“You may take your leave now.” He withdrew his gaze and waved her away, the gesture carrying a hint of disdain.
Yun Qingge secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Before leaving, she still glanced back at the study one more time.
Ye Feimo’s study was very large, and the collection of books within must be extensive.
It seemed she would have to take a risk tonight.
After she left, Ye Feimo swept a glance at the wet nurse’s corpse on the floor.
The steward asked cautiously, “Your Highness, this corpse… how should it be handled?”
The culprit hadn’t been found, but why was it necessary to interrogate the Princess Consort? The steward couldn’t understand.
“Send it back to the Houfu. Since she was one of the Houfu’s people, let the Houfu deal with it.”
“But… if they ask about the wet nurse’s cause of death…” The steward was bewildered, unable to make sense of it.
The wet nurse had raised the Princess Consort since childhood; logically, the Princess Consort should have handled the corpse. Moreover, she had come as part of the dowry, and now they were sending her back to the Houfu—their master’s actions were truly puzzling.
Could it be… he wanted to intimidate the Houfu?
Qingxuan shot the steward a look: “Fool, just say an assassin mistakenly killed the wet nurse last night.”
The steward immediately acknowledged and withdrew.
Only then did Qingxuan ask, “Master, should we continue investigating this matter?”
“No need.” Ye Feimo’s jade-like long fingers tapped on the armrest again, this time in a rhythmic pattern.
Qingxuan understood—his master always did this when deep in thought.
Since they weren’t investigating further, why had he summoned the Princess Consort? A test?
…
That night.
Yun Qingge knocked out one of the servants passing through Beiyuan, changed into his outer robe, and tore off the scar on her face. This time, having learned her lesson, she smeared soot all over her face—pitch black, with only the whites of her eyes visible, making her nearly indistinguishable in the darkness.
She had already given Jixiang a sleeping draught, and the girl was now snoring soundly in her room.
She had asked Jixiang beforehand—at this hour, Ye Feimo would definitely have retired to bed.
Otherwise, she wouldn’t have dared to be so reckless.
She arrived at Dongyuan, where the lights were still all burning.
A servant happened to be walking in carrying a pot of tea. Yun Qingge quickly stepped forward to block his path.
“Brother, how about I deliver this tea for you?”
The servant looked up at her in confusion, especially at her soot-black face—with only the whites of her eyes visible, it was truly hard to make out her features.
Seeing the servant still hesitating, Yun Qingge explained further: “It just so happens I have something to report to His Highness. I’ll take it in with the tea—killing two birds with one stone!”
Because guards were always stationed at Dongyuan, she needed a reason to enter.
Given how carefully Ye Feimo guarded his Dongyuan, he must have countless people wanting his life.
While the servant was still hesitating, Yun Qingge swiftly snatched the teapot from his hands and walked in.
Seeing it was the tea-serving servant, the guards naturally didn’t stop her.
Yun Qingge walked forward with her head lowered, holding the tea, occasionally glancing around at her surroundings from the corner of her eye.
Dongyuan occupied the largest area—crossing the small courtyard, walking along the corridor, and turning past a small grove of trees brought her to the study door.
The study was empty at the moment, just as she had hoped.
Yun Qingge looked around for a moment, then pushed open the study door with one hand while holding the teapot in the other.
She set the teapot on the table and lit a fire starter to examine the books on the shelves.
To her surprise, the shelves held all kinds of books.
She searched through them one by one until she finally spotted the Complete Collection of Medicinal Herbs. A look of delight crossed her face as she quickly picked it up and stored it in her Kongjian.
She was just about to turn back when she heard movement at the door.
Yun Qingge’s gaze sharpened, and she immediately blew out the fire starter in her hand.
The footsteps grew closer. She clutched the corner of the fire starter, crouched down, and hurriedly sought a hiding place.
Creak.
As the door opened, she happened to crouch beneath the desk, her hand brushing against a mechanism on the wall.
This slightly protruding object made her brow furrow slightly. Without time to think, she pressed down on it directly.
With a click, the wall suddenly split open to reveal a hole.
Before she could react, she tumbled through the opening and rolled into the adjacent room—
The study was separated from Can Wang’s study by only a single wall.
And so she rolled straight into Ye Feimo’s bedchamber, her face covered in soot, the atmosphere instantly turning awkward.
Qingxuan, hearing the commotion, immediately turned to look at her.
“Who goes there?”
Yun Qingge was both furious and embarrassed, and could only explain: “I… I deliver tea…”
Before Qingxuan could speak, Ye Feimo, hearing the noise from behind the screen, called out.
“Qingxuan, withdraw for now.”
His voice remained low, cold, and utterly devoid of warmth.
Yun Qingge’s heart skipped a beat.
Qingxuan hesitated warily, but his master’s unquestionable tone left him no choice but to withdraw.
The moment he left, the sound of splashing water came from behind the screen, and she realized the man was bathing.
Fearing the man might decide to kill her, Yun Qingge quickly explained: “Your Highness, this servant is just a tea-bearer… I mistakenly thought you were in the study, so I brought the tea to the next room and accidentally… heh heh… I never imagined there was a hole in the study wall.”
“Tea?” A man’s icy voice came from behind the screen, laden with meaning.
A gentle breeze swept by—perhaps due to the bath, the air that brushed against her face carried a hint of moist coolness.
The curtain rustled as it stirred.
“Yes… this servant is just delivering tea. I… I… I stumbled in by mistake. If the Prince has no further orders, this servant will take her leave…”
She scrambled to her feet to leave, but the moment she took a step, the man’s sharp rebuke stopped her.
“Stop!”
Yun Qingge instinctively swallowed hard before asking cautiously, “Prince, do you have any orders?”
Her voice was hoarse.
A faint sound came from behind the curtain, and she heard the man say, “Come and help me change.”
What?
Yun Qingge was stunned, wondering if she was hearing things.
Hadn’t Qingxuan already helped this man change when he was here earlier?
“New here?” The man’s tone behind the curtain grew increasingly dangerous, laced with impatience.
Yun Qingge gritted her teeth and spoke in a shrill voice, “Prince… this servant is indeed new, so… clumsy and inept. I’m afraid I won’t serve you well. How about I go and have Lord Qingxuan come in to attend to you?”
Silence fell from behind the curtain.
Yun Qingge thought, is he upset? If he’s upset, that’s for the best—she could be dismissed directly.
“Prince, this servant will take her leave then…”
“Since you refuse to obey, I order Qingxuan to give you twenty strokes of the rod.”
Ye Feimo’s voice had turned cold as ice, his tone utterly flat, as casual as if he were discussing the weather.
Yun Qingge wanted to curse.
This tyrant prince, doling out beatings at the slightest whim. She didn’t even know what she’d done wrong to deserve a beating!
Yun Qingge gritted her teeth and knelt in supplication: “Mercy, Prince! This servant will undress you right away… I mean, help you change. However many garments you wish to wear, this servant will dress you in them all.”
She figured that a man confined to a wheelchair for so long would indeed have limited mobility, making it perfectly normal for him to need assistance with dressing and everything else.
She wouldn’t stoop to his level.
From the other side, Ye Feimo finally said in a low voice, “What are you waiting for?”