Slap her face

San'er shuddered in his swaddling and froze, his little limbs motionless. Only after a long while did he move again, then his mouth puckered as he prepared to cry.

This time, Qi Yuanzuo was certain: San'er really had knocked something wrong in his head.

Because he had wet himself.

That stretch when he had stopped moving was when he had been peeing.

Would the grown-up Third Prince ever have allowed himself such humiliation before his sworn enemy?

Had it been Qi Yuanzuo, he would certainly have cried out first. There was no way he would finish peeing before he cried.

The Fat Eunuch deftly undid the swaddling, lifted the Third Prince's feet, and removed the sodden diaper to replace it with a fresh one.

Noticing the little Crown Prince's curiosity, the Fat Eunuch explained, "This old servant learned all this from attending Your Highness."

"Your Highness was clever and well-behaved as a baby. You always cried beforehand when you needed to relieve yourself or have your clothes changed."

Qi Yuanzuo's brain automatically translated that into: San'er is an idiot. He only cries after wetting himself.

The Third Prince puckered his mouth and sobbed, utterly aggrieved, making little whimpering noises.

The Fat Eunuch patted him soothingly, but eunuchs developed an odd bodily odor over time because they were missing a certain part. To avoid offending their masters, they scented themselves with incense.

No matter how he soothed him, the Third Prince would not settle down. He kept twisting his face away, opening his mouth to wail.

It was unclear whether the fragrance was overwhelming him or his head hurt.

After just a few days in the Empress Dowager's care, the child had visibly grown haggard. Now he had a huge lump on his head, too.

The Fat Eunuch wanted to hand him over to someone to look after, only to discover that everyone connected to the Third Prince was gone.

His birth mother had entered the Cold Palace, his wet nurse had been killed to silence her, and he certainly could not go back to the Empress Dowager. The Fat Eunuch was at a loss.

Qi Yuanzuo feared he would disturb the Qi Emperor.

"Let me have a look."

The Fat Eunuch crouched down. Qi Yuanzuo touched San'er's cheek, and San'er moved his moist lips in search of his finger.

He was hungry.

"There are wet nurses in my palace. Let them look after him for now."

The little Crown Prince was three and had weaned himself. Afraid he might want milk again, the Qi Emperor had kept the wet nurses around.

The Fat Eunuch thought it over. There was no other choice.

Qi Yuanzuo summoned a wet nurse. Watching the Third Prince latch onto her nipple and gulp down his meal, he knew the boy was ravenous.

Poor thing.

The Qi Emperor was still unconscious, and Qi Yuanzuo did not dare leave.

"I am entrusting my younger brother to your care for now. If you dare neglect him, I will not spare you!"

With Wet Nurse Zhang's fate as a warning, the remaining wet nurses feared being dismissed once they were no longer useful. Now that one of them finally had a prince to nurse, she could hardly contain her joy. How could she dare neglect him? Naturally, she offered every assurance.

"If anything happens, come to me. Give him the same food, drink, clothing, and supplies I used to receive, and deduct them from the Hall of Inherited Blessing's allotment."

After making these arrangements, the little Crown Prince noticed someone was missing from the hall.

"Where is Jiang Liang?"

The Hall of Inherited Blessing was under lockdown. Bolao, Simiao, and the Fat Eunuch were all here. Where could she have gone?

Bolao said, "Your Highness, she went to return the medicine bowls."

"How long has she been gone?"

Bolao said, "Not long."

Qi Yuanzuo asked no more.

The Crown Prince's and the emperor's medicine was brewed at the Imperial Pharmacy, southwest of the Hall of Inherited Blessing. There were two routes there.

One passed through the Imperial Garden and was somewhat longer.

The other passed the Hall of Nurturing Origin and was somewhat shorter.

Jiang Liang had taken the long way.

Simiao and the Fat Eunuch had assigned her no duties. Every day, she simply kept the little Crown Prince company as he ate and drank, coaxing him into a good mood, then learned the rules from Aunt Simiao.

Jiang Liang was intensely curious about the layout of the Imperial Palace. She was too timid to wander about, yet by nature she could not bear the tedium.

The little Crown Prince stayed tucked away in the Hall of Inherited Blessing every day, a little layabout who was easy to please. Her life had been comfortable these past few days, but living like this day after day, as though she could already see the end of her life, left Jiang Liang deeply lost and unwilling to accept it.

Today, she had volunteered to return the medicine bowls, feeling she had taken her first step toward exploring the Imperial Palace.

She had another purpose, too: to pass the Nine Bends covered walkway in the Imperial Garden under the pretext of delivering something.

Bolao had said the little Crown Prince often stood outside the Nine Bends covered walkway, gazing east.

Perhaps Jiang Liang was overthinking it, but either way, that phrase, "gazing east," had stirred suspicions she could not suppress.

So she had come to gaze, too.

