Chapter 79: Turning the Tables on an Army

Jingyu hastily lifted her skirt, hurried over to Shen Shuangning's side, knelt down, and took hold of her wrist.

Fresh blood slid down Shen Shuangning's wrist, quickly seeping into Jingyu's fingertips; the warm touch made one's heart tense.

Jingyu's breath caught, then she shouted sharply: "Quick! Quickly summon the imperial physician!"

The palace maids only then came to their senses, immediately running out to find the imperial physician.

Zhai Ji watched the scene before him, feeling his eyelids twitch nonstop, a surge of regret welling up in his heart.

Damn it, actually being played by this woman!

Shen Shuangning, however, seized the moment, quickly glanced at Zhai Ji; her eyes hid a hint of undetectable slyness, then instantly switched to a look of utter fright as she flung herself into Jingyu's embrace.

Like a frightened small beast desperately seeking shelter, her voice trembling with tears: "Princess Jingyu, I'm so scared… I, I really don't know what I've done to offend the Third Prince, yet he would treat me like this…"

When had Jingyu ever seen Shen Shuangning so helpless and fragile?

Jingyu's heart instantly surged with pity and anger, growing ever more certain: if not truly facing mortal danger, how could Ningning be this frightened?

And she had previously promised to protect her well, yet due to her carelessness she caused her injury!

Now Shen Shuangning's place in Jingyu's heart is already on par with the imperial brother, making her the person Jingyu trusts and is closest to.

Seeing the one she held dearest hurt like this by Zhai Ji, the last shred of Jingyu's reason had already been burned away by rage.

Thus.

The Princess Jingyu, who had always been docile and obedient before the imperial brother, never showing the slightest defiance, now lifted her head sharply, her gaze toward Zhai Ji filled with icy anger, and she issued him an eviction order without mercy.

"Ningning is my most important friend; no matter how great the imperial brother's reasons, he is not allowed to harm her even a single hair."

"Ningning will still be staying at Chang Le Gong for a while; I don't want her to feel uneasy here. Imperial brother, if you have nothing else, you needn't come again, and you must not cause her trouble. Jingyu truly does not want to fall out with the imperial brother."

Zhai Ji let out a scornful laugh, partly angry, partly finding it absurd.

Without another word, he glared viciously at Shen Shuangning, flicked his sleeves, turned, and strode away.

Shen Shuangning watched his disappearing figure, then turned her gaze to Jingyu, seeing her still clutching her fingers tightly, knuckles whitening, and even her shoulders trembling slightly.

Shen Shuangning slowly lowered her eyes, her long lashes casting a faint shadow beneath them.

Using Jingyu like this is a bit wrong, but in her previous life she had suffered plenty at Jingyu's hands; let's just consider it getting back a little compensation...

The imperial physician arrived quickly, carefully cleaned Shen Shuangning's wound, applied a hemostatic ointment, and then neatly wrapped it with clean white gauze.

"Imperial Physician Zheng, will Ningning's hand leave a scar?" Jingyu stared at the tightly bandaged wound, her voice full of urgency.

"This..." Imperial Physician Zheng's face showed difficulty as he hesitated in reply.

"Your Highness, rest assured, I will prescribe the best scar-removal ointment; applying it daily may gradually fade the scar. However… given the severity of the injury, I dare not guarantee it can disappear completely."

Upon hearing this, Jingyu's brows instantly knotted, guilt welling up in her heart.

She sharply raised her voice, tone unquestionable: "I don't care! You must find a way to make Ningning's hand whole again, not a single scar allowed! If you can't, I'll replace you right now!"

"With so many imperial physicians in the palace, how could you not find one who can treat this minor injury? What are you all kept for?"

Not to mention the imperial physicians, the palace maids and eunuchs of Chang Le Gong had never seen the princess fly into such a rage.

The imperial physician immediately dropped to his knees, trembling: "I will certainly do my utmost!"

After the imperial physician left, Jingyu applied an ice pack to Shen Shuangning's face, full of guilt: "Ningning, it's all my fault; I didn't know the imperial brother would treat you like this."

Shen Shuangning then said: "Your Highness, could you assign more personnel to the side hall where I reside? I am truly frightened."

Jingyu naturally agreed wholeheartedly.

Afterwards Shen Shuangning retreated to the side hall on the pretext of resting, and Jingyu did not disturb her.

Shen Shuangning flung herself onto the bed, burying her face deep in the warm, soft quilt, and let out a long breath.

After a day of maneuvering, she found it more exhausting than practicing archery on horseback for two hours; to say she was mentally and physically drained would be no exaggeration.

Ah Heng looked at her young lady's wounded wrist, face full of distress, thinking that the lady used a bitter ploy on Princess Jingyu, there was no need to be so harsh on herself.

All she wanted was to make the princess feel sorry, a light nick would have sufficed; instead she made it a bloody mess…

If Shen Shuangning knew Ah Heng's thoughts, she would surely laugh out loud.

This is far from merely scheming against Jingyu.

