Mingde felt like he had slept for many days. His last memory was in the Imperial College hall, on the platform, where the whole world had been turned upside down. It seemed that many things had happened in between, and many people had been bustling around him. One person had been tightly holding his hand and calling his name, and although he never woke up to respond, that person never grew impatient.

Mingde felt his whole body going cold, as if his bones were shivering. The warmth from that person's palm was all the warmth he could feel, although it was just a little bit, almost negligible.

It's so cold...

Really cold...

He curled himself up tightly into a ball. He didn't withdraw his hand, but that person seemed to give up and let go of his hand that had been holding him tightly.

...Why did you let go of me?

That bit of negligible warmth disappeared with the cutting wind of early spring. Mingde frowned tightly, looking pained, but he couldn't see anything or say anything.

He couldn't even protest.

"...Do you hate me that much?" the Qianwan Emperor leaned on the edge of the bed, wiping away the medicine dripping on the bedside bit by bit, "I just wanted to look at you, what are you afraid of..."

Mingde curled up even tighter, his whole body rolled into a small ball, wrapped in a snow cloak, looking just like a big white fluffy dumpling.

The Qianwan Emperor touched his face, wanting to hold him, but afraid that his resistance would make him sleep restlessly, so he could only sigh and withdraw his hand.

The Grand Chamberlain knelt on the ground and took the medicine bowl, saying in a low voice, "Your Majesty, Mingde is a little...a little scared, it's better for this servant to do it."

For a moment, a lonely look flashed across the face of the lofty Son of Heaven, but it was only for a moment. The Grand Chamberlain scooped a spoonful of the medicine with the small silver spoon and fed it bit by bit between Mingde's lips and teeth. The young girl's movements were gentle and cautious. Mingde frowned, but quickly swallowed all the medicine.

...Even a little bit of my presence will make you panic and fear in your sleep?

The Qianwan Emperor Li Ji closed his eyes and silently retreated half a step.

He himself felt a little cruel, and his heart ached, as if something soft that had always been carefully cherished in his heart had one day suddenly been found to have been cut with a huge wound long ago, already bloody and unbearable to look at, just never discovered before.

Still thinking it was complete and beautiful, still thinking it was a perfect union, still thinking it was a treasure held in the palm and contained in the mouth, even if it made trouble and threw tantrums, it had never been hurt.

The Grand Chamberlain slightly tilted her head, her eyes sweeping quickly over the emperor's face, then coughed and said in a low voice, "Your Majesty need not worry, Doctor Hu said that the secret recipe passed down in his family is very effective in treating corpse poisoning, and it's not a disease that will immediately turn bad. As long as he recuperates well, he will always recover."

The Qianwan Emperor suddenly said, "Grand Chamberlain."

"This servant is here."

"For so many years, I have to thank you for helping Mingde, helping him discipline the crown prince and appease the empress."

The Grand Chamberlain's hand trembled, and she hurriedly put down the medicine bowl and knelt on the ground, "This servant knows her crime!"

The Qianwan Emperor's eyelids twitched violently, "...You...what crime do you know?"

The Grand Chamberlain kowtowed deeply, "This servant was only wholeheartedly taking care of the crown prince! Absolutely no intention of going against Your Majesty! This servant thought that since she was in the Eastern Palace, it was her duty to wholeheartedly attend to the daily life of the crown prince! Absolutely no other meaning!..."

- Why are you all so afraid of me?

- I clearly have no intention of hurting you...

The Qianwan Emperor suddenly sighed, weary and sad.

"Grand Chamberlain," he said, "you can get up...I was just thinking, the crown prince is getting married, it would be inconvenient for you to stay in the Eastern Palace...for so many years you have been appeasing the crown prince on one hand and Mingde on the other, I have seen it...if you are willing, I will let the empress take you as an adopted daughter, bestow you the title of the Qinghe Princess, and betroth you to the crown prince as the crown prince's consort..."

The crown prince's consort would later become the Imperial Noble Consort.

"I heard from Mingde that the crown princess Lady Xia is not an easy person to get along with. With your title as the Qinghe Princess, it will be convenient for you to meet in the future. If you are unwilling, then it doesn't really matter. The empress has taken you as an adopted daughter, so it will be easy for you to marry in the future..."

