“I’ll ask you again. Who are you?”
The man’s voice came down from above, heavy and oppressive.
Though Chu Zhao’s hand was locked around his throat, his eyes remained as calm as a ruler’s, not betraying the slightest ripple.
That expression, that face—if three hundred years hadn’t passed, Chu Zhao would have thought the man pinning her down was that bastard Yan Fuwei.
She could smell the blood so close to her. Just one drop, and she already felt her soul grow more solid.
The agony of her soul about to dissipate had eased, too. Staring at his face, so much like that of someone returned from the dead, Chu Zhao changed her mind.
This brat was clearly suspicious that she wasn’t Shen Zhaozhao. The obsession bound to this body had yet to fade, and most of her power was being restrained, hampering her abilities.
If this brat’s blood could strengthen her soul, she could play along with him for now. Once she had gotten past this immediate crisis, she could still skin the brat and stuff him with straw!
She, the King of Xuanzhao, had always known when to yield and when to stand firm!
“Who else could I be? I’m Shen Zhaozhao, the bride who was betrothed to you to bring you good fortune, then abandoned on our wedding night.”
“The fool who spent five years in your residence, ignored by you and bullied by wicked servants and vicious slaves.”
“And the poor wretch whose life someone came to claim the moment you gained power, demanding I give up my position as Princess Regent!”
Chu Zhao spoke each word with a mocking smile. “Your Highness, does that ring a bell?”
The man’s eyes were dark and unfathomable. He showed no reaction, only asked calmly, “If you were a fool, how did you regain your senses? And where did you learn to kill?”
“Ancestor’s blessing, and strength I was born with! I took a trip to the gates of hell, and naturally I woke up!” Chu Zhao arched a brow. “You married a woman and didn’t even know what she was capable of. What kind of man does that make you?”
At the words “Ancestor’s blessing,” a faint ripple crossed the man’s eyes, and for a brief moment he seemed lost in thought.
Chu Zhao was already dizzy with the pull of his blood. Forget it—she’d wasted enough time talking. First, she’d have a taste of his blood!
As the woman’s soft red lips touched the wound on the man’s neck, the Prince of You abruptly came to himself. Lowering his eyes, he saw a beautiful face, half-ghost, half-immortal, with a satisfied flush at the corners of her eyes. The man showed no tenderness; instead, his gaze turned even colder.
Chu Zhao felt a force no weaker than her own shake her hand away. The next moment, the man sprang up as though he’d touched something filthy, pulled out a brocade handkerchief, and wiped the places she had touched.
With undisguised disgust in his eyes, the Prince of You said, “I’ll grant you a divorce and request an imperial decree to ennoble you as a commandery princess.”
He left the words behind and strode straight out the door.
Chu Zhao sat on the floor, rolled her wrist, and curled her lips into a grin.
Divorce?
You think you can divorce me before I’ve sucked your brat’s blood dry?
Keep dreaming.
Besides, wasn’t that grandson of Yan Fuwei at least partly responsible for the death of Xiaokugua, the original owner of this body?
Anyone who bullied the descendants of her, the King of Xuanzhao—even if the ancestors of the Yan Family rose from their graves—deserved to have their bones ground to dust!
…
The inner study.
After bathing, the Prince of You had changed back into his usual clothes. In brocade robes and a jade belt, with a fine-boned face and long lashes casting shadows beneath his eyes, he was all the harder to read.
“Your Highness, the servants brought by Duchess Shen have confessed. She came to the residence today intending to drown the Princess Regent before Your Highness returned to the capital, then petition for Second Young Lady Shen, whom she raised herself, to become your second wife.”
Deputy General Qi Yun paused and handed over a confidential letter, lowering his voice. “There’s also… a message from the palace.”
“The Princess Regent has been out of her mind all these years, and Nanny Chen has managed the inner court. But Her Highness the Noble Consort summoned Nanny Chen to the palace this morning, and she still hasn’t returned. That’s why Duchess Shen had an opportunity to take advantage…”
The Prince of You tossed the memorial into the brazier.
“Foolish woman,” the man said coolly.
The study fell silent. Qi Yun kept quiet, wondering: He means Duchess Shen, right? Surely he can’t mean Her Highness the Noble Consort…
Though it looked as if Her Highness the Noble Consort had played a part in the plot to harm the Princess Regent, she was still His Highness’s Mother Consort. Even if they weren’t close, it would be treasonous to speak of her that way…
Yan Qi rubbed his temples. Five years earlier, when he had “awoken,” it had been his wedding night. An urgent dispatch from the border had reached the capital: the barbarian tribes had invaded and slaughtered five cities in succession.
He had gone straight to the border. And there he had remained for five years.
For those five years, he had only had time to drive the barbarian tribes back to their grasslands beyond the northern passes. As for the past of this useless body, Yan Fuwei hadn’t had time to recall it—and had indeed forgotten that he was even married.
He hadn’t been idle on the journey back to the capital, either. He had either been suppressing bandits or putting down rebellions.
The mere thought of the Great Xuan Dynasty’s battered realm was enough to set his anger ablaze. He wanted nothing more than to have the useless man on the throne tortured to death. How could he spare a thought for trivial, unrelated matters?
