The Wangyue Pavilion was busy with people coming and going. The palace attendants from the Weiyang Palace were carefully making preparations for the Empress Dowager’s birthday banquet. Consort Ning had given repeated instructions, and Bizhu kept watch at all times. The attendants going back and forth did not dare to be careless.

An unremarkable young eunuch entered the Wangyue Pavilion with the Weiyang Palace’s waist token, mingling with palace attendants he had never met, helping to carry and set out various incense vessels and precious objects. He was slight and small, entirely inconspicuous among the others, and after a few moments of struggling to keep up he was jostled aside and sent off to do lighter work instead.

The area was chaotic, and no one paid any attention to the eunuch blending into the crowd. Song’an looked around nervously, and only when he was certain no one was watching did he take out a small, carefully wrapped packet of powder from inside his robe. He looked around the Wangyue Pavilion, steadied himself, and scattered it across several specific locations.

On the day the weather turned slightly warmer, the news spread that His Majesty had returned in triumph!

The Empress Dowager’s birthday was nearly upon them. The whole nation rejoiced. Great Yuan was filled with celebration from one end to the other, and the imperial palace was transformed.

On the eve of the Empress Dowager’s birthday banquet, when preparations at the Wangyue Pavilion were nearly complete, the Empress Dowager came to inspect it in person.

With the Empress Dowager’s personal visit, the officials overseeing the Wangyue Pavilion’s renovation and related duties all came to attend. Consort Ning had been very mindful of this and had arranged everything a day in advance.

Though the Empress Dowager had long resided deep within the palace, she came from a military family, and her temperament was unlike that of ordinary women.

Seeing the Wangyue Pavilion transformed and renewed, the Empress Dowager’s expression softened with satisfaction. “Very good.”

The officials beside her offered their congratulations one after another, and the Empress Dowager was greatly pleased.

Suddenly, a beast’s cry rang out from the distance, putting everyone on alert. An official asked, “That sound…”

“The official may not be aware, further on is the Imperial Beast Garden.”

A eunuch explained, “Ordinarily there are no sounds from the beasts. Today happens to be one of the days the Imperial Beast Garden is open.”

In her youth, the Empress Dowager had loved riding freely on horseback. After years of living deep within the palace, the current Emperor had specially built her an Imperial Beast Garden, where all manner of animals she was fond of were kept. It was situated near the Wangyue Pavilion.

It was not particularly close. The Imperial Beast Garden was closed most of the year, but at intervals, to prevent certain of the fiercer animals from falling ill or becoming dispirited, the beast handlers skilled in their craft would open the cages and allow the animals to release some of their wild nature. With the Empress Dowager’s birthday approaching in particular, and the Imperial Beast Garden being her favorite, the upkeep from top to bottom naturally could not be neglected, especially the condition and spirit of the caged animals.

“If the Empress Dowager would walk a little further up, the view from over there is quite lovely,” Consort Ning said, knowing the Empress Dowager would enjoy it.

The officials had never seen anything like this in their ordinary duties. The Empress Dowager patted the back of Consort Ning’s hand, and Consort Ning could tell at once that the Empress Dowager was very pleased with the arrangement.

At the edge of the Wangyue Pavilion stood a raised terrace that had been specially built for viewing the distant scenery and admiring the moon.

Going up at this moment, one could see directly into the beast handlers’ training ground.

Viewed from a distance, the beast handlers moved in orderly sequence, leading the caged animals out one by one with iron chains and cages, guiding them along a set path for a circuit before returning them.

The officials watching all offered their praise. The Empress Dowager’s mood lifted with each word she heard. But as the beast handlers led the caged animals to the outer perimeter of the Imperial Beast Garden, something went wrong. Several of the fierce animals held in restraints became wildly agitated. With a force that defied expectation, they broke through the cage doors and tore free of the beast handlers’ iron chains!

The beast handlers of the imperial palace were all exceptional at their craft, capable of managing even tigers. The caged animals had been raised and tamed. This was the first time anything had ever gone so completely out of control! The beast handlers who recovered their wits immediately brought several of the animals under control, but a few of the wild cats and tigers that had broken free charged out of the Imperial Beast Garden’s pathways and raced straight toward the Wangyue Pavilion not far away!

“Something has gone wrong!” “Someone come quickly!” “The numbing powder, hurry!”

Chaos broke out. The beasts charged directly toward the Wangyue Pavilion, and Consort Ning was frightened where she stood.

“Protect the Empress Dowager!! Protect the Empress Dowager!!”

The Wangyue Pavilion and its surroundings were filled with palace attendants preparing for the banquet, and imperial guards on patrol as well. A crowd of people shouted for the Empress Dowager’s protection. The imperial guards surrounded and shielded the Empress Dowager, while the beasts, in their frenzied state, veered off course and charged into the Wangyue Pavilion, causing destruction throughout the grounds. Palace attendants fled in every direction, and in an instant the Wangyue Pavilion was thrown into complete disorder inside and out.

