The Deposed Crown Prince had Three Lifelong Regrets - Chapter 37

Chapter 37

In the sixth year of Zhizheng, the Empress hosted a banquet, inviting various Madams and young ladies to attend the Hundred Flowers Feast.

The banquet lasted from noon until night. Lu Fengmian was already the Crown Prince’s study companion and was seated on one side of the table with Zhu Lingwei. The latter wore gold and purple, signifying her nobility, yet she carried an air of someone who could drink three hundred cups without getting drunk.

Lu Fengmian watched her and poured herself glass after glass of wine.

The fine wine was fragrant.

She couldn’t hold her liquor well. Feeling slightly tipsy, she couldn’t stand the solitude any longer and quietly left her seat, going to the waterside pavilion to look at the flowers.

Stars dotted the sky. She had lingered too long, originally just for quiet, and was in an inconspicuous corner. A maid and a eunuch failed to notice her, stopping nearby to talk.

They discussed illicit affairs. Not only did the Zhao daughter learn that the two had a secret relationship, but she was also forced to listen to a barrage of strange talk about how joyful things were in the bedroom.

She hadn’t had time to leave. Having listened to so much odd talk, it was even harder to reveal herself now.

She was the Crown Prince’s study companion, but a few days ago, she had an unpleasant argument with Zhu Lingwei, who had specially ordered her not to enter the palace for half a month. Yet, this Hundred Flowers Feast compelled her to attend.

Lu Fengmian gritted her teeth. As soon as the two intimately turned to go around the corner, she quickly turned and ran. She ran so close to them that had she not been richly dressed as a master, she would likely have been detained on the spot.

She was still terrified long after running away. After circling a little, she returned to her seat. As cups were exchanged, she drank glass after glass, her mind growing increasingly hazy.

“It’s that daughter of the Zhao family. She’s terrifying. She eavesdropped on Sister Bailu’s conversation…”

“Is that true? If it is, she’s simply too vicious. No young man would want to marry someone with such a venomous heart later.”

“I heard she even wants to marry Prince Zhao.”

The pavilion was shielded on four sides by silk gauze curtains. The surroundings were dark, with only the palace lantern providing light. Zhu Lingwei sat inside the curtain, sipping tea. A warming incense burned beside her, and her slender silhouette was cast upon the hangings.

She couldn’t understand where these palace servants got the audacity to speak this way in front of a master.

Too lazy to reprimand them, and too tired to move, she listened more.

“Heavens, she has some nerve.”

As soon as these words were spoken, Zhu Lingwei made up her mind: she would punish them tomorrow morning and make them report themselves. The minimum number of punishment subjects would be three, with no upper limit. Those punished would receive twenty strokes of the cane and be expelled from the palace.

“Little Gezi! Little Gezi!” The two outside called out.

“Why hasn’t he come out yet? Let’s go and get him,” one of them grew anxious and immediately stepped forward to lift the silk curtain. “Let’s hurry, or if the Madams and ladies come for a night stroll, we’ll be in trouble.”

Zhu Lingwei found it amusing. She refilled her cup and gently pushed aside the floating tea leaves.

The personal maid beside her tried to conjure up every sad memory she’d ever had to put on a stern face, but she could only purse her lips to hold back a laugh.

The silk curtain was lifted. The person leading the way, dressed in a flowered cotton jacket, bowed and smiled as she leaned in.

Looking up and seeing the person seated on the stone bench, she instantly froze. The person following behind, unaware of what was happening, lightly pushed her. The maid’s legs went soft, and she almost fell to her knees.

“Your Highness…”

She stammered.

The person behind, blocked by the curtain, didn’t rush to lift it upon hearing the words, but instead began to mock.

“Sister, don’t scare me. She is a noble person. How could she come here? The nobles are all at the banquet admiring flowers. The Imperial Garden is empty now.”

Zhu Lingwei thought the voice sounded familiar. It was probably someone who had worked in her palace but was later sent away by her mother.

The voice was sweet and always used a high tone, subtly conveying a sense of ridicule.

She rarely showed such kindness. When the second person entered, she spoke, “After you receive your March salary, each of you will take ten strokes of the cane. I will pretend I didn’t hear anything.”

She lifted her skirt and rose to walk in the opposite direction, hoping to run into Lu Fengmian.

The people behind her were like two quails, shivering in the cold wind.

She searched high and low for a long time but didn’t see the person surnamed Lu. She only encountered two or three servants on the sparsely populated path.

Midway, the wick in the palace lantern burned out, and her surroundings plunged into chaotic darkness. Just as her personal maid was about to react, Zhu Lingwei pressed her down.

