“If he displeases you, you can discipline him behind closed doors. Even Her Majesty the Empress Dowager can’t say anything about it. It’s natural and proper for a wife-master to discipline her husband.”

“Even in the worst-case scenario, if your married life isn’t harmonious, you can still take side husbands, household husbands, or outside husbands. You’ll have status, wealth, and men – what more is there to consider? If it were me, I would have agreed long ago.”

The more she spoke, the more enthusiastic she became, trying hard to promote Yue Guanyi as if she had received a commission from him.

Qiu Shuzhi gave her a cool glance: “There are many eyes and ears in the palace. Be careful not to have your tongue cut out for talking too much.”

“I’m just considering your future prospects,” Ji Mei said resentfully.

“In the future, speak less about His Highness, or you’ll face military punishment,” Qiu Shuzhi said with rare sternness.

Ji Mei immediately straightened her face and respectfully said, “Yes.”

But in her heart, she thought that with such a good opportunity right in front of her, the fact that her superior remained unmoved proved that the rumors were indeed true.

Rumors said that Qiu Shuzhi and her cousin Qiu Qiushuang were childhood sweethearts. Later, when the Qiu family fell on hard times, her cousin voluntarily washed clothes for wealthy families, did needlework, and even performed in teahouses to support Qiu Shuzhi’s studies. Over time, his oriole-like voice became hoarse.

But this also deepened the feelings between the cousins until they became inseparable. Qiu Shuzhi vowed to marry Qiu Qiushuang once she passed the imperial examinations.

Although Qiu Shuzhi hadn’t officially married Qiu Qiushuang yet, all the internal affairs of the Qiu household were managed by Qiu Qiushuang, who was already like the master of the house. The wedding was just a step away.

At first, Ji Mei didn’t believe it, but now seeing Qiu Shuzhi’s attitude of not allowing others to discuss her and Yue Guanyi, the rumors must be true.

A woman from a humble background who had risen to prominence, yet remained unmoved by the temptations of money, power, and beauty offered by the current Crown Prince, only wanting to repay her humble husband – her cousin.

Ji Mei sighed, thinking that this was indeed the superior she had decided to follow, truly a model woman of the times!

The journey from Fengyang Pavilion back to the Imperial Guards’ quarters was not short. When passing through the Imperial Garden, Qiu Shuzhi saw a group of palace servants and maids gathered inside. In theory, when the masters weren’t present, there shouldn’t be so many servants gathered in the Imperial Garden.

As they got closer, they saw a group of strong palace maids wielding chisels and hammers, pounding away at a lake stone rockery among the blooming peonies. The once exquisitely carved rockery was now unrecognizable, and the cave where they had taken shelter last night had been completely split open. A fragment of stone with faint traces of blood lay silently scattered among the peony bushes.

Ji Mei curiously stopped a palace servant and asked, “What’s going on? Why are you smashing this perfectly good lake stone?”

The servant replied angrily, “You’re asking me? Why don’t you go ask the Crown Prince? Early this morning, we received orders from His Highness the Crown Prince that we must smash this lake stone to pieces and throw it out of the palace by any means necessary today, or face severe punishment. So we’ve been busy here since early morning, smashing and prying, working all morning to barely break the stone. We still need to transport it out later.”

Ji Mei found it strange: “It’s a perfectly good lake stone, with an elegant and unique shape. Why suddenly destroy it?”

“With the Crown Prince’s gloomy and peculiar temper, he only torments us servants. One slight mistake and we’re either beaten or scolded. It’s not surprising he’d do something like this,” the servant grumbled.

Ji Mei glanced at the silent Qiu Shuzhi from the corner of her eye.

Gloomy and peculiar is only towards you servants. The Crown Prince is as obedient as a puppy in front of Sir Qiu.

“It seems it’s not without reason,” another servant suddenly explained. “I heard that this stone was too sharp and cut His Highness’s hand. His Highness got angry and that’s why he gave the order.”

Cut His Highness’s hand?

Qiu Shuzhi listened from the side, touching the bandage on her hand, the corner of her lips curling up silently.

After seeing Qiu Shuzhi off, Yue Guanyi returned to Fengyang Pavilion.

The breakfast on the table had not been cleared away as per Yue Guanyi’s instructions. He dismissed the servants.

In the empty room, there was only the morning light and himself. Yue Guanyi sat at the table, in the chair where Qiu Shuzhi had sat, his slender fingers caressing the back of the chair she had touched. The cold morning air had long since chilled the chair, erasing any trace of her body heat, but as he sat down, he had never felt so warm. It was like soaking in a warm, bubbling hot spring in the depths of winter, as if surrounded tightly by her body heat.

