Chapter 506: with translation of chapter title

"What person?" the Feather Forest Guard's angry shout shattered the heavy night, making listeners' heartstrings tremble.

Gu Nanxiang steeled herself, took out the piece of jade token she had kept belonging to Xiao Ting, and held it up before the Feather Forest Guard.

"I seek the Crown Prince; I have an important matter to report!"

The Feather Forest Guard looked at the delicate-looking scholar before him, then glanced at the jade token in her hand, and his expression shifted slightly.

The jade token was made of fine mutton-fat jade, carved with intricate patterns, and the back bore Xiao Ting's name.

It was two years ago when she and Xiao Ting discussed how to keep Gu Jiu Ling from pestering him and gracefully decline the emperor's bestowed marriage.

Xiao Ting gave her the jade token to use as a token, so that when she contacted people at the Crown Prince's residence, she could act accordingly.

After the matter was settled, she did not return the jade token to Xiao Ting, and Xiao Ting did not ask for it back, so Gu Nanxiang kept it close to her person.

Even after encountering many setbacks later, she never parted with the jade token; even when she was destitute and captured by traffickers, she kept it close to her body, preferring to be beaten to death rather than let it go.

Now the jade token has long been cracked, suffered countless blows, and is missing a piece.

She held aloft the shattered jade token, as if clutching her last lifeline.

She was so nervous she almost cried, her voice trembling slightly: "Look, look carefully—this bears the Crown Prince's name!"

"I truly have urgent business with the Crown Prince! Please, big brother, pass word for me! I beg you!"

Gu Nanxiang knelt before the Feather Forest Guard, who furrowed his brow, took the jade token, and told the few people nearby: "Watch her; I'll go report inside."

Those few promptly replied, and Gu Nanxiang waited anxiously outside, feeling this moment drag on endlessly, as if she might faint.

After a long while, the Feather Forest Guard emerged, his expression now more respectful, and he bowed with clasped hands to Gu Nanxiang: "Your Highness, please go inside."

Gu Nanxiang's face instantly lit up with joy, her heart leaping.

She knew Xiao Ting would not ignore her; he would surely see her.

After all, the past affection remained; her excited eyes reddened slightly as she followed the Feather Forest Guard into the annex.

The annex's courtyard was vast, with gardens nested within gardens, exquisite and delicate.

Winding through the deep corridors, they went to the innermost part; passing the rear hall led to a secluded courtyard.

Gu Nanxiang entered cautiously, and the Feather Forest Guard, having escorted her there, withdrew.

The courtyard was empty; as Gu Nanxiang stepped inside, a bang sounded behind her—the gate was shut heavily and even locked.

Gu Nanxiang gasped, turned and hurried to the door, only to hear footsteps receding outside.

She panicked at once, finally sensing something was wrong.

"Your Highness? Crown Prince? I am Xiang'er!"

Gu Nanxiang's heart gradually turned cold; no, it couldn't be; certainly not.

Xiao Ting would never be so childish as to joke with her in such an unfunny way.

She cautiously headed toward the main hall; the courtyard was surrounded by walls about ten feet high, making escape impossible even if she wanted to.

Gu Nanxiang could only steel herself and walk toward the only open door of the main hall, which held a simple Eight Immortals table and chairs, with incense candles as thick as a child's arm burning on the table.

Gu Nanxiang now had no way out; though terrified, she sensed she might have fallen into a trap, yet she still clung to a faint hope.

Perhaps the Crown Prince really was inside.

Earlier she had guarded the hall entrance for a long time, clearly seeing Xiao Ting come and go amid a retinue; she would not mistake him.

Those brows and eyes were Xiao Ting's—how could she be wrong?

"Your Highness?" Gu Nanxiang leaned on the doorframe and stepped in cautiously, only to discover that the wall opposite was covered with paintings.

The paintings resembled a group portrait; looking closely, they depicted townsfolk, each with pallid faces and dazed expressions, as if plague-stricken, their features grotesque from suffering.

At the bottom of the paintings lay a full layer of dead rats, making the whole scene horrifying to behold.

Gu Nanxiang broke out in a cold sweat, suddenly realizing something.

The idea of scattering dead rats in the town along Xiao Yin's route to Yangzhou to spark an epidemic had been hers.

"No… no…" Gu Nanxiang stammered, backing away repeatedly, whispering.

Xiao Ting knew nothing of the plague; even if he did, he would not paint those who died of it on this wall.

"Gu Jiu Ling! Gu Jiu Ling!!" Gu Nanxiang suddenly shrieked like a madwoman; just as she turned to flee, an iron net dropped from above and trapped her tightly.

The iron net was the same poison-coated net that had attacked Gu Jiu Ling, Xiao Yin, and others in the forest outside the village; this time its poisonous barbs all pierced Gu Nanxiang's body, causing her to scream in pain before passing out.

When she awoke again, she found she could not move a muscle, realizing the poison on the net was not an ordinary toxin but a substance that paralyzed the body, turning her into a living corpse.

Only her throat could still produce sound; trying to crawl up from the ground was impossible, so she resigned herself to lying flat, utterly immobile.

All around was pitch black, save for a palm-sized window high in the wall through which feeble, fragmented light seeped, faintly illuminating a vague figure seated in the room's center.

Gu Nanxiang's voice finally stirred the figure; she slowly turned her face, her long hair spilling over her shoulders and obscuring it, revealing two black eye sockets.

"Ah!!" Gu Nanxiang screamed, desperately trying to crawl away, but her body would not move.

In the end, she realized all that remained was a feeble scream.

"You… you… are you Zheng Yan?"

How could Gu Nanxiang fail to recognize Zheng Yan?

Initially, Zheng Yan fell out of favor with Cao Mao Lin due to a dispute between the Zheng and Cao clans; Cao Mao Lin, recalling their childhood friendship, merely neglected her, without depriving her of food, clothing, or necessities.

How could this be?

Gu Nanxiang knew that to rise, she could not let Zheng Yan go.

Back then, the Cao clan sought to swallow the Zheng clan's territory, proposing this marriage; the Zheng clan, having no choice, hoped the alliance would preserve them, but still underestimated Cao's ambition.

Even her own daughter became a pawn in Cao Mao Lin's hands; Gu Nanxiang seized on the Zheng–Cao rivalry to sow discord between the couple.

Until Cao Mao Lin, because of a secret ledger the Zheng clan kept, grew ever harsher toward Zheng Yan, and despite Gu Nanxiang's provocations, he searched her quarters and found a doll cursing him, finally inflaming the conflict completely.

Zheng Yan's tendons were severed by Gu Nanxiang herself wielding a blade; unwilling to see this woman's stubborn bones stay silent even under such torment, she had her locked in a secret chamber.

Sometimes, to further humiliate her, Gu Nanxiang would lock Zheng Yan aside while she slept with Cao Mao Lin; later she would berate them both as shameless.

Cao Mao Lin then gouged out Zheng Yan's eyes and cut off her tongue.

This time, Zheng Yan slowly crawled over to Gu Nanxiang. Although she couldn't move her hand, her wrist was bound with a sharp dagger, which glinted with a cold chill in the hazy daylight.

"Don't come over! Don't come over!!" Gu Nanxiang completely collapsed at that moment.