The Grand Chamberlain's voice trembled, almost incoherent, "This servant...this servant dares not..."

"There is nothing you dare not do," the Qianwan Emperor said lightly, "I will immediately issue a decree that all the palace servants serving Mingde in this Qingzhen Palace will be promoted by three ranks. Physician Hu has rendered meritorious service in treating the illness and will immediately replace Wang Junyi as the chief doctor of the Imperial Medical Academy."

The Grand Chamberlain was shocked beyond words, "Your Majesty, this is--"

"I just want everyone to know," the Qianwan Emperor said word by word, "--in this palace, who is the master they should flatter and fawn over!"

After being in a coma for three days, Mingde finally woke up. Fortunately, he woke up, otherwise even Hu Zhicheng's head might not be safe.

Ah Zui was guarding by the side, not having changed clothes or slept for three days. As soon as she saw him wake up, she immediately covered her heart and sat down straight, "Ancestor! You scared me to death!"

Hu Zhicheng also broke out in a cold sweat and hurriedly helped her up, "Princess Qinghe, please go and rest, leave this to me."

Mingde just lay on the couch, quietly looking at a certain point in the empty air floating in the void, not saying anything, not moving at all. Hu Zhicheng wanted to feed him medicine, but he closed his eyes and turned his head away, not reacting at all.

The secret recipe medicine pills that Hu Zhicheng had painstakingly made were melted into a decoction, but this little ancestor refused to drink it, making him so anxious that he wished he could pry open Mingde's mouth and pour the medicine in, "Oh my goodness, this little noble! Do you need an invitation to take medicine? You're about to lose your life and you're still afraid of taking medicine?!"

Ah Zui stood up and stumbled, collapsing beside Mingde's couch. She whispered, "Do you know, Young Master? There are already rumors in the Eastern Palace. According to the secret reports from the subordinates, you have been chosen as the top scholar by Sir Xie Hongjie, the Imperial College official..."

Mingde's fingers moved, then tightly grasped Ah Zui's hand with such force, as if a drowning man clutching onto his only lifeline.

"...You...what?"

His throat felt torn, making his voice hoarse and muffled. Ah Zui leaned in closer, "What did you say?"

"Top scholar?"

"You have been chosen as the top scholar by Sir Xie Hongjie, the Imperial College official!" Ah Zui grasped Mingde's hand in return, "Young Master, you've made it onto the list! You can be sent out!"

Mingde stared at her blankly. After a long while, a glimmer of light slowly appeared in his eyes, "...I can leave?"

"You can leave! You can be sent out of the capital! The Empress said to let you go to a warm place in Jiangnan with favorable weather, to set up some family property and buy a few acres of land. Jiangnan is a fertile and prosperous place..."

Mingde closed his eyes, slowly revealing a hint of a smile on the corners of his lips. That smile grew bigger and bigger, as if he saw something beautiful, warm and blissful.

Ah Zui slowly described to him, "Every spring, the Qiantang tidal bore rushes in like a vast ocean... Have you ever eaten perch from Jiangnan? It's especially fresh, fatty and delicious, costing twenty wen per jin. People there love sweet things, which is perfect since you like them too. When strolling along the banks of West Lake during spring outings, there are so many young ladies and madams, a sea of flowers and brocades..."

During the morning court session, the Qianwan Emperor received a secret report from Zhang Kuo saying that Mingde had woken up and willingly took his medicine without needing any urging.

Half an hour later, Zhang Kuo came again and whispered that the young noble had eaten congee and wanted sour plum soup. He was given rose dew, which he also consumed...

The court officials noticed that the Qianwan Emperor was in an especially good mood, dispelling the gloom from the previous days. He even praised the Crown Prince a few times.

Xia Zheng took the opportunity to request the Emperor to decree a date for the Crown Prince's grand wedding, setting it for half a month after the day the Xiwan envoys come to pay respects. At the same time, the decree officially betrothing Xia Rubing, the second daughter of the Xia family, as the Crown Princess was issued, along with a general amnesty to pray for blessings.

Just as the morning court was about to end, Zhang Kuo came again, smiling and whispering to the Qianwan Emperor, "Mingde is talking with Princess Qinghe. Will Your Majesty go visit?"

