“Grandfather,” the Crown Prince said, bowing quickly.

Grand Secretary Xu gave a small wave of his hand. His gaze passed over the ink blot on the page, then settled on the Crown Prince. His eyes were somewhat clouded, yet the look he turned on the boy was uncommonly sharp. The Crown Prince felt himself laid bare in an instant and tried to look away, only for the old man to name it directly.

“Your Highness’s mind is unsettled,” Grand Secretary Xu said.

The Crown Prince snapped back to himself and tried to explain. “I…”

“Your studies give no cause for concern. But your temperament is too restless. You made one mistake at the palace banquet, a second at the training ground.” Grand Secretary Xu looked at him. “You never showed this when dealing with the First Prince.”

The Crown Prince had always conducted himself well. Young as he was, he had already learned when to restrain himself and when to make a show. In the past, even when the First Prince had made a display of force, he held steady.

Only in these two instances had he slipped. Grand Secretary Xu looked at him. “Your Highness has something weighing on his mind.”

“I don’t like him,” the Crown Prince said, pressing down the unease in his chest. “But he is my imperial brother.”

“He will not become an obstacle for Your Highness. The Ning family will not recover from this.” Grand Secretary Xu paused in his steps. He gestured toward a table where a half-finished weiqi game lay spread out. The Crown Prince took one look at the board and saw the state of the pieces. “The black stones in a losing position. That was the Shen family’s situation before.”

The Crown Prince’s composure wavered slightly. “There is no coming back from that.”

“No. But Your Highness could not resist trying to tip the scales in your own favor, which is why you moved against Shen Yunfei,” Grand Secretary Xu said.

“Grandfather, I was wrong.” The Crown Prince dreaded facing this grandfather more than anyone. In his presence, there was nowhere to hide. “I only meant to have Shen Yunfei disqualified from the selection because of the injured horse. I never anticipated the disaster that followed.”

Grand Secretary Xu looked at him quietly, then shifted a piece on the board with an unhurried hand. The black stones suddenly found breathing room, and the white stones were left at a disadvantage. “If Your Highness had not moved, the white stones could have watched and waited. But once you moved, you became part of the game.”

The Crown Prince understood at once what Grand Secretary Xu was teaching him.

“Your Highness is still young. Remember: do not let envy take root in your heart, and do not let people unsettle you.” Grand Secretary Xu said this, then gave a small wave of his hand. “Your Highness, finish copying the sutra for a calm mind today.”

Grand Secretary Xu left. The Crown Prince stood before the weiqi board for a long time. His expression gradually went cold. The thoughts he had been suppressing turned into the image of Consort Ning being dragged away in the warm hall of the Imperial Garden. The confusion of that moment gave way to dread, but he steadied himself quickly, pressing down the hand that gripped his brush.

The look Consort Ning had turned on him before she was taken away was still vivid in his mind. The Crown Prince held himself together by force of will and told himself: it is fine. Some people go mad. Others do not know. A secret can be kept as long as it stays buried.

The room next door fell quiet. Empress Xu stood outside, and seeing the Crown Prince settle down to his writing, the tension between her brows eased slightly. She looked toward Grand Secretary Xu. “Father.”

“The Crown Prince’s temperament leans too hard,” Grand Secretary Xu said. “It still needs correcting.”

Empress Xu’s gaze paused briefly. “I will guide him going forward.”

“Father used the contingency move against the Ning family.”

Grand Secretary Xu looked at her. “The Empress has not usually concerned herself with these things.”

They had deliberately drawn out the matter of the Minister of Rites, and part of the intention had indeed been to push the Ning family upward. With the court unsettled of late, elevating Vice Minister Ning would allow them to watch and wait. The Minister of Rites had committed serious crimes of corruption and misconduct, and Vice Minister Ning had served under him for years without keeping clean hands.

Only they had not originally planned to move against the Ning family so soon.

“His Majesty turned his eye to the Ministry of Rites. That piece had been hidden too long and drew fire back on us.”

“Better to put it to full use,” Grand Secretary Xu said. “Let the Ministry of Rites fire burn brighter and draw out the true measure of the Ning family.”

Empress Xu frowned and said nothing.

“Your temperament is calm, but on certain matters, do not indulge him. He needs guidance.” Grand Secretary Xu said.

Empress Xu’s expression shifted at that. “He nearly didn’t survive back then… so I protected him. How is that indulgence?”

“You prepare everything for him, but you never tell him why. Imperial children mature early. He may not understand you the way you think.” Grand Secretary Xu said. “The court is unsettled, and His Majesty is making moves. Keep a close watch on affairs in the inner palace.”

Grand Secretary Xu departed. Empress Xu was still standing outside the room as he left, looking in at the Crown Prince practicing his calligraphy.

