A sweet, delicate fragrance suddenly assailed him, and Qin Ye’s breathing stalled.
Before he could say anything, Lianxin’s anxious voice came from outside the study door. “Your Highness, Miss Lin has developed a high fever. She keeps calling your name. Please, go and see her.”
Lianxin was the maid Nanny Qian had arranged to serve Lin Shuyan when she first arrived in the capital and sought refuge at Prince Xiao’s Residence.
She had been with Lin Shuyan for less than two months, yet had already become her trusted maid.
Yun Si straightened and silently looked at Qin Ye.
Qin Ye was looking at her as well. Their gazes met, but the atmosphere was no longer as peaceful as before.
One woman had taken a blade for him, while the other had stabbed him. Any normal person would know whom to choose.
“Stop interfering in the investigation into that mysterious person.”
Qin Ye said this, then rose and walked toward the door.
Yun Si remained where she was, not answering him.
Qin Ye reached the door, opened it, then turned back to look at her. “This prince will send people to keep watch. If there is any news, I will tell you as well. Don’t act rashly.”
With that, he walked out.
Yun Si quickly followed him. She saw him say something to Lianxin. After bowing, Lianxin left first, while Qin Ye headed in the opposite direction.
Wasn’t he going to see Lin Shuyan? Why was he walking the other way?
He had agreed to send people to keep watch, so this trip had not been in vain.
Yun Si returned and continued studying her medical arts.
…
Three days later.
Rose Courtyard.
Wearing her nightclothes, Lin Shuyan sat before the dressing table and gently combed her hair. Her bearing was gentle and composed, her expression calm and unhurried.
Three days.
She had risked her life and gained only the opportunity to recuperate at the prince’s residence.
He had not come to see her even once.
What an unfeeling man.
Lin Shuyan looked at her reflection in the bronze mirror. She was young and beautiful, with a dignified bearing. Aside from the slight pallor caused by excessive blood loss, there was nothing about her that made her inferior to any other woman.
Qin Ye had originally agreed to take her as his secondary consort, and she had felt that everything was going far too smoothly. As expected, something had gone wrong.
Although his mother had indeed said when they were children that she wanted Qin Ye to marry her, Qin Ye had never agreed.
She had always known that Qin Ye did not like her.
But so what? If she married Qin Ye, she would one day become the most exalted woman in the world.
In her previous life, she had failed to seize the opportunity. She had become only Qin Ye’s foster sister and married into a noble family. Though the marriage appeared infinitely glorious, it was nothing but an empty shell. The entire family consisted of hypocritical, self-righteous people. Her life after marriage had been unbearably miserable. She had been tormented for half her life, and when she died, there had not been a single person by her side.
She had never expected Heaven to give her the chance to return to the moment when Qin Ye had become utterly disillusioned with the Marquis’s Residence.
And the woman from the Chancellor’s Residence would not appear for another six months.
This was the best opportunity for her to change her fate.
She had calculated the timing and hurried from her ancestral home in Jiangnan to the capital. She arrived just when Qin Ye had been hurt most deeply by Yun Si, and she had taken advantage of his vulnerability.
Although she did not know exactly what had moved Qin Ye, he had finally agreed to marry her as his secondary consort.
He had even purchased a residence for her in the southern part of the city, intending to let her marry into Prince Xiao’s Residence in grand style.
However, the sudden cancellation of the wedding had been completely beyond her expectations.
Lin Shuyan set down her comb. Her fingertips lightly rubbed the edge of the table, and her gaze darkened.
“Yun Si.”
She murmured the name, the corners of her lips lifting into a cold smile.
In her previous life, Yun Si had been nothing more than a foolish abandoned wife. After being thoroughly used by Shen Qian, she had died a miserable death. But why had she suddenly returned to Prince Xiao’s Residence in this life?
Going by the timeline, she should have been dead by now.
Lin Shuyan felt that something was amiss.
She could not simply sit back and wait for death.
But ever since the wedding had been canceled, Qin Ye had sent her many compensatory gifts and then made no further move.
She had no choice but to take a dangerous gamble.
Fortunately, the gamble had been fairly successful. She had been allowed to remain at the prince’s residence to recuperate.
But this was still far from enough.
Her wounds were nearly healed. Once they recovered completely, she would have no excuse to remain.
She had to think of a way to stay at the prince’s residence permanently.
However, the most urgent matter was to find out what had happened to Yun Si. Once she dealt with that woman, she could formulate her next plan.
At the same time.
