Sisters

The palace maid named Dongqing was young and quite beautiful, as fresh and lovely as a flower glistening with dew. She looked very docile.

Upon being summoned, she came before Lü Shi at once and waited for her orders.

"Replace everyone over there, especially the eunuchs around him. Put our people in their places."

Lü Shi instructed her, "Watch his every move. Before sunset each afternoon, you must bring me a report on everything he has done, down to the smallest detail. If he plans anything unusual, report it immediately. Understood?"

As she spoke, she fixed Dongqing with a cold stare.

Her gaze grew colder and colder, taking on a faint trace of murderous intent.

The boldness Zhu Yuntong had displayed, along with his abilities, had caught Lü Shi completely off guard. She believed he must have been hiding his talents all along, so skillfully that even she had failed to notice. Their previous surveillance must have been inadequate.

Lü Shi feared that Zhu Yuntong was still hiding something from her. She had to tighten surveillance and watch his every move.

Lü Shi had the final say throughout the Eastern Palace.

She believed she had to bring Zhu Yuntong completely under her control. She absolutely could not let him do anything else she could not foresee.

"This servant understands."

Dongqing lowered her head as she spoke.

"One more thing..."

Lü Shi's voice grew still colder. "They have always burned incense over there. Send them some of the incense my father brought into the palace back then. Sister Chang used that same incense in those days."

Dongqing was slightly startled by this.

But she quickly composed herself. With matters like this, it was enough simply to know. "Yes!" she answered.

"Go!"

Lü Shi waved her away.

Only after watching Dongqing leave to make the arrangements did the unease in her heart subside a little.

The shock and threat Zhu Yuntong had brought had deeply unsettled her.

Looking again at Zhu Yunwen, who stood trembling with fear beside her, Lü Shi said sternly, "What are you afraid of? Stop shaking and stand up straight. Go early tomorrow morning to pay your respects to your imperial grandfather. Remember, you are no worse than Zhu Yuntong."

"I understand, Mother."

Zhu Yunwen obeyed Lü Shi in everything. Without her, he had practically no mind of his own.

Especially when it came to important matters like this.

After leaving the palace, Lan Yu and the others gathered at the Duke of Liang's residence.

A group of generals from Huai-West gathered in the main hall. They had been sitting there for a long time, discussing two matters: how to help Zhu Yuntong win the succession, and how to survive beneath Butcher Zhu's blade.

Today, Zhu Yuntong had laid bare some hidden truths, sounding an alarm for them.

They all felt a butcher's blade hanging over their heads.

But they were a band of military men. After discussing it back and forth without arriving at anything, they could only sit in their chairs in silence.

"Damn you, Feng Sheng! You've read more books than any of us. Hurry up and give us a plan!"

Fu Youde, the Duke of Ying, was the first to lose patience. He nudged Feng Sheng, who sat beside him, with his elbow. They were all fighting men; only Feng Sheng possessed both courage and strategic wit.

"Actually, we can treat these two matters as one."

After some hesitation, Feng Sheng finally spoke. "As long as we help the third imperial grandson win the succession, we won't die. Both problems can be solved together."

"That's true."

Chang Sheng also knew how important the succession struggle was to them. "The question is, how do we help the third imperial grandson win?"

Feng Sheng turned his gaze toward Lan Yu. "Does the Duke of Liang know why the third imperial grandson slapped you just now?"

"I forgot my place, disregarded rank, and shouted in court."

Lan Yu blurted out his answer, still not fully understanding where he had gone wrong.

"Wrong."

Feng Sheng explained, "His Highness the third imperial grandson must have been hiding his talents before. In truth, he is cleverer than all of us. He struck you for your own good, and for his own good too. In fact, he saved you."

"Damn you! You keep going around in circles. Can't you explain it plainly in one sentence?"

Lan Yu was nearly dizzy from all his circling. For his own good, for Zhu Yuntong's good-he could not untangle it.

