Changsun's Fury

Did you know what it felt like to fly a kite? Ning Chen did, and not just once. In a daze, he had been captured, and by the time he came to his senses, he was already back in the palace.

Ning Chen was filled with regret. He had not even had time to state his demands. Had he known, he would have settled the terms with Yue Hanyi first. Now, the chickens had flown and the eggs had broken—he had not even gotten a feather.

Seeing Ning Chen still lost in thought, Qing Ling wanted nothing more than to kick him. She warned him, "Empress Dowager is in the middle of her anger. Watch your words later."

"Mm, huh?" Ning Chen answered before abruptly realizing what she meant. He instantly grew nervous. Changsun would not really have him caned, would she?

"Big Sister Qing Ling, you have to put in a good word for me!" Ning Chen begged shamelessly.

"Now you know fear? Why didn't you think of the consequences when you ran away?" Qing Ling snapped.

"Hehe." Ning Chen laughed awkwardly. How could he have known he would be caught so easily?

"Big Sister Qing Ling, how did you find me?" Ning Chen asked curiously.

Qing Ling did not conceal anything and answered truthfully, "I saw you on the street before you hid from me today. The reason I did not immediately step forward to seize you was simply because I wanted to see where you had been hiding these past few days."

"..." Ning Chen regretted it so much that he wanted to slap himself. He had delivered himself right to her doorstep. Why had he gone to buy shoes? Could he not have endured another two days?

"Let's go. Empress Dowager is still waiting." Qing Ling was worried. She quickened her pace and urged him onward.

Though unwilling, Ning Chen could only follow. There was no escaping this time. No matter how Changsun punished him, he would grit his teeth and endure it.

Weiyang Palace was as tranquil as ever. Changsun sat upright in the seat of honor in the main hall, several traces of weariness on her beautiful face. Compared to a few days ago, she looked far more haggard. Two consecutive days and nights without rest were slowly wearing away what little radiance she had left.

Beside Changsun stood a stunningly beautiful young woman, around sixteen or seventeen years old. Clad in a pale violet dress, her skin gleamed whiter than snow, her brows and eyes were like a painting, and her eyes resembled autumn waters. She was incomparably lovely.

When Ning Chen followed Qing Ling inside and saw the young woman beside Changsun, even he was struck by her beauty. No wonder they said the Ninth Princess could topple kingdoms and cities, more radiant than delicate blossoms. The rumors truly did not lie.

"A beauty that brings calamity."

Ning Chen muttered under his breath. His thoughts wandered too far, and before he knew it, he had drifted off again.

At his side, Qing Ling was so angry she had no words left. She wanted to remind Ning Chen, but with the Ninth Princess present, she could not overstep propriety.

Bang!

Changsun slammed her palm onto the table. With a crash, tea spilled all over the floor.

"You still knew to come back!" Rage rose to Changsun's brows as she stood and shouted.

Ning Chen shuddered, frightened out of his wits. Only then did he come back to himself and raise his head toward Changsun. Yet the instant he met her furious gaze, he guiltily lowered his head again.

"This servant knows his mistake." Ning Chen admitted his fault with utmost sincerity and remorse.

Beside Changsun, Xia Xinyu was startled as well. This was the first time in her life she had seen her mother become so enraged. Amid her curiosity, she could not help looking at Ning Chen a few more times.

Seeing the guilt on Ning Chen's face, Changsun forcibly suppressed her fury and said, "Speak. Where did you go wrong?"

Ning Chen thought for a moment, then answered softly, "I should not have tied up Big Sister Qing Ling. I should not have privately taken palace items, nor should I have falsely conveyed Empress Dowager's decree and secretly fled the palace."

After speaking, Ning Chen thought carefully again, afraid he might forget something and provoke Changsun further. "I... I also should not have bargained with Empress Dowager and refused to return to the palace."

Afterward, Ning Chen looked toward Qing Ling. Afraid he had missed some charge he did not know about, he silently mouthed, "Anything else?"

"..." Qing Ling turned her face away and pretended not to see.

"Good. Very good. If you had not said it yourself, I truly would not have known you committed so many wrongs."

Hearing Ning Chen list his crimes, Changsun was so angry that her chest rose and fell, her expression utterly unsightly. Even Xia Xinyu beside her was left dumbstruck by Ning Chen's many grave offenses. Any one of them was enough to earn him death once over. With crimes piled upon crimes, it would be a miracle if he were not sliced apart alive.