Grand Secretary Xu let out a quiet sigh.

The matter of the Suihongzi was deeply troubling. He heard that Empress Xu had ordered a thorough investigation of the Weiyang Palace. The near-loss of the Crown Prince all those years ago had become a knot she could never untie. Her way of protecting the child was to prepare everything for him with meticulous care, from gifts to prayers offered outside the palace. She handled every detail herself, asking only that the child be safe. But this was precisely what made it easy for her to lose her judgment when it came to the Crown Prince. duskblossoms | translated by adeline

It was natural for Empress Xu to investigate the Weiyang Palace. Consort Ning had given birth on the same day as the Empress.

After the Empress had nearly lost the child that year, the Xu family had conducted a thorough investigation of every midwife and physician present that day. The conclusion they reached was that the danger to mother and child had been caused by complications during labor. A woman carrying and delivering a child was never without risk, and brushing against death’s door was not unheard of.

The matter passed, and the Xu family had not investigated further. Suspicion had never fallen on the Ning family.

But with the Suihongzi and Consort Ning’s affair now exposed, given her devotion to the Crown Prince, there was no way she would leave this alone.

The Empress suspected that someone had been behind the near-loss of the Crown Prince that night.

If the Crown Prince had not survived that night, and the Empress’s body had been too damaged to bear another child…

“The Suihongzi, has anything been found? Why did Consort Ning have something from the previous dynasty?” Grand Secretary Xu asked.

The palace attendant shook her head. “This servant was unable to get anything out of the Weiyang Palace attendants. Only that the items were obtained by Bizhu, Consort Ning’s personal maid.”

“And her?”

“Nothing could be gotten from her either. She has lost her mind. She insists Consort Ning told her to find someone to purchase it, and that the go-between was a eunuch in the palace. That person died on a winter night last year.”

“I see.”

Grand Secretary Xu’s brow furrowed. His gaze settled on the palace walls in the distance.

First the Huguo Temple, then the upheaval within the palace.

Grand Secretary Xu turned it over carefully in his mind. The two events appeared unconnected, yet both were closely tied to the Ning family.

He had an inexplicable feeling. Their objective had been achieved, yet something felt strangely off. The Ning family… he thought of the figure he had seen at the Wenhua Hall. He had only seen the child once, but he had come away with the sense that the boy was concealing something. He did not resemble the weak and blindly devoted prince the reports described.

Was it a mistaken impression?

* * *

duskblossoms | translated by adeline

The Ning family lost everything. The Sixth Prince walked away untouched, becoming the Emperor’s favored child. The Ministry of Rites affair ended with the Emperor stripping the Minister of his post. Vice Minister Ning had his salary docked and was sent home to reflect on his conduct. A new official was brought in from outside the capital to fill the position of the Minister of Rites.

Within the span of a few months, the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Rites had both been thrown into turmoil, leaving the court on edge.

While the court remained unsettled, the Cining Palace passed its days in quiet calm. The physicians came every day to check pulses, and every day Ying Fusheng saw them arrive wearing expressions of worry. The Suihongzi was a substance from the previous dynasty, and the only remedies to be found were in old texts. In his past life, by the time the illness had taken full hold, there had been nothing to be done. This time, the poisoning had been discovered early enough that there was still room for treatment.

Ying Fusheng was unbothered. He knew his own body better than anyone. He endured far worse in his past life and still managed to live past twenty. He was not going to die anytime soon. Only Physician Chu sighed every time he came, and even Song’an had begun to worry about the state of the physician’s hair.

Two new figures appeared in the courtyard of the Cining Palace’s side hall. They were the guards the Emperor had let Ying Fusheng choose.

The guards were selected from the palace garrison. They had not yet pledged to a new master. Ying Fusheng chose two faces that seemed relatively unfamiliar, and the command tokens for both guards were placed in his hands that same day. Eunuch Rong said, “From this day forward, the two of them are at Your Highness’s disposal.”

Guards trained by the imperial household were highly capable and exceptionally loyal. Handing over their identity tokens to a new master meant they would henceforth answer to him alone.

It was a rare honor.

Ying Fusheng had no immediate use for them, so he left them to watch over the hall.

Aside from Song’an, he was not accustomed to having others attend him closely.

“Young Master Shen sent some things over. I’ve set them here for you.”

Ying Fusheng had not left the palace during this period and had not gone to the Wenhua Hall either. Every time Shen Yunfei finished his lessons there, he would send something over through a messenger. Today’s delivery was particularly large, piled up in the corner.

“This one is from Lady Shen,” Song’an said.

Ying Fusheng’s gaze passed over the item Lady Shen had sent. It was a hand warmer cover. The weather was turning warmer, but he still used a hand warmer often, and one that ran too hot could hurt his hands. The cover was embroidered with a simple design: a bird perched on a branch. His gaze settled on the branches spreading out behind the bird, and a quiet smile crossed his face. “Lady Shen’s needlework is truly fine.”

