As everyone withdrew, the room fell into silence. The late autumn afternoon sunlight filtered softly into the interior, casting a gentle glow.
This was still the residence from their newlywed days. The house that was supposed to be built over there remained only half-finished – and likely would never be completed now.
Fang Bocong stepped into the inner chamber and glanced around. The two maids had attended to the place with care; there was no unpleasant odor, only a faint, delicate fragrance.
By the window stood a four-legged bed with a cushion placed on it – Zhou Fu’s resting spot. Fang Bocong looked at it, then suddenly strode over and kicked it fiercely.
The sudden noise from the room made the attendants standing in the courtyard tremble with fright.
“Attendants!”
Fang Bocong called out.
Those outside the door immediately poured in.
“Take it out and burn it!” he commanded coldly, pointing at the overturned four-legged bed.
The eunuchs bowed in acknowledgment and hastily lifted the bed to carry it away.
Watching them remove the bed, Eunuch Jing frowned, hesitating for a moment before stepping toward the inner courtyard.
“What are you doing?” Master Gu reached out to pull him back.
“His Highness, he…” Eunuch Jing began, glancing toward the inner gate. “I should go and console him.”
“Console him?” Master Gu shook his head. “Is His Highness a child? He has always had a mind of his own. Does he need consolation?”
“Other matters might be one thing, but this time…” Eunuch Jing murmured, his face clouded with worry.
“That Zhou Fu truly went too far. His Highness has been too indulgent – he should have been driven out long ago. Don’t meddle in this,” Master Gu said, then quickly added, “What were you saying earlier? That Her Highness, the Crown Princess, inscribed a character on Cheng Si-lang’s tombstone?”
Eunuch Jing nodded and shared his speculations about the matter.
“I’ve said it before – Her Highness is truly remarkable.” After listening, Master Gu clapped his hands and laughed, then shook his head. “But after all, there’s a touch of feminine sentimentality. Her reputation is immense, she has made many enemies, and everyone watches her closely, familiar with her ways. Suddenly inscribing a character on a tombstone – is she not afraid others might guess and spoil her plans? To act on impulse and create such an ornate display seems rather careless.”
“Perhaps Her Highness simply acted from the heart,” Eunuch Jing said. “Open and unafraid to be seen, with nothing to hide.”
Master Gu looked at him and smiled.
“Perhaps,” he said. “Whatever the case, everything has turned out as desired now.”
“She may have gotten her way,” Eunuch Jing sighed, “but what has His Highness become?”
“His Highness has become the Crown Prince,” Master Gu replied, frowning at him. “Why are you so glum anyway?”
“You simply don’t understand,” Eunuch Jing said irritably.
Master Gu curled his lip.
“Some things aren’t worth understanding,” he said. “Are you worried about the Crown Princess’s situation? If things go on like this, I fear she may not hold out much longer.”
“His Majesty the Emperor has already held on for several months,” Eunuch Jing whispered sharply.
The Crown Princess naturally could as well.
“Indeed, His Majesty will surely endure until a natural end and a grand state funeral,” Master Gu said, looking at him. “And so will Her Highness, the Crown Princess.”
Eunuch Jing gazed at him, his expression complicated.
“With such immense merit to her name, His Highness will certainly not fail her,” Master Gu said solemnly. “In time, she will undoubtedly be posthumously honored as empress.”
Eunuch Jing’s expression shifted abruptly, and he reached out to grab him.
“What nonsense are you saying? ‘Posthumously honored’ – what do you mean by that?” he hissed through clenched teeth.
“If not posthumously,” Master Gu countered, gripping him back and lowering his voice, “can a living ghost truly be installed as empress? Ah-Jing, wake up and see clearly!”
With that, he shook off Eunuch Jing’s hand.
“This… is the best outcome, for everyone’s sake.”
…
Fang Bocong reached out and took Cheng Jiao-niang’s hand.
Once warm, her hand now felt icy even under the covers.
There was no heartbeat, no pulse – only the faint rhythm of breathing.
“What did you trade in exchange for Zhou Fu’s life?” he whispered. “I cannot bear to look at him for another day. Seeing you like this, and then seeing him… I marvel at my own restraint in not tearing him apart all this time.”
He smiled faintly as he said this, then let out a soft sigh.
With his other hand, he habitually began to stroke Cheng Jiao-niang’s arm, gently kneading it.
Perhaps because of this bizarre secret art, Cheng Jiao-niang had shown no further decay – no odor, no rotting, no discoloration. Even her wounds were healing as they would in a living person.
His hand moved slowly upward, coming to rest on her neck.
His fingertips brushed over the prominent collarbone.
She had grown thinner.
His hand slid to her throat, where his fingers lingered, tracing back and forth in a tender, almost restless motion.
“Cheng Fang, do you know when Liu Ge’er will die?”
“Cheng Fang, did you foresee all of this – everything that has come to pass today?”
With each question, his hand finally came to rest on Cheng Jiao-niang’s throat.
Pressing his palm against her cheek, he could feel the faint, almost imperceptible whisper of her breath.
This must be the only thread keeping her alive.
Once that breath ceased, she would turn cold and rigid – just like Liu Ge’er. No matter how much ice was placed around her, her body would still decay and foul, just like Liu Ge’er’s. She would be placed in a coffin, buried deep in the sunless earth.
And in this world, she would be gone forever.
Fang Bocong lowered his head. The hand at her throat slid around to cradle the back of her neck, and he bent down over her.
“Cheng Fang, wake up soon. I have questions for you. If you don’t answer me, I cannot accept it – I will never accept it.”
“Wake up soon, wake up soon. What will it take for you to wake up?”
Low, choked sobs began to fill the room, dissolving quietly into the silence.
…
Night had never felt so long.
