Sui Sui was exhausted. She slept heavily, and when she woke, she no longer knew what day it was. Outside, the sky was dim, perhaps about to rain.
She slowly sat up. The violence of last night hadn’t left her in pain, only a stiff neck from sleeping. She yawned, rubbing her neck—when suddenly, footsteps sounded outside, chaotic and approaching. The half-closed door was pushed open, slamming against the wall with a loud *bang*.
A group of women dressed as servants entered. The leader rushed forward: “It’s already past mid-morning! You sleep well, don’t you!—Enough sleeping, come with me!”
She grabbed Sui Sui’s clothes, trying to drag her off the bed.
Sui Sui was startled: “Ah—what are you doing—let me go!”
Her status was special, unlike that of ordinary maids, who could be beaten at will. The woman dared not use full force, and Sui Sui broke free. The woman glared: “I advise you to behave! Keep shouting, and I’ll send you before the magistrate!”
Sui Sui was bewildered: “On what grounds? What law have I broken?”
The woman refused to argue further, dragging her to Li Chongjun’s study. Madam Xia was already waiting outside with attendants, her face equally grim. At the sight of Sui Sui, she said: “Do you admit your guilt?”
Sui Sui was confused: “I’ve done nothing—what guilt is there to admit?”
“You stubborn little vixen! You won’t cry until you see the coffin!” Madam Xia stood before a black lacquered table. She lifted the red cloth covering it—revealing a pile of golden hairpins and bracelets, glittering under the lamplight.
“Look at these things—still dare say you’ve done nothing?”
Sui Sui looked closely. They were the ornaments Li Chongjun had gifted her, swapped secretly for gold-plated silver. Her heart sank.
Madam Xia held up a bracelet before her. Its golden sheen was marred where the plating had scraped off, revealing silver beneath.
Sui Sui had never expected to be discovered. Speechless, she heard Madam Xia curse: “Ungrateful wretch! His Highness gave you gold and silver, whatever you wanted—and you turned it into money! If I hadn’t found out this morning, you’d have emptied the prince’s residence by tomorrow! Come, let’s see His Highness—”
Before she finished, a man in a blue robe stepped out from behind the bamboo curtain. It was Gao Lang, the steward. He glanced at Sui Sui, sighed faintly, then turned to Madam Xia: “Sister-in-law, go in. His Highness is looking at a painting—don’t make a racket.”
Madam Xia quickly obeyed and entered.
Two women escorted Sui Sui inside as well.
On the wall behind the desk hung a scroll of green mountains and rivers. Li Chongjun sat with his back to them, one foot on the chair’s armrest, leisurely admiring the painting, seemingly in good spirits. But when Sui Sui saw him, she remembered last night’s storm, and seeing him so relaxed now filled her with both anger and resentment. He asked calmly: “What’s the matter?”
Madam Xia stopped and recounted everything from beginning to end.
It turned out that early that morning, a servant from Sui Sui’s courtyard was sneaking through the corridor when Madam Xia spotted him. He tried to run but was caught. Opening the bundle he carried, she found jewelry that Prince Wei had bestowed. Suspicious, she weighed them and discovered they had been swapped—thin gold plating outside, but silver and iron within. She immediately led a search of Sui Sui’s quarters, and nearly all the ornaments in her cases were fakes.
Sui Sui was shocked.
Impossible, this was impossible!
She had always swapped the jewelry herself, never involving servants. How could one be caught with them?
But the scheme had been hers, and now exposed, she had no defense. She could only hang her head in silence, awaiting punishment.
Since household matters fell under Gao Lang’s management, he spoke: “If ordinary servants had stolen and replaced their master’s belongings, they could be sent to the magistrate for punishment. But first, Miss Sui’s status is not like others. Second, though these ornaments were worn daily by her, they were gifts from His Highness. How to deal with this must be decided by His Highness.”
After a pause, Li Chongjun said: “Mm, I understand.” He shifted his posture, leaning against the desk, a sky-blue robe draping over the ebony table, ivory-white trousers beneath, tassels of silk and jade swaying.
On this gloomy morning, he seemed unusually vivid, restored to the careless young noble, no trace of last night’s dark fury.
Madam Xia, fearing he might excuse Sui Sui, quickly added: “They may have been gifts, but only for her to wear. She swapped and sold them at will—how outrageous! And now, with the household in disarray as we pack belongings, such chaos, if left unchecked, will embolden others.”
Li Chongjun cut her off. “Gao Lang, according to the old rules of the prince’s household, how should this be handled?”
Gao Lang replied: “Your Highness, once in Prince Rui’s household, a concubine secretly gave away a jade Buddha gifted by the prince to her brother. When discovered, she was flogged ten times…”
Sui Sui gasped. After last night’s fury, surely he would not let her off lightly. She clenched her fists inside her sleeves, bracing for the blows.
But Li Chongjun said: “No need for flogging.”
His tone was casual, seemingly without anger. Sui Sui blinked, barely daring to breathe—until he continued, voice flat: “Call a broker later. Sell her.”
Sui Sui froze, struck as if by thunder.
Everyone in the room was equally stunned.
In their eyes, Sui Sui was his favored concubine, sharing his bed nightly. Swapping jewelry might earn her a few hundred taels of private money. Even for a neglected prince, such trifles were beneath notice. Why suddenly sell her?
Sui Sui felt crushed, breathless—not for herself, but for Cui Qiao. If sold far away, to distant lands, escape would be impossible.
She forgot last night’s quarrel, dropped to her knees, crawling to the desk: “Your Highness, please, don’t—” Her words stumbled, tears streaming: “Don’t sell me… I beg you, Your Highness. In two years, I’ve sold one hundred eighty-six taels and a half. Aside from fifty spent, the rest is still in my room—I’ll return it. The remainder, I’ll find a way, I’ll fill the gap, only—only don’t sell me out of Liangzhou—”
Terrified, she wept. It was the first time she had cried before him. Her heart was tight, aching, with no release. She clutched at the hem of his robe on the desk, but he brushed her hand away in disgust.
Li Chongjun called again to Gao Lang: “Sell her far away, the farther the better. Oh, and tell them—make sure she’s resold in a brothel street. That way her talents won’t be wasted.”
He lifted her chin, lips curling in a cold smile.