Chapter 83 Joining the Game

Luo Zhaohan's pupils suddenly contracted, and huge waves of emotion surged in his eyes.

"Knowing the Crown Princess... then?"

"Feelings are brewing." Pei Ji said succinctly, "Prince Rui is deeply in love with her. After the palace banquet, he privately asked Your Majesty to grant her a marriage to the Crown Prince."

"Agree to marry the Eastern Palace?" Luo Zhaohan lost his voice, and a tingling sensation instantly ran from his spine to the top of his head.

"But the Crown Princess clearly——"

"That's the absurdity." A hint of cold sarcasm appeared at the corner of Pei Ji's lips.

"When Prince Rui came to ask, Your Majesty had already chosen her as the Crown Prince's principal wife. He even drafted a secret decree, waiting only for an auspicious day to announce it. Prince Rui's request was tantamount to asking my father to marry my sister-in-law, a heinous act! Fortunately, the secret decree was not announced, and the only people in the palace who knew about it were a few of Prince Rui's closest confidants and the old servant who held the seal in His Majesty's personal service. Prince Jin's foundation was still shallow at the time, and he had no access to such intimate matters, so he was completely unaware of this matter."

The temperature of the charcoal fire seemed to be drained away in an instant, and Luo Zhaohan felt a chill down his spine.

"After His Royal Highness the Crown Prince passed away, Prince Rui repeatedly appeared before the Crown Princess, either openly or covertly, either by 'chance encounter' or to help her." Pei Ji's gaze was as solid as substance, piercing through illusions and going straight to the heart of the matter. "If he truly retained even a trace of past feelings in his heart, how could he have set up a flower viewing banquet, a devastating and murderous scheme that nearly put the Crown Princess in an irretrievable position?"

Luo Zhaohan's mind flashed with lightning! The scenes in the daytime stands flashed back before his eyes - the distraught silhouette of the Crown Princess under her veil, the glaring red mark on her white wrist that hung outside her sleeve, like a fingerprint!

She suddenly raised her head, her voice trembling slightly with excitement. "The red mark on your wrist wasn't caused by bandits at all! It was Prince Rui! He took advantage of the chaos to break into the stands and forcibly pull the Crown Princess away."

A terrifyingly clear possibility emerged.

"That's right." Pei Ji's affirmation was like a drop of ice. "If Prince Rui really had any feelings for the Crown Princess, or even a hint of pity, the best thing he should have done was to be patient and avoid suspicion, hiding his feelings, or secretly protect her and help her stay away from the center of the storm! Why would he choose to rush in at this critical moment when everyone is watching and a murder is about to happen? This is walking into a trap, and will only attract countless eyes and thousands of criticisms! It will harm the Crown Princess's reputation and safety, and will do nothing but harm!"

"He was—scheming! He deliberately exposed his whereabouts and feelings! He wanted everyone, especially the Prince of Jin—to see his connection with the Crown Princess!"

"Prince Rui already knew about the disaster at the flower banquet. It was Prince Jin who orchestrated it!" Pei Ji's voice suddenly dropped, and he spoke with absolute certainty. "His seemingly impulsive and reckless behavior was actually a carefully calculated plan! He publicly expressed his 'concern and reluctance' for the Crown Princess, even leaving traces. His sole purpose was to nail the Crown Princess to the pillar of shame in Prince Jin's eyes!"

"Bait!" Luo Zhaohan was horrified, a chill instantly freezing his limbs. "He's trying to lead Prince Jin into a miscalculation! To trick Prince Jin into viewing the Crown Princess as the only weakness to strike back at Prince Rui? From now on, all of Prince Jin's nefarious schemes will be aimed at the Crown Princess first?"

How insidious! How cruel! Pushing an already helpless widow directly into the cruelest bull's eye!

Pei Ji slowly shook his head, a subtle hint of something strange flashing across his icy eyes. "Don't worry about her."

