In the study of the front courtyard.
A woman in her forties knelt on the floor, her face filled with terror as she trembled uncontrollably.
Beside her, the attendant Maoping respectfully addressed Murong Xuan, who was seated above: "Your Highness, it has been confirmed. It was Aunt Zhou who put the drug in your bird's nest porridge."
As he listened to the attendant's report, Murong Xuan leisurely picked up the prepared antidote decoction and drank it in one gulp.
Traces of the thick, dark medicinal liquid still lingered on his fair, slender fingers. Suddenly, with a flick of his wrist, the medicine bowl shattered on the ground with a loud crash, startling the kneeling woman into another shudder.
He leaned casually against the back of his chair, slightly raised his eyes, and beckoned to Aunt Zhou on the floor. "Why kneel so far away?"
Aunt Zhou trembled like a sieve, her eyes fixed on the shards of porcelain before her, yet she dared not refuse.
After all, she had been the one who cared for Murong Xuan as he grew up. Outsiders only knew this Crown Prince as gentle and courteous, but she knew just how terrifying he could truly be.
Trembling with fear, Aunt Zhou crawled forward on her knees. Porcelain shards pierced into her flesh, the pain nearly shattering her old bones.
Yet she continued to plead: "Your Highness, Your Highness, please see clearly. This servant only noticed that Your Highness has already come of age but still avoids women… I was merely concerned for Your Highness's health…"
Murong Xuan looked at her, his phoenix eyes unusually gentle yet chillingly intimidating. He asked slowly, "Your nephew was transferred from the military camp to serve before the emperor yesterday. Was it Prince Yao who arranged it?"
Prince Yao was the title of the eldest prince.
Aunt Zhou was terrified, never expecting that even such a minor detail would be uncovered in such a short time.
She had no choice but to confess truthfully, trembling as she spoke: "Prince Yao… Prince Yao only saw some talent in this old servant's nephew… He merely… merely reminded this servant to care for Your Highness's health…"
Murong Xuan looked at her with a faint, ambiguous smile. "Is that all?"
Aunt Zhou desperately kowtowed. "Your Highness, please see clearly! This servant has watched you grow up. To speak out of turn, I have treated you like my own son. I truly have no disloyalty toward you…"
Murong Xuan remained expressionless throughout, speaking slowly. "Speak. If you speak, I will leave your body intact."
Aunt Zhou was on the verge of breaking down. "This old servant speaks only the truth—"
But before she could finish her sentence, she suddenly grabbed a shard of porcelain from the floor and, with a desperate resolve, lunged at Murong Xuan.
Kill him!
If only she could kill him!
She would achieve a great merit, and her entire family would be promoted by Prince Yao!
The guard beside them was startled and hurriedly drew his sword to intervene, but Murong Xuan casually raised a hand to stop him.
Before the porcelain shard in Aunt Zhou's hand could reach Murong Xuan, he seized her wrist and twisted it sharply.
A scream of agony erupted as Aunt Zhou's face contorted in pain. The porcelain shard slipped from her fingers, only to be caught lightly by Murong Xuan's other hand. Without hesitation, he drew the shard across her throat.
Blood splattered forth as Aunt Zhou collapsed completely to the floor, her eyes wide with terror fixed on him until her last breath.
Murong Xuan dropped the porcelain shard. Warm blood gathered at his fingertips, dripping steadily onto the ground.
Drip, drip.
The attendant Maoping stood cautiously outside the door, not daring to look. It seemed His Highness was in an exceptionally foul mood today.
Murong Xuan glanced at him indifferently, his voice slightly rising. "What, are you waiting for me to beg you to come in?"
Maoping hurried into the room and said respectfully, "Your Highness, please calm your anger. As per your orders, I have also set fire to the ancestral hall of Wenyuan Marquis Manor. The manor will be in chaos tonight, and no one will pay attention to anything else."
"Mmm." Murong Xuan waved his hand. "Give her a proper burial."