"Tell me, how should I punish you?" Changsun asked in a low voice.

Ning Chen was troubled. He absolutely could not tell the truth—he did not want to be cut into pieces. He tossed a pleading look at Qing Ling. "Big Sister, plead for me."

Qing Ling's heart softened. She glared at Ning Chen, but still stepped forward and said softly, "Empress Dowager, Ning Chen knows he was wrong. The matter of Zhenji Kingdom's envoys is more urgent now. Why not give him a chance to redeem his crimes through merit?"

Changsun pretended to hesitate for a moment, then nodded slightly. She had never intended to chop off Ning Chen's head in the first place. This fellow was simply too good at causing trouble; if she did not give him a proper warning, she could not vent this anger.

She had never imagined that because she had refused his request to leave the palace, the boy would actually dare to sneak out on his own—and that he would even succeed.

Changsun looked at Ning Chen, her tone softening slightly. "Since even Qing Ling is pleading for you, I shall spare you this once. But while the death penalty may be forgiven, living punishment cannot be escaped. Since you want to leave the palace so badly, I sentence you to confinement for half a year. For those six months, you are not to take a single step beyond Weiyang Palace!"

Half a year? Ning Chen clicked his tongue gloomily, yet he did not dare voice the slightest objection. He even had to thank her. "Thank you for Empress Dowager's grace."

The punishment had thundered loudly but fallen like a drizzle. The Ninth Princess was so surprised that she did not know how to express her feelings. Compared to the wrongs committed by this little eunuch, half a year of confinement hardly counted as punishment at all.

With the trivial matter handled, Changsun finally composed herself and turned her thoughts back to Zhenji Kingdom's envoys.

"This is the Ninth Princess. You have not met her before," Changsun introduced solemnly.

"Greetings, Ninth Princess." Ning Chen bent at the waist in salute.

"..." It was Xia Xinyu's first time seeing such a greeting and salute, and she suddenly did not know how to respond.

On the seat of honor, the anger Changsun had just suppressed nearly flared up again. "Qing Ling, while he is confined, teach him proper etiquette. What is all this disorderly nonsense?"

"Yes." Qing Ling answered softly and helplessly.

Changsun lightly pressed her hand downward, then looked at Ning Chen and asked gravely, "Ning Chen, you said before that you could solve the problem posed by Zhenji Kingdom's envoys. Was that true?"

At those words, Xia Xinyu's delicate body trembled slightly. Her eyes turned toward this little eunuch who had surprised her time and again. It was difficult for her to believe that he could solve the problem that had left everyone helpless.

"Absolutely true." Under Changsun and the Ninth Princess's stares, Ning Chen could barely withstand the pressure and answered honestly.

"What do you need?"

A flicker of hope rose in Changsun's heart. She knew this boy had a heap of faults, but he was indeed extraordinarily clever. At crucial moments, he could always make people see him in a new light.

"A wok of oil, vinegar, and a used kettle," Ning Chen answered seriously.

"Qing Ling, send someone to fetch them," Changsun immediately ordered.

"Yes." Qing Ling accepted the order and swiftly departed.

Taking advantage of the spare moment, Changsun voiced her doubts and reminded him, "Someone has already tried adding vinegar to oil. It has been proven ineffective."

"It is indeed ineffective." Ning Chen nodded.

There were later tales claiming that objects could be retrieved from boiling oil because vinegar had been added to it. When the vinegar boiled, the oil temperature would supposedly be only forty or fifty degrees. Whenever Ning Chen saw such nonsense, he wanted to go up and slap those people across the face.

In those tales, many people solemnly swore that vinegar could boil at sixty-something degrees, or even thirty-something degrees. This could no longer be described as mere nonsense. Anyone who thought about it a little would know that temperatures reaching forty degrees in summer were perfectly normal, yet who had ever seen the vinegar at home boil by itself?

In truth, vinegar was mostly acetic acid and water. Acetic acid had a boiling point of over one hundred and ten degrees, while water's boiling point was a little lower at one hundred degrees. When mixed together, they would need at least over one hundred degrees to boil. At that point, let alone a human hand, even a piece of beef could be cooked through.

Fortunately, he had not believed that absurd legend. Otherwise, if he angered Changsun again, he would truly have suffered for it.

