Chapter 59

After this incident, the court officials grew even more afraid to speak up. Only the imperial relatives dared to utter a word or two.

In particular, the Second Prince and Second Princess repeatedly demonstrated brotherly harmony.

“Father Emperor, Big Brother Crown Prince was just momentarily confused.”

The Second Princess wheedled coquettishly.

In the past, the Emperor would have granted the Second Princess anything she wanted, but today he had lost face.

“He may have been momentarily confused, but he nearly cost Zhen his life! Anyone who speaks up for him will be treated as a traitor!”

“Your Majesty, please calm your anger!”

Everyone else had knelt, and Nangong Yunshang dragged Tao Chuyi down to her knees as well. The others kept their heads bowed low, but she looked around curiously, utterly oblivious to the gravity of the situation.

“Chuyi, Chuyi, lower your head.”

Upon hearing this, Tao Chuyi simply prostrated herself flat on the ground.

“Sister, why do we have to kneel again?”

Nangong Yunshang quietly gripped her hand. “Be good. We’re kneeling now so we won’t have to kneel in the future.”

Tao Chuyi nodded as if she understood, imitating whatever her sister did.

Chuyi couldn’t quite grasp it, but Chuyi wanted to sleep.

The Emperor slammed his desk. “Effective immediately, the title of Crown Prince is abolished! Throw this traitorous son into the Cold Palace under house arrest. Execute all his subordinates!”

The hunting expedition ended prematurely. Unlike the grand procession on the way out, the large entourage now took a shortcut through back roads to avoid the common folk and slunk shamefully back into the Capital City.

Deposing the Crown Prince was no small matter; it could even shake the foundation of the nation. With no heir apparent, the power struggles among the factions would surge like dark undercurrents. Yet the assassination attempt was irrefutable, leaving the entire court of civil and military officials to curse the Crown Prince for his stupidity without exception.

Rather than ordering the Deposed Crown Prince’s execution, the Emperor chose house arrest, which already showed mercy. As long as he lived, there was a chance for a comeback. The various factions held their ground, awaiting the Emperor’s next move.

The only thing that satisfied Tao Chuyi about the entire hunting trip was the authentic roasted lamb leg she had eaten. There was nothing else worth lingering over.

She sat cross-legged on the noble concubine’s couch, fiddling with the toys in a box.

“Home is still the best.”

Nangong Yunshang smiled. “Yes, home is still the best.”

Liuzi and Xichan kept Tao Chuyi company as she played, while Nangong Yunshang sipped tea and watched from the side.

“I haven’t seen Fendie around lately.”

Yinghong replied, “Fendie has been feeling unwell frequently, so she’s no longer serving up front.”

Nangong Yunshang nodded. If her health was poor, it was safer for her to work in the outer courtyard. It wouldn’t do to pass her duties on to Chuyi.

“Sister, look! A little bird!”

Tao Chuyi ran up to her holding a paper folded into a bird.

Nangong Yunshang took the origami bird. “Chuyi is amazing. You can even fold a little bird now.”

“I’m super awesome!”

Tao Chuyi puffed up with pride, her chin lifted high.

At that moment, Zishan entered to report. She had changed into a maid’s outfit and now looked every bit the graceful young woman.

Tao Chuyi stared in shock and circled around Zishan several times.

“You’re a girl?”

Zishan curtsied. “This servant greets the Prince Consort.”

“Our mansion’s maids are going to be heartbroken. A perfectly good guard turns into a maid—stirring up the whole pool of spring waters.”

Yinghong teased from the side.

Zishan shot her repeated warning glares, urging her to shut up.

“Enough.”

Nangong Yunshang set down her teacup. “Zishan, get to the main point.”

Zishan glanced around, and Nangong Yunshang promptly sent Xichan and Liuzi out.

Even then, she hesitated to speak, shooting furtive looks at the Prince Consort.

