When your master speaks, who gave you leave to interrupt?

Madam Shen was overcome with worry and lingering fear. "A dog? How did you get bitten by a dog?"

"I'll fetch a doctor to examine you."

That wouldn't do. If the doctor discovered it was a human bite and word got out, the crown prince might not kill him to keep him quiet, but he would certainly find some way to torment him.

Boil him like dumplings, or shave slices off him like knife-cut noodles...

"Mother, I'm fine. I already had it examined in the palace. Besides, the imperial physicians are far better than doctors outside. If anything were wrong, I would have sent someone home with a message."

Hearing this reassured Madam Shen considerably, though she still couldn't help complaining, "Isn't the palace supposed to be heavily guarded? How did you get bitten by a dog for no reason?"

If that bastard had been here the whole time, his glare would have cut Shen Yangge into a thousand pieces. Holding back a laugh, Shen Yangge cleared his throat. "Mother, it was only an accident. The Eastern Palace really is heavily guarded. You needn't worry about my safety."

Madam Shen sighed. "All right, I understand."

"What were these two maids screaming about in the middle of the night?"

The conversation finally returned to the matter at hand. The two maids, clinging to each other and trembling, stared at Shen Yangge with wide eyes, as though trying to bore holes through him.

Their lips trembled, but for a long while, neither could utter a single word.

Shen Yangge said, "They sneaked into my room in the middle of the night. Who knows what they came here to do?"

Madam Shen's expression changed dramatically. "You two! Did you come into the second young master's room to take his life?"

The maids shrieked, "We didn't! We weren't!"

"Oh? Then what are those things in your hands? Children's toys?"

Shen Yangge stepped forward, seized one maid's hand, and held it up. "It doesn't look like a child's toy to me. How sharp!"

"Let me guess. Who sent you?"

Both maids shook their heads frantically. "No one sent us, Second Young Master! We acted entirely on our own. Please spare us, Second Young Master! We'll never dare do it again!"

"Oh? You decided to kill me all on your own? How did you open my door? I remember locking it before I went to bed. And there's been a lingering smell of incense in my room. If you were just acting on your own initiative, there was no need to go this far, was there?"

Both maids turned deathly pale. They banged their foreheads against the floor before Shen Yangge, crying, "Second Young Master, we really did act on our own! Please show us mercy!"

"Acting on your own, were you? So you're planning to shoulder all the blame? Aren't you worried I might actually take your lives?"

"Please have mercy, Second Young Master!"

Just then, a soft, frail female voice drifted over:

"Second Brother, what happened? Did they do something wrong? Please show them some mercy. They're only a couple of lowly servants. Punishing such insignificant creatures would only lower your standing."

A girl who seemed to have come cloaked in moonlight and stars walked into the room, a cloak draped over her shoulders. She wore a faint, gentle smile. "Oh? Mother is here too."

"Mother, why haven't you gone to bed? It's so late."

Shen Yangge released the maid's hand and raised an eyebrow at the girl entering the room. Who was she?

"Fifth Young Miss, I told you not to come. Why did you come anyway? You still haven't fully recovered from the cold you caught a few days ago."

The maid beside the girl scolded her crossly, her voice full of concern and tenderness.

Fifth Young Miss?

Madam Shen had mentioned her. Her name was Shen Susu.

She was already betrothed to the third son of the deputy minister of the Court of Judicial Review. Once she came of age, she would marry into his family.

"Oh? Then let me ask you, Fifth Sister. If someone tried to kill you and failed, and you kindly spared their life afterward, would they truly be grateful to you in the future, or would they try to kill you again?"

Shen Susu's gentle expression stiffened. She stammered, "I... I thought they had only come into your room to steal things. Second Brother, did I say something wrong? I really didn't know..."

What a pitiful little thing. She certainly knew how to put on an act.

First she didn't know, then she'd said something wrong. Even a comedy routine didn't have this many twists.

Shen Yangge said, "Said something wrong... Weren't you standing at the door just now, Fifth Sister? Did you not hear clearly, or were you pretending not to hear?"

Shen Susu's eyes widened, and she involuntarily took a step back, her little face draining of color from fright. The maid beside her hurried to support her and said quietly:

"Second Young Master, the fifth young miss has always been frail. She only stopped at the door because she was tired and needed a moment's rest. She wasn't listening closely to what was happening inside."

Her tone held displeasure and not a trace of fear.

Shen Yangge looked intrigued. "Then why didn't she even glance at the maids kneeling on the floor when she came in? Why did she look at me with such surprise instead?"

"That's very suspicious, Fifth Sister."

Shen Susu opened her mouth and was about to speak, but her maid cut in first again:

"Second Young Master, the fifth young miss knows nothing about this. She only came because she was worried about your safety. Don't you think it's a little excessive to question her intentions like this?"

The room abruptly fell silent. After a long pause, Shen Yangge laughed. "I'm speaking to my fifth sister. Who gave you leave to interrupt? What kind of worthless cur are you?"

The maid's expression changed instantly, and she glared indignantly at Shen Yangge.

Someone like Shen Susu had always lived by relying on others. She surrounded herself with clever attendants who knew how to handle anyone. Even if she normally said something wrong, her maids could twist white into black and black into white, so long as it protected her.

Without these people to lean on, Shen Susu would undoubtedly fall apart.

Sure enough, after Shen Yangge rebuked her maid, Shen Susu's lips began to tremble. She desperately wanted to prove her innocence, but several times, when she met Shen Yangge's frightening gaze, she instinctively wanted the maid beside her to speak for her.

"A master is a master, and a servant is a servant. You ought to know the difference, Fifth Sister. I see no use in keeping a lowly maid who dares interrupt a conversation between her masters. Better to send her away."

Shen Susu said, "Second Brother... I, I really was wrong. Second Brother, p-please don't be angry. I won't dare do it again."

Her pitiful appearance softened even Madam Shen's heart. She patted Shen Yangge's hand. "Your fifth sister isn't bad-hearted. I imagine the servants around her have led her astray."

"Not... bad-hearted? Then why put incense in my room? And quite a mixture it was, too."

Though he himself didn't know why he had woken in the middle of the night.

Still, this business of drugging him to sleep involved more than just one or two people.

The third young miss was one of them, and the fifth young miss was another.

Shen Susu startled. "Second Brother, don't make baseless accusations. I don't know anything! What incense? Second Brother, I know you don't like me. You think I've taken Fourth Sister's place, but I really don't know anything."

"If you truly did nothing, Fifth Sister, do you really think I've falsely accused you? You there, up on the beam. Sorry for the trouble, but could you come down?"