Before Li Chengtai and Li Chengyou returned to the palace, Li Chengzhen had always been the most outstanding prince. His skills in archery and horsemanship, as well as his academic achievements, placed him at the top among all the princes.
But ever since that pair of twins came back, all the glory that once belonged to Li Chengzhen was snatched away by those two little brats!
The Old Matron tried to console him: "Your Highness, there’s no need to rush. As the saying goes, rice must be eaten bite by bite, and tasks must be done one at a time. Take it slow—you’ll memorize this ancient text eventually. It’s about to rain outside, let’s go back inside and rest."
But Li Chengzhen was already bordering on madness.
To the Old Matron’s shock, his frenzied state bore an eerie resemblance to the Empress.
Li Chengzhen slammed the table and stood up, tearing the ancient book in his hands to shreds. He stormed out of the study, staggering toward the pond in the courtyard.
The summer night was heavy with the threat of a storm. The sky darkened, thick clouds crowding the heavens as the wind howled, making the lotus leaves and flowers in the pond sway violently.
Boom—
Thunder rumbled across the sky.
Li Chengzhen crouched by the pond, dazed. Rain poured down, lightning flashed, and thunder roared. His face was drenched, and in terror, he clutched his head as the ghastly image of a woman surfaced before his eyes once more.
The woman’s face was deathly pale, blood streaming from her seven orifices. Her eyes glared at Li Chengzhen with bitter resentment as she uttered a venomous curse:
["I... curse... you... to die a wretched death..."]
It was Concubine Zhou from the Yan Residence—the same Concubine Zhou who had died before Li Chengzhen’s eyes years ago. Tormented by the hallucination, Li Chengzhen screamed in agony, "Aah! Stay away from me! Get lost!"
The Old Matron rushed over in a panic, dragging the deranged prince back inside. She shut the doors tightly and drew the heavy curtains. "Your Highness, don’t be afraid," she soothed. "The storm will pass soon. Rest now—this old servant won’t extinguish the lamps."
Li Chengzhen feared the dark most of all, especially stormy nights.
Every time the wind and rain raged in the dead of night, he felt as though he were plunging into an abyss of terror.
Outside, thunder continued to rumble. Unable to sleep, Li Chengzhen’s eyes were bloodshot. He seized the Old Matron’s hand, his voice sharp with hysteria, "Bring me two animals! Now! I want to kill them!"
His pain was unrelenting—only by inflicting suffering upon others could he drown it out.
The Old Matron winced as his grip drew blood from her hand. "Your Highness, you mustn’t! Consort Shen has already grown suspicious... You can’t harm anyone else..."
Li Chengzhen kicked her aside, then yanked open a drawer, retrieving a whip and a dagger. He charged into the servants’ quarters next to the courtyard.
Boom—
The little eunuchs sleeping inside jolted awake in terror. The door swung open, and in the brief flash of lightning, they saw Li Chengzhen—drenched, wild-eyed—standing in the doorway like a demon.
The youngest eunuch let out a shriek and tried to flee, but Li Chengzhen grabbed him, his voice dripping with malice, "Running? Weren’t you so proud in front of Father earlier?"
The eunuch whimpered, "Your Highness, this servant isn’t your brother—ah—!"
The storm raged on, thunder and lightning mingling with the sounds of agonized screams that lasted the entire night.
...
...
Cining Palace.
"Achoo—"
Li Chengyou sneezed in his sleep, startling Li Chengtai awake beside him.
Rubbing his bleary eyes, Li Chengtai heard the howling wind and rain outside. The window had been blown open by the storm, the cold wind making the bed curtains flap wildly. The maids outside scrambled to shut it.
Still half-asleep, Li Chengtai caught a glimpse of his younger brother sprawled out in bed, the blanket nowhere to be seen.
"Idiot." Li Chengtai picked up the fallen blanket and draped it over his brother.
Yawning, he crawled back under the covers and soon drifted off again.
...
...
The storm had passed by morning, leaving the red-tiled roofs of Qing State’s imperial palace glistening under the sun. The oppressive heat of the past few days had finally eased.
At daybreak, Shen Wei sent Nanny Rong to inspect the storm damage across the palace, ensuring that any collapsed walls were promptly repaired.
"My lady, there’s news." Cai Ping scurried over and whispered, "This morning, two eunuch corpses were carried out of the Second Prince’s palace. They say they were struck by lightning last night—an ill omen—so they were to be dumped in the mass graves outside the palace. But I intercepted them and hid them in the servants’ quarters."
Shen Wei set down her ledger. "Fetch Doctor Mo to examine the bodies."
Cai Ping was always efficient. Without needing orders, she had already prepared everything—including seeking out Doctor Mo for the autopsy.
But this time, she hesitated. "My lady, Doctor Mo was supposed to be on duty at the imperial hospital today, but when I went to find him, no one knew where he’d gone."
Moxun had vanished during his shift.
Shen Wei frowned, thinking for a moment. "Let’s go to the Autumn Chill Palace."
Cai Ping blinked in surprise.
The residence of Princess Taihua Li Qingxun from a century ago—was Doctor Mo wandering there again?
...
After the storm, the palace grounds were littered with broken branches and fallen flowers. Servants bustled about, clearing the pathways.
Shen Wei’s palanquin arrived at the Autumn Chill Palace.
A few roof tiles had fallen outside the walls, and a snapped silk tree branch lay across the stone path, its blossoms scattered everywhere. The palace gates were tightly shut, the rusted chains creaking as the servants unlocked them.
Shen Wei stepped down, accompanied only by Cai Ping as she entered the desolate courtyard.
Inside, debris from the storm covered the ground—shattered tiles, broken branches.
Moxun, dressed in a blue robe with her sleeves rolled up, was sweeping the mess away with a large broom.
"Doctor Mo?" Cai Ping gasped.
Moxun looked up and grinned. "Consort Shen, what brings you here?"
Shen Wei sighed.
She had guessed right—Moxun was here again, wandering the abandoned palace. Ever since becoming a royal physician, Moxun had developed a habit of slipping away to the Autumn Chill Palace whenever she had free time.
Sometimes she perched in the tall silk tree to admire the view, other times she lounged beneath its shade. On particularly whimsical days, she even brought a mat to nap in the deserted courtyard.
The Autumn Chill Palace held an inexplicable allure for her.
"There are two bodies that need examining," Shen Wei said bluntly.
Moxun wiped her brow. "Alright, I’ll go take a look. Once I’m done, I’ll come back and finish cleaning up. Last night’s storm nearly wrecked this place."
Shen Wei couldn’t help but ask, "Why... why do you keep coming here?"
This part of the palace had long been abandoned, avoided even by the servants. Rumors of hauntings swirled around it.
Yet Moxun was drawn to it like a moth to flame.
A faint smile crossed Moxun’s lips as she gazed up at the remaining silk flowers clinging to the branches. The breeze carried the faint scent of the blossoms, as if they had bloomed across time itself.
Moxun said softly, "Perhaps it's because the silk tree flowers here bloom too beautifully."
