The fire in the imperial palace was only gradually brought under control by dawn, though it couldn’t be completely extinguished immediately.

Fortunately, none of the important palace chambers were affected, and with the timely evacuation of the Empress Dowager, Empress, consorts and others, aside from some palace servants suffering minor burns, there were no casualties.

But this fire had actually reached his own home, and Li Qitian had been on edge all night. His anxiety finally transformed into fury.

Seated upright in the Hall of Mental Cultivation, Li Qitian’s eyes were ringed with dark circles, his expression weary. He harshly berated: “A bunch of useless fools! What use is it for me to keep you!”

Palace guards and ministers who had hurriedly rushed over knelt covering the floor. Everyone was disheveled and covered in soot, and being scolded, they could only press their foreheads to the ground, pleading in unison for forgiveness.

“Emperor, please calm your anger! We are at fault!”

“Of course you’re at fault! This enormous imperial palace—how many guards do I support? With New Year approaching, you let such a thing happen at year’s end! Are you not afraid that foolish people outside will again speak ill of me? Fortunately, the Empress Dowager and Empress weren’t harmed—but if they had been, how would you compensate! Even if your heads were chopped off, it wouldn’t be enough repayment!”

“Emperor, please calm your anger!” Everyone kowtowed again.

Just then, news of the incident at the Ministry of Justice prison was reported.

Li Qitian immediately widened his eyes.

“Impossible!” Rising abruptly, Li Qitian still wore an expression of disbelief: “Why would Anyang go to the Ministry of Justice prison for no reason! If she won’t stay properly in Princess Manor, what business did she have going to the Ministry of Justice prison!”

“In reply to the Emperor, this is true.” The inner attendant delivering the report was trembling all over from the Son of Heaven’s fury, his voice carrying tremors: “Princess Anyang left with the nanny by her side. She didn’t return all last night. The steward of Princess Manor didn’t dare make a commotion and hurriedly sent people to search. But before they could find her, she was discovered at the Ministry of Justice prison. The cells holding other prisoners were unharmed—only the cell block where Prince Zhongshun’s consort and her group were held was breached. Four jailers were killed, and six people died in total, including the princess and her nanny…”

Li Qitian stood frozen in place, unable to speak for a long time.

Li Helan was dead?

That sister he had once favored, who later became tiresome to him—she was dead?

And it was a violent death in prison, stabbed through the heart with a single blade!

How could his sister, Li Qitian’s sister, possibly encounter such a thing? He was the Son of Heaven, already the most noble person in the Great Zhou Dynasty. Why could he still not protect his own sister?

Even if this sister had become detestable and frequently caused him to lose face with her actions, she was still his blood sister. Without his imperial decree, who dared let her die!

“Outrageous! Rebellion, rebellion!” Li Qitian swept his sleeve, pushing all the brushes, ink, cups and dishes on the table to the floor. The sound of shattering porcelain startled everyone into trembling. The inner attendants were so frightened they all knelt and kowtowed, completely ignoring that the broken porcelain would pierce their flesh.

Li Qitian furiously kicked over a white porcelain vase on a three-legged tall table, panting angrily like an enraged lion.

“Who still dares say Pang Xiao has no rebellious intentions? He sent people to break into prison, kidnapped Anyang from Princess Manor, and assassinated my only sister. His intentions are now crystal clear!”

“Emperor, please calm your anger.” All the ministers kowtowed again.

Everyone present had some doubts in their hearts.

Why would Princess Anyang go to the Ministry of Justice prison for no good reason? Was she really important enough to be deliberately assassinated?

Moreover, they had all witnessed the humiliation Prince Zhongshun’s consort had suffered these days, and privately everyone felt some sympathy. Prince Zhongshun was fighting the Tatars abroad, yet the Emperor was here tormenting the prince’s wife—this was hardly honorable behavior to begin with.

Now that the princess consort had been rescued, this should have been expected, shouldn’t it?

If they said Princess Anyang’s killing was incidental by the prison breakers, they would find that more believable. But to say Prince Zhongshun’s people deliberately kidnapped the princess to the prison and killed her in front of the princess consort before rescuing her—that made no sense.

Yet the Emperor’s words just now clearly conveyed exactly this meaning…

So His Majesty was determined to break with the prince. He even planned to pin Princess Anyang’s death on the prince.

None present were fools—no one dared openly question this. But everyone understood that when the prince had led troops to aid the capital, the Emperor had refused him entry. Later, after driving off the Tatars, he had replaced the commander at the last moment. And then came the capture and humiliation of the prince’s family. All this mistreatment stemmed from one reason—wariness.

“When the birds are gone, the bow is put away; when the hares are dead, the hunting dogs are cooked”—this had never been anything new.

In his fury, Li Qitian stripped several related officials of their posts. News of Princess Anyang’s assassination also instantly spread throughout the court and beyond.

The Empress Dowager immediately fainted from crying, clutching Li Qitian’s hand and repeatedly saying: “Avenge Lan’er, you must avenge Lan’er! Have the prince consort kill that wretch Pang Zhixi!”

Li Qitian’s somewhat impatient expression suddenly changed completely.

