When You Yuji arrived at Prince Jinnan’s front hall, there were already sounds of argument.
“It can’t be… How could it be cousin who set the fire…” Chen Anzhi sat weakly in a chair, his face as pale as paper. His voice was low and feeble, sounding both like a defense to Prince Jinnan and a disbelieving murmur to himself.
Fang Qingyi knelt in the center of the hall, her head drooping, showing no expression.
Prince Jinnan sat at the head seat, his face looking terribly displeased. He glanced at Chen Anzhi with both disappointment and heartache. When he saw You Yuji step in, he waved his hand, and the servant by his side immediately stepped forward to lead You Yuji to a seat.
Chen Shunzhi, who had already washed and changed his clothes, stood beside Chen Anzhi, feeling a bit distressed that his weak brother had been forcibly brought over by their father. As he had stood before the sea of flames, a moment of greedy hesitation had flashed through his mind. Now that it was over, he felt ashamed of that momentary hesitation and carried an unspoken guilt toward his family.
Chen Anzhi looked towards Fang Qingyi, desperately wanting to see that tender and affectionate gaze in her eyes again. But Fang Qingyi remained still with her head lowered, making her expression invisible to him.
He refused to believe that his gentle, elegant, and noble cousin was a malicious woman with a heart of a snake and scorpion. He didn’t want to admit that he had misjudged her all along or that he was a man without discernment.
“Qingyi, say something…” Chen Anzhi’s voice trembled slightly, his gaze at Fang Qingyi filled with agony.
The wound in his abdomen continued to throb with unbearable pain. The scene of Fang Qingyi throwing the burning lantern at his mother replayed over and over in his mind, like a nightmare he couldn’t escape.
What more was there to ask?
Yet, deeply traumatized, he still didn’t want to believe any of it. He truly wished it was all a terrible dream, not so cruel as to tear away all the beauty he had believed in.
Prince Jinnan could no longer stand it. He picked up the teacup on the table beside him and threw it at Chen Anzhi. The porcelain cup shattered at Chen Anzhi’s feet, and the scalding tea splashed onto the hem of his long robe. He hadn’t had time to change, and the robe still bore the marks of the fire.
“Father!” Chen Shunzhi pleaded, “My brother is severely injured and still has a fever. He’s not thinking clearly. Perhaps we should wait until he recovers a bit more…”
“Silence!” Prince Jinnan roared.
Chen Shunzhi immediately clamped his lips shut.
Prince Jinnan, considering Chen Anzhi’s current grievous state, pointed at him for a long time, but couldn’t bring himself to utter harsh rebukes. He took a deep breath, trying to control his anger, and said, “Fine, you ask her yourself!”
“Qingyi!” Chen Anzhi called out her name in pain, hoping for an answer that would prove he hadn’t misjudged her all this time.
Even though, deep down, he already knew the answer.
Memories of growing up together and scenes of the two of them together flashed repeatedly before his eyes. Tears rolled down Chen Anzhi’s cheeks as he cried, “Qingyi, why did you do this? Was someone forcing you or… or…”
He wracked his brain but couldn’t think of an answer.
Tears fell from Fang Qingyi’s eyes, and she watched as the teardrop shattered on the ground. Suddenly, she let out a laugh, raising her face to look at Chen Anzhi.
“Why?” Fang Qingyi’s soft laugh grew louder and louder, eventually turning into hysterical laughter.
The servants in the hall all lowered their heads, feeling a chill run down their spines. Fang Qingyi’s laughter in such a dire situation was disturbingly eerie.
Finally, Fang Qingyi stopped laughing. She looked at Chen Anzhi with a mocking expression and said, “You’re still so stupid. I was foolish to believe your sweet words.”
“When… when did I ever use sweet words to deceive you…” Chen Anzhi’s brow furrowed deeply, and cold sweat from the pain of his wounds dotted his forehead. He widened his eyes, trying to understand the person in front of him. He couldn’t comprehend how the mutual affection between him and his cousin had turned into deception.
“It was you! You made me a lowly concubine, a plaything for others to abuse!” Fang Qingyi screamed and accused, her voice hoarse and filled with rage.
Chen Anzhi shook his head in bewilderment.
In an instant, all the past affection seemed to sour. Chen Anzhi knew he lacked the courage to defy his parents or disobey imperial decrees, which resulted in his cousin, a noble lady of a marquis household, being reduced to his concubine. He admitted guiltily in a low voice, “This… this is indeed my fault…”
His immediate admission of guilt only infuriated Fang Qingyi further. She stumbled to her feet and charged towards Chen Anzhi. The servants quickly blocked her path, fearing she might cause more harm.
She pointed past the obstructing servants towards Chen Anzhi and screamed, “Stop pretending to be affectionate! Tell me, who were you thinking of when you listened to me play the qin? Who were you thinking of when you persuaded me to wear white? Who were you thinking of when you were enjoying yourself in bed with me?”
Chen Anzhi’s expression changed, and he looked at Fang Qingyi in panic. He pressed his lips together, unable to find an explanation. After a long while, he stammered, “I… I also liked you…”
“Hahaha…” Fang Qingyi laughed madly, nearly losing control.
The two old servants holding her down quickly used force to push her back to her place.
Fang Qingyi’s laughter suddenly stopped. She looked at Chen Anzhi and enunciated each word clearly, “Chen Anzhi, you disgust me!”
Chen Anzhi’s pupils contracted sharply. As a privileged son of a prince, he had never heard such harsh words in his life, especially not from someone he had always believed loved him deeply.
The bitterness that filled his heart was as unbearable as the burns on his hand.