These generals invoked one another's mothers as soon as they opened their mouths. Everyone present was used to it and thought nothing of it.

Feng Sheng: "..."

"Simply put, if the crown prince were still alive, Duke of Liang, a man with your achievements could afford a little arrogance as a way of tarnishing your own reputation. After all, the crown prince could keep you in check."

"Now that the crown prince is gone, if you remain arrogant, won't His Majesty worry that neither the second nor the third imperial grandson might be able to keep you in check?"

"If you want to help the third imperial grandson win the succession, you must first change."

"You are too domineering. Imperial in-laws meddling in state affairs are precisely what His Majesty least wants to see."

With Feng Sheng putting it that way, Lan Yu finally understood.

That did seem to be the case.

"I admit I've been a little arrogant and overbearing."

Lan Yu looked somewhat awkward, but fortunately, he had a thick skin. "I'll change right now."

This concerned the life or death of their entire Huai-Western faction. He had to mend his ways.

"What comes next?"

Wang Bi, the Marquis of Dingyuan, asked.

"Next, we do whatever His Highness the third imperial grandson tells us to do. Whatever happens, no matter what, we follow his orders."

Feng Sheng thought for a moment, then added, "And that's it. Don't concern yourselves with anything else."

"It's that simple?"

Cao Zhen, the Marquis of Jingchuan, was taken aback. "Duke of Ying, don't fool us. How could winning the succession be that simple?"

Feng Sheng smiled helplessly. "It really is that simple. Our main role is to support the third imperial grandson. As for winning the succession, that is his business. We cannot interfere too much. Put it this way: His Majesty decides whom to appoint. Can we change His Majesty's mind? Of course not!"

"If the third imperial grandson wants to become heir apparent, he can only earn it through his own performance."

"We need only follow his arrangements and conduct ourselves properly. Above all, we must not cross the line."

"You don't understand His Majesty. He wants to make his own choice, not have us choose for him."

"And then there is the Duke of Liang."

Feng Sheng looked toward Lan Yu again. "That slap was His Highness's warning to you. You must not hold the third imperial grandson back."

Hearing this, they felt he had a point.

After carefully considering Old Zhu's temperament, they all nodded. That was indeed how it was.

"I'll change. I'll change right now!"

Lan Yu gritted his teeth. "For the third imperial grandson, I'll do anything. Even dying wouldn't frighten me!"

He had decided to stake everything on this!

Once Feng Sheng had reached his conclusion, the Huai-Western Generals' discussion soon ended. They returned to their respective duties, or waited for Zhu Yuntong's instructions and arrangements.

Zhu Yuntong left the Palace of Heavenly Purity and followed the route in his memory. After winding this way and that, he finally returned to the Eastern Palace.

There was no helping it. The imperial palace was simply too large.

One careless turn could leave him lost.

The Eastern Palace, now under Lü Shi's control, was also called the Spring Harmony Palace. Many plum trees grew in front of it. Only after entering through the Spring Harmony Gate and turning left would one reach the residence of Zhu Yuntong, his two elder sisters, and his two younger sisters.

Its location was not particularly good, because the Crown Princess had long since occupied the best part.

"Our third brother is back."

Zhu Yuntong had just stepped through the courtyard gate when he saw two young women in palace dress coming toward him.

Behind them followed two little girls just over ten years old.

The first two were Zhu Yuntong's full elder sisters: Zhu Lingyue, the Princess of Jiangdu, and Zhu Lingyi, the Commandery Princess of Yilun.

The two little girls were not Chang Shi's own daughters.

After Zhu Biao's burial, all his consorts except the Crown Princess had been required to die to accompany him in death. These girls were daughters left behind by his other consorts, but Lü Shi had clearly disliked them and assigned them to Zhu Yuntong's quarters. Their names were Zhu Linghua and Zhu Lingxiu.

They were close only to Zhu Yuntong and had followed the others out to greet him.