Chapter 204: Palm
Xue Yuechen watched Li Huan’s retreating back as he left the banquet, her fingertips lightly brushing over the hidden patterns of her brocade skirt.
The window gauze swayed in the autumn wind, casting shadows that flickered across her face.
“Esteemed guests, please enjoy yourselves,” she said, raising a glazed pottery cup, her demeanor as gentle as melting snow in spring. “Please urge the kitchen to bring the dishes out sooner, lest the feast grow cold.”
“Yes, Princess Consort.”
Laughter echoed within Xie Fang Garden.
The sounds of silk and bamboo music drifted from the waterside pavilion. Xue Yuechen sat in the main seat, her palm resting lightly on her slightly rounded belly, her smile perfectly composed as she chatted with the guests.
“Sister,” Xue Sui leaned in, pressing her temples, a faint blush appearing at the corners of her eyes. “I’m feeling a bit tipsy and would like to go out for some fresh air.”
Xue Yuechen looked at her with concern and gently instructed.
“That’s fine. Let a maid accompany you, and be careful not to catch a chill.”
Xue Sui turned and left, her skirt sweeping past the banquet table, the slight breeze it stirred inadvertently brushing past Li Zhao’s nose.
The scent of Suxin Orchid Incense mingled with a faint aroma of wine, curling upwards.
Li Zhao lowered his gaze, playing with his wine cup, his peripheral vision following that graceful figure. His Adam’s apple bobbed slightly as he tilted his head back and drank, then leaned against the table, motionless for a long while.
Suddenly, he heard a whisper beside him, “Is something amiss with Your Highness the Crown Prince?”
“I too am not accustomed to wine.”
Li Zhao smiled faintly, rising with a hand on the table’s edge, his eyes carrying a hint of drunkenness.
“I’m going to sober up.”
–
Xue Sui strode quickly through the nine-bend corridor carpeted with red felt. The eaves lanterns lit up one after another along the path, and the cool breeze from Moonlit Lake blew over, making her mind even clearer.
“Aunt,” Xue Sui spoke, the evening wind lifting stray hairs from her temples, accentuating her cold, alluring expression.
She held the collar of her cloak and quietly told Jinshu, “Go to the corner gate and wait. If there’s any news, report it to me immediately.”
“Yes.” Jinshu took her orders and left.
“Hurry,” Xue Sui urged Xiao Zhao and Ru Yi as they quickened their pace.
Just as they reached the Taihu Stone by the end of the corridor, a figure darted out from behind the rockery. The figure was tall and lanky, swaying unsteadily, the jade pendant at his waist jingling.
“Isn’t this the Second Imperial Brother’s favored consort? In such a hurry, where are you off to?”
Xue Sui glanced at him, performed a perfunctory curtsy, and walked past him.
“Consort Xue, why are you hiding?”
Li Yan, his steps unsteady, moved forward and blocked her path, his tone flippant.
“Weren’t you sharp-tongued at the banquet just now, wanting to contend with this Prince? Now that I’m here, why don’t you speak your mind? Or perhaps… you have something to hide?”
“Your Highness Prince Wei, please conduct yourself with dignity.”
Xue Sui sensed the spray of alcohol and took a step back, frowning.
“If the Prince were to see you in this state, I fear even a month of kneeling in the ancestral hall wouldn’t be enough punishment.”
The last time their affair at the villa was discovered, the Empress Dowager had punished Li Yan by making him kneel in the ancestral hall for three days.
Although the punishment was not severe, for His Highness Prince Wei, it was a profound humiliation.
Her words enraged him.
Li Yan’s hair stood on end with fury. Disregarding his appearance, he suddenly grabbed Xue Sui’s wrist, his breath thick with alcohol spraying onto her head. “What are you? Just a lowly servant who became a consort by climbing into bed!”
Xue Sui’s eyes turned icy. She glanced at Xiao Zhao, whose hand was subtly gripping a thin blade.
“If Your Highness takes another step forward, do you believe that tomorrow, the capital city will be abuzz with the tale of you ‘falling into the water due to drunkenness’?”
