Chapter 42

All eyes turned sharply to Min Qing, who trailed at the rear.

“Princess! It wasn’t this servant—it really wasn’t!”

Min Qing hurried forward and knelt at Nangong Yunshang’s feet.

“The Prince Consort must have remembered wrong.”

Tao Chuyi spoke indignantly and immediately jumped to her feet. “It was her—I’m sure of it! Sister, it really was her.”

Everyone knew that Min Qing was no ordinary servant girl; she carried some weight in the Princess’s presence. Tao Chuyi, by contrast, was the newly minted Prince Consort and had won the Princess’s favor.

For a moment, no one dared make a sound, uncertain which side to believe.

Nangong Yunshang’s gaze had already turned icy. She looked at Min Qing and shook her head in disappointment.

“The Prince Consort would never lie. Men! Escort Min Qing back to the Princess Mansion and place her under strict guard.”

“Yes!”

Min Qing’s cries for mercy grew fainter and fainter until they vanished entirely.

The Dali Temple guards split into two groups. One escorted Miss Yang’s head away, while the other carried Second Miss Qiao’s body off to question Censor Qiao.

Seeing his own daughter dead at last, Censor Qiao finally confessed the whole truth. A’feng had been Second Miss Qiao’s childhood sweetheart, but he had died unexpectedly two years prior. Second Miss Qiao had fallen for a secret technique peddled by someone from the Southern Frontier, and that had led her to commit her terrible crime.

As for the whereabouts of that Southern Frontier man, no one in the Qiao family knew anymore. They had heard of the secret technique but never imagined it would be such a dehumanizing method.

Nangong Yunshang folded the letter closed, her brows knitting in deep thought. Could the Southern Frontier’s influence already be seeping into Jingyun Capital City, step by step? She wondered whether any of this connected back to the Southern Frontier Imperial Physician in the palace.

“Sister!”

Tao Chuyi had changed into clean clothes and no longer looked grubby and disheveled. She dashed over swiftly, her ponytail swinging wildly from side to side like a little snow rabbit’s tail.

Nangong Yunshang quickly burned the letter and pulled her to her side. “You didn’t hurt yourself anywhere, did you?”

“No, I’m perfectly fine.”

Tao Chuyi shook her head vigorously. Her lively, full-of-vigor appearance made it clear she was unharmed.

Before long, Min Qing was marched into the study, trussed up like a parcel, a single strand of hair dangling over her temple. Her former poise and glory had utterly vanished.

Kneeling alone before the desk, she slowly raised her head, her eyes brimming with tears.

“Princess, Princess—why believe him over this servant? How long have I served you? How long has he?”

The resentment in Min Qing’s eyes instantly twisted into pure hatred the moment it fell on Tao Chuyi. Had she not been bound, she surely would have lunged forward to tear and bite.

Yet Nangong Yunshang remained entirely unmoved by the sight.

“Some people reveal their true character after just a few days. Others—even after years—hide behind a false facade. I believe you bear me no ill will, but I also believe you meant to kill the Prince Consort.”

Tao Chuyi slapped the table at her side, borrowing Nangong Yunshang’s authority to throw her weight around. “Right—she did it on purpose.”

Min Qing suddenly burst into laughter, tears streaming down her face amid the mad cackles. She looked utterly deranged.

“Yes, this servant wanted him dead! He deserved it! A fool like that—how could he possibly be worthy of Your Highness the Princess?”

Nangong Yunshang studied her carefully, clearly not taken in by the outburst.

“Even if it hadn’t been him today as Prince Consort, you still would have tried to harm whoever held the title. Why?”

She watched the woman intently. She remembered taking Min Qing in when the girl was just thirteen; five years had passed since then. Nangong Yunshang realized she no longer truly understood her.

“Why? Why…”

The light faded from Min Qing’s eyes—especially when she saw Nangong Yunshang and Tao Chuyi’s hands clasped tightly together.

“Because this servant was jealous! This servant met the Princess first—so why should you end up with some stinking man in the end? Why couldn’t it be me? This servant thought even becoming a female consort would be enough, but the jealousy ate away at me. The kinder the Princess was to this fool, the more this servant wanted him dead!”

The bystanders didn’t quite grasp it all, but Tao Chuyi understood perfectly: Min Qing had wanted to become the Prince Consort too.

