The people around them all drew in sharp breaths.
The Sixth Prince had always been a dissolute flirt, but openly dallying with a woman on Buddhist holy ground was going too far. the Empress Dowager’s face darkened as well. “Insolent! This is Jingguosi, surrounded by ladies of the household. If you carry on so shamelessly again, I will not forgive you.”
“Don’t be angry, Royal Grandmother. Your grandson will go confess to the Buddha at once—and while I’m at it, ask the Buddha to point me toward that little girl from last night.”
Pei Yuan waved his fan and sauntered off with a grin.
Seeing this, Shen Chu quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
“Wretched boy!” The Empress Dowager cursed Pei Yuan, then her voice turned two degrees colder toward Madam Chen. “Quick—check whether your maid is in young Zhuangyuan Shen’s room.”
Madam Chen hurriedly turned to look.
The small guest room was clean and tidy—there was none of the bloody scene she had imagined.
How could this be?
Where was Chunxing?
Thud!
Suddenly, a tremendous crash came from her room not far away.
The door burst open with a bang, and someone tumbled out through it.
A thick smell of blood rushed toward them.
The crowd turned, and frightened cries erupted all around.
“Ah! Disaster—someone’s dead!”
Lying in the doorway was a man’s corpse, a dagger plunged into his chest, his eyes glaring fixedly outward.
Inside the room lay a woman as well, her face deathly pale, eyes wide open.
Nanny Wang’s legs gave out and she collapsed to the ground.
“Ma… Madam, it’s Chunxing and Zhao Er.”
Madam Chen trembled all over, feeling as if three thunderbolts had exploded above her head.
How could Chunxing and Zhao Er possibly have died in her room?
In her ears rang the Empress Dowager’s cold, stern interrogation: “Madam Chen, what is the meaning of this? Someone! Summon the Jingzhao Prefecture at once.”
“No—please, no!” Madam Chen cried out instinctively.
“On sacred Buddhist ground, a murder like this is utterly unforgivable. Madam Chen, you had best think carefully about how you will explain this to the Jingzhao Prefecture.”
The Empress Dowager, her face full of fury, swept her sleeves and departed.
Madam Chen felt a chill spread through her body and crumpled to the ground.
Because of the murder, The Empress Dowager departed for the palace immediately.
The Jingzhao Prefecture sealed off every courtyard of Jingguosi, forbidding any unauthorized person from moving about.
Shen Chu returned to her room, and Concubine Qiao slipped in furtively.
She was even carrying a bowl of steaming hot soup.
She leaned close to Shen Chu, batting her bright, lovely eyes, and asked in a lowered voice, “How was it last night? Was that young male courtesan handsome? Did he have good stamina? Was he skilled?”
The fiery scenes of the previous night instantly flashed through Shen Chu’s mind.
Her face flushed, and she shot Concubine Qiao a sidelong glance. “So eager about handsome looks, good stamina, and skilled technique? Could it be because my father isn’t handsome, has poor stamina, and lacks skill?”
Concubine Qiao pursed her lips, produced a scallion-oil chicken from who knows where, and started gnawing on it.
“Your father and I are different—ours is love, all right? Besides, your father is a famous beauty of the capital. How could he not be handsome?”
“So my father has poor stamina and lacks skill?”
Concubine Qiao rolled her eyes at her, then, as if recalling her moments with Changning Hou, hugged the scallion-oil chicken and giggled dreamily.
Shen Chu was already numb to it.
Whenever Concubine Qiao mentioned Changning Hou, she always took on the air of a lovestruck maiden.
“Official appointments are conferred in half a month. I want to join the Censorate.”
Concubine Qiao kept gnawing on her sesame-oil chicken. “These official career matters—you’re still too young for them. Let your father look after the arrangements for you.”
“Your father is still waiting for you to bring glory to the Shen family.”
Shen Chu frowned slightly. “I have things I want to do. Once I’m done, I’ll resign from office. Do you really expect me to be an official my whole life?”
Concubine Qiao paused. “Back then, I had no choice but to disguise you as a boy. Who could have imagined you’d secretly sit for the imperial examinations? Well, since you’ve already made Zhuangyuan, serve as an official for a few years first.”
The Marchioness of Changning had borne no children for many years after her marriage, and eventually Changning Hou took Concubine Qiao as his honored concubine.
Concubine Qiao conceived soon after entering the household, but in her second month of pregnancy, Madam Chen, the Marchioness, also became pregnant.
Concubine Qiao gave birth first, but the delivery was difficult, and she was declared unable to bear children ever again.
Fearing she would lose favor, she announced to the world that the child she bore was a son.
Who could have known that Madam Chen would then use her influence to force Changning Hou to send Shen Chu, barely a month old, back to a Daoist temple in the family’s hometown of Huzhou to be raised there.
Shen Chu grew up in that temple until the age of seventeen, when she secretly passed the provincial examination and drew Changning Hou’s attention. Only then did he send people to bring her back to the capital to sit for the spring examination.
Perhaps recalling the past, Concubine Qiao sighed and pushed the bowl of soup in front of her forward.
“Here, the contraceptive soup. Remember to drink it before it gets cold.”
“Last night was an accident. Playing around is fine, but don’t end up with a child, or your disguise as a boy will be exposed.”
“People from Jingzhao Prefecture will be coming to question you soon. I’m going back to my room—remember to take your medicine.”
