The Eldest Princess’s aura was so overwhelming that Shen Suifeng didn’t react for a moment: “What?”
“An IOU,” Feng Lezhen repeated, kindly suggesting, “I said it loud enough—if you still didn’t hear, maybe you should cure your deafness, Mister Shen.”
Shen Suifeng laughed in exasperation: “So you’ve been gone all this time, just to come back with this?”
“We’ll settle the debt in a month,” Feng Lezhen said calmly, “Don’t worry, I won’t short you a single coin.”
Shen Suifeng playfully fanned himself with the IOU stamped with her personal seal: “A dignified Eldest Princess, and you don’t mind owing money to a commoner?”
Feng Lezhen paused and looked at him, genuinely troubled.
Shen Suifeng, so used to her overbearing demeanor, was briefly stunned to see her suddenly act like a delicate young woman. Before he could speak, Feng Lezhen sighed: “You’re right, I really do mind. That’s why I was thinking of killing you to erase the debt—but I just couldn’t bear to do it, so I’ll owe it for now.”
Shen Suifeng: “…”
She was so shameless that even Ah Ye couldn’t help but cover her face. Shen Suifeng, on the other hand, regained his composure, carefully folded the IOU and tucked it away in his chest, smiling faintly: “Then I’ll wait.”
Feng Lezhen smiled.
As soon as Shen Suifeng left, she clutched her chest and sat down: “Shameful. So shameful…”
“…I thought Your Highness would actually just brush it off,” Ah Ye said helplessly.
Feng Lezhen shook her head: “My skin isn’t made of iron. Of course I can’t really just brush it off.”
Ah Ye laughed and came up to massage her legs and shoulders, finally coaxing the Eldest Princess back into a good mood.
“Where’s Fan Gonggong?” Feng Lezhen asked.
Ah Ye replied: “Still in the secret prison. We’re just waiting for nightfall to bring him over in secret.”
Feng Lezhen glanced out at the bright daylight and gently set her cup on the table.
Night soon fell. The entire Eldest Princess’s residence had gone quiet. The vast estate was steeped in peace.
As the door creaked open, Ah Ye led in an old man with a gaunt face and graying hair.
“Fan Gonggong.” Feng Lezhen smiled.
The old eunuch’s eyes instantly reddened when he saw her: “Greetings to Your Highness, the Eldest Princess.”
Feng Lezhen glanced at Ah Ye, who immediately withdrew and closed the door tightly. Feng Lezhen then rose and helped Fan Gonggong up: “I still prefer when you called me Little Princess.”
Fan Gonggong gave a bitter smile: “I’ve been muddle-headed for many years. It wasn’t until Miss Ah Ye told me that I realized the new Emperor has already been on the throne for five years, and Your Highness… is already the Eldest Princess.”
Feng Lezhen quietly watched him, her smile lingering until the silence in the room grew suffocating, like a heavy stone pressing down on his back. Only then did she slowly speak: “You should know why I went to such lengths to bring you here, right?”
Fan Gonggong trembled and immediately knelt down: “I will tell you everything I know.”
“Back then, before the late Emperor passed, why did he force all the palace eunuchs to take poison? What was he trying to hide?” Feng Lezhen leaned in, staring intently into his eyes.
Fan Gonggong’s fingers trembled uncontrollably. It was a long while before he managed to speak: “Before he passed, he gave two secret decrees to Fu Zhixian, Lord Fu…”
Hearing the familiar name, Feng Lezhen’s eyes flickered slightly: “What was written in those decrees?”
“I don’t know,” Fan Gonggong shook his head, “Only the late Emperor and Lord Fu knew.”
“What about Li Tong?” Feng Lezhen asked again.
When Fan Gonggong heard this hometown acquaintance’s name, his face twisted in disgust: “When the late Emperor wrote the decrees, Li Tong just happened to be sent out on an errand. He likely knew nothing.”
“The late Emperor was as meticulous as ever.” Feng Lezhen straightened and lazily leaned back against the cushion.
He deliberately sent Li Tong away when writing the decrees and later had Li Tong kill anyone who might have seen them. In this way, only the Emperor and Fu Zhixian would have known about the secret decrees.
“One more question,” in the heavy silence, Feng Lezhen’s voice came out cold, “Why did the late Emperor trust Fu Zhixian so much?”
