A long peal of thunder rolled across the lonely palace walls with a muffled rumble, then faded into the distance.

The night rain fell heavily now. Palace lanterns hung from the corner of the palace chambers, diffusing through the mist, making human shadows appear ghostly and unstable.

Empress Tang silently drew a breath, lifted the curtain, and took the lamp from Song Ao’s hand. She bent down to look carefully—the person huddled in the bedding lay unconscious, with disheveled long hair spreading out like black grass covering their face.

Empress Tang brushed aside the person’s obstructing hair and brought the candle holder closer. In the flickering light, she finally saw the features.

She exhaled slightly, her heart, which had been suspended for nearly two weeks, could finally settle momentarily amid the pouring rain.

The elderly court lady Song Ao showed relief in her eyes and said softly, “Your Majesty, see? Aren’t they almost identical? Please rest assured, after she wakes, this old servant will personally refine her manners and speech. No one will detect anything unusual…”

Hearing Song Ao’s words, Empress Tang showed no relief but coldly glanced at the person in the bed and spoke: “Detect nothing unusual? Even if she resembles the Crown Prince, she’s just a little girl! Inexperienced in the world, how could she not reveal flaws? The Crown Prince’s character—you and I have observed it for over a decade. He’s truly the offspring of an actor, beyond redemption. Can we expect this unrefined girl to turn the situation around? It’s simply my unfortunate fate. If my child were still alive, how could I have fallen into today’s predicament?”

As she spoke, tears fell from the twilight-faced woman, moving the nearby Song Ao to tears as well.

Everyone in the Dafeng court knew that Empress Tang had suffered during childbirth years ago. After giving birth to the Crown Prince, she damaged her foundations and could not bear more children for the imperial family for several years. Thus, the Empress was strict in educating Crown Prince Feng Qiyuan, placing boundless expectations on him.

But what no one knew was that during the Empress’s difficult labor, the infant’s umbilical cord had wrapped around his neck. The royal child was stillborn.

The situation was perilous, and the Imperial Physicians declared that the Empress would likely never conceive again.

The Empress was in fierce competition with Consort Shang at a critical juncture—how could she allow this devastating news to spread?

Fortunately, the Empress had given birth at a temporary palace. Next to this palace was an opera troupe where a couple of famous actors lived. The woman had also recently given birth to a pair of twins.

The Empress, having no alternative, made a risky move. Under the pretext of bestowing rewards, she had her elderly court lady Song Ao entice the couple to bring their twins to the temporary palace to receive the honor.

Thus, the male infant from the twins was wrapped in satin swaddling clothes and, in an instant, transformed into His Majesty’s fourth son—Feng Qiyuan.

As for the actor couple and the female infant, along with all palace maids and eunuchs who delivered the message, they were secretly executed by the Empress and thrown into a wilderness canal.

The “swap the cat for the prince” scheme should have been drowned in the river, but unexpectedly, perhaps heaven despised the Empress’s evil deed back then, and endless karmic retribution manifested.

The child she had obtained was too incompetent. His writings and studies were stumbling and unimpressive. His archery and horsemanship were even more abysmal.

Fortunately, he was Empress Tang’s only child. The Empress’s maternal clan was a powerful family, relied upon by His Majesty. Even though the fourth prince Feng Qiyuan was incompetent, following Dafeng’s customs, at the age of twelve, when his hair was bound in a topknot, he was personally appointed Crown Prince by His Majesty.

Even with such exhaustive efforts, the Crown Prince remained a hopeless case.

Perhaps due to his maternal upbringing and influences, this Crown Prince, from a young age, was particularly fond of theatrical arts. His love for opera became an obsession. Merely watching performances was not enough; he would often let his hair down, apply rouge and powder, and secretly join the eunuchs and palace maids in singing and swaying his hips.

One time, the current Emperor Chunde caught him in the act.

His Majesty, furious at such disappointment, personally wielded the whip, nearly beating this ambiguous creature to death.

Coincidentally, someone timely added fuel to the fire, and His Majesty learned that this Crown Prince had once, under the influence of alcohol, harassed the sons of nobility who entered the palace, filth unfit for the ears.

The Emperor’s heart gradually cooled. After having the Crown Prince caned, His Majesty confined him to Yiyuan, adjacent to the Cold Palace, for four years, ostensibly to cultivate his character and establish virtues.

Four years passed without news. Recently, court debates about deposing the Crown Prince intensified. Inside and outside the palace, people speculated that His Majesty planned to establish Consort Shang’s son, the Second Prince Feng Qiting, as heir.

The Empress had also given up on this discarded piece. She had just adopted the eight-year-old Sixth Prince from the recently deceased Consort Shen, planning to advance gradually.

Unexpectedly, His Majesty recently received a memorial from Elder Teng, who earnestly advised against deposing an heir for minor faults and against neglecting the responsibilities of being a father and ruler by neither deposing nor establishing.

The court’s elder ministers had the Crown Prince’s interests at heart. His Majesty could not disregard public opinion, so he lifted the confinement of his fourth son, Feng Qiyuan, at seventeen and graciously permitted the Crown Prince to attend His Majesty’s birthday celebration.