No ordinary person could match the strength of wild beasts. Two tigers had charged in and were clearly lunging at people. Those nearby scrambled to flee and get out of the way. The Empress Dowager was startled back several steps, and the officials’ faces went pale with alarm. Fortunately the imperial guards were on the scene and immediately dispersed the crowd.

The Wangyue Pavilion had been selected as the venue for the Empress Dowager’s birthday banquet because the Great Yuan national diviner had carefully determined it to be a place that gathered auspicious fortune. After the Empress Dowager’s birthday was set for this location, good news had continued to arrive from the border, the most recent of which brought the joyous tidings of His Majesty’s triumphant return. The Empress Dowager had therefore been in excellent spirits of late, and had even ordered additional preparations to be made at the Wangyue Pavilion to celebrate the Emperor’s return. And now, just as those preparations were underway, something had gone wrong at the Wangyue Pavilion!

The beast handlers rushed over and did everything they could to stop the animals. The beasts behaved strangely, circling within the pavilion grounds and refusing to disperse. Because of this, the beast handlers acted decisively, and in the end it was only with the assistance of the imperial guards and the use of numbing powder that the animals were finally subdued.

The Empress Dowager’s heart was still pounding. The tigers were escorted back, but with so many officials and palace attendants present in the Wangyue Pavilion, word of the tiger attack spread immediately. The imperial guards and beast handlers had acted in time and there were no casualties, but with the national celebrations at hand, a wild beast attack was an omen of blood and ill fortune!

“What is the meaning of this!” the Empress Dowager demanded furiously.

The beast handlers who had rushed over dropped to their knees at once. “We do not know, Your Majesty. Everything was fine, and then they suddenly lost control!”

Afterward, the imperial guards conducted a thorough search of the Wangyue Pavilion and found nothing. The beasts’ charge directly toward the Wangyue Pavilion was baffling. They had stayed only within the pavilion grounds, and once the crowd dispersed they had not pursued anyone. Only the Wangyue Pavilion itself had been left in complete ruin. Both the imperial guards and the beast handlers agreed that the behavior was inexplicable.

The Empress Dowager’s expression was grave. This elderly woman was still in reasonably good health, and the sharp, capable spirit of her younger years lingered in her eyes. She immediately ordered the imperial guards to conduct a thorough investigation and seal off all information, detaining every palace attendant who had entered or left the Wangyue Pavilion that day.

“Which palace do these attendants belong to?”

“Your Majesty, they are from the Weiyang Palace.” The attendants of the Wangyue Pavilion knelt with their heads down, not daring to look up.

With the banquet preparations underway, no one without cause could enter the Wangyue Pavilion. Only the relevant palace attendants were permitted inside.

The site of the incident was precisely the area under the Weiyang Palace’s responsibility, overseen by Consort Ning.

Consort Ning was frightened out of her wits. The Wangyue Pavilion had been entrusted to her on the strength of the reputation she had built over many years. She had not delegated a single thing in order to manage it well, personally overseeing every detail, and even the attendants permitted to enter the Wangyue Pavilion could only do so with the Weiyang Palace’s waist token.

Tigers attacking the Wangyue Pavilion was clearly a matter concerning the Imperial Beast Garden, yet the place they had charged into was the Wangyue Pavilion, and that made it a serious affair.

The moment trouble fell on Consort Ning, the people of the Weiyang Palace around her panicked.

When the tigers attacked, most of the Weiyang Palace attendants had been present. If something had gone wrong, it would have been a grave matter.

With Consort Ning away and no one to anchor them, the Weiyang Palace fell into disarray.

Song’an had just finished preparing the medicine and brought it back to the Weiyang Palace when he heard the news. These past few days he had gone to the Wangyue Pavilion multiple times at his master’s instruction. Today His Highness had specifically told him not to go, and the Wangyue Pavilion had gone and had an incident.

His palms were sweating. He had a vague sense that this could not be unrelated to his master, and hearing the palace attendants talk of ill omens, he hurried into His Highness’s bedchamber.

Outside was clamor. Inside His Highness’s bedchamber was quiet.

He had not yet reached the bedchamber when he saw his master step to the doorway of the bedchamber for the first time in days.

The news that the Sixth Prince had been ill for days was no secret in the Weiyang Palace, though Consort Ning had ordered everyone not to speak of it openly.

This was the first time in all this while that the attendants in the outer hall had seen His Highness since his illness. He looked thoroughly unwell, with only an unnatural flush across both cheeks, and his eyes were fixed straight ahead toward the outside.

