A man who had always believed that even mountains collapsing before him would never make him lose his composure now stood frozen like a wooden statue.
There was no mere surprise in those jade-green eyes, but disbelief so profound it seemed to shake him to the marrow.
Zhao Wang Jian had remained childless until the age of forty. Fifteen years ago, the former Queen of Zhao finally bore him a son, given the single-character name Shu, in the hope that he would become an extraordinary and distinguished hero. The birth had been proclaimed throughout the states, and even the Son of Heaven himself had personally traveled to Handan to celebrate the occasion. Such glory and prestige it had been.
When news of that remarkable event reached Xianyang Palace, his royal father had ordered all the ladies of the palace to prepare rare and precious gifts to send to Handan in congratulations. It had been the depths of winter, snow falling heavily. Even now, Ying Wuji remembered clearly that on that very day, his own mother, Lady Hu, had gone into premature labor and nearly bled to death. Throughout the palace, not a single person had come to her aid. It had been the four-year-old him, running barefoot through the snow with tears streaming down his face, crossing courtyard after courtyard before finally finding a physician on duty at the Imperial Medical Bureau.
He still remembered his mother’s agonized screams, the blood pouring from the narrow bamboo couch onto the floor until all he could see was crimson.
His younger sister, Wuyou, had been born like that. Meanwhile, far away in the royal city of Handan, the only son of Zhao Wang had inspired every noble lady in Changming Palace to compete in preparing congratulatory gifts.
They had known one another for three years. He had grown up hearing stories of Young Master Shu’s accomplishments. Even in his wildest dreams, he would never have imagined that Zhao Wang Jian had ordered the granddaughter of the Son of Heaven, a royal princess, to live disguised as a man all these years.
“Y-you… why aren’t you saying anything?”
Her voice, no longer disguised, was soft and timid. Seeing him simply staring blankly at her, Zhao Shu shrank back, quietly retreated another two steps until her back pressed against the wall of the pool at the point farthest from the shore where he stood, then reached up and twisted the beast-head mechanism above her.
Water from the overheated mountain spring suddenly poured down. Before she could dodge it, she was scalded enough to let out a small cry. Rising steam immediately veiled her lotus-like face behind a hazy curtain.
The image of a cauldron filled with scalding water… a frail, terrified girl submerged within it… awakened a scene long buried and desperately forgotten. Like an old nightmare returning, it surged into the man’s mind.
His desire was extinguished almost instantly, reduced to ashes. Unconsciously clenching his fists, Ying Wuji’s breathing became uneven.
If it had merely been fooling around with another man, that would have been one thing. But if she was truly a woman… Perhaps because the secret was simply too unbelievable, Ying Wuji suddenly felt that he should not unknowingly dishonor her. Some matters needed to be clarified first.
He quickly walked over to the clothes rack, picked up a clean outer robe, and tossed it onto the tiled floor beside Zhao Shu from a distance, deliberately avoiding looking directly at her. “Cover yourself with this first. In half an hour, I’ll come down… We can talk in detail on the way to Changming Palace.”
Only after his figure had completely disappeared down the spiral staircase did Zhao Shu slowly digest the meaning of his words.
Everything had changed so suddenly. As the pool water warmed once more, she hugged herself and leaned against the beast-headed bronze spout pouring out steaming water, still dazed from lingering shock.
The hot spring soothed every limb in her body. After silently pondering for only a short while, Zhao Shu suddenly rose from the water with a splash, no longer lingering in its comfort.
She grabbed the robe, threw it over herself without even changing out of her soaked clothes, and hurried barefoot upstairs after him.
Now that the secret had been revealed, she found herself completely free of reservations before him. It felt as though a burden weighing a thousand pounds had finally been lifted. And she had reached a rather astonishing conclusion, this man seemed to prefer men without even realizing it himself!
“Imperial Grandson!” she called as she hurried up the spiral staircase. Emboldened by her own speculation, she deliberately used the soft, gentle voice of a young woman as she called after him. “I’m finished washing. Please hurry and take me out to rescue her. Changle will be forever grateful.”
Just as she stepped into the third-floor hall, Ying Wuji emerged from an inner room carrying a bundle of clothes. The moment he saw her, drenched and beautiful in her urgency, he immediately turned aside to avoid her. In one motion he dropped two layers of curtains across the doorway, casting only a fleeting glance her way before retreating outside. From beyond the curtains, his voice came out somewhat muffled. “The clothes are piled beside the footstool. Change into them yourself. I’ll go downstairs and have the carriage prepared.”