He originally thought that with the Qianwan Emperor's temperament, he would be the first to rush over as soon as Mingde woke up. Who knew that the Emperor's smile slowly faded. After a long while, he said, "Forget it, I won't go."

Zhang Kuo was full of doubts, "Your Majesty, this is..."

The Qianwan Emperor sighed, rising from the massive, luxurious yet cold dragon throne. He walked out step by step through the majestic gates of Zhengtai Palace. What greeted him was the endless, undulating light blue silhouette of the palace city under the morning sun.

"So that he won't be frightened upon seeing me..."

Zhang Kuo watched the Qianwan Emperor's back. The emperor, in the prime of his life, faced the dawn within the Forbidden City as his hair fluttered in the wind for a fleeting moment.

_

Perhaps it was the ancestral secret formula of Doctor Hu that really worked, or maybe it was because Shangguan Mingde suddenly had a change of heart and obediently took his medicine. After all, he was a young man with a strong foundation. By the time the peach blossoms bloomed and withered, he was already able to get out of bed and walk on his own.

Mingde was still a bit afraid of the Qianwan Emperor. He always secretly asked Ah Zui when Zhang Kuo and the others weren't around, "How is the Crown Prince doing? Has the Empress's confinement order been lifted?"

How could everything be resolved so easily? However, Ah Zui always forced a smile and told him, "The Crown Prince is doing well in all aspects, and so is the Empress. The Empress Dowager even went to see the mother and son."

Mingde sighed, "It's a pity I haven't seen Li Ji. Otherwise, I could ask him if I could visit the Eastern Palace. If I go out privately and get discovered, then the matter of going to Jiangnan would become uncertain again. Ah Zui, where do you think I might go in Jiangnan? I really want to go to Hangzhou..."

Hangzhou was gentle and graceful, with the green banks of the river, the willows drooping, and the orioles singing amidst the fragrance for miles. The women of Suzhou and Hangzhou had delicate voices. Empress Mingrui was from the banks of West Lake in Hangzhou, but unfortunately, she passed away thousands of miles away.

Behind the scenes, Ah Zui had been anxious and agitated countless times over the Crown Prince's situation. One morning, as a palace maid was combing her hair, she suddenly exclaimed, "Princess Qinghe, you have a white hair..."

Ah Zui looked in the bronze mirror. She was a young lady of nineteen or twenty, yet a white hair stood out conspicuously at her temple.

She sat there in a daze for a while, thinking about the snow-white scene in the Eastern Palace, and almost shed tears. Then she thought about Mingde leaving for Jiangnan, leaving no one in the palace to confide in.

What if the Qianwan Emperor suddenly wanted to depose the Empress? What if the Crown Prince angered his imperial father again? The Empress said that if she didn't want to become a noble consort, she could leave the palace and marry someone. But could she really get married?...

In fact, during the time when Mingde was seriously ill, the Emperor did not overly criticize the Eastern Palace. However, recently the Crown Prince did something that greatly angered the Emperor.

The reason was that the Empress Dowager had been coughing incessantly and her health had been poor. The Crown Prince and the Empress Dowager had always had a deep bond as grandmother and grandson. So he found someone to set up an incense altar in the Eastern Palace to pray for the Empress Dowager's blessings.

Ah Zui had advised him several times that this would give others an excuse to criticize, but the Crown Prince had always believed in these superstitious practices. Despite repeated persuasion, he still didn't listen and continued to have people chant scriptures and pray, making it smoky and hazy every day.

Just a few days ago, the Ding clan, the family of Noble Consort Ding, suddenly submitted a memorial stating that the Crown Prince had ordered people to perform "sorcery" in the Eastern Palace, with unknown intentions. The Emperor was furious and ordered an overnight inspection of the Eastern Palace. Indeed, a voodoo doll with the Qianwan Emperor's birth date and time was dug out from under the incense altar.

This instantly caused an uproar. What did it mean to have a voodoo doll with the Qianwan Emperor's birth date and time written on it? It meant patricide!

The Crown Prince loudly proclaimed his innocence, but the Qianwan Emperor was extremely enraged. He had already ordered the Eastern Palace to be sealed off and the Crown Prince to be confined.

