It was the end of April, the perfect time for all flowers to bloom. Luoyang’s local flowers were the best, and peonies were the most unique in the world. [1]
The Prince Mu's Palace was built magnificently and occupies a very large area. The back garden was even more beautifully built. The rockery and rocks were all Taihu stones specially transported from the south of the Yangtze River. Various kinds of precious flowers and trees were cared for by top gardeners. The pond was clear and green, and the golden-red koi were raised fat and big. The fish of rich families were healthier than the children of poor families.
When Tao Ti's carriage arrived at Prince Mu's Palace, a group of female officials from Luoyang City, led by Prince Mu's wife, lined up in an orderly manner to greet them at the door.
Today, Tao Ti was dressed very dignified and gorgeous. She wore a gemstone blue woven silver silk peony flower jacket, paired with a milky white silk floor-length skirt. Her long hair was tied up in a cross bun, and she wore a set of jade jewelry of extremely fine water color. She also wore a gold-pinched jade and red gold double-headed Qufengbu sandal. The delicate tassels swayed with her movements, rippling with fine golden light.
She was young, but the calm and composed look between her eyebrows could overshadow the sapphire blue dress she was wearing.
When she stood still, the female relatives bowed respectfully and said, "Your servants/daughters pay their respects to the Crown Princess. May the Crown Princess be safe and sound."
Tao Ti was held by Linglong, and raised one hand, smiling gently, "No need to be polite, everyone, please stand up."
Everyone stood up. Princess Mu was also wearing a dark red dress with peony patterns today. She came to Tao Ti with a smile and said warmly, "It is a great honor for the Crown Princess to come to our house. The flower hall has prepared good tea. Please come in and sit down and chat slowly."
Seeing how friendly she was, Tao Ti smiled and nodded to her, and then, surrounded by a group of women dressed in their best, she slowly walked to the flower hall in the backyard.
Along the way, Princess Mu and several wives of high-ranking officials kept chattering in her ears, praising Taoti's dress, praising how honored they were that Taoti could come to the banquet, and praising how beautiful and gorgeous the peonies in Luoyang were...
Tao Ti always had a polite smile on her face, agreeing from time to time, but her eyes were silently examining the decoration of Prince Mu's Mansion.
Tsk, it is really magnificent and not inferior to the Luoyang Palace at all.
I heard that Prince Mu has been the governor of Luoyang for twenty years. I guess he must have plundered a lot of the people's money in these twenty years to have all these luxurious things in front of us.
After arriving at the flower hall, Tao Ti and Princess Mu sat in the seats of honor, while the others were seated according to the official positions of their husbands or fathers and brothers.
Faced with a room full of strange women, Tao Ti felt a little socially anxious.
Fortunately, she had prepared herself mentally before coming, and was able to maintain her gentle persona and greet them.
After drinking a cup of refreshing Lushan Yunwu tea in the flower hall, Princess Mu led the whole room to the back garden to appreciate the flowers.
Butterflies fluttered among the flowers. Willows swayed by the lake, and when the wind blew, their green reflections spread across the lake, creating ripples.
I have to say that the peonies in Luoyang are indeed beautiful, with large and elegant flowers.
Moreover, the garden of Prince Mu’s Mansion is full of extremely outstanding treasures, such as the four famous brands of Yao Huang, Wei Zi, Zhao Fen, and Ou Bi, which need not be explained in detail. The most amazing thing is that there is a pot of snow-white peonies with two stems in the Palace of Prince Mu. The stamens are light golden yellow, and the overlapping petals are piled up like snow. The whole flower is so charming and beautiful that it stands out among all the flowers.
Tao Ti appreciated the scene with joy. In her previous life, she had traveled to Luoyang and had been to the local peony flower show. However, there were too many people at the attraction, some taking photos, some recording short videos, some posting to their Moments... It was crowded and noisy, and there was no chance for her to have a leisurely and relaxed mood at all.
After all, it was the ancient nobles who knew how to enjoy life.
