The cold moon hung high in the sky, casting its glow over the long jade-like steps.
Delicate snowflakes drifted lazily under the dim glow of palace lanterns, settling on the black satin brocade boots and leaving faint, almost imperceptible wet traces in an instant.
A young eunuch led Xie Zheng toward the side hall, his face adorned with an ingratiating smile. "Marquis, please watch your step."
Xie Zheng, draped in a fox-fur-trimmed cloak, stood as straight as a pine tree. His profile, gilded by moonlight, appeared even more aloof and strikingly handsome. He responded with a faint "Hmm" through his nose.
Hidden beneath the wide sleeves embroidered with gold, his fingertips flicked a pebble toward a snow-laden branch nearby. The branch trembled, shaking off a cascade of snow, startling the eunuch, who craned his neck and shouted sharply, "Who's there?"
In the next moment, the eunuch felt a sharp pain at the back of his neck and lost consciousness.
Xie Zheng picked up the lantern the eunuch had dropped, lifted its cover to extinguish the candle inside, then hoisted the eunuch with one hand and propped him against a pillar outside a nearby hall.
After completing these actions, Xie Zheng swept a cold gaze over his surroundings before abruptly removing his cloak and court robes.
Beneath the court attire, he was clad in a night suit.
He pulled out a disguise mask from his robe and put it on, then concealed his court robes in a crevice of a rockery in the imperial garden. Following the palace map he had studied beforehand, he avoided patrolling guards, scaled the high walls with a few leaps, and arrived at the Cold Palace.
Unlike other brightly lit and decorated palaces, the Cold Palace was eerily desolate. Even the lantern at the gate, casting a palm-sized yellow glow, was covered in dust and cobwebs.
The Cold Palace housed concubines who had committed grave offenses—some gone mad, others dead. Rumors of hauntings abounded. Aside from duty-bound servants who came to toss food like scraps to dogs, even the lowest-ranking eunuchs and maids avoided the place.
Guided by intelligence from the Grand Princess, Xie Zheng scaled the Cold Palace walls and easily located the deranged palace maid's quarters in the Outer Dormitory.
The small chamber was equally coated in dust and cobwebs. The only furnishing appeared to be a bed by the window. Moonlight revealed dry straw peeking out from beneath a thin, uncovered mattress. The maid lay curled up on it, wrapped only in a tattered, mold-spotted blanket.
A faint scent of burnt incense lingered in the room. Since worship was forbidden in the palace, it was likely the maid had secretly burned paper offerings for someone here.
Xie Zheng unfurled the soft sword coiled around his arm and pointed it at the maid's neck. "I know you're awake. If you want to live, don't turn around. I only have one question."
"Who was the concubine who had an affair with Wei Yan back then?"
The maid trembled violently, as if terrified. "It... it was..."
The ambush happened in an instant. The maid suddenly spun around, flinging a handful of powder at Xie Zheng.
Xie Zheng swiftly turned his head away, shutting his eyes and holding his breath to avoid inhaling the unknown substance or risking eye burns. Seizing the moment, the maid drew a dagger from under her pillow and lunged at him. Instinctively, Xie Zheng raised his arm to block, sending her flying several meters away.
The maid's back slammed against the wall before she crumpled to the ground, a trickle of blood at the corner of her mouth. Yet her eyes held no malice—only boundless allure. She wiped the blood with her finger, then sucked it clean, her gaze hooking into Xie Zheng like a seductive lure. "You're so strong," she cooed. "You hurt me."The voice was sickly sweet, as if a pot of sugar had been boiled into thick syrup and poured down one's throat in a single gulp.
When the palace maid withdrew her two fingers, they were already dripping with saliva. She tugged at her clothes, pulling them down bit by bit, and cooed with a flirtatious laugh, "Would you like to see where you hurt me?"
Xie Zheng's gaze held nothing but deep disgust, the kind reserved for maggots writhing in a sewer. He sheathed his sword and turned to leave, but the sound of chains rattling at the door stopped him in his tracks.
His eyes turned icy sharp in an instant, and he raised his sword to cleave through the door. Yet, in that very moment, he realized his limbs had gone weak, so much so that standing became nearly impossible. Bracing himself against the wall with one hand, a cold sweat beaded at his temples.
The clinking of chains echoed by the window, followed by a slender bamboo tube sliding through a narrow gap. A faint white smoke drifted into the room.
The woman behind him purred, "Feeling weak in the limbs, aren't you?"
