Qiu Zui was suspended by iron chains as thick as a child’s arm, his right wrist seemingly dislocated, hanging limply. His hair fell messily around his gaunt, rough cheeks, and his fierce, cold eyes turned slightly as Zhao Yān approached.

Zhao Yuan’yu had already fainted, lying on the ground like a slaughtered pig in a pitiful state.

Zhao Yān clenched her fingers and took a deep breath before her surging hatred could devour her rationality. She asked Wenren Lin, “What happened here?”

“His hand touched something it shouldn’t have.” Wenren Lin looked at Qiu Zui’s dislocated right hand and said calmly, “So, this prince removed it from its socket.”

Zhao Yān remembered that rainy night at the Liu Family Funeral Home, when Qiu Zui had used this hand to flick away the dagger in her hand.

She seemed to understand Wenren Lin’s meaning, and a flame gathered in her beautiful peach blossom eyes. “Does Prince Su mean they are at my disposal?”

“Will Prince Su not stay?” Seeing him turn to leave, Zhao Yān hurriedly asked.

Wenren Lin ascended the stone steps out of the secret chamber, his light voice fading with his shadow, “Come up when you’ve finished.”

Wenren Lin had no curiosity because, to him, the imperial palace held no secrets.

Seeing him truly deliver her enemies before her eyes, Zhao Yān felt a sense of unreality. However, Zhao Yuan’yu’s groaning as he regained consciousness quickly pulled her thoughts back to reality.

…

…

Zhao Yuan’yu raised his hand to shield his eyes from the light, shrinking back against the wall as if he’d seen a ghost, stammering, “No, no… you’re not Zhao Yǎn, who are you?”

Zhao Yān stared at him and said clearly, word by word: “Someone who has come to make you pay with your life.”

“You’re a fake! Impersonating the Crown Prince is a capital offense—you’ll die too!”

Zhao Yuan’yu screamed, then glimpsed Qiu Zui bound in chains nearby. His eyes lit up as he crawled forward on his knees. “You dead dog! Get up and kill him! Kill—”

Zhao Yān stepped forward with clenched fingers, and Zhao Yuan’yu immediately shrank his neck, covering his face with his sleeve, saying, “It wasn’t me! I didn’t kill him…”

Zhao Yān gripped the lotus-patterned jade pendant at her waist and demanded, “If it wasn’t you, why was this jade pendant in your possession?”

Realizing Qiu Zui was useless, Zhao Yuan’yu began to whimper pathetically. “I did indeed order people to ambush Zhao Yǎn on his way back to the capital, but who would have thought his subordinates would use the Golden Cicada Escape tactic, protecting him at the cost of their lives as he fled back to the Eastern Palace! The one I killed was a shadow substitute who had exchanged clothes with Zhao Yǎn. This jade—this jade I snatched from that substitute’s body… At the funeral home, I deliberately wanted to anger and humiliate you, so I didn’t clarify…”

Zhao Yān froze momentarily, then darkened her gaze: “When your assassination attempt failed, you had Qiu Zui make another deadly move!”

Zhao Yuan’yu shook his head frantically: “I didn’t know Qiu Zui then! He came to serve me after the incident at the Eastern Palace! He said he had assassinated the Crown Prince, offering this as proof of his loyalty… Yes! That’s right, he betrayed his master and killed the Crown Prince! Ask him!”

Zhao Yuan’yu’s pants were soaked in one area, clearly having lost control of his bladder from fear.

Seeing his frantic terror, Zhao Yān couldn’t determine if his words were true or false. She calmly said, “No rush, let’s take one at a time. You can’t deny the dozens of young girls and children who died.”

Zhao Yuan’yu suddenly grew quiet. He stared fixedly at Zhao Yān, stretching into a strange smile.

“You’re Zhao Yān, aren’t you?” he asked, as if discovering a secret he could exploit.

“Do you think Zhao Yǎn was an obedient person? Those things he secretly plotted would have offended so many people. I’m not the only one who wanted him dead.”

Zhao Yuan’yu put his hands behind his back, warily glancing at Cai Tian. “I know who else wanted to kill him. Come closer; I’ll tell only you.”

Zhao Yān stared at his sinister eyes and slowly moved forward.

Suddenly, Zhao Yuan’yu pulled out a broken tree branch hidden behind him, using its sharp broken end as a blade, lunging at Zhao Yān’s neck!

It happened so suddenly that Cai Tian immediately reached for his sword, shouting: “Your Highness!”