As she thought about this, the young noble ladies not far away had already organized various entertainment activities, such as hitting balls, archery, and grass throwing. Bursts of laughter like silver bells floated in the wind.
Princess Mu is thirty-five years old this year. She has a long face and looks a little bitter, but the smile on her face has never disappeared since Tao Ti entered the door.
She held Tao Ti's hand affectionately to appreciate the flowers, without any awkwardness, acting like a good aunt, and chatting enthusiastically about family matters.
Seeing that they were having fun, she asked Tao Ti kindly, "Crown Princess, do you want to join us?"
Tao Ti was not very interested in those things and declined with a smile, "No, let them play. If I go over, they will be restrained and will not be able to play comfortably."
Princess Mu did not force her and pulled her aside to continue chatting.
At noon, Princess Mu prepared a peony banquet. The dishes at the banquet were extremely exquisite, and the dishes were arranged like traditional Chinese paintings.
These dishes were either made into the shape of peony flowers or used peonies directly in the dishes. When they were served on the table, the female family members all had expressions of amazement on their faces and were full of praise.
Princess Mu's eyes flashed with satisfaction, and she smiled humbly, "You all come to my house, so of course I have to entertain you well, not to mention that the Crown Princess has come from afar and is visiting my house for the first time, so I cannot neglect her..."
At this point, she turned her head and looked at Tao Ti, "I wonder if the Crown Princess is satisfied with these dishes?"
Tao Ti smiled slightly and said softly, "The princess is thoughtful."
She picked up the chopsticks and picked up a piece of yellow peony made of fish fillets. The fish fillets were cut as thin as cicada wings. After being fried, they were golden in color and served with a fragrant and glossy sauce. They were crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, fresh and delicious.
Seeing her pick up her chopsticks, the rest of the people also picked up their chopsticks and started eating.
After enjoying the carefully prepared Peony Banquet, the group went to listen to an opera.
Watching the humming and humming performance on the stage, Tao Ti propped up her head in boredom, wondering what Pei Yan had eaten at noon. The sun was quite strong outside, would he get tanned in the suburbs?
Before going to bed yesterday, he seemed to have told her something...
As she was thinking back, Princess Mu turned around from across a small table, smiling and asking with concern, "The Crown Princess doesn't like this play, so why not change it?"
Tao Ti was slightly startled, then came to her senses and said with a smile, "No need, this play is quite well acted."
After hearing what she said, Princess Mu also understood. She slowly put away the playlist and said with a look of annoyance, "I was negligent. If I had known that you, Crown Princess, didn't like to listen to plays, I should have arranged a polo match."
She paused, her annoyed expression subsided and turned into a gentle smile, "But I have arranged a pleasure boat for tonight, and also booked a banquet at Yipinzhai. When the time comes, we can enjoy the night view of the Luo River while tasting delicious food and fine wine. We can also find a few skilled musicians from the Jiaofangsi to play the piano and sing. It will definitely be more interesting than this."
When Tao Ti first heard Princess Mu's description, she was still very yearning, but -
She wrinkled her thin eyebrows and smiled shyly, "Thank you for your kindness, Princess. But I may not be able to go on this night cruise."
The smile on Princess Mu's face froze instantly, and her pupils shrank twice.
Soon, she recovered, but the smile on her face had obviously faded a lot. "Why not? A night cruise on the Luo River is a unique pleasure. I don't know when you will come to Luoyang next time. It would be a pity if you miss it this time."
Seeing her expression change, Tao Ti felt a little embarrassed. After thinking for a moment, he explained softly, "I still have some things to deal with in the palace. It's really inconvenient today..."
Princess Mu narrowed her eyes, her smile not reaching her eyes. "What's so urgent? I prepared this pleasure boat especially for you, Crown Princess. It really took me a lot of effort."
Seeing her hospitality, Tao Ti felt a tingling sensation on her scalp for some reason. Thinking of Pei Yan's instructions last night, she could only bite the bullet and go along with it.
Princess Mu was about to persuade her again, but suddenly, a well-dressed woman ran over in a hurry, shouting, "Princess, Princess, something bad has happened!"