"You've been inhaling the Bone-weakening Powder since you stepped in. Fighting me just sped up its effects. To last this long before succumbing... such a robust physique... truly makes me crave you..."
She half-collapsed onto the floor, her dark hair cascading loosely, the plain white sleeping robe slipping open to reveal a crimson undergarment and a bare shoulder. Her expression was a mix of unbearable desire and seduction as she fixed her gaze on Xie Zheng.
Hearing her mention the powder upon entering, Xie Zheng immediately looked toward the brazier where ghost money had been burned. So, the incense and candles were meant to mask another scent.
The drug's effects surged like a dam breaking, draining all strength from his body. Xie Zheng could no longer even lean against the wall, sliding down to sit slumped at its base. Another reaction stirred within him—his blood felt as if it were boiling, his limbs itching as though insects crawled beneath his skin.
The substance blown in through the bamboo tube needed no explanation.
The woman, too, seemed affected by the drug-laden mist. Her earlier feigned allure now mingled with instinctive reactions. With eyes half-lidded in desire, she crawled slowly toward Xie Zheng. "I'm so uncomfortable... help me..."
The drug flushed Xie Zheng's face beneath the disguise mask, yet his gaze remained unnervingly cold. "Do you want to die?"
His voice was soft, like the eerie whispers of ghosts drifting from the River of Oblivion when the gates of the underworld opened during the Ghost Festival, sending chills down one's spine.
The woman, already lost in a haze of desire, regained a sliver of clarity at his words.
Staring at the handsome man slumped against the wall, rendered immobile by the Bone-weakening Powder, her rationality was nearly drowned by the aphrodisiac. Soon, she giggled, "You'll want to join me in this ecstasy between life and death..."
Panting, she finally reached Xie Zheng. Raising her seductive, glazed eyes, she barely had time to utter another coquettish word before an iron-like hand clamped around her throat.
The overwhelming stench of blood and the suffocating grip finally sobered her slightly. The man had dug his nails into his own palm to stay conscious!
The woman, unaffected by the Bone-weakening Powder and trained in martial arts, tried to pry Xie Zheng's hand away—but it was futile.
Xie Zheng's teeth ground together, the taste of blood filling his mouth. He coldly watched the woman struggle in his grasp. "Did Qi Sheng send you, hoping you could impersonate a Cold Palace concubine and pin Wei Yan's crimes on me?"The woman tried to speak, but only faint gurgling sounds emerged from her throat. Her expression shifted from terror to despair as the cartilage in her neck snapped under Xie Zheng's grip, his fingers gouging bloody holes into her flesh.
Her eyes wide open, she collapsed to the ground, blood pooling rapidly beneath her neck.
Xie Zheng leaned against the wall, panting like a wild beast. His hands were drenched in blood—whether from his own torn palms or the woman's neck was impossible to distinguish.
Outside, the eunuch who had locked the doors and windows before releasing aphrodisiac smoke into the room heard no movement. After a moment's hesitation, he unlocked the door to investigate.
The lantern light revealed the woman's lifeless face staring blankly at the doorway. The eunuch's pupils contracted in shock as he frantically raised the lantern to search for the other occupant.
A flash of steel slit his throat, splattering blood across the floor. The fallen lantern ignited instantly, its flames illuminating the bloodstained dagger—its cold edge reflecting a pair of merciless eyes.
Xie Zheng stepped through the carnage, blood dripping steadily from his left hand.
The guards outside glimpsed the slaughtered maid and eunuch through the open doorway, their faces paling. The dose of Bone-weakening powder used could have felled an ox—how was he still standing? Had he taken an antidote in advance?
Yet the blood on his hands and his unsteady gait betrayed the drug's effects. He was barely holding on.
With the Cold Palace gates already locked, one guard barked to his companion: "Start a fire! Draw everyone here!"
Princess Qi Zhu had been confined by An Taifei for days.
On this New Year's Eve, mother and daughter shared only a simple reunion dinner before An Taifei retired to her prayer chamber.
Frustrated, Qi Zhu stormed out of the Warm Pavilion, trailed by An Taifei's elderly maidservant. "Where is Your Highness going?"
Having been spoiled for over a decade, Qi Zhu snapped: "I'm taking a walk. With the palace gates locked by Mother, where exactly could I go?"
The unflappable maid merely curtsied. "At least take a cloak, Your Highness. The snowstorm outside—"
Qi Zhu ignored her, striding past with her personal attendants. The maid's serene bow and "We bid you farewell, Princess" grated on her nerves.
