In broad daylight, the news of Princess Consort Mingxuan being assassinated right at the mansion’s gates spread like a runaway horse, bolting out of Changle Lane and tearing through streets and alleys while bumping into people and carriages.
Amid the surging public anxiety, Old Doctor Ding was dragged out of his bed by Yanchao, then hauled to Qiongxian Courtyard looking disheveled and with saliva still at the corners of his mouth.
“This… isn’t the man completely fine?!” Sitting cross-legged on the round table, the old man withdrew his pulse-checking hand, turned around, and cursed fiercely out the window, “You turtle grandson, you ruined the old man’s romantic dream! I curse you to be impotent for the rest of your life!”
“How old are you even? Just give up on romantic dreams; it’s bad for your health.” Standing outside the window, Yanchao pointed at the corner of his own mouth and said, “Wipe that off. Aren’t you ashamed?”
Tingyuan poked her head out and scolded Yanchao, “What kind of attitude is that, brat? Our divine doctor Ding is forever youthful and vigorous, operating his sixty-two-year-old self like he’s twenty-two.”
Flattery pleases the eye, and the old man instantly beamed with joy. “Still our little Mandarin duck knows how to speak.” He turned around to glance at the person who was enjoying his fake faint. “Alright, if you keep pretending any longer, you’re actually going to fall asleep.”
Shen Quebai complyingly opened his eyes, sat up, and locked eyes with the old man for a long time. Looking closely, the old man suddenly let out a sharp gasp, jerked forward, and leaned in close. “Have I seen you somewhere before?”
A strong scent of medicine rushed toward him. Shen Quebai remained as steady as a mountain and said obediently, “Grandfather, you are mistaken. I just arrived at this estate.”
“Is that so?” With his hands on his hips, the old man was practically nose-to-nose with Shen Quebai. His gaze measured Shen Quebai’s face inch by inch like a butcher sizing up a cut of meat, until the back of his neck suddenly tightened and he was pinched by a hand.
Zhu Hexing pulled the irreverent old codger away and said, “Prescribe him some medicine for shock.”
The old man pushed his hand away. “He didn’t suffer any shock; his mind and pulse are completely calm and steady. He just has a severe cold constitution.” He leaned in close again, his tone certain, “It’s not innate. It’s an old root of illness—it’s been ten years or so, and the chill has seeped straight into his bones.”
Shen Quebai didn’t mind the elderly doctor casually blurting out his chronic ailment of many years. He only said, “Your medical skills are exquisite. Twelve years ago, I fell into an icy lake, and ever since then, I’ve been left with this chronic condition. Every winter, it easily flares up and hurts like hell.”
The corners of his eyes lifted slightly as his gaze shifted toward Zhu Hexing. “Tell me, should I go find someone with abundant masculine energy… to help me expel the chill?”
Zhu Hexing let him look and said gently, “Your husband would be more than happy to oblige.”
While Shen Quebai was “drinking medicine and recovering from illness” at the estate, the Prince Jin Residence and the Marquis Ning’an Residence also kept their front gates tightly shut, with dreary white clouds floating over their heads like an ominous doom hanging heavy over everyone.
Having exacted his revenge and gotten his way at Xiansi Platform, Meng Jiaze collapsed in a faint upon returning to his residence. When a doctor was finally called to examine him, he only reported that the young Marquis was suffering from extreme shock. And that explanation made sense; after all, as an inexperienced little prodigal, after having a basin of fresh blood splashed directly across his face, Young Marquis Meng hadn’t run away, screamed, or peed his pants—which was already saving a tremendous amount of face for his fellow prodigals.
As this news spread, the lights in the Palace of Earthly Tranquility and the Second Prince’s residence remained lit all night long.
At the same time, the Prince Jin Residence was also brilliantly illuminated.
The maidservants propped open the doors and windows by a crack so that the heavy stench of blood could gradually drift out, then lit medicinal incense to clear the air. The Princess Consort of Jin lay collapsed over the edge of the bed, hugging the blanket covering her son and weeping with a broken heart, “My son! How are you going to live from now on?!”
With reddened eyes, Prince Jin spoke in a hoarse voice, “I told you long ago—a loving mother ruins her son! His temperament destined him to suffer a massive blow one day!”
“He is the son I carried for ten months in my womb, a piece of flesh from my own body. If I don’t pity him, who will?” The Princess Consort of Jin turned her face, strands of hair sticking to her cheeks, making her complexion look all the more pale and ferocious. “My son has been humiliated to this extent, yet you don’t stand up to demand justice for him, and instead you’re still standing here talking like this…” Her strength gave out as she clutched her chest in deep grief. “My life is wretched, and my son’s life is wretched!”
“Stop crying!” Prince Jin slammed his hand against the armrest. “No matter how much you cry, his hand isn’t going to grow back! One lesson wasn’t enough, and now he’s stumbled into a second disaster. If there’s a next time, he truly won’t need to live anymore!” He stood up. “What kind of place is Xiansi Platform? It is the number one gambling den in Great Liang! Some people lose their entire fortunes in there, and others pay with their lives. He must have swallowed a leopard’s gallbladder to dare go gamble in a place like that!”
