It had been a full six days since the incident occurred, yet the temporary palace remained utterly calm. This calm was like the oppressive atmosphere before a storm, sweeping through the entire palace grounds with overwhelming force. For the first time, Consort Xian felt the days so unbearable—even worse than when she had endured hardship with Emperor Jianzhang in his princely residence when he was still Crown Prince. She was angry with Prince Duan—angry that despite his boundless ambitions, he had actually stumbled over household matters, giving others an opportunity to exploit him. She was also angry with Qin Zhi, feeling she was truly an impossible case of incompetence—not only unable to bear legitimate sons herself, but also preventing others from doing so. If preventing others wasn’t enough, she had been so vicious as to cause a tragedy of two deaths, directly sending her cousin-wife to the afterlife. Each and every matter had precisely touched upon Emperor Jianzhang’s taboos.

But these matters were far from enough to make her panic and fear like this. What truly frightened her was Emperor Jianzhang’s attitude.

She had followed Emperor Jianzhang for so many years that she could say she understood him perhaps even better than he understood himself. When he was truly angry, he never flew into thunderous rage, threatening to beat or kill. When he was truly enraged, it was prolonged silence, silence until the very end…

She closed her eyes, not daring to imagine further, then felt perhaps she was overthinking. Although these matters had violated Emperor Jianzhang’s taboos, in the end, they were merely family affairs. Emperor Jianzhang had been extraordinarily busy these past few days because of urgent reports from Fujian. Perhaps he simply hadn’t had time to attend to Prince Duan’s matter yet.

After comforting herself this way, she tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep. Finally, she still got up and put on her outer garments. The stars in the temporary palace were far more numerous and brighter than in the capital. When she opened the tall window, the starlight filled her vision. She held her tea with an unsettled mind, staring blankly outside the window, when suddenly she heard the door creak open.

What came in wasn’t a palace servant who had heard the noise, but rather the Ninth Princess, barefoot with red-rimmed eyes. Consort Xian was startled and quickly stood up, hurrying forward to embrace her. While holding her, she couldn’t help complaining, “Why have you come to my place in the dead of night? Although summer is approaching, these past few days are still cold. Cold enters through the feet, yet you didn’t even think to wear shoes. Where are the people serving you?”

The Ninth Princess’s gaze was vacant, as if she hadn’t heard anything. Only after gripping Consort Xian’s hand for a moment did she suddenly burst into tears with infinite panic and fear, “Mother Consort, something terrible has happened! Something terrible!”

Consort Xian’s brow twitched violently, followed immediately by her right eyelid jumping incessantly as if infected. While pulling the Ninth Princess to sit on the bed platform, she forced herself to remain calm and scolded her daughter, “What nonsense are you saying? What terrible thing?”

After the horse racing incident between the Ninth Princess and Song Chuyi, she had stayed in her room sulking and refused to come out no matter how many times she was urged. She had truly been spoiled excessively, single-mindedly waiting for her Imperial Father to stand up for her, also convinced that if she threw a tantrum for a few days as usual, Emperor Jianzhang would definitely come to pacify her no matter what—or at least punish Song Liu to appease her.

But later, all she received was her Mother Consort’s pale face, news that something had happened at her brother’s princely residence. Even so, she had thought that at least after Song Chuyi’s moment of arrogance passed, she would still meet with misfortune—previously it had been well agreed that they would send that annoying Eleventh Princess to marry the Eastern Island nation, with Song Chuyi as her attendant consort. It would be best if both of them died in the Eastern Islands.

But only today did she learn that even this hope might not come to pass.

She clutched Consort Xian’s arm, using all her strength, nearly tearfully looking into Consort Xian’s eyes, “Mother Consort! Do you know what the urgent report from Fujian was about?! It was an urgent report that pirates have invaded Fujian! Fighting has already broken out—how could Father Emperor possibly still agree to the marriage alliance?! There’s been no news of the Eastern Island envoys these past few days. Don’t you find that strange?!”

Consort Xian was so shocked by the Ninth Princess’s words that she actually took a solid step backward, countless thoughts flashing through her mind in an instant.

It seemed something was indeed wrong. Although Emperor Jianzhang had given her a cold reception when she went to complain that day, he hadn’t ultimately embarrassed her, and that evening he had specially bestowed upon her an excellent fox fur. But from that night’s urgent report onward, things had changed…

She immediately reacted, urgently grasping the Ninth Princess’s shoulders, “Where did you hear this from?”

The Ninth Princess appeared somewhat hysterical, unable to control her emotions. Hearing Consort Xian ask this, she immediately jumped up anxiously, “At a time like this, Mother Consort, you’re still concerned about where I heard the news from?! Quickly send word to Brother—”

She was silenced by Consort Xian’s cold gaze, stopping mid-sentence. Only after a long while did she gradually calm down, honestly lowering her head and revealing everything, “I heard it from Chen Mingyu. Elder Chen has already received the imperial decree. Tomorrow he must return to the capital together with Elder Song and Elder Du.”

And why these three were returning to the capital—did it need to be stated? Of course it was to continue investigating the Yangzhou case. But recently, Emperor Jianzhang had clearly shown signs of wanting to suppress the Yangzhou case…

Consort Xian shivered, feeling coldness gradually crawling from the soles of her feet up to her arms. Only after a long while did she manage to exhale a breath.

When she didn’t speak, the Ninth Princess’s face grew increasingly anxious. After struggling for a while, she seemed to have made up her mind, “I’ll go beg Father Emperor!”

Getting involved in Yangzhou’s maritime and salt transport—as a prince, Prince Duan had committed a great taboo. If it hadn’t come to light, they could still plead with Emperor Jianzhang, and perhaps Emperor Jianzhang would quietly resolve it privately. But now it was clearly about to be exposed…

Consort Xian’s hands and feet were ice cold. For a moment, she felt as if her entire person was stepping on cotton, light and weightless. Only after some time did she feel the shock wasn’t quite so severe, and she grabbed hold of the Ninth Princess, “Stop being foolish! This kind of matter isn’t something you and I should know about…”

No one could say for certain how far things had progressed, but since Emperor Jianzhang could summon all three Grand Secretaries to rush back to the capital, it meant this matter was definitely not small. If things had truly deteriorated to this extent, whoever went to plead would be useless—not only useless, but they might even implicate themselves.

Besides Prince Duan, she still had her son Prince Lu. Prince Lu had always been dutiful and honest, and had been well-liked by the Emperor since childhood. If she and the Ninth Princess knew nothing, relying on Prince Lu’s standing, they could at least be preserved…

Outside, the wind gradually picked up, blowing the tall windows with loud clattering sounds. Consort Xian became more alert with a start, holding the Ninth Princess to keep her from moving, lowering her voice to warn her, “Now is not the time to be willful, much less the time to show off your favor before your Father Emperor. Be more prudent… At least wait until we’ve returned to the palace and the matter has reached a conclusion before deciding what to do.”