The tall shadow beyond the hanging curtains seemed ready to leave. Zhao Shu looked toward the footstool. Among the neatly folded clean men’s clothing lay an exceptionally long strip of white silk. Its edges were rough and frayed, clearly torn from a brand-new garment only moments ago.
The silk felt as soft and smooth as cream in her hand. Not a trace of embroidery adorned it, and the quality was worlds apart from the makeshift strips she had fashioned herself after entering Qin.
In such a short time, he had even thought to prepare this for her.
Her suspicions only became stronger.
She removed all her soaked clothing. Just as she was about to untie the heavy, waterlogged chest bindings, the figure reappeared outside the curtain. Startled, she instinctively covered her chest, but he stopped behind the drapery instead. There was even a hint of hesitation in his voice.
“You don’t need to trouble yourself with… ahem… with the disguise or changing clothes. It’s late, and you’ll be riding in my carriage. No one would dare inspect.”
Only after hearing her soft “Thank you” from within did he finally leave again.
At that moment, Zhao Shu’s conviction became absolute. So the heir of Qin, Ying Wuji, the man who seemed destined to seize the throne, really did prefer men?!
Perhaps because male love carried too much social stigma, or perhaps because he had always been too occupied with affairs of state to realize it himself.
If not for her unexpected appearance confirming his own preferences, he might never have discovered them.
No wonder every time he had been moved by desire, it had been toward her while she was disguised as a man. Yet that night at Mi Rong’s residence, when she had been dressed in a pink ru skirt and had thrown herself into his arms in tears, hadn’t he pushed her away instead?
Having convinced herself of this, Zhao Shu felt that revealing her identity tonight had not been such a loss after all. In the entire State of Qin, wasn’t she now the only person who knew that Ying Wuji had no interest in women?
Thinking this, she quickly reapplied her disguise, wrapping the chest binding only loosely this time.
Wrapped in the oversized outer robe the man had given her, she made a pitifully charming face at her reflection in the bronze mirror. For once, she felt grateful to have been born a woman, and to have been blessed with such a youthful, adorable face.
She bared her white, rabbit-like front teeth in the mirror. After amusing herself with that bit of forced optimism, she let out a heavy sigh, pushed aside the curtain, and hurried downstairs.
***
Leaving through the eastern side gate of the Imperial Grandson’s residence, they rode swiftly out of the city. In barely half an hour, they reached the southern walls of Changming Palace.
Yet during that short journey, Ying Wuji found himself completely at a loss. He kept his face turned coldly aside. Whenever his gaze accidentally drifted to the girl’s lotus-like cheeks beside him, he would immediately look away.
With the tall man standing silently before her, Zhao Shu naturally had no intention of speaking first.
The carriage compartment was oppressively quiet. As they passed through the city gates, a gust of night wind slipped inside. Her nose suddenly itched, and she could not help letting out a small sneeze.
Ying Wuji snapped out of his thoughts with a helpless sigh, turned, and leaned over toward her.
The scene from the bathhouse flashed through Zhao Shu’s mind at once. Without thinking, she curled herself into a tight ball, shrinking away as though she were about to tumble onto the carriage floor. He caught her before she fell, then shifted back slightly. In a softened voice, he said, “Move aside a little. I’m getting something.”
Only then did she realize she had misunderstood. Embarrassed, she quickly moved aside and watched as the man lifted a hidden compartment beneath the carriage bench. After rummaging around for a while, he took out a bronze hand warmer engraved with a coiling dragon.
Lighting the charcoal inside with a fire striker, he securely fastened the dragon-shaped lid before pressing the warm bronze heater into her hands.
His calloused fingers brushed against her pale, delicate fingertips. Startled by how icy cold they were, Ying Wuji suppressed the thoughts rising within him. Frowning slightly, he finally spoke. “There are no outsiders here. Why don’t you… tell me everything properly? How could Zhao Wang allow… the late queen’s only daughter to become a medicine test subject?”
The moment those hidden wounds from the depths of her past were mentioned, Zhao Shu’s fingers trembled, and a bitter taste slowly spread through her mouth.
She lowered her head without answering immediately. Several loose strands escaped from her hastily tied hair, framing her palm-sized face and making her look frail and sickly.
She never noticed the concern in Ying Wuji’s gaze. Instead, her thoughts sank back into the past, into those forgotten corners where sunlight had never reached.
After a long pause, sensing that he was still patiently waiting, she finally looked up. Her graceful brows were tightly knit as she parted her lips and, skipping over the story of the late queen, began instead with the winter night when the Princess’s residence had been slaughtered by the royal army, when she was five years old.
Some people appear carefree and simple on the surface, yet that does not mean they are any less perceptive than others.