Princess Mu frowned, very dissatisfied with the servant's rudeness. She frowned and said coldly, "Mr. Zhao, you are so anxious, you are bringing shame to our Prince Mu's Mansion!"
The old woman ran out of breath, bowed to Princess Mu, and cried with a sad face, "Princess, it's the prince... the prince is not well!"
When she heard the word "Prince", Princess Mu's face changed immediately, her beautiful eyes widened, and she asked loudly, "Prince, what's wrong? What do you mean by bad? Hurry up and explain yourself!"
The old woman stammered, "The prince brought a woman back from outside, but who knew that woman was an assassin. She held scissors, scissors..."
The old woman stopped talking and glanced at the distinguished guests present in a panic.
The play on the stage had stopped long ago, and now the ladies and noblewomen from various mansions were all looking over here eagerly to see the excitement.
When Princess Mu heard the words "assassin" and "scissors", she couldn't bear it. Then she saw the old woman's embarrassed look, and many terrible guesses instantly popped up in her mind.
"Where is Xuan'er now?!"
"The prince is in his own courtyard."
"Let's go, let's go..." Princess Mu's face turned pale. She didn't even bother to pay attention to the distinguished guests in the West Garden and staggered out.
She only has this one precious son. She almost risked her life to give birth to him. She has loved him like the apple of her eye since he was a child. He is her only hope in this life!
If anything happened to her Xuan'er, she would not be able to live!
In the West Garden, the guests looked at each other in bewilderment.
Finally, they all turned their attention to Tao Ti, who had the highest status.
Taoti, "..."
This happened so suddenly that she was a little overwhelmed!
She pinched her fingers and encouraged herself in her heart, don't panic when encountering things, stay calm first...
If they don't leave now, the host will be too busy to take care of them.
But if she left directly, firstly, it would be impolite not to say goodbye to the host; secondly, she had some relatives relationship with Prince Mu's Mansion. The cousin of the "assassinated" young master Pei Yan was also her cousin in name. It was reasonable for her to go and see him.
After thinking quickly, Tao Ti slowly raised her head and said in a calm tone, "The princess has household chores to attend to, so I'm afraid it will be difficult for her to entertain you all... It's getting late now, so you all should go back first..."
When the ladies heard this, they all agreed and dispersed in twos and threes.
There were, however, several wives of high-ranking officials, who must have had a good personal relationship with Princess Mu, and did not leave. Instead, they came forward with worried looks on their faces.
Among them, the slightly wealthy one wearing a silver-gray dress was Mrs. Fu Yin. She said to Tao Ti with a sincere expression, "Crown Princess, let us go with you to see what's going on? If anything happens, we can also comfort the princess."
Tao Ti thought that it would be better to take them along so that she wouldn't have to go there and not know how to comfort Princess Mu.
So he nodded and agreed, "Okay, let's go and take a look."
——
There was great noise in Huiya Courtyard.
The scene was extremely chaotic with the men's screams of pain, the women's vicious curses, suppressed cries and unbridled and crazy laughter.
As soon as Tao Ti and his companions rushed to the door, they saw chaos in the house. The air was filled with a strange sweet fragrance mixed with a faint smell of blood.
When Linglong smelled the scent, she showed an alert expression and immediately took a handkerchief and handed it to Taoti, "Crown Princess, there is aphrodisiac incense burning in the room."
As soon as these words were spoken, the other ladies immediately covered their mouths and noses, frowning tightly.
"Oh, mother, it hurts so much--" This is a weak male voice.
"Xuan'er, my dear son, please bear with it for a while, the doctor will be here soon!" This was the voice of Princess Mu.
Suddenly, the tone of his voice changed and became extremely fierce, "How dare you, you murderous bastard, do such a cruel thing to my son! Tie this bastard up tightly for me, I will cut her into pieces and relieve my hatred!"
Afterwards, a clear and cute laugh rang out, "Come on, kill! Since I dared to sneak into the palace, I have already put life and death aside! Although I cannot take the life of this beast, I will castrate him, and from now on he will be a useless person... Hahahahaha, the dignified Prince Mu has become a castrated person from now on! It feels so good, so good!"