She pulled the maid closer to a nearby bridge. The bridge had been lit earlier but was now silent and pitch-black.

Zhu Lingwei had good night vision and approached quietly.

There were three people on the bridge. A quarrel had occurred before she arrived, and now the lights were out. Then, there was a plop sound of someone falling into the water. It was clearly not accidental.

“What do we do? What should we do?” Someone anxiously stomped their feet.

“She only said you admire little Prince Zhao. Why did you have to be so vicious?”

The other person retorted, “She dares to say such things now. Who knows how others will harm me? If she dares to scoff at me for liking my master today, tomorrow she’ll start slandering me with other things.”

The person who spoke first was choked into silence.

“No, the body will float up soon. We have to fish her out and think of another way.”

These two were likely related, otherwise, they wouldn’t be unable to let go of their worries about the other going to inform. After all, this was an act that put their lives on the line. Without complete trust, it would inevitably lead to a fight to the death.

Watching them frantically search for a hook and finally jump into the lake to lift the corpse, Zhu Lingwei found it tedious. She pulled the maid and turned to head in a different direction.

Back at the banquet, the Zhao family was growing anxious. The Madam claimed she was unwell and wanted to take her leave, sending servants to look for Lu Fengmian. After waiting for a long time without her daughter returning, she worried she might be lost.

So, she decided to stay a while longer, but now the banquet was nearing its end, and her daughter was still nowhere to be seen.

Zhu Lingwei raised an eyebrow and secretly ordered people to search. On the surface, she calmed down the Zhao family, comforting them that the girl was probably just playing around. Once found, she could simply stay the night in the palace, and she would personally send her back another day.

She used soft words to persuade them for a long time before they left.

They had to save face for the Crown Prince’s position, after all. Fengmian was a young lady from a noble family, an exemplar of etiquette and moral instruction. She had been intelligent since childhood and harbored no rebellious thoughts. Everyone knew that Miss Lu was as brilliant as a pearl and would surely be a good wife and loving mother, an excellent choice for a man’s future.

She wouldn’t disappear without reason. However, her father’s family would not search with great fanfare, creating a public scandal, which might first ruin her reputation.

Her thoughts were in turmoil. The promise made to the Zhao family could not be ignored. Lingwei personally went to the Imperial Garden to look for her.

She finally found the unconscious Lu Fengmian in a place where flowers and grass grew profusely. Not only was the person unconscious, but she was also clutching a bloody knife in her hand.

The red soaked into the damp earth, making it look increasingly dark.

Zhu Lingwei had just witnessed the murder on the bridge. She almost skipped the thought process, connecting the dots immediately to find the strange connection and suspecting a link.

Had those two palace maids not been her mother’s confidantes, she would have had them arrested immediately. However, she had to give them a chance to explain now.

Coincidentally, just as the person was found, she showed signs of waking up.

Lu Fengmian’s eyes were blurry with drink. The first thing she saw was a tall, elegant figure holding a palace lantern in the deep darkness, staring at her with a chilling, stern face.

Her eyes were bright, like ghost fire.

“Did you kill someone?”

Lu Fengmian was dizzy and confused, giving a light “Ah?”

“Alright, get up. I’ll take you to wash up first. You’re covered in blood right now. People would believe you if they were told you ate a wild boar raw.”

It was only then that she used the support to stand up, looking down at her clothes, which were stained with blood. Especially her hands, which were still held in the defensive position of gripping a dagger.

She completely fell silent, docilely following the person.

The other’s footsteps were hurried, as if she was rushing to deal with something. Lu Fengmian tried to speak several times but gave up halfway, overwhelmed by a strange shyness, and maintained an awkward silence.

When she realized she had lost the other person, only a few palace maids, as silent as she was, were by her side.

She tried to question them, but the two were like mutes, only avoiding her gaze as if facing a terrifying monster.

But if she grew frustrated and walked away without them, the two maids would rush to catch up again, exactly like soulless puppets.

Unable to figure out why they were like this, she stopped trying. The other person clearly hadn’t waited for her, so she would go find her.

After circling the Imperial Garden twice, the alcohol dissipated, and her mind gradually cleared.

The garden was planted with ancient cypress and old locust trees. The distant view was clearly layered with potted plants scattered everywhere, and bizarre rocks added an interesting artistic touch.

Once a person becomes flustered, they start to become muddled. After passing countless towering, rough rocks, the jagged holes in them looked increasingly like gaping mouths swallowing boys and girls.

She hid in a dark corner, afraid to go out.