Before long, the eunuchs and palace maids of Weiyang Palace set up the wok of oil in the courtyard. Qing Ling entered the room to invite them out, then dismissed all the eunuchs and palace maids.

Changsun and Xia Xinyu walked into the courtyard to see what method Ning Chen had.

There was still a fire beneath the wok. Ning Chen did not waste words. He took the kettle and fiddled with it for a while, scraping out the limescale. Then he crushed it into tiny flakes and tossed them all into the wok.

Finally, Ning Chen poured the vinegar into the wok, then stepped back two paces and stood to one side, waiting idly.

"That simple?" Changsun asked in surprise.

"That simple." Ning Chen nodded honestly. It had never been anything troublesome.

Sure enough, before long, bubbles began to rise in the wok. There were more and more of them, growing larger and larger.

"Empress Dowager, would you like to try?" Ning Chen suggested.

Half believing and half doubting, Changsun stepped forward and held her hand over the wok. Once she felt that it was truly not hot, she reached her hand inside.

The oil was only faintly warm. Only then did Changsun truly believe him. Her emotions were incomparably complicated. A problem that had plagued them for two days had been solved so easily. Such a contrast left her momentarily unable to describe what she felt.

"Enough. Go back to your room and remain confined. The Ninth Princess and I still have matters to discuss." After a moment, Changsun came back to herself. She picked up a handkerchief and gently wiped the oil from her hand, speaking calmly.

"Yes, ma'am." Ning Chen nodded gloomily. This was truly killing the donkey once it had finished turning the millstone, tearing down the bridge after crossing the river—using power to bully others and being rich without mercy!

Watching Ning Chen leave with his head hanging, a faint smile finally appeared on Changsun's beautiful face. She glanced at Xia Xinyu and said softly, "You can rest easy now, can't you?"

"Mm. Thank you, Mother." The stone weighing on Xia Xinyu's heart was temporarily set down. Her mood improved greatly as she smiled sweetly and replied softly.

"Qing Ling, keep watch over that boy. Do not let him run away again."

Though relieved, Changsun was still uneasy and reminded Qing Ling once more. That little fellow was too uncanny. She was absolutely certain that if given even the slightest chance, he would secretly run away again. Finding him this time had already involved some luck. If he got away once more, with that boy's nature, he would one hundred percent hide somewhere they would never find him again.

"Mm." Qing Ling answered softly.

After instructing Qing Ling, Changsun looked toward her daughter again and carefully told her, "Xin Yu, do not tell anyone about today's events. Do you understand?"

"Xin Yu understands." Xia Xinyu nodded lightly, her expression solemn.

"Enough. I am tired as well. Go back first. Qing Ling, see the Princess off." Having arranged everything, Changsun could no longer conceal the exhaustion in her eyes and waved her hand.

"Then your daughter shall take her leave." Xia Xinyu saluted and departed. Obeying Changsun's command, Qing Ling withdrew alongside the Ninth Princess.

Outside Weiyang Palace, Xia Xinyu looked at Qing Ling and finally could not suppress her curiosity. "Sister Qing Ling, what exactly is Ning Chen's background? Why is Mother being so lenient with him?"

Qing Ling fell silent for a moment before answering, "This servant can only say that when Empress Dowager was attacked outside the palace last time, without Ning Chen, Empress Dowager might not have returned. As for the other reasons, the Princess can only ask Empress Dowager herself."

At this point, Qing Ling hesitated briefly before continuing, "Princess, Ning Chen has only recently entered the palace and does not yet understand its rules. If he inadvertently offends the Princess in the future, I hope the Princess will be magnanimous and not hold it against him."

"Mm."

Xia Xinyu nodded, but she became even more curious. She knew Qing Ling's character well. Although Qing Ling was kind, she was actually difficult to grow close to. Aside from Mother, this was the first time Xia Xinyu had seen Qing Ling care so much about someone.

It seemed she needed to tell her imperial brother about this person who had surprised her so many times...

(P.S.: The internet at home went down, so helplessly, Yan Yu ran to a nearby internet café to write a chapter. The new book's bookmarks have been increasing quite quickly these past two days. Yan Yu thanks everyone here for your support. There is still another chapter to write today. I hope friends will give more red votes and bookmarks. Those with the means, please send some rewards!!!)