"HE LET OUT everything," Chiqian said, a vicious satisfaction in his voice that I had never heard before. "The servant revealed everything. He's already been sentenced to death. The Third Prince was summoned into the Imperial Palace three hours ago, and his house has been surrounded by guards."
"Is this his downfall, then?" I asked softly, staring off into the distance. "I can't help but feel like this is all too simple. Like something is inevitably going to go wrong."
He was silent for a moment. "If I must be honest, I feel the same too. Is he really going to punish the Third Prince just for this?"
Chiqian had only just returned from the Imperial Palace, from where he'd been summoned to help with the case and its evidence. He'd returned pleased, but somehow, I couldn't share his joy.
So easily?
Which was why I was so shocked when more news came down a while later, this time from the Crown Prince himself. Yunhua had awoken a few days ago and I'd gone to see her. She was still in poor health, but a very stable condition, and was expected to make a full recovery soon.
"Demoted to a commoner? House arrest for the rest of his life?"
I shot up from my seat as the Crown Prince's eunuch passed on the news. Chiqian shot me a warning look and I quickly recomposed myself, sitting down. "Has there been more evidence?" That was the only reason for such an extreme response from the Emperor.
"There's been evidence found that the Third Prince has been associating with various ministers and chancellors and even building a militia for himself," the eunuch replied, head bowed, "but I'm afraid I do not know much else."
My head snapped to Chiqian. "My god."
Chiqian stood. "Thank you. Give the Crown Prince my regards, and I will visit him soon, most likely tomorrow."
"Of course, Duan shizi, shizi Consort."
"Show the kind sir the way out."
Once we were alone, Chiqian let out a breath. "This was... careless, from the Third Prince."
"But that is more than enough, right? Demoted to commonerâthere's no way he can still be a threat after that."
"I agree," he said mildly. "But it all feels so easy, doesn't it? Perhaps the Crown Prince had discovered something he had not informed us earlier. But yes, I do believe this means we can stop worrying about the Third Prince."
"I want an audience with him. Do you think you can arrange that?"
That seemed to surprise him, and he glanced up, blinking "Whatever for?"
"Miss Heng. And I have some questions for him I want answered."
"I suppose," he murmured, "it is safe. I'm sure it can be arranged somehow... the Emperor might take a bit of convincing. Albeit, he doesn't need to know. There is no reason for him to know."
"I'm sure the Crown Prince can arrange it," I murmured. I did want to speak to the Third Prince. I was willing to bet he'd completely forgotten about what happened to Miss Heng by now, what he'd done to Miss Heng. I wanted to make sure he remembered. I wanted him to know that someone did remember, and people hated him for it.
"Now the Crown Prince has to be more careful, though. With the Third Prince gone, the Emperor will be keeping an eye on him to make sure he doesn't get any ideas."
"Is his health not ailing?"
"Yes," Chiqian said softly, "but no one likes to believe that. Especially not the Emperor."
That was true. How many Emperors had fallen on their quest for immortality? Would this Emperor be the next one?
Everything seemed like it was done and dusted with, but it wasn't. Just yet. Like Chiqian had said, with this, the Crown Prince would be propelled into attention. And we'd be cemented as his allies. Anything he did, any misstep he took would affect us too.
We had to be careful, very careful, until the throne was safely and securely in the Crown Prince's hands.
â
MY REQUEST WAS approved, in the end, though it took a week after the Third Prince's demotion. One early morning, I took the carriage to what was formerly the Third Prince's Manor, where he was now being kept captive.
I supposed I could not call him the Third Prince anymore. Instead, his name: Yinwen.
Yuan Yinwen. When I thought of him like that, he felt so much more human. Much less untouchable.
His allies and family had been dealt with accordingly in a brutal fashion. His wife, Chen Banyun, had allegedly committed suicide by poison. Chiqian and I both privately agreed it was far more likely she'd been forced into drinking it. Chen Banyun's family, including her father, Earl Chen, had all been exiled. They had been the Third Princeâno, Yuan Yinwen's closest allies, after all.
It was just Yuan Yinwen left now. Along with a few servants ordered to look after his health, to make sure he stayed alive. The Emperor did not want to commit filicide.
I was led in by a few guards into what would have been his chambers. One stayed with me and Yan'er while the others departed. Was it for my safety or for his?
Yuan Yinwen was on his bed, curled in the foetal position, and shifted slightly when he heard the sound of the door creaking apart. I entered, not quite looking at him, and the guard moved a chair nearer to the bed so that I could sit.
Carefully, Yuan Yinwen sat up, eyes narrowing on me. "You."
