Zhong Feng withdrew.
The beautiful woman moved forward with graceful steps, a faint fragrance wafting from her sleeves as she approached to attend to him.
“Stop!”
A woman sent by Chu Dichi—how could she possibly be any good? What good intentions could he have?
If she kept this woman by her side, she might not even realize she had been stabbed in her sleep.
Chu Li said coldly.
“The Zhaolan Palace is not short of palace attendants. Wherever you came from, go back there.”
The beautiful woman’s expression turned anxious, and she hurriedly knelt down.
“This servant is Nuan Yu. I sincerely wish to serve you, Your Highness. I beg you to show mercy and let me stay.”
“Although this servant may be foolish, I know how to serve others, do rough work, and even work in the small kitchen. I can do all of it. Whatever you command, this servant will devote herself wholeheartedly to serving you to your satisfaction, Your Highness.”
As she bowed and kowtowed, the thin gauze over her body swayed slightly, revealing the snowy-white cleavage at her chest, enough to make one’s heart race.
White.
Full.
Soft.
Combined with her hurried, aggrieved voice, she looked as though she had been terribly mistreated, making anyone who saw her feel pity.
Chu Li looked at her indifferently.
“Will you truly do whatever I tell you?”
Nuan Yu’s cheeks flushed. She coyly covered her chest, her charms still on full display.
“Please give this servant your orders, Your Highness. You needn’t show this servant any mercy. Feel free to do whatever you wish with me.”
“Good. Then I order you, starting now, to scrub every single chamber pot in the Zhaolan Palace clean before the end of today!”
“?”
***
Zhong Feng had entered the Zhaolan Palace under the pretense of presenting a beauty, but in reality, he had searched the entire palace. After quietly leaving, he reported the results of his search to the Prince Regent.
“My lord, among all the princes, only the Ninth Prince has recently entered the Xiangsi Gate.”
The Xiangsi Gate was an assassin organization from the martial world.
Whenever they struck, blood was certain to be spilled. They could take a life from a thousand miles away without leaving a name behind, striking fear into everyone’s hearts.
They were also the ones who had attempted to assassinate their lord this time.
The Xiangsi Gate had struck with vicious precision—a single arrow straight into the heart!
Chu Dichi had nearly paid for it with his life.
His dark eyes were as cold as ice.
“I have spent years fighting wars outside the capital, yet I never realized the Ninth Prince possessed such ambition.”
Zhong Feng hesitated for a moment before saying:
“The Ninth Prince is still young. He is accomplished neither in literature nor martial arts and can hardly amount to anything. Perhaps someone else bribed the assassins, and the Ninth Prince merely took the blame?”
The man gave a cold snort and strode straight into the Zhaolan Palace.
Zhong Feng hesitated.
Had his lord listened to him?
Or had he not?
Poor Ninth Prince. He was about to suffer another beating.
At the entrance to the palace, the bedroom door was left slightly ajar.
A young eunuch was helping the Ninth Prince drink his medicine. From inside, a stream of curses filled the entire room.
“That heartless old bastard!”
“I curse him to have sons with no assholes!”
“I’m going to make a little cursed straw doll and stab it to death! I’ll crush him with two fingers! I’ll squeeze him to death! One day, sooner or later, I’ll make him regret everything!”
“Chu Dichi, you bastard!”
“According to seniority, you should address me as Imperial Uncle.”
Chu Li’s entire body went rigid. She was so frightened that she nearly cried out.
She looked up and saw that dark, ink-black figure standing beyond the crack in the half-closed door.
Ah!
The Prince Regent!
Why hadn’t anyone announced his arrival?
Had he heard everything she had said?
He had already pushed the door open!
He was walking toward her!
It was over.
My life is over!
Chu Dichi stopped beside the bed and looked down at her condescendingly.
“How can Little Ninth address this prince directly by name? Have all the propriety, morality, respect for elders, and filial piety you learned since childhood gone into a dog’s belly?”
His imposing presence was practically 2.8 meters tall, leaving Chu Li too intimidated to argue.
“I-I-Imperial Uncle……”
“I was cursing Eldest Brother, Chu Yuanchi. Little Ninth would never dare disrespect you, Imperial Uncle.”
“Is that so?”
The man’s large palm casually landed on her buttocks.
Pain!
Her wound tore open, sending a searing agony through her body!
Chu Li instantly clenched the pillow, her whole body trembling as cold sweat poured down her face.
“Y-Yes……”
“Since you dislike the Eldest Prince, then stay away from him from now on.”
He’s my Eldest Brother. What right does he have to interfere?
Her Imperial Father had once told her:
The Prince Regent sought to sow discord among the princes and stir up trouble. Only if the princes slaughtered one another could he reap the benefits and eventually seize power and ascend the throne.
No matter how bad Eldest Brother was, she would never fall for the Prince Regent’s schemes.
“Are you deaf?”