Outside, the cold bit deep. On the covered walkway, Qi Zhu gazed at the icy moon, murmuring to her engraved bronze hand warmer: "I wonder what that blockhead Gongsun is doing now..."
Her attendant leaned closer. "Your Highness?"
"Nothing," Qi Zhu pursed her lips. "Let's visit the plum garden."
An Taifei's former favor had earned her an entire plum grove from the Late Emperor. Now in deepest winter, the blossoms erupted in breathtaking glory.Tonight, a light snow fell. The bluestone path through the plum grove should have been dusted with a thin layer of snow, but the young eunuch in charge of sweeping, fearing the nobles might wish to admire the plums on New Year's Eve, had cleared the path of snow early in the morning.
Qi Zhu led a group of palace maids for a while before suddenly saying, "Stay here. Don't follow me any further. I'm going to hang a prayer sachet."
The maids softly acknowledged her order.
Qi Zhu walked alone a short distance deeper into the plum grove. Finding a particularly beautiful blooming branch, she took out the sachet filled with her maidenly thoughts from her bosom. Her fingertips lightly traced the embroidery before she prepared to tiptoe and hang it up. Just then, she faintly heard a woman's coquettish laughter from behind the rockery obscured by plum branches.
Could someone be engaging in illicit activities here?
Qi Zhu's expression immediately darkened with anger. She wanted to confront them, but after squeezing the sachet in her hand, her expression softened. She was about to leave as if she hadn't heard anything when she caught another sentence: "Why would I lie to you? The princess has been watched closely by Her Highness the Taifei recently and hasn't gone anywhere..."
A somewhat effeminate voice responded, "Then has anyone from the princess's entourage visited the Cold Palace again?"
The woman, slightly breathless, answered, "We servants can't leave Shouyang Palace without the Taifei's token..."
Shouyang flowers were another name for plum blossoms, and An Taifei's palace was named after this very plum grove.
"Who's there? Come out at once!" Qi Zhu shouted sharply.
This outburst startled not only the couple behind the rockery but also the attendants waiting outside, who hurried over in alarm.
From behind the rockery, a disheveled palace maid and eunuch scrambled out, their faces pale with terror. They kowtowed frantically to Qi Zhu, begging, "Spare us, Your Highness! Spare us!"
Qi Zhu had long known that palace maids and eunuchs sometimes formed Eunuch-maid pairings, but at this moment, she felt only disgust. She recognized the maid as one from her own palace, but the eunuch seemed unfamiliar.
She glared coldly at the maid. "Have you been spying on me?"
The maid trembled like a leaf, her face streaked with tears. "This humble servant wouldn't dare... wouldn't dare..."
Qi Zhu turned to the eunuch. "Which palace do you serve in?"
The eunuch glanced up at Qi Zhu before quickly lowering his head again. Though frightened, he seemed slightly more composed than the maid. "This lowly one... serves in the Directorate of Ceremonial. Eunuch Gao by His Majesty's side is this one's adoptive father."
Qi Zhu let out a cold laugh. So, the chief eunuch serving Qi Sheng was the source of his confidence.
But since he could ask the maid those questions, it was clear that her investigation into the madwoman in the Cold Palace for Xie Zheng had already reached Qi Sheng's ears.
A chill ran down her spine, and Qi Zhu felt her knees weaken slightly. Her expression turned murderous as she glared at the eunuch. "Seize this filthy castrate and lock him up immediately!"
She then turned and strode swiftly out of the plum grove, gripping the hand of one of her trusted maids tightly. "Quickly, take my token and go to Taiji Palace at once. Find the General of the Cloud Banner and tell him there's trouble at the Cold Palace!"
The maid sprinted away, but before she could leave the plum grove, An Taifei intercepted her with a group of attendants.
An Taifei looked at her daughter, her face—still elegant despite the marks of time—now clearly showing anger. "Shu'er, what mischief are you up to now?"Qi Zhu urgently said, "Mother! This is no time for nonsense! I'm already involved in the Cold Palace affair—this isn't like your situation back then where we could just shut the palace gates and stay safe! If the Wu'an Marquis falls victim to Qi Sheng's schemes, he'll hold us accountable later! Even if Qi Sheng wins, with his deranged nature, do you think he'll let us mother and daughter live in peace?"
