By the second quarter of the second watch, the imperial harem had been completely sealed off. All palaces were ordered to conduct self-inspections. Anyone absent or with suspicious whereabouts, once discovered, must be reported immediately.

Inside Zheyang Palace, a single lamp flame flickered like a bean.

Qihuan had just received the second dose of medicine from a palace servant when she heard a low groan from the bamboo couch.

Zhu Qiyue had awakened.

When he opened his eyes, there was still a moment of disorientation. Then he remembered—outside Lan Garden, the Thirteenth Prince had poisoned him. Strangely, his heart was very calm. He had probably always felt he owed him.

Qihuan set down the medicine bowl, performed a salute to Zhu Qiyue, and called out: “Your Highness.”

Zhu Qiyue turned his head aside. The light inside the room was too dim, a single candle flame flickering slightly.

Qihuan actually resembled Qiling somewhat, especially when shrouded in a layer of darkness. In a trance, he almost felt she was her.

But he knew she wasn’t.

Qihuan was the most learned and proper among all the noble ladies in the capital. Even now in the deep of night, as long as she hadn’t slept, her makeup remained exquisite, her cloud-like hair and ornamental hairpins without a strand out of place.

Of course—she was the legitimate daughter of the Qi Manor, originally meant to marry a legitimate imperial prince like Zhu Nanxian.

Zhu Qiyue called out: “Huanhuan, come closer.”

Qihuan obeyed and walked closer, but didn’t sit.

Because at home, the husband governed the wife. He hadn’t instructed her to sit.

Zhu Qiyue sighed inwardly and asked: “How is everything?”

Qihuan said: “In reply to Your Highness, the poison Your Highness was given wasn’t ordinary sleeping powder, but a specially prepared medicinal powder. Once exposed, the body becomes weak and bones soft. In severe cases, one won’t wake for seven days. Fortunately, when Your Highness inhaled it, you instinctively held your breath, so it wasn’t too serious.”

“That’s not what I’m asking.” Zhu Qiyue turned his head to look at her.

Her pearl-like lips were actually extremely beautiful. Her almond-shaped eyes were also attractive.

He said: “I’m asking how the situation in the palace is.”

“Just now, Seventh Imperial Brother issued an edict saying the Thirteenth Prince was abducted and taken away. He’s already dispatched Feathered Forest Guards to pursue. Tonight the imperial harem had an incident and has now been completely sealed. All palaces are conducting self-inspections. Entry and exit won’t be permitted until the proper hour of dawn. There’s one more matter,” she said halfway, then raised her eyes to glance at Zhu Qiyue and said softly, “Ruyu’s whereabouts tonight were suspicious. Some questioned whether she helped the Thirteenth Prince leave the palace. She’s already been summoned to the Court of Imperial Clan for questioning.”

“Qiling was taken away by Zhu Zhaowei?” Hearing this, Zhu Qiyue was stunned. “Where is she now?”

He had just taken medicine. The physician said that when he woke would be his weakest time, unsuitable for grief or anger.

Seeing Zhu Qiyue about to prop himself up to sit, Qihuan couldn’t help but lower her eyes. A trace of barely visible sadness flashed through them. Only then did she walk to the couch side and placed a pillow behind him. She continued: “While Your Highness was unconscious earlier, this consort already went to the Court of Imperial Clan to see her. After all, she’s someone from the Qi family. The Court of Imperial Clan won’t make things difficult for her.” Speaking of this, she smiled again. “Moreover, Third Sister Shen was also summoned to the Court of Imperial Clan. Presumably she’ll look after Ruyu. When dawn comes at the proper hour and the imperial harem’s lockdown is lifted, the two of them will come out.”

Only then did Zhu Qiyue’s heart settle. He nodded: “That’s good.”

The medicine soup at hand had cooled. Qihuan picked up the medicine bowl and said to Qiyue: “It’s not hot anymore. I’ll serve Your Highness the medicine.”

Zhu Qiyue looked at that dark, concentrated medicine soup. After a moment of silence, he suddenly said: “If the Thirteenth Prince has left this time and gets caught and brought back, then it’s a dead end for him, isn’t it?”

