Wei Caiwei would always remember who was ultimately responsible for the tragic end of her deep love with Wang Daxia in their previous life.
It was none other than Prince Jing and his lackeys.
In their past life, Prince Yu was the elder brother, born just twenty-five days before Prince Jing, granting him natural inheritance rights. However, the rift between the Jiajing Emperor and Prince Yu ran deeper than the ocean, and Prince Yu stubbornly refused to yield to his father's will. The emperor despised his disobedient son, yet as sovereign, he could not outright ignore the ancestral laws established by his forebears.
Moreover, Prince Jing—the fourth son—remained childless, while only Prince Yu's concubine Li (Li Jiubao) had borne the sole imperial grandson and granddaughter. With both son and daughter, Prince Yu stood as the Jiajing Emperor's only viable heir. Yet to maintain balance and curb Prince Yu's influence, the emperor ignored repeated ministerial pleas to send Prince Jing to his fiefdom and remove him from the capital. He refused to name Prince Yu as crown prince, letting the stalemate fester as father and son tormented each other.
This culminated in the Jiajing Emperor's critical illness, when Consort Lu Jingfei—gambling everything—collaborated with Prince Jing in a coup. Wang Daxia, Wei Caiwei, and Consort Shangshou had already secretly allied with Li Jiubao to thwart Prince Jing's palace siege. In his final desperate counterattack, Prince Jing deployed the Death Warriors nurtured by Yan Song and his son, kidnapping Wei Caiwei to force Wang Daxia's betrayal.
Their renowned bond as a Eunuch and Maid Pairing was known throughout the palace and beyond—Wei Caiwei was indeed Wang Daxia's greatest vulnerability.
When Wang Daxia rescued her, a poisoned arrow struck him as they fled. Though Wei Caiwei devoted herself to his treatment, the injury left permanent damage, causing his premature death from recurring illness in his forties.
Eunuch Wei, Prince Jing's chief strategist, masterminded the kidnapping. Now in this life, confronting the cruel yet cowardly eunuch, Wei Caiwei faced him head-on without flinching, settling old and new scores alike.
Eunuch Wei never expected a mere female physician to publicly humiliate him. Fuming, he spat, "How dare you fabricate accusations! I am utterly loyal to the Emperor—that is why I was chosen as Prince Jing's attendant. Your attempts to sow discord between the imperial father and son are treasonous!"
Wei Caiwei retorted coolly, "It is you, Eunuch Wei, who exploits Consort Jing and Prince Jing's authority to tyrannize Qionghua Island and persecute the palace maid candidates. Were Consort Jing or Prince Jing present, they would halt the mountain search upon seeing three injured maid candidates—showing mercy the Heavens bestow upon living beings. They would prioritize safety, not recklessly endanger lives. Thus, you are the one driving wedges between the Emperor and Consort Jing, and the Emperor and Prince Jing!"
"You—!" Eunuch Wei pointed tremblingly at her. "Gag her and seize her now!"
As Prince Jing's guards advanced, Wei Caiwei discreetly retrieved tear-inducing pepper powder from her medical pouch for self-defense.
Seeing her in peril, Li Jiubao stepped forward to block the guards. "She remains unconscious, and the other two maid candidates are nearly fainting from pain. Doctor Wei is saving lives—what justification have you to arrest her?"
Having witnessed Wei Caiwei cure Granny Song's hiccups, and now that Li Jiubao had intervened, Granny Song decided to wade fully into the turmoil. She moved to shield Wei Caiwei, declaring..."I've worked in the palace for half my life, over fifty years now, and I've never seen a vassal prince's guards dare to run wild in the Forbidden City! This is Qionghua Island in the Western Park, not the back garden of your Prince Jing's residence!"
Seeing Li Jiubao and Granny Song step forward, several of the selected maidens Wei Caiwei had treated for sprained ankles also limped over. They said nothing but formed a line, preventing the guards from touching Wei Caiwei.
During her half-month as a physician in the Palace of Gathered Elegance, Caiwei had gained excellent rapport with the maidens. Whether they suffered from irregular menstruation or facial breakouts, she treated them all equally and offered help.
Now that Wei Caiwei had offended the eunuch guards to prevent the maidens from taking risks, nearly half of the forty-eight maidens spontaneously surrounded her in protection. The other half remained where they were, adopting a wait-and-see attitude.
While Prince Jing held no authority over the Forbidden City, his mother Consort Lu Jingfei managed the rear palace! Those who might remain in the court would have to live under Consort Jing's rule someday.