He turned his face away, fighting back tears, then looked at Prince Jinnan and choked out, “Father, I am also responsible. Things have escalated to this point, and I regret implicating Mother and my sister…”
Thinking of his severely injured mother, Chen Anzhi’s tears fell again. He sniffed and continued, “But my cousin is now carrying my child. I beg you, Father, to spare her life.”
Prince Jinnan laughed in anger, “So you know the harm you’ve caused your mother and sister, and yet at this moment, you still plead for her?”
“It is my failure to manage the household affairs properly; I am also responsible. Everyone makes mistakes. My cousin is only angry because I didn’t fulfill my promise to make her my legitimate wife. Everyone has moments of impulse; I have also been impulsive and caused trouble recently. Perhaps it’s due to some evil spirit, just as my defiance towards my mother was not my true intention. Maybe my cousin, too, was influenced by some malevolent force!”
He pleaded, believing that his cousin’s deep love for him had turned into hatred.
You Yuji, who had been sitting quietly on the side, suddenly spoke up, “The reason the heir has been impulsive lately is because Fang Qingyi has been adding “Irritation Powder” to his wine.”
Everyone, except Fang Qingyi, looked at You Yuji in astonishment.
You Yuji, still ill and exhausted, felt a headache from listening to Chen Anzhi and Fang Qingyi’s confrontation. She just wanted to clear things up quickly and go back to rest.
Prince Jinnan looked at You Yuji in surprise. He had learned about the “Irritation Powder” from interrogating Lushu, but he hadn’t known that You Yuji was aware of it. He had invited her to clarify why she had gone to the supposedly sealed back gate, suspecting she knew it had been unsealed. Now, hearing her mention “Irritation Powder”, Prince Jinnan surmised she must have suspected Fang Qingyi for some time.
“What is “Irritation Powder”?” Chen Anzhi looked at You Yuji in shock. “Don’t kick a man when he’s down and slander Qingyi!”
He wanted to say his cousin could never poison him, but the bleeding wound she had inflicted kept him from voicing it.
“Bring her in!” Prince Jinnan ordered.
Soon, the badly beaten Lushu was dragged in. Her blood left a long trail on the floor.
Prince Jinnan looked at Fang Qingyi, “Since you won’t give Anzhi a clear explanation, let this maid speak!”
Lushu, barely alive, hung on by a thread.
Fang Qingyi glanced at her, feeling a sudden pang of pity in her otherwise crazed heart.
“Don’t force her. I’ll speak.”
“The first time I gave you “Irritation Powder” was the day before your wedding, to make you lose control on your wedding day.” Fang Qingyi shook her head in disappointment. “I heard the drug was miraculous, but its effect was mediocre. Or maybe you’re just too cowardly. I had hoped you’d go mad and beat You Yuji senseless. Ah, a bride humiliated on her wedding night, driven to hang herself. Perfect.”
Chen Anzhi listened to Fang Qingyi’s words in a daze, feeling as if his gentle, refined cousin had turned into a demon.
“You breaking things, smashing vases, and arguing with people was all due to the drug. But you’re such a coward, even under the influence of “Irritation Powder”, a drug that twists the mind, you didn’t have the guts to kill anyone!”
“You…” Chen Anzhi stammered, unable to find any more words.
Fang Qingyi sneered, “Disappointed? I’m the one who’s truly disappointed. Feeding you “Irritation Powder”, and you’re still so pathetic!”
The cold sweat on Chen Anzhi’s forehead from the pain kept increasing, but the burn on his hand hurt even more, leaving him without the strength to wipe the sweat from his forehead.
He took a long breath, suppressing the pain, and then spoke again, “You did all this just to seize the position of the princess consort? Is that position so important?”
“Yes, it was to seize it,” Fang Qingyi admitted.
But she knew that her admission and Chen Anzhi’s assumption were not the same. She snorted and looked at Chen Anzhi with disdain. “Do you think I really like you?”
Doubt reappeared in Chen Anzhi’s eyes. She had done all these crazy things; wasn’t it because she loved him too much, couldn’t accept that he had someone else in his heart, couldn’t accept that someone else was to be his legitimate wife, and thus turned her love into hatred, committing these terrible acts?
Fang Qingyi’s gaze shifted from disdain to pity.
“What I liked was your status as an heir and your stupidity, easy to deceive.” Fang Qingyi had long given up hope. With the road ahead blocked, life held no more meaning. She might as well say everything and be done with it!
“Chen Anzhi, you fool!” Fang Qingyi sat on the ground, laughing madly like a lunatic. “Chen Anzhi! You are so easy to fool. I told you that You Yuji had an affair with Zhao Sheng, and you believed it. I made up the story about seeing Zhao Sheng holding a jade pendant engraved with Yuji’s name and crying. The assassinations of your concubines were my idea; my mother only took the blame for me. You actually believed it and even advised me to stay away from my mother to avoid being led astray? Hahaha…”
Chen Anzhi’s face turned ashen.
One by one, past events flashed rapidly through his mind, receding swiftly. His already pale face became completely bloodless. The burn caused him to have a fever, but he felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave, feeling nothing but cold. Soon, he couldn’t even feel the bone-chilling cold.
He stood there, bewildered, not knowing where he was.
Gu Momo, the servant by the princess’s side, quickly entered. Prince Jinnan immediately stood up, asking if the princess had woken up.
“Yes.”
Gu Momo replied, then turned to You Yuji, smiling, “Madam, the princess invites you to come over. She has a few words for you.”
Gu Momo’s smile and gentle tone were indicative of the princess’s intentions.
You Yuji was led by Gu Momo to the princess’s room.
The princess lay on the bed, watching You Yuji approach, and extended her hand.
You Yuji took her outstretched hand.
“You rushed into the fire to save me,” was the princess’s first sentence.
“When this is all over, would you be willing to become my goddaughter?” was her second.
