Secrets cannot stay hidden forever. News of He Bailing's return to the capital to treat the Crown Prince's injuries soon reached the ears of those who were listening.
In Kunning Palace,
The Empress was so furious that she smashed two vases to pieces. Even the medicine brought by her maids was knocked to the ground. "Summon Chen Yi at once!" she ordered.
Chen Yi had been plagued with headaches lately, and the last places he wanted to visit were Kunning Palace and the Eastern Palace.
Especially since the Empress had recently been frightened by a corpse delivered to her doorstep—a scheme orchestrated by none other than the Crown Prince himself. Now that He Bailing had quietly returned to the capital and the Crown Prince's condition had improved overnight, the Empress was in an even greater rage.
Unable to vent her anger on the Crown Prince, she directed all her fury toward the Imperial Medical Bureau and the servants of Kunning Palace.
The moment Chen Yi entered the hall, he was met with a torrent of curses: "Useless fools! You can't even finish off a half-dead cripple! What good are you to me?"
Chen Yi was at a loss. The Crown Prince had previously issued a death decree—if his condition wasn't cured within a month, Chen Yi would face execution and the extermination of his family.
Who was the Crown Prince? Ruthless, cruel, and merciless. His methods of purging the palace staff left no doubt that his threats were not empty. If the Crown Prince wanted his head, he was as good as dead.
Yet the Empress pressed him relentlessly. Without the means or the courage to poison the Crown Prince, Chen Yi could only vacillate between the two, surviving day by day.
Chen Yi decided to shift the blame to Imperial Physician Zheng and He Bailing. "Previously, the task of treating the Crown Prince's injuries and preparing his medicine was largely entrusted to Imperial Physician Zheng and his apprentice. I tried to intervene, but His Highness distrusts me. Now that Military Physician He has returned to the capital, it’s even more beyond my control..."
The Empress, her eyes dark and sunken from sleepless nights, had shed her usual gentle demeanor. Her gaze turned sharp. "He made an exception to appoint you as the head of the Imperial Medical Bureau—why couldn’t you intervene? How could a retired old physician outrank you? If you had acted sooner, the Crown Prince wouldn’t have lived to see this day!"
Chen Yi thought to himself, You’ve been scheming against him for twenty years, yet he’s still alive and well.
The Empress snapped, "Now that He Bailing is back, the Crown Prince is on the verge of recovery. What do you propose we do?"
Chen Yi hunched his shoulders, his voice weak. "This humble official... will think of something?"
Hearing his half-hearted reply, the Empress hurled a teacup at him in frustration. "Get out!"
Ignoring the scalding tea soaking his robes, Chen Yi scrambled to his feet and retreated.
The Empress clutched her chest, seething. She turned to Nanny Qin, who stood nearby, and asked coldly, "Has that girl still not made a move?"
Nanny Qin replied promptly, "This servant will find an opportunity to urge her."
With the Empress still fuming, Nanny Qin wasted no time. That afternoon, she entered the Eastern Palace under the pretext of delivering rewards to He Bailing.
After the recent purge, only two of the four palace beauties remained—the bedchamber attendant and Yun Kui. With the Crown Prince now suspicious of the Empress planting spies in the Eastern Palace, Nanny Qin dared not summon anyone openly to Kunning Palace.
To display her generosity, the Empress had Nanny Qin retrieve a thousand taels of silver and a fox-fur cloak from the treasury as gifts for He Bailing. Unable to refuse, He Bailing could only express his gratitude.
After rewarding He Bailing, Nanny Qin proceeded to the side hall, presenting the bedchamber attendant and Yun Kui each with a box of jewelry and four bolts of fine brocade.
The two women escorted Nanny Qin to the door. She dismissed the bedchamber attendant first, finally securing a moment alone with Yun Kui.
"Why haven’t you used the secret drug yet?"
Yun Kui had expected this. Not daring to openly reject the Empress’s "kindness," she replied, "His Highness is cautious and suspicious. This servant hasn’t found the right opportunity..."
Nanny Qin cut in sharply, "The Crown Prince is rooting out hidden spies in the Eastern Palace. If that drug is discovered during a search, you’ll be dragged into the torture chamber. Her Majesty is his mother—at worst, she’s merely overeager for a grandson. It won’t damage their relationship. But you? You know his temperament. How many has he expelled these past days? How many beaten to death? How do you think he’ll deal with you? Once you enter that chamber, innocence means nothing. After a round of torture, missing limbs will be the least of your worries. Do you think your delicate skin can endure it? Or do you want to end up like those spies—bludgeoned to death?"