From the first time she had taken Grand National Preceptor Ji Yue’s medicinal elixir, writhing in unbearable agony inside the royal bedchamber while her biological father calmly drank his broth outside the curtains, something inside her had died. Even though she had only been seven years old, certain hopes had been extinguished forever.
Over the years, she and her father had gradually reached an unspoken understanding. She no longer expected the affection and protection that ordinary parents gave their children. All she sought instead was limitless authority, favor, and privilege.
…
“And what power did you actually gain?” Ying Wuji listened quietly to her long account. When the conversation turned to court factions and political struggles, he regained much of his usual composure. Though he still found her expression pitiable, he could not help sneering. “You have no trusted officers above the rank of military captain, and none of the lesser branches of the royal family in the fiefs have sworn allegiance to you. You risked your life serving as Zhao Wang’s medicine test subject, so what authority did you gain? A thousand pearls? A hundred measures of jade?”
As soon as those mocking words left his mouth, the remaining awkwardness within him vanished completely.
The carriage came to a stop in an alley beneath the walls of Changming Palace. He had expected her to refute him. Instead, Zhao Shu lowered her eyes thoughtfully for a moment. Then, hugging the hand warmer close to herself, she looked up and unexpectedly smiled at him with genuine gratitude.
“Ying Changsheng,” she said softly and sincerely, “thank you. If I am fortunate enough to one day gain power and leave Qin alive, I will never forget your kindness. Nor will I ever reveal what I know.”
Her almond-shaped eyes curved into crescents, bright and lovely, yet filled with helpless sorrow.
That single address, “Changsheng”, was enough for the familiar heat to surge from his chest straight into his lower abdomen. Ying Wuji abruptly stood up and turned his face away. On his handsome features, dark shadows mingled with a faint flush.
His reaction was so strange and so intense that Zhao Shu, unable to see his face, had no idea which of her words had offended him. She immediately fell silent, curling up on the carriage bench without another word.
So many things had happened tonight. All she wanted now was for him to help rescue Qi Ying from Changming Palace. The last thing she wanted was for something to go wrong at the very end.
Just as the awkward silence stretched on, Cheng Wu’s voice came from outside, reporting that Qin Wang had urgently summoned Ying Wuji. Ying Wuji closed his eyes. Every distracting thought disappeared completely. When he opened them again, only ruthless determination remained.
After years of careful planning and patient concealment, it seemed his grandfather had finally made his choice between him and Prince Yi.
“Give this lord your horse.” Without even sparing another glance toward the carriage, Ying Wuji leapt down. The heavy felt curtain dropped behind him. After the sound of a horse’s sharp neigh, he gave Cheng Wu one final order before departing. “Guard this place personally. Once the people inside have safely come out, escort them back to the residence yourself.”
Cheng Wu acknowledged the order. Assuming that his master and the hostage prince had already consummated their affair, he obediently stood watch beside the carriage. He did not lift the curtain or disturb the occupant, simply waiting for those carrying out the mission inside Changming Palace to bring the person out.
Meanwhile, while they spoke outside, Zhao Shu remained alert inside the carriage. Her hands never stopped moving as she carefully reapplied her disguise and secured her chest bindings once more.
After waiting another quarter of an hour, with no water clock inside the carriage to distract her, she found herself increasingly anxious as idle thoughts filled her mind. Sigh after sigh escaped her lips. Finally, she set down the hand warmer and simply jumped out of the carriage herself.
When Cheng Wu saw Zhao Shu striding briskly toward the mouth of the alley, he heard her ask, “Cheng Shaofu, has it passed the middle of the Hour of Hai yet?”
Cheng Wu was so astonished and exasperated that he almost blurted out, How are you still able to walk that fast?!
Having spent enough time around Young Master Rong, he knew very well that even when the one on top exercised restraint, and even if it was nothing like the severe injuries suffered by the young male favorites after their first night at Young Master Rong’s residence, one should at the very least have difficulty walking.
Yet looking at Zhao Shu now, he did not even need to think hard to realize that his lord had utterly failed to accomplish anything!
“Cheng Shaofu?” Zhao Shu cupped her hands politely once more. “May I ask when they’ll be coming out?”
Cheng Wu let out a sinister little chuckle and had just opened his mouth to answer when the side gate of Changming Palace creaked open.
A young servant came running over, so frantic that after dropping to his knees in salute, he could only stammer, “S-something terrible has happened!”
“And where’s the person you were supposed to bring back?!” Cheng Wu’s heart lurched.
“M-My Lord… th-the person… we, we couldn’t…”
The young servant had not even caught his breath before someone beside Cheng Wu suddenly bolted toward the side gate like a madman.
