The long-vacant Jinyun Manor in the suburbs of the capital had recently welcomed a new master.

Spring rain fell continuously. Hidden in the mountains and forests, the half-abandoned estate hung two fresh red lanterns, which, when blown by the wind, gave off a bone-chilling, ghostly atmosphere.

From the inner courtyard came a woman’s broken cries and pleas. Shortly after, the curtains parted, and Zhao Yuan’yu emerged, sweating profusely as he put on his clothes, panting and cursing.

The guards entered silently and dragged away the two half-dead women from the bed. The women’s wrists were bound with thick ropes, and their exposed arms were covered with bloody marks. Upon closer inspection, their pale faces still had a childlike innocence—they were girls who had not yet reached adulthood.

A servant girl entered trembling to change the bloodstained bedding, but Zhao Yuan’yu angrily knocked her over.

Recently, the elusive Priest had sent him newly concocted pills called “Supreme Secret Medicine,” said to have yang-restoring effects. The price was that Prince Yong’s household needed to assist with some small matters.

After all, he had failed to frame the Crown Prince at the flower-pinning banquet and had already lost the initiative. He couldn’t afford any more mistakes. To secure his position as “one of the heirs to the throne,” curing his reproductive ailment was urgent.

Zhao Yuan’yu had taken several pills and felt some restorative effects, but each time the effect started working, it would abruptly stop, causing him considerable pain… This put him in a truly foul mood, and he lost control of himself, as if only this way could he vent his inner impotence and anxiety.

Zhao Yuan’yu gulped down two cups of cold tea and said with a parched tongue, “Where is Spring Lady? Call Spring Lady here immediately!”

Unlike Autumn Lady’s vulgar seductiveness, Spring Lady wore a properly arranged dark yellow-brown skirt with a clean face. At first glance, she truly gave the illusion of being from beyond this world.

…

…

She raised her right hand, slightly curving her thumb and index finger in a salute, and said, “Greetings, Young Master.”

Zhao Yuan’yu looked terrible, with dark circles under his eyes, but he restrained himself to ask, “Do you have more ‘Supreme Secret Medicine’? Send more to this Young Master. Taking a few bottles will surely bring great benefits!”

“Young Master must not be anxious. This medicine is crafted with the Priest’s lifetime of effort. The process is extremely complex and difficult.” Spring Lady lowered her eyes and said, “The forty-nine virgin chickens that Young Master sent last month have all been used up in refining the medicine. Without a medicinal catalyst now, I’m afraid Young Master will have to wait several more months.”

Zhao Yuan’yu could wait, but his increasingly withering ailment could not.

Moreover, his Imperial Uncle had already begun allowing Zhao Yǎn to preside over the flower-pinning banquet. If the Eastern Palace gained favor, what place would there be for Prince Yong’s household?

“Aren’t they just a few catalysts? There are unclaimed ones all over outside the capital. Send people to catch them!” Thinking of something, Zhao Yuan’yu’s face turned sinister as he said, “Go tell your Priest to focus on refining the Supreme Secret Medicine and not worry about anything else! Not just a few virgin chickens, even if he needs dragon liver and phoenix marrow as ingredients, this Young Master can find them for him.”

“The beginning of next month is a pure yang day that comes only once every ten years, most suitable for refining this medicine. I will inform the Priest and await Young Master’s good news.”

Liu Ying had gone to the Imperial Pharmacy to get some external medicine from Imperial Physician Zhang. When she returned to Chongwen Hall, she saw her mistress emerging unnaturally from the rear hall, her originally pale face tinged with a thin layer of crimson, seemingly suppressing anger.

Liu Ying glanced worriedly at the half-open door of the rear hall, but unfortunately, the distance was too great to see clearly.

“It’s nothing,” Zhao Yān leaned against the red-lacquered railing, slowly exhaling. When her emotions had somewhat calmed, she waved her hand and said, “Today’s lessons are over. Let’s return to the Eastern Palace.”

Whatever medicine Wenren Lin had given her, Zhao Yān could now ride in the sedan chair without the torture-like discomfort.

She secretly clutched the two medicine bottles in her sleeve, feeling her body warm and floating as if soaking in an extremely comfortable pool of warm water, washing away all soreness and chills.

Only that place inside where she hadn’t applied medicine still felt somewhat itchy and painful, but it was bearable.