This was joyous news for the Empress’s faction.

When the Empress, with rekindled hope, personally went to receive the confined Feng Qiyuan, she discovered that the once delicately nurtured young prince had been mistreated by servants a month prior, injuring his right leg.

Those palace servants were audacious, perhaps believing the Crown Prince’s dethronement was inevitable with no chance of recovery, and had concealed his injury.

The Empress was furious and immediately executed all personnel in Yiyuan, suppressing the news. But the injured leg, not promptly treated, had developed chronic issues. Feng Qiyuan now walked with a limp, completely lacking royal bearing.

The Empress knew that if he appeared in public like this, and if someone deliberately drew attention to it, it would announce to the world that the Crown Prince was disabled, no longer qualified to inherit the throne. Even elder statesmen like Elder Teng would cease to protect the Crown Prince.

Originally, the situation had reached a dead end. Yet heaven finally showed mercy, granting a turning point.

Her trusted elderly maid Song Ao secretly left the palace to seek folk doctors for the Crown Prince’s leg and unexpectedly saw a father-daughter pair performing on a street corner in Yicheng near the capital.

Though the old man was weathered by hardship, Song Ao recognized him as the martial actor, the biological father of those twins who had been secretly executed years ago. His name seemed to be Luo Guan’er.

The short-haired girl beside him, dressed as a boy, beating gongs and shouting, remarkably resembled the Crown Prince in features.

Shocked, Song Ao sent people to secretly capture the father and daughter. After interrogation, she learned the truth.

The martial artist Luo Guan’er was born with a displaced heart. When he was stabbed years ago, the vital point was missed, and he was thrown into the suburban canal.

Those tasked with the disposal retained some humanity and couldn’t bear to use blades on the infant. They simply threw the baby into the river, hoping for drowning.

Luo Guan’er feigned death, hiding underwater. Under the cover of night, enduring his wounds, he valiantly rescued his daughter, who had been thrown into the river.

From then on, Luo Guan’er changed his name to Yan Shan, and father and daughter lived in anonymity, depending on each other.

Unfortunately, they were spotted by Song Ao in Yicheng. Using a nephew loyal to the Tang family as a front, under the pretext of capturing escaped slaves, and with the help of Yicheng’s Garrison Commander Master Zhu, the father and daughter were apprehended and secretly held in Yicheng’s prison, awaiting the Empress’s disposal.

The Empress ordered the girl to be secretly transported to her while the old actor was to be disposed of on the spot.

Before the carrier pigeon message arrived, a riot broke out in Yicheng’s prison, with someone abducting and escorting serious criminals.

The father and daughter took advantage of this to escape, but the girl, being slower, was recaptured while covering her father’s escape.

So the girl was drugged unconscious, hidden in a grain cart entering the palace, and brought to the Empress for inspection.

Looking now, Song Ao was correct—these two children, born of the same mother, looked nearly identical.

Feng Qiyuan had always been effeminate. If this girl dressed as a boy, they would be indistinguishable, able to pass scrutiny.

Empress Tang planned to use this girl as a substitute, having her replace the Crown Prince at the upcoming birthday banquet, concealing the fact that the Crown Prince’s leg injury had not healed.

After watching for a while, Empress Tang suddenly sighed deeply.

Song Ao, thinking the Empress worried about the secret being exposed, helped her sit on a nearby consort’s couch and softly consoled her: “The escaped commoner Luo Guan’er amounts to nothing. This old servant has already sent people to secretly pursue him. This little girl has also been intimidated by this old servant. As for the Crown Prince’s leg, the folk doctor says that it only needs to be re-broken and reset, and within a year, it will fully recover. We only need to deceive people for half a year, and the Crown Prince can appear properly in public. Your Majesty need not worry.”

Empress Tang laughed coldly: Even without a limp, the Crown Prince was disliked by His Majesty. Who could blame him for being mediocre and unable to achieve greatness?

After years of marriage, she could guess His Majesty’s thoughts. This show of mercy was merely a tactic to appease the elder ministers.

Releasing the Crown Prince demonstrated His Majesty’s benevolence and love for his offspring.

When Feng Qiyuan was initially confined, it was due to private moral failings—a family scandal that could not be openly announced to the world in official documents. It was difficult to silence the elder ministers and would trigger succession disputes.

Perhaps… His Majesty was waiting for the Second Prince’s power to grow, then find a more legitimate excuse to depose the Crown Prince.

Crown Prince Feng Qiyuan was ultimately a discarded piece, unlikely to be saved!

Since that was the case, this chess piece must be fully utilized. Rather than being deposed by His Majesty, it was better to fulfill his final purpose—to deal with Consort Shang and her despicable mother-son pair!

His Majesty favored martial pursuits. At the birthday banquet, there would be a horseback archery performance by the princes. All princes would ride horses and hunt, earning their father’s smile.

Imagine: a previously healthy Crown Prince is thrown from a startled horse during the riding performance. Then that startled horse is proven to have been drugged, with evidence pointing directly to the Second Prince—what a spectacular scene that would be!

