Translator: Aristophaneso

  “You are insane!” Shao Ning shouted, interrupting him.

  The Crown Prince covered her mouth and viciously replied: “Even a vicious tiger will not eat its own cubs, but how does he treat me? Since he is willing to take the first step, I can see it to the end!”


  Shao Ning slapped the Crown Prince’s hand away and angrily retorted: “You cannot!”


  “Whether this brother can turn the tables depends entirely on you.” The Crown Prince suddenly implored, “Your brother was framed, and one mistake after another piled on my head. If you do not help me, then your brother will be buried in an unmarked grave!”


  “I have already told you to return with me! Frankly explain, sincerely admit your errors and ask for punishment!” Shao Ning angrily replied. “You even know that vicious tigers will not eat their own sons, but you still concoct this plan of high treason and want to drag me down to hell with you! Nice dream!”


  “So what if I am dreaming?” The Crown Prince suddenly laughed coldly, “This is my final gambit, but I carry the will of heaven, and heaven never closes off all roads — a capable expert is coming to help. They will arrive soon, and then we leave out of the Eastern Hua Gate and travel south along the Dong Bian River until we reach Jiang Huai Province. Liu Cheng Lu, Jiang Huai’s Military Commander-in-Chief was loyal to our maternal grandfather, and he has remained true to me despite our mother’s early death. Our Chang Family has not fallen! Did Father Emperor really believe that I had no strength to fight back?”


  He began begging again, “Shao Ning, nothing is unconquerable, and no sentence is certain. Everything depends on the strength to break through fate! This brother is the true Son of Heaven, and talents will come to me when I am in danger. The great work of heaven must be in my hand, and if the brother and sister are of one heart, you from within and I from without, then when the time comes…… brother will bring soldiers into Dijing at your invitation, and with brother’s position has first son of the dynasty, the great seat will be mine! At that time, you will be a Founding Princess and enjoy a domain of a hundred thousand households, forever enjoying peerless honor!”


  Shao Ning was not moved: “No matter who becomes Emperor, I will always be an Esteemed Princess!”


  “And you will always be the esteemed toy, dancing on the strings of others!” The Crown Prince smiled coldly, “Watching your words and your deeds, controlling your every year, and when the proper time comes, to marry you to a man you have never met! Perhaps old, perhaps crippled, or perhaps perverted! You looking through the curtain at your husband, him kneeling before his wife, every month only allowed to meet in the bedroom once, and if more you will be shamelessly condemned — this kind of Esteemed Princess, are you willing?”


  Shao Ning’s expression flickered, and the Crown Prince began continued gently, “Do not think that because Father Emperor adores you that you will be an exception. Think carefully, even if Father Emperor spoils you, when has he crossed the limits dictated by our ancestors? And when Father Emperor passes and the new Emperor is crowned, will you still be spoiled? Who will pay any mind to you then? The Second Prince? The Fifth? Sixth Prince or Seventh? You know how likely this is.”


  Shao Ning fell silent, and the Crown Prince spared her a glance before smiling. “You like that Wei Zhi right? But you also know that Father Emperor will never accept a minor minister like him without any background…… Shao Ning, do you not want to marry your true love? To live happily with your loved one, hand in hand for a lifetime, and live the dream of all women in this world?”


  Silence filled the courtyard, and only a hurried breathing could be heard. The cold moonlight showed Shao Ning’s blushed ear, and her harshness and anger had gradually disappeared, and in its place appeared a sweet shyness and hope.

  Feng Zhiwei stood in hiding, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

  Since when had she become a part of the Imperial Family’s game?

  She knew that Shao Ning had…… that…… but she had only thought that the child was curious. A spoiled princess like her, always surrounded by adoration, only rarely met a person who did not speak sweetly to her, and it was very natural for her to grow interested, but …… she had actually grown such a deeply placed affection?

  And the Crown Prince even found out and used this to tempt Shao Ning!

  Feng Zhiwei blushed with embarrassment.

  Shao Ning turned away, leaning on a windowsill and quietly thinking, turning her face in the moonlight and appearing in Feng Zhiwei’s full view. As Feng Zhiwei took in her moonlit expression, her own face immediately transformed from not knowing whether to laugh or cry, to incredulity.

  That look……

  Gu Nanyi suddenly shifted, frowning as he turned; Feng Zhiwei was shocked out of her daze, but just as she was turning, she heard Shao Ning cry out in shock: “Big Brother, what are you doing……”


  Feng Zhiwei whirled around and saw the Crown Prince, eyes gleaming murderously and mouth twisted into a grotesque smile, holding a sword he had mysteriously procured and striking towards Ning Ji!

  Tenth Prince Ning Ji had stood silently all this time, but to this sudden strike he seemed already prepared, twisting out if its way and dodging aside.

  Shao Ning rushed forward to block the attack, but the Crown Prince pushed forward, sword still raised, shouting: “He must die!”


  Feng Zhiwei suddenly understood. The Crown Prince had said all of this in front of Ning Ji because he had already decided to destroy the evidence.

  “He is your little brother!” Shao Ning cried out.

  “What brother?” The Crown Prince laughed coldly, “Nothing but Old Six’s dog!”


  “I will not allow you to kill him!” Shao Ning screamed, face pale. She and Ning Ji had studied at Qing Ming Academy together, and this elder brother had been taking care of her; their relationship was quite good, and she very naturally refused to allow the Crown Prince to murder him. “You’ve lost your mind, and you even dare to attack your father and kill your brother! I will never listen to you!”


  “You will not listen?” The Crown Prince turned, his eyes red, “Have you thought this through!”


  “I’ve made my decision.” Shao Ning replied, standing in front of Ning Ji, her hair a tangled mess but her face clear. “You have shown your heartlessness and cruelty. Even if I help you, you will never treat me well!”


  She stood firm, guarding Ning Ji, facing her maternal older brother’s glittering sword. She stared defiantly into the Crown Prince’s face, and could not see the sudden gleam of metal appearing below Ning Ji’s feet.

  The dim moonlight left everything in shadows, but a stray beam had broken through the old and dusty windows and fell on the ground on which Ning Ji stood. The grey and dusty ground only made the metallic gleam more dazzling.

  A narrow and long, thin and brilliant, three fingers wide glimmer.

  Feng Zhiwei suddenly broke out in cold sweat.

  A knife!

  The moonlight gleamed off of Ning Ji’s knife, hidden in his clothes.

  The Crown Prince had been correct, the prince was Ning Yi’s man, and had been one of the spies that Ning Yi had placed by the Crown Prince’s side.

  And now Shao Ning was showing him her defenseless back!

  Feng Zhiwei leaned forward, palms sweaty and cold. Everyone in the Ning Imperial Family had wracked their minds and plotted with all their ability, but in the end, no one knew who was the mantis and who the stalking oriole!

  Feng Zhiwei saw Ning Ji’s sleeve shake as he seemed to hesitate, the light flickering from his knife sparkling as it shook.

  Just as Feng Zhiwei was about to move.

  The Crown Prince laughed harshly: “You refuse! No one will help me! Good!”


  He thrust his sword forward, directly at Shao Ning’s chest. The angry strike flashed forward like a bolt of lightning and was about to pierce Shao Ning!