The Minister Behind the Curtain Chapter 1

Late spring, April. The capital was already growing hot. The willow trees lining the streets were full of lush leaves, ready to usher in the next season.

The morning calm was shattered by the sound of firecrackers, soon followed by blaring drums and gongs. Citizens poured out of their homes, crowding the streets with curiosity.

Today was the wedding day of Lord Fu, Fu Zhixian. The Fu family had announced the upcoming banquet half a month ago—an open celebration where everyone in the city could attend. Not only would there be fine food and drink, but even red envelopes of money to take home. The Fu family had always been discreet and low-key. Their lavish display today only proved how satisfied they were with this marriage.

And why wouldn’t they be? Just six months ago, Fu Zhixian was still betrothed to Eldest Eldest Princess Feng Lezhen. Renowned for both virtue and talent, he and Qi Jingqing—the border commander’s son—were hailed as the twin paragons of the realm. But because Eldest Princess consorts were barred from political office, he held only a ceremonial post in court.

Then, half a year ago, the Eldest Princess’s act of treason was discovered—by none other than Fu Zhixian himself. He didn’t shield her, but personally reported her. Naturally, the marriage arranged by the late emperor was annulled. The current emperor handpicked a new bride for him—today’s bride from the Liang family.

“This Liang girl is famous for her virtue—filial, gentle, and skilled in managing a household. With her, Lord Fu will surely enjoy a harmonious marriage.”

“The Eldest Princess wasn’t terrible either—noble status, stunning looks—but far too ambitious and domineering. Definitely not wife material. A woman should know her place—support her husband, raise the children—not scheme for power!”

“Are you mad, speaking about the Eldest Princess like that?”

“Why not? She committed treason. The evidence is ironclad. Once Lord Fu’s wedding is over, her sentence will be handed down. What can she do—rise from the grave?”

The wedding procession rolled out of the Fu residence with great fanfare. Music grew louder as the crowd craned their necks to catch a glimpse of the groom.

Compared to the sweltering long street, the Imperial Prison still felt like it was wrapped in eternal snow—cold as an ice cellar. The sounds from afar only deepened the silence inside.

Feng Lezhen sat quietly on the prison bed in white robes, eyes closed as she rested. Sunlight slipped through the narrow window, casting shadows from her lashes onto her cheeks.

The stillness was broken by footsteps, then the rattle of keys unlocking the door. Feng Lezhen opened her eyes at the sound, seeing a familiar face from the palace.

“Your Highness the Eldest Princess,” said Li Tong respectfully, his crow’s feet and graying hair nearly blending together.

“Why is it you delivering breakfast today Li Gonggong?” Feng Lezhen glanced at the food box. “Where’s Little Bell?”

Since her imprisonment last August, her meals had always been brought by a masked youth. He never revealed his name, and always wore a string of bells at his waist. She’d simply called him “Little Bell.”

Li Tong avoided answering. “I’ve long wished to pay respects to Your Highness, but never had the chance.”

“Half a year in the same palace with no opportunity, yet now that I’m in the prison, you suddenly have time?” Feng Lezhen smiled faintly.

Li Gonggong smiled as well and began setting the food on the table.

Yam and date cake, lotus seed soup, braised pigeon, shrimp in Dragon Well tea—only four dishes, but each one a childhood favorite.

“Your Highness, please.” Li Tong spoke respectfully, his voice carrying the thin, raspy quality unique to eunuchs.

Inside and outside the prison cell, there was a deathly silence, as though everything had been completely subdued. The faint sound of suona horns drifting from afar was like a death knell.

Feng Lezhen sat quietly for a moment, then finally rose, smoothing her robes slowly. Though she was in a prison cell, dressed plainly and without any makeup, the nobility and strength in her brows and gaze had not diminished in the slightest. Even Li Tong couldn’t help but take a step back.

“Gonggong, serve the meal,” Feng Lezhen said calmly, commanding the old eunuch who had served two emperors.