"Good morning."
His face turned into a sneer. "They sent you? My cousin's silly little countryside wife? To talk to me?"
I didn't let the insult hurt me. "I chose to come here, actually. No one sent me."
"You wouldn't be here without their knowledge."
"Ah, I did not say I did not ask for permission. I have some questions for you, Yuan Yinwen."
"It would take more than this for me to be disgraced enough to be questioned by a mere woman."
"Do you truly think so lowly of women? Then perhaps your current predicament is not so surprising after all. You just keep underestimating us. But no, I am not here to interrogate you, I merely have some questions for myself."
He glared at me with no answer. He was far more dishevelled than I'd ever seen him before, dressed in plain clothes, his head messy, eyes bloodshot.
The last time I'd seen him on a bed, he'd been with Miss Heng.
And that was my first question. "Do you remember Miss Heng?"
Yuan Yinwen's expression changed as he scoffed. "Women, you are all so sentimental. Do not tell me you are still angry for her?"
"Why wouldn't I be? You killed her."
"No I didn't. She could have very well married me. Her father killed her."
"And now her father kills you." I paused for a moment. "Well, metaphorically, anyway. Your actions firmly pushed Earl Heng into our camps. Albeit the consequences were tragic. But that was your first mistake."
"Oh, so you've come to lecture me?"
"The attempted assassination of the Crown Princess Consort was youâyou've admitted to it. And that makes me wonder, you didn't admit to the poisoning of Side Consort Luo. Or the poisoning?"
"That wasn't me."
"I find that difficult to believe."
"Believe what you want to, but I didn't do either of that. You cannot truly think I am so bored as to poison some concubine of my brother's? And if I was truly trying to kill him, I'd have done a far better job."
"Then who did it, then?"
He slanted a glance at me. "This is why I say you're bloody stupid."
"That's not answering my questions," I said, clenching my jaw. Who else, if not him? "You tried to kill the Crown Princess Consort when she was pregnantâand then you caused Side Consort Luo's miscarriage. And the poison, the servant said it was you."
"I've never even met the bloody servant!" he snarled. Behind me, the guard moved forward, putting a safe distance between the two of us. "Someone set me up. I don't know who. Someone set me up, I never tried to poison him. Even if I had, it wouldn't have been as easy as that to find out I was behind it. You never even found evidence that I was behind the attempted assassination until now, almost a full year later, didn't you? And the only evidence is that I had my own little militia. I'm far more intelligent than that!"
Someone set him up?
Did we have another enemy, hidden in the shadows?
"It does not matter," I snapped back, standing up. "You were responsible for Miss Heng's death. That much is clear as day. You cannot argue against that?"
"Yes, fine, whatever, I was responsible for her death. Not like I didn't give her a choice."
"To be your concubine after you ruined her?" I cried out. "I cannot think of a worse fate."
"Fine! Fine! Fine! I killed her! If that's what you want to believe, I fucking killed her! But I didn't cause Side Consort Luo's miscarriage, I was not fucking behind that! And I did not try to poison my brother! It wasn't fucking me!"
"And my grandmother?"
Now he paused. "Fine, that was me. I had spies in the Eastern Palace and I thought it was the perfect chance. But the poisoning was not me, I fucking swear to godâ"
"Your oath means nothing. You married Qin Yue and then killed her. Your wife, who you swore to protect in your wedding vows. Your promises mean absolutely nothing, Yuan Yinwen!"
"Do not mention Qin Yue, you bitch, youâ"
He threw himself forwards at me, but the guard caught him in time and shoved him back onto the bed. "Sir! Behave yourself!"
Yuan Yinwen let out a loud, bitter laugh. "Ah, this is how far I've fallen! Even guards can step on my head now, Iâ" he spat on the guard, who did not even flinch, "was not behind any of it. I was not! I was set up. And you're a fucking idiot if you haven't realised who was truly behind all of this by now!"
"Hold him down," I commanded the guard. "Commoner Yuan Yinwen has gone mad. Watch him carefully and do not let him die. I expect you to perform your duty excellently."
The guard dropped to his knees. "Yes, shizi Consort!"
"Yan'er, let us go. We will not get anything out of this madman. Let us not waste our time."
We left the room, leaving behind his screams of rage and nonsense. But as I left the manor, my mind started spinning.
If he truly wasn't behind the poisoning or the miscarriage, who was?
He'd guessed it, from the way he'd put it.
But then, as I walked, a terrifying thought began to take hold.
Wasn't this all just a bit too convenient?
And who would want this all to be so convenient?