No chance of that. She was the Prince Consort.

Tao Chuyi jabbed a finger at her. “In your dreams!”

“How can you be so blind? No matter whom the Princess chooses as Prince Consort, it has nothing to do with you.”

Yinghong couldn’t hold back her exasperation any longer and scolded her outright.

The others were stunned, but Nangong Yunshang—party to the matter herself—was equally shocked. She had never imagined that someone she had personally groomed would develop such feelings for her, let alone another woman.

Without thinking, she glanced over at Tao Chuyi. And what did she herself feel for the Prince Consort?

After a long moment, Nangong Yunshang closed her eyes, then opened them again. Her gaze was now resolute, hesitation banished.

“For five years of loyalty, this Princess will spare your life. But you turned a deaf ear to my warnings. The Princess Mansion can no longer use you. Today, your martial arts will be crippled, and you will be exiled to the barren wilds. From this day forward, you are cut off from the Princess Mansion. Whatever becomes of you is your own doing. Consider yourself fortunate that the Prince Consort emerged unharmed today; otherwise, not even a hundred deaths could absolve you.”

Yinghong advanced step by step. Only then did true panic seize Min Qing. Even bound as she was, she scrambled backward, grinding her knees raw without noticing the pain.

“Princess—no! You won’t do this to this servant!”

At that heart-wrenching scream, Nangong Yunshang covered Tao Chuyi’s eyes. But Tao Chuyi disobediently pried a gap open to peek.

She looks like she’s in a lot of pain? Hard to tell—better look closer.

Tao Chuyi squinted for a better view. The instant Yinghong withdrew, Min Qing slumped to the floor like a puddle of mud, her face deathly pale and utterly motionless.

Tao Chuyi didn’t let go of Nangong Yunshang’s hand until the servants had carried her away.

“Sister, don’t be mad.”

Nangong Yunshang looked at her, a smile softening her lips. “Little fool—you’re the one who should be angry.”

Tao Chuyi ducked her head and mumbled, “I’m not a little fool. I’m a big clever one.”

“Alright, alright—our Chuyi is a big clever one.”

Nangong Yunshang reached out and ruffled her hair with easy affection. It felt far nicer than petting Fifteen.

Tao Chuyi was perfectly amenable, leaning right into it to invite more pets.

“Little fool or not, I’m happy to be Sister’s one and only little fool.”

Nangong Yunshang froze for an instant, then her smile grew even warmer.

The Dali Temple guards inspected Second Miss Qiao’s corpse multiple times. They could only conclude that the killer’s techniques resembled those of the previous expert hits but were distinctly different. With more than one assailant still at large, Dali Temple went on even higher alert. Enemies lurking in the shadows were no easy foes.

In the aftermath, Elegant Poetry Academy suspended classes for a full overhaul. Tao Chuyi, naturally, was off the hook and could sleep in to her heart’s content.

Early spring brought a mix of warmth and lingering chill, but the peach blossoms in the garden had begun to bloom. They weren’t at their peak yet, but the grounds brimmed with spring color all the same.

Tao Chuyi plucked a peach branch and dashed all around the garden, exhausting the servants in her wake while she laughed and played without a care.

Nangong Yunshang watched from the doorway, unable to keep herself from smiling along. With Tao Chuyi around the mansion, life brimmed with far more delight.

Tao Chuyi finally tired herself out from running and looped back for lunch. Free of academy duties, she felt utterly refreshed, her appetite keen.

“Is the Prince Consort done with the academy for good?” Yinghong asked offhand as she laid out the dishes.

Tao Chuyi’s ears perked up, though her mouth stayed busy chewing.

Nangong Yunshang picked out morsels for her bowl, coaxing her to eat heartily.

“One more set of bowls and chopsticks is nothing—the Princess Mansion can well afford it. No need to go. As long as she’s healthy, that’s enough. A bit of silliness suits her fine; I don’t expect her to achieve anything grand.”

Yinghong murmured an acknowledgment laced with meaning, thinking to herself that the Princess certainly hadn’t sung that tune before.

Hearing she truly wouldn’t have to return, Tao Chuyi’s grin threatened to split her face.

“I’m easy to keep—I don’t eat much.”