Yet the Prince Jing guards dared not touch the selected maidens either—these were the emperor's women! Such offense could cost them their heads!
As both sides stood at an impasse, Wei Caiwei seized the opportunity to offer the eunuch guard and his men a way out: "I advise Guard Eunuch to focus on what truly matters. Prince Jing remains missing, yet you're clashing with a mere female physician? If Consort Jingfei learns of this, wouldn't she blame you for incompetence? Are you here to find someone or to quarrel?"
"You useless fools!" The eunuch guard had no choice. With Prince Jing still missing, he couldn't afford to delay here any longer. "Hurry up and search for him!"
Ultimately, the maidens were spared from undertaking the dangerous search.
After the eunuch guard and his men departed, Wei Caiwei rushed to examine the two maidens trapped by pine trees. One had fainted from pain, while the other was drenched in cold sweat, curled up and complaining that her arm couldn't move.
Wei Caiwei felt the injury and exclaimed, "This is bad—your arm is broken. Don't move it."
Still holding the bamboo pole she had pulled from the rose trellis, she cut it into sections with a knife and split them into bamboo splints. Tearing cloth into strips, she instructed several maidens to firmly hold down the injured one. "I didn't bring any anesthetic broth—setting the bone will be very painful."
Wei Caiwei realigned the fracture, secured it with bamboo splints, and tightly wrapped it with cloth strips. The maiden convulsed in agony, fortunate to be restrained by the others.
While Wei Caiwei urgently treated the severely injured maidens, the 300-strong search team hastily assembled by Consort Lu Jingfei alerted Huang Jin, the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs, Supervising Eunuch at the Moon Palace on the mountaintop.
At this time, the Jiajing Emperor was still in his bedchamber admiring Shang Qinglan's drunken slumber amidst spring blossoms, and Huang Jin hesitated to disturb him—mistaking the scene for the emperor beginning to favor the intoxicated beauty.
Huang Jin well knew the dire consequences of bursting in to disrupt the Jiajing Emperor's "refined amusement."
Thus, without reporting to the Jiajing Emperor, Huang Jin ordered all entrances to the Moon Palace securely guarded, forbidding anyone from approaching. Then he led his men down the mountain to investigate the commotion.
Meanwhile, Consort Lu Jingfei's team had already made a discovery: "Your Highness! Bloody footprints were spotted on the western steps!"
These were the footprints left by the barefoot, trouserless Prince Jing as he stumbled away.
Consort Lu Jingfei stared in horror. "Quickly follow the footprints!"
Wang Daxia, patrolling the western mountain path, sharp-eyed as ever, sensed something amiss. "Halt! Why are so many people climbing up from the eastern foothills? There's clearly no path there."Due to the distance, they couldn't clearly see who was approaching. Lu Ying said, "This is rather suspicious. We can't go down to the dungeon for this lecher anymore, as our mission is to protect the Emperor. The Emperor is at the Moon Palace on the mountaintop—we must hurry back."
Wang Daxia tugged on the rope, pointing at Jing Wang. "What about the lecher?"
Lu Ying waved a hand decisively. "Bring him along. The Moon Palace has a wine storage cellar that can serve as a prison."
Thus, the group, having descended halfway down the mountain, began climbing back up.
Lu Ying's Embroidered Uniform Guard and Lu Jingfei's entourage, along with the Jin Prince's guards, unexpectedly crossed paths on the Misty Peak of the Western Hills!
Seeing that Lu Jingfei, who should have left after the banquet, had actually come to the west side of Qionghua Island, Lu Ying assumed she was pursuing the Emperor to vie for favor. She quickly stepped forward to salute. "Why has Your Highness come here?"
Jing Wang, upon seeing his mother, ignored his disheveled state and frantically writhed, making muffled cries toward Jingfei.
Fearing the lecher might assault the favored consort, Wang Daxia tightened the rope, preventing Jing Wang from lunging forward.
Lu Jingfei didn't answer Lu Ying. She stared blankly at the disheveled man ahead—wild-haired, gagged, face smeared with dust, blood, snot, and filth, appearing utterly deranged.
The madman wasn't even wearing pants, shoes, or socks, with bloodstains on the soles of his feet.
A mother's intuition struck—Lu Jingfei immediately recognized the madman as her son, Jing Wang.
Trembling all over, Lu Jingfei approached. "My son?"