The man’s palm landed on her injured buttocks again.
That beating with the rod wasn’t enough to teach her a lesson?
“I heard you! I heard you!”
Chu Li cried out in pain.
“I heard you! I heard you loud and clear!”
Chu Dichi glanced at her sweat-drenched face and pale lips. Between those delicate brows and eyes was a softness that was, astonishingly, even more feminine than a woman’s.
“A grown man, yet your buttocks are perkier than a woman’s.”
“Unseemly.”
Chu Li’s originally pale face instantly flushed crimson, half with anger and half with embarrassment.
Where is it perky?!
It’s obviously swollen from being beaten!
And he has the nerve to say that!
Enraged, she let out a furious roar and accidentally fell off the bed.
The tip of her nose landed squarely against the gold-trimmed brocade boot of the man standing before her.
He stood.
She lay sprawled on the floor.
He looked down from above.
She was practically prostrating herself at his feet.
Ahhh!
Her dignity!
Her butt hurt so badly that she couldn’t even get back up.
Mortified, she hurriedly found herself an excuse.
“It’s terribly hot in summer, so…… so the floor is cooler.”
“Then Little Ninth can take his time enjoying the cool floor. I still have official business to attend to, so I won’t keep you company.”
Please, old man, hurry up and leave!
Every time I run into you, nothing good ever happens!
Chu Li lay there in an utterly miserable state. The lower half of her body hurt so much that she couldn’t command it to move. Even after using all her strength with both hands, she still couldn’t crawl back up.
In the end, she let out a heavy sigh and gave up.
If you fall, you might as well eat right where you landed.
“Bring the bowl over.”
She simply ate while lying on the floor.
The Eighth Prince learned that Chu Li had been punished and immediately came to visit.
He never expected to walk in and see her lying on the floor, licking at her food. He was so shocked that he cried out:
“Oh no!”
“Someone, come quickly! Ninth Brother has been beaten stupid! He thinks he’s a dog!”
Shut up.
You’re the dog.
“Gou Ba, help me up!”
Gou Ba was not the Eighth Prince, but the young eunuch who served at Chu Li’s side.
Back then, when Consort Xin gave birth to the Eighth Prince, she had deliberately changed the name of the eunuch serving him to Bie Jiu (surname Bie, given name meaning “nine”) in order to mock Consort Wen.
How could Consort Wen swallow that insult?
In a fit of anger, she named Chu Li’s personal eunuch Gou Ba (surname Gou, given name meaning “eight”).
They were deliberately irritating one another.
The two women had entered the palace 18 years ago and had been fighting for 18 years. By all rights, they should have had nothing to do with each other until the day they died.
Yet the children they gave birth to had been extremely close since childhood.
Eighth Prince Chu Aotian loved playing with Chu Li more than anything.
“Imperial Uncle beat you again?”
“Of course. That old bastard.”
“Every time he returns from war, he comes back with tremendous fanfare and an even greater reputation. In my opinion, what he’s doing is killing one chicken to scare the monkeys—deliberately suppressing you as a warning to the imperial family.”
“Out of nine princes, am I really the easiest one to bully?”
The switched-at-birth scheme wasn’t enough.
Now I’m the chicken being slaughtered to scare the monkeys.
“I heard he pacified the border this year and signed a peace treaty. From now on, he should be staying in the imperial capital instead of going off to war again.”
“What did you say?! He’s not going to war anymore?”
He’s going to be stationed in the imperial capital for a long time?
At the thought of having to see Chu Dichi every day from now on……
Chu Li’s vision went black, and she nearly fainted.
Chu Aotian frantically pinched her philtrum.
“Ninth Brother! Ninth Brother, hang in there!”
Stop pinching me.
I can’t take it anymore.
The Prince Regent had once again won a military victory and made his name resound throughout the realm.
Five days later, the emperor specially held a victory banquet in the palace to celebrate and reward the Three Armies.
Chu Li’s injuries had recovered by roughly 50% or 60%. She had absolutely no desire to attend some ridiculous victory banquet, but as a prince, unless she were dead or crippled, she could not absent herself without reason.
Thus, she had no choice but to attend, her swollen and painfully perky buttocks sticking out as she made her way there.
Night had fallen, and the palace lanterns glimmered.
All the court officials were gathered at the Chengyang Palace.
“Ninth Brother!”
Eldest Prince Chu Yuanchi dismissed the several officials accompanying him and strode over.
“How are your injuries, Ninth Brother? Are you feeling any better?”
Chu Li sighed.
“Thank you for your concern, Eldest Brother. I’m young and tough. One beating with the rod isn’t enough to bother me.”
Chu Yuanchi took her hand, his eyes filled with anger.
“He punished you with the rod under such a flimsy pretext. Was that not also an insult to the dignity of the imperial family? Eldest Brother knows you’re holding all this anger inside. Tonight, I’ve already made thorough preparations. I will certainly make him repay this debt to you!”