—it’s not ghost possession.”
“Therefore, I boldly volunteer to visit Prince Yu’s mansion to examine where yesterday’s black specter appeared and see if the frightened guards show similar symptoms.”
Wei Caiwei’s words perfectly suited Prince Yu, who also didn’t believe in evil. Prince Yu said, “Good. After I finish this afternoon’s rituals, Dr. Wei will return to the mansion with me. Let’s see whether it’s demons or human trickery.”
Lu Ying immediately seized the opportunity: “If Dr. Wei goes to the mansion, I must accompany her for protection…”
Lu Ying recounted Wei Caiwei’s street kidnapping and forced bloodletting ordeal, “The culprits haven’t been found yet. Currently Dr. Wei lives at my family’s Shichahai residence with servants for protection to avoid further mishaps. Whenever Dr. Wei goes out, we provide close personal protection.”
Wang Daxia also quickly nodded, “Yes, I must go too.”
Prince Yu’s gaze fell on the crutch again. “But your leg?”
Wang Daxia tossed aside the crutch, stood up and limped a few steps. “Your Highness please see—the injury isn’t severe. I can walk without the crutch.”
Prince Yu watched Wang Daxia with interest: This ability to lie with a straight face—no wonder he drove Prince Jing to his fief.
Prince Yu said, “Good. We’ll go together this afternoon. You go eat first.”
The three withdrew.
Li Fang served the cooked mushrooms to Prince Yu’s bowl, adding half a spoonful of dipping sauce and mixing it. “Your Highness, you usually avoid associating with external officials to prevent compromising situations and giving others leverage. Today agreeing to let a female doctor enter the mansion is one thing, but why accept Wang Daxia and Miss Lu as well? This servant doesn’t understand.”
After finishing the mushrooms, Prince Yu said, “Those two are protecting Dr. Wei, the favored person before Noble Consort Shang. What does that have to do with me? They’re not protecting me. Moreover, the mansion’s defenses are weak. We only maintain fifty guards divided among the four main gates, with fewer than ten patrolling at night. I have only three personal bodyguards—altogether just thirteen people. If someone truly schemes against us, we’d have to split forces protecting a houseful of defenseless women in the rear quarters. It’s too taxing. When there’s opportunity to borrow strength, we should borrow some.”
At Prince Jing’s mansion’s peak, there were nearly five thousand troops. Even going to his fief, he took at least a thousand-man guard unit, departing magnificently. Who would dare provoke this fallen phoenix?
Prince Yu’s mansion, cutting expenses and maintaining troops by selling offices, could only afford fifty-odd people. Hearing this, Li Fang felt pained—His Highness suffered too much. But the more suffering, the less it should be spoken of. Li Fang quickly changed the subject: “Three companions—what did Your Highness observe? Are their relationships still tangled?”
Prince Yu recalled their expressions. “Both Lu Ying and Wang Daxia care greatly for Dr. Wei. If Lu Ying and Wei Caiwei were both competing for Wang Daxia as romantic rivals, how could the proud Lu Ying tolerate Wei Caiwei living at the Lu family’s separate residence? Hearing is false, seeing is believing. Clearly rumors can’t be trusted.”
At the other warm pavilion, the three sat down for barbecue. Lu Ying gave Wang Daxia five hundred-tael banknotes. “Here, your birthday gift.”
Wang Daxia cheered, “Thank you, Commander Lu!”
Wei Caiwei was also happy for Daxia’s gain. “The birthday boy gets a large reward on his first day of being fifteen—promotion and fortune are just around the corner!”
Lu Ying said, “To get promoted and rich, you need new achievements. Prince Yu’s mansion presents an excellent opportunity to expose White Deer Temple. I suspect those stinking White Deer Temple Taoists want to harm Prince Yu, so they’ve been monitoring and seeking chances to act. Last month Yude Palace had black specter troubles, then within days Yan Shifan inexplicably repaid debts. Princess Yu used the money for renovations, giving stinking Taoists perfect cover to infiltrate and cause mischief.”
“Last night’s black specter was probably them deliberately releasing a fake one to frighten guards. This way, when Prince Yu is later injured by black specters, becoming mad from black fog or even dying, it would seem natural with no one suspecting. This scheme is more convenient than framing the White Lotus Sect—black specters harmed Prince Yu while Prince Jing is in Hubei’s Anlu, making everyone think he’s innocent. Without Prince Yu, His Majesty would have only Prince Jing as a son left, giving him no choice.”
Wang Daxia felt chills down his spine. “This won’t do. I’ve already deeply offended Prince Jing. If he becomes emperor, he’ll probably dismember me.”
Wei Caiwei said, “Protecting Prince Yu and Li Jiubao is for our own sake. I’ve also deeply offended Prince Jing’s mansion’s Eunuch Wei. We have no second path to choose.”
Lu Ying said, “I’m doing this for the truth. Though Father always says I’m naive, I think discovering truth is more important than political interests.”
Thus with different purposes, the three still reached consensus.
That afternoon, the three’s carriage followed closely behind Prince Yu’s coach into Prince Yu’s mansion.
Winter days grew dark earlier, and with icy roads making travel treacherous, the convoy was traveling in darkness by halfway, lighting lanterns.
At Prince Yu’s mansion.
Since Prince Yu had instructed his wife before leaving to gather all the concubines that evening for dinner and conversation to stabilize emotions and reject supernatural beliefs, Princess Yu obediently ordered the kitchen to prepare hotpot, waiting for Prince Yu’s return to dine together.
The managing matron asked, “It’s dark now—should we still light the lantern stands at the main courtyard entrance?”
Princess Yu said, “Light what? Quickly remove them—His Highness dislikes them.”
Actually Princess Yu wanted to keep them lit—better safe than sorry—but she had to obey her husband.
Prince Yu’s carriage entered the mansion, reaching the inner courtyard gate. Just as he stepped down from the carriage, a dog-shaped black specter emanating green light leaped out from behind a large snowman, pouncing directly at Prince Yu!
Author’s Note: Here it comes! Here it comes! It approaches with green light!