After returning the bowls, Jiang Liang walked through the Nine Bends covered walkway and discovered vast clumps of chrysanthemums outside it. To gaze east, she would have to stand among the flowers.

The exact spot was easy to find. One patch among the chrysanthemums was bare, jarringly out of place. She reckoned that must be it.

So Jiang Liang carefully stepped into the flowers, stood on the bare patch, and gazed east.

On a distant, glittering golden roof ridge with upturned eaves, she saw a carving of an Immortal riding a phoenix, followed by ten mythical roof beasts in a row. It was quite pretty, but there was nothing special about it.

Jiang Liang studied it for a long time, then brushed off her backside and prepared to leave.

A loud shout came from afar. "Which palace do you serve, slave?"

"How dare you trample the flowers in the Imperial Garden!"

Jiang Liang inwardly cried out at the injustice. Turning around, she saw a beautiful woman with a long neck, long legs, and long arms-clearly someone who practiced dance.

Judging by her clothes, she must be an imperial consort!

Jiang Liang steeled herself and walked over.

"This servant pays her respects, my lady."

Zhaoyi Wei had been seething these past few days. Now that she had caught a servant breaking the rules, her anger immediately found an outlet.

"Slap her face!"

Jiang Liang panicked.

"My lady! This servant is from the Hall of Inherited Blessing!"

Zhaoyi Wei narrowed her eyes, her anger easing slightly. The servants beside her no longer dared strike, merely watching their mistress and awaiting her orders.

Jiang Liang was just about to breathe a sigh of relief.

"So what? You're only a servant! Even if you belong to the Hall of Inherited Blessing, you broke the rules and damaged the Imperial Garden's flowers! You deserve to be slapped! Surely the Crown Prince would not blame me if he knew. Hit her!"

Jiang Liang said, "I didn't damage those..."

Before she could finish, a slap landed on her face. Her ears buzzed, then a string of slaps followed, leaving her no chance to speak again.

A calculating gleam shone in Zhaoyi Wei's eyes. If the Crown Prince did not care about this servant, then beating her would be of no consequence.

If the Crown Prince cared about this servant and came personally to demand justice, she would like that even better.

The gauze dance for the Double Ninth Festival had clearly been her idea, a means of pleasing His Majesty, yet Zhaoyi Xiao had snatched it away halfway through! Because of that, she could no longer perform it.

Zhaoyi Xiao had soared straight into the clouds, while His Majesty had not summoned her to his bed for a month. With herself on the verge of being forgotten, how could she not be anxious?

This little servant from the Hall of Inherited Blessing had arrived at just the right time! She would use her as a raft to get ahead. Wealth and honor were won amid danger!

"Hit harder! His Highness the Crown Prince must be able to tell at a glance that this servant has done wrong!"

Smack, smack, smack! The slaps grew louder.

These servants knew how to beat people. Even if they battered her face to a pulp, they could ensure the injuries remained only skin-deep.

The time it took to deliver those twenty slaps felt so terribly long to Jiang Liang...

By the time the twenty slaps were over, Jiang Liang stared blankly, as though her soul had left her.

Zhaoyi Wei looked her over with distaste, then swished her skirts and approached, smiling like a man-eating flower.

"If you have the ability, have His Highness the Crown Prince come argue your case with me. I am not afraid."

After speaking, she gave Jiang Liang's mouth a vicious pinch.

Jealousy flashed in her eyes. What did a mere servant need such lovely skin for?

Zhaoyi Wei gave a cold snort and left.

The maid behind her spat viciously at Jiang Liang.

"Next time you see Zhaoyi Wei, don't let those blind dog's eyes of yours fail to recognize her!"

Jiang Liang sat on the ground, her clothes covered in soil from the flower beds.

With trembling hands, she touched her badly swollen face, biting her lip as she fought desperately to hold back her tears.

A hundred emotions churned inside her, and she wanted nothing more than to rush forward and strangle Zhaoyi Wei.

Watching that retreating figure, Jiang Liang's resentment towered to the heavens, yet she was utterly despairing.

She realized she had no one to rely on. Having come to this man-eating ancient world and entered an Imperial Palace as deep as the sea, why was she still searching for someone from her own world?

Wasn't it enough to live safely?

Had she been more content to stay safe, she would not have thought of testing the little Crown Prince and chasing some elusive truth.

Then she would not have lingered here because of Bolao's words, would not have encountered Zhaoyi Wei, and would not have been slapped and humiliated.

Those twenty slaps knocked every little scheme clean out of Jiang Liang's head. At last, she understood the true meaning of the saying, "In the Imperial Palace, curiosity is the last thing you can afford."

She finally understood, too, why everyone who entered the Imperial Palace wanted to climb higher and attach themselves to a master.

In any case, Jiang Liang never wanted to experience anything like this a second time.

She calmly climbed to her feet, brushed off the dirt, lowered her head, and returned, dusty and bedraggled.

As for having the little Crown Prince seek justice for her?

What could a three-year-old child understand?