The Second Prince plotting against the Crown Prince—with such an accusation, even if Consort Shang were silver-tongued, the Second Prince Feng Qiting would never rise again, unable to gain ministers’ support!

As for the Crown Prince’s lameness, it could be exchanged for a debt owed by His Majesty to her as Empress.

With her paternal clan’s support, her newly adopted Sixth Prince A’Ruo could comfortably ascend and be supported as heir.

As for the deposed Crown Prince, his permanent lameness would ensure His Majesty’s guilt toward her, becoming an unforgivable sin for the Second Prince!

Hearing the Empress’s brief plan, Song Ao suddenly understood, finally comprehending the Empress’s elaborate intentions.

Such a brilliant scheme—killing two birds with one stone—truly heaven was aiding Her Majesty.

Empress Tang rose again and approached the bedside, looking at the unconscious girl in the bed.

This girl, like her twin brother, was also seventeen. Perhaps due to the hardships of maintaining a livelihood in civilian life, though she had the same clear features as Feng Qiyuan, her brow carried a natural air of vigor.

Empress Tang was reassured again. Feng Qiyuan had always been very effeminate. Unable to find an effeminate boy to impersonate him, having his twin sister act as his substitute was most fitting.

Song Ao mentioned her subordinates had used slightly too much anesthetic, and the child remained unconscious even at this late hour.

Empress Tang reached out and patted the girl’s cheek. She wasn’t afraid of the girl’s disobedience—after all, she held her in the palm of her hand. Just by threatening her that the actor renamed Yan Shan had been captured would make this little girl completely compliant.

However, if the little girl didn’t wake up soon, it would cause trouble for the birthday banquet in five days.

Empress Tang instructed Song Ao to have someone administer a sobering medicinal soup to the girl, then hurriedly left the side hall.

Consort Shen had recently passed away, and the six-year-old Prince Feng Qiruo needed the comfort of his new mother, the Empress.

Empress Tang didn’t want to raise another useless piece, so after arranging matters here, she went to supervise the Sixth Prince’s studies.

Song Ao attentively accompanied the Empress out, so neither noticed that after they left, the supposedly unconscious person behind the curtains slowly opened her eyes.

Those clear eyes, like water, showed no daziness or confusion, but rather complete clarity.

The girl sat up, wiggled her fingers, then moved her wrists. She surveyed her surroundings, her mouth curling into a cold, mocking smile.

Her adoptive father had always said that noble people in the capital loved elegance and enjoyed chess games to pass the time. Just now, pretending to be asleep, she heard the noble person’s words confirming this.

But those self-proclaimed dignified people probably didn’t know that if human lives were chess pieces, then even pieces as lowly as wood, stone, or ants, once in play, could create endless variables!

Two days passed in the blink of an eye. Although Song Ao handled matters steadily, checking on the girl daily, Empress Tang remained worried.

The girl disguising herself as a boy and then pretending to fall off a horse wasn’t too difficult. At that time, amidst the chaos, the “Crown Prince” would be carried away for treatment, and the real Crown Prince, with his broken leg, could then make his appearance.

She had arranged everything meticulously.

But before that, if this girl revealed her female identity, it would bring endless disaster.

With such concerns, on the day before the palace banquet, Empress Tang came personally to see if this common girl had learned all the protocols and whether her disguise could pass inspection.

Before entering the side hall, as she reached a moon gate, she heard a woman speaking coquettishly inside: “Your Highness, I’ve finally waited for this day, yet you’ve forgotten how diligently I once served you. You keep asking irrelevant questions instead of asking how I’ve fared these years.”

Empress Tang frowned upon hearing this. She shook off Song Ao’s supporting hand and walked quickly forward, wanting to see who was being so impertinent, flirting within the heavily guarded Eastern Palace.

Turning past the gate, she saw a former Eastern Palace attendant—Yu Shu, a palace maid who had later been transferred to the Western Palace under Consort Shang—leaning shyly against a corridor pillar, her cheeks flushed red.

A carefree youth with half-loose long hair, wearing a jade crown and white robes, stood gracefully. One hand rested on a pillar, facing her, while the other hand carelessly twirled a folding fan, using its ribs to lightly lift Yu Shu’s chin.

The youth, with downcast phoenix eyes, thick eyebrows slightly raised, and a corner of his mouth curved in a flippant smile, asked puzzlingly: “Oh, I didn’t know that during those four lonely years of imprisonment, during nights of solitary sleep, there was a pretty little mandarin duck waiting for me. What was your name again… Yu Shu? Truly a person like beautiful jade, making one unable to put down the book, wanting to turn a page, then another…”

Such improper words, performed by the youth’s slightly magnetic voice, fell like gold strings on the ear, like fingertips teasing, making one’s heart tingle.

The palace maid Yu Shu seemed captivated by his touch, the blush on her cheeks deepening. She was drawn into the youth’s smiling phoenix eyes, as if being carefully perused, standing dazed and momentarily speechless.