The night deepened. The watchmen yawned as they walked the empty streets, dutifully beating the night drums. Occasionally, they would see a carriage brazenly racing through the city in violation of the curfew, but they calmly pretended not to notice.
“Officials can set fires, but the commoners can’t even light a lamp—it’s always been this way, always…” The watchman mumbled as he drifted further into the dark streets.
At the Fu family’s secondary residence, the bedroom lights were still on.
Fu Zhixian sat under the lamp, skillfully applying medicine to his wounds and bandaging himself. He then repeatedly washed his hands three times with soap, ensuring there was no lingering smell before picking up his needle and thread to continue sewing the sachet.
The medicine he was using lately had a pungent odor, so until his injuries healed, he didn’t plan to see Feng Lezhen. He knew this would surely annoy her, and he had been thinking about how to coax her. As it happened, there was a new trend in the capital of giving sachets to loved ones, so he made time to learn. Today was his last day applying the medicine, and the sachet only needed its final touches.
At the latest, he could see her the day after tomorrow.
A sharp pain in his fingertip snapped him back to attention—blood was seeping from his finger, staining the thread red. Fu Zhixian frowned and was about to change the thread when hurried footsteps suddenly sounded outside the door.
Bang—
The door was pushed open. Fu Zhixian calmly looked up; the table where the sewing kit had been was now completely empty.
“Your Majesty.” He rose to greet him.
Feng Ji, with a dark expression, waved his hand and shoved a stack of letters in front of him. “Think of a way in the next few days to stamp Feng Lezhen’s private seal on these letters.”
Fu Zhixian paused. He casually opened one of the letters, then fell silent for a long time. “Your Majesty wants to frame Her Highness for treason?”
“Frame?” Feng Ji was furious. “Since I ascended the throne, she’s been interfering in state affairs at every turn, constantly seeking to replace me. When have I ever falsely accused her?”
“Her Highness the Eldest Princess indeed acts as she pleases, but these letters are false…”
“Once the seal is stamped, they will be real. First, we control her, and the rest of the evidence can be fabricated later,” Feng Ji cut him off.
Fu Zhixian lowered his eyes. “Isn’t this too reckless?”
Feng Ji was about to argue but suddenly paused, his expression turning even colder as he stared at Fu Zhixian.
The candlelight flickered in the room, casting shifting shadows over their faces. Neither spoke, but Feng Ji’s mind had already raced through countless thoughts.
“Fu Zhixian, have you been the Princess Consort for so long that you’ve forgotten your place?” Feng Ji finally spoke coldly. “If it weren’t for the late emperor’s secret protection, you would have died under the Fu family’s torment years ago.”
The moon was blocked by dark clouds, and the world suddenly plunged into darkness.
“That year, during the Lantern Festival, the late emperor ascended the city tower to view the lanterns and happened to see Fu Zhixian being scolded by his elders. From then on, he secretly nurtured him. Lord Fu didn’t disappoint him—he became famous in the capital within just a year, and he was only thirteen at the time.”
“The late emperor originally cherished him as a talent. Later, seeing that he was on good terms with Her Highness, he simply went along with it and arranged the marriage between you two. After that, Lord Fu visited the palace every half-month to report on you to the late emperor.”
“In the months before the late emperor’s passing, he often summoned Lord Fu, discussing both state affairs and personal matters with him. There was almost nothing he didn’t share. If anyone in this world earned the late emperor’s utmost trust, I’m afraid even you or I wouldn’t compare to Lord Fu. Lord Fu treated the late emperor in the same way.”
Outside, Fan Gonggong had long since left, but his words still echoed in Feng Lezhen’s ears. She sat under the lamplight, expressionless, playing with a cup in her hand.
After a long time, she suddenly flung the cup. It smashed against the window and shattered into pieces.
The noise startled Ah Ye, who was standing guard outside. She instinctively wanted to go in but was stopped by Qin Wan.
“Let Her Highness have some time alone,” Qin Wan said. Inside, another loud crash rang out.
The two of them stood silently outside, waiting the entire night. The lights in the room stayed on until dawn, and even then, the sleeping quarters remained deathly quiet until late in the evening, as if no one were inside.
As another day passed, Ah Ye couldn’t sit still any longer. “No, I have to go check on Her Highness. What on earth did Fan Gonggong tell her to make her like this?”
