“Sorry.”
The guard felt guilty and did not look at Ji Xiu. He directed the apology toward Xie Rou Niang, his gaze turning vicious as he charged forward without hesitation.
Compared to dying themselves, they chose to let others die.
Ji Xiu had not yet fully recovered from his shock. When he saw the black-clad men draw long swords gleaming with cold light from their waists, clearly aiming to kill Xie Rou Niang, he instantly understood who had sent them.
If they had come to assassinate him, he might still have had to think about who the mastermind was.
After all, the original host becoming Top Scholar truly had stolen the limelight from many people, and he had even contradicted the emperor in the main hall. It would not be strange if someone with a hole in their head wanted to eliminate an eyesore for the emperor.
But Xie Rou Niang was different.
She had always lived in Jiujiang Prefecture and had only arrived in the capital today. It was impossible for her to have any other enemies.
The only person who wanted her dead was that arrogant and brainless Princess Dongzhu.
A trace of darkness flashed through Ji Xiu’s eyes. He stretched out his long arm, yanked the panicked and shocked Xie Rou Niang behind him, then lifted his leg and kicked straight into the black-clad man’s chest.
With a loud bang, the tremendous force sent the man flying over three zhang, smashing into the wall before rolling down. He spat out a mouthful of blood, his life or death unknown.
The remaining five black-clad men were stunned, frozen in place, not daring to move.
Ji Xiu showed no mercy.
They did not want to die, so they chose to let others die. Now, he did not want Xie Rou Niang to die, so the only choice left was to send them to their deaths.
The law of the jungle. Survival of the fittest.
…
A quarter of an hour later, Princess Dongzhu’s luxurious carriage passed by.
Because the alley was extremely quiet, with no onlookers gathered around, it was naturally ignored as the carriage continued toward the restaurant.
Suddenly, with a bang, a corpse fell from above the carriage and crashed onto the carriage shaft.
Princess Dongzhu sat inside, unaware of what was happening outside. She only felt the carriage jolt and immediately flew into a rage. “What is going on?”
Those outside were shocked by the sudden change and were too frightened to speak, failing to answer in time.
Princess Dongzhu grew even angrier and lifted the curtain. “Where are you all, are you all dead…”
Before she could finish her sentence, she saw the corpse on the carriage shaft.
“Ah!”
Princess Dongzhu screamed, her beauty ruined by terror, shrinking backward frantically.
She often ordered others to be beaten to death, but she had never personally watched an execution. To her, beating someone to death was merely a punishment for servants. She had never truly known what the result looked like.
This kind of naive cruelty, indulged by the emperor and shielded by her status as a royal princess, had turned her into a terrifying demon feared by everyone in the palace.
For the first time, the palace maids and eunuchs realized that even demons showed fear when faced with a dead body.
They could not quite describe how they felt inside. They did not step forward to remove the corpse at once. Some even harbored a vague sense of revenge, wishing more corpses would appear so Princess Dongzhu could see just how miserable the palace servants she had beaten to death over the years truly were.
It seemed Heaven stood on their side.
The next second, bang bang bang, one corpse after another fell from the sky, landing on the half-lifted carriage shaft.
When the last corpse fell, there was no room left on the shaft. It rolled directly into the carriage.
His death was not particularly grotesque, but a dead body never looked pleasant. Worse still, his eyes were wide open, bloodshot, staring straight ahead in death, facing Princess Dongzhu.
Princess Dongzhu screamed again, on the verge of collapse, shrinking back again and again until she curled into the corner of the carriage.
“Someone, someone! Get it out!”
Princess Dongzhu gave the order. If they disobeyed, once she regained her composure, everyone would lose their lives. No matter how unwilling they were, the palace maids and eunuchs could only step forward to move the corpses away.
As the bodies were removed one by one, someone accidentally caught a glimpse of a face and cried out in shock.
“Isn’t this Guard Yang?”
What?
The others hurriedly examined the corpses and recognized them as the six guards Princess Dongzhu had previously dispatched. Their expressions changed.
Although the princess had a hundred guards, she could not keep them all at her side. They rotated shifts, resting one day every three, with day and night watches. Normally, only about twenty followed her closely.
