Wind drifted in through the wide-open windows. The heavy curtains in the hall floated with the breeze. For a moment, the Crown Prince couldn’t see Empress Lu’s expression clearly. He considered his choice of words, feeling his teeth clenched so tightly they were starting to ache. He raised his hand to rub his jaw: “Mother Empress…”
Since Empress Lu said Miss Song the Sixth was fine, that meant his people had failed. And that Song Chuyi and Zhou Weizhao could both return safely also meant that crafty fox Prince Gong hadn’t taken the bait and hadn’t acted. To insist on blaming Prince Gong now was clearly unwise. He could only push the responsibility onto Zhou Weizhao. He thought chaotically—after all, Zhou Weizhao should understand that if discord in the Eastern Palace and the farce of father and son killing each other were exposed, neither he nor his mother would have any good outcome.
The Crown Prince felt all this was natural and proper—Zhou Weizhao’s life was given by him; he was his father. Moreover, when the ruler wants a subject to die, the subject must die. He felt not a shred of psychological burden. His only worry was those few living witnesses in Song Chuyi’s hands—although he had always been confident in his people, and that group had all been trained for a long time, nothing in this world was absolute. The Imperial Guard had a thousand methods. He couldn’t take risks.
“Mother Empress!” Thinking of these things, he urgently grabbed Empress Lu’s hand. This was still the first time in all these years he had actively sought closeness. He brought his head near Empress Lu, forcefully gripping her hand tighter: “Mother Empress, this matter cannot be exposed…”
Empress Lu violently shook off his hand, stood up and fiercely slapped him across the face. This slap used all of Empress Lu’s strength. On the Crown Prince’s deathly pale face appeared vivid red finger marks, and even his golden crown fell to the floor.
“Your audacity has grown.” Empress Lu looked at him coldly. Meeting the disbelief in the Crown Prince’s eyes, she sneered: “You also know this matter cannot be exposed, yet how dare you do it?!”
Empress Lu was utterly disappointed in him—even the words “utterly disappointed” couldn’t describe her current feelings. The Crown Prince wanted to kill his own daughter-in-law and even his son, then frame Prince Gong. He was digging out her heart!
She stretched out her hand and sketched a small measurement: “When you were just born, you were only this small… Back then I didn’t know you would become what you are now. If I had known earlier, I would have strangled you to death!”
She was speaking without thinking, recalling her youngest son, her niece, her maternal family, her grandson. Tears finally fell with a plop: “Do you have no humanity?! Do you know how many times over these years I’ve cleaned up your messes?! Do you know what you’re doing?! Even a vicious tiger doesn’t eat its cubs, but you are a hundred times more vicious than a tiger!”
The Crown Prince was somewhat dazed by the scolding. He couldn’t quite react. Seeing Empress Lu about to leave in a huff, he immediately panicked. Not caring about Empress Lu’s earlier tirade, he reached out to grab her hand: “Mother Empress! You cannot abandon me. If that fool Song Chuyi really hands those people over to Lai Chenglong, then the Eastern Palace will be finished! If the Eastern Palace is finished, what benefit will you have?!”
Empress Lu said nothing. Her wide sleeves swung fiercely, striking the Crown Prince’s face and making his head turn to the side. He covered his face looking at Empress Lu, a flash of poorly concealed resentment in his eyes.
“What benefit do I have from keeping you?” Empress Lu no longer showed anger. Her expression looking at him was calm as still water, her gaze so cold it was frightening.
In the moment the Crown Prince hesitated, Empress Lu had already shaken him off and strode outside. Princess Rongcheng glanced at him and also headed out. He furiously punched the bed, looked around and noticed a girl dressed as a maid standing by the screen. In his agitation he pointed at her: “Quickly go and bring the Empress back!”
Now was not the time for sulking. He needed to rely on the Empress. Besides the Empress, no one could cover up his deeds. He was somewhat anxious, no longer noticing the soreness at his waist. Straining his throat, he shouted at her again: “Go quickly!”
Song Chuyi raised her head and smiled at him. The two pretty dimples on her face seemed filled with wine that could intoxicate people. She walked two steps toward the Crown Prince, standing before him: “Go do what?”
The little girl before him was excessively beautiful. The composure in her eyes facing him was not what a servant should have. The Crown Prince was somewhat confused, hadn’t yet reacted, when he heard her ask again: “Your Highness doesn’t recognize me? Just a moment ago you wanted to kill me. How can you not even recognize my face?”
This face finally matched up with the somewhat blurry name in his memory. The Crown Prince’s pupils dilated. He suddenly shouted at her sternly: “How are you here?!” He reacted, his expression becoming even more vicious: “What nonsense did you tell my mother just now?!”
Only at this moment did he recall Song Chuyi’s reputation that had been repeatedly mentioned before him. This girl not only hadn’t died, she had actually entered the palace. It wasn’t hard for him to guess what Song Chuyi would say before Empress Lu. His face carried frost. No longer paying attention to Song Chuyi, without thinking he immediately shouted for someone: “San Bao!”
Song Chuyi wasn’t flustered. Her face carried a bright smile, that spring-breeze smile yet didn’t reach her eyes at all. From beginning to end, her eyes were filled with an unsettling coldness: “Your Highness, it’s too late.”
She sighed softly, the corners of her lips carrying a mocking smile: “From the moment I survived, you were finished.” The smile at the corners of her mouth didn’t change one bit, but the words from her mouth made one’s whole body turn cold: “Your Highness, since you wanted to kill me, you should have done it more thoroughly. How could you let me survive?”
“What nonsense are you spouting!” The Crown Prince erupted with a shout, calling San Bao’s name through the layers of curtains.
But no one answered. Outside was empty. The Crown Prince could only see the faint light outside.
Song Chuyi then approached him several steps, smiling even more brazenly: “People’s patience is limited. Your Highness, look—you’ve exhausted the Empress’s patience…”
The Crown Prince frantically waved his hand, unable to support himself as he fell onto the bed, still speaking sternly: “Nonsense! Being in the imperial family, what cannot be sacrificed, who cannot be killed?! Back then didn’t Father Emperor and Mother Empress also kill elder brother Prince Tai to ascend the throne?! How could Mother Empress not see through this point!”
“So Your Highness also knows this principle.” Song Chuyi finally completely withdrew her smile. Her face cold as frost, she looked down from above at this Crown Prince who once stood high above controlling countless people’s fates: “Since Your Highness knows that in the imperial family no one cannot be sacrificed, then you should know that you yourself can also be killed.”