"Bitch, you damn bitch!!"
Princess Mu was furious. She stepped forward and slapped him twice on the left and right. The two slaps were particularly loud.
The woman was still laughing, her laughter was wild and fearless.
Princess Mu's chest was heaving violently, her hands were hurting, and she pointed at the woman who was pinned to the ground and shouted hysterically, "Someone, someone! Now, drag this bastard out for me, beat her, beat her to death with a stick!"
Tao Ti, who was standing at the door and listening for a while, also heard some clues.
Just as she was about to step forward, the prefect's wife looked at him with a startled expression and whispered, "Crown Princess, how about we just leave first?"
The other ladies also nodded, "Yes, yes."
When they first came to see him, 70% of their reason was curiosity, 30% was to see if there was a chance to curry favor with Princess Mu, and as for "genuine concern", there was none at all.
I thought it was just an ordinary assassination, but I didn't expect to hear such a shocking secret as "Prince Mu has become a useless man" as soon as I arrived.
This is not something these people can listen to!
Tao Ti glanced at them calmly and said, "If you want to leave, go ahead. I have to go in and take a look."
With that, she strode in.
The further we went inside, the stronger the smell of blood became. The windows on both sides were wide open, but the smell still did not dissipate.
Lying on the bed was a dishevelled young man, about twenty years old, with a decent appearance, but his face was pale and his eyes were dark. It was obvious that he was addicted to alcohol and sex, and his body was hollowed out.
Of course, excessive blood loss was also an important reason. Tao Ti glanced at the blood-stained quilt on his body.
Princess Mu sat on the edge of the bed, not at all the dignified and gentle look she had at the beginning. Her eyes were red and her face was evil.
On the ground nearby, two strong slaves were holding down a young girl.
The girl looked to be only fifteen or sixteen years old. Although her cheeks were red and swollen from being slapped, she still looked pretty. Her black hair was disheveled, she was only wearing a thin undershirt, and her hands were stained with blood.
Seeing Tao Ti coming in, Princess Mu was a little surprised. She was ashamed that this ugly thing was known to her, and she was also annoyed that she had not had time to take action against her, but this happened in her family first.
The double blow made her feel terrible!
She looked at Tao Ti, not wanting to pretend to be polite. She just frowned and said impatiently, "Crown Princess, the room is dirty and bloody. You should leave first, so as not to disturb you. I am sorry for not hosting you well today. I will come to your house to apologize with a gift someday."
Tao Ti glanced at the prince lying on the bed and said to Princess Mu, "Princess, the prince's injury..."
Princess Mu was unwilling to talk more and said solemnly, "Thank you for your concern, Crown Princess. I have called the doctor."
Tao Ti hummed calmly, her eyes fell on the girl on the ground again, and she frowned and said, "Then how does the princess plan to deal with this...assassin?"
Princess Mu gnashed her teeth and said, "This bastard dared to hurt my son. His crime is extremely heinous. He should be dragged out and beaten to death!"
"Extremely evil? Hahahahaha, I'm extremely evil? The extremely evil one is the beast on the bed!"
The girl who was pinned to the ground had blood flowing from the corner of her mouth, but she was desperate and cursed angrily without feeling any pain, "Kill to pay for life, this beast robbed my sister and tortured her to death, he deserves to die! He has more than one life on his hands. Over the past few years, I don't know how many innocent girls have died in his hands. This beast is worse than pigs and dogs, it is not a pity for him to die a hundred times!"
Princess Mu was like a cat whose tail was stepped on. She exploded, "Shut up! Quick, drag her away and cut off her tongue!"
The girl was still cursing, "I just hate that I wasn't quick enough and the scissors didn't have time to pierce his throat! Pei Jianxuan, you sinful beast, even if I turn into a ghost, I will not let you go!"
The man on the bed, who had lost too much blood, cursed angrily and powerlessly, "Bitch, bitch, mother, kill her for me!"