Inside the medicine room, Yun Si held a silver needle between her fingertips, its cold gleam coated in poison.
Over the past few days, following the records in the medical manual, she had not only prepared several commonly used medicines but had also concocted several poisons deadly enough to kill at the slightest contact with blood.
Soaking the silver needles in these medicines produced different effects—some paralyzed, while others killed.
In the corner, seven or eight needles had already been embedded in a coarse-cloth target.
She retreated three steps and exerted force through her wrist.
Whoosh!
The silver needle shot straight toward the bull’s-eye, missing by only half an inch.
She narrowed her eyes and drew out another needle.
“My lady.”
Lan Xin had come again. Standing at the doorway, she reported the daily happenings in the residence to Yun Si.
“That Miss Lin started giving gifts to everyone in the residence as soon as her wounds improved a little. Even Lu Yu and I received some. My lady, if this continues, everyone in the residence will end up siding with her. What should we do?”
As she listened, Yun Si readjusted her distance and threw another silver needle.
This time, it struck the bull’s-eye dead center.
“My lady!”
Lan Xin called out to Yun Si in exasperation. “Are you listening to me?”
“I heard you.”
Yun Si gave her a reassuring smile. “There’s no need to pay attention to it. What she wants to do is her business. We’ll just let things take their natural course.”
These past few days, even if Yun Si had not wanted to know about Lin Shuyan, she had had no choice.
If Lan Xin did not come to tell her, Lu Yu would.
When Lin Shuyan had arrived in the capital, Yun Si had happened to leave the prince’s residence. Lin Shuyan had come seeking Qin Ye’s protection, and when she first arrived, she had stayed at the residence for some time. Everyone there had liked her very much.
In the end, she had been unable to marry into the residence, and the servants could not help feeling disappointed.
Moreover, the servants had already disliked Yun Si as their Princess Consort. Because of this incident, their resentment toward her had grown even stronger. It was only because of their prince’s attitude that they did not dare show it too openly.
Yun Si understood this very well herself.
But whom could she blame?
She could blame only herself for the many foolish things she had done in the past. Her attitude toward Qin Ye had been abominable, and she had never shown the servants even the slightest kindness. It was only natural that they disliked her.
She had dug the pit herself. Now that she had to face this situation, Yun Si had nothing to say.
Instead of currying favor with others, it was better to improve herself.
“My lady, aren’t you worried at all?”
Seeing Yun Si’s reaction, Lan Xin grew anxious. “Although that Miss Lin really is a good person, she’ll affect your position… Why don’t Lu Yu and I think of some way to drive her out?”
Yun Si asked, “You think she’s a good person?”
Lan Xin hesitated, but still nodded. “She really is.”
After speaking, she secretly glanced at Yun Si. Only when she saw that Yun Si was not angry did she relax.
That afternoon, Yun Si rested for half an hour.
After taking medicine for the past two days and soaking in medicinal baths every night, she felt much lighter.
After waking from her nap, she was more refreshed than she had ever been.
Lu Yu was waiting outside the door. When Yun Si came out, she told her another piece of news.
“My lady, do you know why His Highness went to the palace on the night he was assassinated?”
Yun Si shook her head. “No.”
“I just passed by the training grounds and heard it from several guards. It turns out that His Highness didn’t report your marital separation to the palace. But someone leaked the news and passed it on to His Majesty.”
He had… not told the palace?
Then the imperial register…
Yun Si’s heart tightened slightly.
Lu Yu continued, her voice filled with both anger and worry.
“They say someone accused His Highness of hiding the daughter of a convicted official in the residence. His Majesty summoned His Highness to the palace for questioning. I don’t know how His Highness explained it, but in the end, His Majesty merely reprimanded him and made him kneel outside the Imperial Study for more than two hours before allowing him to leave the palace.”
After hearing this, a ripple disturbed Yun Si’s tranquil heart.
She did not need to think to know how much pressure he had borne to secure the safe shelter she now possessed.
He was always like this.
Giving silently, asking for nothing in return.
That evening, Yun Si deliberately dressed and made up carefully before carrying a pot of wine to the main courtyard.
Qin Ye had been busy inspecting the newly manufactured repeating crossbows. Over the past two years, several batches had already been found to have quality problems.
These matters should have been supervised by Shen Qian, the Vice Minister of War. But Shen Qian had been missing for several days, and the Minister of War had pushed the blame onto the craftsmen. Since the matter remained unresolved, the emperor had been furious.
No one dared to take on such a difficult problem.