Luo Zhaohan frowned, not understanding what he meant.

Pei Ji seemed reluctant to elaborate, simply relaying, "The day after the ruins of the flower viewing banquet were cleared, the Crown Princess told me in person: 'Rather than being trapped in the East Palace, being a prey to others, being tossed and tampered with, silently turning into dry bones, it's better to step out of this cage.'"

He paused, his gaze passing through the flickering candlelight and the interplay of light and shadow cast by the charcoal fire:

"'Become a piece of firewood that can crash into the devil's lair and burn all the evil spirits and monsters!'"

In the charcoal basin, several newly lit pieces of charcoal exploded at once.

Countless orange-red sparks, like suddenly awakened souls, suddenly burst out from the dark red embers, leaping and rising, interweaving into a curtain of light that was so bright that it was almost terrifying.

The sudden burst of blazing flames not only illuminated the realization, astonishment and final shock in Luo Zhaohan's eyes, but also clearly outlined the complex light in Pei Ji's deep eyes that was difficult to discern.

The palace is deep and the fire flickers.

Prince Rui prepared bait, intending to make the Crown Princess his prey.

The Prince of Jin played chess and regarded the Crown Princess as a piece that could be crushed or discarded at any moment.

On the three sides of the chessboard, everyone is making secret moves, thinking that they are manipulating the fate and determining the destiny of others.

But no one knows——

The widow standing in the center of the storm had long ago cut off her disguise of weakness and broken her wings of retreat. Her gaze was as calm as the last night sea before it was burned out.

She threw herself into the raging inferno called chess, not to become firewood.

She wants to be the spark.

Light the lamp to illuminate the night!

…

The dead silence in the duty room grew thicker.

Only the slight "crackling" sound of the burning silver charcoal in the charcoal basin in the corner of the wall, like the gasping of a dying person, was particularly clear and sharp in the condensed air.

Luo Zhaohan sat upright in the chair, his knuckles digging deeply into the cold hardwood armrests due to excessive force, and his knuckles were tense and white.

The bloody cruelty of the power struggle just now was still roaring and echoing in her mind, squeezing out her memory of the injustice done to the entire Luo family.

She forced herself to suppress the bloody smell rising in her throat and sealed the word "Luo Family" into the ice coffin in her heart.

Now, there must be no chaos!

Pei Ji's gaze fell calmly on her face. His bottomless black eyes seemed to be able to penetrate the calm surface she tried hard to maintain and see through the fear and pain churning underneath.

He didn't expose her. When she pursed her pale lips in an effort to restrain herself, he spoke at the right moment, his voice carrying a barely perceptible stagnation: "There's one more thing."

Luo Zhaohan took a sharp breath and almost couldn't wait to continue the conversation, directing his suppressed energy to a new question: "The medicine that the master was given at the welcoming banquet..."

She bit the soft flesh inside her lower lip until she tasted a faint taste of blood and rust, then she managed to steady her voice, "But is Prince Jin or Prince Rui repeating the same old trick? Intending to undermine your dignity in front of the emperor's eldest grandson, or..." A deeper exploitation?

"It's His Royal Highness the Grandson." Pei Ji's voice was still calm, but it was like a huge rock thrown into stagnant water.

Luo Zhaohan suddenly looked up.

The shock frozen in his eyes instantly broke through all the forced calmness: "Chao Yunye?!" That six-year-old, delicate and beautiful child?!

"Since leaving the welcoming banquet, I've only seen the Emperor's grandson, apart from the personal eunuch." Pei Ji's gaze passed over the flickering candlelight and landed somewhere in the void, his eyes as deep as a pool. "The substance that triggered the effects of the drug on me was mixed in the lotus seed tea that the Emperor's grandson handed me."

Every word was so clear it sent chills down your spine.