Then he smiled bitterly: “I won’t take this medicine. It would be best if I could stay sick for several days. If I recover too quickly, Seventh Brother will have me help him pursue the Thirteenth Prince again.”

His hand resting at the couch edge suddenly clenched tight. His handsome flying eyebrows knitted together. The swallow-tail corners of his eyes were filled with dejection: “I don’t want to pursue the Thirteenth Prince. Whether he doesn’t forgive me, deceives me, or poisons me—all of it is fine. This is what I owe him. I don’t want him to die. I hope he goes far, far away, then lives well and never comes back again.”

Qihuan stared at Zhu Qiyue in a daze.

She had accompanied him in Lingnan for several years, seen him furious because bandits massacred common people, seen him grieve from losing soldiers, but had never seen him so defeated and dispirited.

Even when she had married him years ago with a heart full of joy, when he lifted her bridal veil, the sadness and disappointment in his eyes had only been fleeting.

Qihuan felt that the Twelfth Prince in her heart should be a high-spirited general, should be a swordsman who repaid kindness and enmity freely, should be a knight-errant who followed his heart regardless of merit or fault—but he shouldn’t be an imperial heir in this deep palace.

She really wanted to make him happy. Since she returned to the capital, it had been a long time since she’d seen him truly happy.

So she said gently: “The other day during the spring outing, Ruyu said my southern frontier butterfly-and-flower hairpin was distinctive and beautiful. I want to give it to her, but this hairpin was originally given by Your Highness. I was afraid that with this layer between us, she wouldn’t be willing to accept it, so I simply said it was originally given by Your Highness to begin with.” Speaking of this, she smiled again. “Your Highness, I’ve been away from the capital too long and miss home terribly. Since childhood, Ruyu and I have had an especially good relationship and can’t bear to be separated. These years she’s been at the manor without any prospects. Why don’t we have her accompany me back to Lingnan after autumn? In the future, she and I as sisters can keep each other company.”

Hearing these words, Zhu Qiyue couldn’t help but freeze. After a moment, he looked at Qihuan in shock, as if wanting to explain something, but swallowed it down. He only replied: “…We’ll talk about it later.”

At the third quarter of the third watch, horn sounds came from outside the palace—the sound of soldiers about to depart on campaign beginning to assemble.

After assembling, they wouldn’t depart immediately. There was still the commander roll call, the wine sacrifice, paying respects to Heaven and the altars of state.

Su Jin woke to the sound of these horns.

In fact, her heart had been preoccupied with tonight’s chaos, so she hadn’t slept long.

She had been to this room before—a green bamboo couch, a high window, a writing desk. It was the compartment of Liu Chaoming’s duty room.

Beside the writing desk, Liu Chaoming sat with his back turned, holding a brush and writing something.

Su Jin had originally wanted to ask about tonight’s events but didn’t know where to begin. Just as she was hesitating, she suddenly felt a trace of cool strangeness at her right arm wound.

She lifted the quilt to look and saw the wound had been carefully bandaged with herbal medicine and cotton cloth strips.

“I asked Imperial Physician Fang Xu from the Imperial Medical Academy to examine you.” Liu Chaoming heard the movement behind him and knew what she was worried about. While adding the last sentence to the case file, he spoke.

Fang Xu was her person. Though she should feel reassured, it meant another person knew her female identity.

Su Jin propped herself up to sit and nodded: “Thank you, Your Lordship.”

Liu Chaoming was silent for half a moment, then poured a cup of cool water and placed it at her couch side, saying softly: “It’s just numbing medicine. The wound isn’t deep.”

Fang Xu had said this numbing medicine would only numb the arms and legs. Lord Su had probably been too tense earlier and unconsciously endured it, so when she relaxed she fainted.

Su Jin hummed in acknowledgment, picked up the warm water at hand, and slowly sipped a mouthful.

Someone knocked at the door outside. The one who pushed the door and entered was Censor Yan Xiu: “My lord, someone from over there says that in the imperial harem, the Imperial Noble Consort…”

Before he finished his sentence, he saw Su Jin sitting on the couch and froze momentarily. He bowed: “Lord Su is also here.” He asked again: “Is Lord Su feeling unwell?”

Su Jin didn’t respond.

She knew the imperial harem had been sealed, but looking at Yan Xiu’s appearance, even in a situation where no one was allowed to enter or exit the front or rear palace, he still obtained news from there?

