"How I found out doesn’t matter. What matters is you—was it worth it?" Chu Ruoyan frowned slightly, her delicate brows knitting together. "Second Sister, you’ve always been the most obedient one in the household. Though I’ve encouraged you to have your own opinions, this time, for the sake of a man, you’ve even taken the blame for defiling the palace. Have you ever stopped to consider whether he’s worth such sacrifice?"
Chu Ruoyin froze.
Over the years in the household, she had been like a hollow flower. If her mother said to study music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, she did so. If her mother insisted she must not neglect poetry and literature, she pushed herself to excel.
Yet even so, there was always endless needlework to complete, while the mathematics she found fascinating was dismissed by her mother as a distraction—something she was forbidden to touch.
Her days had been as dull as stagnant water… until she met him.
"Elder Sister, do you know what happened to me the other day in the Palace of Gathered Elegance? I made a terrible mistake."
Chu Ruoyan was taken aback as her sister continued, "The instructing matron made us practice posture by balancing porcelain bowls on our heads for a full hour. I had sprained my ankle two days prior and begged for leniency, but she refused. Before half an hour had passed, my foot gave out, and the bowl shattered—it was Consort Xue’s favorite blue-glazed porcelain bowl. The matron dragged me to Yaoguang Palace, intending for Consort Xue to punish me."
Chu Ruoyan scoffed. "Consort Xue’s favorite bowl was used to train newcomers? That was clearly a setup!"
The Xue family had grown far too bold. With everyone preoccupied dealing with An Sheng, they’d been overlooked!
But Chu Ruoyin shook her head gently. "In the end, I was at fault and gave them an opening. But just as I was about to be taken away, I heard a voice say—‘A blue-glazed porcelain bowl? I have plenty in my estate. I’ll send a new one tomorrow.’"
Chu Ruoyan sighed softly.
Prince Qin had arrived.
A hero saving the beauty—such a cliché.
Yet Chu Ruoyin’s eyes sparkled. "The matron wouldn’t relent, insisting that the one I broke was irreplaceable. So the Prince lost his temper. He ordered his attendants to fetch a random bowl and place it on the matron’s head. He declared it his treasure now and said that if she dropped it, she would be punished!"
"Elder Sister, you should have seen the matron’s humiliation—she dropped to her knees, kowtowing and begging for mercy. The Prince even glanced at me and said that if she ever harassed me again, for every hair of mine harmed, he would pluck ten of hers."
Chu Ruoyan fell silent for a long moment before murmuring, "I’m sorry…"
Chu Ruoyin looked at her in confusion as her elder sister continued, "When you returned last time, we knew Consort Xue was targeting you because of Aunt’s affairs… yet none of us could help you."
Absent family leaves room for outsiders to step in.
But Chu Ruoyin waved her hands hastily. "No, it’s not your fault! Entering the palace was my choice, and any hardship is mine to bear. Besides… I’m grateful to have met him. Elder Sister, do you know? Later, I embroidered a pouch and waited for days just to give it to him when he passed by the Palace of Gathered Elegance."
"To my surprise, the Prince remembered me! He smiled and asked if the matron had troubled me again. I said no and thanked him for helping me when we first met. But he corrected me—we had met before, at the polo match hosted by the Empress!"
The young girl lifted her head, her delicate face alight with joy. "That’s when I realized—the gentleman who caught me when I nearly fell was him! Elder Sister, he’s a Prince, yet he remembered a mere candidate like me… and saved me twice. I didn’t know how to repay him, but he simply asked me to play a folk song from the northern deserts."
"So I learned the most famous ballad of the north, ‘The Song of the Earth.’ He loved it, and I learned many more. Elder Sister, have you ever ached for someone? Thinking of them asleep and awake, wondering what they’re doing every moment?"
Chu Ruoyan’s breath hitched as the image of a man in a wheelchair flickered in her mind. She quickly shook it away. "And then? You just… gave yourself to him?"
Chu Ruoyin’s cheeks flushed, her gaze tender. "Yes. The Prince isn’t just fond of music—he’s knowledgeable in poetry, literature, and art. We could talk for hours. So what happened today in the Palace of Jade Beauty… I went willingly."
Now they reached the heart of the matter.
Chu Ruoyan straightened. "What exactly happened in the Palace of Jade Beauty today?"
Chu Ruoyin bit her lip before speaking slowly.
That morning, she and several other candidates had been cleaning the palace when the instructing matron suddenly called the others away on urgent business. Not long after, Prince Qin entered, smelling of alcohol, and seized her without letting go.
Startled, she struggled, but the man, intoxicated, swept her into the bedchamber. He kept murmuring things like "A-Yin" and "Don’t go." Already fond of him, she yielded halfway… and thus, the mistake was made.
Chu Ruoyan’s brows furrowed. "Was Prince Qin truly drunk?"
"He must have been. He reeked of wine…"
"Think carefully! The Prince isn’t one to overindulge, and this was broad daylight in the palace. How could he be drunk?"
Under her sister’s sharp gaze, Chu Ruoyin recalled the man’s state—flushed face, glazed eyes, burning skin…
A horrifying realization struck her. "Elder Sister, are you saying… he was drugged?"
With their aunt’s fate as a warning, Chu Ruoyan nodded slowly. "And that instructing matron serves Consort Xue. She deliberately removed the other candidates before the Prince arrived. This was no accident."
Initially, she’d taken her sister’s confession at face value, influenced by her own dreams. But now it was clear—this was a trap.
Meanwhile, in Yaoguang Palace…
Consort Xue reclined lazily on her divan, perking up as Aunt Yuru entered. "Well? Did it work?"
Aunt Yuru shook her head. "Pei Zhuo was called away on business and never went to the Palace of Jade Beauty."
Consort Xue twisted her handkerchief in frustration. "That man has all the luck!"
They had gone to great lengths to drug Pei Zhuo’s wine and place Chu Ruoyin in his path, hoping to eliminate both Empress Pei and the Chu family in one stroke. Yet Pei Zhuo had slipped away!
"But Your Highness need not fret. Though Pei Zhuo escaped, Prince Qin, who entered the palace with him, drank the ‘sobering flower’ wine instead. The Empress Dowager caught them red-handed! Now the Prince has fled, leaving Chu Ruoyin alone to face the Empress’s interrogation in the Palace of Jade Beauty."
Consort Xue paused, then smiled slowly.
Prince Qin?
Prince Qin is perfect for this! He’s the Empress Dowager’s most treasured youngest son.
If he’s entangled with Chu Ruoyin, the Empress Dowager will surely blame that Chu girl for seducing him…
“Let’s go! To Cining Palace—we must inform the Empress Dowager at once!”