Even Ah Zui didn't believe the Crown Prince would do such a thing, let alone the Qianwan Emperor. Everything he did was just to take the opportunity to depose the Crown Prince.

The Empress Dowager was the mother of Prince Dongyang, not the Qianwan Emperor. The Qianwan Emperor's mother concubine was poisoned to death shortly after he was named Crown Prince.

For so many years, the Qianwan Emperor had been indifferent to the Empress Dowager, and only that fool of a Crown Prince couldn't see it, spending every day with the Empress Dowager in a show of familial harmony. This was really the best opportunity for the Qianwan Emperor. The Crown Prince attempted patricide, the Empress failed in her guidance, both could be deposed; if lucky, it might even be possible to deal with the Empress Dowager.

If the Empress falls, who will rise? There were few concubines in the harem to begin with, and Ding Zhaorong had a strong family background and was young and favored. At her age, she was most suitable for childbearing. If she gave birth to a son and a daughter, wouldn't she rise to the top?

This spring and winter, the wind and frost were pressing in fiercely... Ah Zui stared at that glaring white hair in the bronze mirror, her fingers pressing hard on the edge of the table, the small wooden splinters digging deep into her flesh.

Mingde didn't know about these things. He only knew that the Crown Prince had been scolded, but the Crown Prince was scolded every day, so he didn't take it to heart.

On this fine day, he felt stifled after taking his medicine and walked out of the gate of Qingzhen Palace by himself, heading towards the Imperial Garden. At this time, the Qianwan Emperor was always in the Imperial Study, and no one from the harem would come out and walk around. Even if someone did, they wouldn't ask any questions. He walked along the palace canal all the way to the south gate, when he suddenly saw a flash of skirt in the flower bush, followed by a woman's low laughter.

Mingde turned away expressionlessly, but suddenly heard someone say, "...Empress..."

The person's voice sounded a bit familiar. Thinking carefully, it was Ding Zhaorong from Jing'an Hall the other day.

Seeing no one around, Mingde stooped and stood quietly in the flower bush, only to hear another consort in a goose-yellow palace dress laugh and say, "I see the Empress is in big trouble this time. It's a pity that Sister hasn't given birth to a son and a daughter yet, otherwise..."

Ding Zhaorong hurriedly covered the consort's mouth with one hand and laughed, "What is Sister talking about? What does the Crown Prince's transgression have to do with the Empress? He didn't come out of the Empress's belly!"

The consort laughed, "Even if he didn't, judging by the Emperor's attitude towards the Empress, it's probably just a matter of time..."

Ding Zhaorong's expression changed, seeming to agree to some extent.

The consort lowered her voice again, "Besides, practicing witchcraft in the palace, and the charge of patricide... The Crown Prince doesn't have that much courage. Maybe it was the Empress who instigated and abetted him..."

Ding Zhaorong remained silent. The consort leaned over and whispered, "Isn't Uncle's intention obvious? Why did he impeach the Crown Prince? Isn't it for the sake of Sister becoming Empress..."

Ding Zhaorong pushed her away, "Stop talking!"

After a moment, Ding Zhaorong couldn't help herself and said in a low voice, "I think the Crown Prince is also in danger this time. The Empress herself has no movement in her belly, and relies on this Crown Prince... If the Crown Prince is gone, what can she rely on? I heard that the Emperor has already issued a secret decree to my father. If there is any unusual movement in the Eastern Palace, quietly... a cup of poisoned wine..."

In the flower bush, Mingde covered his mouth with a spasming hand and took half a step back.

Crown Prince... witchcraft...

Patricide...

Mingde couldn't remember how he retreated from the Imperial Garden. He stood blankly by the palace canal until someone patted him from behind. Zhang Kuo circled to the front and asked with a grin, "Why is Young Master standing in the wind? Hurry and have someone put a coat on!"

Mingde suddenly glanced at him. Seeing that look, Zhang Kuo was slightly startled. He heard Mingde ask in a hoarse voice, "Where is Li Ji?"

"Your... Your Majesty?" Zhang Kuo was stunned for a moment. "Does Young Master want to see His Majesty? His Majesty is in the Imperial Study."