The sweetness between their lips was like drifting spring snow, gradually melting away.

Sweet enough to leave one utterly at ease, heart and spirit both.

He drew her closer still, wanting to lead her deeper, inch by inch.

So she felt as though she’d wandered into some otherworldly paradise, parting flowers and brushing past willows, exploring step by careful step.

She’d never experienced anything like this before—her heart filled with an inexplicable panic, yet also a dizzying enchantment, as though she had nothing to hold onto, and could only curl her hand around the back of his neck, unconsciously letting out a soft, low sound.

The two of them were already thoroughly entangled, and this low sound, carried on the wind, poured straight into Cheng Chang’s chest, instantly turning the small flame smoldering deep within him into a raging blaze.

The hand wrapped around her waist tightened gradually, letting the fire spread rapidly through every vein and bone in his body.

His breathing grew heavy, and something deep in his heart seemed on the verge of breaking free of restraint.

He pressed her closer against him, letting that thought tangle together with the flames, climbing higher and higher.

The distant sound of the cascading waterfall seemed to splash all around him, scattering indistinctly across the ground. Cheng Chang’s mind grew chaotic, dimly aware that this impulse was wrong, improper.

He hoped the waterfall might summon a torrent to help douse the fire in his heart.

Unfortunately, the tide came as hoped, but what it swallowed instead was the last shred of his reason.

Sinking into confusion, Cheng Chang thought—following the walkway back, it was no more than a hundred paces to Fufeng Studio.

He could take her there.

That way, he’d have a place to indulge himself without restraint, to take without limit, to have what he wanted.

He loosened his hold on her slightly, leaning down, gazing at her in complete, quiet stillness.

His eyes carried a sinister glint, the depths of his gaze dark and unfathomably deep.

Yun Xi had never seen him look like this before, sensing vaguely that something was wrong, and called out, “Third young master…”

He saw her lips part, but all he could hear was the roaring surge of the waterfall, drowning out everything else.

Her lips glistened, only stoking the fire in his heart further. He suddenly gripped her hand firmly and pulled her, walking briskly toward Fufeng Studio.

The evening mist hung heavy, the world shrouded in a hazy expanse. Cheng Chang’s vision blurred slightly, and he felt as though, after only a few steps, the waterfall’s spray was already splashing all around him.

From a distance, he saw Sun Haiping and the others hurrying toward him, calling out, “Young Prince, Young Prince—”

Finding their voices irritating, Cheng Chang snapped coldly, “Out of my way!”

Startled by his manner, Sun Haiping hesitated a moment before reporting anxiously, “Young Prince, Su Tai has arrived.”

Su Tai was Cheng Chang’s most capable guard, entrusted with only the most crucial and urgent matters.

For him to come at a time like this, it had to be something that couldn’t wait.

Cheng Chang paused slightly, feeling he ought to go see Su Tai.

But the desire in his heart had grown wild and unchecked, like weeds run rampant, nearly impossible to suppress.

Just as he wavered, torn, Yun Xi called out to him again. “Third young master.”

Cheng Chang turned to look, and saw that her thin vermilion robes were already slightly damp, even the hair at her temples clinging with moisture.

She looked at him with concern, asking, “Third young master, what’s wrong?”

Cheng Chang froze for a moment, sensing instinctively that she might catch a chill like this, and wanted to shield her with an umbrella—but he had none at hand. He wanted to lead her away from the walkway, but looking around, the waterfall was still far off, and they weren’t even on the walkway at all.

He was standing just outside the pavilion.

And what he’d thought was spray splashing from the waterfall was nothing more than evening rain falling at dusk.

Sun Haiping glanced up and, seeing his young master seemed somewhat calmer now, hastily opened the umbrella he’d brought and stepped forward to shield Cheng Chang from the rain.

Cheng Chang pushed the umbrella away. “Give it to her.”

Sun Haiping had no choice but to hold the umbrella over Yun Xi instead.

The cool night rain gradually, inch by inch, called Cheng Chang’s mind back to clarity.

He stood frozen in place. What exactly had just happened to him?

He’d always prided himself on excellent self-control—did he not know perfectly well what should and shouldn’t be done?

He’d very nearly harmed her.

Cheng Chang looked around and saw the estate’s steward and servants already kneeling on the ground; Su Tai knelt among them as well, further back in the crowd.

“All of you… get up,” Cheng Chang said. Worried Yun Xi might catch a chill, he added, “Go find her a clean change of clothes, and prepare a bowl of ginseng broth.”

“Yes.” A maidservant acknowledged, coming forward to bow slightly to Yun Xi. “This way please, my lady.”

Cheng Chang watched Yun Xi walk off into the distance, then stepped back into the pavilion. He picked up the cold tea on the stone table and poured himself a cup, about to drink it, when Steward Lin hurried over. “Young Prince, this tea’s gone cold—let this humble one fetch you a fresh pot.”

“No need,” Cheng Chang said, then asked Su Tai, who had come over. “What is it?”

“Reporting to Your Highness, this afternoon the Central Secretariat suddenly issued an official directive, ordering Prince Ling to go interrogate Lord Chai in the Court of Judicial Review’s prison tomorrow morning.”

Cheng Chang set his teacup down on the table with a sharp clack. “How did you all let this happen?!”

The words came out cold as a blade—the moment they left his mouth, even Cheng Chang himself paused, taken aback.

Su Tai immediately dropped to his knees. “Please punish this subordinate, Your Highness.”

Cheng Chang rubbed at his brow, not understanding why he’d been losing control so frequently these past few days.

After a long moment, he said, “Never mind. It’s fine.”

He picked up the cold tea and drained it in one go.

