Chapter 25

Chapter 25: The Aloof Crown Prince's Nemesis

Once the medicinal decoction was found to contain a slow-acting sedative, Xiao Heng abandoned every last shred of leniency.

Besides attending court and handling state affairs during the day, he secretly mobilized all his trusted aides to search far and wide for evidence of the Su family's corruption and abuses of the law over the years. Relying on their ancestors' illustrious achievements, the Su family had held high office for generations. Yet behind the scenes, their hands were far from clean. They had embezzled local tax revenues and privately accepted bribes from officials, burying every offense deep.

Security inside and outside the Quiet Reflection Pavilion was doubled. Apart from Wanqing, whom Shen Zhiwei had always trusted, every servant entering or leaving the courtyard had to undergo repeated checks. Every serving of food and medicinal decoction had to be tested by someone specially assigned to the task before anyone dared bring it to Shen Zhiwei.

For several days in a row, all was calm in the Eastern Palace, as though the Su family had vanished without a trace and would make no further move.

Yet the quieter things became, the more uneasy Shen Zhiwei felt. She knew the Su family was cunning and calculating. This brief silence was merely the deceptive calm before a storm.

That day, a verbal decree arrived from the palace. The empress was hosting a family banquet at Kunning Palace and had invited the crown prince and Shen Zhiwei to attend.

Upon hearing the news, Wanqing could not help feeling deeply worried. She whispered to Shen Zhiwei, "Miss, the matter with the Su family has yet to be settled. For the empress to suddenly host a banquet-there may be a trap. Should we ask His Highness to politely decline?"

Shen Zhiwei sat before the mirror while Wanqing combed her long, sleek black hair. The bronze mirror reflected her calm, gentle features, and she shook her head lightly.

"The empress is hosting this banquet herself. Refusing without good reason would only give others ammunition against us. Besides, she is His Highness's birth mother, after all. Constantly avoiding her would only make us look as though we had guilty consciences."

Despite her words, she remained on the utmost alert.

When Xiao Heng returned to the Quiet Reflection Pavilion and heard about it, his brows drew tightly together. His first instinct was to keep Shen Zhiwei from entering the palace and risking danger, but in the imperial family, many social obligations were impossible to avoid.

"When we enter the palace this time, do not leave my side, not even by a step." Xiao Heng reached out and placed a small silver protective charm in her palm. "If you notice anything amiss, tug on my sleeve immediately, and I will escort you out of Kunning Palace at once. I have already stationed two covert guards in hiding outside the hall. They will be standing by to keep you safe."

Shen Zhiwei closed her hand tightly around the charm and nodded gently. "I'll remember."

At dusk, as twilight gathered around them, the two took a carriage to Kunning Palace together.

At the banquet, the empress sat in the seat of honor. Strings and flutes filled the hall, and fine dishes and wine were laid out one after another. To their surprise, Su Wan was also attending this family banquet.

She was still officially confined to the Su Residence, yet the empress had specially summoned her to the palace for the banquet that day.

Su Wan wore a gorgeous pink silk dress, her makeup exquisitely applied, but nothing could conceal the fire of jealousy deep in her eyes. Seeing Xiao Heng and Shen Zhiwei enter the hall side by side, she secretly dug her nails into her palms. On her face, however, she assumed a meek, gentle expression and rose to pay her respects to the crown prince and the empress.

The sight of Su Wan set alarm bells ringing in Shen Zhiwei's heart.

The banquet gradually got underway, and everyone raised their cups to drink. The empress wore a warm expression and repeatedly encouraged Shen Zhiwei to help herself to the dishes. From her words, it seemed as though all their former differences had melted away.

"Zhiwei, you will be the mistress of the Eastern Palace from now on. It is time to turn the page on all those past troubles." The empress raised a hand, signaling a maid to fill a cup with fine wine and bring it to Shen Zhiwei. "I offer this cup as a toast to you. May you and Heng live in harmony after your marriage, and may every year bring you peace."

The amber wine rested in a glass goblet, its delicate fragrance drifting through the air.

In an instant, every gaze fell upon Shen Zhiwei.

If she refused the wine, she would openly slight the empress. If she drank it all, who knew what hidden danger might lurk within the cup?

Shen Zhiwei's fingers stiffened slightly around the goblet. She could neither advance nor retreat.

In that moment of hesitation, Su Wan suddenly stood and said with a soft smile, "Since the crown princess has yet to marry into the family, I should drink this cup of blessings on my elder sister's behalf first!"

Before she had even finished speaking, Su Wan hurried forward and reached out to snatch the goblet from Shen Zhiwei's hand.

An uproar swept through the hall. Xiao Heng's gaze sharpened, and he immediately stepped between the two women, shielding Shen Zhiwei with one hand while firmly blocking Su Wan's outstretched wrist with the other.

"Su Wan, do not presume!" Xiao Heng's voice was as cold as ice.

His grip on her wrist made Su Wan turn pale with pain. Her eyes reddened instantly, and she looked at the empress in aggrieved distress. "Your Majesty, I only meant well. I wanted to ease Miss Shen's burden..."

The empress knitted her brows and was about to intervene when a guard suddenly rushed in from outside. He dropped to his knees in the center of the hall and reported in a loud voice.

"Your Majesty, Your Highness! We have just made a discovery! A large number of account books were found in a secret chamber at the Su Residence. All the evidence of the Su family's embezzlement of government funds over the years has now been secured!"

At the news, the entire hall fell deathly silent!

Su Wan felt as though she had been struck by lightning. Her legs gave way, and she collapsed onto the tiled floor, every trace of color draining from her face. She had never imagined that, without betraying a thing, Xiao Heng had already gathered all the evidence of the Su family's crimes.

Xiao Heng gazed impassively at Su Wan, who lay crumpled on the floor. His voice held not the slightest ripple of emotion. "The Su family has committed too many injustices. Today, the curtain falls."