Chapter 7.2

Xie Yan was rolling up his trouser leg when he heard those words. A shadow of cold malice, nearly imperceptible, surfaced in his eyes.

In his previous life he had heard words like these far too many times. In truth, he should not have lost control like that — the fault lay in the fact that… someone had spoken a name that should not have been spoken.

Calling to mind the truths he had only learned at the very end of his previous life, Xie Yan suddenly closed his eyes.

“Send Chang Yi to me. There is something I need him to do.”

His voice was somewhat hoarse, and if one listened closely, it seemed he was suppressing some emotion beneath it.

Chang Lin hurriedly bowed.

He and Chang Yi both attended upon Xie Yan — the difference being that he tended to Xie Yan’s daily needs, while Chang Yi was a shadow guard of exceptional martial skill.

In the past, their master had rarely had need of Chang Yi. The moment Xie Yan said this, Chang Lin’s expression at once turned grave.

In no time at all, Chang Yi, clad entirely in black, knelt before Xie Yan.

“Tonight you will leave the palace and go to the residence of Deputy Minister Su. There is a matter I need you to investigate.”

The Deputy Minister Su’s residence? Is that not My Lady the Prince’s Consort’s family home?

“Along the side wall of Deputy Minister Su’s study, there is a hidden compartment. Inside it are his letters. Find a way to look for… his correspondence with the First Prince.”

“The First Prince?”

Chang Lin lifted his head abruptly, his voice both startled and eager.

“Are you saying the First Prince is still alive?”

Even Chang Yi, who had been kneeling with his customary cold indifference, could not help but let a flash of joy show on his face.

His Highness had grown estranged from the Emperor precisely because of what happened to the First Prince. If the First Prince were still alive, and given how deeply the Emperor doted on His Highness, all His Highness would need to do is soften his words a little — why would he need to remain confined here in Yongning Hall?

Xie Yan neither confirmed nor denied it.

“Once you have found them, have men placed on secret watch, then return to the capital and report back to me.”

Secret watch?

The excitement Chang Yi had felt moments before cooled somewhat in an instant.

“What do you mean, Your Highness?”

Setting aside the fact that the First Prince had been executed by the Emperor’s own decree — if he was now alive, given the deep brotherhood between His Highness and the First Prince, it was understandable that they would keep their distance for a time so as not to be discovered by the Emperor. But why use a word like watch?

Chang Yi’s heart could not help but beat faster. He ventured to speak.

“Do you wish for the First Prince to live, or…?”

He made a gesture across his throat.

Xie Yan glanced over at him.

“Do you have the ability to kill him?”

Chang Yi choked on his words and said nothing.

The First Prince was a master of mechanical devices and disguise, and his archery and horsemanship were unmatched — that was beyond Chang Yi’s own ability.

“This subordinate understands.”

So it is a matter of not startling the prey.

But how could the First Prince possibly have any connection to Deputy Minister Su? That is My Lady the Prince’s Consort’s family.

Chang Yi was still turning that thought over in his mind when Xie Yan, having no wish to say more, dismissed him with a wave of his hand. He then rolled up his trouser leg to reveal the wound beneath — already showing signs of festering.

“This was passed in by the head guard outside.”

Seeing that he was about to tend to his wound, Chang Lin immediately produced a small porcelain vial from within his sleeve.

Xie Yan did not reach out to take it. The vial was exquisitely made, and contained a superior medicine for treating external wounds — not the sort of thing the head guard could have obtained on his own. Whose orders it had come under went without saying.

Last night, burning with such a severe fever, he had firmly refused to let anyone be summoned. And today, a medicine had been sent in as a form of charity.

Emperor Jia’s meaning could not have been clearer.

He wanted Xie Yan to understand: whether he lived or died, whether his wounds healed or worsened — all of it lay within a single thought of his.

Xie Yan lowered his head. A flash of cold light came from beside him — he had taken hold of a dagger and cut away the rotting flesh at his knee.

“Your Highness!”

Chang Lin was instantly drenched in cold sweat.

Fresh blood ran down his leg. The festered area had been lanced and cleaned. Drops of cold sweat fell one after another from Xie Yan’s brow, yet his expression did not change in the slightest.

“Send it back.”

Chang Lin clutched the porcelain vial tightly, his throat faintly tight.

“Yes.”

“Also… My Lady the Prince’s Consort — staying out in the night wind like this, she is liable to catch a chill. Does this subordinate need to remind her?”

Xie Yan heard this and glanced lazily in the direction of the rear hall.

“No need to show concern. Just tell her…”

****

Su Jiao had been waiting on the top of the wall for nearly half a shí chen. The palace road below was still completely deserted.

The spring night air was cold. She was dressed in nothing but a thin spring robe and was frozen to the bone, yet she forced herself to stay alert and kept looking down below.

She did not know whether Xiao Tang was currently on night duty or day shift — waiting here was no more than a matter of trying her luck. But time passed, moment by moment, and as it drew close to the hour for the changing of the guard, there was still no sign of her coming from that direction.

It seems she is not on night duty today.

Su Jiao’s spirits sank for a moment, then she rallied herself once more. She rubbed her frozen hands together in her palms and breathed warm air onto them.

“My Lady the Prince’s Consort.”

The cold, toneless words gave Su Jiao such a fright that she nearly fell off. She grabbed hold of the wall’s edge and looked sharply down with wide eyes.

“Chang Lin?”

Su Jiao instinctively tucked the letter and the loose silver into her sleeve.

Thankfully, the night was dark, and Chang Lin had not looked up at her.

“Knowing that you are here, the Third Prince has specifically sent this subordinate to pass on a word.”

He kept his head lowered, and thought of the languid, half-smiling look on Xie Yan’s face as he had said those words. He wanted to soften them somewhat, but found no way to do so, and in the end steeled himself to say them plainly.

“The ladder has fallen into disrepair over the years. If one were to fall from the top, one would likely go head-first — and be carried out of Yongning Hall that way.”

The words had scarcely fallen before Su Jiao — who had just been thinking she would wait up there another half shí chen — abruptly froze, her expression going stiff.