Today’s trip out of the palace had been a sudden decision. She had brought even fewer than usual, only twelve. After half of them were sent out to search for Ji Xiu and had not yet returned, she had only dispatched six to intercept and kill Xie Rou Niang.
The guards assigned by the emperor were all experts, undefeated in battle. Even with only six men, they should have been enough to handle any small situation.
No one had imagined they would die in such a desolate little alley.
“Princess…” One of the usually favored eunuchs was the first to rush to the carriage. “It is Guard Yang’s body. They have all met with disaster!”
Princess Dongzhu was still shaken. Hearing this, she flung open the curtain. “What did you say?”
The eunuch’s face was pale with fear. “Reporting to the princess, those bodies just now were Guard Yang and the others!”
Princess Dongzhu’s expression changed. She ground her teeth and said fiercely, “Move aside. This palace will go see for myself.”
After overcoming her initial fear of corpses, the cruelty deep in Princess Dongzhu’s bones took over. She quickly gathered her courage, went to inspect the bodies, and vented her fury at them.
“Useless trash. A bunch of useless trash. You could not even kill a country woman, and you died without anyone knowing how. Useless, all of you!”
The eunuchs and maids knelt, trembling like chaff.
Even the favored eunuch dared not speak further, silent as a cicada, until Princess Dongzhu finished venting her anger. Only then did he muster the courage to speak.
“Princess, there is something strange about this matter.”
Princess Dongzhu’s face was ugly. “This palace knows very well that something is strange.”
The people sent to intercept that country woman had not returned with news. Instead, they died outside, and their corpses were even thrown onto her carriage. The oddity was obvious.
She simply did not know how to deal with it for the moment.
One thing was clear. The guards’ deaths had everything to do with the Top Scholar.
They had gone to kill Xie Rou Niang. Xie Rou Niang was with the Top Scholar. To say there was no connection would fool only an idiot.
But when she thought of that man in red robes, handsome and romantic…
A trace of longing flashed through her eyes. She glanced at the guards’ corpses, hesitated for a moment, then ordered, “Dispose of the bodies. Do not spread this matter. If this palace discovers any leaks, be careful of the skin on your bodies.”
The eunuch was stunned. “Princess, should this matter not be reported to His Majesty?”
Princess Dongzhu glared at him. “How should I say it? Say that this palace sent people to assassinate the family of a court official?”
Even without Ji Xiu involved, this matter could not be spread.
At its core, sending people to assassinate a court official’s lawful wife was not something glorious.
If it had succeeded and been reported afterward, it would have been one thing.
The emperor doted on her. If he learned that a commoner had died, he would scold her a few times and naturally help her smooth things over. But now that the plan had failed, reporting it would only mean stealing a chicken and losing the rice, gaining nothing while suffering a needless scolding.
Princess Dongzhu did not want Ji Xiu to come to harm, nor did she want to be reprimanded, so she chose to suppress the matter.
With her order given, the eunuchs and maids dared not discuss it further. Just like that, the incident was quietly covered up.
Only Ji Xiu, sitting cross-legged atop a high rooftop, wore a cold expression.
He had been waiting for them to turn toward the Ji residence, so he could eradicate them completely in a quiet, empty alley. He had not expected the princess’s carriage to head outward instead.
Ahead lay a bustling main street, lively even at night, with crowds everywhere. It was not a good place to act.
His eyes darkened. Watching the carriage depart, he leapt down from the roof.
In this world, if he had not begun to reclaim his martial skills early on, his family might already have met with disaster by now.
He could not gamble on the conscience of feudal rulers. He could only prepare early and strike first.
Princess Dongzhu could not be allowed to live much longer.
…
Although he had resolved to kill Princess Dongzhu, the timing was not right yet, so he could not act for the moment.
Ji Xiu turned back toward another street and went to pick up Xie Rou Niang and the two children, who were waiting there.
“Rou Niang, let us go home.”
Xie Rou Niang smiled brightly, holding a pinwheel in her hand, leading the two children toward Ji Xiu. With a look of regret, she said, “Husband came too late. Just now the princess’s carriage passed by here. Yue Sheng, An Shu, and I all watched the excitement. It is a pity you did not see it.”
