Chapter 58: The Rift – Playing with Fire and Burning Oneself

“ Heir Apparent.” Zhichun picked up her skirt hem and ran into the courtyard. As soon as she approached the study, her footsteps slowed down.

Why was Yan Yiqing in the study again?

And this time, she stood even closer to the Heir Apparent.

Zhichun’s arrival made Zhao Huairen breathe a sigh of relief. She raised her eyes to look at Zhichun and asked softly, “Has someone been sent from Ningfu Residence?”

“How did the Heir Apparent know?” Zhichun blinked and said, “Madam requests your presence. Yu Qiu is already waiting outside our courtyard.”

The commotion they had caused before the Emperor.

Her mother was only asking now, which was much later than she had expected.

A fleeting, inscrutable glint passed through her eyes. Zhao Huairen rose from the official’s hat chair, but Yan Yiqing, who was blocking her path—had no intention of stepping aside.

“Does Vice Minister Yan have any other matters?”

Yan Yiqing clenched her hands hanging at her sides and squeezed out through gritted teeth, her tone laced with sarcasm, “Rest assured, I wouldn’t dare block the Heir Apparent’s way.”

The emotions in the woman’s voice were too intense.

The moment Zhao Huairen heard it, she furrowed her brows.

Yan Yiqing cast a meaningful glance at Zhao Huairen, took a deep breath, and walked out of the study without looking back.

Gazing at her indignant retreating figure.

Zhao Huairen’s thin lips pressed together slightly as she silently withdrew her gaze.

Unable to contain her curiosity, Zhichun asked softly, “Did the Heir Apparent quarrel with Vice Minister Yan?”

“No.” Zhao Huairen’s brows and eyes were clear and distant, her gentle tone like moonlight reflected in a pond. “Let’s go. Don’t keep Mother waiting.”

Well-versed in storybooks, Zhichun blinked rapidly.

She could tell something was off between them, but in the end… she said nothing.

…

The hour of shen had passed, leaving only lingering heat in the air.

Dressed in an indigo skirt, Yu Qiu waited outside the courtyard. When she saw Zhao Huairen emerge from Linzhu Courtyard, she curtsied and said, “This servant greets the Heir Apparent. Madam has set out dinner in the main courtyard, specially to see the Heir Apparent off.”

“Mm.” Zhao Huairen nodded lightly.

The relationship between Madam and the Heir Apparent fluctuated between distant and close, making the servants of Linzhu Courtyard and Ningfu Residence interact awkwardly as well. Zhichun stood at the entrance of Linzhu Courtyard, her mind in turmoil, unsure if she should follow.

In the few seconds she hesitated.

The mistress and servant had already walked some distance away.

“What are you spacing out for by yourself?” Yan Yiqing, changed into lighter clothes, walked out from the main room.

Hearing her voice, Zhichun snapped back to reality. She dejectedly walked to the stone steps and sat down, propping her chin with both hands, her face screaming listlessness.

“I heard it all,” Yan Yiqing sat beside her and yawned. “It’s just dinner in the main residence. What’s there to be sad about?”

The little squirrel puffed out her cheeks worriedly. “Vice Minister Yan, you wouldn’t understand.”

“How so?” Yan Yiqing idly picked at the callus on her fingertip and replied absentmindedly, “Even a tigress doesn’t eat her cubs. It’s just one dinner—could Madam Rui really devour her?”

If she could sit down to eat with her own mother.

She would willingly climb mountains of knives or plunge into seas of fire.

There might be some rift between Huairen and her mother. Though she didn’t know the specifics, the bond between mother and daughter was thicker than water. As for rifts, she herself had bickered fiercely with her mother many times in childhood.

Just from Yan Yiqing’s expression, Zhichun could guess what she was thinking. She stood up huffily. “You know nothing!”

“Of course,” Yan Yiqing pursed her lips. “After all, she never tells me anything.”

People outside Linzhu Courtyard would never understand! Everyone thought Madam was just a bit strict with the Heir Apparent. Even girls like Qingyue and Yueqing pitied the Heir Apparent, but it was only lip service—they didn’t think she had suffered much injustice.

Just because the Heir Apparent didn’t like to complain.

Did that mean the grievances she endured should be ignored by others?

Zhichun clenched her fists. “How do you expect the Heir Apparent to tell you?”

“That Madam treats her badly?”

“To badmouth her own mother in front of you?”

Not understanding why Zhichun was suddenly so agitated, Yan Yiqing pressed her vermilion lips together and explained gently, “I have a stubborn temperament and often clashed with my mother in my youth. Back then…”

She paused before continuing, “In short, there’s no rift between mother and child that can’t be overcome.”

“Has your mother ever hit you?”

“When I was young—”

Before Yan Yiqing could finish, Zhichun interjected, “Has she ever punished you with torture?”

“Torture?” Yan Yiqing frowned at her.

“Would she make you kneel in the freezing snow?” Zhichun clutched her sleeve, her voice choking but still clear. “The Heir Apparent isn’t stubborn like you. She does so well, never once defying Madam, yet all these years, she’s never received a kind look.”

“The Heir Apparent doesn’t want me to worry. Every time she’s punished… it’s Zhuyu who applies the medicine for her.”

“But even without seeing it myself, I know full well the Heir Apparent must be badly hurt. Otherwise, why wouldn’t she even let me glance at it?”

Sharp icicles slammed heavily into her heart.

Her self-righteous assumptions turned into poison-coated blades at this moment.

Bewilderment overflowed from her dark peach-blossom eyes. Yan Yiqing suddenly found it hard to breathe. She held the same posture for a long time before finally murmuring with trembling lips, “Those injuries on her body… were from Wang Jinlan?”

“How did you know the Heir Apparent has injuries?” Zhichun wrinkled her nose.

