Chapter 32

Xue Jin'an had finished what he came to do, and there was no longer any need for him to remain in the Yihe Palace. Knowing he was about to leave, the Fourth Prince felt such relief that he could have jumped for joy and played music himself to see him off.

However, looking around the Buddhist prayer hall where they stood, and with their recent conversation still echoing in his ears, the Fourth Prince found he could not muster a smile.

Watching Xue Jin'an rise, his body moved before his mind could process the thought, reaching out as if to grab him—only to naturally grasp at thin air.

Xue Jin'an sensed the unusual vibration of the air behind him. Even before his background security software could react, he tilted his body slightly, easily evading the Fourth Prince’s outstretched hand.

He tilted his head and looked at the other’s dazed expression. "You seem to be malfunctioning. Do you require after-sales service?"

There was a saying among humans that one should see a task through to the end, just as one should escort a Buddha to the West. Moreover, since this "charging pile" in front of him was currently holding the battery he had his eye on, Xue Jin'an—acting as a repairman for the first time—was quite proactive about completely resolving his "malfunctions."

Unfortunately, the enthusiastic Mr. Phone-Repairman was firmly rejected by his customer. The Fourth Prince waved his hands, shook his head, and backed away in one fluid motion. "No, no, no, no, no!"

"I... I just wanted to ask you..." The Fourth Prince gauged Xue Jin'an’s expression. Seeing no signs of anger, he gathered his courage and asked hesitantly, "Once you leave, will you make the matter of this prayer hall public? Can you really not keep it a secret?"

"No, and I cannot," Xue Jin'an answered in order.

There were still many clues missing regarding the death of the original host’s mother. While Consort Zhen was the prime suspect, Xue Jin'an knew that there was more to the matter than just her; she was not the mastermind. The true puppeteer was still lurking in the shadows.

There were many suspicious aspects to the case of Consort Zhen poisoning the Tenth Prince. Setting everything else aside, the most glaring point was that she had no motive.

Consort Zhen enjoyed the Emperor’s favor and had princes by her side, while the Consort Zhen of that time, despite having two princes, had only been a Zhaoyi. The disparity in their status was vast. Even if they had truly had irreconcilable differences, Consort Zhen only needed to signal her intent, and there would be plenty of people rushing to do her bidding. Why would she personally poison a child in swaddling clothes? Such a tactic served no purpose other than to highlight her own base nature and stupidity.

Such an obvious bug had gone unnoticed by the entire court of "programmers," which was suspicious in itself. Furthermore, it was clear that the Emperor was aware of the truth, yet he had remained silent.

If this had merely been a scheme by Consort Zhen alone, the Emperor’s attitude would not have been this way. To put it bluntly, the Emperor did not care much about the Chu family, whose titles were already on the verge of being stripped.

Therefore, it was basically certain that behind Consort Zhen lay another interest group—one so deeply and broadly entrenched in both the inner palace and the court that the powers-that-be were wary of acting against it.

Consort Zhen was the only lead for now. Letting her go would yield greater benefits. However, this release was only temporary; once her utility value dropped below that of others, it would be time for her to reach her "end of life."

Xue Jin'an’s answer did not entirely match the Fourth Prince’s hopes, but the latter still breathed a sigh of relief.

At least there would be no immediate disaster. He still had time to think of a way to persuade his mother to completely destroy the prayer hall. That way, if the truth came out later, even if the Emperor were furious, without evidence, his mother would only be reprimanded, confined, or demoted... The Fourth Prince felt these costs were within an acceptable range.

Having received this assurance, the Fourth Prince visibly relaxed. He eagerly took the lead to clear the way for Xue Jin'an, sending him off with high spirits. Then, he pushed the door, but it remained firmly shut.

***

Remembering only then that the door had been locked, the Fourth Prince looked at the prayer hall plastered with yellow talismans and began to panic. "How do we get out? If we go through the window, Mother will definitely find out!"

Xue Jin'an replied, "Go via the top."

"Huh?" The Fourth Prince looked up, bewildered.

The prayer hall was small, and with the doors and windows sealed, it was common practice to burn incense and paper daily. To ensure air circulation, ventilation ducts had been opened around the ceiling. They were slightly larger than those in ordinary houses, enough for a child to crawl through. The only problem was that the vents were level with the rafters, and ancient houses were built with high ceilings—even more so in the Imperial Palace.

While the prayer hall was not built to the scale of a grand palace hall, it was still crafted by the Imperial Construction Office. For the Fourth Prince, who was not yet twelve, the height was daunting and unreachable.

The circular pillars around the hall were too thick and smooth to climb. Xue Jin'an grabbed a piece of silk fabric painted with deities. It felt sturdy in his hand. He gave it a firm tug to test its strength and, satisfied it could hold a child's weight, he began his ascent.

He took two light steps, used the arc of the silk to swing himself onto a pillar, stepped off, and in mid-air, threw his body onto another piece of silk. Swinging again with the momentum, he kicked off another pillar, performed a nimble mid-air somersault—and after a dazzling display of agility, landed lightly and gracefully on the rafters without making a sound.

The Fourth Prince’s eyes widened; his naturally flirtatious willow-leaf eyes were practically round. He looked from the ground to the person on the rafters, disbelieving. "How did you do that?"

"Is this light-body technique? Where did you learn it? Is your master still taking apprentices?" The Fourth Prince voiced his desire to learn.

"I have no internal energy; it is not a light-body technique." After saying this, Xue Jin'an waved at him. Following the etiquette of notifying the host when leaving a gathering, he informed the Fourth Prince, "I am leaving."

