Chapter 096: A Restless Night

A flash of fire streaked past, scorching the white dove’s feathers. Xuezhe nearly revealed her true form, when suddenly she felt a large hand cover her body.

The hand was fair and lovely, long-fingered and soft-skinned, the hand of a refined scholar born to privilege. Yet without the slightest hesitation, it pressed down upon the flames and gathered the searing embers into its palm.

The fire died. The wind rose. Dust stirred in confusion.

“Stop at once!”

“Your Majesty, what brings you here?”

“This is my dove. What do you think you are doing?”

“Your Majesty, this dove was flying wildly about. It seemed like a wild—”

“How bold of you!” Liu Li shot the leader a glare, his eyes like frost drawn from ten thousand years of ice. “You abuse my dove like this, and you still think you have cause?”

The leader bowed his head and dared not rise. “Please forgive us, Your Majesty. We were merely carrying out the Dowager Empress’s orders to guard the forbidden grounds of Azure Bird Lake. Every blade of grass and every tree here falls under our watch. We do not know why this dove suddenly broke in. We thought—”

“You thought?” Liu Li laughed coldly. “If I were to think you had raised weapons against me, would I not be justified in exterminating you all?”

“Your Majesty, spare us!”

Liu Li wanted to say more, but he felt the dove in his arms twitch twice. His heart tightened. He turned and left.

Thinking back on what had just happened, Liu Li still felt anxious and agitated. Countless points of fire and a rain of arrows had all been directed at that lone dove, mixed among them the mysterious falling flames. No matter how the dove wheeled and twisted, it could not escape.

The ache in his heart in that instant had been unlike anything he had ever known, mingled with worry and fear. Those feelings made him certain that the white dove was indeed Xuezhe in disguise.

Such a conclusion sounded absurd, and yet it was true. A person’s instincts could always reach far beyond their own imagination.

Before long, Liu Li had reached a corner of the garden, and only then did the strength in his arms slowly ease. No one was there. His eyes reddened despite himself; he was nearly in tears, when the dove in his arms pecked him awake.

“Let go of me, quickly!”

Her voice drifted into Liu Li’s ear and scattered the darkness in his mood.

“All right! Right away—”

Before he could react, the dove flew to his chest and kicked him. Unfortunately, the force was too slight. Liu Li had no idea what it meant, until he saw a cold iron arrow streak past at terrifying speed.

The arrow carried immense force, and its tip was poisoned. It was not something a dove could withstand. Its shaft grazed Liu Li’s shoulder, tearing open a wound, then pierced through the dove, leaving behind a vivid trail of blood.

“Xuezhe!”

Liu Li cried out in shock, sweeping his fan through the air. A hidden weapon of cold iron struck the assassin lurking at the corner of the wall.

He lifted the dove into his arms and trembled as he examined the wound. Tear after tear fell.

“I’m fine!” Xuezhe coughed once, resumed her true form, and pressed her hand over the wound at her collarbone. “Someone means to assassinate you. Go back at once, and make it look as though you’ve been injured.”

“Don’t say anything. I’ll heal you first!”

Xuezhe shook her head. “I’m fine. Mortal weapons can’t hurt me. Go, quickly. You’ve already interfered too much. Do you want to make mistake after mistake?”

“So what if I do!” Liu Li had barely steadied her when he suddenly heard hurried footsteps approaching. He could not help saying, “They’ve come this fast?”

“It seems someone laid this trap. Go now!”

“No.” Liu Li gripped Xuezhe tightly. “I know what to do next. First change back into a dove.”

Xuezhe thought for a moment, then cast a spell to make Liu Li’s wound appear far more serious. As she withdrew her hand, only a stabbing pain to the bone remained; she gave a muffled groan, then transformed into a half-dead dove.

“Your Majesty!”

“Your Majesty, your servants were too late to save you!”

Liu Li held the dove close to his chest and covered himself with a sleeve stained red with blood. “What are you staring at? Why do you not come and support me?”

Late into the night, rumors still spread throughout the palace, and all manner of grave matters were being discussed. The emperor had been secretly wounded by an assassin, and his beloved dove had died. Enraged, he had immediately ordered an investigation. In an instant, the matter became the chief concern of the entire imperial palace, eclipsing every small and great affair of Azure Bird Lake.