"Impossible!" Luo Zhaohan flatly denied it, an indescribable feeling of nausea rising from the depths of her stomach! She subconsciously raised her hand to her chest, trying to suppress the nausea, her voice rising with excitement, "He's just a child! Innocent and ignorant! It must be the Prince of Jin using his old tricks again, using a child's hand—"

Putting the blame on others! Killing someone with a borrowed knife! This was the only explanation she could think of!

"Not the King of Jin." Pei Ji's answer was firm and decisive, leaving no room for maneuver.

"That... is Prince Rui?!" Luo Zhaohan's thoughts raced, realizing that the man was possessed by deep thoughts. "He sensed that the Crown Princess or you were planning to make trouble for the Emperor's eldest grandson, so he set up this scheme to conceal his intentions? To confuse the public?"

"It wasn't his order."

The answer was completely blocked. Luo Zhaohan's voice stopped abruptly, as if an invisible hand had grabbed his throat.

A thought that was colder, more absurd, yet closer to the truth suddenly flooded over my heart like black water.

She looked at Pei Ji, her voice trembling slightly with a huge chill: "Could it be... the Crown Princess?!"

Who else but her could so easily order the emperor's grandson, who trusted her the most?! But... that was her lifeblood!

In the charcoal basin, a piece of heated charcoal suddenly exploded, splashing a few sparks, illuminating the icy determination in Pei Ji's eyes.

He nodded slightly, a movement that was extremely small but carried a weight of great significance: "The Crown Princess cherishes the Emperor's grandson as if he were her life, but she is not the kind of person who dotes on him excessively." His words were calm, but they lifted a heavy curtain.

"The truth behind the flower viewing banquet is revealed. It concerns the Prince of Jin's evil scheme, her own reputation, and even more so, the secret of the Prince of Rui's past love affair that lured her into his trap..."

Pei Ji's voice deepened. "She didn't dare, nor could she rashly tell His Royal Highness the Imperial Grandson. First, she was afraid that His Royal Highness was still young and immature, and would blame himself too much after learning about such a sinister act, which would damage his foundation. Second, she was afraid that it would bring up Prince Rui's past, the treasonous request to marry your majesty's sister-in-law, and put His Royal Highness in a dilemma between his late father, the Crown Prince, and his own good reputation. Filthy words would only blaspheme the deity of his late father in His Royal Highness's heart."

This heavy shackle makes all the truths become taboo.

"However, His Royal Highness..." Pei Ji raised his eyes, his gaze seeming to penetrate the wall, falling on the small figure in the distant warm room with a calm scrutiny, "He is becoming more and more like his father. He is kind, generous, and far-sighted, but lacks vigilance and cunning. He is not at all wary of his uncle, the Prince of Jin, who has been close to him since he was a child, teaching him lessons and telling him stories about the late Crown Prince. He respects him, trusts him, and relies on him."

The innocent trust of a child is vulnerable to the monstrous power struggle, but it is deadly enough.

"If the Crown Princess suddenly accuses him now, the Prince of Jin can simply say, 'The Crown Princess is driven mad by past love, inciting a rebellion among the royal family.' Your Highness... who should you believe?" This is an unbreakable and fatal trap. Without irrefutable evidence, it will only push the child into deeper pain and the arms of his enemy.

"The dilemma is difficult to resolve. She has no choice but to seek advice from Master Chu."

Pei Ji's voice pulled Luo Zhaohan's thoughts back from the cold political calculations.

"Master Chu agreed to set up the game using this method."

Pei Ji's eyes reflected the dim candlelight in the duty room, as if reflecting the bright lights in the Crown Princess's bedroom that night. "However, Master Chu has issued a clear order: The Crown Princess must not be personally involved in this! The person who set up this scheme must be the outsider that the Emperor's grandson trusts the most, is closest to him, and has absolutely no intention of harming him. No matter how the plan goes, the Emperor's grandson will ultimately attribute it to the work of an external enemy, not the deception of his closest relatives."