Yun Kui’s face turned deathly pale, her mind conjuring images of bloodied servants being dragged away from the torture chamber.
Satisfied that she had frightened Yun Kui sufficiently, Nanny Qin delivered her final warning: "Use the drug soon, and not only will wealth and status be within reach, Her Majesty will protect you. If you refuse… she cannot guarantee you’ll leave the torture chamber in one piece."
After Nanny Qin left, Yun Kui stood alone in the cold wind for a long time, her eyes stinging, fingers trembling in her sleeves.
Was there no way out now?
Either use the drug to seduce the Crown Prince and be caught red-handed,
or let the drug be discovered and face interrogation in the torture chamber.
Perhaps she should just throw the damned drug and poisoned lip rouge into the furnace and be done with it!
As for the thousand taels… though it pained her to part with it, was money worth her life?
She should have realized sooner—keeping those things in her room was dangerous. Burying them would only lead the Eastern Palace guards to dig them up. Burning them was the only way to ensure safety.
Just as she turned to return to her quarters and dispose of the evidence, a eunuch emerged from nowhere, yanking her behind a rockery. Before she could scream, a hand clamped over her mouth, forcing a pill the size of a fingernail down her throat. By the time she reacted, it had already slid into her stomach.
Gagging, tears welling in her eyes, she clutched her throat, gasping. "Who are you? What did you give me?"
The eunuch’s face was sinister, his voice icy. "Our master offered you riches, but you refused. Now, don’t blame him for being ruthless. You’ve just taken the Seven-Day Scatter. Kill the Crown Prince within seven days, and the antidote is yours. Fail, and your guts will rot inside you."
"What does the Crown Prince’s death have to do with me? I’ve never wronged you—"
Yun Kui’s face was ashen, her vision blurred by tears.
The eunuch vanished as swiftly as he appeared, leaving her clutching at empty air. Collapsing to the ground, she sobbed uncontrollably.
She jammed her fingers down her throat, retching until blood streaked her saliva, but the pill was gone.
Stumbling back to her room in a daze, she sat blankly for a while before retrieving the hidden lip rouge and poison.
The Empress’s coercion was bad enough—but who were these people?
How absurd. She didn’t even know who their "master" was, yet she was being forced to kill a man no one could kill.
Why was this happening to her? She had done nothing wrong, yet she was going to die…
Seven-Day Scatter… Did she only have seven days left?
Clutching the porcelain vial, Yun Kui wept silently, her tears soaking her cheeks.
That night, a summons arrived from Chengguang Palace—she was to attend the Crown Prince.
Wiping her tears, she steadied herself, forcing her expression into calm indifference.
But her reddened eyes couldn’t deceive the Crown Prince. The resentment swirling inside her was like a thousand vengeful spirits wailing over the Chengguang Palace, their clamor pounding in his head like a splitting headache.
"Wuwuwu… I don’t want to kill anyone, and I don’t want to die. I only have seven days left to live, and I haven’t had my fill of life yet…"
"Who is trying to harm me?! I’ve done nothing to you! Even in death, I won’t know whose ghost to haunt…"
"You coward! Vermin! Filthy swine! May your body rot with sores! Too spineless to kill the Crown Prince yourself, so you force me to do it?! I’ll kill your wretched mother!"
"I hate you all! I hate you all! I hate you all!"
The Crown Prince’s brow furrowed, his patience worn thin. "Yun Kui!"
Still lost in her fury, Yun Kui jolted at his sharp reprimand. "Y-Your Highness, what are your orders?"
His large hand pressed against her waist as he commanded in a low voice, "If you won’t sleep, then get out."
Yun Kui wanted to cry. Tears had already begun to spill, but she feared dampening the prince’s embroidered pillow. Instead, she tucked her hair behind her ears, letting the tears trickle down her temples.
She pressed her lips tightly together, but the harder she tried to hold back, the more inevitable it became—soft whimpers escaped anyway.
What did it matter if she cried? She was going to die anyway. Would he execute her for it?
She braced herself for a scolding, but strangely, the Crown Prince seemed to ignore her weeping. He turned onto his back, perhaps already asleep.
He was… this lenient?
Yun Kui blinked in surprise, then suddenly remembered the secret medicine Empress Dowager had given her.
Nanny Qin had said the potion would make the Crown Prince utterly devoted to her, his heart and eyes filled with her alone. Could it be true?
Yun Kui knew her place well—the prince saw her as nothing more than an amusing plaything, a comfortable pillow to hold, certainly not a beloved.