Nangong Yunshang beckoned and pulled Tao Chuyi to her side.

“It’s fine. Speak.”

“Yes.”

Only then did Zishan relay all the news from outside.

The seemingly tranquil Capital City was seething with undercurrents. The Second Prince spent his days chanting sutras and vegetarian fasting, as if he had no interest in worldly affairs, yet he was making plenty of moves in the shadows. The Second Princess’s ambitions were written all over her face; she had been coveting the empress’s throne for ages. As for Prince Ning, he had even stronger motives to seize the throne. Not one of them was harmless.

Moreover, the former Crown Prince was still alive.

“Let them fight.”

Nangong Yunshang was adept at biding her time. “We’ll just reap the benefits while they exhaust each other.”

Zishan nodded. “This servant obeys!”

While they discussed serious matters, Tao Chuyi had already stuck three or five hairpins into Nangong Yunshang’s hair.

Nangong Yunshang looked up, wondering why her head felt heavier and heavier.

“Chuyi, no mischief.”

“Oh.”

Tao Chuyi obediently removed all the hairpins.

Zishan couldn’t help asking, “Your Highness, is it all right for the Prince Consort to know these things?”

Before Nangong Yunshang could respond, Tao Chuyi piped up. “We’re grasshoppers tied to the same string!”

Her words drew laughter from everyone in the room.

Nangong Yunshang pinched her cheek. “You’d better stop talking.”

Unexpectedly, just as the court factions had settled into six sides, news came from the Imperial Palace: the Deposed Crown Prince had suddenly died of a heart condition in the Cold Palace.

The Crown Prince’s death was riddled with suspicions and upended the existing balance.

Yet the Imperial Physicians had confirmed it was a heart ailment, leaving no doubts. Amid his grief, the Emperor did not involve the Dali Temple or the Ministry of Punishment. He directly arranged the funeral and sent the Deposed Crown Prince to the Imperial Mausoleum.

The Crown Prince’s death was far too suspicious. Nangong Yunshang instructed everyone under her to watch their words and actions closely, lest they become scapegoats.

No matter who had orchestrated the Deposed Crown Prince’s demise, the battle for the throne was now on the verge of erupting.

As the Dragon Boat Festival approached, the weather grew increasingly sweltering. The servants in the Princess Mansion began preparations for the hot summer ahead of time.

The kitchen staff busied themselves procuring lotus leaves and red dates for wrapping sticky rice dumplings.

Occasionally, the cooks would spot someone sneaking peeks through the kitchen window. They ignored it; they knew exactly who it was.

On the cutting board lay freshly steamed glutinous rice, pitted red dates, red bean paste ground into a mush, and lotus leaves with fine strings.

As the cooks wrapped the dumplings, a large head suddenly poked over the edge of the rice basin.

“What are you doing?”

One cook replied, “Wrapping sticky rice dumplings. Does the Prince Consort prefer red date filling or red bean?”

Tao Chuyi was practically drooling. “I like both.”

Her head nearly plunged into the rice basin, but the quick-handed cook thrust a large drumstick at her, rescuing the rice.

Tao Chuyi hopped up onto the table, her legs swinging back and forth.

“I want to wrap some too.”

“That’s not something for the Prince Consort to do.”

Tao Chuyi was unconvinced. “I’ll definitely learn how!”

She squeezed into the line of cooks without another word, insisting on trying. Unable to dissuade her, they gathered around to teach her patiently.

Tao Chuyi was a quick study—except when it came to poetry. After wrapping just a few, she had the hang of it and even started innovating shapes. While others’ dumplings had three corners, hers had four or five, and she even made some with ghost faces.

When the dumplings were served in the dining hall, Nangong Yunshang barely glanced at them until she picked one up.

“This is… a sticky rice dumpling?”

The one in her hand had six points, even more jagged than a starfruit.

“Who was in charge of the kitchen today? Summon the kitchen staff.”

Right on cue, Tao Chuyi bounced in.