"Hey, wait, what about me?" The Fourth Prince reached out, trying to keep him.

"It’s your house; do as you please." Xue Jin'an, who had never developed the skill of being helpful and had instead learned many "backstabbing" skills from the Fifth Prince, thought for a moment and offered a suggestion: "You can wait for Consort Zhen to return and let her out. A beating will suffice."

"..." Choked by these words, the Fourth Prince watched helplessly as he crawled through the vent and vanished from sight.

Left alone in the boxy, walled-in prayer hall, the Fourth Prince tried to replicate Xue Jin'an’s success. Not only did he fail, but having miscalculated the distance, he slammed straight into a pillar.

Having attended four years of martial arts classes in the Imperial Study, the Fourth Prince was still stuck at the stage of holding a horse stance. While he had no achievements in martial arts, he possessed a profound talent for giving up on them.

The Fourth Prince clutched his face, which was numb with pain, and lay on the floor for a long while before finally recovering. "It seems I can only take the window."

He carefully selected a window in the corner, gently tore off a corner of the yellow talisman, and slowly pushed it open. Like a thief, he poked his head out to look around for a long time. He had just lifted his leg to the sill but hadn't even begun to climb through when he heard the voice of Aunt Ziyun talking to someone. Shadows flickered on the wall around the corner of the corridor.

The Fourth Prince quickly pulled his leg back, closed the window, and crouched beneath the sill, head tucked in. Almost the moment his shadow disappeared from the window, Ziyun, feeling a sensation, glanced over.

Aunt Ziyun, who had been speaking, suddenly turned with a cold, stern expression, her sharp gaze sweeping the area, startling the little maid, Xiyun, beside her.

***

Xiyun had been brought from the summer palace by Consort Zhen last November and was only half-aware of the goings-on in Yihe Palace. She had only heard that there were two head maids: Aunt Cuiyun, who was gentle-tempered and could speak with everyone, and Aunt Ziyun, whose temperament was cold and stern—anyone who crossed her would be beaten to a pulp.

When Xiyun first arrived, she was assigned to work under Aunt Ziyun. She had been anxious for a long time, only to discover that Ziyun just disliked smiling and talking; she rarely scolded anyone. Perhaps it was just her tall stature that gave people a strong sense of oppression, leading to those rumors.

This was the first time she had seen Ziyun wear such an expression, and it was truly intimidating. Xiyun poked her tongue out inwardly, and, emboldened, she peered out from behind her and asked in a small voice, "Aunt, what is it? Did some daring thief sneak in?"

"No." Ziyun’s hawk-like eyes scanned the surroundings rapidly, finding nothing suspicious. Her excellent eyesight also confirmed that the mechanism on the locked prayer hall door had not been triggered.

"Let’s go." She withdrew her gaze and continued walking, warning, "The Consort does not like people coming near here. Don't come here unless you have to; if you get caught and punished, even I won't be able to save you."

"Oh." Xiyun replied. As if remembering something, she looked around and asked in a mysterious, lowered voice, "So, Aunt, were you injured because you came here secretly and were discovered by the Consort? Ouch—"

Ziyun pulled back her hand, which had just patted the girl's forehead, and said indifferently, "Keep your mouth shut. Don't ask what you shouldn't."

Listening to the sound of their voices fading away, the Fourth Prince, whose legs were numb from crouching, plopped onto the floor. He exhaled a long breath and muttered, "Aunt Ziyun is truly terrifying..."

His voice cut off abruptly. The Fourth Prince saw a small, shadowy figure reflected silently on the paper window. It lingered there like a ghost for a long time before slowly disappearing.

Aunt Ziyun is truly terrifying! To avoid anyone else lying in wait outside, the Fourth Prince decided to wait until his mother returned and the palace staff were all out welcoming her to seize the chance to leave.

He crept onto the prayer mat and sat down. Looking up, he saw the long table holding the shrine. His gaze lingered on the incense burner: Xue Jin'an seemed particularly focused on this burner earlier. Was there something in it?

The Fourth Prince dragged the prayer mat over, knelt half-way, and rummaged through the incense burner. To his surprise, he actually pulled out a familiar red wooden bead. "Isn't this from Xue Jin'an’s bracelet? No, wait, Mother has a blood-dragon wood bracelet too. So, did Mother drop this? Why would Xue Jin'an want to get his hands on this?"

The Fourth Prince could not fathom it, but it didn't matter. He only knew that he shouldn't let Xue Jin'an get what he wanted. The Fourth Prince wiped the incense ash off the bead with his sleeve and tucked it into his pocket.

As he prepared to sit back on the prayer mat, his gaze drifted to the memorial tablet in the shrine. He hesitated for a moment, then bowed twice. "Tenth Brother, this prayer hall will probably be torn down before long. It is my fault, but you must understand me. If these things are left here and discovered, Mother will be in great trouble. You understand, right? You..."

The Fourth Prince rambled on, talking to the tablet while slumped over the offering table, until he drifted off to sleep without realizing it.

When he woke up again, he was lying on the bed in his bedchamber. It was already pitch black outside. After a moment of dazed confusion, his first reaction was ecstasy: Great! Everything just now must have been a dream! How could Xue Jin'an have come to find him? And those illicit things in the prayer hall were all fake!

The Fourth Prince, in his joy, performed a failed carp-leap roll off the bed. Ignoring the pain, he scrambled up and ran outside, laughing foolishly. "Shunxin, Shunyi, Shunde! Where are you hiding? This Prince is hungry! I want to eat Eight-Treasure Duck!"