The eldest son of the late Empress was the Eldest Prince Li Chengjing. This person was naturally intelligent and once a strong contender for the position of Crown Prince. Unfortunately, not long after the late Empress passed away, he fell from a height, injuring his head, and subsequently became feeble-minded.
At this moment, Li Chengjing’s slightly worn princely casual wear was covered in mud. His hair was disheveled, and his face was bruised purple and green. Only his eyes, fixed intently on the embroidered ball held by the eunuchs, followed its trajectory. He scrambled across the ground, using both his hands and feet, emitting urgent, guttural sounds.
A shifty-eyed little eunuch held the embroidered ball high, taunting Li Chengjing: “Idiot, the ball is right here! Want it? Come and get it!”
Li Chengjing seemed to understand, straining his neck to look up and reaching out toward the ball, mumbling incoherently, “Ball… ball…”
But just as he was about to touch it, the eunuch tossed the ball to another eunuch.
“Hahaha!” The surrounding eunuchs burst into harsh laughter, spinning him around in their game.
Zhao Qihuang’s eyes narrowed instantly.
She walked over step by step, her voice chilling: “Humiliating a Prince? Do you dogs of eunuchs have a death wish?”
The eunuchs, caught up in their game, were startled by the sudden, clear female voice. The embroidered ball *clattered* to the ground. They hurriedly turned around. When they saw the newcomer was Zhao Qihuang, the lead eunuch was initially stunned, but then a hint of disrespect crossed his face.
In their minds, although this Splendid Commandery Princess was arrogant, she was someone who didn’t involve herself in serious matters. Furthermore, she was the Crown Prince’s cousin.
A little eunuch plastered a fawning smile onto his face and chirped: “Oh dear, it’s the Splendid Commandery Princess. Your servants greet the Commandery Princess.”
His tone carried a hint of boldness: “The Commandery Princess misunderstands. We are all the Crown Prince’s people, merely keeping the Eldest Prince entertained.”
“The Crown Prince’s people?” Zhao Qihuang raised an eyebrow.
She took a step forward, looking down upon the group of eunuchs, and asked, “So, the Crown Prince ordered you to humiliate the Eldest Prince like this?”
The eunuch was intimidated by her sudden sharp aura; the smile on his face faltered. He muttered internally, wasn’t Zhao Qihuang the Crown Prince’s cousin? Why was she defending this fool?
Zhao Qihuang swept her gaze over the cowering eunuchs, her voice growing colder: “If the Emperor learns that you treat his son this way, how many heads do you think you have to spare?”
Seeing that she truly intended to pursue the matter, the eunuchs’ legs went weak. They knelt in unison, their heads hitting the ground with loud thuds.
“Commandery Princess, spare us! Spare us!”
“Your servants dare not do it again! We beg the Commandery Princess for mercy!”
Just then, Li Chengjing, who had been crawling on the ground, slowly made his way to the eunuch who had dropped the embroidered ball. He extended a dirty little hand and grabbed the dusty ball.
He looked up, a foolish grin on his face, and spoke indistinctly to the terrified, pale eunuch: “I… I caught the ball. Now… can you take me… to see my maternal grandfather?”
The eunuchs, swept by Zhao Qihuang’s grim gaze, found their already weak legs trembling even harder. They were drenched in cold sweat and silent as cicadas in winter, daring not to respond.
Seeing them cower and remain silent, Li Chengjing turned his expectant gaze toward Zhao Qihuang.
He cautiously moved to her feet, looked up with his muddy little face, and tugged at her skirt.
“Sister,” he mumbled, “can you take me to see my maternal grandfather?”
“They said if I picked up the ball, they would take me to see my maternal grandfather and cousin Lanzhou.”
His feeble eyes were full of anticipation.
Hearing the name Lanzhou, Zhao Qihuang finally recalled: wasn’t the late Empress a member of the Wei family? The Duke of Zhenguo was Li Chengjing’s maternal grandfather, and Wei Lanzhou was his cousin.
No wonder these despicable servants dared to be so reckless.
Now that the Wei family had fallen overnight and the entire clan was imprisoned, who in the palace would genuinely look after this feeble-minded Prince?
Zhao Qihuang subconsciously wanted to refuse.
But Li Chengjing’s muddled eyes immediately filled with tears. He pouted and began to cry pitifully.
“Maternal grandfather hasn’t come to see Jing’er in a long time…”
“Jing’er misses maternal grandfather so much… wuwu… and cousin doesn’t come to see Jing’er either…”
The sound of his weeping unsettled Zhao Qihuang.
She looked at his muddy face and tear-filled eyes, which appeared exceptionally clear and pitiful. Although the Eldest Prince was older than her, he acted like a child.
Zhao Qihuang remembered when she had been dependent on others back in her old home; even as a normal person, she had suffered countless slights and experienced the harshness of the world. Moreover, Li Chengjing was a Prince who had lost his mind. In this deep palace, his days were likely a hundred times harder than hers had been.
The ice in Zhao Qihuang’s heart quietly cracked open.
*Sigh.* She was someone who yielded to softness but not to hardness, and she absolutely couldn’t stand seeing someone cry, especially someone so simple-minded.
“If you stop crying, this Commandery Princess will take you.” Zhao Qihuang took a deep breath, trying to keep the irritation out of her voice.
Hearing this, the Eldest Prince immediately wiped his tears haphazardly with his dirty sleeve, struggling to force out a smile that looked worse than a grimace.
“Really?”
Zhao Qihuang hummed in affirmation, counting it as a promise, though she immediately regretted her sudden bout of kindness.
The dungeon was never a pleasant place, much less when it housed the family of the Duke of Zhenguo, who had once wielded immense power over the court.
Fortunately, the Wei family’s treason case was nearing its conclusion, and sentencing was imminent. The supervision within the prison was not as strict as the iron-clad security it had initially been.
Zhao Qihuang revealed her Commandery Princess identity, offered the jailer some favors, and added a few persuasive words that were both firm and gentle. Only then was she successfully able to lead Li Chengjing into the dungeon.
The moment they stepped inside, a cold, damp smell mixed with mildew and filth rushed over them, making one feel instantly nauseous. On both sides of the dark corridor were separated cells. By the light of the dim oil lamps on the walls, hunched figures could be vaguely seen inside.
The Wei clan was numerous and had been separated into different cells.
Zhao Qihuang found a familiar minor jailer, slipped him a piece of broken silver, and quickly inquired about the whereabouts of the Duke of Zhenguo and Wei Lanzhou. Coincidentally, the two of them were held in the same cell.
Behind the cell bars, the Duke of Zhenguo’s gray hair was sparser. In just a few short days, he seemed to have aged a dozen years, his former vigor completely gone, leaving only an air of despair.
Wei Lanzhou, meanwhile, sat upright in a sliver of faint light that streamed through the narrow prison window. The cold, blue stone floor held only half a tattered straw mat, yet he seemed to be seated upon the most luxurious brocade cushion. His blood-stained plain white undergarment had long lost its original color and quality, but the wrist bones exposed beyond his wide sleeves remained cool and pristine as jade.
The moment Li Chengjing saw them, he stumbled excitedly toward the bars and shouted, “Maternal Grandfather! Lanzhou! Jing’er has come to see you!”