Muffled sobs! Jing Wang nodded frantically!
Lu Jingfei reached out to remove the gag. Jing Wang immediately threw himself into her arms, shedding two streams of tears. "Mother! This man named Wang Daxia bullied me! He stripped my clothes, humiliated me, tortured me! Have him killed! Exterminate his entire clan!"
The lecher was actually Jing Wang! The Embroidered Uniform Guard was stunned!
Lu Ying recognized Jing Wang by his voice. She looked at Wang Daxia, who shook his head repeatedly. "Impossible! He's the lecher who was peeping at the palace maids! He had a Western telescope, looked lecherous, and even... that thing was standing up—I saw it clearly! Not only that, when I caught him, he tried to kill me to silence me! Every word I say is true!"
Of course, Jing Wang wouldn't admit to peeping at the Emperor's women. He turned the tables, biting down hard on Wang Daxia. If he didn't pin this on Wang Daxia today, he might fall out of favor with his father!
Jing Wang retorted, "Don't you dare slander me! What woman don't I have? Why would I peep at palace maids? Clearly, you were the one peeping at them in Penglai Pavilion! You were the one with lustful intentions, and when I caught you, you framed me as the lecher!"
Wang Daxia knew he'd stirred up a hornet's nest and hurriedly defended himself. "I'm just a lowly Embroidered Uniform Guard Hundred-Household Commander. I don't even own a precious item like a Western telescope—Commander Lu lends it to me for missions, and I return it afterward. Penglai Pavilion is so far from the Chrysanthemum Banquet; looking at people from there is like watching ants. How could I possibly lust after a bunch of ants!"
As Jing Wang was about to rebut, Lu Jingfei stopped him and said, "What are you all standing around for? This man peeped at palace maids, assaulted a prince, and slandered Jing Wang's innocence—each crime is punishable by death. Execute him on the spot!"Consort Lu Jingfei had witnessed too many conspiracies. Seeing Prince Jing in such a wretched state, she firmly believed her son was innocent, convinced it was Prince Yu’s scheme to use Wang Daxia to frame her son, aiming to make him fall out of favor with the emperor so Prince Yu could seize the opportunity.
Wang Daxia’s ability to commit such a treasonous act proved he was Prince Yu’s unwavering loyalist. No amount of torture would break him, so it was better to execute Wang Daxia outright to clear her son’s name.
“Yes!” Consort Lu Jingfei’s attendants and Prince Jing’s guards drew their blades and charged at Wang Daxia.
“Wait!” Lu Ying shielded Wang Daxia behind her. “Your Highness, a life is at stake. We should investigate thoroughly first.”
Consort Lu Jingfei said coldly, “The duty of the Embroidered Uniform Guard is to protect the palace and the imperial family. Now Prince Jing has been brutally harmed by this man, nearly losing his life and left with a tarnished reputation. How can I spare him? Step aside, unless you wish to be complicit with him! Attack!”
As blades closed in again, Lu Ying refused to yield and drew her own sword in defense. “Wang Daxia is my subordinate. I know him well—given his nature, he might indeed be capable of such an act. But what would be his motive? He has no reason to harm or frame Prince Jing. He’s lazy by nature and never acts without purpose. Moreover, as his superior, I share responsibility for any oversight. If Your Highness wishes to kill him, you must go through me first.”
Consort Lu Jingfei hadn’t expected Lu Ying to stand so firmly against her for a mere nobody. But now, both she and Prince Jing were in a predicament: if Wang Daxia lived, her son’s position as heir would be in grave danger!
Determined to cut the Gordian knot, Consort Lu Jingfei declared, “A thousand taels of silver and a promotion to whoever slays this man!”
I have ten times your numbers! I refuse to believe we can’t kill him!
Dozens of elite fighters pressed the assault. Wu Xiaoqi and the other Embroidered Uniform Guards, having fought alongside Lu Ying through life and death, obeyed her without hesitation. They drew their weapons in unison, joining the fray to protect Wang Daxia.
And so, the two sides erupted into battle right there on Ethereal Peak!
Author’s Note: Last time, the Northern City Military Command clashed with the Embroidered Uniform Guard over Wang Daxia, brawling through the streets from Daxing to Wanping. This time, the Embroidered Uniform Guard is fighting the imperial guards and Prince Jing’s retinue for Wang Daxia.
Truly, Wang Daxia is a man whose beauty topples cities and kingdoms—a walking calamity! Wherever he goes, war follows.
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