Yes. Even if Ji Zeyu didn’t particularly love Anyang, she was still his first wife. His wife had been killed by Pang Xiao’s people—would Ji Zeyu with his fiery temperament let Pang Xiao off? He wanted Pang Xiao to be completely isolated!

Li Qitian immediately ordered the news sent to the frontier. At the same time, he combined Prince Zhongshun’s previously impeached “ten great crimes” with the crime of defying imperial orders, plus this time’s crimes of prison break and assassinating the princess, and proclaimed them all to the world.

Meanwhile, the people of the capital were destined to have a poor New Year, because Li Qitian had arranged for people to search throughout the city for Prince Zhongshun’s consort.

At this moment, Qin Yining had just taken a dose of medicine and was drowsily leaning against a pillow, her clothing half-removed as Ji Yun reached under the blankets with a warm cloth to wipe her body, while listening to Bingtang report on the outside situation.

“So Tianji Zi’s action completely tore through the paper window between the prince and His Majesty.” Qin Yining sighed. “Actually, the princess didn’t have to die then.”

“She deserved to die!” Bingtang snorted coldly. “That woman was utterly vicious—not only did she repeatedly covet the prince, she also slandered you and tried every way to torment you. Such a person deserved death!”

Qin Yining shook her head. Her pale, gaunt face was still flushed with unnatural color as she said weakly and hoarsely: “Regardless of whether she deserved to die, killing her now can only bring about an earlier rupture between the Son of Heaven and the prince, and might even give the Son of Heaven a way to convict the prince. Tianji Zi truly wishes for the prince and Son of Heaven to have a complete confrontation.”

With the city now under martial law and searching everywhere for her, this “fugitive,” Qin Yining couldn’t help wondering—if Tianji Zi hadn’t killed Li Helan but only knocked her unconscious, perhaps the situation wouldn’t be as tense as it was now?

But it made little difference. Li Helan was just a pawn. Even without her death, Li Qitian would still not let the prison break crime pass.

In this era, wasn’t it simply whatever the Son of Heaven said was truth? If the Son of Heaven said there was fault, who dared utter half a word of disagreement?

“Alright, Princess Consort, don’t think about all that. Right now, regardless of what Tianji Zi was thinking, you just need to recover your health. This time when we were all captured together, the rest of us were fine, but only you ended up covered in injuries.”

As Bingtang spoke, her voice became somewhat choked with emotion.

All the injuries Qin Yining had never suffered, hardships never endured, and humiliations never experienced—she had tasted them all in this ordeal. These people felt unbearably cold just being locked in prison cells all day, but the princess consort also had to be placed in a cage where she couldn’t stand or squat, traveling through heavy snow for public humiliation. A woman of noble birth had to be disheveled and pointed at by crowds.

If someone had a narrower mind, they might have already succumbed to the humiliation…

“I’ll recover properly.” Seeing both maidservants about to cry again, Qin Yining gently consoled them: “See, I’m fine, aren’t I? These are just surface wounds.”

“You call this fine? These whip wounds might leave permanent scars! And the frostbite on your hands and feet—if not treated properly, it will flare up every year. Princess Consort, you’re of noble birth—when have you ever suffered such hardship! Sometimes I truly wish you had never married the prince! If you’d married some ordinary merchant, with your wisdom, you could live as a wealthy lady with a flourishing life. But now…”

Bingtang heartbrokenly wiped her face with her sleeve, but tears disobediently continued falling.

Though Ji Yun was someone Pang Xiao had given to Qin Yining, after so many years following her, her loyalty was entirely devoted to Qin Yining. Hearing Bingtang’s words now, she also found them reasonable and nodded repeatedly: “A good woman like the princess consort could live well married to anyone—why must she suffer such upheaval?”

Seeing both girls’ expressions, Qin Yining couldn’t help but smile, showing some amusement even in her weakness: “You two—if the prince heard you talking like this, who knows how heartbroken he’d be.”

Ji Yun immediately thought of the Elite Tiger Guards stationed just outside the door.

But she remained unconcerned: “Even if the prince were standing right here, I’d dare say the same. Marrying the prince—though he’s devoted to you wholeheartedly, he’s also brought you so much suffering and trouble. Perhaps wholehearted devotion is truly precious, but with your talents and beauty, wouldn’t anyone you married treat you just as well? Sometimes I think the prince is just too selfish…”

“Enough.” Qin Yining patted Ji Yun’s hand. “Where are there so many ‘what ifs’ in the world? Love isn’t a transaction, and just because you give something doesn’t mean you must receive equal return. If I gave one and expected to get one back, wouldn’t that make it commerce?”

Ji Yun and Bingtang both sat on the bed’s edge, looking at Qin Yining from left and right.

Qin Yining took another breath and slowly continued: “Moreover, I know that our current life is what he obtained for me through his efforts. Perhaps other ordinary men could give me more stability, but when you receive something, shouldn’t you look at how much effort the person giving it to you used to obtain it all? Given the prince’s status, a stable life is easily obtained for ordinary people, but for the prince, that’s what he can only give me by exerting all his strength. I know—he’s already trying very hard.”

Hearing this, both Bingtang and Ji Yun were momentarily moved.

And Xie Yue, standing at the door, quietly lowered his hand that had been about to knock, pursing his lips and shaking his head with emotion.