Because this matter was of such gravity, Yan Huaishi only kept the old man from the whistle outpost to lead the way. Naturally, they didn’t need to take the secret passage—they merely had to wait at the exit.
Waiting outside the palace gates was impossible; they could only wait at the Quiet Study.
Feng Zhiwei had no intention of reclaiming those siblings from the Crown Prince’s hands—they had no conflict of interest with the Crown Prince, and he wouldn’t burden himself with these two encumbrances when fleeing. If they were clever, they could preserve themselves.
Born into the imperial family and showered with favor, if they lacked the instinct for self-preservation, they would simply die next time. Why should she meddle unnecessarily?
Why risk pushing herself into complete opposition with Ning Yi?
Ning Yi was determined to kill Shaoning. Having such a beloved younger sister of the Crown Prince remain by His Majesty’s side posed a danger no less than if the Crown Prince himself remained alive.
Feng Zhiwei was unwilling to be an accomplice to evil, yet she didn’t wish to deliberately oppose him either. She followed only to maintain control of the situation.
The Tiansheng Imperial Palace was rebuilt on the old site of the Great Cheng Imperial Palace. The Quiet Study was a place where a Dowager Consort of Great Cheng had practiced quiet meditation in earlier years. Because it was remote, few people came here.
The inner courtyard also had a small building with curtains hanging to the ground. When Feng Zhiwei arrived, the Crown Prince’s people hadn’t yet come. Gu Nanyi stood beside a black lacquered hall pillar, lost in thought for some reason.
He suddenly raised his hand to touch the pillar. This person never made any unnecessary movements except when required, so this abrupt gesture immediately made Feng Zhiwei turn her head.
However, Gu Nanyi’s fingers had already fallen from the hall pillar, and as they fell, a large piece of the black lacquer coating came off with them.
Was Young Master Gu so idle that he was peeling pillars for amusement?
Feng Zhiwei watched that piece of lacquer on the ground—it turned to dust upon landing, leaving no trace to be found.
Suddenly, footsteps sounded from below. Several people flashed behind the door to hide. Immediately, a team of guards covered in blood rushed upstairs, looked around in all directions, dragged out a large chest from beneath the Buddhist shrine, then with clattering footsteps, the Crown Prince and his party came upstairs.
Shaoning, dressed in women’s palace garments, was in the middle of the group, though not guarded as strictly as Tenth Prince Ning Ji. With half her hair bun askew and her face full of cold frost, she said icily, “Elder Brother, what do you mean by this? Do you truly think you can oppose Father Emperor? So now you’re preparing to silence witnesses by murder?”
“Little Sister, what are you saying?” The Crown Prince turned his head, and strangely, his expression was peaceful. “How could this palace possibly kill you?”
Shaoning rolled her eyes, but then heard the Crown Prince’s next words accompanied by a strange laugh: “This palace still needs you to attend to Father Emperor morning and evening in my stead.”
“What do you mean?” That laughter was like an owl’s, making everyone’s hair stand on end. Shaoning turned her eyes toward him suspiciously.
The Crown Prince smiled without speaking, his gaze sliding over one person in the crowd, then he signaled for all the guards to go downstairs first, leaving only himself with Shaoning, Ning Ji, and one black-robed person.
His earlier gaze had fallen precisely on this black-robed person. Now leaving only this one person behind immediately attracted Feng Zhiwei’s attention. With one glance, she made a small sound of surprise in her heart.
Why did this person’s build seem somewhat familiar?
That person’s tall, slender form leaned against the doorway, face wearing a crudely made mask, plainly telling you that he simply didn’t want you to see his face.
The Crown Prince leaned close to Shaoning’s ear and spoke a few words in a low voice.
“You’ve gone mad!” Before he even finished, Shaoning cried out loudly, but the Crown Prince covered her mouth, then said sinisterly, “Even a vicious tiger doesn’t eat its cubs—how has he treated me? If he can do the first day, I can do the fifteenth!”
Shaoning slapped away the Crown Prince’s hand with a crack and angrily said, “No!”
“Whether your brother can turn the situation around depends entirely on you this time.” The Crown Prince’s tone suddenly turned pleading. “Your brother was framed, made mistake after mistake and has fallen into a desperate situation. If you don’t help, your brother truly faces death with no burial ground!”
