A slap

The Qi Emperor was thoroughly pleased with the strawberries his son had offered him out of filial devotion.

The Fat Eunuch immediately flattered him. "The Crown Prince offered Your Majesty something he loves, and he did not forget the Eldest Prince, either."

"Congratulations, Your Majesty! The Crown Prince is loyal, filial, benevolent, and righteous. He is truly a blessing to Great Qi!"

Delighted by the praise, the Qi Emperor enthusiastically began choosing a Grand Tutor for his son.

"Zuo'er is the Crown Prince. He must study the ways of governing the realm. However talented a single Grand Tutor may be, he cannot master everything."

The Qi Emperor already had someone in mind.

"Zhang Yao, the son of Minister of Justice Zhang, serves as governor of Xiangyang Commandery. He is meticulous and cautious, loyal and filial, and rigorous in his conduct. His achievements in office have been outstanding."

"He is learned, insightful, and well versed in the ways of the world. He is due for a transfer, so bring him back to serve as the Crown Prince's Grand Tutor."

"For now, he will take responsibility for introducing the Crown Prince to his studies."

Great Qi's central government followed the three dukes and nine ministers system.

Minister of Justice Zhang was one of the Nine Ministers and oversaw the law. His household maintained strict standards, and his son Zhang Yao took after him.

He was certainly qualified to teach the little Crown Prince.

In the Fat Eunuch's opinion, he was far better than Xi Ming, who had nothing but a reputation and book learning.

He had no idea what His Majesty saw in him.

At that thought, the Fat Eunuch's hairs stood on end. Perhaps he did know what His Majesty saw in him.

Xi Ming possessed a trace or two of that man's bearing.

Carrying the imperial decree, the Fat Eunuch left the hall to find the Imperial Censor. He heard a commotion from afar and saw Commander Su Changhuai blocking a maid who appeared to serve Lady Zhou.

The maid pleaded anxiously, "Please let this servant inside! His Third Highness is ill and will not stop crying. This servant must report it to His Majesty!"

When the maid saw the Fat Eunuch approaching, her eyes lit up, and she repeated her plea.

No woman of the rear palace below the rank of consort was permitted to enter the front hall. But this concerned the Third Prince, and the Fat Eunuch feared that if anything happened to him, His Majesty would fly into a rage and assign blame.

"What illness does the Third Prince have? Have you summoned an imperial physician?"

The maid replied, "We have! But even the imperial physician has no good remedy. His Third Highness cannot stop crying. My lady said he might miss his imperial father and begs His Majesty to visit him!"

How old is the Third Prince, anyway? the Fat Eunuch thought. His Majesty has only visited him once since his birth. Missing his imperial father, my ass.

Still, he returned to the hall to report it.

Su Changhuai was like a wooden post, stubbornly clinging to the rules.

Yet the Fat Eunuch still had to offer him a smiling face. This man's deceased elder brother had held an immensely important place in His Majesty's heart.

Hadn't Xi Ming enjoyed imperial favor for quite some time simply by imitating a fraction of that man's bearing?

Upon hearing the report, the Qi Emperor issued his response without even lifting his head.

"Will he stop crying if I go? If even the imperial physicians cannot cure him, what can I do?"

"Demote Lady Zhou to a Lady of Worth. She cannot even raise a child properly. What use do I have for her?"

"Send every physician in the Imperial Medical Bureau over there. If they cannot cure him, they can make room for someone who can!"

The Fat Eunuch left sheepishly and relayed the emperor's exact words. Watching the maid from the Colorful Fragrance Courtyard leave in a daze, he clicked his tongue and sighed.

People could only live comfortably if they stopped coveting things that did not belong to them.

Lady Zhou was a fool, too.

When Qi Yuanzuo learned that little San'er was ill, he immediately went to the Colorful Fragrance Courtyard to visit him.

Meanwhile, the Eldest Prince considered the news for a moment.

"Come. Let's take a look."

The moment Qi Yuanzuo entered the Colorful Fragrance Courtyard, he heard waves of sobbing-not from the Third Prince, but from Lady Zhou.

He hurried into the room.

An announcement rang out.

"His Highness the Crown Prince has arrived-"

Everyone in the Colorful Fragrance Courtyard hurriedly knelt in greeting.

The imperial physicians filling the room knelt as well.

Qi Yuanzuo smelled a heavy fragrance and heard a baby's broken cries.

He passed through the physicians to look at the Third Prince on the bed. The child, no bigger than a cat, was coughing until he retched. His face had turned red and purple, as though he could not breathe.

As soon as Qi Yuanzuo drew close, he, too, began to retch.

Bolao's heart clenched at the sight.

"Your Highness!"

Qi Yuanzuo pointed at the windows and shouted, "Open them! Let some air in! The fragrance is too strong!"

"Take the Third Prince outside!"

If they stayed here any longer, San'er might well be suffocated by the fumes!

Lady Zhou snatched the Third Prince up and clutched him to her chest, shrieking, "You cannot open them!"

"The Third Prince has caught a chill! If you open the windows now, are you trying to kill my son?"

But the Third Prince gave a retch and began twitching, seemingly on the verge of death!

An imperial physician shouted, "Quick! Separate them! The Third Prince is dying!"

The surrounding servants descended into chaos.

Lady Zhou only held him tighter. She screamed as she retreated farther onto the bed.

"You killed my son! You killed my son! You're trying to kill my son!"

Bone-deep hatred shone in Lady Zhou's eyes. Beneath it lay barely perceptible panic and excitement.