A slender hand drew Cai Tian’s sword first, followed by a flash of cold light and a soft sound of flesh being pierced. Zhao Yuan’yu froze in his assassination posture, staring in shock at the “young man” holding the sword before him.

The sharp branch in his hand had been cleanly cut, and as blood splattered, Zhao Yān closed her eyes, gripping the sword.

Cai Tian was also amazed, looking at the “Crown Prince” before him, spattered with tiny drops of blood. This delicate and frail body could always unleash astonishing strength at critical moments. The shock of this instant was no different from the life-and-death struggle at the Liu Family Funeral Home on that rainy night—it was exhilarating.

He now somewhat understood why the prince, who walked alone in the depths of the abyss, was willing to retreat one step from his bottom line solely for her.

Having dealt with the first of her brother’s murderers, Zhao Yān suddenly lowered her hand, the sword tip resting on the ground with a clear ding, as the heavy, nauseating smell of blood permeated the air.

Cai Tian thought the “Crown Prince” would vomit, but she didn’t. She merely raised her hand to wipe away the disgusting blood from her jaw and turned her gaze calmly toward Qiu Zui.

Qiu Zui looked at the now lifeless Zhao Yuan’yu, emotions churning in his eyes as the chains on his body rattled loudly.

Zhao Yān stood before him with the sword in hand, like a fawn facing a giant beast, the sword tip trembling uncontrollably.

She still exerted all her strength to stand straight, confronting Qiu Zui.

“When Zhao Yǎn was in danger, did you protect him the same way you protected Zhao Yuan’yu?”

Zhao Yān raised her voice, the corners of her eyes reddening as she questioned, “Did you?”

Qiu Zui looked at her, the bulging veins on his arms suddenly relaxing as he fell silent.

Zhao Yān found it difficult to describe Qiu Zui’s expression now—empty, wooden, as if nothing in the world could fill such emptiness.

Zhao Yān didn’t bother asking the meaningless question of “why did you kill the master who showed you kindness,” but said with a trembling voice, “If you killed him, why didn’t you tell Zhao Yuan’yu that the Crown Prince was indeed dead? Why didn’t you expose me publicly at the Liu Family Funeral Home, instead of allowing the Prince Yong’s household to play their games of testing?”

Qiu Zui’s eyes moved slightly, seeming to show subtle ripples of emotion.

“I did not kill my master.”

He mumbled in a hoarse, unpleasant voice, saying only this.

Zhao Yān widened her eyes slightly, realizing after a moment that the “master” he referred to was Zhao Yǎn.

For an assassin who recognized only money, not masters, to call someone “master” was like a wild dog willingly putting on a collar—it signified absolute loyalty.

With growing suspicion, Zhao Yān urgently asked, “Then why did Liu Ying witness with her own eyes that you killed the Crown Prince and fled after injuring several people? Why did you pledge allegiance to Prince Yong’s household, telling them you had assassinated the Crown Prince?”

Qiu Zui remained silent for a long time, seemingly struggling with his limited intelligence.

“You are helping my master. You are good.”

After a very long time, he said hoarsely, “On the way back to the palace, we were ambushed. The shadow lured the enemy, and I took the master to escape back to the Eastern Palace. I was wounded and bandaging myself. Someone delivered a letter to the master, he opened it… By the time I discovered it, it was too late.”

“The letter was tampered with? Liu Ying found the Crown Prince dead with only you by his side, so she believed you killed him.”

Zhao Yān gripped the sword hilt tightly and asked, pressing her lips together, “Then why did you flee?”

Qiu Zui nodded, struggling to say, “I did not protect the master well. I wanted to kill the enemy, but discovered…”

“You discovered someone else behind Prince Yong’s heir, so you chose to hide yourself at his side. Was it that priest?”

Seeing Qiu Zui fall silent again, Zhao Yān’s thoughts raced, connecting all the suspicious points like threading a needle. “Minister He’s youngest son and Secretary Cen from the Ministry of War’s sister, Cen Yu—you kidnapped them as part of your plan, right? Only you have such great skill, and it was to amplify Zhao Yuan’yu’s conspiracy, to draw the court’s attention?”

Qiu Zui spoke no more.

He trusted no one other than his master, even if this person had a face identical to his master’s.

“Let me ask a different question.”

Zhao Yān asked, voice trembling with each word, “Tell me, who delivered that letter to Zhao Yǎn?”

Perhaps it was the suppressed sob in her voice, but Qiu Zui finally lifted his fierce, indifferent falcon eyes to look at her.

In a hoarse, barely distinguishable voice, he revealed a cruel truth: “Princess Changfeng, Zhao Yān.”

