Prince Lu was the first among the princes to be stripped of his princely title and reduced to a commoner. Even Prince Qi, for all his arrogance and tyranny, had only been reprimanded, never demoted in rank, had he?
And then there was that crown prince from over a decade ago, the one no one dared speak of... Ah, who knew what awaited them-a descending executioner's blade, or a new era of splendid peace?
Even the residence's stewards thought this way, so naturally the servants and maids all hung their heads in dejection. Had escape not been impossible, more than half would probably have scattered at once.
As Gui Junxi walked along the corridor, he saw not only this scene, but things invisible to mortal eyes.
"More than half has dispersed." He stopped and gazed above the Prince's Residence. The flood dragon's shadow that had once gathered over it had already lost more than half its substance. A surge of agitation rose within him, and he could not help coughing.
"Hmm?"
Between bouts of violent coughing, he seemed to catch sight of something. A white shadow flashed past, but when he looked again, it was gone.
"Could it have been a cat?" Two or three of the women in the residence liked keeping cats; he had heard about that. A cat darting through the residence was hardly unusual.
Gui Junxi paid no mind to this little episode and slowly continued onward. As he passed a moon gate, he saw what appeared to be someone standing beyond it. That was one of the prince's small storerooms, containing ordinary antiques, paintings, and calligraphy. When he looked over, the person was tucking something into his clothes.
"Isn't that Zhao Zhu?"
He was the prince's personal servant, yet even he was resorting to such