Qi Yuanzuo's heart sank. How could he fail to understand her intentions now?

He strode over and climbed onto the bed.

Smack! He slapped Lady Zhou across the face.

The ringing slap made the Eldest Prince, who had just stepped through the doorway, instinctively touch his own face.

Lady Zhou froze like a shrieking chicken whose throat had suddenly been seized.

Everyone present froze as well.

Qi Yuanzuo seized the Third Prince, hastily climbed off the bed, and headed outside.

The Third Prince seemed to have stopped breathing!

"Aah-!!!"

Lady Zhou let out a crazed scream and lunged at Qi Yuanzuo.

In the blink of an eye, a dark shape leaped up and slammed into Lady Zhou, knocking her backward.

At the same moment, Bolao swept the little Crown Prince into his arms, his arms trembling slightly.

A tabby cat that had appeared from nowhere raked Lady Zhou's face twice, then leaped out through the doorway. Lady Zhou's screams grew even more agonized.

The physicians had no time to attend to her. They scrambled toward the Third Prince, who had been carried outside.

Free of the suffocating fragrance outside, several physicians stripped the Third Prince bare, applying needles, massaging him, and kneading his pressure points.

The little prince, who had stopped breathing, gave a convulsive jerk and finally drew breath again, crying like a kitten in a hoarse voice.

Qi Yuanzuo's tense body relaxed. Weak and limp, he slumped against Bolao's chest and caught his breath.

"Put me down."

Spotting the stunned Eldest Prince nearby, Qi Yuanzuo rushed over and hugged him.

The impact forced the Eldest Prince back a step, and he realized that the little Crown Prince was trembling.

He immediately shook off the image of that slap and hurriedly held him, soothing him.

"Did that frighten you?"

The little Crown Prince nodded repeatedly, shuddering with little sobs. The Eldest Prince drew him away to look at his face.

The little Crown Prince hung his head, continually rubbing his eyes as tears fell in heavy drops.

The Eldest Prince's heart ached. "Who told you to meddle? Where did all that courage you had when you slapped her go?"

"Stop crying. I'm here. No one will dare bully you."

But the little Crown Prince wiped his tears away with both hands and smiled through them.

"I am the Crown Prince. No one dares lay a hand on me."

He looked toward the main hall and said very softly,

"I have Father and my eldest brother. I'm not afraid of anything. I just don't understand. If she hates me, then let her hate me. Why would she hurt San'er?"

Bolao's expression changed instantly. He had known there was something strange about Lady Zhou's reaction!

The Eldest Prince might have been rash, but he was no fool. He understood at once.

Lady Zhou had clearly been trying to smother San'er to death!

Then rumors would spread that the Third Prince had died because of the Crown Prince. Once that filthy water was thrown over him, how could the Crown Prince defend himself?

Lady Zhou had actually been willing to sacrifice her son to bring down the Crown Prince?!

The Eldest Prince was deeply shaken.

Though the Third Prince was sinister and venomous, his devotion to Lady Zhou had been utterly sincere.

To secure a higher rank for Lady Zhou, he had relinquished credit for his achievements and fawned over the Crown Prince, humbling himself before his brothers to lead the Crown Prince's horse.

Yet today, Lady Zhou had actually tried to kill him?

The Eldest Prince suddenly found it laughable.

Had Lady Zhou harbored such thoughts in their previous life, too?

The Eldest Prince began to pity the Third Prince.

Reborn into another life, only to nearly be smothered by his own mother-he wondered how San'er felt.

Apart from that, he had another question.

With a strange expression, the Eldest Prince asked the little Crown Prince,

"Do you... really like slapping people in the face that much?"

It had been two lifetimes now.

There was no one the Crown Prince dared not slap.

Whenever he saw slap marks on his brothers' faces, there was no need to ask. If he did, the answer was always that they had provoked the Crown Prince.

This time, Qi Yuanzuo was the one who froze.

"Is there something wrong with that?"

The Eldest Prince said, "...Even when you hit someone, you don't hit their face."

Qi Yuanzuo looked troubled. "...But I'm not very strong. It doesn't hurt if I hit anywhere else."

The Eldest Prince said helplessly, "Must you do it yourself? Give the order, and plenty of people will be willing to hit them for you."

Qi Yuanzuo thought, If I ordered someone to hit you, wouldn't you run? There are some people I can hit whom the servants cannot!

The little Crown Prince looked innocent and harmless, as though he did not understand.

The Eldest Prince gave up. "Forget it. Slap them if you want."

He wondered which brother would be the first to enjoy the Crown Prince's slap this time.

When the princes were fifteen, they had once visited prostitutes together. After the Crown Prince found out, the brothers had stood in a row while he slapped them one by one.

Recalling the past, the Eldest Prince felt a strange warmth.

Back then, they had felt no anger, only guilt and shame.

Because they had truly regarded the Crown Prince as a lofty mountain beyond their reach, a figure who was both elder brother and father.

Without their imperial father's discipline, the younger brothers had effectively been raised by the Crown Prince.

Sadly, their struggles had driven them into madness, turning them into heartless wraiths who served the tiger that devoured them. None dared dwell on it any further...

The Third Prince's cries gradually faded, but his tears would not stop flowing.

Life was truly absurd.

What he had once discarded like a worn-out shoe had been the only genuine affection he possessed, while what he had treasured like a jewel concealed a bee's deadly sting.

For a while, the Third Prince felt that dying might not be so bad after all.