There were a total of eleven palace maids and eunuchs in Yingchun Palace. The Imperial Palace Inner Court was heavily guarded, and Yuwen Jing had hostages in his hands, so he had never worried about Feng Shu escaping. Trapped in Yingchun Palace, Feng Shu had never thought about fleeing. Today, after learning that Xie Xun was in the Capital City, Feng Shu still maintained her usual composure and never wandered the palace. If she showed any abnormalities, soone as sensitive as Yuwen Jing would surely notice. The Shadow Guards had already probed all the palace defenses. Since the collapse of Hanguang Tower, the inner palace guards had been reduced, with many of them sent to the outer city.
Feng Shu greedily recalled the things Fengyu ntioned in her letters. Fengyu wrote most often about Ruyi, perhaps worried that Feng Shu wouldn’t want to leave the palace. Fengyu would deliberately share amusing anecdotes about Ruyi. She knew Fengyu had barely survived the journey back to the capital. Fengyu had raised her younger sister like a precious gem. Yet, in her youth, Fengyu was kidnapped once, and as an adult, she was abducted again by the Jinyi Guards. Both instances of suffering were because of her.
Feng Shu thought, if she were not Fengyu’s elder sister, Fengyu’s life would surely have been much more carefree and wouldn’t have been marred by such hardships. After Lin Yushu gave her the dicinal diet recipe, Feng Shu purposefully sought out dical books and began preparing the diets to nourish her body. These dicinal als were for herself, not for Yuwen Jing. But it made no difference—Yuwen Jing dined at Yingchun Palace almost every evening and didn’t fear poison. Her dicinal als, Yuwen Jing would also consu. After all, dicinal diets were nourishing and beneficial for anyone.
Her dicinal als and those Lin Yushu prepared for Yuwen Jing contained many ingredients that clashed. Consud separately, there was no issue, but combined, they beca a slow-acting poison.
Yuwen Jing consud them over ti without any reaction. Dongxue ntioned that the conflicting dicinal properties were mild. To take effect, it would take years of prolonged consumption to completely hollow out soone’s vitality. Thus, Feng Shu increased the dosage. Every three days, Yuwen Jing would request a peace-of-mind pulse check. This thod of therapeutic conflict wasn’t poison; its effects wouldn’t show in the pulse readings but would slowly deplete one’s vitality over ti.
Xie Xun had Ying Si deliver a ssage to Feng Shu, urging her to abandon the idea of poisoning Yuwen Jing with dicinal diets. First, it was too slow; second, Yuwen Jing was highly suspicious and perceptive. If he detected Feng Shu’s murderous intent, it would bring her fatal disaster.
Ever since she entered the palace, Feng Shu had maneuvered against Yuwen Jing. She repeatedly used the excuse of mourning her late husband for three years to refuse Yuwen Jing’s advances. Feng Shu knew that co the sixth day of the sixth month, the three-year mourning period would end, and Yuwen Jing would lose patience. She had to act swiftly—she had to kill Yuwen Jing. But such an act risked extermination of her entire family clan. If Xie Jue and Xie Xun failed to capture the Capital City in ti, killing Yuwen Jing would lead to the execution of her parents, grandmother, and all her kin. Alternatively, she could use dicinal diets to slowly weaken Yuwen Jing, buying ti for Xie Jue and Xie Xun to attack the Capital City.
She never expected Xie Xun and Ayu to arrive so soon.
After sending Ruyi away, Feng Shu entered the palace with the resolve to die alongside Yuwen Jing. Yet her grandmother’s comforting words, her mother’s tears, and Ruyi’s ties all held her back. Her son, her sister, her family—all hoped she could live. After Xie Zhang’s death, she could only build a cenotaph for him at Xiangguo Temple. She hadn’t even had the chance to pour a cup of wine at his grave.
She wanted to kill Yuwen Jing!
If asked who she hated most in this world, it was undoubtedly Yuwen Jing. Each day, looking at his face and listening to his hypocritical words, Feng Shu felt physically sick. She had never loathed, never despised anyone so intensely as him.
In her dreams, she often imagined carving Yuwen Jing to pieces!
Yet in those sa dreams, she also longed to hold Ruyi tightly in her arms.
Thus, she heeded Xie Xun’s advice and modified the recipe for the dicinal als to provide regular bodily nourishnt.
She needed to escape this suffocating palace.
One day, she and Ruyi would settle in Ningzhou, just as she and Xie Zhang had once envisioned. That would be their ho. Even though Xie Zhang was no longer there, she still had Ruyi.
As for Yuwen Jing’s life, she would leave it to Xie Jue and Xie Xun!