Just then, palace servants emerged from the plum grove escorting two bound maids and eunuchs. Pointing at them, Qi Zhu confronted An Taifei: "Qi Sheng has already infiltrated our palace. Will you still stand aside, Mother?"
An Taifei studied the two trussed figures, weighing her options before finally declaring, "Open the palace gates."
Tai Chi Palace
The banquet had long passed its third round of drinks. Fan Changyu glanced at Xie Zheng's conspicuously empty seat, her brow furrowing with increasing worry. As she prepared an excuse to step out, a wine-pouring maid subtly bumped her elbow.
Under the cover of her wide sleeves, Changyu felt something pressed into her palm and immediately clenched her fist.
After the maid left, Changyu pretended to stumble as she rose. An attendant waiting behind her seat came forward to support her, asking where she wished to go. Claiming she needed the privy, Changyu was respectfully escorted there by the maid.
From his seat at the head of the civil officials' section, Grand Tutor Li observed Changyu's departure, then turned his gaze to the empty seat opposite—the place reserved for the highest-ranking military officer. His aged eyes held unfathomable thoughts.
Moments later, a servant whispered in the Grand Tutor's ear. The normally unflappable old minister showed rare alarm. Dismissing the servant, he rose and bowed to the emperor, who was in unusually high spirits: "This old servant is ashamed. Though we should celebrate this joyous feast until the year turns, age has rendered me useless—I'm utterly exhausted. I must beg Your Majesty's permission to retire early."
With the main event yet to unfold, Qi Sheng was visibly displeased. "If the Grand Tutor is tired, he may rest in the side chamber first."
But the Grand Tutor repeatedly expressed his "terror" at such an idea, insisting earnestly: "Your Majesty would humble this servant too greatly!"
In good humor today and not wishing to appear too obvious, Qi Sheng conceded: "Very well, the Grand Tutor may withdraw."
After the Grand Tutor left with his son, Qi Sheng swirled his wine cup meaningfully. "Why hasn't the Wu'an Marquis returned from refreshing himself? Has he too grown weary and taken rest somewhere?"
The officials dared not respond. Qi Sheng chuckled to himself: "Gentlemen, continue drinking. We mustn't let the absence of the Grand Tutor and Wu'an Marquis dampen our spirits."
At that moment, a eunuch scrambled in frantically: "Your Majesty! Disaster! There's a fire in the Cold Palace!"
Though excitement flashed in Qi Sheng's eyes, he maintained an angry facade: "How could a fire start there of all places?"
The eunuch stammered, "This... this slave doesn't know."
"Useless!" Qi Sheng cursed, rising from the throne. "Many former concubines still reside there. We can't have deaths during the New Year transition. Come, we'll investigate!"
With the emperor heading to the Cold Palace, all ministers had no choice but to follow.
The snow fell heavier now, whipped by gusting winds. Dressed in eunuch's robes, Fan Changyu sprinted down the narrow path toward the Cold Palace, her cheeks stinging as if sliced by icy blades.In the distance, the Cold Palace was engulfed in towering flames, and the wind carried the acrid smell of burning.
Fan Changyu clenched her teeth, wishing she could move faster, even faster.
The note handed to her by the palace maid read, "Trouble at the Cold Palace, the Wu'an Marquis is in danger." After leaving, she dismissed the maid who had escorted her to the privy and quickly found the one who had passed her the note.
The maid claimed to be from the Grand Princess's entourage and even showed her the Grand Princess's waist token. Once Fan Changyu confirmed her identity, she didn't dare delay for a moment.
Her official robes were too conspicuous, so along the way, she knocked out a eunuch, stripped him of his clothes, and put them on before rushing straight to the Cold Palace.
The Cold Palace was located in a remote area, and tonight being New Year's Eve, the palace maids and eunuchs had slacked off. It wasn't until the fire had already broken out that a few scattered eunuchs arrived with buckets of water to fight the flames.
Fan Changyu ran all the way, and others assumed she was there to help with the fire, so no one questioned her.
Her pace was swift, and within moments, she had left the firefighting eunuchs far behind. When she reached the Cold Palace, she realized the fire had started in the dilapidated empty halls used for storing miscellaneous items, while the residential quarters remained untouched.
Fan Changyu ran forward a few steps and immediately spotted the Cold Palace gate, which had been violently smashed open, leaving a gaping hole. The lock still hung from the door handle.
The broken wooden planks around the hole were stained with blood.