The distance was only a few steps, yet to Zhao Shu it felt as though heaven and earth had collapsed and turned upside down. Her heart split apart in agony. Just as she was about to rush through the side gate, Cheng Wu, naturally faster than she was, caught her by the arm and stopped her.
“Get out of my way!” Zhao Shu seemed possessed. With a sharp shing, she drew the longsword from Cheng Wu’s waist. Facing a patrol of Qin soldiers passing by, she shouted in a trembling, hoarse voice, “I am the deposed Crown Prince Zhao! Tonight I will go in and bring my cousin out. If you Qin men insist on stopping me, then cut off my head and throw it before Qin Wang instead!”
Those words genuinely stunned the usually cold and unyielding guards of Changming Palace.
Even a hostage prince was not someone they could injure at will.
Seeing them hesitate, Zhao Shu suddenly threw down the sword, collapsed to the ground, covered her face, and burst into tears. If only she had realized her own life carried enough weight to threaten them, she should have dragged Yingying out no matter what several hours ago.
Now… it was too late for anything she could say.
The guards exchanged bewildered glances, several of them casting disdainful looks toward the person sobbing miserably in the mud.
The young servant, finally having caught his breath, was about to explain when a figure emerged from deep within the palace grounds, stooping slightly as he carried a young woman on his back.
“All right, all right. Commander of the Guards, take your men and continue your patrol elsewhere. His Majesty won’t pursue tonight’s incident, and don’t go telling the Madam of the palace about it either.”
Zhao Shu stared in astonishment at the young nobleman before her. Only after watching him dismiss the guards with just a few casual words did she come back to herself. Her tears still fresh, she hurried forward to support Qi Ying.
“Yingying… are… are you alright?”
Unexpectedly, after Mi Rong gently set her down, the young girl looked at Zhao Shu with a coldness she had never shown before. Forcing the words out with effort, she stammered, “I-I’m… alright. It… it was…”
Mi Rong could not stand her stuttering. Seeing there was no one else around, he finished the sentence for her without ceremony. “It was this young master who saved the girl. If you’d waited for my elder brother and the hostage prince to arrive, she’d already be asleep in my uncle’s bed by now.”
“Thank you for this.” Zhao Shu reached for Qi Ying’s hand as she spoke, but the girl avoided her touch.
Mi Rong gave a disdainful laugh and stepped between them, raising an eyebrow as he looked down at Zhao Shu. “Your Yingying already said that Young Master Shu can’t even protect himself anymore. I happen to like the girl, and she just agreed she’d follow me from now on.”
Then he leaned down until his face was close to Zhao Shu’s, whispering provocatively into her ear, “Why don’t you come with me too? I’ll tell you the truth. My royal brother is trying to seize power now, so he’s got far too many concerns, especially currying favor with that useless father of his. As for me, I’m an idle man. Taking in the two of you siblings suits me perfectly.”
Zhao Shu ignored him and reached for Qi Ying again. This time, Mi Rong actually stepped aside with a grin.
But Qi Ying violently shook off Zhao Shu’s hand. Her eyes were dull, her hair in disarray. Keeping a stony expression, she silently made a hand gesture before giving Zhao Shu a forceful shove. “You… go!”
Having relied on each other for over ten years, Zhao Shu understood the gesture immediately.
From this day on, we each walk our own road. All ties are severed.
She was not unaware that Qi Ying likely had her own reasons. Yet the coldness in her expression pierced Zhao Shu like a blade. Her heart was still twisted with guilt over nearly causing Qi Ying’s ruin. In that moment, she no longer knew what right she had to speak of protecting her.
“Oh, enough with the tragic farewell.” The young man grabbed Qi Ying’s hand and started walking away. “The devil from Weiyang will be passing through here soon. Hurry up and everyone go home.” As he brushed past Zhao Shu, he even reached out to stroke her chin. “If the hostage prince misses his little sister, come visit my residence. This young master will be waiting with open arms.”
When Zhao Shu tried once more to stop them, Cheng Wu blocked her path again.
At that very moment, Qi Ying secretly looked back and gave Zhao Shu a bitter smile along with a reassuring gesture.
And just like that…
She was unable to keep her.
…
Once they were well away and no one remained behind them, Mi Rong abruptly flung Qi Ying’s hand aside in front of his attendants.
“At least you know what’s good for you,” he said harshly. “But let me warn you. Before I get my hands on your cousin, you are not to cause trouble in my residence. I saved your life. If I catch you taking someone else’s side against me, I’ll throw you into a brothel. By then, even my uncle won’t want you.”
The attendant clicked his tongue inwardly, thinking that his young master’s madness seemed to have worsened these past few days.
