"The Crown Prince has brought back the High Truth Master..."
The clamor of the crowd outside the pavilion drifted in, but the softly spoken words exploded in Wei Shufen's chest like a trebuchet from the forbidden garden.
Her knees gave way, and she collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath as she clutched her chest. Crawling toward the Imperial Bed where the Son of Heaven sat, she grasped the edge of the table and pleaded:
"Your Majesty... please show mercy..."
"All sins were committed by Chai... this subject Chai Shao alone, and have nothing to do with my children..." On the other side of the Imperial table, the consort of Princess Pingyang was also prostrating himself in supplication. "Third Sister only had this one daughter... Empress Dowager Dou only had this one granddaughter... Second Brother..."
The old consort, past fifty, had grown up alongside the Li brothers since childhood. In his desperation, he even reverted to the informal titles used before the founding of the Tang dynasty, tears streaming down his face. The Emperor of Tang, besieged by pleas from both sides, looked haggard, his gaze fixed on the doorway without response, devoid of any joy at unraveling the mystery or revealing the truth.
To the south of the high pavilion, between the bamboo curtains hanging on either side, the sunlight at the entrance was blinding. A dark figure appeared, swayed slightly, and entered, followed by the graceful, unhurried silhouette of a woman. The two approached the Imperial presence to pay their respects. Wei Shufen quietly retreated but did not withdraw behind the screen, kneeling instead in a corner of the pavilion, silently weeping.
The world before her eyes fragmented and scattered like raindrops, endlessly falling. Her ears buzzed, making sounds indistinct, as she vaguely watched and listened to the newly arrived pair—Crown Prince Li Chengqian and Chai Yingluo—responding to the Emperor's questions. The Emperor and Kang Su-mi both spoke, and Li Chengqian even stepped forward to examine two golden pots on the table before raising his voice in an agitated cry, only to be reprimanded by his father...
A hand reached out to grasp hers. Through her tears, Wei Shufen turned to see Li Yuangui, who had somehow entered the pavilion unnoticed and now knelt silently beside her, tear stains on his cheeks as well.
The two young figures, a boy and a girl, held hands and watched the dispute unfold in silent despair. The Son of Heaven, worn out and exasperated by the commotion, finally stood and declared, "This is a matter of the inner palace," before leaving the pavilion. Kang Su-mi had already been dismissed, and Chai Shao, weakened by his sobbing, was personally assisted out by the Emperor. The Empress ordered the screens removed, leaving only the women in the pavilion, along with Li Yuangui and Li Chengqian, uncle and nephew.
Empress Zhangsun, slumped on another couch, looked utterly drained, as though years of torment had passed in less than half a day. The Crown Princess sat by her mother-in-law's side, her face equally pale.
"Yingniang... must I still ask you..."
The Empress could barely string together a complete sentence. Chai Yingluo, kneeling on the felt rug before the couch, shook her head and whispered, "Aunt is too exhausted, and so am I... let us all conserve our strength."
She lifted her gaze, sweeping it around the room, her delicate face bearing the dazed serenity of someone waking from a long dream, even carrying a hint of childlike innocence in her smile:
"This morning, I passed through Anhua Gate. Before me lay the tranquil Nan Mountains and the clear waters of the Qingming Canal, while behind me was the bustling old dream of Chang'an's great city. The Cloud Script Great Void Bone Dissolving Cold Jade... and suddenly, I understood many things. I have practiced the Dao for nearly ten years now, yet never truly entered its mysteries—because I clung to too many delusions and desires."
Her descent into darkness began when her mother, Princess Pingyang, departed this world.In the sixth year of the WuDe Era during the founding of the Tang Dynasty, the realm had just stabilized, yet the struggle for succession between the Crown Prince and Prince Qin brothers grew increasingly fierce. At that time, Princess Pingyang was pregnant with her second child, nearing her due date. During an outing, she happened to meet her younger brother, Prince Qin Shimin, and sought to persuade him to yield for the sake of familial harmony. Their disagreement escalated into a heated argument, during which the princess became agitated, triggering premature labor. She returned home but tragically passed away during childbirth. Her eldest daughter, Yingluo, was twelve that year. With no outlet for her grief over losing her mother, she harbored resentment toward her second uncle, Shimin.