Ji Xiu’s expression changed slightly. “The princess’s carriage passed by here?”
This was not a necessary route back to the palace. That was precisely why he had placed Xie Rou Niang and the children here, to avoid encountering anyone else sent by Princess Dongzhu after returning home.
But if Princess Dongzhu had passed nearby, would that not have placed them in danger?
Xie Rou Niang blinked. “Husband, do not worry. I did not let them discover us. I hid with the children.”
Ji Xiu said nothing. His expression gradually darkened.
This was exactly what he disliked most about feudal times. Every time one encountered those in power, one had to retreat.
It would be one thing if he alone had to retreat. Now he had to drag his family into retreating as well.
Looking at the innocent, bewildered little faces of Ji Yue Sheng and Ji An Shu beside him, the urgency in his heart intensified.
He had to deal with Princess Dongzhu as soon as possible.
…
The emperor’s most beloved daughter was Princess Dongzhu. However, compared to Princess Dongzhu, he valued the Crown Prince even more.
The Crown Prince was not born of the former empress, but of the emperor’s true love, the Noble Consort.
The Noble Consort was devastatingly beautiful, her looks unrivaled in the capital. Back then, she had almost surpassed the former empress in status and become the successor empress. But before the emperor issued the decree of investiture, assassins broke into the palace. When the emperor was in danger, the Noble Consort blocked a blade with her own body and died fragrantly. The matter ended there.
However, her deathbed confession deeply moved the emperor, and he established the Fourth Prince, their son, as Crown Prince.
Because of the Noble Consort, the Crown Prince had always been favored. After becoming Crown Prince, he was even more so.
Two favored people, with different mothers, naturally could not have a good relationship.
From the previous life’s timeline, the Crown Prince indeed held no fondness for Princess Dongzhu.
After the Crown Prince ascended the throne, he selected spouses for his children. With Princess Dongzhu’s noble status, her only daughter, County Princess Yunshan, should have entered the Seventh Prince’s household as the principal wife, yet she only obtained the position of secondary consort. This showed how much the Crown Prince disliked Princess Dongzhu after ascending the throne.
With the change of emperor came the change of courtiers. Once Princess Dongzhu lost her reliance on the former emperor, her status naturally plummeted.
In the previous life, the Crown Prince had refrained from acting because he feared the emperor’s indulgence of Princess Dongzhu.
In this life, Ji Xiu intended to stir conflict between the Crown Prince and Princess Dongzhu in advance, letting them clash sooner.
…
The next day, before going to the ministry, Ji Xiu first sent Xie Rou Niang and the children to the Shi residence, then went to report to the Ministry of Works.
The Shi family was a powerful local clan. They also had a residence in the capital. Shi Zhang had brought his wife and children to the capital for the examinations and had hired many guards. Leaving Xie Rou Niang and the children there was far safer than keeping them in a rented courtyard.
Afterward, he entered the palace together with Shi Zhang to attend duty.
The Six Ministries were different from other departments. Their offices were set before the Hall of Supreme Harmony in the outer court, separated from the Eastern Palace by only a single corridor.
Ji Xiu worked in the Ministry of Works. It was a clear-water office with little profit and little daily business. Thus, it was easy for him to leave the ministry and encounter the Crown Prince on one of the palace roads.
At the end of the day, Ji Xiu went to the Shi residence to pick up Xie Rou Niang and the children.
Xie Rou Niang bade farewell to the Shi family’s young madam, then happily came forward with the children to return home with Ji Xiu.
Ji Xiu had urgently sought to seize the initiative and had resumed duty early, leaving him little time to accompany her. Feeling guilty, he apologized to her along the way. She was unhurried and untroubled, smiling as she instead comforted him. “Husband worries too much. This is much better than back in Xunyang. How could I be upset?”
Ji Xiu met her gaze. “Once these matters are resolved, I will definitely make time to accompany you.”
Xie Rou Niang’s brows were gentle. “I trust you, husband.”
The two walked home together. Halfway there, Xie Rou Niang suddenly tugged on Ji Xiu’s sleeve and said softly, “Husband, is someone following us?”
Ji Xiu felt a flicker of surprise.