A wave of coolness settled through him, and he continued in a more measured tone, “Prince Ling isn’t part of the Three Judicial Offices—for him to go see Chai Ping, even with a directive from the Secretariat, it would still require the Three Offices’ approval. Has someone within the Three Offices been bought off by Prince Ling?”

“Not exactly bought off—Lord Chai has always belonged to the Censorate, and his roots run deep across all Three Offices. He has plenty of trusted allies within the Censorate, the Ministry of Justice, and the Court of Judicial Review alike. Though he’s currently imprisoned, he still has Prince Ling backing him, so quite a few people within the Three Offices are fence-sitters. Today’s directive from the Secretariat only stated that someone needed to be sent to interrogate Lord Chai, without specifying who. The Chief Minister of the Court of Judicial Review feigned ignorance and simply signed off with his eyes closed.”

“And after signing, he hurried to have someone inform me? Since there’s still a full night before Prince Ling goes to interrogate Chai Ping, he’s leaving this one night for me to fight it out with Prince Ling myself, while he keeps his own hands clean? Quite the calculated move.”

“Yes,” Su Tai said. “But it’s not entirely fair to say the Chief Minister did anything wrong. Lord Chai is, after all, a fourth-rank official of the court, and the case of an attempted murder against an imperial prince’s heir apparent is a major one—the Secretariat naturally has cause to inquire into it. And with Prince Ling currently affiliated with the Secretariat, that gives him grounds to visit Chai Ping in prison whenever the Secretariat makes inquiries. The Three Offices can stall once or twice, but they can’t keep blocking him indefinitely—he is, after all, an imperial heir apparent wielding considerable power. If this drags on too long, it won’t look good, and there will be talk against Your Highness outside the court as well.”

Over this past year, with Prince Yun having fallen from favor and Emperor Zhaoyuan’s health in decline, Prince Ling alone had been left to dominate the court and beyond. Those who had once secretly submitted to him—men like Pei Ming of the Ministry of Works, Luo Fuyou of the Privy Council—had all risen to prominence.

Many at court, ever quick to shift with the wind, if not openly aligned with Prince Ling, at least leaned toward him whenever any major matter arose.

Though Cheng Chang held some power of his own now, he was, after all, from a collateral branch of the imperial family—it wasn’t wise for him to openly break with Prince Ling before he had solid, concrete leverage against him.

Seeing Cheng Chang’s expression turn slightly cold, Su Tai added, “Lord Chai is fiercely loyal to Prince Ling—it seems unlikely he’ll reveal anything even after some time in prison. It’s just as well the Chief Minister let Prince Ling see him today—if the Secretariat tries to interfere again in the future, the Three Offices can simply cite ‘no benefit gained from the previous visit’ as grounds to decline.”

Cheng Chang said, “So the Three Offices dared let Prince Ling see Chai Ping because they figured I wouldn’t actually kill him?”

“Does Your Highness intend to kill Lord Chai?” Su Tai, catching the coldness in Cheng Chang’s tone, was taken aback. “But Lord Chai has followed Prince Ling for a long time now—he must know a great many of Prince Ling’s secrets. If Your Highness wishes to bring down Prince Ling, extracting leverage against him from Lord Chai’s own mouth would be the fastest way.”

“Would he actually say anything? He absolutely won’t,” Cheng Chang said.

He asked further, “I had you look into why Chai Ping is so devoted to Prince Ling. Did you find anything?”

“This subordinate has found the answer,” Su Tai said. “It’s actually not much of a secret at all. When Lord Chai first entered officialdom, his elder brother committed a crime that implicated him, his father, and several other brothers in the family, and they were all thrown into prison, held for several years. During those years, in their desperation to secure release, the family members turned on each other, accusing one another, living in constant fear and turmoil. But among the Chai family, only Lord Chai himself held any official rank—the rest were all commoners, and so they all suffered corporal punishment. One by one, they gradually fell ill and died. At the time, Lord Chai, imprisoned alongside them, was overcome with rage, grief, and near madness, nearly losing his mind entirely. It was Prince Ling who saved him then, helped clear his name, allowed him to retake the imperial examinations, and even arranged proper burials for his entire family. So Lord Chai follows Prince Ling wholeheartedly, not because Prince Ling holds anything over him, but entirely out of this debt of gratitude.”

Cheng Chang nodded thoughtfully. “I understand now.”

He considered this for a moment, then instructed, “Oh, and Qin Jiu of the Marquis Zhongyong household will be returning to Jinling soon. Send someone skilled to follow her.”

“Guard Qin?”

Cheng Chang made a small sound of acknowledgment. “It was she who stole the blood letter Officer Li left before his death in Yangzhou. The earlier theft at the Ministry of War’s storeroom likely involves her too—this case isn’t as simple as it seems.”

“This…” Su Tai hesitated. “Guard Qin is General Yun’s trusted subordinate. Should Your Highness’s order to have her watched be discussed with General Yun first?”

“No need.” Cheng Chang paused briefly, recalling that Chai Ping had once ordered the Patrol Bureau to hunt down Qin Jiu—and since Chai Ping worked entirely on Prince Ling’s behalf, it stood to reason that Prince Ling might well have men secretly watching her too, now that she’d escaped that particular disaster.

“Just have someone follow Qin Jiu—don’t harm her. While you’re at it, see if anyone else is secretly tailing her as well.”

“Yes.”

Having received his orders, Su Tai withdrew.

Outside, the rain continued to fall. Cheng Chang sat in silence for a while, then raised a hand and rubbed at his brow once more.

He felt exhausted, an inexplicable weariness settling over his entire body. Though the fire that had raged uncontrollably within him earlier had subsided, it still left him troubled, unable to fully shake it off.

He closed his eyes, resting for a moment, and after a while, heard the sound of footsteps approaching.

A maidservant from the estate bowed to him. “Your Highness, the young lady has arrived.”