The Wangyue Pavilion incident had caused a great stir, and was ultimately put to rest with the account of the auspicious omen. But word still spread of Consort Ning being reprimanded by the Empress Dowager and confined to her quarters, and of the Sixth Prince being kept at the Cining Palace for the time being. News traveled widely among the palace attendants. Consort Ning had always been approachable and well regarded within the palace, yet no one had expected her to be so neglectful of her own child, to the point of being scolded by the Empress Dowager.

People came and went throughout the palace. The Cining Palace had been somewhat busy these past two days, first with the Wangyue Pavilion matter and then with the Sixth Prince.

The Sixth Prince was seriously ill. It took the physician two consecutive days to bring the fever down. The Sixth Prince was young and his constitution was weak, and the fever had nearly drained him completely.

“Is the Sixth Prince really that ill?”

“He is. He collapsed right there on the spot, and he had been pleading for Consort Ning the whole time… Consort Ning never even noticed that the Sixth Prince’s lips had gone white from the fever.”

Outside the Cining Palace, the passing attendants kept glancing sideways at the palace maid standing alone outside, whispering among themselves.

Bizhu noticed the looks from those around her and smiled awkwardly, remaining where she was outside the Cining Palace. Consort Ning was confined and could not leave the Weiyang Palace, so she had sent Bizhu to find the Sixth Prince. After the news of the omen reached the Ning family, Consort Ning had realized that her conduct at the Cining Palace that day had been somewhat improper. Fortunately, the Sixth Prince was easy to manage. As long as she could persuade him to come back, the rumors swirling through the palace would naturally die down on their own.

“Aunt Yu, has the Sixth Prince woken?” Bizhu hurried forward when she saw the female official emerge from the Cining Palace.

Aunt Yu’s appraising gaze settled on Bizhu. “You may go back. The Sixth Prince will be recuperating at the Cining Palace for the next few days.”

Bizhu had waited a long time before anyone came out, and still wanted to say more, but Aunt Yu had already left.

There was nothing to be done. She could not see the Sixth Prince, so she had no choice but to go back and report to Consort Ning. The moment she returned to the Weiyang Palace, she saw the attendants who had been lightly punished by the Lady kneeling outside the door. This group had acted on their own initiative, failed to stop the Sixth Prince from going before the Empress Dowager, and bungled the errand of sending word to the Ning family. Were it not for the Lady’s reputation for being easygoing, this lot would have been dealt with long ago. What a completely useless bunch.

Bizhu looked on coldly as they begged for mercy, her gaze drifting to the young eunuch kneeling nearby. She remembered him. He had been running errands for her lately, administering medicine, and had done her a number of good turns. “Song’an, come here.”

The kneeling young eunuch called out softly, “Bizhu-jiejie.”

Bizhu’s mood eased a little. This young eunuch was usually quiet, but he had a sweet way about him. “The Lady is in poor spirits. Go to the small kitchen and fetch some calming tea.”

Song’an said nothing more and went to see to it with quick, practiced efficiency.

The Weiyang Palace was utterly silent. Inside the hall, Consort Ning sat with a troubled expression. When she saw Bizhu return she looked past her, not seeing anyone else behind her. “Where is he?”

Bizhu could only say that the Cining Palace was keeping the Sixth Prince to stay for a while and that he could not come back for the time being. “The Sixth Prince is still ill. Her Majesty likely has not thought much of it. When other princes have been ill in the past, Her Majesty has always shown concern. This servant has made inquiries. Only the physician has been coming and going these past few days, and there is nothing unusual at the Cining Palace. Her Majesty will not find anything.”

Consort Ning’s expression was poor. She had been confined these past few days and had been hearing some idle talk.

She would look into who had been scheming against her behind the scenes in the Wangyue Pavilion matter, but the most pressing concern for now was to keep things stable on the Empress Dowager’s end.

Bizhu saw her Lady’s displeasure and was about to offer a few more words of reassurance when a palace attendant came rushing in with a report before she could speak. The Wangyue Pavilion preparations had been deemed meritorious in recent days, and the Empress Dowager, greatly pleased, was bestowing gifts on the consorts of the inner palace.