Li Tong responded promptly, rolling up his sleeves and carefully ladling porridge and setting out dishes for her.

The prison cell was quiet, with only the soft clinking of bowls and chopsticks.

Suddenly, Feng Lezhen asked, “Li Gonggong, this time—whose orders are you acting on?”

“Your Highness, please eat,” Li Tong replied, setting down the chopsticks.

Feng Lezhen glanced at him, but didn’t ask further.

After the meal, Li Tong began to clear the dishes. From outside, the ceremonial music broke through the thick prison walls and echoed in again.

Feng Lezhen tilted her head, listening for a moment, and said, “The Imperial Prison is in the east of the city, and the Fu and Liang families are in the west. One in the east, the other in the west, with the entire capital in between—yet I can still hear the wedding music. Could it be that the Fu family is parading through the main streets?”

“Yes, Your Highness,” Li Tong replied.

“A street parade wedding needs plenty of money for handouts. And the banquet, of course, must be lavish. The entire city must be celebrating, no? Rejoicing that Fu Zhixian has finally escaped the bitter sea and married a gentle and virtuous bride?” Feng Lezhen asked again.

Li Tong replied, “They’re all just common folk.”

Feng Lezhen cast him a glance and was about to speak when suddenly a sound of fighting erupted outside. Both she and Li Tong looked toward the cell door. Moments later, a young eunuch came rushing in: “Li Gonggong, someone has broken into the Imperial Prison!”

Feng Lezhen’s eyes flickered slightly.

Li Tong ordered coldly, “Kill them.”

“Yes!” The eunuch turned and ran off again.

The sounds of fighting grew closer, occasionally punctuated by the explosion of gunpowder. The vibration of the blasts traveled through the floor, numbing one’s soles.

“To avoid disturbing Your Highness, the prison was cleared out before your arrival. At present, you are the only prisoner here,” Li Tong said slowly. “It seems whoever’s out there is here for you.”

Feng Lezhen glanced at him calmly. “Weren’t all of my people already purged by the Emperor?”

Li Tong smiled faintly. “Petty conspirators aren’t so easily wiped out.”

Another explosion rang out, followed by screams. Li Tong’s brows furrowed. After a long moment of hesitation, he finally rushed out.

“How many people came?” he grabbed a eunuch who was heading out to help.

“J-just one person,” the eunuch stammered.

Li Tong froze. “Just one?”

“Yes, Gonggong. But he brought a lot of gunpowder. We dare not act rashly.”

“Useless!” Li Tong pulled a short blade from his sleeve and stormed out with his men.

The conversation drifted into the cell. Then the clash of weapons drowned out the distant wedding music. Feng Lezhen stood before the small window, letting the sunlight spill across her figure.

After a long time, the noise outside finally quieted. When Li Tong returned, he was disheveled, his clothes torn, no longer the dignified figure from before.

“Where is he?” Feng Lezhen asked.

Li Tong forced a smile. “I shouldn’t have let Your Highness see this. But this man stormed the Imperial Prison alone with two crates of gunpowder, clearly never planning to leave alive. To be able to do so much for his master—this old servant truly admires him.”

With a grim expression, he turned his head, and two young eunuchs immediately dragged the man in.

Covered in blood and filth, the man was thrown carelessly to the ground. His fingertips brushed against the hem of Feng Lezhen’s white robe, leaving a glaring streak of red.

Li Tong turned and left with his men, and the prison cell was instantly quiet again.

The eunuchs’ methods were cruel. The man on the ground had had his Achilles tendons severed, and possibly his spine broken. He was riddled with nearly twenty wounds, his once-white robes soaked in blood and stained dark red.

Feng Lezhen stared at him for a long time, then slowly crouched in front of him.

She didn’t bother to gather her robes as she crouched; the fabric pooled on the ground, brushing against his bloody, dust-covered hand. The man’s fingers trembled and, after a long moment, barely moved to pull away from the edge of her pristine dress.