“I urged you early on to return with me! Plead your case before the Steps of Petition and sincerely beg Father Emperor’s forgiveness!” Shaoning said angrily. “You yourself know that even a vicious tiger doesn’t eat its cubs! Yet you’ve come up with such a treasonous notion and want to drag me down with you into eternal damnation! Dream on!”
“What if it is a dream?” The Crown Prince suddenly sneered. “I may have fallen into a death trap, but I have heaven’s blessing. Heaven never seals all exits—naturally a great sage will come to assist. Soon the person who will receive us will take us out through the Eastern Glory Gate and leave the Imperial City. From the eastern mouth of the Bian River, we’ll go south by water route directly into Jianghuai. Jianghuai’s Commander-in-Chief Liu Chenglü was formerly under our maternal grandfather’s command. Though Mother Empress died early, the Cao family clan hasn’t fallen! Do you truly think I have no power to fight?”
His tone suddenly turned coaxing: “Shaoning, they say there’s no certain death trap in the world—it only depends on whether one has heaven-defying power! Your brother is the true Son of Heaven. In times of danger, heroes naturally come to pledge themselves. The great enterprise of the realm will surely be in my hands. Now, as long as we siblings work together—you inside, me outside—when the time comes… your brother will lead troops into the capital to coordinate with you. With your brother’s status as legitimate imperial bloodline, who else but me deserves the throne? When that time comes, I’ll ennoble you as Pillar of State Princess Imperial with a food estate of one hundred thousand households, forever enjoying supreme honor and glory!”
Shaoning remained unmoved: “Whoever becomes emperor, I’m still a Princess Imperial!”
“But you’d be a golden plaything of the imperial family, forever without freedom!” The Crown Prince sneered. “They’ll restrict your words and actions, confine your youth. At the appropriate age, they’ll match you with a prince consort you’ve never even met! Perhaps old, perhaps disabled, perhaps one who enjoys boy lovers! You’ll look at your husband through curtains, he’ll kneel on the steps to see his wife, you can summon him only once a month—summon him more and you’ll be accused of shamelessness. Such a Princess Imperial—you’re willing to accept that?”
Shaoning’s expression changed. The Crown Prince softened his tone and said gently, “Don’t think that because Father Emperor dotes on you, you’ll be an exception. Think carefully—Father Emperor may dote on you, but when has he ever violated ancestral rites and laws? When Father Emperor passes and a new emperor takes the throne, will you have your current favor? Who will consider you even a bit? Second Brother? Fifth Brother? Sixth or Seventh Brothers? Look, is it possible?”
Shaoning fell silent. The Crown Prince glanced at her and smiled: “You like that Wei Zhi, don’t you? But you also know that he’s a minor official of humble origins—Father Emperor would never bestow him upon you… Shaoning, don’t you want to marry the good man you truly love? To be in perfect harmony with him, hand in hand for life, living the life all women in the world most yearn for?”
The room fell silent. Someone could be heard breathing rapidly. Moonlight streamed through coldly, illuminating Shaoning’s ear tips flushed thin and red. Yet her earlier sharpness and fury gradually disappeared, and the air meandered with shy, sweet longing.
Behind the curtain, Feng Zhiwei didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
When had she become bait in imperial power games?
Well, she knew Shaoning was a bit… that… that… However, she’d only thought it was a child’s curious nature. A pampered girl accustomed to being surrounded by admirers would naturally be more interested in someone who didn’t flatter her. She hadn’t expected… it actually seemed like deep-rooted affection?
Even the Crown Prince had seen through it and was using her to tempt Shaoning!
Feng Zhiwei felt embarrassed.
Shaoning suddenly turned, shifting from facing away from Feng Zhiwei to leaning against the window lattice in thought. Moonlight slanted across, and Feng Zhiwei’s bemused expression immediately changed to stunned shock.
That face…
Beside her, Gu Nanyi suddenly tilted his head, frowning toward a certain direction. Feng Zhiwei started, her attention just shifting when she suddenly heard Shaoning cry out in alarm: “Elder Brother, what are you doing—”
Feng Zhiwei whirled around sharply and saw cold light flashing brilliantly. The Crown Prince, with a savage smile, wielding a long sword drawn from who knows where, slashed straight down at Ning Ji!
Tenth Prince Ning Ji had been standing silently to one side all along. This sword strike came suddenly, yet he seemed to have been prepared all along, turning his body to evade.
In that turn, Shaoning had already rushed over trying to block. The Crown Prince pursued with his sword raised, shouting sternly, “He must die!”