The branches did not overshadow the bird. They were exactly right.

This was Shen Changcun’s way of sending him a message through the embroidery. The spreading branches represented a net.

Ying Fusheng turned it over in his hands. “Put it on my hand warmer later.”

Song’an said yes and went to fetch the hand warmer Ying Fusheng used most often.

Ying Fusheng turned the page of the book in front of him. In the stillness, he seemed to catch the faint sound of wings beating, and his fingertips shifted slightly. The eave outside the window was empty. Through the half-latched door and window came what sounded like the voices of Cining Palace attendants.

Song’an seemed to hear something outside the hall and assumed it was the wind. “Your Highness, I’ll go close the window.”

He walked over quickly. Just as his hand touched the window frame, a gust of air hit him from the other side. Ying Fusheng looked up at the sound, and beneath the rush of wind came the sound of wings cutting through the air. Something stirred in his chest. By the time he came back to himself, a brief chill had settled against the side of his neck.

“Your Highness, the window…” Song’an turned around after closing it and froze. Somehow, without anyone noticing, a figure had appeared inside the hall. A person in black stood at the Sixth Prince’s side, a sword held upright against his neck. The cry rising in Song’an’s throat stopped dead. “Your Highness!”

The figure in black only held the sword there. No strike was made. No words were spoken.

The night was deep. There was no one else in the sleeping quarters. Ying Fusheng glanced at Song’an. “Go outside. Don’t make a sound.”

Song’an stared at the intruder, tense with worry for Ying Fusheng’s safety. “Your Highness.”

“Go on. I’m fine.” Ying Fusheng’s gaze dropped briefly to the sword at his neck. “It’s someone I know.”

Song’an had no choice but to leave.

Once Song’an was gone, Ying Fusheng spoke. “Young General, you can move the sword now.”

That Ying Fusheng would identify him came as no surprise to Qi Hanzhou.

He sheathed the sword without a sound. If not for the fact that he was standing there, Ying Fusheng would have felt almost no trace of his presence.

“Those two guards. You moved them to the outer courtyard,” Qi Hanzhou said.

Ying Fusheng smiled faintly. “Even if I hadn’t given the order, with the Young General’s skill, they wouldn’t have found you.”

“But you did,” Qi Hanzhou said.

Song’an had withdrawn, and the room fell quiet. No one else in the Cining Palace noticed anything amiss.

The hall was silent, silent enough that only the sound of wood burning in the charcoal brazier remained. Since the night they had parted in the rain, this was the first time the two had met like this. Qi Hanzhou’s sharp gaze settled on Ying Fusheng. The boy stood there, his frailty no act. Even his breathing was shallower than a healthy person’s, the mark of a weakness that had taken root since childhood.

Qi Hanzhou had never encountered anyone like this in the capital before.

Seemingly fragile enough to break. Yet capable of driving his own birth mother to madness and sending her to the cold palace without a moment’s hesitation.

“A traveling physician’s folk remedy, administered in a heavy dose. When it clashes with another medicine’s properties, the effect reverses violently.” Qi Hanzhou looked at him. “That kind of formula is not something palace physicians commonly know. You sent the calming incense, which means you also knew what she regularly used.”

Ying Fusheng turned his head slightly. “I don’t know what the Young General is referring to.”

“The hidden compartment in the Weiyang Palace. An ordinary attendant would never have found it.” Qi Hanzhou said no more than that. Ying Fusheng’s expression had not shifted through any of it. “You knew the Embroidered Guard would come.”

From the Ning family’s rise to imperial favor, to Consort Ning’s sudden breakdown, to even the threat on that rainy night at the Huguo Temple. All of it had been this person’s deliberate doing. Qi Hanzhou looked at him. The boy was completely unguarded, not a weapon on him, yet there was not a trace of fear in him, not even with a sword at his neck moments ago. “Hu Buyu boarded the First Prince’s ship. The moment he opened his mouth, the court would shift, and the Ministry of Rites would become a target from all sides.” duskblossoms | translated by adeline

“You knew the Xu family would move, so you made use of them. And you made use of me.”

Qi Hanzhou’s gaze lowered slightly. The boy before him stirred at those words. When he looked up, the mask he always wore was gone entirely, and something faint rippled in the depths of his eyes. In the quiet hall, incense curled from the burner. A smile lifted the corner of Ying Fusheng’s mouth, and a wholly different face came through.

“The Young General knows all of this, yet he hasn’t killed me.”

“Why?”

Author’s note:

7: Not sure yet. Let’s wait and see.

6: The Embroidered Guard is useful. A certain someone is also useful. Might as well keep using them.