“You can’t go,” Qin Wan said firmly.
Ah Ye’s eyes were red with anxiety. “But how can we just leave her like this? Her Highness hasn’t eaten in over a day—”
“I’ll go.”
A calm voice cut in. They both turned to see who it was.
Chen Jinan stood at the door, quietly looking at them. “I’ll go.”
Ah Ye parted her lips to speak, but Qin Wan held her back.
“Go, talk to Her Highness,” Qin Wan said seriously.
Chen Jinan obediently went to open the door. Ah Ye caught a glimpse of the chaotic mess inside before he quickly shut the door behind him.
Carefully avoiding the broken porcelain on the floor, Chen Jinan quietly walked to the bedside.
Feng Lezhen had been sitting on the footstool, pretending to nap. She slowly opened her eyes when she heard someone enter. When she saw who it was, she asked in a flat tone, “Who told you to come?”
Chen Jinan’s throat bobbed. He silently sat down on the floor across from her, just like the first time he had come to this room.
Feng Lezhen frowned, watching him wordlessly, waiting to see what he was going to do. To her surprise, Chen Jinan took out paper, a brush, and a small porcelain bottle of ink from his sleeve and seriously began writing in front of her.
“…What are you doing?” Feng Lezhen was speechless.
Chen Jinan didn’t answer, focusing entirely on writing.
The scene was so ridiculous that Feng Lezhen actually laughed. “What’s gotten into you?”
Chen Jinan looked at her, as if he had something to say, but his clumsy tongue couldn’t find the right words.
Feng Lezhen watched him patiently, curious about what was going on in his mind.
After a long while, he finally spoke: “Every time Her Highness sees my writing, you’re very happy.”
Feng Lezhen: “…”
The two stared at each other in silence. After a long pause, Feng Lezhen finally came back to herself and suddenly slapped the bed, laughing out loud. Chen Jinan’s ears flushed red from her laughter, but he resolutely continued to write his messy, clumsy characters. When Feng Lezhen finished laughing, he had also finished one page and was pulling out a second crumpled sheet of paper.
“You really are something…” Feng Lezhen sighed.
Chen Jinan took Qin Wan’s words to heart—he had to cheer Her Highness up. But this was his first time trying to comfort someone, and he had no idea where to begin. After hesitating for a long time, he could only ask one question: “Why is Her Highness unhappy?”
The smile on Feng Lezhen’s face faded, and her eyes, like a star-filled night sky, felt distant and unreachable.
After a long pause, she slowly spoke, “Do you still remember the whetstone story I told you before?”
“I remember. Whether it’s a knife or a sword, when it’s first forged, the blade is dull. Only after being carefully sharpened on a whetstone can it gain a stunning luster and a sharp edge. People are the same. If the heir you value isn’t good enough, you can use other children with decent potential to grind them. Once they’re well-sharpened, they’ll be ready to inherit the family business.”
Chen Jinan remembered everything she had said.
Feng Lezhen curved her lips. “Back then, you also asked me, what if the whetstone is too hard and breaks the blade?”
“Your Highness said that if that happens, it’s just bad luck for the sharpener—they happened to pick the hardest stone.” Chen Jinan’s tone was calm.
Feng Lezhen gave a silent laugh. “That kind of bad luck can be avoided.”
Chen Jinan paused and looked at her in confusion.
Feng Lezhen leaned in close. “Let an impossible person be the whetstone. No matter how hard she is, no matter how uncontrollable, she can never become a dangerous blade. In this life, she can only ever be a stone.”
Chen Jinan stared at her in a daze, his breathing slowing.
“Frightened?” Feng Lezhen lazily straightened up and let out a self-deprecating laugh.
Night had fallen. Without lighting the lamp, Chen Jinan could only barely make out her silhouette.
Feng Lezhen rubbed her brow in exhaustion and was about to fall asleep when Chen Jinan’s voice suddenly sounded. “But Your Highness is not a stone.”
Feng Lezhen looked up.
“Your Highness is the sharpest sword in the world, the toughest blade. Whoever mistakes Your Highness for a stone is the most foolish person in this world.”
After Chen Jinan finished speaking, the dark room fell silent for a long time, until suddenly a soft laugh echoed.
Just as Chen Jinan was about to speak, slender fingers pressed against his lips.