The Crown Prince had sent people to protect his family. Only he and the Crown Prince knew this. Xie Rou Niang was merely a sheltered woman of the inner chambers. How could she have noticed?
Could it be that his wife also had secrets?
Ji Xiu was inwardly astonished. He subtly observed Xie Rou Niang but saw nothing unusual. He guessed that she was simply observant and sensitive to being watched, with no deeper secret.
After thinking it over, he decided to speak plainly.
“I have taken refuge with the Crown Prince. In exchange, he sent people to protect you, Yue Sheng, and An Shu. The ones following us are the Crown Prince’s guards.”
A flicker passed through Xie Rou Niang’s eyes. She lowered her head and spoke softly.
“So that Princess Dongzhu is truly that terrifying, to frighten even you like this, husband.”
Ji Xiu said, “I am fine. I am only afraid they will harm you.”
Xie Rou Niang bit her lip. Her mood visibly brightened, her tone lifting. “I understand. I will protect myself and the children well and avoid Princess Dongzhu. I believe that one day, husband, you will surely overthrow the princess.”
Ji Xiu made a promise. “Of course.”
…
With the Crown Prince’s people guarding them, Ji Xiu felt much more at ease. After clocking in at court each day, he followed the Crown Prince’s men into the Eastern Palace to offer counsel.
Although the Crown Prince was deeply favored by the emperor, his position was far from secure.
He had seven brothers, each born to a concubine who held power in the harem. Though none were as favored as the Noble Consort had been, years of companionship still gave them standing in the emperor’s heart.
The Crown Prince occupied the Eastern Palace and became a thorn in the eyes of the other princes, yet he had no mother in the harem to maneuver on his behalf. His position was precarious.
It was unclear how, in the previous life, he had endured until the emperor’s death and ascended the throne.
But it was easy to foresee that the process must have been extremely difficult.
Especially with Princess Dongzhu lurking nearby, seizing opportunities to sow discord.
Before Ji Xiu’s arrival, the Crown Prince had already been misled and framed by Princess Dongzhu once. Because of an inappropriate gift, he had been reprimanded by the emperor during the emperor’s birthday celebration.
Although the emperor later calmed down and bestowed many rewards to soothe the Crown Prince, the authority of the Eastern Palace had already been damaged.
The other princes, like starving wolves smelling blood, became energetic and vigilant, eager to seize the chance to drag him down.
The Crown Prince wanted to counterattack but had no suitable methods.
In truth, the Crown Prince also had his difficulties.
The Noble Consort might have acted out of good intentions, wanting to secure protection for her only son, which was why she had requested the emperor to establish him as Crown Prince before her death. But not to mention how eye-catching and difficult to protect the title of Crown Prince was, just the fact that the Crown Prince lived within the palace, unable to leave and establish his own residence, meant he could not support retainers or advisors, nor could he easily associate with external officials. This made handling affairs extremely inconvenient.
This was the case with dealing with the other princes as well.
As the dignified Crown Prince, he had no one he could truly use. Aside from a small group of guards left behind by the Noble Consort, he could not find any capable subordinates.
The Eastern Palace’s administrative office obeyed his orders, but its officials had all been selected by the emperor. If he wanted to deal with his brothers, he certainly could not let the emperor know. Thus, he did not dare to fully trust these people.
Ji Xiu’s arrival perfectly resolved the Crown Prince’s embarrassment of having no men and no advisors.
Yesterday, when Ji Xiu had coincidentally encountered the Crown Prince, he had volunteered himself and pointed out a way for the Crown Prince to avoid a trap set by the Eldest Prince. This made the Crown Prince regard Ji Xiu as a lifesaving existence.
Sending a few people to protect Ji Xiu’s family was nothing. If possible, the Crown Prince would even have wanted to gift his most favored secondary consort to the teacher.
Unfortunately, the teacher refused. While regretting it, the Crown Prince admired his lofty integrity all the more, finding him utterly different from ordinary men.
“Teacher.”
As soon as Ji Xiu arrived at the Eastern Palace, the Crown Prince came out to welcome him.
Ji Xiu clasped his hands in salute and, under the Crown Prince’s guidance, entered the room to begin his duties for the day.