The study remained quiet for a long while. Sparks crackled in the brazier.
Seeing Yan Fuwei frown, Qi Yun asked anxiously, “Your Highness, has your headache returned?”
“I’ll call the army physician at once.”
Their prince was a master strategist. On the battlefield, he was practically the reincarnation of His Majesty Emperor Baisheng, the dynasty’s founder, making the barbarian tribes flee at the mere sight of him, too afraid to ride south and graze their horses.
It was only the Prince’s strange headaches. They came back every so often, and though the army physicians had tried everything, they could never cure them.
“No need.” Yan Fuwei lifted his eyes, a flicker of doubt crossing them.
He had always suffered from headaches. His personal deputy and guards knew about the affliction, but they didn’t know that it wasn’t something that struck only from time to time. It followed him like a shadow, tormenting him every moment.
But now…
The stabbing pain had vanished at some point.
It seemed to have happened after he came into contact with Shen Zhaozhao.
At the thought of Shen Zhaozhao, Yan Qi frowned again. “Find out what’s going on with Shen Zhaozhao.”
“Does Your Highness still suspect that someone replaced the Princess Regent? But the shadow guards reported that she hasn’t left the residence. No one could have had an opportunity to switch her.”
“I mean her strength.”
Yan Qi rotated his wrist. That “Shen Zhaozhao” had tremendous strength; even an ordinary man would be no match for her. Her moves were fierce, but Yan Qi had deliberately sparred with her and confirmed that her body had never learned martial arts.
Qi Yun considered this for a moment, then replied, “Could the Princess Regent, like Nanxing, have inherited the divine strength of that King of Xuanzhao from the Chu Family?”
Yan Qi’s wrist stilled. He looked up with a frown. “She’s a descendant of the King of Xuanzhao, too?”
“Within five degrees of kinship, if you count it out. That Madam Chu today—the Princess Regent’s mother—is a legitimate daughter of the Chu Family’s second branch. Come to think of it, Nanxing and the Princess Regent are cousins.”
One of Yan Qi’s deputy generals was Chu Nanxing, who had inherited the divine strength of the King of Xuanzhao. Qi Yun was referring to him.
Yan Qi’s eyes were dark and inscrutable.
After a long pause, Qi Yun heard a quiet scoff. “Each generation is worse than the last.”
Qi Yun tensed instinctively, unsure who his prince was cursing this time.
During these past few years at the border, the Prince sometimes spoke like this.
At times, Qi Yun felt that the Prince was like an old ancestor watching a pack of worthless descendants squander their inheritance.
“Keep an eye on Wutong Courtyard. Don’t let her cause any more trouble. Before long, I’ll request an imperial decree to divorce her.”
Yan Qi’s voice returned to its usual tone.
“As for her mother, Madam Chu…”
“She’s unfit to be a mother and can’t tell who’s close to her. She must have something wrong with her head.”
“Send a physician to Duke Shen’s Residence and have him treat her properly.”
Whether she lived through it or died was another matter.
Qi Yun’s heart tightened. He couldn’t help saying, “Your Highness, we’ve only just returned to the capital. Shouldn’t we keep a lower profile…”
After all, Madam Chu was the Princess Regent’s birth mother. Even if His Highness didn’t care about the Princess Regent, Madam Chu was Duchess Shen.
The people of the Great Xuan Dynasty might all revere His Highness now, but only the Black Armored Army soldiers who had followed Yan Qi knew how hard these past five years had been.
Their military pay had been withheld, their grain and supplies had arrived late, and their equipment had been shoddy.
If the Prince hadn’t led them in seizing the barbarian tribes’ provisions in return, how could they have held out until their great victory?
And despite the Prince’s unprecedented achievements, that old emperor had bestowed on him the title “You.”
Every ruler in history who had borne the character “You” had been a bad one!
The old emperor’s dislike of the Prince was plain as day. And though they had returned to the capital, the old emperor, the Crown Prince, the chancellor… not one of them was easy to deal with!
Yan Qi merely glanced at him, and Qi Yun understood.
There was no need to keep a low profile.
“What about Her Highness the Noble Consort?” Qi Yun asked, gathering his courage. After all, Madam Chu had been able to meddle in the Prince of You’s Residence that day, and it was obvious Her Highness the Noble Consort had allowed it.
Her Highness the Noble Consort was beautiful enough to outshine the entire imperial harem, but she was truly foolish.
Not just a little foolish, either.
The Black Armored Army brothers sometimes said in private that their Prince had been cursed with the worst luck in eight lifetimes to end up with a mother who was always trying to turn the world upside down.
“The Noble Consort loves beauty.”
Yan Fuwei raised his eyes. “Send those few boxes of beauty elixirs refined by Daoist You to the palace.”
Qi Yun: “…”
When had Daoist You ever refined beauty elixirs? That man made mute-making medicine laced with cinnabar, didn’t he?
Take too little and you’d go mute; take too much and you’d be reincarnated on the spot.
His Highness was… ah, this was… such dutiful care for his mother…