Shen Chu stared at the steaming bowl of soup before her and sighed silently.
Last night truly had been an accident, and she could not risk getting pregnant.
She picked up the contraceptive soup and was about to drink when a soft but distinct snort of laughter came from outside the window.
Shen Chu’s hand trembled, spilling some of the soup.
“Who’s out there?”
The window was flipped open, and Pei Yuan appeared at the sill, a trace of mockery on his cool, dignified face.
Shen Chu’s heart skipped a beat. When had this fellow arrived?
“I never imagined the illustrious Sixth Prince had a habit of eavesdropping.”
“You think this prince is as sordid as you, even peeping on people in their bedchamber?”
Shen Chu relaxed slightly. So he had just arrived—he hadn’t heard her conversation with Concubine Qiao.
“Your subject stumbled in by mistake. There was no peeping. If Your Highness has nothing else, please excuse me—I won’t be playing host.”
Pei Yuan swung one long leg over the sill and leapt inside, reaching Shen Chu in two or three strides.
He bent slightly forward, looking down at her from above, his tall frame blocking out the sunlight behind him, casting a shadow over everything before her.
“What are you doing?”
The sudden sense of pressure made Shen Chu lean back slightly.
“People in the capital say the young Zhuangyuan Shen is a gentleman of upright conduct, elegant as orchids and jade trees. Ha—turns out he’s nothing but a fraud living off a stolen reputation.”
Shen Chu’s heart quivered, though she maintained her gentle smile.
“Your subject doesn’t understand what Your Highness means.”
“This prince happened to witness quite a fine show this morning, and I intend to share it with the people from Jingzhao Prefecture—how a seemingly frail Zhuangyuanlang carried one person in each hand and quietly staged the scene to frame someone for murder. I imagine those old case-hardened clerks will understand at once.”
The smile on Shen Chu’s face froze for a moment.
When she tossed Zhao Er and Chunxing back into the Marchioness’s room—Pei Yuan had seen it?
That wretched creature.
No wonder she had sensed someone watching her from behind, yet when she turned around, there was nothing there.
She clenched her palms, poured a cup of tea, and pushed it toward him, her smile growing even warmer.
“Let’s speak plainly, without pretense. If the Sixth Prince truly intended to expose me, he wouldn’t have appeared here.”
“What does Your Highness wish Shen Chu to do? Please speak plainly.”
Her heart was uneasy as she wondered what demands Pei Yuan would make of her.
The grudge between her and Pei Yuan dated back to the day she entered the capital.
Upon first arriving in the capital, she had happened upon Pei Yuan fighting with the heir of Changping Bo over the leading courtesan.
Pei Yuan broke one of the Changping Bo heir’s legs and startled her horse, throwing her out of her carriage.
Unable to swallow her anger, she confronted Pei Yuan, then wrote an essay on the spot.
The essay bitterly denounced Pei Yuan as a prince who had no ambition, a dissolute wastrel who committed violence in the streets, branding him a parasite of the Great Wei Dynasty.
The essay was ornate in language and magnificent in momentum. Many in the capital passed it around, sparking quite a storm of discussion.
The imperial censors submitted memorials one after another impeaching Pei Yuan. In his fury, the Emperor had Pei Yuan given thirty strokes of the cane and ordered him to apologize to Changping Bo.
It was also because of this incident that she caught the Emperor’s attention, and he personally named her Zhuangyuan in the palace examination.
On the day of her victory parade on horseback, her horse was unexpectedly startled. To avoid hurting anyone, she lay flat against the horse’s back and galloped out of the city—only to accidentally trample Pei Yuan, who was preparing to return to the city.
From then on, she and Pei Yuan were at odds.
Now that this man had gotten leverage over her, who knew how he would take his revenge.
Pei Yuan toyed with his jade-bone fan, a playful glint in his peach-blossom eyes.
“You think this prince is here to threaten you?”
If not?
Pei Yuan’s tall figure circled around her once, the jade-bone fan tapping lightly on her shoulder.
“Tch. This prince despises people like you most—reciting the words of sages, yet showing no mercy when you kill. You fancy yourself upright as jade, of noble character and integrity, writing essays denouncing this prince so eloquently—but haven’t you done plenty of dirty deeds yourself in secret?”
Shen Chu remained silent.
“Why so quiet now? Weren’t you full of pride and sharp-tongued just now in front of this prince?”
“So Your Highness has come to mock Shen Chu?”
Pei Yuan laughed, hooked a chair over with his leg, and sat down across from Shen Chu, grinning mischievously.
“Will you write any more sour essays denouncing this prince?”
“No.”
“Do you still dare ride your horse into me?”
“No.”
“Tch, so you’ve caved already? Shen Chu, you’re nothing but a hypocrite.”
Shen Chu: “Yes, I am a hypocrite. Will Your Highness go expose me?”
She was never a gentleman in the first place—she was a woman.
Her words seemed to please Pei Yuan, and he gave a few soft laughs.
“We’ll see how this prince feels.”
Shen Chu…
So he intended to hold this over her forever?
The gloomy look on her face seemed to delight Pei Yuan even more, and he playfully picked up the contraceptive soup from the table.
“What’s this? Finished killing someone and now brewing yourself a tonic? To calm the nerves and ward off evil?”
Shen Chu…