“And the gifts?” Bizhu asked.

The attendant hesitated. “The portion for the Weiyang Palace has not arrived.”

“What did you say?!” Bizhu’s voice faltered.

What did it mean that the Weiyang Palace’s portion had not arrived?

The Empress Dowager was bestowing gifts on the consorts of the inner palace. Even a few junior consorts who had merely shown their faces before the Empress Dowager had received something. Only the Weiyang Palace did not receive anything.

Consort Ning had always kept to a disposition of not competing for anything in public, and without orders, the attendants dared not go out to inquire.

“The eunuch from the Cining Palace bearing the decree did not come to the Weiyang Palace,” the attendant added.

Bizhu instinctively looked toward her Lady.

Consort Ning’s composure nearly shattered when she heard this. She almost crushed the cup in her hand and knocked over the calming tea that had just been brought in.

Song’an, who had brought the tea, barely avoided being splashed and immediately fell silent and dropped to his knees.

“What are you standing there for? Clean it up,” Bizhu snapped, and turned to carefully check whether Consort Ning had been burned by the hot tea.

Song’an kept his head down, concealing the heaviness within his heart, and cleaned up the shards from the floor.

The Sixth Prince had clearly been thinking of Consort Ning’s wellbeing, yet in Consort Ning’s eyes, the Prince had never truly existed.

On the surface, it looked as though Consort Ning was concerned for the Prince’s health, but Song’an, who had personally attended to the Prince day after day  during this time, understood perfectly well. First, there had been something added to the medicine, then the Prince had been kept from communicating with anyone for days on end. If the Lady had truly cared about the Prince, she would not have gone days at a time without visiting him.

In the Lady’s eyes, the Prince seemed to matter less than a gift, or her own image before the Empress Dowager.

* * *

The Cining Palace was quiet. Ying Fusheng slowly came back to consciousness.

Sandalwood incense drifted around him. Warmth seeped into his bones.

Ying Fusheng’s unfocused gaze gradually cleared. It took a moment for his thoughts to return, and he looked around at the unfamiliar interior of the bedchamber.

His gaze stopped when it landed on two large nanmu wood chests sitting somewhat conspicuously in the corner.

A sound came from inside the chamber.

Ying Fusheng looked away toward the far end of the room.

“His Highness is awake.” Someone lifted the curtain and entered, two palace maids following behind.

A slightly older female official walked over.

He recognized her quickly.

Aunt Yu of the Cining Palace, the female official who had attended the Empress Dowager closely for many years. The Empress Dowager entrusted all matters of the Cining Palace to her.

Noticing the slight constraint of the Sixth Prince, newly arrived in an unfamiliar place, Aunt Yu spoke. “Consort Ning is confined for the next few days. Her Majesty’s punishment is a light one. Your Highness need not worry. Focus on recovering.”

It was rare for any prince to come and stay at the Cining Palace. The Empress Dowager did not like keeping guests, and the only one who had ever stayed was the Crown Prince.

The palace had not prepared much, and the side chamber he was in was clearly put together in a hurry.

Hearing this, Ying Fusheng moved to call for Song’an, but stopped himself before the words came out. He noticed Aunt Yu’s appraising look, and thought of Consort Ning’s trouble. There were plenty of eyes watching the Weiyang Palace right now. He could not show too much concern for Song’an at this moment.

The physician completed his examination. Aunt Yu did not linger, and left after delivering her message.

Ying Fusheng’s gaze moved to the nanmu wood chests in the distance. A palace maid seemed to notice and offered, “Your Highness, those are gifts from Her Majesty.”

“Gifts?” Ying Fusheng was somewhat surprised. When he noticed a few books among the items that seemed entirely out of place with the rest of the gifts, something seemed to come to him. These must have been added afterward.

He looked out the window. Aunt Yu had already covered quite a distance.

The gifts were all fine things. The chest was half open, and the few items Ying Fusheng could see were visibly precious.

Before he could think on it further, the silence that had just settled was broken. The outside suddenly grew lively.

Faintly, he caught a glimpse of a bright figure passing by. The Crown Prince. He came every day to pay his respects to the Empress Dowager.