Taking advantage of her improved spirits, Zhao Yān remembered the important matter and asked, “How is the investigation into the flower-pinning banquet going?”

Liu Ying gently tucked a soft embroidered pillow behind Zhao Yān’s slender waist to make her more comfortable, and answered, “Gu Xing still has people staking out over there. After finding Your Highness last night, Prince Yong’s heir rode out of the city in an inconspicuous carriage and hasn’t returned yet. His movements are quite mysterious. Gu Xing feared alerting him and didn’t follow too closely.”

Zhao Yān frowned.

“With the initial battles just ended and refugees scattered outside the city, for him to wander out at such a time—if it’s not guilty flight, there must be something suspicious.”

She thought to herself: I must send word to Gu Xing to follow this lead closely.

Not to mention that Zhao Yuan’yu was one of the main suspects in her brother’s death, even just looking at the dirty trick at the flower-pinning banquet, he couldn’t be let off lightly!

Upon returning to the Eastern Palace, Zhao Yān immediately spotted Liu Ji waiting with folded arms under the corridor.

Spring rain had dampened the fallen petals, and a wet crabapple branch slanted across, coincidentally adorning her swaying pearl hairpin, giving her somewhat the charm of a beauty in a fine-brushwork painting.

Unfortunately, this beauty was too bold and tall. When still, she looked fine, but as soon as she moved, the artistic conception of her beauty was completely shattered.

“I heard Your Highness was unwell yesterday. How are you?” Liu Ji tugged at her cumbersome skirt and strode over.

Zhao Yān suddenly remembered she had forgotten about her, and quickly composed herself: “Much better. What about you? Have you finished what you needed to do?”

Liu Ji glanced at the silent Liu Ying and said softly, “I have something I’d like to discuss with Your Highness.”

Liu Ji was rarely so solemn. Zhao Yān instructed Liu Ying to wait outside the hall while she followed Liu Ji to Cheng’en Hall.

As soon as the doors closed, Liu Ji sat sideways at the window table and unfolded a portrait.

The man in the portrait had knife-like eyebrows and hawk-like eyes, with a lean face as if carved by ax and knife. He had coarse stubble, with criminal tattoos on his forehead and the back of his neck, and two curved daggers wrapped in tattered cloth strips at his waist.

It must be said that Liu Ji’s painting skills were first-class. With just simple, rough ink lines, she could vividly depict the gloominess and oppressiveness of a man who had experienced countless killings.

“This is…” Zhao Yān picked up the portrait and examined it carefully, but she couldn’t find any matching figure in her memory.

“Did Liu Ying tell you that the Crown Prince once showed kindness to talent by rescuing a serious criminal from death row?” Seeing Zhao Yān’s blank expression, Liu Ji frowned her long eyebrows, displeased: “That little hussy Liu Ying, how could she hide everything from you!”

Liu Ying naturally had her position, and people living have their helplessness.

Zhao Yān glanced at the ferocious man in the portrait who had received the punishment of facial tattooing, and understood: “So the criminal my brother rescued was this man in the painting?”

Instinct told her that Liu Ji’s trip outside the palace must have led to some major discovery.

Zhao Yān put down the portrait, her expression becoming somewhat grave, and asked earnestly, “Tell me about him, Liu Ji.”

Liu Ji opened a package of pine nut candy bought from the market, threw two pieces into her mouth, and then, pointing to the portrait with her sugar-coated finger, began her narration.

“This man had no name, no surname, and was thrown into prison for unknown crimes, awaiting execution. At that time, the Crown Prince was short-handed and in urgent need of people, so despite everyone’s objections, he rescued this man from prison, named him Chou Zui, and kept him as a guest in the Crown Prince’s household. Before I entered the palace, Chou Zui had already been promoted to the Crown Prince’s guard, responsible for the Crown Prince’s safety.

When the Eastern Palace incident happened and the doors were closed, I heard that Chou Zui had died. That made sense—if Chou Zui had been there, with his skills, it would have been impossible for him not to protect the Crown Prince.”

At this point, Liu Ji’s candy-chewing slowed as she sank into memories.

She frowned for a long time before saying, “But yesterday outside Mingde Hall, I clearly… seemed to see him.”

Yesterday, Liu Ji had retrieved that secret scroll and was preparing to escape.

Just as she was straddling the wall, she saw a figure seemingly standing in the shadows of a distant corner, watching this side with an eerie gaze.

