An idea suddenly occurred to Chu Li.
“I drank last night and went straight to bed when I returned. Maybe I didn’t bathe, and with the hot weather, it’s just sweat gone sour.”
“……”
Chu Dichi released her, his expression difficult to describe.
He wiped the blood from his sword against the dead guard’s body, then looked down at Chu Li.
“You. Escort me out of the palace.”
Chu Li stared at him.
“You’re a grown man. Why do you need someone to escort you? Don’t you know the way out? Besides, there are so many guards and eunuchs here. How could it possibly be my turn to—”
At the Prince Regent’s cold glance, Chu Li immediately changed her tone.
“Imperial Uncle, your nephew will escort you!”
Chu Dichi started walking.
Wherever he went, palace maids and consorts hurriedly stepped aside, their expressions panicked as though they had encountered a plague.
Even the Empress was wary of him.
Reluctantly, Chu Li followed at his side, biting her lower lip as she was forced to escort him out of the palace.
The man’s right hand was slightly curled behind his back. His stride remained steady as usual, but the faint beads of sweat gathering at his temple revealed that something was wrong with his condition.
He narrowed his cold eyes and glanced back.
“Walk faster.”
Chu Li gritted her teeth.
“My wound hurts. I can’t walk any faster!”
“You’ve been recovering for days, and you’re still not healed. Useless.”
Chu Li was instantly furious.
He’s the one who beat me, and he still has the nerve to say that!
And last night……
“If Imperial Uncle truly thinks I’m useless, perhaps you should call a eunuch to escort you instead. I’ll just go back—”
“Mm!”
The man suddenly hooked an arm around her neck.
What?
Don’t carry me like this!
Chu Li’s head jutted forward while her sore, protruding backside stuck out behind her as the man practically dragged her along.
That alone would have been bad enough.
But his enormous body was putting most of his weight on her, making her legs feel as though they were filled with lead. She nearly stumbled.
Her face flushed red from the strain.
“Imperial Uncle!”
“One more word and I’ll squeeze the life out of you.”
Chu Dichi leaned against her. His thin lips had turned faintly pale, and his voice was so deep and hoarse that it seemed to come from his chest.
“Walk!”
Chu Li had no choice but to support him, every step an ordeal.
The heavy sweat on his body mingled with the cool scent of mint clinging to him, creating a strange, oppressive mixture that inevitably reminded her of the previous night.
He had not been joking when he threatened to kill her.
If he said he would do something, he would do it.
The Black Armored Guards under his command were feared even by Father. With years of military achievements behind him, he could even execute court officials first and report afterward.
And what about her?
A prince—a girl in disguise—who had contributed nothing to the country or its people
Why did it have to be her?
She had never wanted to have anything to do with him for the rest of her life, yet fate clearly had other plans.
Chu Li sulked, her cheeks turning red with suppressed anger.
At last, they reached the palace gates.
Chu Li was drenched in sweat, as though she had just been granted a pardon.
Chu Dichi looked at her coldly.
“With courage like this, how have you dared to oppose me time and time again?”
She had never opposed him in the first place!
Forget it.
Please, just leave already!
She couldn’t afford to provoke him, but surely she could hide from him.
Enough is enough.
Chu Li knocked his hand away and turned to run back toward the palace without looking back.
Naturally, she never saw Chu Dichi stagger a few steps while leaning against the palace wall before his tall body finally gave out and collapsed.
“Master!”
Zhong Feng appeared in a flash and hurriedly caught him.
His hand immediately came away covered in blood from the Prince Regent’s dark robe.
“Master, your wounds had already recovered by more than half. How did they tear open this badly?”
Chu Dichi pressed his pale lips together, tiny beads of sweat glistening at his temples.
Last night……
The powerful drug had caused him to lose control, and the intense exertion had torn his wounds open again.
Then, because the palace gates had already been locked for the night, he had been trapped inside until morning. After everything that happened in the inner palace, he had only just managed to make it outside.
Had he arrived even a little later, he might have collapsed inside the palace.
There was hardly anyone in the imperial palace who didn’t want him dead.
Yet when he thought back to the person from the previous night, only fragmented impressions remained: a sweet fragrance, a soft voice, and a vague silhouette lost in the darkness.
But no matter how hard he tried, he could not remember her face.
She had been somewhere within the hazy darkness of the night.
Her silhouette seemed to flicker between clarity and obscurity, appearing and disappearing in the dimness.