"So..." Luo Zhaohan already understood, his voice dry, "Master Zezhong?"

"Yes." Pei Ji responded, his tone neither sad nor happy.

"The person closest to His Royal Highness the Grandson... is you?" The shock in Luo Zhaohan's eyes still remained.

Pei Ji is a man with a cold and murderous aura. Even if he has extraordinary talent, how can he be someone that an innocent child can rely on and get close to?

"He has been weak and sickly since childhood, and is particularly afraid of the bitter taste of medicine." Pei Ji's eyes dropped slightly, landing on his slender but bony fingers. "The maids who feed medicine to the East Palace are all selected and rotated by the Crown Princess herself. Only I..."

He paused imperceptibly. "When the medicine was brought to his bedside, although he was afraid, he rarely cried or struggled. Even when he was forced to drink it, he managed to hold it in."

This abnormal trust became the core fulcrum of the plan.

Cold fragments of memory swirled in Pei Ji's mind, finally freezing—the Crown Princess held out a humble dark green brocade pouch and placed it on the table. "This medicine is called 'Ku Rong' and has a very slow effect. It takes effect three quarters of an hour to take. Symptoms include a slight intoxication, flushed face, hot body, and slight weakness in the hands and feet, but the mind remains clear. There is no underlying damage. I've already ordered the antidote to be prepared; it only requires hot water to boil quickly."

She raised her eyes, filled with bottomless pain and a desperate determination.

"Your Highness's gift..." Pei Ji took the brocade bag, which was as heavy as iron.

"So, His Royal Highness the Grandson's bowl of lotus seed tea."

The flame of the charcoal basin flickered as Pei Ji narrated, just like his heartbeat that was sometimes near and sometimes far away.

"...It's not even three quarters of an hour yet, and the antidote is still in my sleeve..." Pei Ji's voice was flat, but the taut skin on the side of his neck was already oozing with a thin layer of sweat. "Prince Rui and his wife, accompanied by the young crown prince, suddenly visited the side hall of the East Palace without any notice."

"His Royal Highness was extremely delighted with the new little cousin. He immediately grabbed the hem of my robe and begged with his little face raised: 'Master Pei! Master Pei! Please stay and play with Ye'er and my brother! Okay?'"

Children's earnest expectations are like the softest and most unbreakable chains.

The antidote in his sleeve was cold and hard. However, Princess Rui's considerate greetings and Prince Rui's seemingly unintentional probing words were like tape delaying time, firmly pinning Pei Ji to the spot and making him unable to move.

The power of the medicine quietly flowed through the blood and burned the meridians inch by inch during this conversation that seemed peaceful on the surface but was actually tormenting inside.

The heat was like dense ants, climbing up from the depths of Dantian and spreading to every part of the body.

Cold sweat soaked through his inner clothes, barely staying under the cover of his scarlet official robe.

The little prince finally got tired of the adults' conversation, ran over and threw himself into Pei Ji's arms, curiously lying on his trembling knees.

The innocent little face that resembled the prince looked up with an expression of unaware concern. A pair of clear, bright eyes blinked in confusion, and a small finger curiously touched Pei Ji's cheek, which was so close and already stained with a faint red.

"Master Pei..." The child's voice was tender and clear, with an air of unguarded dependence. "Why is your face... so red? It's like Daddy... is drunk! Are you... sick?"

The warm little hand pressed against the hot skin brought a sharp, almost cruel contrast.

Pei Ji lowered his head slightly and looked into the clear eyes of the child in his arms.

The child's breath brushed against his jaw, carrying a pure scent. The drug power churning deep within his body was like a raging underworld river, enveloping him in a burning sensation that was gradually spiraling out of control despite his lucidity, pushing him into a dire situation.

Sweat slid down his temples and fell onto the front of his scarlet official robe, which had already been soaked with cold sweat.

The deep wet marks were so dark that they were almost ink-colored.