Ying Fusheng considered for a moment, then steadied himself with the help of a palace attendant and pushed through the pain to stand. “Help me change. I have been staying here for days, and Her Majesty has given me gifts. I should go and pay my respects.”

The Cining Palace was livelier today than usual. The moment he stepped out of the chamber, the different atmosphere was plain to see.

Ying Fusheng tilted his head back and looked upward. The air was sharp and cold, and the chill seemed to seep into his lungs. He drew a deep breath regardless, and looked down at the snow path worn into the ground underfoot.

The desolate palace road of his past life had become fresh snow beginning to thaw. His vision swam for a moment. Ying Fusheng stood still for a while, let his breathing ease, and felt something in each breath that was close to being born anew.

He steadied himself and walked out.

He had not gone far when he spotted, in the distance, an archery target set up within the Cining Palace grounds. A small training ground stood there, fully equipped with weapons and a practice platform. Great Yuan valued martial prowess, and the Empress Dowager had come from a military family. Lifting weapons weighing several dozen jin¹Roughly 5-8kg. was nothing to her.

Passing the practice platform by the side chamber and continuing inward brought him to the main hall of the Cining Palace. The first thing that met his eye was several paintings of galloping horses. Ying Fusheng withdrew his observing gaze and followed the sound of voices. A number of people were gathered there. The attendants had cleared a wide open space. Several people stood outside the railing of the practice platform. The Crown Prince in his brocade robes and fox-fur cloak stood beside the Empress Dowager, talking and laughing, the scene full of warmth and life.

And there was one other person.

A young prince in fine robes, two palace attendants at his side, circling around the Empress Dowager from a distance like a preening peacock.

Drawing closer, Ying Fusheng recognized who it was.

The Eighth Prince.

The Eighth Prince’s mother, Lady Zhao, had died of a serious illness when he was very young, leaving him motherless in his early years. His maternal family was the Zhao clan, who held an unremarkable position at court and had little to rely on. The Emperor, taking pity on him for having no mother to raise him, had later placed him in Empress Xu’s care. Because the Eighth Prince had grown up at the Empress’s side from a young age, he regarded Empress Xu as a mother. In his past life, he became the Crown Prince’s right hand, and the Zhao clan behind him was part of the Crown Prince’s faction.

At this time, the Eighth Prince was only eight years old, at the age when he basked in the Emperor’s favor and had been raised with every indulgence. In Ying Fusheng’s memory, the Eighth Prince at this age was the Crown Prince’s shadow, following him everywhere.

He stood still for a moment. A palace attendant announced him, and the Empress Dowager looked up. Seeing Ying Fusheng standing outside, she waved him over. “Why has the Sixth Prince come out?”

At those words, both princes looked over at the same time.

The Crown Prince was warm and natural about it. The Eighth Prince, on the other hand, looked him up and down, a hint of open curiosity in his eyes.

This kind of scrutiny was nothing new to Ying Fusheng. A single glance had always been enough to read what lay behind it. In childhood, it had been the rejection of brothers. As he grew older, it became the coldness and contempt of elders, and later still the Emperor’s rebukes, and the palace attendants of the cold palace piling on when he was already down.

He ignored the two princes’ appraisal and walked forward, and only then noticed the falconry perch standing among the group.

A hunting falcon stood on the perch. The Empress Dowager was holding a food box and feeding it.

“Your grandson has come to pay his respects, Grandmother.” He bowed in greeting.

The Empress Dowager waved a hand, glanced at Ying Fusheng, gave a perfunctory nod, and kept her attention on the hunting falcon on the perch.

The Crown Prince nodded in greeting toward Ying Fusheng. He was dressed in brocade robes, his complexion ruddy, young in years but already remarkable in bearing and manner, with an air of easy confidence about him.

He asked with a smile, “How is the Sixth Brother feeling? I was very worried when I saw you collapse a few days ago.”

Ying Fusheng kept his lashes lowered, concealing the darkness in his eyes, and replied with proper courtesy, “Thank you for your concern, Crown Prince Brother. I am much better now.”

The two exchanged words, and then a sound came from nearby.

“Come now, Xiaoqing, move around a little.” The Empress Dowager was working with her pet.