Shattered memories surged up. Countless faces with different emotions overlapped: sneering, grieving, crying—all kinds of expressions rushed toward her.

Zhu Lingwei walked too fast and lost her. And now she, having walked too fast, had lost the maids.

Consequently, she couldn’t distinguish whether the previous events were a hallucination or reality. Unsure if she had killed someone while drunk, she chose to hide first.

It was always safe to hide before the dust settled, but continuing to hide like this was not a solution. Hesitating and wandering, she took a long detour to the path that led to the Crown Prince’s Hall and waited.

She intended to suddenly appear halfway and intercept the clearly displeased Crown Prince.

Zhu Lingwei had just heard that the person was missing again and had been scolding the servants in turn. Now, the person appeared on her own.

She wore a dark face, waiting for an explanation.

The air was filled with fragrant flowers. The late spring night breeze carried a chill. The person covered in blood was severely cold, her nose felt sore and she wanted to sneeze, but she had to forcefully hold it in.

“Your Highness, do you believe me?” she asked cautiously.

“I know this is absurd, very preposterous, but… I was just drunk. I don’t think I’m the kind of person who would act violently when drunk…”

Her tone was one of pleading, so panicked that she didn’t even dare to speak loudly.

Zhu Lingwei was speechless.

She didn’t understand what good it did for her to blockade the news and rally people to search. Even if she found the person immediately, so what?

A person whose mind was muddled couldn’t be helped, no matter what.

She placed her hands on the other’s shoulders, “Try to calm down, alright?”

After much coaxing, she let the maids help the person away. Lu Fengmian, before leaving, seemed to still be confused about the situation, repeatedly turning her head to argue with her.

Her skin, as white as mutton-fat jade, was flushed with patches of red, making it hard to distinguish between blood stains and frostbite.

Her eyes were bright and expressive, seemingly brimming with tears.

In her daze, she vaguely remembered running into someone on the bridge. That person seemed even more panicked than her current self, stuffing a dagger into her arms, and then the person behind them lunged forward.

The air reeked of alcohol. In her stupor, she seemed to have accidentally pushed the person into the river.

“Perhaps, perhaps it truly was my doing. I am willing to pay the price for it, but it was accidental. Could you at least grant me a decent way to die?” Lu Fengmian made a final desperate plea.

Zhu Lingwei rolled her eyes, thinking that this person was truly different when drunk. She ignored the drunken “vagrant” and walked straight toward the palace hall.

She used the cover of night to confuse perceptions, skillfully shifting the blame. However, even Cheng Mei looked gentle, but she was ultimately not someone a servant could afford to offend.

Why did they dare to do such a thing?

Could it be at the instruction of a lady in the palace? But without any personal grudges, who would willingly incur this kind of sin?

She raised her hand to look at her cuff. It was stained with quite a bit of blood, which carried an ominous implication at a celebration like the Hundred Flowers Feast.

She consciously quickened her pace to change her clothes faster. She planned to use the saved time to visit the Empress Dowager.

She did not know the details, but her Imperial Mother, the mistress of the inner palace, surely must.

Outside the dream:

“Young Lady, please wake up quickly. Madam and Master are very worried about you. If you don’t wake up soon, I might never see you again.” Cong Ji guarded the window, sobbing uncontrollably, murmuring prayers and blessings.

The visiting Madams changed in shifts, but she was the only one who remained late into the night.

Young Lady, you must wake up quickly.

A gust of wind suddenly blew open the doors and windows. She lifted her tear-streaked face.

Instead of bothering to close the frantically rattling window, she cried harder, burying her face on her mistress.

It was as if the wind deliberately sought to bully the mistress and servant.

Rain lashed against the windows, and the wind howled. The outside world seemed to have fallen into a hell of perpetual night, pitch black. The other maids had no choice but to go and close the windows together.

Just as the others left, Cong Ji finally lifted her face. The melancholy had vanished, replaced by a look of triumphant amusement.

If her Young Lady could truly recall all the past events this time, then the years she had spent following orders and lying low in the Zhao manor would not have been in vain.

So, Young Lady, you absolutely must remember.

Cong Ji climbed onto the bed next to the sleeping Lu Fengmian in a slow and strange posture.

Lu Fengmian was not sleeping peacefully. Her eyelids were heavy, her limbs often twitched slightly, and her whole body felt as heavy and weak as if filled with lead.

Cong Ji quickly crawled next to her mistress, gazing down at the sleeping figure.

At some point, their cheeks pressed against each other. Cong Ji harbored no other intentions towards this person, only to lean close to her ear and chant a spell exclusive to her hometown.