But if she used the medicine, and the Crown Prince fell deeply in love with her, with the Empress Dowager backing her, she could beg them to find the antidote for the Seven-Day Poison. At least then, she’d have a sliver of hope.
Gradually, her sobs subsided, and her earlier despair faded.
Time was of the essence. Administering the potion and pleading for mercy would take time, and who knew how long concocting the antidote would require?
But how could she slip the medicine to the prince without suspicion?
Lost in thought, she didn’t notice the man beside her was far from asleep—he had heard every word of her scheming.
Secret medicine? Nonsense. The Empress Dowager had wanted him dead for years. Now that his arrow poison was cured, she was growing desperate. With Yun Kui as the only woman allowed near him, the Empress wouldn’t let this chance slip.
This foolish girl already coveted him, and now, with the Seven-Day Poison coursing through her, death looming, the Empress’s "medicine" was indeed her only hope.
The Crown Prince clenched his fist, slowly closing his eyes to veil the murderous glint within.
After a day of sorrow, Yun Kui finally found a glimmer of hope, her anxious heart settling slightly.
For now, she would sleep. Tomorrow, she’d bring the medicine and act when the moment was right.
But her rest was uneasy.
She dreamed—a dream where she was the protagonist.
She saw Nanny Qin handing her the secret potion, and in desperation, she slipped it into the prince’s tea. Without suspicion, he drank it in one gulp.
Just as she expected his cold, ruthless expression to soften into tender affection, the teacup shattered on the ground.
The Crown Prince coughed up a mouthful of blood, his face contorted in agony before collapsing, dead.
Yun Kui jolted awake, drenched in cold sweat.
She had just witnessed herself poisoning the Crown Prince—using the Empress Dowager’s so-called "medicine"!
Whose dream was this?
Her mind raced, replaying every face she’d seen that day. Nanny Qin? Or perhaps the Empress, whom she’d been thinking of before sleep?
Was the medicine not a love potion, but poison?
The image of the prince bleeding from every orifice haunted her. Trembling, she turned cautiously—only to find the Crown Prince already awake, his phoenix eyes glinting with amusement.
"Awake?"
Yun Kui’s lips quivered as she swallowed hard. "This servant… will prepare Your Highness’s bath and robes."
The prince studied her silently before saying, "Stay. You’ll join me for breakfast."
What an extraordinary honor.
But Yun Kui had no appetite. The lavish spread before her tasted like ash.
At the meal’s end, the prince pushed a bowl of pear soup toward her. "Drink."
"Your Highness… this servant truly can’t eat another bite."
His gaze, though impassive, carried an unspoken threat.
Normally, Yun Kui would have eagerly obeyed.
But she was going to die. Must she be forced to drink soup even in her final days? The thought brought fresh tears.
The prince watched as she choked down the soup between sniffles. The moment his eyes flicked away, they turned frosty.
In the days that followed, Yun Kui continued attending the prince at night.
Though only two occupied the vast bedchamber, the Crown Prince’s ears were assaulted by an endless cacophony—wailing, cursing the poisoner’s ancestors eighteen generations back, lamenting her untouched maidenhood and the strapping guards she’d never bedded, and more weeping.
After three nights, the prince had endured enough. Even if it meant suffering his headaches, he refused to summon her again.
On the seventh night, Yun Kui arrived uninvited.
The Crown Prince sat waiting on the divan.
Tonight was the final day before the Seven-Day Poison took effect. He knew she would come.
If she tried to poison him to save herself, he’d ensure she met the same fate as the other assassins.
What did it matter if she eased his headaches? He tolerated no disloyalty.
Cao Yuanlu, following orders, let her in without question.
Though this girl served the Empress and might attempt murder, the sight of her tear-streaked face stirred pity in him.
Really, His Highness… must he torment her like this?
When Yun Kui entered, the prince was sipping tea. The faint scent of wine on her made his brow twitch.
Her red-rimmed eyes locked onto him.
Clad in black robes embroidered with golden serpents, his sharp features were gilded by candlelight, so strikingly handsome he seemed otherworldly. The breadth of his shoulders filled out the stiff brocade, radiating power—enough to make one imagine the sculpted muscles beneath…
The Crown Prince: "…"
Even at death’s door, she still had the mind to lust after him?
"What are you—"
Before he could finish, the girl lunged, shoving him onto the divan.
As her soft, sweet lips crashed onto his, the prince’s breath hitched—just in time to hear her shameless inner monologue:
"Since I’m dying anyway, I might as well go out with a bang! If I get to bed a prince with a face and body like this, my life was worth it!"