Yunhua's life was put at risk. Twice. He'd admitted to the first, but not to the second. There was no need for him to do that. He was already in a position where no amount of denying could possibly save him.
If he truly wanted to kill the Crown Prince, wouldn't he have used a more lethal poison? Or a heavier dose?
Instead, Yunhua was... safe.
She fell unconscious, but the physicians had always been certain that her condition was stable, that her life was not truly at risk.
And so conveniently, the servant was immediately caught? All so easily? And Shangguan An's seeming lack of careâperhaps not due to coldness, but because everything was in their control the entire time?
They just hadn't expected Yuan Yinwen to act on Grandmother.
And Luo Xueying's childâYuan Yinwen was not the only person that would have been threatened. Yunhua too. Yunhua's position would have been threatened.
Her melancholy the day of her funeral and after her death... not sadness, but guilt?
A crazy thought had taken root in my mind and it latched on, refusing to let go.
All of this happened so quickly and so easily. He was rightâhe was far more careful than this. This was almost as if a trail of breadcrumbs had been left behind the Emperor and the Crown Prince to pick up on. Leading them to the Third Prince's doom.
We'd gotten to my carriage. Outside, Yan'er called out, "Back to the Prince Duan Manor, mistress?"
"No," I replied. "Head for Yunjun's."
â
YUNJUN LOOKED SURPRISED when I appeared unannounced at her doors, quickly telling her servants to prepare me some tea as I sat down in her study. "Minxi? What are you doing here? Is something wrong?"
I waited until all the servants had exited the room. "I went to visit the Third Prince today. Or Yuan Yinwen now, I suppose."
She paused, glancing at me quizzically. "And what did he say?"
"He says that he wasn't behind the poisoning or the miscarriage. He says he's been framed."
She shrugged. "I'm hardly surprised he'd deny it." She put down her brush pen, strolling over. "What, do you believe him?"
"Don't you think it's all too easy? Every single clue left behind points to him, yet with Miss Heng's case and the assassination, which he's absolutely guilty of, it took us months and years to find the proper evidence to implicate him. It's not his style."
"So?"
At that moment, I decided to be bold.
"Yunhua caused Luo Xueying's miscarriage, didn't she?"
Yunjun froze. And then, slowly, she turned to me, a half-smile on her face. "I was wondering when you'd learn the truth."
"Who else knows? Does Yunxuan?"
Yunjun shook her head. "Just Yunhua, me and our father. We didn't tell Yunxuan. We didn't want her to have to worry about these things. I was the one who got her the medicine. It was just supposed to be a miscarriage."
"Instead she went into early labour."
"And died. That's why Yunhua was so distraught. I don't think she'd ever actually killed before."
"My god, Yunjun."
"It doesn't mean much to me," Yunjun said with a gentle shrug. "I'd killed far more than just a person or two."
Sometimes, I forgot that Yunjun was a soldier. Of course I knew she was in the army and was always at the borders, but I forgot what that entailed.
Yunjun and I had become very different people a very long time ago.
"And the poisoning?"
"Yunhua's idea. She had to force them into action. Pretend it was meant for the Crown Prince, drink it herself to prevent any incidents, of course the dose was meticulously measured to make sure she would not be in any danger. We just didn't think Grandmother would..."
"That was the Third Prince. The letter to Grandmother."
Yunjun nodded absent-mindedly. "That's what I thought."
"Yunjun, if I could guess this and the Third Prince could guess this, other people could too."
Yunjun tilted her head. "The Emperor's health fails with every passing day. He might seem alright, but life is slowly being sucked out of his body. Everyone in court watches with cold eyes. He'll collapse soon, I think. And no, we aren't behind it."
I didn't think so. I didn't think the Shangguans were that brave yet.
She continued. "And when he does, even if the Crown Prince realises the truth, will he truly be angry?"
Yes. Yes, he would be. No one likes being fooled, being used as a pawn in a bigger game. It might have served him in the end, but if the Crown Prince one day learnt the truth, a seed of distrust would be planted within him. One that would slowly grow larger and larger and larger until it was too late.
But I didn't say any of that. I didn't say any of that that day to Yunjun in her office, me incredulous with the revelations, her deep in thought. I didn't ask her to think about what this all meant, though, or how much we had changed. What we had become in the past six years. How this city had corrupted usâor if we had all had those seeds of scheming and cunning within us from the start. The ruthlessness, the ambition for power, the wish to climb up and take down whoever is in our way.
Instead, I sipped my tea.
It did not matter now.
We had won.
That was the only thing that counted.
Only the victors wrote history, after all.
END OF THE FIRST BOOK.