In the seventeenth year of Tianyou, at the end of the eighth month, as the thunderstorms subsided.

Zhao Yǎn, having narrowly escaped death, sat pale-faced in his bedchamber in the Eastern Palace, coughing urgently: “You shouldn’t have let my shadow die in my place. Exchanging another’s fresh blood for my survival, advancing by stepping on corpses—what kind of righteous ruler am I?”

Seeing the tall assassin kneeling silently despite his wounds, the young man felt compassion and helped him up: “Enough, I blame myself for being useless, not you. Go tend to your wounds.”

“Your Highness, Princess Changfeng has sent a letter from Huayang Palace.”

“Yān’er? Bring it quickly.”

Qiu Zui returned with medicine, passing the hurrying messenger who delivered the letter. A faint, unseasonable fragrance drifted in the air, disappearing in an instant.

He sat cross-legged in front of the hall, tearing off his blood-soaked upper garment that stuck to his flesh, and dumped all the medicinal powder on his wound.

From behind came a soft pat sound, like something sticky hitting the paper. Qiu Zui started, turning vigilantly, the first time fear appeared in his indifferent pupils…

The frail Crown Prince held the strongly scented letter, bewilderedly touching the crimson flowing from his nose. He tried to speak, but blood rushed from his mouth instead, and then he fell like a butterfly with broken wings.

Qiu Zui lunged forward frantically, using his palm to support that thin form.

With his last breath, before anyone discovered, the Crown Prince placed the blood-soaked letter in the candle flame and burned it. In the black ashes floating before dawn, he quietly closed his eyes.

That was the last time he protected his sister in his way.

……

The door of the secret prison opened, and Zhao Yān walked out from the heavy shadows.

Wenren Lin turned his face at the sound but froze when he saw her slightly pale complexion and the blood droplets on her cheeks.

“How did you end up like this?” he said, slanting his eyes toward Cai Tian.

Cai Tian immediately lowered his head: “This servant has failed in his duty.”

After receiving such an answer, it was already great fortitude that Her Highness hadn’t fainted or broken down.

Wenren Lin didn’t care about the dirt anymore. He raised his sleeve to wipe the blood from Zhao Yān’s face, but seeing that it wouldn’t clean off, he frowned in displeasure.

“I’m a bit tired, Grand Tutor…” Zhao Yān blinked, murmuring.

Wenren Lin paused. He lifted that cold, trembling body in his arms and walked toward the end of the secret passage.

Emerging from the secret passage, they found themselves amid bright lights and misty vapors—they had arrived directly at the changing room behind the Dragon Pool Hall.

Wenren Lin removed his outer robe and carried Zhao Yān into the bath. For once, he didn’t tease Zhao Yān into tying herself in knots but scooped up water to carefully wash away the specks of blood from her cheeks and jaw, his expression focused and calm.

However, this calmness made Zhao Yān’s heart more turbulent, as emotions long suppressed threatened to burst forth.

First came a single drop, falling on Wenren Lin’s hand.

He seemed to pause momentarily. After a while, he raised his eyes to look—those stubborn, beautiful eyes were already filled with moist mist, tears rolling down one after another, striking his raised fingers.

This was the first time she cried for the deceased Zhao Yǎn.

Wenren Lin had long noticed that the young princess easily fell into a cycle of self-blame, taking others’ misfortunes upon herself.

When she cried, there was no sound. She only gripped her clothes, bit her lower lip, and remained so quiet it broke one’s heart.

This was not the temperament a dazzling princess should have. Someone as radiant as her should be spoiled and unruly, deserving of everyone’s love and affection.

“When others use Your Highness’s hand to kill, it is the killer’s fault, not yours.”

Wenren Lin raised his hand to wipe away the wetness at the corner of her eye, indicating she should release her pale, bitten lip. His voice was low and steady: “No need for self-blame.”

Zhao Yān simply bit Wenren Lin’s hand, crying more intensely, clinging to his shoulders and trembling like a dew-laden flower shivering in the wind.

Wenren Lin had once thought it would be good to tease her until her eyes contained tears and her face flushed—that was one of his small, secret perverse pleasures. Now, seeing these rolling crystalline tears, he felt no such imagined joy, but instead a vague displeasure.

The little princess said no one had taught her how to act coy, but in truth, no one had allowed her to act coy without restraint.

How pitiable.

As the water rippled, Wenren Lin leaned against the edge of the bath, his long-fingered hand passing through her hair, intermittently and gently caressing her trembling, delicate back.

He allowed her to vent, lowering his gaze and closing his eyes, his lips placing soft kisses on the wet corners of her eyes.