“What has happened?” Ying Fusheng asked.

The palace attendants came back to their senses. Consort Ning was not here, but the young master of the Weiyang Palace still was.

Before a few of the attendants could stop her, one who was quicker to speak blurted it out. “Your Highness, something has happened at the Wangyue Pavilion. The Lady has been taken away!”

What had happened at the Wangyue Pavilion came out quickly through the attendants’ account. When they finished and looked at the Sixth Prince, they saw the ailing prince’s expression go dazed, his color draining in an instant. Consort Ning had just run into trouble, His Highness was still in the middle of his illness, Bizhu was nowhere to be found, and the Weiyang Palace could not find a single person to take charge.

After a long wait, with the attendants at a loss for what to do, they heard the young master say, “There is still room to turn this around.”

The Weiyang Palace attendants looked at the Sixth Prince. The young prince steadied himself against the attendant beside him and said, pale-faced, “What happened at the Wangyue Pavilion was an accident. Tell me the full account of events from beginning to end, and whether anything was overlooked at the scene. Grandmother is a woman of clear judgment. I will go to the Cining Palace to plead on Mother’s behalf.”

The Sixth Prince was rarely this decisive. The attendants were taken aback, but seeing the young prince holding himself upright through his illness, they found something to hold onto in their panic and did as he said at once.

“Is there anything more to the Wangyue Pavilion matter?” Ying Fusheng asked one of the attendants beside him.

Several of the attendants Consort Ning had posted to keep watch over the Sixth Prince heard this, and seeing that His Highness could barely stand yet was still thinking of the Lady, they could only say, “Your Highness, this was entirely an undeserved calamity. The Lady was present when it happened. Those tigers just suddenly went berserk. No one knew anything.”

Ying Fusheng listened and asked nothing more, nor did he ask where Bizhu had gone. He only said, “You are all close to Mother. You know the Wangyue Pavilion matter better than anyone. Other attendants may have overlooked things. The recent procurement affairs at the Wangyue Pavilion need to be looked into by you. Be quick about it.”

With Consort Ning’s situation at stake, the attendants’ priority now was the Lady. They complied at once and hurried out.

Song’an stood tense and uneasy, and then heard his master say, “Song’an, help me change my clothes.”

Hearing his master call for him so suddenly, he finally came back to himself.

Meeting his master’s gaze, Song’an noticed something in those eyes. They were different from before, the depths of them neither sorrowful nor glad, only a calm that had seen through everything.

Song’an stepped forward. “Your Highness.”

“There are a few things I need to tell you. After that, you don’t need to follow me,” Ying Fusheng said.

Song’an’s heart lurched. “Where is Your Highness going?”

Ying Fusheng’s face was pale. His gaze settled on the other attendants going about their tasks, then drifted to the bedchamber doorway, close at hand and unobstructed. A faint, sardonic smile touched the corner of his mouth. “Mother has run into trouble. As her son, naturally I must go to the Cining Palace to plead for her.”

The incident at the Wangyue Pavilion had sent the Empress Dowager into a fury, and the palace was gripped with unease.

Inside the Cining Palace, the surroundings were perfectly still. The Empress Dowager sat in her high seat, turning her prayer beads, looking down at the person kneeling before her.

Consort Ning knelt in front of the hall, her face drained of color.

“Grandmother, please calm your anger.” A voice spoke. The speaker was dressed in brocade robes, cloud patterns drifting across the fabric.

The Crown Prince of Great Yuan stood with his hands clasped behind his back. His every movement carried a gentle and refined grace, and young as he was, he radiated a brilliance that called to mind the Emperor in his youth. He stood behind the Empress Dowager now. When the Wangyue Pavilion incident occurred, he had come to the Cining Palace the moment he returned, first to soothe the Empress Dowager, then to order the imperial guards to conduct a thorough investigation. In a short span of time he had contained the rumors about the beast attack on the Wangyue Pavilion within the palace walls.

Hearing his voice, Consort Ning could not help but look at the Crown Prince in the full bloom of his youth.

To avoid any misstep, she had never told the Crown Prince the truth of his origins in all these years. She had always supported him quietly from behind, afraid that the slightest disturbance might arouse suspicion. Even to see her own son, she had to rely on certain occasions to look at him openly for a few moments.

As their eyes met, the young Crown Prince tilted his head slightly and was speaking in a low voice to the Empress Dowager.

Whatever he said, the deep furrow in the Empress Dowager’s brow eased slightly, though her anger had not subsided. “Consort Ning, how do you account for this?”

Consort Ning knew her son was kind-hearted and had spoken on her behalf. She glanced at him with a faint gratitude. But she did not dare look openly, afraid that the Wangyue Pavilion matter might draw the Empress and the Crown Prince into it and displease the Empress Dowager. “This consort does not know.”

