Phoenix Palace.
The usually solemn and dignified hall was filled with a strange, stifling atmosphere today.
The palace maids kept their heads bowed, not daring to breathe too loudly. In the air, a faint, peculiar scent lingered—a mix of medicinal herbs and incense.
Pei Zhen strode in with large steps, emanating an icy chill that kept others at a distance. Wherever he passed, the maids knelt on the ground, not daring to look up.
“Your Highness, please stop!”
Nanny Xu, the Empress’s attendant, hurried out from the inner chamber, spreading her arms to block his path. Her face wore a forced smile, but her tone was firm and unyielding.
“Her Majesty the Empress is unwell and is currently resting. She is not receiving visitors today. Please come another day…”
“Step aside.”
The man didn’t even glance at her, his steps never faltering as he walked around her and continued toward the inner chamber.
Two guards silently stepped forward, one on each side, restraining Nanny Xu as she tried to block him again. Though held back, she cried out anxiously.
“Your Highness! Your Highness, you cannot force your way in! This is a grave disrespect to Her Majesty…”
Pei Zhen paid no heed, directly lifting the beaded curtain to the inner chamber.
The inner chamber was slightly dimmer than the outer hall, and the heavy incense could not fully mask the scent of medicine.
The Empress was reclining on her phoenix couch, her face covered with a thick silk handkerchief, revealing only her eyes.
Even so, one could see the shocking patches of red rashes covering her exposed neck and the back of her hands. In some places, she had scratched herself until they bled, leaving her looking disheveled.
Hearing the commotion, she abruptly sat up. When she saw who had barged in, a flicker of fear flashed in her eyes, followed by anger.
Instinctively, she tightened the handkerchief over her face.
“Crown Prince! How dare you!”
Her voice came from behind the silk handkerchief, sharp and trembling, as she tried to assert her authority and dignity over him. “Entering my Sleeping Palace without permission! Do you have no regard for rules? No respect for me as your mother!”
“Is this how you show filial piety?!”
Pei Zhen walked step by step into the chamber, each step seeming to tread on the hearts of those present.
He stopped a few paces away from the Empress, his gaze calm as he looked at her, but his voice was icy cold.
“Mother? Filial piety?”
He repeated the two words softly, then suddenly revealed a faint, utterly cold smile.
“I have always believed I have never shown the slightest disrespect. But how has Mother repaid me?”
His tone shifted abruptly, becoming sharp and oppressive as he stared at her.
“I was only away for a few days, and Mother summoned Sheng Sheng, humiliating her in every way, speaking harshly, even forcing her to kneel outside the hall for so long that her legs were injured!”
“The person I hold dear in my heart—in Mother’s eyes, is she nothing more than an ant to be trampled and crushed at will?”
“Does Mother despise her so much? Is she so intolerable, even with my child in her womb?”
The Empress’s face flushed and paled alternately under his barrage of questions, a mix of shock and fury. She shrieked, “Nonsense! I merely summoned the Crown Prince’s concubine according to protocol, let alone an Outer Chamber Consort!”
“When did I ever humiliate her? It was she who lacked manners! As for her legs…”
“Enough!”
Pei Zhen cut her off sharply, a terrifying storm brewing in his eyes. He asked slowly, “Dare Mother say that when you summoned her, you had no intention of intimidating her, or even making her retreat in the face of difficulty?”
“Do you dare say you harbor not the slightest bit of loathing or aversion toward her?”
The Empress was left speechless by his pressing questions, her eyes darting nervously.
Seeing her evasive expression, the man’s anger and disappointment intertwined, his tone growing even more icy and piercing as he said:
“Or perhaps… Mother, you simply do not wish for your son to have an heir?”
He took a step forward, leaning down abruptly to stare into the Empress’s panicked eyes, asking each word with utmost clarity:
“Or even… you simply do not wish for your son to secure his position as Crown Prince?”
“Is it only your second son, Pei Yang, whom you truly favor?”