Hearing those words, Qi Ying could no longer hold back the terror and heartbreak she had endured all night. Strangely, she was not afraid of the young man before her. As they walked, she began sobbing uncontrollably.
Her crying was not especially loud, but the young man suddenly exploded. “What the h*ll are you crying for?! Stop crying!”
Even the attendant jumped in fright. Quickly making an excuse to fetch the horses ahead, he hurried away.
From a distance, he heard the girl’s sobs grow louder.
Immediately, his young master seemed to become an entirely different person. “Alright, alright, my fault. I shouldn’t have scared you. Just… don’t cry anymore. After everything tonight, you must be starving. Come on, let’s go home. I’ll get you something good to eat.”
The attendant instinctively turned back. Rainwater still streamed along the street. The crescent moon overhead was sinking toward the horizon. One young man coaxing, one young woman crying…
Looking at the scene, he suddenly found it strangely familiar.
***
It was nearly dawn when Ying Wuji finally returned from the palace.
Instead of going back to Lantai, he headed directly to the secret chamber beneath the main courtyard. As expected, Cheng Wu was already waiting there with two deathsworn guards.
With an unusually gentle smile, Ying Wuji looked at the attendant who had grown up sharing hardships with him. Rarely seen sharpness gleamed in his eyes. As he walked past Cheng Wu, he silently removed the tiger tally from inside his robes. Without breaking stride, he slipped it into Cheng Wu’s hand.
The tiger tally had a unique shape, and Cheng Wu had served at his side for years. The moment his fingers closed around it, his whole body trembled. Tears filling his eyes, he immediately dropped to one knee and cupped his fists.
“Congratulations, Your Highness, on finally achieving your wish. From this day forward, Prince Yi will never again dare defy you.”
Ying Wuji suddenly shook his head with a feigned sigh. “This lord wouldn’t dare ask Royal Uncle to submit. The proper order between elder and younger must not be overturned. However…” A faint smile touched his lips. “Ying Yi has made far too many enemies. The territory he’s being enfeoffed with borders Prince Jia’s lands. In my view, Prince Jia is unlikely to tolerate him. Their fiefs both lie along the frontier. Once they’re confiscated together, it’ll be the perfect opportunity to begin implementing the commandery-and-county system there.”
Cheng Wu had yet to understand, but the two deathsworn guards immediately acknowledged the order.
Then they heard Ying Wuji add, “Do it cleanly. Remember, I don’t care what methods you use, only that everything appears perfectly natural.”
Watching the guards depart into the distance, Cheng Wu still could not help frowning. “Your Highness, Prince Jia is your elder half-brother after all. I remember when you were children, you were always following him around. Though Prince Jia was violent by nature, he treated us reasonably well…”
“But when Lady Zheng framed my mother, he never lifted a finger to help!” Ying Wuji cut him off sharply. After calming himself, he continued, “Little Wu, until the day we achieve our great cause and possess enough power to protect ourselves, neither you nor I, none of us, have the right to indulge in kindness.”
An outsider could see things more clearly. Cheng Wu wanted to tell him that he was still trapped too deeply in the mire of the past. The higher one climbed, the harder one fell. There was no such thing as perfect fulfillment in this world.
But as the words reached his lips, he knew how unpredictable life could be. Instead, he changed the subject. “There is one more important matter to report, Your Highness. A cure has been found for Lord Hengyuan’s illness. Our people discovered it in the residence of Ji Yue, the Grand National Preceptor of Zhao. However, there was only a single dose. We’ve already had it examined, it’s not poisonous, but the ingredients are so numerous… that it can’t be reproduced.”
Zhao Shu’s cold poison closely resembled Lord Hengyuan’s illness. Ying Wuji had previously ordered Cheng Wu to investigate the matter.
Ying Wuji paused. Zhao Shu’s pale face and ice-cold, fragile body came to mind. He had wanted to tell Cheng Wu to think of another solution, yet the inexplicable heat stirring in his chest and abdomen disturbed his thoughts. Instead, he heard himself issue a cold, rational order. “Lord Hengyuan’s condition is more urgent. Don’t delay. Deliver the antidote to Changming Palace.”
Leaving the secret chamber, he found that the night’s rain had ceased. The sky was bright, the willow trees throughout the garden were covered in tender new buds, and the entire estate was alive with the vitality of early spring.
Yet the farther he walked, the more unsettled he became. The vibrant spring scenery before his eyes seemed dull and colorless. His thoughts lingered over the remaining forces loyal to Prince Yi at court, while he also wrestled with the imperial decree from his grandfather ordering him to marry a princess of Chu. Before he realized it, he had wandered to the entrance of Lantai.
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