"Miss Chunfen, wait—don't go in yet." The maid stationed outside the door saw Chunfen carrying a tray, seemingly about to enter, and hurriedly reached out to stop her. "The master, mistress, and young mistress are inside talking. No one is allowed in."
No sooner had she spoken than the sound of shattered porcelain echoed from within the room. Chunfen and the young maid paled slightly, taking a few steps back.
The master and mistress were known for their gentle dispositions and rarely lost their temper. The last time they had been this furious was many years ago, when the Ming Family of Lingzhou had tried to pass off another girl as their young mistress.
A long while later, the door finally opened from within.
The master, clad in dark blue robes, wore an eerily calm expression—so calm it was unsettling. Adjusting his sleeves, he spoke in a detached tone, "Chunfen, I accidentally broke a tea set earlier. Have someone tidy up the room."
"Understood, Master." Chunfen stepped inside and noticed the mistress's reddened eyes. A pang of worry struck her—had the young mistress suffered some grievance in the palace?
She and the other maids bent to collect the shards.
"Miss Chunfen, be careful with your hands." Jiuzhu, noticing Chunfen's distraction, softly reminded her, "These shards are sharp."
"Young Mistress, don’t worry. I’m used to this kind of work." Chunfen looked up at Jiuzhu and saw no trace of sorrow on her face. Reassured, she focused on cleaning the room thoroughly.
As she stepped outside, she caught sight of the young mistress leaning against the mistress, coaxing her with playful affection—a sight that eased Chunfen’s lingering worries. No matter how upset the master and mistress might be, having the young mistress by their side surely brought them comfort.
Over the years, the mistress had often found herself drawn to buying trinkets and fabrics fit for a young girl. Whenever she spotted brightly colored cloth, she would murmur about how lovely it would look as a dress—only to fall silent afterward.
"Miss Chunfen, what happened inside just now?" a curious maid whispered.
"Nothing much," Chunfen replied, schooling her expression. "The master merely dropped a teacup by accident. Don’t linger here—go attend to your duties."
"Oh, Miss Chunfen! I heard the young mistress brought gifts back from the palace for all of us! You’ll distribute them, won’t you?"
Amid the maids’ cheerful chatter, Chunfen shook her head with a helpless smile. Most people brought gifts for their families when traveling far, but their young mistress never forgot anyone, even when entering the palace.
Most of these gifts were likely from Consort Su.
Thinking of the young mistress’s interactions with Prince Chen, Chunfen’s smile deepened.
As long as the young mistress and His Highness remained on good terms, nothing else mattered.
"Miss Chunfen!" A young palace maid hurried in, clutching a box. "Sister, a eunuch from the palace just arrived in haste. He said these are items the young mistress is accustomed to using in the palace. Consort Su was concerned that the ones prepared at home might not suit her preferences, so she insisted on sending this over."
Opening the wooden box, Chunfen found it filled with hand balm—a common luxury among noble young ladies to protect their delicate hands from the harsh winter winds.
She chuckled to herself. The consort was practically treating their young mistress as her own daughter.
*****
"Has the hand balm been delivered to the Ming Family?" Prince Chen asked the attendant behind him.
"Rest assured, Your Highness. This humble servant personally handed it to a maid of the Ming household and made it clear it was a gift from Consort Su to County Mistress Ming." The eunuch bowed obsequiously. "How could I dare neglect Your Highness’s orders?"
"Good." Prince Chen nodded. A young lady’s hands were delicate—such ointments would keep them from chapping.
"Your Highness, why did you say it was from Consort Su?" The eunuch ventured closer. "Wouldn’t that mean the County Mistress won’t realize it’s your thoughtfulness?"
"Such a trivial thing hardly counts as 'thoughtfulness.'" Prince Chen scoffed. "Enough nonsense. What matters is that it serves its purpose."
"Your Highness." A blue-robed eunuch approached and bowed.
"What is it?" Prince Chen recognized him as a servant from Taiyang Palace.
"Eunuch Liu sent this servant to escort Your Highness to a certain place."
"I understand." After a brief pause, Prince Chen rose and followed Liu Zhongbao to the imperial dungeons under the surveillance of the Imperial Guards.
"Your Highness, these two are the runaway slaves from the Zheng Family." Liu Zhongbao pointed his horsetail whisk at the cowering figures in the cell. "They were also involved in the plot to assassinate you and Consort Su."
Prince Chen’s gaze fixed on the scar beneath one man’s chin, his expression darkening. "I’ve seen him before. He was a steward of the Zheng Family."
Back then, Jiuzhu had reacted oddly upon seeing this man, so he’d ordered him to stand aside.
An Imperial Guard handed over the scarred man’s confession. Prince Chen skimmed through it, his brow furrowing when he reached the passage detailing the murder of a young girl.
After a long silence, he folded the document. "Where are the Zheng Family members held?"
"Your Highness, please follow this servant." Liu Zhongbao led him deeper into the dungeons.
The further they went, the quieter it became. The prisoners sat docilely, none daring to make noise—some even knelt wordlessly as Prince Chen passed.
"Your Highness, here we are." Liu Zhongbao halted before two cells. "His Majesty, in his benevolence, has arranged for the men and women to be held separately."