At a time like this, Qin Ye had taken over the troublesome mess.
“Your Highness, there’s another problem with the mechanism of this batch of repeating crossbows.”
Inside the study, Chief Mu handed over a crossbow mechanism, his tone grave. “Just like the batch from last month, the string jams after thirty shots.”
Qin Ye accepted the mechanism. His fingertip brushed over the newly cast copper component at its center, and his gaze gradually turned cold.
The quality of this batch of copper was clearly wrong.
It should have been the finest red copper, yet impurities had been mixed into it.
He was too familiar with this method. Back then, on the streets of Jinzhou, those unscrupulous blacksmiths had cut corners in exactly the same way.
“Have you investigated the source of this copper?”
“I have.” Chief Mu lowered his voice. “The copper was purchased from a mine belonging to the Shen Family. But there was nothing wrong with it before it was transported into the Military Equipment Bureau. The problem still lies… in the finished products.”
That was strange.
“Perhaps we’re investigating in the wrong direction.”
A man in black sitting in the corner suddenly spoke. “Mu Ze, stop investigating the copper. Over the next few days, arrange for several informants to enter the Military Equipment Bureau and keep an eye on the craftsmen.”
“Mr. Qu, you mean the problem still lies with the craftsmen?”
“Whether it does or not, we’ll know only after investigating.”
“Understood. I’ll see to it at once.”
Chief Mu was about to leave when Qin Ye noticed the bloodstains on his collar and frowned. “Your wound hasn’t healed yet? Have Doctor Ji prescribe you some good medicine when you return.”
“I’m perfectly fine, Your Highness. There’s no need to worry.”
After Chief Mu left, Qu Yun also stood up, yawned, and patted his backside as he prepared to leave.
“I’m exhausted. The new shop in Liangzhou is opening, the restaurant in Jinzhou is being renovated, and the capital’s newspapers also need my approval. I’ve been rushing back and forth every day and haven’t had a proper night’s sleep in days. Unless the sky is falling, Your Highness, don’t come disturb me.”
The two men left one after the other and encountered Yun Si at the door.
Chief Mu pretended not to see her and walked straight past.
Qu Yun, on the other hand, cheerfully greeted her. “The Princess Consort is here. Go on in.”
Yun Si nodded at him. “Take care, Mr. Qu.”
Qu Yun stood there, completely bewildered.
Why was the Princess Consort being so polite today?
Yun Si entered the study with a smile and walked straight to the desk. Looking at Qin Ye, she asked, “Your Highness, are you finished with your work?”
“Mm.”
Qin Ye’s expression was indifferent. “You came at just the right time. I wanted to discuss that mysterious person with you.”
Yun Si’s gaze fell upon his nearly flawless face.
Ever since she had returned to the residence, he had always been cold and distant, leaving her deeply frustrated.
If he truly did not care about her, she could turn around and leave without hesitation. But clearly…
A trace of wicked intent suddenly rose in Yun Si’s heart.
“No rush.”
She set the wine pot aside, leaned forward, and lightly touched the back of his hand with her fingertips. Following the line of his wrist bone, she slowly moved upward, finally stopping at his taut jaw. Her soft lips drew near his ear, her breath fragrant as orchids.
“Your Highness.”
Qin Ye’s eyes darkened, and his body stiffened slightly.
He suddenly caught Yun Si’s slender wrist. His palm was burning hot, yet his strength remained restrained as he pushed her slightly away. “Yun Si…”
“You were the one who provoked me first.”
Yun Si gave him no chance to speak. She brazenly turned an old score against him.
“You drugged me and ruined my reputation. What? It’s only been a year, and you no longer want to take responsibility?”
“…”
Qin Ye’s entire body stiffened, his eyes dark and obscure.
After a long while, he said in a low voice, “You were the one who refused to let this prince take responsibility.”
A trace of bitterness spread through Yun Si’s heart, but none of it showed on her face. Her eyes shifted, captivating without her even realizing it.
“I was wrong. Do you still want me, Your Highness?”
This was the experience she had summed up after spending a year with Qin Ye in her previous life.
Be frank. Be direct.
Qin Ye stared at her delicate, alluring face. His gaze was dark and burning.
Their scorching breaths mingled. Wherever his gaze swept over her, Yun Si felt as though her skin were about to catch fire, and a faint tremor passed through her heart.
This position was very uncomfortable.
The desk between them was straining her waist.
Just as Yun Si began to retreat slightly, Qin Ye pulled her close again.
“You’ve finished teasing me and now you want to run?”