Seeing that the two servants were about to drag the girl away, Tao Ti winked at Linglong.
Linglong immediately understood and stepped forward to stop the two servants.
Princess Mu was startled, and the girl on the ground was also shocked. Everyone in the room looked at Tao Ti.
Princess Mu's face was ashen, "Crown Princess, what do you mean by this?"
Tao Ti's usually gentle face was now gloomy, and she said in a rare serious tone, "Princess, if this woman is really a vicious assassin, I will definitely not intervene. But now it seems that this is not a simple assassination, but a hidden story."
She lowered her eyes, staring at the girl on the ground with her clear eyes, and asked, "Did he really kill your sister? And you just said that he also killed other girls? Do you have any evidence?"
The girl widened her eyes and looked at the gentle and beautiful woman in front of her, as if she saw a beam of light shining into the dark hell.
She came back to her senses and nodded hurriedly, "Really, it's true! My name is Xia Sang, my sister's name is Xia Wei, we are from Hexin Village outside Luoyang City, my parents died early, my sister and I depend on each other for survival, and have been making a living by selling embroidery. On the eighth day of last month, we went to the city to sell embroidery, and my sister was spotted by this beast, who snatched her back to the mansion on the street... I went to report to the authorities, but the government didn't care and drove me out. I went to their homes to look for them, but they drove me out..."
"I went through a lot of trouble to find out, and finally found out that my sister was whipped to death by that beast because she refused to obey him that night!"
At this point, tears rolled down the girl's dark eyes and she sobbed, "My sister died such a tragic death. I heard that her skin was torn to pieces, and there was not a single piece of good flesh left. Her body was thrown into a dry well in the backyard of the palace! Princess, everything I said is true. If I lied, I will be struck by lightning and die a miserable death!"
Hearing such tears and sobbing, Tao Ti's heart became heavy.
She clenched her fingers. If what the girl said was true, then this prince deserved it! Retribution!
She glanced at the girl, then looked up at Princess Mu and said in a calm voice, "Princess, I'm afraid you can't deal with this person privately."
Princess Mu's eyes suddenly turned cold, "Crown Princess, I advise you not to interfere in this matter..."
Seeing the sinister look of Princess Mu, Tao Ti couldn't help but narrow her eyes. It seemed that Princess Mu was not a good person either. Maybe she had already known about the evil things her son had done?
A mother protects her children, and she understands that this is a mother's nature.
But when a mother protects her child to the point of confusing right and wrong and confusing right and wrong, it shows that the mother herself has character problems.
Tao Ti took a deep breath and her tone turned cold. "If I hadn't encountered this, I wouldn't care. But if I didn't care after this, I'm afraid I won't be able to sleep tonight!"
Princess Mu's eyes flashed with a cold murderous intent. She said sternly, "If the Crown Princess insists on having her own way, don't blame me for not giving you face. Someone, send the Crown Princess out!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a group of servants and maids ran in from outside the door.
Princess Mu forced a smile on her face and gave her last courtesy, "Please come in, Crown Princess. I won't see you off - don't refuse a toast and then drink a penalty wine."
Looking at the group of people with bad intentions in the house, Tao Ti bit her lip nervously, and her heart beat rapidly in her chest.
She finally realized what it meant that a strong dragon could not defeat a local snake. Although her status as the Crown Princess was high, she was outnumbered and weak on someone else's territory, and she was too passive.
What should I do? What should I do now?
There were only two of them, she and Linglong, so it was very difficult to take the girl away.
But if he left first and then called for help, the girl would have died long ago.
Just when she was extremely anxious and at a loss, a familiar voice suddenly rang out from the door, "Who are you going to invite to drink the punishment wine, Princess?"
Everyone in the room was startled and looked towards the door.
In the backlight, Pei Yan, wearing a dark blue silk robe, strode in, with a hint of a smile on his handsome face.
As soon as she saw him, Princess Mu's face turned pale.
Pei Yanjing walked straight to Tao Ti and stood beside her. He lowered his head, his deep black eyes filled with tenderness. "Don't be afraid, A Ti. I am here."