Linzhu Courtyard, study.
The daytime heat gradually faded away.
Candlelight filtered through the window paper, diffusing a circle of warm yellow into the night.
A unique dampness lingered in the air as the evening breeze slipped through the half-open window, dispersing the faint sulfurous scent and leaving only the fresh aroma of bamboo leaves.
A beauty as cold as jade sat primly behind the rosewood desk, her gaze fixed on the letter in her hand, her thin lips pressed slightly together. Zhao Huairen had just risen from the hot spring not long ago; her ink-black hair was not tightly bound but loosely gathered at the back with a plain silk ribbon, the tips still dripping with moisture.
The candle flame flickered gently in the lampstand.
It occasionally crackled, casting her shadow onto the bookshelves.
“Lan Qin wrote in this letter that during the time we were away from Yanjing, the Hejia Princess often went to Zhaixiang Tower to cause them trouble.” Her fingertips unconsciously rubbed the letter as Zhao Huairen looked up at Zhuyu, about to speak—
But she noticed Zhuyu staring at the porcelain bottle on the corner of the desk, her brows furrowed tightly.
“In the past, the antidote was secretly delivered on the first of every month, but today the Emperor specially rewarded it to me in front of Meng Cheng precisely so that Meng Cheng would know,” the edges of the letter crumpled in her grasp as Zhao Huairen paused for a moment before continuing, “that my life is under his control, and I can never… fully devote myself to the Crown Prince.”
In this way,
She could only continue to be a lone minister.
“Yet misfortune harbors fortune, and fortune harbors misfortune. He did this to isolate me, but I can also turn it to my advantage.” The woman curved her lips faintly, speaking as lightly as drifting clouds and flowing water. “Meng Cheng knows I’m working for the Emperor, so in the future, when I collaborate with the Meng family, it will be much more convenient.”
Unable to become a trusted confidant of the Crown Prince Party,
She would turn disaster into fortune and carve out a new path from adversity.
Even a high official like Meng Cheng, the Mid-Rank Scribe, needed to request an audience in advance to enter the palace and meet the Emperor; he couldn’t see him whenever he wanted, let alone get imperial approval for every matter.
Her life was in the Emperor’s hands.
In Meng Cheng’s eyes—she wouldn’t dare betray the Emperor easily.
The court situation was ever-changing; as long as she made good use of this, perhaps… it could play an unexpected role.
Zhuyu listened as the woman before her spoke lightly of the grievances and targeting she would face, but it made her heart feel both stifled and heavy. She clenched her palms tightly and couldn’t help but gesture: The medicinal bath can only temporarily suppress the poison; it can’t cure it completely. Shizi…
“The Jade Breath Pills have been delivered on time, and he still doesn’t know that nowadays, just ten pills a month are enough for me.” Zhao Huairen picked up the porcelain bottle from the corner of the desk and stored it in a hidden compartment, soothing her. “Besides… isn’t Shijun preparing an antidote for me? You don’t need to worry.”
If the antidote were that easy to prepare,
Shattered Jade Powder… wouldn’t be a palace secret poison.
Zhuyu’s eyes were filled with disapproval, but she was helpless against Zhao Huairen and could only silently clench her fists.
“It’s getting late—”
The bolted courtyard gate suddenly rang with knocks, the “thud thud thud” echoing clearly in the night, shattering the silence and startling several dark green bamboo leaves to the ground.
“I’m back!”
Zhichun recognized the familiar voice.
She slowed her steps and reluctantly headed toward the courtyard gate.
“Extinguish the candles.”
Zhuyu, who had turned her head to look out the window, heard this and blinked, seemingly not understanding Zhao Huairen’s meaning.
“I… don’t want to see her right now.”
Had the Shizi quarreled with Young Master Yan?
Even if she avoided her now, they would still meet in the morning.
Zhuyu didn’t understand, but she nodded and extinguished the candle flames as instructed.
The moment the courtyard gate opened,
All the candlelight in the study had been snuffed out.
The pretty little cat, cooped up in the carriage for several days, looked a bit disheveled, but those black, glossy eyes were clearer than before, as if she had found some treasure—the depths brimming with shattered starlight.
“Where’s the Shizi?” Yan Yiqing asked before even stepping inside.
Zhichun yawned and said, “Young Master Yan, don’t you check the time… The Shizi must have gone to bed long ago.”
The evening breeze seemed to affirm Zhichun’s words.
In the pitch-black night like ink, only the side room still had candlelight.
Yan Yiqing stared at the dimly shrouded study, wrinkling her perky nose, her eyes full of resentment. She couldn’t help but grumble inwardly: I’ve been so excited I couldn’t sleep for two nights, but Huairen… directly tossed me to the clouds beyond the ninth heaven.
“Miss Yan…” Zhichun yawned again as she asked, “If Young Master Yan has no other instructions, this servant will head back to her room?”
“Go, go.”
Yan Yiqing waved her off perfunctorily.
Zhichun quickly entered her room, but she herself stood motionless in the courtyard.
With candlelight present, the moonlight wasn’t obvious, but without that warm yellow glow, the cool moonlight revealed its color. Zhuyu stood by her Shizi’s side and, borrowing the hazy moonlight, barely made out her expression.
Her fine brows were furrowed as tightly as possible.
Her back was rigid, like she was facing a great enemy.
Taking in Zhao Huairen’s reaction, Zhuyu tilted her head, unable to fathom why her Shizi was doing this.
If she cared so much,
Why avoid her?
The faint footsteps were amplified endlessly by the night. As Yan Yiqing drew closer, Zhao Huairen’s palms unconsciously tightened.
Fortunately, in the end—
She did not knock on this door.