A trail of blood led away into the distance, but the heavy snowfall and the darkness of the night had nearly obscured it.
Fan Changyu's heart pounded wildly. She bent down and entered the Cold Palace through the hole in the gate. By the light of the distant flames, she saw corpses strewn across the courtyard.
Some were eunuchs, others were Golden Guards.
Fan Changyu's heart clenched in fear. She didn't dare call out Xie Zheng's name, instead shouting, "Yan Zheng? Are you here?"
Noticing signs of a struggle in one of the rooms, she rushed over and saw a eunuch with his throat slit at the entrance. In the center of the room lay a woman with disheveled clothes and a broken neck.
In an instant, she understood the emperor's scheme. A chill ran up her spine, and her fists clenched so tightly that her veins bulged with rage.
"Murder... murder!"
"Quick! Go get help! There are dead people in the Cold Palace!"
Shrill cries erupted outside as the eunuchs fighting the fire arrived.
Fan Changyu knew she couldn't stay any longer. She guessed Xie Zheng must have broken through the gate and escaped, but he was likely injured and wouldn't have gotten far.
She climbed over the Cold Palace wall and leaped down.
Unlike other areas, the Cold Palace was shrouded in darkness where the firelight didn't reach, making it impossible to discern the bloodstains on the ground. However, Fan Changyu's sharp senses detected the scent of blood on the palace wall. Upon closer inspection, she found bloody handprints.
She compared her hand to the prints and, confirming they were Xie Zheng's, bit her lip hard enough to taste blood.
How badly was he injured that he could only walk by leaning against the wall?
Fan Changyu followed the scent of blood at a brisk pace.
She had to get him away before the Golden Guards arrived!
After taking many detours, she finally spotted a figure half-submerged in the water by the artificial hills of Taiye Pond. Overcome with relief, she hurried forward and called out in a hushed voice, "Xie Zheng!"Xie Zheng's eyes were tightly shut, and he did not respond. The disguise mask on his face had fallen off somewhere, and under the moonlight, his lips were so pale they almost matched the color of his face.
Fan Changyu was startled and reached out to touch his face. "How did you—"
Before she could finish her sentence, her arm was twisted back, and she was dragged into the water, her throat locked in a tight grip.
In that moment of suffocation, Fan Changyu was certain he was using all his strength to kill her. Struggling against Xie Zheng's hand around her throat, she gasped out, "It's... me."
From the corner of her eye, Fan Changyu could only see Xie Zheng’s phoenix-like eyes, crimson as if the blood vessels within had burst—cold and ruthless.
He no longer recognized anyone.
The intense suffocation weakened her struggles, but perhaps because his grip was too close, he caught her scent. Suddenly, Xie Zheng’s hand loosened around her throat.
“A Yu?” His face was unnaturally pale, his damp hair cascading down his back, his soaked collar slightly open to reveal delicate collarbones. Paired with those blood-red eyes, he exuded an indescribable, eerie allure.
With fingers that had turned white from soaking in water, he gently touched the red marks on Fan Changyu’s neck where he had choked her. Though his body was as cold as ice from the Taiye Pond, his breath still burned like fire.
“I’m sorry… I didn’t know it was you…”
His voice was hoarse, as if struggling to suppress something, yet the fingertips caressing her skin grew scalding in an instant, driving him uncontrollably to press his lips to her cheek.
His cold lips felt like ice, his breath scorching like flames—just like his current state, both unsettling and mesmerizing.
Fan Changyu had regained her breath by now and knew these were the effects of the drug. She leaned back to avoid his kiss, supporting his arm as she said, “The Cold Palace is on fire. It’s not safe here. I’ll get you out of the palace first.”
Beneath her palm, she felt warmth—not from his arm, but blood.
Realizing he was wounded there too, she pushed up his sleeve and saw his left arm covered in countless pale, waterlogged cuts.
Clearly, he had inflicted them to stay conscious.
Her eyes reddened with anger as she gritted her teeth. “Where else are you hurt?”
Now that Xie Zheng had relaxed, he could no longer resist the drug’s effects, relying entirely on Fan Changyu to stay upright. The fire inside him threatened to burn through his veins. Gazing at the person before him, his throat moved as droplets from his wet hair trailed down his eyelids and into the lake. He looked like a bewitching demon from legends, one that thrived on stealing human vitality.
He could no longer hear her question. All he saw were those lips that held his attention, parting and closing. Without hesitation, he cupped her face and crushed his mouth against hers.