In that instant, Feng Zhiwei suddenly understood—the Crown Prince had said all this without avoiding Ning Ji because he’d long since harbored murderous intent.
“He’s your brother!” Shaoning cried urgently.
“What is he?” The Crown Prince sneered coldly. “Nothing but Sixth Brother’s dog!”
“I won’t allow you to kill him!” Shaoning’s face was ashen. She and Ning Ji had always concealed their identities while studying at Qingming. This youngest brother had taken care of her considerably, and their relationship was quite good. Naturally she wouldn’t allow the Crown Prince to strike a killing blow. “You’re deranged beyond reason, going so far as patricide and fratricide—I absolutely won’t support you!”
“Won’t support me?” The Crown Prince turned his face, eyes blood-red. “Think it through clearly!”
“I have thought it through.” Shaoning blocked in front of Ning Ji, her hair disheveled yet her expression unchanged. “You’re so callous and cruel—even if I help you in the future, you won’t treat me well!”
She blocked firmly in front of Ning Ji, facing her eldest brother’s cold gleaming long sword. From Feng Zhiwei’s angle, however, she suddenly saw a flash of bright light beneath Ning Ji’s feet.
At this moment, the moonlight was hazy and everything in the room was shrouded in obscurity. A ray of moonlight penetrated through a crack in the aged, poorly maintained window lattice, shining precisely on the area beneath Ning Ji’s feet as he faced the window. The ground was a pale gray color, making that point of bright light all the more dazzling.
Narrow and long, thin and bright—three fingers wide—a glint of light and shadow.
A blade!
What was reflected by the moonlight was a blade Ning Ji had concealed in his sleeve!
The Crown Prince hadn’t been wrong—he was Ning Yi’s man. He was one of Ning Yi’s backup moves planted beside the Crown Prince!
At this moment, Shaoning was completely defenseless, her back turned to him!
Feng Zhiwei pressed her hand against the floor, her palm damp and cool. Everyone in this Ning imperial clan exhausted their schemes, each employing every stratagem—in the end, who knew who was the mantis and who was the sparrow!
She watched Ning Ji’s sleeve trembling slightly, as if he too was hesitating and undecided. The bright light on the ground flickered, indicating the blade shook ceaselessly.
Feng Zhiwei was just about to move.
The Crown Prince suddenly gave a savage smile: “Won’t help me! None of you will help me! Fine!”
His long sword shook and stabbed straight at Shaoning’s chest. This strike came laden with fury, and from its thunderous momentum, he actually intended to impale Shaoning on his sword!
In that instant, Feng Zhiwei rushed out.
In that instant, Ning Ji suddenly raised his hand. Bright light flashed in his hand—with a ringing clang, he’d already blocked the Crown Prince’s long sword. But because the dagger was too short to withstand the downward cleaving force, he nimbly pulled Shaoning and turned out of the sword’s light, rushing toward the corridor outside. As he rushed, he reached into his robes.
The moment he made this movement, the masked black-robed person who had been standing by the window immediately raised his hand. A gust of forceful wind emerged, immediately forcing Ning Ji’s movement to slow.
Shaoning, flung aside, couldn’t stop her momentum and crashed into the corridor railing. The building was poorly maintained from age—the railing immediately split open. Shaoning screamed as she fell. By this time, Feng Zhiwei had already rushed out. The black-robed person saw her and suddenly withdrew his raised sleeve.
Feng Zhiwei had no time to pay attention to him. She lunged forward to grab Shaoning. Shaoning desperately reached out and clutched her tightly, using such force she nearly dislocated Feng Zhiwei’s arm. Feng Zhiwei endured the pain and was just about to pull her upward when she suddenly felt a great brightness before her eyes. Clamorous sounds arose, and then a fire arrow like a red dragon crossed the long sky, bringing whistling wind sounds, flying straight at her back.
Vaguely, someone behind her made a short “ah” sound. Then sticky liquid sprayed onto the back of her neck, and something heavy toppled over and crashed into her, immediately knocking Feng Zhiwei, who had just pulled Shaoning up a bit, over the railing!
Everything happened in an instant.
Feng Zhiwei only had time to hold Shaoning tightly.
Wind sounds whooshed on all sides, light and shadow confused. In the inverted light and shadow, iron armor flowed like water, royal banners unfurled. That person came on horseback, in brocade robes moon-white, golden crown flashing brilliantly, watching Feng Zhiwei falling while protecting Shaoning.
A smile, cold and grim.