“Wasn’t it that little bastard from the Marquis Ning’an Residence who invited him there? Why are you shifting all the blame onto our son?!” The Princess Consort of Jin propped herself up by the bed and stood. Her usually flawless, exquisite hair bun was already scattered, secured only by the hairpin that mirrored her swaying, bitter heartache. “When it all comes down to it, you’re just a coward! You didn’t dare speak up for your son! That Marquis Ning’an Residence is the Empress’s maternal family and the Second Prince’s maternal family, while we are nothing more than a dog belonging to the Prince Jin Residence!”
She extended a trembling finger stained with her son’s blood and said, “Prince Jin, you truly are cowardly!”
Prince Jin was pierced to the core by those words. Gripping the armrest, he retorted, “Why did Meng Jiaze want to bet his arm? Because this beast ruined that man’s maid! That maid was only nine years old, just a child! Back then, why did he have his arm broken in Chaotian City? Because he humiliated the daughter of a reputable family, driving her to smash her head against a pillar and die right in the imperial court and she was also in the prime of her youth!”
His entire body was trembling. “What kind of monster the two of us gave birth to, you ought to be crystal clear! Over the years, how many young boys and girls have suffered humiliation under his hands? Can you even count them? He is my son, and I couldn’t bear to cut off his arm myself, so I let someone else do it instead—at least that leaves him with his life!”
“I…” The Princess Consort of Jin choked back a guilty sob. She knew her son’s character was rotten and his heart was filthy, but when she turned around and saw her son’s pale face, the cries of “Mother” rang in her ears once more. This was her flesh, her very life—how could she bear to abandon him? How could she possibly let go?
“If you won’t go, I will!” She wiped her tears with a silk handkerchief, her words punctuated by breathless gasps and broken phrasing. “On the surface, we and Hexing are family. Shen Quebai didn’t help his own kin, but instead helped an outsider. What kind of logic is that?”
Prince Jin abruptly stood up. “Do you still want to go demand an explanation?”
The Princess Consort of Jin said, “Hexing spoke up today only because that Meng family brat was being overwhelmingly aggressive, and Hanhui refused to yield, which would have damaged the Zhu family’s reputation. But what happens in public is one thing, and what happens behind closed doors is another! Once Shen Quebai entered the Prince’s estate, he became a person of the Zhu clan, and he should side with the Zhu family. For him to draw his sword against his own family today, shouldn’t he give me an explanation? Could it be that because of a male wife, Hexing is willing to let his own household lose all its dignity?”
Prince Jin truly wanted to tell her to stop playing the fool. He shoved her back, blocking her path, and said, “The Prince Mingxuan Residence is currently closed to visitors. Do you think they will see you?”
With red, tear-filled eyes, the Princess Consort of Jin declared, “Then I will kneel outside and beg!”
“What you’re doing isn’t begging; it’s a soft knife threatening them! Besides…” Prince Jin let out a deflated sigh. “Shen Quebai was assassinated.”
“So what?” The Princess Consort of Jin only hated that the assassin was useless and hadn’t succeeded.
Prince Jin wanted to scold her for lacking a brain, but he held it back and swallowed it down, saying, “Shen Quebai just helped Meng Jiaze win a gamble against this beast at Xiansi Platform, and then he was assassinated on his way back to the estate. Who was in such a rush? Who hates him that much? Could it be the Marquis Ning’an Residence, which profited from this? No, it’s our Prince Jin Residence!”
The Princess Consort of Jin gasped and said in a daze, “If it were us, we would have waited until midnight to strike. How could anyone do it in broad daylight?”
“Whether you would have done so doesn’t matter; what outsiders think is what matters most. Hexing hung the assassin’s corpse right at the entrance of Changle Lane because he was furious. Regardless of his attitude toward Shen Quebai, making a move against Shen Quebai right at his own front door and right in front of him is equivalent to slapping him across the face!” Prince Jin paced in a circle. “Shen Quebai fainted from shock, and you want to go over there right now? What kind of justice do you think you can demand? Furthermore, do you think the Marquis Yongding Residence has nobody left? Although Shen Ruozhong no longer holds military power, he is ultimately a close minister to His Majesty. And even though his heir is blind, he studied under Guan Ji in Tanzhou! This Guan Ji was once a tutor to the various imperial princes, and his father, Elder Guan, was even His Majesty’s tutor back in the day!”
Tugging at her sleeve, the Princess Consort of Jin muttered weakly, “We are tied to the Zhu family by marriage after all…”
“That is precisely why your son humiliated his nominal sister-in-law in front of so many people and even dragged a eunuch into it!” Prince Jin said bitterly, “This was a marriage bestowed by His Majesty! When the time comes, if Yu Banhu stands before His Majesty and frames it lightly, this beast has shown disrespect to his elder sister-in-law and elder brother, which is a family matter. But if he frames it heavily, it is disrespecting His Sovereign and showing contempt for the imperial will!”
Her legs turned to jelly, the Princess Consort of Jin collapsed backward, her half-undone hair bun tumbling down and striking her face with a sharp sting.