“Do you believe that only he is worthy of sitting on that throne?”
These words exploded like thunder within Phoenix Palace!
The palace maids nearby were already terrified out of their wits, kneeling on the ground, trembling, wishing they had never grown ears.
“You… you speak nonsense!”
The Empress was equally shocked, jerking backward and colliding with the backrest of her phoenix couch. Her silk handkerchief slipped away, revealing her face covered in red rashes, twisted with fear.
“I have not! I am your mother, how could I…”
“How could you?”
Pei Zhen straightened up, looking down at her flustered and disoriented state. The last trace of warmth vanished from his eyes as he said coldly, “Your expression has already given me the answer.”
Realizing her loss of composure, the Empress hastily picked up the silk handkerchief to cover her face again. After a long pause, she finally found her voice, though it was dry and strained: “Zhen’er, you have misunderstood me! That day… I merely met her according to protocol, spoke a few words of concern, and bestowed some tonics. When did I ever torment or humiliate her?”
“As for… as for the matter with Liu Shi, it was truly not my intention. I never expected it to escalate to such a degree…”
“Never expected?” The man sneered, his contempt unmistakable in his laughter. “What a fine ‘never expected.’”
“In that case, the precious tonics ‘bestowed’ by Mother are too much for Sheng Sheng to bear. Today, your son returns them in their original state, lest… they tarnish Mother’s reputation for kindness.”
He raised his hand and gave a light wave.
Zhao Dequan immediately bowed and gestured. Several eunuchs, heads lowered, filed in carrying a pile of brocade boxes—the very items the Empress had bestowed upon Chu Shengsheng that day.
They carefully placed the boxes on the floor before the Empress’s couch and quickly retreated.
Seeing the returned tonics, the Empress’s face flushed crimson, half from shame and anger, half from the itching pain of her rash.
This was undoubtedly a public slap to her face!
“Mother,” Pei Zhen took another step forward, looking down at her, his voice lowered but carrying an undeniable warning. “Today, your son makes this clear.”
“From now on, stay away from Chu Shengsheng. If she suffers even the slightest harm, whether it is your doing or not, your son will hold you accountable.”
His gaze swept over the red rashes on the Empress’s face, his tone laced with mockery. “The ‘blessing’ on Mother’s face may well be retribution. If there is a next time…”
He paused, his eyes suddenly turning icy and menacing as he said:
“Your son cannot guarantee that he will not do something… that Mother will regret for the rest of her life.”
Before his words faded, he abruptly drew the sword at his waist!
A flash of cold light, still stained with un-dried blood, sliced through the air like lightning, striking a half-person-high blue porcelain vase stand not far from the Empress’s side!
“Crack—boom!”
The exquisite flower stand, along with the precious vase atop it, was split in two by the sword, collapsing with a thunderous crash as fragments scattered in all directions!
A few drops of warm blood, flung by the swing of the blade, splattered onto the golden brick floor beside the Empress’s feet, a stark and shocking sight.
The Empress, terrified out of her wits by this sudden turn of events, let out a piercing scream before her eyes rolled back and she fainted, collapsing stiffly backward.
“Your Majesty!” The matron scrambled over on hands and knees.
Pei Zhen coldly sheathed his sword, not even sparing another glance at the unconscious Empress, as if he had merely performed a trivial task.
He turned and left without hesitation.
The hem of his black robe swept over the threshold, stirring a chilling breeze, leaving behind only a hall filled with deathly silence and fear, along with the few drops of blood on the floor gradually darkening—a silent testament to the Crown Prince’s unyielding fury and resolve.
News of the Crown Prince forcing his way into the Empress’s palace soon reached the Emperor’s ears. Yet, just as everyone expected the Emperor to take action, they found the Imperial Study remained eerily quiet.
Was he feigning ignorance, or was he allowing the Crown Prince’s actions?
Speculations varied, but Pei Zhen paid them no mind. The moment he left the palace, he received a message from his Shadow Guard:
Chu Shengsheng had awakened!