After about a quarter of an hour, once the woman’s footsteps had completely faded away, Zhao Huairen relaxed her breathing and relit a very thin candle.
The flickering firelight mirrored her troubled heart.
Anxious and uneasy, with nowhere to hide in the night.
“Zhuyu, go back to your room and rest.” Zhao Huairen’s phoenix eyes drooped, her long lashes trembling slightly, her voice like bamboo leaves blown down by the wind.
Hearing this, Zhuyu hesitated with her gaze before nodding.
The person involved was bewildered, while the bystander saw clearly.
Why was the Shizi avoiding her?
Young Master Yan clearly had feelings for the Shizi.
A thousand thoughts flashed through her mind. Zhuyu had already reached the door but couldn’t help stopping. She had been by the Shizi’s side for so many years, yet the smiles on the Shizi’s face during this period with Yan Yiqing outnumbered all the previous ones combined.
Her gaze firmed in an instant.
Even if it would anger the Shizi, she had to try.
Seeing her turn back, a trace of doubt flashed in Zhao Huairen’s eyes as she softly asked, “What’s wrong?”
Zhuyu took two deep breaths, lowered her head to avoid Zhao Huairen’s face, and steeled herself to gesture: Shizi, can’t you tell? Young Master Yan likes you.
She hadn’t expected Zhuyu to bring this up with her.
Even more surprising was how bluntly she asked.
“You…” A flush instantly colored her fair cheeks. Zhao Huairen tried to stay composed, but her voice still trembled slightly. “Zhuyu, why… why would you suddenly ask about this?”
Zhuyu gestured again: So, the Shizi knew all along?
The study fell so quiet that the drop of a needle would be heard. Zhao Huairen didn’t answer verbally, and Zhuyu didn’t press but also didn’t leave. A breeze slipped into the room until the feeble candle flame swayed for the third time. Then the woman parted her lips lightly: “Mm, I knew long ago.”
They had already bowed to the hall and become wedded.
Since they liked each other, what was the Shizi hesitating about?
Just as Zhuyu raised her hand to gesture, before she could, Zhao Huairen resolved her doubt: “But… I’m a woman, and the person she likes is ‘Zhao Huaijin.'”
A complex shadow flashed in her eyes.
Only upon hearing Zhao Huairen mention it did Zhuyu realize this issue still lingered.
With the initial reluctance to broach the subject overcome, Zhao Huairen pressed her lips and softly confided her heart: “Moreover, Young Master Yan… still has someone else in her heart.”
Zhuyu frowned and gestured: Someone else?
“She carries that person’s token close to her body, and on the day of the wedding… she cried heartbrokenly because of that person.”
In the silent night,
The woman’s voice was like continuous fine rain by a stream.
The pattering droplets vanished the instant they fell into the stream, bits of grievance like fine sand grains slowly piling into a mountain in her heart.
That problem, she truly couldn’t resolve.
But—
The issue of someone else was easy to solve.
Sensing Zhao Huairen’s sadness, Zhuyu didn’t even blink as she gestured: It’s fine, I’ll kill that person.
A glint flashed in her light brown eyes.
But soon, she realized how dark and terrifying that sounded.
“No, she would hate me, and if that person died…” Zhao Huairen gently shook her head. Her fist was clenched so tightly that her nails left red marks on her tender palm; the faint pain made her swallow the rest of her words.
A dead person would linger in the living’s heart.
No matter how hard she tried then, it would be useless.
As Zhao Huairen’s most capable subordinate, Zhuyu knew every expression of her Shizi intimately. She realized that compared to the shackles of identity, her Shizi—seemed more troubled by Young Master Yan having someone else in her heart.
Seeing Zhao Huairen’s attitude wasn’t firm, Zhuyu looked at her and gestured again: This subordinate will handle it cleanly. Shizi, rest assured—no one will find out.
In the dim, unclear light,
Her eyes carried a bewitching allure.
“Go back and rest.” Zhao Huairen averted her gaze, pressed her lips, her phoenix eyes veiled in a misty haze. “Don’t think about this anymore. I don’t know who the other person in her heart is; she hasn’t told me.”
Can’t kill, and can’t kill.
The woman…
The Shizi was indeed a woman.
Both paths completely blocked, Zhuyu’s expression turned frustrated. Only now did she finally understand why Zhao Huairen was like this—because she was powerless, unable to do anything about the problems.
Her chin nearly drooped to the ground.
For the first time, Zhuyu felt so useless.
“But right now, she likes me.” Zhao Huairen suddenly spoke, as if consoling Zhuyu or more like consoling herself. “I deceived her, but she has someone else in her heart… doesn’t that make us even?”
Could such a thing be casually evened out? Zhuyu didn’t know, but Zhao Huairen seemed convinced, so she nodded vigorously.
The precarious candle flame swayed back and forth.
Nearly extinguished by the wind, yet it burned even more brightly.
After Zhuyu left, Zhao Huairen sat alone behind the desk, her cool phoenix eyes reflecting the dancing firelight. Only when the wax pooled into a red mass on the desk did she snap out of her reverie, blow out the candle, and rise from the chair.
Avoidance solved nothing.
But right now—
She truly didn’t know how to face Qingqing.
The night breeze occasionally rustled the bamboo leaves, the chaotic whispers now distant, now near, accompanied by indistinct chirps of insects. Her figure flashed through her heart once more.
In the hazy chaos,
Zhao Huairen couldn’t distinguish dream from reality.
“Has the Shizi gone to sleep?”
Regular knocks sounded at the door. No response came from inside, but Yan Yiqing didn’t turn to leave; instead, she continued knocking.
It seemed polite and concerned.
In truth, she was determined to wake her up.