In the following years, the rift between the brothers deepened like fire and water. Chai Yingluo also learned she had been betrothed to the eldest son of her eldest uncle. If Prince Qin succeeded in the succession struggle, she would lose everything and might even face repercussions. However, if Crown Prince Jiancheng ascended the throne peacefully, she would at least become a consort of a prince. With some maneuvering, she might even rise to become Crown Princess or Empress. By the eighth year of WuDe, she was fourteen or fifteen, fully grown in stature but still immature, impulsive, and arrogantly self-important—"just like you children are now," she said with a laugh to Li Yuangui and Wei Shufen.
Around that time, Kang Su-mi sent a batch of lavish gifts to the residence of Prince Consort Chai in Chang'an. Chai Shao was away leading troops, and the household stewards dared not decide without instruction, so they sought guidance from the eldest young mistress. Initially, Chai Yingluo was merely captivated by the pair of hunting leopards and couldn't bear to part with them, ordering the gifts accepted. The leopards didn’t survive long, but a litter of cubs born from the female was successfully raised—among them her beloved pet, the plump leopard Atun. Later, while idly browsing through the gifts, she discovered the double-heart golden wine pot. Clever from childhood, she deduced its mechanism on her own and thought it might prove useful. She secretly hid it, destroying the gift list. When her father returned to the capital, she merely claimed the list had been misplaced.
"My father never knew about the golden pot from start to finish," she emphasized. "The rest of the household was equally unaware. What I did had nothing to do with anyone else."
In the eighth year of WuDe, the eldest daughter of her eldest uncle, Jiancheng, was betrothed to her eldest younger brother, Zhewei, and the Crown Prince's Palace held a banquet to celebrate the engagement. She realized the double-heart pot could finally be put to use. Coincidentally, her fourth uncle, Yuan-ji, visited her home beforehand, probing with talk of Prince Qin's misconduct and treasonous ambitions. Her father avoided the topic, but she overheard and privately sought out Li Yuan-ji to conspire. Their plans aligned perfectly.
Had she simply handed the golden pot to her fourth uncle, taught him its use, and let him arrange the deed, things might have turned out differently... But she was a fourteen- or fifteen-year-old child, truly unaware of the consequences. Knowing Li Yuan-ji was unreliable, she distrusted him and insisted on personally administering the poison—"to avenge my late mother" and clear the path for her future in-laws. By then, her height rivaled that of an average man. Dressed in a eunuch's caged crown and wide-sleeved robe, with a fake mustache, she was indistinguishable from a man in dim light. Even from a distance, her own father failed to recognize her.
"But Yi Niang saw through you, didn’t she?" Li Yuangui suddenly asked, his voice hoarse and broken. "Young as she was, she remembered your flaw... and it cost her life."
Chai Yingluo smiled faintly:"This was indeed my miscalculation. In the Crown Prince's Palace, the only time Yi Niang and her nurse were closest to me was when we ascended the hall to offer wine. But Yi Niang was only nine years old at the time—if I were to be cautious, I would only have guarded against her nurse noticing anything amiss. Fortunately, the nurse stood facing the same direction as me, and her attention was entirely focused on the eldest princess, never sparing me a glance. But Yi Niang—she had to turn around to take the cup of wine I poured from the tray, her gaze tilting upward. She didn’t recognize my face, but she caught a glimpse of... this red birthmark peeking out from the collar of my robe."
Every eye in the room turned to her chest. Chai Yingluo wore a woven brown upper garment with a round-necked half-sleeve embroidered with floral patterns. Just above her collarbone, the birthmark glowed like a crimson plum blossom against snow.
"I had taken extra care when dressing. The overlapping collar of the eunuch’s ceremonial robe should have covered this mark, and I had also attached a false beard—a thick, dangling fringe that concealed my Adam’s apple and this spot completely. The Crown Prince’s grand banquet was bustling with activity—who would pay attention to a mere eunuch brought in by Prince Qi to assist? In truth, even the eldest princess Yi Niang didn’t fully grasp what she had seen. She was just a child, tilting her head upward, her gaze slipping beneath my false beard to catch sight of the birthmark, leaving an impression in her mind."
It was only a vague impression—one Li Wanxi herself didn’t understand, and Chai Yingluo had no idea at the time. The poison Li Yuan-ji procured was of poor potency, and despite the extraordinary risks they took with the poisoned wine, it ultimately failed to end Li Shimin’s life—this only strengthened Chai Yingluo’s resolve to study medicine and alchemy under Sun Simiao. Later, during two investigations, she narrowly escaped implication, believing herself safe from then on—until last year, when she was ordered by the Empress to oversee the wedding of her eldest brother and Li Wanxi at the Temple of Common Vocation.
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