Yet he could not remember her features.
His expression darkened as he pulled several strands of blue thread from his sleeve.
From the curled ends, it was clear they had been torn from that woman’s clothing during the struggle the previous night.
“Find out who these belong to.”
***
The Eldest Prince’s Residence — Study.
Three distinguished figures sat around the room. Even the delicate fragrance of the tea could not dispel the scheming, oppressive atmosphere hanging over them.
“The Prince Regent didn’t assault Noble Lady Lan. Then where did he go last night?”
The Sixth Prince spoke in a low voice as he looked toward the other two.
The Second Prince had a cool, handsome face, but his long, narrow phoenix eyes gave him an air of calculating cleverness.
“The scent of night-blooming jasmine mixed with vinegar becomes a potent aphrodisiac, especially in a crowded place with a high room temperature.”
“The stronger the person’s internal energy, the more powerful its effects.”
“If he didn’t neutralize it, the only outcome would have been death. Yet he left the palace perfectly fine. Could it be that last night he was with some palace maid……”
Tap.
Tap.
Behind the desk, Chu Yuanchi lowered his head slightly.
He lifted the lid of his teacup, set it down, then lifted it again.
His attention seemed elsewhere.
“Eldest Brother, what are you thinking about?”
Chu Yuanchi looked up, worry faintly visible in his eyes.
“Last night, while taking advantage of the crowd, I managed to get some of the night-blooming jasmine onto Little Ninth’s wrist. Little Ninth is so innocent…… I can’t help feeling a little guilty about it.”
The Prince Regent had been drugged, and the apparent “culprit” had been Chu Li. No matter how deeply anyone investigated, the trail would never lead back to them.
The Second Prince said.
“Father dotes on Little Ninth, and the Prince Regent wouldn’t dare act recklessly against him. If Little Ninth can truly help us eliminate the Prince Regent and remove the greatest threat troubling Father, then that would be a tremendous accomplishment.”
“But……”
“Eldest Brother, if you aren’t ruthless enough, you won’t be able to hold your position.”
The Second Prince placed a hand over his wrist and spoke solemnly.
“You are Father’s eldest son. You should have been named Crown Prince long ago, yet Father has delayed appointing an heir. Meanwhile, Third Brother, Fourth Brother, and Seventh Brother are all watching closely. The slightest mistake could cost you the throne.”
Throughout history, the victor became king, and the defeated were left at the mercy of others. Princes who lost the struggle for the throne rarely met a good end.
There was no room for hesitation when competing for the crown.
The Prince Regent was the person Father feared most.
Only by eliminating him could his Eldest Brother hope to be named Crown Prince.
***
Zhaolan Palace.
The moment Chu Li returned, she issued an order.
“Close the palace gates. I need to recover from my injuries. For the next month, no one is allowed in or out except the imperial kitchen’s servants and my mother.”
He was too dangerous to provoke.
So she would hide.
The Prince Regent couldn’t possibly break down her palace doors just to come after her.
Gou Ba served at her side.
“Master, what if the Young General of the Qin family comes to see you?”
Chu Li thought for a moment.
“Then, besides the imperial kitchen’s servants, my mother, and Qin Muyu, no one is allowed in.”
Qin Muyu had essentially grown up alongside her.
Ever since they had entered the Imperial Academy as children, he had been her companion.
When they studied literature, they read and wrote together.
When they trained in martial arts, they rode horses, practiced archery, and studied the Six Arts of the Gentleman together.
Gou Ba committed the order to memory.
“Your clothes from last night have already been washed, but I didn’t dare wash this sachet.”
He presented it with both hands.
The sachet was made of deep purplish-red Jiuyun brocade, embroidered with auspicious cloud patterns representing peace and good fortune. Delicate ice-blue tassels hung from the bottom, their fine blue threads fluffy and beautiful.
It had been embroidered personally by Chu Li’s mother. Inside were medicinal herbs intended to calm the mind and soothe the spirit, so it could not be exposed to water.
Only the tassels were somewhat disheveled.
They had probably been messed up when she had been rolling around in the flower bed the night before……
Chu Li roughly grabbed a handful of her hair.
Just looking at the sachet brought the previous night flooding back to her mind, making her thoughts a mess.
But she couldn’t possibly throw away something her mother had embroidered by hand.
Out of sight, out of mind.
“Put it beneath my pillow. If Mother asks, tell her I put it there to help me sleep.”