Ying Fusheng followed the sound and looked over. Seeing the hunting falcon standing still with its wings folded, he understood at once what the situation was.

The Empress Dowager treated all her grandchildren the same. Her temperament was difficult to read, and even with the Crown Prince and the Eighth Prince present, her manner toward them went no further than this. The one thing that stood out, perhaps, was her particular fondness.

The Empress Dowager loved keeping birds of prey. The small hunting falcon before him was one of her favorites. It had an unusual streak of blue-green running through its markings, and so it had been named Xiaoqing. Because of a defect it was born with, it had never grown to full size and was noticeably smaller than other hunting falcons. It had been raised at the Empress Dowager’s side since it was small, pampered and indulged, and spent its days flying freely around the Cining Palace grounds, with a temperament all its own.

Today, however, the bird seemed listless.

The Eighth Prince looked at the falcon, which was barely moving, and said dismissively, “Stuffed itself and gone lazy.”

“Eighth Brother, don’t be careless,” the Crown Prince said with a mild reproach, then followed up on the Eighth Prince’s remark. “Though Xiaoqing could stand to get some exercise.”

He took some food and used it to coax the falcon into moving. Great Yuan valued martial prowess, and the Crown Prince had been groomed as heir from a young age, frequently at the practice grounds. He had picked up a few of the beast handlers’ techniques. Xiaoqing was naturally close to him, and roused by his encouragement, it stirred and made several passes through the air, catching the bait he tossed out.

The Empress Dowager saw her favorite in better spirits, and extended her arm. The falcon came streaking down and landed steadily on it. “The practice grounds have taught you quite a bit.”

The Crown Prince said modestly, “Only the surface of things.”

The Empress Dowager said nothing more, and her mood visibly improved.

The Cining Palace attendants seemed well accustomed to the Crown Prince and the Eighth Prince’s visits. The scene of grandmother and grandchildren together was warm and lively. The Crown Prince smoothed things along, the Eighth Prince was charming and sweet-tongued, and after a few exchanges, Ying Fusheng, who was standing to the side, had been entirely forgotten. Everyone’s attention was on the Crown Prince. Even the usually composed Aunt Yu of the Cining Palace wore a warmer expression than usual at the sight of him.

The Eighth Prince enjoyed the feeling of being the center of attention. Seeing that the Crown Prince had not stopped him, and having heard that the Empress Dowager had been in poor spirits these past few days, he tossed out a few pieces of bait and followed the Crown Prince’s method to send Xiaoqing flying several more times.

The bird of prey swept high and dove to catch its food, swift and natural in its movements, drawing repeated exclamations of admiration from the palace attendants.

It spread its wings, soared over the palace wall, circled, and returned.

Ying Fusheng looked up, and his gaze was drawn to the hunting falcon with its wings spread wide in freedom. He stood still and watched.

When the falcon landed, the gold-set jewel on its leg gleamed brilliantly, a picture of extravagant wealth.

Dressed like royalty, Ying Fusheng thought.

As the Crown Prince spoke with the others, his gaze fell on Ying Fusheng several times. Compared to the eloquence he had shown in the hall a few days ago, Ying Fusheng’s presence here was almost nonexistent. He had come to pay his respects, and that was all. When he was not speaking, he was all but invisible among the group.

“Crown Prince Brother, what are you looking at?” the Eighth Prince asked.

“Nothing. The Sixth Brother just looks a little under the weather,” the Crown Prince said with a quiet smile. “Compared to what I saw a few days ago, there is quite a difference.”

With one sentence, he drew attention back to Ying Fusheng.

Xiaoqing landed and went still again. The Eighth Prince glanced over at Ying Fusheng standing motionless nearby and thought of the rumors going around the palace these past few days. Word was that the Sixth Prince had made quite a name for himself in the Wangyue Pavilion matter, and had even caused the Empress to receive a word of reproach from the Empress Dowager, which had left the Crown Prince in a poor mood for the past few days.

He had never had any particular fondness for this Sixth Brother of his. At the schoolroom, this brother’s studies had been unremarkable and he was frequently scolded by the tutor. He did not fit in with the others and always hid at the back, as though he were up to something he did not want anyone to see.