Yinghong glanced into her bowl and couldn’t help a silent scoff. Who had wolfed down those three big bowls, then? Fifteen?

No one dared point it out, though. They all indulged her—who could argue with the Third Princess’s current favorite?

Tao Chuyi ate until she was stuffed, patted her belly, and leaned back with a satisfied sigh.

Nangong Yunshang watched her, her own eyes curving into happy crescent moons.

“Full up?”

“Stuffed to the gills.”

Tao Chuyi inched stealthily toward her until they sat pressed snugly together.

“Sister, when are we going to consummate our marriage?”

The ever-elegant Third Princess suddenly fell into a fit of coughing, spewing grains of rice across the room as red flooded from her ears down to her neck.

“What’s wrong with the Princess?”

Yinghong thumped her back to help her catch her breath, all the while shooting Tao Chuyi a glare. What earth-shattering nonsense had the Prince Consort spouted this time?

Tao Chuyi blinked in wide-eyed innocence. Why such an over-the-top reaction from Sister?

Once she had composed herself, Nangong Yunshang evened out her breathing.

“I’ll have someone build us a round house later on.”

Tao Chuyi pouted in clear displeasure and tugged at her sleeve, shaking it. “That’s not how it goes in the storybooks Yinghong gave me. It’s supposed to be like this—and like that!”

“Yinghong?”

Nangong Yunshang gritted her teeth, her eyes sliding sideways.

Yinghong had already bolted for the door. “This servant will summon someone to clear the table—haha, yes, the dishes!”

Nangong Yunshang turned back, only to meet a pair of clear, imploring big eyes gazing up at her beseechingly.

“Well… you’re still too young. We’ll wait until…”

In a flash too quick to dodge, Tao Chuyi leaned in and planted a peck on her cheek.

“I’ve grown up now.”

“Grown up or not—no.”

With that, Nangong Yunshang fled the scene.

Tao Chuyi stared after her in bewilderment. “Sister? Sister!”

During her afternoon nap, Nangong Yunshang finally snatched a moment of peace. The child wasn’t so easy to fool anymore—someone had clearly led her astray.

As she drifted in that hazy space between sleep and wakefulness, Tao Chuyi slipped into the bedroom like a thief in the night. She tiptoed across the floor, her hands clutched mouse-like in front of her.

“Sister? Sister?”

With no response from Nangong Yunshang, Tao Chuyi plopped confidently onto the edge of the bed. She leaned in close, staring intently as if appraising some priceless antique.

Sister’s eyebrows were so pretty. Her nose was pretty. Her mouth was pretty too. All of it was hers.

She leaned in until she couldn’t possibly get any closer—then Nangong Yunshang’s eyes snapped open, locking gazes with her.

“Tao Chuyi, what are you doing?”

Caught red-handed, Tao Chuyi backed away guiltily, only to flash a wide grin.

“I want a kissy-kiss!”

“You…”

Nangong Yunshang was worn down by her persistence and had no choice but to offer her cheek. But Tao Chuyi refused; she demanded her lips.

“Tao Chuyi, don’t push your luck.”

“No way! I want to consummate!”

Tao Chuyi had no sense of shame. She shouted at the top of her lungs, as if she wanted her voice to echo through the entire Princess Mansion. Nangong Yunshang still cared about her dignity, however, and quickly clamped a hand over her mouth.

“Don’t shout.”

“Mmph mmph mmph…”

Nangong Yunshang let out a sigh and released her. “One kiss, and we’ll call that consummating. Got it?”

Tao Chuyi perked up at once, nodding eagerly. Moments later, she watched as Nangong Yunshang touched a finger to her own lips, then pointed at Tao Chuyi’s.

“There. Done.”

Nangong Yunshang said it with a perfectly straight face.

Tao Chuyi stared in a daze. That wasn’t anything like what she had imagined!

“That doesn’t count! That doesn’t count!”

She leaned in close to Nangong Yunshang again, fixating on the pretty pink tint of her lips.

“Sister, did you sneak some candy behind my back?” How else would they be pink?

Nangong Yunshang’s heart suddenly skipped a beat. “That’s not candy. It’s lip rouge.”

Tao Chuyi blinked. “Is it yummy?”

She leaned in for a taste.