Ban Qin and Su Xin were bound back-to-back, cloths stuffed in their mouths muffling their sobs – only their tears flowed ceaselessly. Their eyes remained fixed on the window, watching the daylight slant and fade, watching darkness layer upon darkness, and then, slowly, watching the night begin to recede.
They had never known such fear, such despair.
As dawn gradually brightened the sky, the door opened and someone entered.
Eunuch Jing looked at the two maids who were already broken and sighed helplessly.
“Her Highness has already departed…” he said.
Before his words fully landed, the two young women before him let out a horrifying muffled cry and lunged together toward the wall, intent on dashing their heads against it.
Eunuch Jing rushed forward to pull them back. He had not expected these two frail girls, who once seemed as though a breeze might topple them, to nearly break free from his grip. Their resolve to die was that fierce.
“You two have misunderstood,” Eunuch Jing said, torn between amusement and exasperation. “I meant that Her Highness has left this place and gone to the Eastern Palace with His Highness.”
Ban Qin and Su Xin looked up at him, their faces streaked with tears and mucus, unsure if they had heard him correctly.
Eunuch Jing crouched down.
“Do not make noise or cry out,” he said. “I am not lying to you. His Highness has taken the Crown Princess into the Eastern Palace. It will be more convenient for her care this way, without the need to travel back and forth.”
Ban Qin and Su Xin struggled, knocking their foreheads against the floor in repeated kowtows.
“Rest assured, Her Highness is being attended to with great care,” Eunuch Jing said, reaching out to remove the cloths from their mouths.
“Let us serve our mistress, please let us serve her,” the two maids begged hoarsely, still kowtowing without pause.
“His Highness will not allow you to serve your mistress,” Eunuch Jing replied, standing up again.
Ban Qin and Su Xin raised their heads to look at him.
Eunuch Jing frowned and pointed at them.
“Yes, exactly this,” he said, gesturing toward their faces and eyes. “This look, this expression – it truly makes one uncomfortable to see it. His Highness does not wish to see such a gaze again.”
“We’ll be good, we won’t cry anymore,” Su Xin pleaded, shaking her head and biting her lower lip so hard it whitened. “We’ll do whatever His Highness asks, just please… Her Highness cannot do without us.”
Eunuch Jing shook his head.
“His Highness has said that the Crown Princess can do without anyone,” he replied. “It is you who cannot do without her.”
Su Xin shook her head, weeping openly as she kowtowed.
“It’s not that you cannot see the Crown Princess again,” Eunuch Jing said. “There is one condition.”
“We can do it, we can do it, we can do anything,” Ban Qin and Su Xin cried, kowtowing desperately. “We would even die for her.”
Eunuch Jing shook his head again.
“See, how easily you speak of dying?” he said. “Do you think His Highness is the kind of person who would ask you to die? This habit – of weeping at once, speaking of life and death so readily – is precisely why His Highness will not allow you to remain here.”
Ban Qin and Su Xin looked up at him through their tears, bewildered.
“There is no need to die, nor to do many things. There is only one condition,” Eunuch Jing said. “Be at ease.”
Ban Qin and Su Xin looked at him, waiting for his instruction.
“Be at ease,” Eunuch Jing repeated.
Ban Qin and Su Xin stared at him, uncomprehending.
“I mean for you to ‘set your hearts at rest’ – that is all you must do,” Eunuch Jing explained.
What kind of condition was this?
Ban Qin and Su Xin looked at him in stunned confusion.
“To be at ease means to wait calmly, with confidence, for the day you will see the Crown Princess again,” Eunuch Jing said. “You must leave this place. Go to the Crown Princess’s maternal home, or manage her businesses – do whatever you wish. Then, simply wait with peace in your hearts. That is all.”
They were still being sent away!
Ban Qin and Su Xin immediately broke into desperate sobs, knocking their foreheads against the floor.
“Enough!” Eunuch Jing’s voice suddenly sharpened, rising to a piercing cry that seemed to cut through flesh and bone.
Ban Qin and Su Xin shuddered, their weeping halting abruptly.
“If you utter one more complaint, shed one more tear, you will never see your mistress again in this lifetime,” Eunuch Jing said coldly, his brows drawn sharply. “Do you think only your mistress knows how to kill?”
…
The Eastern Palace was located in the northern part of the imperial grounds. Because the Emperor had struggled with heirs for decades – with no crown prince for years, Prince Huaihui passing away before being named heir, and Crown Prince Xuanwen remaining in the Empress Dowager’s palace due to his inability to care for himself – the Eastern Palace had fallen into disrepair over time, showing signs of decay.
When Fang Bocong suddenly announced his move into the Eastern Palace, the Ministry of Works had no time to carry out proper repairs. Initially intending to persuade him to wait, they soon realized that Fang Bocong’s will was absolute. Left with no choice, the ministry could only hurriedly tidy the place up.
When Eunuch Jing entered, a crowd of eunuchs and palace maids were still sweeping and wiping down surfaces – though the Crown Prince’s bedchamber had already been prepared.
“Your Highness,” he greeted with a bow.
Fang Bocong, who had been leaning against a desk reading in the inner chamber, responded with a soft “Hmm.”
“Everything has been handled,” Eunuch Jing reported. “Young Master Zhou has been confined. The two maids have left – they said they would not return to Fan Jianglin’s residence but have gone instead to Immortal’s Abode and Tai Ping Residence.”
Fang Bocong acknowledged with another “Hmm.”
“You may withdraw,” he said.
Eunuch Jing bowed, acknowledged the order, and retreated.
The room returned to silence. Fang Bocong set down the book in his hand and looked toward Cheng Jiao-niang, who lay wrapped in a cloak on a daybed nearby.
“Finally, some peace and quiet,” he said.