The Dowager Empress publicly declared: “Cold iron is reserved for imperial personages. This case is not simple. Investigate it thoroughly, without fail!”

Liu Li understood at once that someone was framing the Second Prince, because Liu Zhong was most fond of using cold iron to forge cold iron arrows.

Deep within the palace gardens, where no human footprint could be seen, a wisp of pale smoke suddenly rose in the silence.

This was the residence of the Consort Shu. In the vast outer compound, she was the only one living there. Consort Shu had once been the Emperor’s favored consort in the former reign, trusted deeply by the ruler, virtuous, gentle, and sincere.

After the former emperor passed into immortality, Empress Xue seized power and became the acting empress of North Hua, later ascending as Dowager Empress.

The first thing the Dowager Empress did upon taking power was to eliminate her rivals. Anyone she disliked, or who disliked her, met no good end, with only a few exceptions. Consort Shu was one such exception, because she had borne the Second Prince, a talent the Dowager Empress had carefully cultivated. But after the prince turned five, the Dowager Empress forced mother and son apart, leaving Consort Shu alone in the harem.

Many years had passed before Consort Shu saw Dowager Empress Xue again. So many years had gone by, and she had not aged in the slightest, still thriving at the very summit of North Hua. This made Consort Shu truly miserable. And yet, no matter what, for her son’s sake, she had to swallow her anger and endure again and again.

Consort Shu knew Xue had not come to visit her. She had come to make trouble. With a single sentence, Dowager Empress Xue made Consort Shu tremble and lose all composure.

“I brought your son back!”

Consort Shu looked at the Dowager Empress in terror, her heart both tense and frightened. She did not know what the Dowager Empress wanted, but she knew that both she and her son were in danger.

“What... what do you want?”

The Dowager Empress smiled, brushed the dust from a chair, and sat down.

“It is simple. I am letting you choose.” Looking at the stupefied Consort Shu, she smiled. “Since you like speaking plainly, I shall do the same. I know what you said to the Emperor, and I know he intended to help you. But I do not think he can help you now.”

“Why?”

“Why do you think? After enduring humiliation and hardship for so many years, can you still not guess my intentions?”

The Dowager Empress smiled with great satisfaction, her face full of disdain. “Let us talk. See whether you choose danger or sacrifice. If you choose danger, you may try again with the chips and leverage in your hand to bargain with the Emperor. But I will not be merciful. We shall see then whether it is you who gets to see your son, or whether you and your son die mysteriously together!”

“And if I choose sacrifice?”

The Dowager Empress smiled and looked at the pallid Consort Shu. “Sacrifice means you die, of course. Otherwise, what do you think I kept you in the harem for all these years? You know very well that I have never been considerate of others. Back then, you stole my favor away from me. I hated you to death. Why would I ever spare your life?”

“But the one most favored was Consort Liang, was it not?”

At the mention of Consort Liang, the Dowager Empress’s gaze turned vicious, and she nearly lost control of herself.

Back then, Consort Liang had been the Emperor’s most beloved woman, favored as much as a seductive enchantress. Beautiful and gentle, kind and generous, she was the sort of woman who would naturally keep the Emperor from looking away, and also the sort most likely to draw the envy and hatred of the women in the harem.

“Do not mention her to me. That woman should have been buried with the former emperor! I never expected the former emperor would end up buried with her!”

Consort Shu smiled faintly. “So it really was you.”

“What, do you hate me? It is too late!” The Dowager Empress was exceedingly pleased with herself, laughing for a long while in triumph. “I am the reason you have fallen to this state. What of it? You cannot blame me. This has always been a world where the strong prey on the weak. You have no skill, no cunning, and you possess a weakness. You can only be butchered at others’ mercy!”

“You truly are formidable. But how did you kill them all by yourself? For so many years, no one could verify a thing, and no one ever suspected you.”

“Did you not suspect me?” The Dowager Empress smiled. “What, do you wish to know the truth before you die? I thought twenty years would have been enough for you to uncover it, but you have disappointed me terribly!”

Consort Shu looked at the Dowager Empress without expression and said coldly, “Others say I am a little mad. I think it is you! I am merely strange in appearance, while you are rotten to the core!”