After the Hanguang Tower incident, Yuwen Jing no longer dined in Yingchun Palace. Feng Shu was relieved, no longer needing to navigate his sches. When night fell, Feng Shu simply changed into a plain dress. Having entered the palace alone, she only brought along Chen Lin, Dongxue, and Xia Zhu. Despite the lavish rewards Yuwen Jing sent to Yingchun Palace like flowing water, Feng Shu paid them no attention.
The palace maids and eunuchs in Yingchun Palace were almost all Yuwen Jing’s spies, so Feng Shu’s escape wouldn’t be easy. Moreover, Chen Lin, as her guard, remained stationed in the outer hall, with Jinyi Guards keeping constant watch. Feng Shu had to drug all the palace maids and eunuchs unconscious. Thankfully, she had never developed close relationships with anyone. Yuwen Jing often visited Yingchun Palace for dinner. The concubines knew better than to provoke her. Yuwen Jing’s sinister and ruthless nature was well known—one night he might share passion with you, and the next, he could order your execution.
The Three Palaces and Six Halls rarely had instances of jealousy or rivalries. Without the Empress even needing to interfere, Yuwen Jing could suppress all the won. Thus, Feng Shu wasn’t concerned that the drugged palace maids and eunuchs would be discovered during her escape from Yingchun Palace.
Dongxue, Xia Zhu, and Chen Lin followed her. After drugging the palace maids and eunuchs and knocking out three Jinyi Guards, they tied them all up within Yingchun Palace. Protected by the Shadow Guards, they made their way toward the North Palace Gate.
The journey was eerily quiet, so much so that Feng Shu felt a creeping sense of dread, especially as they passed a long palace corridor flanked by high walls. The feeling intensified.
Feng Shu tilted her head to look at the pale moonlight in the night sky. The towering, oppressive palace walls seed like the gaping jaws of a monstrous beast that devoured everything without leaving a trace. Feng Shu’s steps slowed down gradually.
She asked Chen Lin, "Is this corridor usually unguarded?"
"The Forbidden Army rotates shifts every two hours, three guards at each post. But recently, due to the collapse of Hanguang Tower, the Forbidden Army has been dispatched to the East City to rebuild it," Chen Lin replied in a hushed voice.
Feng Shu’s heart suddenly pounded wildly. They had moved unhindered all the way to the North Palace Gate. The Shadow Guards had already taken down six guards. The gate was within reach. Once they rounded the Wenyin Hall, the North Palace Gate would be before them. Sixteen Forbidden Army soldiers were stationed at the gate. Taking them down would not be difficult for the Shadow Guards.
She was only one step away from the North Palace Gate!
"Young Madam, what’s wrong?" Chen Lin asked. Midnight was fast approaching. They had arranged to rendezvous with Xie Xun and Fengyu at the North Palace Gate.
"It’s too quiet!" Feng Shu looked toward the city walls near the gate. Strangely, there was not a single guard on duty. Feng Shu slowly ascended the wall. Chen Lin tried to stop her, but Feng Shu ordered firmly, "Chen Lin, take Dongxue and Xia Zhu and turn back. We’re not leaving tonight."
"Young Madam!"
"My Lady!"
"Do as I say!" Feng Shu’s voice was low but commanding. "Turn back, and don’t look back!"
Chen Lin wanted to follow her, but Feng Shu was already on the battlents. All the Shadow Guards except Ying Si had left the palace. Ying Si, stationed outside the gate, suddenly saw a purple signal flare rising into the sky. His heart sank.
Bad news—it’s an ambush!
Feng Shu ascended the battlents slowly, and sure enough, she saw the scene waiting for her at the top. Over a hundred Forbidden Army soldiers stood ard with bows and curved blades. In the shadow of the high wall sat Yuwen Jing, reclining lazily and playing with the ring on his thumb. The entire North Palace Gate was a trap swarming with Forbidden Army soldiers. Due to the geography and the height of the walls, it was impossible to see the ambush from below.
Feng Shu’s premonition proved correct!
This was a setup!
Yuwen Jing had used her to lure Ayu and Zhixu into a trap. No wonder the inner palace defenses were so sparse along the way. From Yingchun Palace to the North Palace Gate, their journey had been suspiciously smooth. Even if the collapse of the Hanguang Tower had diverted forces to the East City Gate, the inner palace’s lax security didn’t make sense.
Zhixu and Ayu’s plan to assist her escape had played right into Yuwen Jing’s hands. He had laid a trap, knowing that once she exited through the North Palace Gate to et them, their fates would be sealed.
Such was Yuwen Jing—masterful at manipulating hearts, seldom faltering.
"Shu’er, why must you always be... so clever?" Yuwen Jing’s voice resonated under the night sky with a tinge of regret. "Just one more step, and I could have captured all of you in one fell swoop!"
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