“Sister, Chuyi made sticky rice dumplings! Aren’t they awesome?”

Nangong Yunshang glanced at the dumpling. It was actually rather cute.

“Chuyi is amazing. No need to call the cooks.”

Though the shapes were odd, the taste was fine. Under Tao Chuyi’s eager gaze, Nangong Yunshang tried a ghost-face dumpling. The glutinous rice was pressed into a flat cake, two dates served as eyes, a dab of bean paste as nose and mouth, all haphazardly wrapped in lotus leaf. It was unmistakably Chuyi’s style.

The weather grew hotter still. Nangong Yunshang sweated even sleeping alone, let alone with a lively person beside her.

The servants delivered ice blocks early, finally cooling the room.

“Chuyi, let’s talk about something.”

Nangong Yunshang coaxed her in the tone one might use with a child. “Would you sleep by yourself tonight?”

“No way.”

Tao Chuyi refused flatly and demonstrated her resolve with action, wrapping around Nangong Yunshang like an octopus, leaving not a single gap.

Nangong Yunshang felt a bit short of breath. She let out a faint sigh and indulged her.

For some reason, this year’s heat came early and was fiercer than usual. The Princess Mansion had prepared thin summer robes ahead of time. Tao Chuyi acquired a set of cyan silk gauze robes, still topped with a white jade hairpin—because she flatly refused to wear a green one.

The Dali Temple had been quiet lately. Not every case required notifying the Princess Mansion; the subordinates handled the minor ones themselves. Thus, Nangong Yunshang enjoyed some leisure and hadn’t set foot in the Dali Temple for quite a while.

“Chuyi, do you want to go see Temple Minister Tao?”

Tao Chuyi nodded vigorously. “Yes!”

Nangong Yunshang immediately ordered the carriage prepared, and the two headed to the Tao Mansion hand in hand.

The Tao Mansion servants hadn’t seen Tao Chuyi in ages and welcomed her back with great enthusiasm. Even Nangong Yunshang was swept along into the house amid the crowd.

Tao Chuyi scratched her head. “Where’s my dad?”

A servant hurriedly replied, “The master went to the yamen. There’s a strange case, and he wanted to check it out himself.”

At this, Nangong Yunshang casually asked, “How strange?”

The servant gave a rough account. A certain family’s young miss had died an unfortunate and peculiar death. When Miss You’s body was found, it was encircled by trees—as if one had sprouted right from her internal organs. She had perished from ruptured organs.

Both listeners found it bizarre. Who in the world died that way?

“A tree grew inside her body?”

Tao Chuyi widened her eyes, thinking it sounded impressive.

The servant nodded. “Exactly. It’s downright scary just hearing about it.”

Who grew a tree inside them for no reason? It was utterly unprecedented.

Tao Chuyi tilted her head. “Did her body have a seed? Will it bloom?”

“This… this old servant doesn’t know.”

It was the first time Nangong Yunshang had heard of such a thing, and she was just as puzzled.

“The master is back!”

Tao Chuyi bolted outside right away, only to run straight into Tao Siqing at the door.

“Dad! I missed you so much!”

Tao Siqing looked equally thrilled, his face lit up with joy. “Ah, Chuyi, you’re back. Let your dad take a good look—you’ve even put on a little weight. The Princess is here too. Greetings, Your Highness.”

Nangong Yunshang nodded, gesturing for him to skip the formalities. Seeing Tao Siqing again brought the mystery of Chuyi’s origins back to mind. She knew this sly old fox wouldn’t tell the straight truth, but she still wanted to probe him indirectly.

“These bizarre cases crop up every year—people growing trees inside their bodies, or acting like total dimwits but turning out to be martial arts masters. In Temple Minister Tao’s expert opinion, what’s behind it all?”

At her words, Tao Siqing chuckled and waved for the steward to step back. He showed no sign of panic, merely a touch of unease.