“You dare threaten this Prince?” Li Yan’s face contorted with rage, and he raised his hand to slap her.
Suddenly, a gust of wind struck, slamming his entire body hard against the rockery.
A black python robe flashed before his eyes. Before he could react, a hook punch landed heavily on his abdomen.
The force was so brutal that Li Yan cried out in pain, curling up like a shrimp.
“How dare you…”
Before he could finish speaking, he saw Li Zhao’s sinister and cold face.
“Crown Prince…” Li Yan was greatly surprised.
Li Zhao’s face was grim, and he didn’t respond. He grabbed Li Yan by the nape of his neck, lifted him from the rockery, and slammed him onto the blue stone slab, his voice as cold as ice.
“If Third Imperial Brother doesn’t want his tongue, I’ll gladly cut it out and feed it to the dogs!”
Li Yan’s face turned pale, most of his drunkenness gone.
“Your Highness the Crown Prince, why are you protecting this woman…”
Li Zhao sneered, “Is it your place to comment?”
Li Yan paused, then retorted, “Your Highness the Crown Prince is so protective, could it be that you have developed improper feelings for Second Imperial Brother’s beautiful Consort…?”
Li Zhao’s throat tightened. “I’m not as shameless as you!”
Before he finished speaking, another punch landed on his chest.
Li Yan grimaced in pain, shouting hoarsely.
“Is Your Highness the Crown Prince trying to murder his brother?”
“I’m merely teaching you the rules of being a person!”
“Utterly arrogant!” Li Yan was furious.
A man, in front of a woman, would never lose face. Although Li Zhao was the Crown Prince, Li Yan was also a Prince, his own brother. Relying on the Empress Dowager’s doting and a bit of drunken courage, Li Yan stretched his neck and fought back…
“Do you really think this Prince is afraid of you?!”
Li Zhao sidestepped the incoming punch, deflected the force, grabbed his wrist, and drove his knee upwards into his abdomen. Then, with a long arm, he flipped him over by the waist, sending him crashing to the ground with a thud—
“Useless! You dare act wild in front of me?”
His gaze was fierce, veins bulging on the back of his hand.
As Li Yan tried to get up, Li Zhao pressed his shoulder down and slammed him again…
As his sleeve cuff rolled up, an unhealed arrow wound on his forearm was revealed.
Xue Sui’s heart leaped. Just as she was about to speak, she heard a splash.
Li Zhao had actually dragged Li Yan to the lakeside and kicked him into Moonlit Lake.
“Sober up!”
Li Yan was a good swimmer, but every time he swam close to the shore, Li Zhao would expressionlessly kick him back into the water.
After several attempts, he was so enraged that his eyes turned red. He flailed his fists and cursed, splashing back and forth in the lake like a drowned toad.
The dignified Prince Wei, at this moment, was as pathetic as a stray dog, with no one to call upon and nowhere to turn…
Xue Sui walked closer silently. “Your Highness the Crown Prince, the Prince’s Mansion banquet is not yet over. It is not advisable to create further complications.”
Hearing her reminder, Li Zhao looked up.
His gaze paused on her face for a moment. He chuckled and waved to Guan Ya.
“Third Prince’s drunkenness should be about over. Escort him back to Prince Wei’s Mansion, change his clothes, and let him rest well.”
“Yes.”
Two guards stepped forward and dragged the thoroughly soaked Li Yan away.
Even from a distance, his struggles and roars could still be heard…
Xue Sui chuckled lightly. “Your Highness the Crown Prince is quite ruthless with his own kin.”
“Consort Xue is indeed magnanimous.”
Li Zhao’s eyes were fixed ahead. He glanced at Xue Sui, his face ashen, and strode forward.
Xue Sui paused for a moment, then silently followed behind him. They reached a secluded corner within the flower gate. She saw Li Zhao standing in the shadows of the trees, his posture tall and straight, like a solitary pine leaning against the clouds.
He was clearly waiting for her.
Xue Sui took out a clean handkerchief and stepped forward, pressing it to the wound on his forearm.