"Prince Chen!" Zheng Zhen scrambled from her cot and rushed to the bars. "Your Highness, we’ve been wronged! Please, release us—"
Before she could finish, Madame Zheng clamped a hand over her daughter’s mouth and dragged her to her knees. "Your Highness, my daughter is foolish and has offended you. I beg your forgiveness."
Prince Chen spared the mother and daughter only a glance before turning to the cell holding the Zheng men. "Where’s that brat from the Zheng Family?"
"The elderly and children of the Zheng Family are temporarily detained at their estate under the watch of the Imperial Guards," Liu Zhongbao explained. "The dungeons are too harsh for them."
Prince Chen gave a curt nod. Standing in the corridor, he studied the Zheng men through the bars.
One young man in ragged prison garb, his hair filthy and unkempt, shrank into a corner at the sight of him. Prince Chen recalled his name. "Zheng Wangnan?"
Zheng Wangnan trembled before crawling to the bars and kowtowing. "Your Highness, my father is gravely ill. I beg you to send a physician with medicine."
Master Zheng, who had already been ailing, had taken a turn for the worse since the family’s imprisonment.
Prince Chen glanced at the motionless figure on the stone bed and smirked. "They say the sick are light sleepers. I’ve been standing here for some time, yet Master Zheng hasn’t stirred. Is he dead—or simply unwilling to speak to me?"
Zheng Wangnan’s face drained of color. "Your Highness, my father is too ill to rise. I beg your mercy."
"Oh?" Prince Chen raised an eyebrow. "Since the illness is this severe, I suppose it’s beyond cure. Given the Zheng Family’s grave crimes, there’s no need to waste medicine on someone already destined to die."
The Zheng Family glared at Prince Chen with resentment but dared not retort.
*Cough, cough, cough.*
At the height of the tension, Master Zheng, who had been lying motionless on the stone bed, suddenly stirred. He hacked violently, his throat tearing with each cough, as he struggled to rise.
"Such vigorous coughing—clearly not that ill." Prince Chen watched him writhe on the bed, failing to get up, then turned to Liu Zhongbao. "There’s a saying: *The wicked live a thousand years.* Judging by Master Zheng’s condition, he doesn’t need a physician or medicine. A few days in the imperial prison might just cure him."
The Zheng Family nearly wept at these words. What kind of twisted logic was this? Only a madman would say such things!
After much squirming, Master Zheng finally tumbled off the bed. He curled his limbs awkwardly, barely managing a full prostration. "This guilty subject pays respects to Your Highness, Prince Chen."
"Eunuch Liu, am I some kind of miracle cure?" Prince Chen clicked his tongue. "Look—just by standing here a moment, Master Zheng, who couldn’t move earlier, is now kowtowing to me."
Liu Zhongbao smiled obsequiously. "Your Highness speaks wisely."
Prince Chen clapped twice, his grin vanishing. "Now that you’re awake, let’s discuss why your family sent assassins after me and Consort Su all those years ago. Who gave the Zheng Family the audacity to plot against the imperial bloodline?"
"Your Highness," Master Zheng rasped weakly, "this guilty subject truly doesn’t know who ordered that treacherous servant to commit such an atrocity. It was all his slander! I suspect this is precisely what the true mastermind intended—to frame us."
"So you’re saying," Prince Chen scoffed, as if hearing a joke, "that the real culprit went to such lengths, weaving such an elaborate scheme, just to spite the Zheng Family? What lofty status does your family hold to warrant such effort?"
"Crushing your family wouldn’t require this much trouble." He tilted his chin up. "Locked in prison, yet still this delusional?"
The humiliated Zheng Family: *"…"*
Truly, if they weren’t behind bars, if he weren’t an imperial prince—they’d drag him into a mud pit and stomp him into the dirt.
How could anyone be this infuriating, this insufferably arrogant?
"I advise you to confess honestly." Prince Chen sighed, suddenly the picture of reason. "You know my temper. If you cooperate, perhaps I’ll spare you some dignity out of appreciation for your honesty."
"But if you annoy me…" He pointed a lazy finger at their heads. "People *die*."
"Your Highness, this guilty subject truly doesn’t—"
"Guards." Prince Chen lifted a hand. "Take Zheng Wangnan to the castration chamber. Find a skilled old eunuch to *relieve* him of his troubles."
"Your Highness!" Madame Zheng clung to the prison bars, frantic. "Wangnan knows nothing! I beg Your Highness, spare him!"
"You’re pleading with me?" Prince Chen chuckled, shaking his head. "Pity my mood is foul today. Pleas won’t help."
"Prince Chen, you cannot abuse private punishment!" Zheng Zhen blurted in desperation. "This empire belongs to His Majesty, not to your tyranny, Yun Duxing!"
The moment the words left her lips, Zheng Zhen regretted them. The prison fell deathly silent.
Footsteps echoed behind her. She whipped her head toward the corridor, where a man in light brocade robes and a white fox-fur cloak approached.
Closer, closer—
When she saw his face, her heart leaped. "Prince Qi!"
"Miss Zheng," Liu Zhongbao corrected mildly, "this is *Prince Qi of the County*. Do not address him incorrectly."
