Chapter 14

The aloof crown prince's nemesis (Chapter 14)

The night at Quiet Reflection Pavilion was colder and more deathly still than anywhere else in the Eastern Palace.

High walls imprisoned the moonlight, and gate after gate stood tightly shut. Beneath the covered walkway, palace lanterns swayed precariously in the evening wind, their dim yellow glow barely illuminating the small courtyard. Everywhere else lay heavy shadows.

Since she had been confined here, the palace servants attending her had been replaced by unfamiliar faces. They were all taciturn, their eyes evasive. Though they appeared to keep dutifully to their work, every glance silently monitored Shen Zhiwei's every move.

Shen Zhiwei sat upright at the desk, her fingertips stroking the crabapple-blossom jade hairpin, her gaze composed.

Xiao Heng's warning still echoed in her ears, and she had not let her guard slip for an instant. Su Wan was vicious and calculating, pressing closer at every turn. She would never allow her to remain safely at Quiet Reflection Pavilion while awaiting the investigation's outcome. Tonight would certainly not be peaceful.

During the third watch, the night wind grew colder.

A slender figure gently pushed open the door and slipped inside, carrying a bowl of warm lotus seed soup.

It was Qinghe, the palace maid on duty that night, who had only just been transferred here. Her features were meek, and she looked particularly well-behaved.

"Miss Shen, the night is deep and the dew is cold. I have simmered a bowl of lotus seed soup to soothe your mind and warm you. Please have some while it is hot."

With her head lowered and her tone deferential, Qinghe gently set the white porcelain bowl on the desk. Her movements were proper, betraying nothing unusual.

Shen Zhiwei raised her eyes and glanced at the bowl of warm, sweet lotus seed soup, her nose twitching faintly.

The lotus seeds were delicately sweet, and the osmanthus lent its fragrance. It seemed perfectly ordinary and harmless, but that faint, fleeting trace of bitter medicine in the air could not fool her.

She had studied medical texts since childhood and knew the properties of all manner of medicines. At a glance, she recognized that a slow-acting poison had been mixed into the soup.

The poison was colorless and tasteless, entirely undetectable when mixed into a sweet soup. It would not kill her immediately after she swallowed it. Instead, she would gradually weaken and faint, and three days later, her heart and lungs would fail, ending her life without a sound. By then, everyone would believe that, unable to bear the disgrace of belonging to a condemned official's family and terrified of legal punishment, she had sickened from despair and died out of fear of her crimes.

What meticulous plotting. What venomous intent.

A bone-deep chill filled Shen Zhiwei's heart, but she betrayed nothing. Her expression remained gentle and calm, and she even lifted her hand slightly, as though reaching for the bowl.

"Thank you for taking the trouble."

Qinghe's fingers quietly tightened at her sides. A flicker of impatience and cruelty flashed through her eyes as she waited silently for Shen Zhiwei to swallow the poisoned soup and bring her mission to completion.

Just as Shen Zhiwei's fingertips were about to touch the porcelain bowl-

The darkness outside the window suddenly stirred!

Two black-clad covert guards swooped down from the eaves like specters, moving so quickly that only afterimages remained. In an instant, they stood inside the room.

"Miss Shen, do not move! The soup is poisoned!"

Before the words had faded, a guard seized Qinghe's wrist, his grip swift and bone-piercing.

Caught completely off guard, Qinghe shuddered. The meek expression on her face shattered at once, and she turned white as paper. In her panic, she opened her mouth to cry for help and struggled desperately.

"How dare you! You dare trespass into Quiet Reflection Pavilion and seize a palace servant!"

"Seize?"

A low, icy male voice came from beyond the courtyard.

Dressed in an informal black robe, Xiao Heng walked slowly into the courtyard through the moonlight scattered across the ground. His unbound dark hair stirred in the wind. The night sharpened the cold, stern lines of his face, stripping away every trace of his usual gentleness. A bitter chill radiated from him, pressing the entire courtyard into breathless stillness.

He had never gone far at all.

After settling Shen Zhiwei in Quiet Reflection Pavilion, he had kept watch all night in the adjoining side hall, deploying every covert guard in layer upon layer of defenses without leaving his post. He had anticipated Su Wan's vicious scheme. Tonight, he had waited by the stump for the rabbit, letting his opponent come to him and reveal her hand.

Xiao Heng stepped into the room, his gaze falling first on the unharmed Shen Zhiwei. A surge of lingering fear and boundless tenderness instantly filled his eyes.

He hurried forward and reached out to shield her behind him, his fingertips brushing gently over the back of her hand. Only after confirming that she had not touched the poisoned soup and was entirely unhurt did his taut jaw ease a little.

In the next instant, he turned toward the maid pinned firmly in the guard's grip. His eyes abruptly chilled, cold enough to pierce bone.

"Who sent you."