Just like now. The Eighth Prince had a thought as this came to mind. When he tossed out the next piece of bait, he angled himself slightly to the side, and when no one was paying attention, he threw it outward.

A sharp cry rang out. The falcon seemed to be startled by something and launched itself into the air with a sudden beat of its wings.

The unexpected movement sent the palace attendants scrambling out of the way.

But the falcon, agitated and flying erratically, swept through the crowd and shot straight toward the outer edge of the group.

Ying Fusheng’s body stiffened slightly. He saw the streaking shape bearing down on him and stepped back, but his body had not yet recovered, and the sudden movement left him slightly breathless. The headache that lingered after the fever came in waves, and his footing was unsteady.

The Empress Dowager frowned at the sight.

For an imperial prince, this was far too frail.

The Eighth Prince called out at that moment, “Sixth Brother, watch out!”

The warning was on his lips, but a flicker of something dark passed through his eyes.

What happened next, no one had anticipated.

After passing the Sixth Prince, the falcon circled back around. It folded its wings and came to a stop, landing squarely on Ying Fusheng’s shoulder.

The falcon’s sharp gaze fixed on Ying Fusheng.

The headache eased a little. Ying Fusheng turned his head and met the falcon’s eyes, keen and wary, the look of a bird sizing up its prey. A trained falcon was a tamed wild creature, born with the instinct to hunt. It had its own sense of territory, and when an unfamiliar scent appeared within it, this falcon would mark him as a threat.

He had kept a falcon before. Back when he was still in the cold palace.

The cold palace was remote, on the same outskirts as the Imperial Beast Garden, and birds of prey were released for training there regularly. To get word out beyond the palace walls, to send messages to the frontier and the desert beyond, a certain person had once sent him a fledgling. He had trained it himself, conditioning it through long hours of handling. His hands, his arms, were covered in the falcon’s talon marks. Day and night, in the periods when his mind was barely clear, the only company he had in the palace was a starving falcon watching him with predatory eyes.

He had seen far more ferocious stares than this. Let alone from a falcon that had grown so round it could barely get airborne.

Ying Fusheng’s gaze moved over the falcon’s feathered body. Its wings were pressed close to its sides, a posture of self-protection.

Xiaoqing stared at him, and Ying Fusheng stared back.

Their eyes met, and the unusually perceptive falcon seemed to sense something in Ying Fusheng’s gaze. It lost its nerve without warning, hopped back a step, and watched him with wariness, neither attacking nor flying away.

The palace attendants nearby, afraid of startling the prince, could only approach themselves to retrieve the falcon.

Ying Fusheng stood still, his eyes downcast, his peripheral gaze resting on the falcon’s wing. He said suddenly, “It looks like it is injured.”

The Eighth Prince assumed he had been frightened witless, and he sneered inwardly. The falcon had just been catching food. How could it possibly be injured?

The Crown Prince looked at the Eighth Prince at that, then stepped forward. “Sixth Brother, don’t move. Let the attendants…”

Before he could finish, Ying Fusheng reached out at that moment and placed his hand directly over the hunting falcon on his shoulder. The seemingly reckless movement startled everyone present. The sudden gesture made the falcon beat its wings and struggle, but Ying Fusheng’s swift reach closed over the falcon’s spreading wings and stilled its panicked thrashing in one motion. The falcon gradually calmed down.

When a hidden wound came into view, the Crown Prince’s movement faltered. The Empress Dowager, who had been about to step forward to stop him, went slightly pale.

“Quickly, send for the beast handler!”

The beast handler arrived without delay and began examining the bird at once, not daring to waste a moment. Noticing the slight furrow of the beast handler’s brow, the Empress Dowager felt a tightening in her chest. “Is it serious?”

The beast handler shook his head, and the Empress Dowager let out a breath.

But shortly after, the beast handler rose and said, “It was not serious to begin with. An ordinary thorn scratch, likely from flying through brush… However, it appears the wing was forcibly spread wide several times. Now the situation is somewhat more serious.”

The Eighth Prince cried out in a daze, “What did you say?!”

As the words landed, the Crown Prince went slightly rigid. The Empress Dowager’s expression darkened.