Chapter 15

The Aloof Crown Prince's Nemesis · Chapter 15

Night steeped the corridors of the Eastern Palace in darkness. Palace lanterns hanging from the eaves swayed gently in the wind, their warm yellow light flickering.

Ever since Shen Zhiwei had narrowly escaped being poisoned, Xiao Heng had issued strict orders, tripling the guards inside and outside the Eastern Palace. Guards kept watch around her courtyard in shifts, day and night, and no stranger was permitted to come so much as a step closer.

Su Wan had repeatedly sent people to seize an opportunity to strike, but every attempt had been stopped outside by the layers of security.

Su Wan sat in her bedchamber in the side courtyard where she lived, her fingers clenching a silk handkerchief, her delicate features clouded with malice. After several schemes had failed in succession, the fire of jealousy in her heart burned ever fiercer.

Why? Shen Zhiwei was merely the daughter of a disgraced official from a fallen family. Why should she be able to steal every last ounce of the crown prince's favor?

Outside the window, the evening wind moaned through the treetops. Su Wan summoned her most trusted personal attendant, an elderly woman, and lowered her voice, a glint of ruthlessness flashing in her eyes.

"If we cannot do it openly, we will do it in secret. The guards are watching too closely for anyone to enter her courtyard, but we need not send someone there to strike."

The old attendant bent close, bringing her ear nearer. After hearing the plan, her expression turned alarmed. "My lady, if this is exposed, the consequences will be unimaginable!"

Su Wan sneered. "I have no way back now. If I keep allowing Shen Zhiwei to remain at the crown prince's side, and he someday petitions His Majesty to grant them marriage, every hope I have will burst like a bubble. So long as she disappears, the crown prince will eventually turn back and notice me. If we do this discreetly, who could trace it to me?"

Utterly helpless, the attendant could only bow and accept her orders, then quietly withdraw to make the arrangements.

Meanwhile, in her courtyard, Shen Zhiwei sat by the window with a volume of poetry in her hand, the moonlight outside flowing like water.

The door was gently pushed open, and Xiao Heng walked slowly inside, dressed in a black brocade robe. Court affairs had been complicated and numerous lately, but once he finished his official duties each day, he always came to see her, no matter how late it was.

Hearing his footsteps, Shen Zhiwei looked up, her expression softening. "Your Highness, you returned so late today."

Xiao Heng sat down beside her, still carrying the slight chill of the night, and naturally reached out to take her wrist. His broad, warm palm enfolded her slender hand completely.

"The moment I finished those tedious court affairs, my thoughts turned to you, and I could not wait to come." The cold hardness of Xiao Heng's voice at court had faded, replaced by a tender affection reserved for her alone. "Have you felt safe staying here lately? With all these guards keeping watch, has anyone still come to trouble you?"

Shen Zhiwei gently shook her head, a faint blush rising to her cheeks. After spending these days with him, she no longer feared the crown prince whom rumor painted as coldhearted and unyielding.

In the past, she had heard only that Crown Prince Xiao Heng was ruthless and decisive, untouched by human feeling. Only by experiencing it herself had she learned that he had saved all his tenderness and patience for her.

"With Your Highness protecting me, of course I feel safe. But will making such a great show of it all the time invite gossip from others in the palace?" Shen Zhiwei asked softly.

Xiao Heng gazed at her intently, his fingertips gently stroking the smooth skin on the back of her hand. "Why should I, the crown prince, care about other people's gossip? Protecting you alone is enough for me. Zhiwei, when the time is right, I will tell my imperial father how I feel and give you a rightful, honorable place by my side."

The confession caught Shen Zhiwei completely off guard. Her heart gave a sudden leap, then pounded wildly. She hurriedly lowered her eyes, her long lashes trembling incessantly, her ears red to their very tips.

Seeing her shy, evasive manner, the crown prince, usually so aloof and unsmiling, could not help the faint smile that lifted the corners of his lips.

Just as tenderness flowed between them, a maid's panicked cries suddenly rang out from outside.

"Miss! Something is wrong! The well water outside the courtyard... something seems wrong with the well water!"

Xiao Heng's expression abruptly changed. He immediately released her hand and rose to his feet.

Someone had already reached their poisonous hand into the drinking water. Dark currents surged, and danger once again crept silently toward Shen Zhiwei.