"Why are you looking at me like that, A Fen? Don't you understand my thoughts? Why am I willing to have a secret affair with him but refuse to openly enter the Crown Prince's Palace as a concubine? Ha, wait until you're ten years older, when you reach my age—many things will become clearer, and you'll understand better.
"I'm seven years older than him—the beautiful elder cousin he's adored since childhood, and the first woman he ever loved. For maybe three to five years, he'll still cling to me. But what about after that? The Crown Prince's Palace can't have just one Crown Princess. No matter how devoted he is, his parents, thinking of their descendants, will force concubines upon him. By then, he'll be more mature, more the image of a great man, and naturally favor younger, delicate new beauties. I'll quickly grow old and faded, unable to bear sons, trapped in a neglected palace—utterly miserable. Why should I suffer that?
"I'm perfectly content with my life now at Purple Void Monastery. Respected by the Son of Heaven and the Empress, flattered wherever I go, free to come and go between palace and city, studying medicine, treating illnesses, refining elixirs, writing books, riding horses, playing polo, sightseeing in the countryside, visiting relatives and friends, strolling the markets in plain clothes, flirting with handsome young men I fancy... I do whatever I please, with no one to control me. Even when I'm too old to walk, young disciples will support me as I travel to preach, revered like an immortal sage—far better than a white-haired palace concubine. Why should I leap into that pit of fire? To hell with him.
"Later, he visited less often. I thought it was for the best. At seventeen, he took another big step toward adulthood. I told myself I was just a tool to help him grow from a boy into a man. When the Empress asked me to help select a Crown Princess from the Female Academy and arrange the grand wedding at the Crown Prince's Palace, I threw myself into the tasks gladly and willingly. As you know, the young lady from the Su family was exceptional in virtue, talent, and beauty—I wronged no one, did I?
"Before this year's New Year, we hadn't seen or spoken to each other for over two months. I thought this ill-fated affair had finally ended, and my heart was at peace. But at the New Year's palace banquet, my second uncle got merry and insisted on mixing the seating—princes, princesses, and their consorts all sitting together in couples. I attended behind the Empress, and right across from me... was him.
"The banquet was boisterous—everyone offering toasts and blessings, praising the Crown Prince's impending marriage and the prosperity of the imperial lineage. I avoided his gaze for what felt like a lifetime. He didn't stay till the end, excusing himself to the Emperor and Empress, claiming dizziness and stomach pain, and retired early to the Crown Prince's Palace to rest. I sighed in relief. But then, past midnight, when the music ended and the wine ran dry, I braved the heavy snow back to Purple Void Monastery, pushed open my door... and there he was, waiting for me.
"You must remember—around New Year's, it snowed heavily for days. The roads were nearly impassable, icicles hung from the eaves, and outside, the wind howled through the bitter cold. But in my chamber, every candle was lit, the brazier blazed, narcissus and wintersweet bloomed on the table—the room warm, bright, and fragrant with flowers. For the New Year, the bed curtains and silken covers were all fresh, clean, and comfortable. He'd shed his outer robe and boots, even removed his turban, leaving only his undershirt, barefoot, his hair in a loose topknot as he lounged on the bed reading, waiting for me. When I entered, he looked up with a smile and called, 'Elder Sister'—as if none of our past conflicts had ever happened...""That was the only time—just once—when I looked at him and thought, if I were to marry someone, if I really married him, coming home every day to see this man, I would be willing.
"Just that one time, that one thought. I never said it out loud, but I think he knew.
"The next morning when I woke up, he was already gone. Vanished without a trace, like a dream from the night before. The only thing left to prove it was real was an object by my pillow... a jade thumb ring."
"The Blood Jade Thumb Ring?" Wei Shufen gasped.
She looked at Chai Yingluo. The Taoist priestess reclined on a bamboo bed in the courtyard, the delicate silk fan in her hand long since stilled. Beneath her half-lowered lashes, a glimmer flickered—whether from the starlight of the Milky Way above or the fireflies drifting among the flowers around the yard, it was hard to say.
Earlier that day, she and Su Lingyu had been led by the plump leopard Atun to stumble upon Chai Yingluo and Li Chengqian. Yet when the pair slowly separated in the private quarters of the abbess, neither showed any trace of panic or shame. After staring at each other for a long moment, Li Chengqian tossed out, "I'm going to the Hall of Established Governance," and strode toward the door.
"Go ahead," the priestess replied coldly, stroking the leopard. "I keep my word. You'll see."
The Crown Prince, already stepping over the threshold, turned back at her words. He raised an eyebrow at his cousin and actually smiled.
"If I don’t have the skill, then I deserve none of the fortune—come."
He even crooked a finger at his wife, Su Lingyu, and the couple left together, leaving Wei Shufen—still stunned and bewildered—alone in the room with Chai Yingluo.
Li Chengqian’s so-called "skill" soon became clear. After he left the Purple Void Monastery, Su Lingyu gathered Jing Xuan and the other attendants, ordering them to search and confiscate any sharp objects like knives or scissors from Chai Yingluo’s quarters. She also decreed that at least two people must be with the priestess at all times to prevent her from harming herself, and even sent special guards to seal off the alchemy chamber in the mountain behind the monastery.
The Crown Princess’s authority over the monastery’s staff shouldn’t have been so easily accepted, but when Su Lingyu simply asked, "Do you want your abbess to take her own life?" Jing Xuan and the others had no choice but to obey. Chai Yingluo watched it all without resistance, calmly packing her belongings, even eating a full dinner. Wei Shufen sensed her body language saying: If I want to die, there’s plenty of time. Can you watch me forever?
Wei Shufen herself couldn’t eat a bite at dinner, and neither could Su Lingyu. The two friends sat at the table with Chai Yingluo, watching her devour her meal in silence. Aside from issuing orders, Su Lingyu said nothing, her face pale and lost in thought. Wei Shufen’s heart ached for her, vaguely remembering that today was her seventeenth birthday—and this was the "gift" her newlywed husband had given her...
After dinner, Wei Shufen finally couldn’t hold back any longer and dragged Chai Yingluo aside for an explanation. The heat was unbearable, so the maids set up a bamboo bed in the courtyard, where the two women chatted under the cool night sky, Atun dozing beside them. Su Lingyu had listened for a while but slipped away at some point.
Chai Yingluo, in a mood of reckless abandon, didn’t even need prompting. She spoke freely until she mentioned the parting gift Li Chengqian had left her—prompting Wei Shufen’s shocked exclamation, "The Blood Jade Thumb Ring?"The female Taoist looked at her with a sorrowful smile but did not reply. Instead, she opened her left hand, which had been clenched all along. In her palm lay the very Blood Jade Ring that Wei Shufen, Li Yuangui, and the others had discovered in Princess Linfen’s dowry.
This Jade Thumb Ring, unearthed from the royal tombs of the Shang Dynasty nearly thirty years ago, had passed through the hands of Li Jian-cheng, Li Shimin, Empress Zhangsun, and Li Chengqian. Now it had reappeared in Chai Yingluo’s grasp—likely given to her again by Li Chengqian just moments ago.
“If the Crown Prince gave it to you, how did it end up in Yi Niang’s hands?” Wei Shufen asked, a chill slowly rising in her heart. A dark suspicion made her hair stand on end—could the murderer she had been pursuing all along be standing right before her?
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