In front of him, a bowl of leftover porridge had gone cold. His eyes moved slightly, as if bewitched, and he picked up the spoon and ate it all, spoonful by spoon.

Chang’an stood quietly outside the door. After about half an hour, Yue Guanyi slowly opened the door, everything as usual except for a lingering blush on his face.

He hurriedly instructed the palace servants to clear away everything on the table, but when he saw the bowl on the table, he made a strange sound of surprise.

He clearly remembered that Sir Qiu had only drunk half a bowl of porridge, how had her bowl suddenly become empty, and clean as if it had been washed?

However, he only wondered about it for a moment and didn’t dwell on it, turning instead to continue serving Yue Guanyi inside.

Yue Guanyi took off his ethereal white clothes and changed into official robes. Black robes with fierce beasts, a cold thin face, and eyes devoid of emotion – away from Qiu Shuzhi, his true nature was exposed again.

“How are the spies planted in Qingning Palace?” he sat in front of the diamond-shaped mirror, adjusting his collar.

“Your Highness, the Empress Dowager’s side is guarding very strictly. None of the people we sent managed to return alive. However, fortunately, those who were captured didn’t reveal any details. I’ve already sent people to silence them,” Chang’an lowered his head, not daring to look at him out of guilt.

Yue Guanyi’s hand sank, his long, sharp phoenix eyes flashing with a hint of viciousness: “They’re just a few baits sent out. There’s no need for you to act. When the time comes, they’ll naturally die from poison.”

Fear flashed in Chang’an’s eyes. Having been by Yue Guanyi’s side for so many years, he thought he had become his right-hand man and understood everything about him. He didn’t expect that Yue Guanyi’s depths were far beyond what he had glimpsed.

Yue Guanyi’s cold-heartedness was even more terrifying than he had imagined. He was a demon from hell, and perhaps Qiu Shuzhi was the only person who could make him retain a shred of humanity.

“Then, about the Empress Dowager’s side…”

“No matter,” Yue Guanyi’s lips curled into a cold smile, the curve contemptuous and dangerous. “Does he think catching a few small fish and shrimp means he can rest easy? Qingning Palace will eventually be entirely in my hands.”

“I understand, Your Highness.”

“Let’s go,” Yue Guanyi rose gracefully from the dressing table. In his official robes, he was tall and slender, his exquisite and beautiful features cool with a hint of otherworldly detachment, stunningly beautiful.

“Where to?” Chang’an was somewhat confused. There was nothing scheduled at Zhao Prison today, and the court was quiet with no disturbances. In this peaceful situation, he didn’t understand where Yue Guanyi was planning to go.

Yue Guanyi’s lips held a cold smile as he said languidly: “Qingning Palace.”

Qin Qing had just woken up, leaning softly against the bed, his eyes lazy. The palace servants attending to him entered one by one, those responsible for rinsing his mouth did so, those for dressing did their job, the entire process not requiring him to even lift an eyelid.

After dressing, Qin Qing sat at the dressing table, chin resting on his hand, watching Yu Ye comb and style his hair.

He yawned boredly: “Where is my premium bird’s nest? Bring it quickly.”

“It will be here shortly, Empress Dowager. Please wait a moment,” Yu Ye said with a faint smile.

“This servant is late in delivering it. Please forgive me, Empress Dowager,” a young palace servant hurriedly ran in carrying the premium bird’s nest.

Qin Qing turned and looked back, coldly regarding the trembling young servant kneeling below: “Raise your head.”

The young servant raised his head tremblingly. He was fifteen or sixteen years old, so tender one could squeeze water from him, with doe-like eyes that were wet and glistening.

“What a delightful person, in the flower of youth, with such a fresh and tender body. What woman wouldn’t be moved seeing this?” Qin Qing said gently.

This overly gentle tone, however, made the young servant tremble all over: “Please forgive this servant, Empress Dowager. I will never dare to be late again.”

Qin Qing sipped the bird’s nest soup in his bowl, one spoonful at a time, deaf to the pleas of the young servant on the ground.

Yu Ye hurriedly gave a look and pulled the sobbing young servant out.

Ever since meeting Qiu Shuzhi, the Empress Dowager, who had never cared about appearance or age before, began to pay attention to maintenance. Every morning, he must drink a bowl of bird’s nest soup to nourish his blood and maintain his appearance. Not only that, he became jealous of other young men in the palace. Almost all the good-looking servants in Qingning Palace had been demoted to do hard labor in the laundry, all to prevent these young men from stealing his spotlight in front of Qiu Shuzhi.