It was not a question, but a verdict.

His voice was indifferent, yet it carried the authority of one who held life and death in his hands. Qinghe's legs went weak beneath it, and she collapsed to the floor.

Qinghe's teeth chattered. She knew the plot had been exposed, but she had already been instructed to keep silent. Gritting her teeth, she immediately bowed her head to the floor and said in a trembling voice, "It... it was a moment of folly on my part! I heard that Miss Shen was implicated in a criminal case and became afraid. I lost my senses and wanted to force her to ask to end her own life. It had nothing to do with anyone else! I alone was responsible!"

Just like the maid who had framed her before, she stubbornly insisted she had acted alone and refused to name the mastermind.

She hoped to use her own life to shield the person behind it all.

The cold glint in Xiao Heng's eyes intensified.

He knew Su Wan's methods all too well. Layer upon layer of proxies, mouths sealed every time. She never acted personally, always remaining clean and apart from the affair, leaving no direct evidence anyone could seize.

But this time, even her hundred precautions had left one opening.

"Take her away and interrogate her under torture." Xiao Heng's voice was icy. "Investigate every transaction she has made over the past three days and everyone she has met. Follow every lead to the very end."

"Yes!" the guards answered, dragging the limp maid away.

The commotion faded, and Quiet Reflection Pavilion fell silent once more.

Only the two of them remained in the room. Candlelight flickered softly, lending a gentle glow to their features.

The nerves she had kept taut all night suddenly relaxed. Shen Zhiwei's back stiffened slightly, and the composure she had forced herself to maintain fell away completely. A thin veil of tears misted her eyes.

A moment ago, the slightest difference would have sent her into Su Wan's deadly trap, leaving her to die unjustly.

Seeing the faint redness at the corners of her eyes, Xiao Heng felt his heart wrench. He raised his arms and gently drew her into his embrace, his movements so tender and careful that he seemed afraid of hurting her in her frightened state.

"Were you frightened?" He lowered his head, resting his chin against her hair. His voice was husky and tender, filled with heartache. "It was my fault. I failed to root out every hidden danger and let you suffer this fright."

Buried in his warm, broad embrace, Shen Zhiwei breathed in the cool, clean scent of Dragon's Breath Incense on him. All her fear and unease were soothed away.

She shook her head gently, her soft voice trembling faintly. "With Your Highness here, I am not afraid."

From protecting her at the palace banquet to standing against the opposition at court, and now guarding her throughout the night, he had always been the first to stand before her, no matter how savage the wind and rain.

Heat flooded Xiao Heng's heart, and the feelings he had restrained for days surged beyond control. He tightened his embrace slightly and lowered his head to gaze at the graceful, gentle features of the woman in his arms. His eyes were deep and burning, filled with a devotion reserved for her alone.

"Zhiwei," he said, every word solemn and ringing with conviction, "I promise you. Within three days, I will uncover the source of the fabricated evidence, expose every one of Su Wan's crimes, clear the Shen Family's name, and tear away all her masks and schemes."

"From this day forward, no one will dare harm you in the slightest."

That exquisitely tender promise shattered the chill throughout the room. Sweetness quietly swelled, soothing away all the oppression and danger of the past several days.

Meanwhile, Su Wan's bedchamber at the Su Residence remained brightly lit.

Su Wan sat before her mirror, carefully tracing her brows, her expression leisurely and content.

She was certain everything was under control, certain the maid would never betray her, certain Shen Zhiwei would die tonight.

A maid hurried inside, her face deathly pale, and reported in a trembling voice, "Miss! Something has gone wrong! Qinghe failed! The crown prince had an ambush waiting. Qinghe was caught on the spot, and she is being interrogated under torture right now!"

Crash-

With a sweep of her hand, Su Wan sent the exquisite jade powder box on the table crashing to the floor, where it shattered.

Her gentle, gracious mask tore apart completely. Murderous intent surged in her eyes, shrouded in darkness. Her fingers clenched tightly, her nails digging deep into her palms until blood seeped out.

Xiao Heng had been prepared all along!

He had actually guarded Shen Zhiwei throughout the night!

For the daughter of a condemned official, he had cast a net over heaven and earth, opposing her at every turn!

"Good. Very good."

Su Wan let out a low, cold laugh, her voice chilling to the bone. An almost insane obsession and cruelty filled her eyes.

"Since a hidden blade cannot kill her, I will overturn the entire board."

"Send word. Activate every covert agent of the Su family. If Qinghe utters so much as half a word, silence her immediately! And set our final contingency in motion-at court tomorrow, I will send Shen Zhiwei into eternal ruin!"

Darkness engulfed the night, and murderous intent rose on every side.

Even as tenderness and devoted affection grew warmer, the ultimate death trap had quietly been laid.

The wind and rain had spiraled utterly out of control.