Feng Lezhen didn’t notice. She simply reached out to brush the blood-matted hair from his face and looked at his heavily injured features. “Who sent you?”

“…No one.” His voice was weak, his strength nearly gone. Blood clouded his eyes, but her reflection was clearly visible in them.

Feng Lezhen fell silent. “Why did you come?”

“To… rescue… Your Highness.”

Feng Lezhen fell into an even longer silence.

Only when his breath became faint and ragged did she come back to herself. “If Ben Gong told you Ben Gong doesn’t remember who you are, would you regret coming here?”

He said nothing, only looked at her quietly.

Feng Lezhen gave a silent smile. “I understand.”

She reached out and gently closed his eyes. She didn’t mind that her hand was stained with his blood.

“Ben Gong is glad you came.”

The heavy sound of his breathing gradually slowed, until at some point it stopped completely. The prison fell silent once more, the wedding music drifting in again.

Feng Lezhen withdrew her hand and sat calmly by the corpse.

After a long while, a single drop of blood fell onto her fingertip. Then a second. A third…

Out on the street, the wedding procession suddenly spooked the horses, which charged into the dense crowd. Cheers turned into screams. Amid the chaos, someone in a red robe turned suddenly toward the direction of the Imperial Prison—as if sensing something—but the view was blocked by rows of buildings, not even the shadow of the prison visible.

When Feng Lezhen collapsed beside the corpse, she vaguely heard the urgent jingling of bells. She didn’t think on it further—darkness swallowed her completely.

“It’s already mid-morning, why hasn’t Her Highness awakened yet?”

“Perhaps she stayed up reading too long last night. Don’t disturb her.”

“But sleeping too long isn’t good either. She’ll wake with a headache.”

Feng Lezhen’s eyelids fluttered slightly, and only after a long while did she slowly open her eyes. What came into view was a familiar canopy and bed curtain.

The curtain was woven with gold thread, a birthday gift from the emperor for her twenty-first birthday. She had found it gaudy and had it taken down after just three months. Even when she was later imprisoned in the palace for treason, she never used it again.

And now, the bed curtain that should’ve been locked away in storage had inexplicably appeared before her again.

She laid there quietly for a while, and once her awareness fully returned, she sat up silently. Everything she saw—every arrangement and piece of furniture—was intimately familiar.

It was the main bedchamber of her Eldest Princess Residence, the one she had lived in since she was sixteen. Every table and chair had been selected to her liking, many items were unique and impossible to replicate.

Outside the room, a young maid chatting at the door glanced in casually. Upon seeing Feng Lezhen sit up, she rushed in, asking, “Your Highness, you’re finally awake. Are you hungry?”

Feng Lezhen looked at the young girl in front of her. In her memory, the same girl had once collapsed in front of her, drenched in blood.

“Your Highness? Your Highness?” the maid tilted her head, puzzled.

Feng Lezhen lowered her eyes, her gaze falling on the sachet at the maid’s waist.

It was a Five-Poison sachet, worn only during the Dragon Boat Festival.

Feng Lezhen was quiet for a moment, then reached out and pinched the girl’s cheek. “Does it hurt?”

“…Yes.” The maid looked at her, worried.

Feng Lezhen withdrew her hand and looked at the red mark she’d left. “Then it’s not a dream.”

The girl looked even more confused. “Your Highness, what’s wrong?”

“What year’s Dragon Boat Festival is it today?” Feng Lezhen asked again.

“…Your Highness, please don’t scare me. Of course it’s the fifth year of the Great Qian Chen Calendar!”

That would be May of last year. In just three months, she would be imprisoned in the palace for treason.

Heaven hadn’t forsaken her. Everything had returned to a point where things could still be salvaged. Feng Lezhen thought of the man who had stormed the Imperial Prison alone to save her and lifted her eyes to look at the lush flowers and trees outside the window.