“The Gu poison is not yet cleared, yet you drink strong liquor. The arrow wound is not healed, yet you fight with others. Does Your Highness wish to shorten your life?”
Li Zhao grabbed her wrist in return, pressing her against the tree trunk.
“Are you worried about me?”
“Your Highness’s life and death are of no concern to me.”
“If I die, who will handle the mess with the Xizi envoys for you?”
“Therefore, Your Highness must live a long life.”
The autumn wind carried the scent of wine, their breaths intertwining.
Li Zhao lowered his gaze, staring at her reddened eyes. “You are lying. Do you wish for me to die sooner? So that no one will bother you anymore.”
Under his aggressive, burning gaze, Xue Sui’s scalp tingled, and her breathing became rapid.
“Your Highness the Crown Prince is being so presumptuous, aren’t you afraid Prince Duan will notice?”
Li Zhao chuckled. “I’ve already played the part of the adulterer, why would I be afraid of being caught in the act?”
Xue Sui smiled slyly, her fingertip tracing his rolling Adam’s apple. Seeing him suppress himself, veins throbbing on his forehead and his chest heaving, she skillfully flipped her hand and placed a wax pellet into his palm.
“I want to protect Wen Jia and give Your Highness a merit.”
With that, she pushed him away and turned to leave.
Her demeanor was so carefree, like a queen in control of the entire situation.
Li Zhao grabbed her sleeve, straightened up, crushed the wax pellet in his hand, and smiled down.
“Xue Liu, how many more cards do you have up your sleeve?”
Xue Sui paused slightly, turned back, and smiled enchantingly. “Enough for Your Highness… to willingly become my blade.”
The sky gradually darkened, and autumn mist permeated the air. The slender figure moved further and further away, slowly disappearing from sight.
Li Zhao lightly licked his teeth, murmuring in a hoarse voice, “Crazy woman.”
—
The last rays of the sun faded, and the lamps were lit. Dusk permeated Changshun Street.
Princess Protector of the Nation Li Fuyin’s carriage rumbled over the blue stone slabs, speeding towards the west city gate.
She occasionally lifted the curtain to look outside, her brow furrowed with anxiety as the sky grew darker.
“Faster, faster.”
Two hours ago, she had suddenly received a secret letter.
“Niu Niu is at the ruined temple west of the city, come quickly—Amun Rah.”
She hesitated for a moment, then finally put on her cloak, ordered someone to inform Xue Sui at Prince Duan’s Mansion, and then, taking a few guards with her, she hurried out of the mansion.
Seeing her anxious expression, Dong Xu was very worried. “Princess, this matter might be a trap. Why would the High Priest arrange to meet you at a land temple west of the city? Why not wait for news from Consort Xue and then make plans?”
Wen Jia knew Dong Xu was right.
But as a mother, her concern for her daughter took precedence.
She disregarded the risks ahead and shook her head firmly.
“If it’s really Niu Niu… I have to go.”
The carriage sped along the official road, its wheels kicking up dust.
The land temple west of the city was still two li away from the official road.
The temple was covered in cobwebs, so quiet it seemed like a ghost realm.
A bone-chilling fear surged from her feet to her heart.
Wen Jia, her heart burning with anxiety, got out of the carriage and led a few guards and maids inside.
“High Priest, where is the person?”
As soon as she stepped into the temple gate, a blade light flashed towards her.
The sound of air being split suddenly rang out. Dong Xu’s expression changed drastically. “Princess, be careful!”
She cried out in alarm and lunged forward. The blade grazed her chest, and blood immediately stained her clothes.
About a dozen masked death warriors rushed out from inside the ruined temple, the Xizi totems on their curved sabers emitting a cold, eerie glow.
Dong Xu quickly held Wen Jia in her arms.
“Protect the Princess!”
A few guards, armed with clubs, stumbled forward.
Suddenly, the sound of horses’ hooves was heard from outside the temple.
Dozens of silver-armored imperial guards burst in, their torches illuminating the man’s stern eyebrows—
It was the Crown Prince’s private soldiers from the Eastern Palace.
Wen Jia cried out, “Be careful!”
