Only after the servants had run far away did Xiao Yun'an turn to Xiao Yunming. “Father is in a foul mood. Go back to your room with the maids.”
Xiao Yunming pouted unhappily. “Hmph! I’m not talking to you. I’m going to find Mother!”
She turned to leave, but Xiao Yun'an caught her by the arm.
“Listen to me! Go back to your room!”
“Why should I? I want to see Mother!” Xiao Yunming lost her temper as well.
Seeing her voice grow louder, Xiao Yun'an quickly covered her mouth.
“If you don’t want Father to punish you, then go obediently back to your room. Keep your head down for the next few days. If you anger Father, you won’t like the consequences!”
“Mother is ill right now, and Father has even taken away her authority over the household. If anything happens to you, she won’t be able to save you!”
“Do you think you can still act as recklessly as you please? If you get yourself into trouble, there are people who’ll be delighted to see it!”
Xiao Yun'an released her and stood there as though he couldn’t care less what she did next.
Xiao Yunming bit her lip. She wasn’t stupid; she naturally understood the warning hidden in his words.
“Then are we still going to the Imperial Academy?” Xiao Yunming asked uneasily.
What had happened yesterday had left a deep shadow in her heart.
If she had a choice, she absolutely didn’t want to leave the residence. But she was also worried that Father would be displeased.
Xiao Yun'an thought for a moment. “Don’t go tomorrow. I’ll find some time to ask Father what he thinks, then I’ll let you know.”
Xiao Yunming nodded and obediently followed the maid away.
After thinking it over, Xiao Yun'an slipped away as well. He was heading toward the small dark room where Secondary Consort Wei was being held.
In that lightless space, time seemed to have stopped. Secondary Consort Wei no longer knew what time it was.
All she knew was that she fell asleep, woke up, then fell asleep again. The cycle repeated over and over, each moment stretching on as though an entire year had passed.
“Zhenzhu, tell me… is it day or night outside?” Secondary Consort Wei asked weakly.
If her maid hadn’t secretly brought her food, she probably wouldn’t have lasted this long.
Secondary Consort Wei had never imagined that Prince Ling could be so heartless. Not only had he locked her up for several days, he had also refused to let anyone bring her food or water.
He meant to starve her to death!
People always said that one night as husband and wife was worth a hundred days of affection.
What a load of nonsense!
It was all a lie!
Secondary Consort Wei felt utterly desolate.
She had long understood that Prince Ling was an ambitious man, not someone who would lose himself in the pleasures of the bedchamber.
That was precisely why she had been willing to marry Prince Ling even as a secondary consort.
She had dreamed that one day she would rise to glory alongside him and enjoy all the wealth and splendor in the world.
But before she could achieve her goal, she was about to be starved to death!
“Your Ladyship, it should be daytime,” Zhenzhu replied. She sniffed hard. “I can smell smoke from the main kitchen.”
“That’s wonderful. It must be time to eat again!” As Secondary Consort Wei spoke, she licked her cracked lips, and her stomach began to growl.
“Your Ladyship, please bear with it. There are too many people around during the day, so we don’t dare come here. What if His Highness finds out…” Zhenzhu endured her own hunger and tried to persuade her mistress.
Zhenzhu had been born into the Wei household and served as Secondary Consort Wei’s personal first-class maid. After following her mistress into Prince Ling’s residence, she had never suffered hardship either.
“Your Ladyship, if you manage to get out safely, please don’t fight with Princess Consort Ling anymore.”
“You still have Second Young Master and the young miss. For the sake of Second Young Master, His Highness won’t treat you unfairly!”
Over the past few days, Zhenzhu had gradually come to understand the situation.
Secondary Consort Wei had fallen headfirst into Princess Consort Ling’s trap, and that was why she had suffered such a crushing defeat.
It made sense. How could Princess Consort Ling have secured her position without possessing some means of her own?
In Zhenzhu’s eyes, Secondary Consort Wei had actually been living a pretty comfortable life. She had never lacked food or clothing, and she had children by her side. Her circumstances were far better than those of the other concubines.
Why insist on fighting for the position of primary consort?
Was life as the primary consort really any better?
Not necessarily!
Whenever someone below made a mistake, whenever the household fell into disorder, whenever the children proved disobedient, all of it was blamed on the primary consort!
Hadn’t Princess Consort Ling been reprimanded by His Highness often enough because of such things?
“You’re right, Zhenzhu!” After being confined for several days, Secondary Consort Wei’s former pride and ambition had vanished.
Anyone locked in a dark, airless room would lose even the grandest ambitions eventually.
“If I can get out safely, I’ll focus on raising Lin'er properly. If he earns an official position through the examinations one day, perhaps he can win me an honorable title!”
Secondary Consort Wei forced herself to think positively. Only then could she endure the days in the dark room.
A person lived by hope.
Without even that, there was little reason to go on living.
“Your Ladyship, someone seems to be coming!” Zhenzhu suddenly heard footsteps approaching.
After spending so long in darkness, their eyesight had deteriorated, but their hearing had become exceptionally sharp.
Secondary Consort Wei struggled to sit upright. She didn’t want the servants to see her in such a disheveled state.
The room was pitch-black, yet she stubbornly maintained the illusion that she could still be seen.
The footsteps stopped outside the door. Zhenzhu happily hurried over and crouched beside it, ready to receive the food the person outside would send in.
“Have you heard? Second Young Master is about to die!” an aged voice said in a hushed, mysterious tone.
“You’ve got it wrong. He’s already dead!” another voice replied, much younger.
“I saw it with my own eyes just now. Even the imperial physicians could only shake their heads. They said there was no saving him!”
“But how could he catch a fever from the summer cold? It’s downright strange!”
“Exactly. I don’t even cover myself with a blanket at night, and I never catch cold. I suppose Second Young Master’s time had simply come.”
“Enough. Let’s go. We have work to do!”
After the old servant finished speaking, a flurry of footsteps quickly faded away.
Silence descended over the small dark room.
Zhenzhu opened her mouth several times, but not a single word came out.
She remembered what Secondary Consort Wei had told Second Young Master two days earlier: he was to pretend to be ill and plead for mercy on her behalf.
What if something had really happened to Second Young Master? What would become of Secondary Consort Wei?
Only moments ago, Zhenzhu had been urging her mistress to rely on Second Young Master and live a peaceful life after getting out.
But now her mistress had lost the hope she’d been clinging to. How was she supposed to go on?
Zhenzhu lowered her head sadly.
If her mistress’s life was difficult, the servants’ lives would certainly be even worse!
Like a rabbit mourning the death of a fellow rabbit, Zhenzhu began to feel despondent about her own future.
“Zhenzhu, what did those two people say just now? Did you hear them?”
After a long silence, Secondary Consort Wei’s voice drifted through the darkness, sounding almost dreamlike.
Zhenzhu raised her head. After spending so long in the dark, her eyes had adapted enough for her to make out a faint outline.
“Your Ladyship, don’t believe what they said!” Zhenzhu began, but when the words reached her lips, she changed them.
“What did they say? Is Lin'er dead?” Secondary Consort Wei tilted her head, convinced she must have heard wrong.
She had only asked her son to pretend to be ill, win the Crown Prince’s sympathy, and take the opportunity to rescue her.
How could her Lin'er possibly be dead?
