Inside the palace, undercurrents stirred because of Jiang Yanzhen.
Outside the palace, in the Feng household, Feng Caiwei also felt an ominous tension in the air. She wanted to send a maid to deliver a message, but her courtyard was tightly guarded under Feng Yuzhang’s orders.
She finally remembered the homing pigeons, but once released, the pigeon never came back.
This only made her heart sink even deeper.
Just then, one of the maids timidly asked, “Miss… why don’t you just tell the Marquis the truth? Maybe he can help think of a way…”
She had a vague sense that this was no longer something Feng Caiwei could handle on her own.
But Feng Caiwei suddenly raised her hand and slapped the maid hard across the face. “Who asked you to speak?!”
When someone is in a foul mood, they’re not in a state to listen to advice.
Especially not when they don’t want advice in the first place.
She was simply gritting her teeth in hatred, furious at how unfair fate was.
Everything had been going so smoothly—why had Qiu Chuying suddenly died? And in such a ridiculous way?
Everything was ruined!
The maid’s face flushed red from the slap, and she quickly lowered her head, not daring to make a sound. She crouched down silently and began picking up the book Feng Caiwei had thrown aside.
But Feng Caiwei grew more enraged the more she thought about it. Unable to control herself, she swept everything off the table in a fit of fury and clutched her ears, screaming.
The maid flinched and was about to step forward to comfort her, but Feng Caiwei suddenly lowered her hands and looked at her. “Your brother works in the household, doesn’t he?”
At that, the maid immediately understood what Feng Caiwei meant. Alarmed, she tried to caution her, “Miss, the Marquis has people watching closely…”
Feng Caiwei didn’t care. She grabbed the maid by the collar. “I don’t care what you do—tell your brother to deliver a message for me. I don’t know what will happen to me, but I do know your days won’t be easy if you disobey me!”
Tears welled up in the maid’s eyes. She was stunned, but upon seeing Feng Caiwei’s expression, she knew there was no use refusing. Choking on sobs, she could only nod in agreement.
Only then did Feng Caiwei release her and even smooth out the creases in the maid’s clothes. “That’s more like it. Only if your mistress lives well, will you live well too. Isn’t that right?”
She didn’t say another word and told the maid to find a way to get a message to Li Changqing.
She absolutely could not sit here and wait to die.
And she could never let Feng Yuzhang find out.
If Feng Yuzhang discovered that she had not only colluded with Li Changqing, but had also been closely involved with Daoist Qiu—and was working directly with Qi Wang—he would definitely kill her!
She was not going to resign herself to fate. What did she lack compared to Qi Yuan?
The message was sent out, but Feng Caiwei still felt deeply uneasy. The summer cicadas, whose buzzing she usually ignored, now felt unbearably shrill to her ears. She covered her ears and cursed, then snapped at the guards in the courtyard to go catch the cicadas.
While Feng Caiwei was throwing a tantrum in the courtyard, Qi Yuan had already returned to the Qi household.
As soon as she entered, Qi Zhen came up to greet her. “Ah Yuan, His Highness has been waiting for you all morning.”
He glanced her over and couldn’t help but lower his voice to ask, “Did you just… go and…”
“Kill someone,” Qi Yuan said casually, her tone calm. “This matter will be resolved soon, Father need not worry.”
…
Killed someone—again?
Qi Zhen wanted to ask who, but remembering that Xiao Yunting had been waiting a long time, he suppressed his curiosity and nodded. “Alright, alright. Go see what His Highness wants first…”
Though he still couldn’t resist the urge to ask who had been killed.
Qi Yuan noticed his internal struggle and paused to glance at him. “Father wants to ask me who I killed again, right?”
Qi Zhen awkwardly nodded. “I… I do want to ask…”
Qi Yuan raised an eyebrow. “You’ll find out soon enough.”
…
His daughter had learned how to keep people in suspense!
Qi Zhen nearly choked but could only nod in resignation.
Qi Yuan turned and headed to Mingyue Pavilion.
Xiao Yunting had been keeping Shen Jialang and Qi Yunzhi company for a while.
As soon as they saw Qi Yuan, the two boys cheered and ran toward her, calling out “Sister!”
Qi Yuan patted their heads and smiled. “Have you finished your studies?”
“All done!” Qi Yunzhi’s face was flushed from play, visibly excited. “Just now, His Highness said that soon he’ll teach us how to ride horses! Sister, you can ride horses, right?”
Qi Yuan looked at Xiao Yunting. “I can. And I’m very good at it.”
Shen Jialang’s eyes sparkled as he clapped his hands. “I want to learn too! I want to learn!”
Actually, they’d already started training in riding and archery. Their excitement now was likely because Xiao Yunting had said something about taking them hunting.
Qi Yuan laughed. “Alright. But learning from me has conditions—you have to train with your instructor first for a while!”
She raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t it time for your riding lessons now?”
The two boys looked at each other and immediately bolted for the door in a race to see who could go first.
Their maids and servants quickly followed behind them.
Xiao Yunting watched them with a smile. When Qi Yuan had finally sent the little troublemakers away, he asked, “Looks like you’ve pretty much handled the problem yourself?”
He had always known the girl he liked was like a flower on the edge of a cliff, a tree growing from a steep wall—never one to submit to fate. Even in the harshest environments, she would take root and bloom.
So when trouble struck, he had never once panicked.
Those people thought they could defeat Qi Yuan like this? They had seriously underestimated her. They deserved what they got.
Qi Yuan gave a soft hum. “I have to thank Li Changqing for the tip—he reminded me that Qiu Chuying was still hiding at Huang Daxin Temple. Since they wanted to use ‘heavenly omens’ against me, I simply let them die by ‘heavenly omens’ too.”
Xiao Yunting couldn’t help but chuckle.
Yes, this was Qi Yuan.
You try to throw her off a horse—she’ll throw you off a horse.
You want her life—she’ll take yours.
She had always been like this from the start. The only mistake those people made was not realizing it sooner.
He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her from behind.
Qi Yuan immediately tried to pull away, but Xiao Yunting held her tighter. “I’m going to Hongdu.”
Qi Yuan struggled out of his embrace and stared at him. “Hongdu?”
“Yes. I know you’re capable. Even the biggest mess, you can handle it on your own.” Xiao Yunting’s tone was gentle, but there was a quiet edge of coldness beneath it. “But I still want to do something for you. Qi Wang should have died long ago—this time, I’ll make sure he does.”
He knew her strength. He respected her methods.
But that didn’t mean he wouldn’t help her his way.
Qi Yuan was silent for a moment, then softly replied, “Alright.”