The cracks on fine jade slowly surfaced in her mind.

Her throat tightened. Yan Yiqing wanted to curse but couldn’t make a sound.

Without pressing further on when Yan Yiqing had seen the Heir Apparent’s injuries, and seeing her struck as if by lightning, Zhichun felt a surge of satisfaction. “Hmph, and just now you said there’s no rift that can’t be overcome.”

Their first meeting in childhood.

She had been as gentle as a cloud.

These past few months together.

The cloud turned to ice, but the warmth in her bones hadn’t changed.

Wrapped in soft silk at the tip of her heart, she approached it carefully—like sacred snow from a divine mountain, so precious that even touching it felt like an offense. Cold jade, yet—wounded by her closest kin.

“Why treat her like this?”

The sudden killing intent made Zhichun’s heart race. She stepped back two paces, her eyes filled with confusion: Was Yan Yiqing mad? She had been a mere bystander moments ago, now she looked like a mother eagle whose chick had been stolen.

Zhichun distanced herself from Yan Yiqing, wariness in her eyes. She turned away. “If I knew the reason, I’d have found a way to fix it long ago.”

A breeze rustled through, the wisteria tree in the courtyard now bare.

When Zhichun turned back.

The woman before her had already vanished.

–

The sunset’s afterglow gently fell on the crape myrtle in Ningfu Residence, dusting the faint pink petals with pale gold, heralding the approaching nightfall.

Yan Yiqing had carried out plenty of assassinations.

But climbing walls to eavesdrop was a first in her life.

Fuming as she left Linzhu Courtyard, she arrived at Ningfu Residence only to realize she had no standing to stand up for Huairen right now.

Why did she know about the injuries?

She had peeked at her bathing and discovered her true gender as a woman.

Given her understanding of Huairen, she’d probably figure out a watertight plan to “kill her wife” in the blink of an eye. But if she turned and left, what if something happened? She’d spend the whole night tossing and turning.

Her movements lighter than a cat’s, her figure melted into the shadows on the rooftop. Yan Yiqing crouched stealthily, her cheek pressed against the tiles—but she still couldn’t hear clearly.

“You’re all dismissed.” Wang Jinlan sat on the soft couch and said indifferently.

“Yes.” Yu Qiu led the maids away. Mama Zhang was last, glancing at Zhao Huairen with unspoken words.

A quiet atmosphere flowed through the room.

The two closest people in the world.

So near in body, yet separated by an unbridgeable chasm in heart.

Zhao Huairen knelt on the cushion, her long lashes lowered, her light brown eyes calm as still waters.

With only mother and daughter left in the room, Wang Jinlan didn’t beat around the bush. She asked directly, “What are you going to Yumu County for?”

“My duties were mishandled, and His Majesty wishes to punish me. It coincided with the Vice Minister of the Central Secretariat entering the palace for an audience,” Zhao Huairen’s voice was clear and composed, her demeanor unflustered. “The Ministry of Revenue’s deficit was to resolve the Meng family’s difficulties. Volunteering for disaster relief in Yumu County kills two birds with one stone.”

“First, it earns the Meng family’s favor.”

“Second, disaster relief is a virtuous act.”

Wang Jinlan scrutinized her kneeling daughter, brows tightly furrowed, fingers ceaselessly turning her prayer beads. “No, you orchestrated this entire affair.”

She didn’t know what her daughter truly intended.

But she knew—with her daughter’s abilities—she could emerge unscathed.

“What does Mother mean?” A flicker of surprise passed through Zhao Huairen’s eyes, though her face showed none. “Disaster relief by imperial decree is His Majesty’s will.”

Vaguely catching the mother-daughter exchange.

Yan Yiqing felt it resembled more a superior and subordinate than her own dynamic with Yan Yue.

“Don’t you understand the principle of playing with fire and burning yourself?” Wang Jinlan alluded pointedly, complex emotions swirling in her phoenix eyes, her voice heavy. “Scar healed, pain forgotten. Under the protection of the Wang and Meng families, you could have lived steadily.”

“Yet you insist on courting disaster, making things spiral out of control.”

“Does Mother think,” Facing Wang Jinlan’s reprimand, Zhao Huairen was usually mild, but this time she lifted her eyes and asked, “that the Wang and Meng families are reliable?”

Wang Jinlan said coldly, “As long as you’re not their enemy, they are reliable.”

“Then Mother should be pleased.” Lowering her gaze to her knees, Zhao Huairen pursed her lips and said softly, “By resolving the Meng family’s troubles this time, the ties between the Wang and Meng families will grow even tighter in the future.”

“Acting on your own whim.”

Wang Jinlan set down her prayer beads with a “clack” on the table, stepped off the couch to stand before Zhao Huairen, and scolded sternly, “Do you think you can manipulate everyone in the palm of your hand? Wasn’t Huai Jin’s lesson enough? What exactly do you want!”

“The imperial edict has been issued. The trip to Yumu County cannot be refused. Mother may punish as she sees fit.”

Her words held no edge.

Yet she yielded not an inch, like unyielding hard stone.

Wang Jinlan squeezed her eyes shut forcefully, clutching her chest, glaring at Zhao Huairen with frustration at her unfilial daughter. “Insolent child, if only back then—”

“I too wish the one who survived had been my brother.”

A crisp “slap” rang out, leaving a clear handprint on her skin, but Zhao Huairen’s gaze didn’t waver.

A heat swelled at the back of her head.

After striking her, Wang Jinlan leaned on the table to steady herself.

“You… are you trying to force me to my death?”

The one kneeling on the ground looked up with pity at the one towering above. Zhao Huairen’s voice was faintly cool. “Doesn’t Mother want to know how Father really died back then?”

“What difference would knowing make?!”