“Humph! Enough of this. Back to the matter at hand. What is your choice?”

Consort Shu fell into thought and gave no answer.

“Hey, wake up. Don’t tell me you really want to rely on the Emperor? How should I put it? Although he is upright and would help you, his strength is still not enough. Look, I only needed a small trick to bring your son back at once. Isn’t that enough for you to trust me?”

“Trust you?” Consort Shu gave several cold laughs. “You are far too confident. Who is backing you? Even if you are glorious and magnificent now, paper cannot wrap up fire. Are you not afraid I have already told the Emperor?”

The Dowager Empress smiled and shook her head. “You are still too naive. You think I do not understand the Emperor? If he knew the truth, would he still be as he is now? If I were you, I would have told him the moment we met. Why keep any leverage? Your best leverage is his kindness and righteousness. Tell him, and he will certainly protect you completely. Besides, there are still people watching outside this courtyard on his behalf!”

Consort Shu sighed, blaming herself for taking the wrong step.

“I should have told him that it was you who killed his father emperor, and his birth mother as well!”

“Hahahaha, yes, you should have said exactly that!” The Dowager Empress let the smile fade and looked at Consort Shu with cruel malice, tightening her hand around her throat. “What a pity, you did not! Now your life and death are in my hands! Speak. What do you choose?”

“You venomous woman!” Consort Shu bit down hard on the Dowager Empress’s hand and cursed loudly. “You murderous demon! I will never let you go, not even as a ghost!”

Disgusted, the Dowager Empress withdrew her hand, astonishingly without crying out in pain. She wiped her hand with a silk handkerchief, then waved it before Consort Shu’s eyes.

“See? The wound has already healed! Hahaha, you foolish woman!”

“You?” Consort Shu stared at her in horror. There was not even the slightest mark on the Dowager Empress’s hand.

“Yes. My helper is no ordinary person. You think that because you bite me, I will feel pain? That I will leave a mark? Heh, you are thinking too much!”

Consort Shu collapsed to the floor, staring at the Dowager Empress in disbelief. “What... what else have you done that cannot see the light?”

“More than you can imagine. Have you heard about the recent affair at Azure Bird Lake? I had a hand in everything, from top to bottom! Well? Why are you not kneeling to beg me yet? Should you not be gazing at me with admiration?”

“No wonder you have not aged. Have you already turned into a demon?”

The Dowager Empress smiled. “Not yet. But soon.”

“You heard about last night, did you not? Worried about the cold iron arrows?”

“You...” Consort Shu was so furious she could no longer speak. “You actually used this to drive a wedge between the Emperor and the Second Prince!”

“No. The Emperor would not doubt anything. It is just...” The Dowager Empress gave a soft laugh. “Your son. What will he think? What I am splitting apart is the Second Prince’s feelings toward the Emperor!”

Consort Shu’s emotions were in turmoil, her expression changing again and again. She did not know how to face this strange and vicious woman before her.

“Have you decided yet? Will you die on your own, or shall I do it for you?”

“Either way, I die. I might as well fight you to the end! After all, a scoundrel like you would never leave a way out for my son!”

The Dowager Empress laughed heartily and sat back with perfect ease.

“Actually, whatever you do harms me very little. It only makes the road easier or harder to walk. But are you certain you wish to anger me?”

Consort Shu shifted her gaze and asked tentatively, “What will you do to my son?”

“If you behave, he lives. If you do not, he will die in a far uglier way than you!”

Consort Shu sank into bitter struggle, her eyes swollen and red, yet still unable to think of a solution.

“Do you not hate that woman? And yet you still want to rely on her son. What a joke!”

“What exactly do you intend to do?”

“Use your hand to eliminate Liu Li! Let you have your revenge too. Wouldn’t that be good?”

Tears fell from Consort Shu onto the floor like rain. She regretted more than ever being born into the imperial family.

“Actually, your son is not living happily either. I can use this chance to fulfill one of his wishes. Either he is granted a noble title and rank, with fine fields and lands, along with a golden immunity token. Or I give him ten thousand taels of gold and restore his freedom, so he may roam the rivers and lakes and live a carefree life. Tell me, would that not count as a good thing?”

Consort Shu sighed. “What do you want me to do?”