Which “over there” did he mean?

Yan Xiu looked at Liu Chaoming hesitantly, not knowing if he should continue.

Liu Chaoming shook his head: “It’s fine.”

“Yes.” Yan Xiu said. “After the Imperial Noble Consort was brought back to Chonghua Palace, the Seventh Prince ordered guards to lock her in a side hall. Besides this, Imperial Physician Jiang who had been treating the Thirteenth Prince these months has been killed. The poison the Twelfth Prince was given was precisely what he prepared. It was later found under an elm tree. Though the poison isn’t fatal, it ultimately harms the body.

“Also, Zhu Zhaowei, using the pretext that ‘the Thirteenth Prince was abducted by thieves and may endanger the Great Sui court,’ dispatched eight elite Feathered Forest Guard squads from the main south gate to pursue the Thirteenth Prince. I heard he secretly passed down orders—once they find the Thirteenth Prince, kill him on the spot.”

Yan Xiu said this much, then glanced at Su Jin: “The Thirteenth Prince was ‘abducted,’ the Twelfth Prince was poisoned. This matter should rightfully be turned over to the Three Judicial Offices for trial, but the Seventh Prince said that among the Three Judicial Offices, someone may be implicated in this case. He has some evidence in hand, so he also wants to participate in the questioning.”

Su Jin was suddenly stunned.

She knew that the person Zhu Zhaowei meant by “someone implicated in this case” among the Three Judicial Offices could only be her.

And tonight she had truly gone to respond to Zhu Nanxian. As long as he arrested and interrogated everyone who had contact with her from yesterday to today one by one, there was no guarantee someone wouldn’t reveal something critical.

Moreover, Zhu Zhaowei now already knew she had come from Shu.

Liu Chaoming said to Yan Xiu: “Understood. You may leave.”

Then he turned to look at Su Jin and asked: “What do you plan to do?”

Su Jin knew that as long as she left the Censorate, just the fact that she had detained Wu Yusheng at the Ministry of Justice until deep into the night, resulting in the Thirteenth Prince’s disappearance—this alone would be enough for Zhu Zhaowei to summon her for questioning.

And once she went to Zhu Zhaowei, she probably wouldn’t be able to leave.

Su Jin shook her head: “I don’t know. I’ll take it one step at a time.”

The candlelight shrouded her entire person in dim light. She had just awakened from sleep, her face still haggard and pale.

Liu Chaoming looked at Su Jin silently. After a long while, he said: “Right now you have only one path.” He paused. “Cooperate with me.”

Su Jin was stunned for a moment, instantly understanding Liu Chaoming’s meaning.

Though she and he had different positions, Zhu Zhaowei was too powerful and was their common enemy. At this juncture, cooperating with Liu Yun was indeed the most appropriate, even the only choice.

Su Jin lowered her eyes and said quietly: “I serve the Thirteenth Prince. I’ve known Your Lordship for a long time. May I presume to ask—which prince does Your Lordship serve loyally? The Fourth Prince or the Tenth Prince?”

Liu Chaoming said coolly: “What do you think?”

Su Jin didn’t answer immediately.

She hadn’t had much contact with either Zhu Yiheng or Zhu Yushen.

Zhu Yiheng was too inscrutable—speaking human words to humans, ghost words to ghosts, showing different faces to different people. She truly couldn’t see through him.

And Zhu Yushen was too deep—all these years he had guarded the frontier, seeming to stay out of everything else. She could see through him even less.

What if these two were on the same side?

Then why would Zhu Yushen depart on campaign at this critical moment in the struggle for succession?

Su Jin shook her head: “I can’t figure it out.” Speaking of this, she smiled helplessly. “I truly have no path to walk. Apart from cooperating with Your Lordship, I have no other option. I shouldn’t ask this question, nor do I have the right to ask it.”

She finally finished drinking the water in the cup and set it at hand.

Liu Chaoming looked at that empty cup. The cold ring at the bottom was like the gleam of a dagger revealed when plans are exhausted: “Actually, I…”

Before he finished speaking, Yan Xiu’s knock came from outside.

“My lord, the Seventh Prince has brought people to the Censorate.”