"Your Highness!" A palace maid with lowered eyes and a brocade box in her hands walked into the Crown Prince's room and said to him.

"Speak!" The crown prince, with his hair disheveled, had barely slept a wink all night. He got up early this morning but refused to comb his hair or change his clothes, instead drinking in his palace in his nightgown, his hair still loose.

Last night, after A Bao spoke with the Crown Prince again, the Crown Prince was furious. He ordered A Bao to be dragged away and given thirty lashes, then thrown into his own room without any medicine, leaving him to fend for himself.

Xiao Quanzi secretly slipped some silver to other eunuchs to deliver medicine to A Bao. He then went to serve the Crown Prince and noticed that the Crown Prince seemed to be acting strangely.

All night, the Crown Prince verbally abused and beat Xiao Quanzi, even pouring wine on him and forcing him to lick it clean from the ground. Xiao Quanzi couldn't understand how the Crown Prince had become so mad; it was a terrifying night for him.

By this time in the morning, the Crown Prince seemed to have finally come to his senses. He stood with his hands behind his back and spoke to the young servant.

"This is a letter from Lord Shi, delivered by carrier pigeon," the palace servant said, still keeping his head down.

The crown prince immediately turned his face, stared at the brocade box he was holding with both hands, snatched it from his hands, and then waved for him to leave.

The Crown Prince opened the brocade box, revealing a folded little piece of paper inside. Xiao Quanzi, standing behind the Crown Prince, glanced at it; it seemed to be the kind of small piece of paper taken from a carrier pigeon's leg, and it was still bound with thin thread.

The prince's hands were somewhat hasty; he picked up the tiny crumpled piece of paper and then threw the box away.

Xiao Quanzi wanted to see what was written on the note, but the Crown Prince wouldn't let him. The handwriting was too small to read.

The prince's posture was somewhat strange; he remained in that position, as if he were reading a note.

Before Xiao Quanzi could speak, the Crown Prince suddenly turned around, his loose nightgown billowing in the breeze as he made his exaggerated gesture.

"Help me change my clothes!" The Crown Prince revealed a strange smile. Xiao Quanzi frowned, quickly took a few steps back, and called in the palace servants waiting outside to attend to him.

After the Crown Prince changed and washed, he led some of the palace guards out towards the Qianqing Palace. Shi Bingde had just sent back a message saying the plan had worked and that the Crown Prince should hurry to the Qianqing Palace to retrieve the imperial seal.

Before leaving, the Crown Prince had already sent someone to inform his men in the Imperial Guards to quickly assemble at the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

The Crown Prince had never walked with such a brisk pace; he had waited far too long for this day. Last night, A Bao came to him and said that his father, the Emperor, had never left the palace. To make him stop all his plans was utterly insane. He said that the first thing he would do after ascending the throne was to show him whether he had made any mistakes.

A group of armored guards escorted the Crown Prince, rushing towards the Qianqing Palace. They were all the Crown Prince's confidants and naturally understood what he was about to do. They had staked their entire families' lives on him. If the Crown Prince succeeded, they would have rendered meritorious service; if he failed, they and their entire families would be beheaded.

Meanwhile, at a side gate of the inner palace, a line of armored soldiers poured in. They marched in orderly steps, assembling from the passageway between the concubines' chambers toward the Qianqing Palace.

In Yanxi Palace, Consort Rong, having aged and lost her beauty, was no longer favored by Emperor Kangxi, so she was not taken on this hunting trip. She herself was also in poor health, frequently falling ill, and the smell of medicine still lingered in the palace.

"Your Highness!" A round-faced palace maid rushed in and addressed Consort Rong.

"Hui Rong, what's wrong? Why are you so hasty? Can't you see that Her Highness is tending to the Buddha?" An older nanny, standing behind Consort Rong, scolded the round-faced palace maid.

"Your Majesty, outside, outside! A huge wave of soldiers suddenly rushed past!" Hui Rong, clearly unaccustomed to such a sight, cried out in panic. She was merely a palace maid who had only been in the palace for two years; naturally, she had never seen so many soldiers in the inner palace.

"Why are you making such a fuss? As long as they don't come into our palace, what's it to you?" the old woman continued to scold.

“But, Granny, this is the inner palace, how can they get in?” Hui Rong said.

“They have their reasons for coming. There’s no need to panic,” Consort Rong finally said.

"Look, did you hear that? Even Her Majesty said so. Things aren't peaceful in the palace right now; anything can happen. We should close the palace gates and not concern ourselves with what's happening outside," the nanny said.

Hui Rong nodded quickly and said, "Yes, this servant will go and tell them to close the palace gates."

"Your Majesty, the Emperor is not here right now!" the nanny suddenly said, as if she had just remembered something.

Consort Rong closed her eyes, holding a long string of Buddhist prayer beads in her hand, and said, "His Majesty always surprises us!"

Meanwhile, the Crown Prince arrived at the gates of the Qianqing Palace with his entourage. The gates were tightly shut, and there was not a sound coming from within.