She did not dare say more. With something this serious happening before the birthday banquet, no one could escape involvement. The banquet had many components, and the Empress had too much on her hands, so she had delegated certain tasks to other consorts. Consort Ning rarely involved herself in such things, but this one time she had heard news from the border ahead of everyone else and offered her counsel to the Empress. With the Empress occupied with prayers lately, it had fallen naturally to Consort Ning to assist with the Wangyue Pavilion arrangements.

Two days ago the news about His Majesty had arrived, and she had turned around and bungled the very task the Empress Dowager had just entrusted to her.

If it had been a minor matter, she could simply accept her punishment. But this involved an ill omen and a strange occurrence, something that had gone completely beyond her expectations.

Her answer clearly did not satisfy the Empress Dowager.

The Empress Dowager’s expression darkened at once. “So by your account, this was an accident?”

“In the matter of the Wangyue Pavilion, this consort was careful in all things and made no errors. I did not dare be careless,” Consort Ning said. She sensed the Empress Dowager’s fury and felt a panic rising inside her, yet no matter how she turned it over in her mind, she could not make sense of it. She had been thorough, more than thorough, with the Wangyue Pavilion. It was simply impossible for something to have gone wrong. She was on good terms with the other consorts in the palace, and when she thought carefully she could not work out who would want to frame her at a time like this. Her only option was to play ignorant, to insist she knew nothing, and hold firm that it had been an accident.

The Empress Dowager’s brow remained tightly knit. The Crown Prince noticed this, and first offered a soothing pat to his grandmother’s shoulder before saying, “Consort Ning.”

The Crown Prince spoke gently. “The Wangyue Pavilion was solely under the Weiyang Palace’s charge. Everyone who entered or left was one of your people. The caged animals passed over everywhere else and went straight for the Wangyue Pavilion. How do you explain that?”

Consort Ning had no answer to give. Seeing her own son questioning her, she felt a pang she could not entirely suppress.

She could only say she knew nothing of it. A resentment rose in her, and when she looked up, her gaze drifted to another woman sitting beside the Empress Dowager.

The woman in the high seat said nothing. The scent of sandalwood lingered on her robes. She carried herself differently from everyone else in the hall, with the compassionate eyes of a bodhisattva and a beauty mark between her brows like the mark of Guanyin. She sat with her hands folded in her lap, and beside her every other consort seemed like dust and mud. She was the woman most favored by the current Emperor, and the mistress of the inner palace. With a face like hers, the mere birth of her son had been enough for the decisive and battle-hardened Emperor to establish an heir. Even now, saying nothing, everyone else in the hall waited carefully for her word, and even the Empress Dowager was exceptionally fond of her.

Consort Ning pressed down her resentment. If the one in that high seat were her, she would never need to kneel here and explain herself. There would always be someone willing to go through fire and water on her behalf.

But it was not her. The Ning family could not compare to the Xu family. The Emperor’s favoritism was plain for all to see. Whatever she wanted, she could only pursue by every means available, and endure in silence.

By now, Bizhu should have already gotten word to the Ning family.

The Ning family had been in considerable favor with the Emperor these past few years. As long as her father and brothers received the news and found a few scapegoats, this matter could be resolved.

She was still turning over how to buy more time when a voice suddenly rang out urgently nearby.

“Your Ladyship, the Sixth Prince has come,” the reporting attendant said.

The words had barely left the attendant’s mouth when Consort Ning gave a violent start, her composure nearly cracking entirely. Who had come?!

Consort Ning had only just been brought to the Cining Palace, and the ailing Sixth Prince had come.

Everyone present understood. The Sixth Prince had come to plead on Consort Ning’s behalf.

The Empress Dowager’s brow furrowed slightly. She seemed to have guessed why he had come, but still said, “Let him in.”

The moment the person from outside entered the hall, everyone caught the heavy smell of medicine. They turned to look and saw a slight, small figure. The Sixth Prince wore only thin clothing, his complexion pale, with only a faint flush across his cheeks. He had come in such haste that he had brought nothing with him, and his collar was not even properly fastened, making it plain that he had rushed here from his sickbed the moment he heard news of Consort Ning.

The moment he entered the hall, he knelt and performed his obeisance with full propriety.

Feeling the gazes of everyone in the hall settle on him, Ying Fusheng raised his head with composure. The moment he did, he saw the figures seated above. Familiar faces in the younger forms of people he had known, their eyes carrying curiosity and scrutiny. His gaze moved to the last of them.

Empress Xu sat regally, the glazed lamp behind her casting depth into her features. Her eyes were like the waters of autumn, tender without losing their warmth. Years of burning incense had given her a cool serenity that nothing could disturb.

Only the gaze she turned on him was entirely that of a stranger.