“Chou…”

Liu Ji was startled and slid down the crooked jujube tree outside the wall. In this moment of distraction, the person at the corner of the wall disappeared.

“Mingde Hall?” Zhao Yān fell silent. The people and events involved were intertwined like a spider’s web, and at the center of the crossing threads was prominently written the three words “Mingde Hall.”

What had happened during those two months when Zhao Yǎn was at Mingde Hall last year?

The clue broken by Shen Jingming’s death seemed to have extended into another obscure branch.

Zhao Yān unconsciously held her breath and asked, “Are you certain that what you saw yesterday was this Chou Zui?”

Liu Ji nodded: “I didn’t see his face, but his figure and the daggers at his waist were unmistakable. I’m about ninety percent sure.”

Zhao Yān thought for a moment, carefully rolled up the portrait, and said, “I will have someone investigate this man’s whereabouts. When there’s news, I’ll let you know.”

She was about to hide the portrait in her wide sleeve when she accidentally bumped and knocked out a small white jade medicine box.

The medicine box fell on the carpet, rolled around, and stopped at Liu Ji’s feet.

“What’s this?” Liu Ji was about to reach down to pick it up.

Zhao Yān’s eyelashes quivered, and she hastily picked it up first, almost biting her tongue as she said, “Nothing, just some mint oil from the Imperial Hospital, used for refreshing the mind.”

Liu Ji stared at the “young boy’s” hastily departing figure, somewhat dumbfounded.

“If it’s mint oil, why are you blushing?”

…

Back in her sleeping chamber, Zhao Yān stared at the small medicine box for a long time before embarrassedly tucking it back into her sleeve.

By the time she had arranged all matters, the lanterns were just being lit.

Since Zhao Yān couldn’t take a sitting bath during her special period, Liu Ying prepared several buckets of hot water and several clean cloths for her to wipe her body clean.

After wiping herself and rebinding her chest, Zhao Yān remembered there was one more thing to do. She pursed her lips and instructed in a seemingly natural manner, “I’ll put on the rest of the clothes myself. You can go now.”

Liu Ying nodded, took the clothes Zhao Yān had removed and the menstrual band to clean them.

As soon as Liu Ying left, Zhao Yān took out the small medicine box she had hidden earlier and, enduring the discomfort, scooped out a fingertip.

This was her first time applying such medicine, and to calmly accept it was, honestly, quite difficult. There was still some hidden pain inside, but she dared not probe with her finger, only applying a circle around the outside before hastily washing her hands and getting fully dressed.

Zhao Yān sat on the small couch, dejectedly thinking: Nonsense, ‘soul-consuming’ is a lie.

She would never do such a thing again. Not only was it embarrassing, but the aftermath was also troublesome.

When her mood had somewhat calmed, she put on an outer robe and pushed open the door of the washroom to go out.

“Your Highness! Prince Su has arrived and is waiting for you in the sleeping chamber,” Li Fu came hurriedly, anxiously saying, “Should you perhaps avoid him by going to Liu Ji’s place?”

Zhao Yān was stunned but eventually shook her head slowly.

Wenren Lin already knew she was female. Using “favoring Liu Ji” as an excuse was no longer plausible.

“Wait at a distance, and don’t let anyone approach the sleeping chamber.”

After instructing Li Fu, Zhao Yān took a deep breath, raised her hand to the door of the sleeping chamber, and pushed it open gently.

Bright lights greeted her face. Wenren Lin was sitting in the center of the light, bending over to read the essay she had not yet finished copying on the desk.

Looking up to see her frozen at the door, Wenren Lin suddenly smiled, as warm as spring wind melting snow.

“Why does Your Highness have such a…”

He paused, trying to find an appropriate phrase, “…resigned-to-fate expression?”

Zhao Yān’s hair tips were still slightly damp, her spring clothes thin. She stared at the leisurely Wenren Lin for a long while before saying softly, “It’s almost bedtime…”

Wenren Lin slightly raised the corner of his eye, puzzled by her unfinished sentence.

So Zhao Yān swallowed again and spoke more clearly: “I… want to sleep.”

Wenren Lin straightened up and made an “mm” sound.

“Rest assured, Your Highness, it won’t take long.”

He slowly approached, his long arm reaching past Zhao Yān’s ear to gently close the hall door behind her. “Once I’ve finished the examination, this Prince will leave.”