Maoping sighed and immediately called for people to carry Aunt Zhou's body out. Even he hadn't expected that Aunt Zhou would betray His Highness.
Murong Xuan let out a long breath, leaning back in his chair and looking up at the ceiling, his eyes lowered to conceal the emotions within.
He wasn't the least bit surprised that Prince Yao would make a move against him.
Many things were tacitly permitted by his esteemed father.
Take this Crown Prince Mansion, for example. It wasn't even within the imperial city but was the former residence of a prince from a previous dynasty outside the palace. When he returned to the capital last year, the Emperor said that since he had been frail since childhood, this courtyard was nourishing and allowed him to live here. Later, when he was named Crown Prince, he was not required to move back into the palace.
With the Eastern Palace vacant and the Crown Prince merely a figurehead, and all being sons of the Emperor, who wouldn't entertain ambitions?
The treacherous and unpredictable Struggle for the Succession had even managed to turn his own wet nurse against him… Who else around him could still be trusted?
Thinking this, a fire seemed to smolder in his chest, one he couldn't vent, making him increasingly restless and irritable.
…He had already taken the antidote, so why was he still so uncomfortable?
He raised his hand to his chest and, after a moment, pulled out the blood-stained virginity cloth.
The smooth, silky texture beneath his fingertips reminded him of her skin.
As if possessed, he called out to Maoping, "How is she?"
Maoping was no novice in his duties. Unlike Shuangye, who needed a moment to react, he immediately understood His Highness's meaning. "…Would Your Highness like to see the Princess?"
…
Murong Xuan paused briefly at the doorway of the room.
He recalled those peach blossom eyes filled with hatred.
He had ruined her wedding night, so it was only natural for her to hate him… But he needed to ask her how she intended to live her life from now on.
With this thought, his heart felt more at ease.
He pushed open the door and, upon entering, saw her leaning in the bathtub, eyes closed and motionless.
He couldn't help but frown. Seeing her like this, it was clear she had fallen asleep.
This made him feel even more at ease. It seemed the mansion's guards truly didn't know how to attend to others. Good thing he had come.
He walked straight to the bathtub, intending to wake her, but his gaze first caught the faint traces of tears on her face and immediately fixed there.
Candlelight shone from the side, casting half-light and half-shadow across her face. Her head was tilted against the edge of the tub, so he could only see half of her profile—soft yet spirited, like a lotus emerging from clear water, naturally beautiful without adornment.
Unconsciously, his gaze drifted downward. Her graceful figure in the water resembled a begonia veiled in mist.
A beauty in her bath was a visually pleasing delight for any man.
Murong Xuan was a normal man, one whose lingering aphrodisiac effects had just been sated, and the woman before him had just shared intimacy with him.
Since she was asleep anyway, he couldn't help but look a little longer.
Before, he had always thought she looked like a femme fatale. But now, upon closer inspection, he noticed that the corners of her lips seemed naturally slightly upturned.
She lay dreaming with pursed lips and furrowed brows, seeming to be in great pain and sorrow, yet the slight curve of her lips added a touch of resilience.
Murong Xuan watched for a while, then reached out to touch the water in the bathtub. Finding it still warm, he decided to watch a little longer.
Shen Xiyue in the tub seemed to sense something, her eyelids fluttering slightly before slowly opening.
Blurrily seeing a figure swaying before her, she was immediately startled.
"Ah—"
She let out a cry, and in her panic, her feet slipped. With a splash, she tumbled into the water.
Murong Xuan quickly reached out to pull her up.
But Shen Xiyue, utterly frightened and thinking he was some assassin or villain, bent her leg and kicked wildly and forcefully toward him.
A loud "smack" echoed.
Like a slap, it seemed to have landed squarely on Murong Xuan's face.
He grunted in pain.
Shen Xiyue's flailing hands happened to grab the edge of the tub, allowing her to steady herself. As she emerged from the water, she finally saw Murong Xuan's face clearly.