She had even factored in the two other men who mattered to her.

As for whether her hand would scar, she actually didn't care at all.

On the contrary, she felt that if a faint scar remained, it could constantly remind Jingyu, making that guilt more substantial—and that wouldn't be a bad thing.

After all, Zhai Ji and Jingyu are close siblings; if Zhai Ji used Jingyu to do something, this princess's companion would have no good days.

Even before entering the palace, she never imagined facing such a situation, having to guard against three men—truly a headache!

If another such incident occurred today, Shen Shuangning feared she would simply pack up and flee!

Fortunately, this day was nearly over...

Shen Shuangning didn't even lift her head, muttering: "Let me sleep a while; don't wake me for dinner."

Ah Heng responded with a yes.

Jingyu stood outside the door, hearing that Shen Shuangning was so frightened she couldn't eat, feeling both guilty and heartbroken, and likewise her resentment toward Zhai Ji grew stronger.

Earlier, when returning from the consort's quarters, the imperial brother had seemed quite interested in Ningning, even jokingly saying to her: "Jingyu, you like that Miss Shen so much; how about letting her be your sister-in-law?"

Jingyu had indeed been truly happy then, wishing she could grow closer to Shen Shuangning and become "family."

Thus, when Zhai Ji wanted to be alone with Shen Shuangning, she would leave so readily; she never imagined such a thing would happen!

Jingyu regretted it bitterly.

After returning, Jingyu asked the people in her palace what had happened in her absence.

It wasn't that she distrusted Shen Shuangning, but as the hostess she ought to at least get a sense of the situation.

The maids dared not speak much; when the incident occurred they wished to bury their heads in their chests, and while Shen Shuangning spoke with Zhai Ji, their voices rose and fell, making it hard to hear clearly.

All they knew was that Zhai Ji had been whispering sweet nothings that made one blush, then in an instant his face hardened and he slapped Shen Shuangning hard across the face, leaving everyone terrified.

As for what happened afterward, everything occurred too quickly; what everyone and Jingyu understood was roughly the same.

Jingyu was furious, yet could do nothing to Zhai Ji; she only thought she must properly compensate Ningning, fulfilling whatever Ningning wanted as much as possible.

There are no airtight walls in the palace; news of what happened in Chang Le Gong quickly spread to every palace.

It even grew wings and spread beyond the palace.

Logically, a young lady from an aristocratic family accidentally bumping into a prince wouldn't be worth much attention, but this person was Shen Shuangning.

Not to mention the Eastern Palace paying considerable attention; even in the harem a favored consort, entrusted by others, was tasked with looking after her, and even on Emperor Xuānwén's side, Shen Shuangning's name carried a bit more distinction than that of other aristocratic ladies.

But Zhai Ji had been out of touch with the outside world for a long time and had not specially sent anyone to inquire, so he had no idea how many backers Shen Shuangning had behind her.

To him, Shen Shuangning was merely a well‑born lady of the inner chambers; being noticed by him was her honor.

After returning, Zhai Ji still hadn't taken it to heart.

However, he who had never stumbled over a woman before suffered setbacks twice at Shen Shuangning's hands, and his desire to possess her grew stronger, gnawing at his heart.

Moreover, having been detained in the Imperial Guard's Directorate for half a month and long unable to vent his frustration, that night he took a palace maid of decent looks and figure, though his mind was filled with Shen Shuangning, making his actions all the more brutal.

A man of his standing is like that: the harder it is to obtain, the more he wants it.

The next day, when Grand Eunuch Hai of the Inner Service came to summon Zhai Ji, he was still sprawled atop the palace maid, sleeping heavily, the brocade coverlet slipped to the floor, and the maid beneath him had already been exhausted into unconsciousness.

Seeing the Third Prince's bedchamber floor littered with disordered clothing, Eunuch Hai's brow twitched imperceptibly.

He then glanced at the bed, cleared his throat, and raised his voice: 'Your Highness Third Prince, it's already the si hour; time to rise—His Majesty is waiting for you in Yu Hua Yuan.'

"Father Emperor?"

Upon hearing that Emperor Xuānwén had summoned him, the alcohol in his system instantly wore off by half.

Zhai Ji hurriedly rolled off the palace maid, grabbed the robe at the bedside haphazardly, and threw it on.

Once he could see the hall clearly, his expression grew somewhat embarrassed; he gave a light cough, saying, 'Please wait a moment, Eunuch,' and went to the washing room.

Moments later, he had washed up and changed into a stone‑green python robe, though his hair bun was still slightly askew and there were faint red threads in his eyes.

From his release from the Imperial Guard's Directorate to now, Emperor Xuānwén had still not summoned him, even though the Imperial Guard's Directorate ultimately found no concrete evidence and cleared him of suspicion of colluding with rebels.

Nevertheless, his private gambling house, illicit wealth‑gathering, and faction‑forming were still out in the open, so the emperor's summons now was almost certainly to call him to account.

On the way to Yu Hua Yuan, Zhai Ji's heart was in turmoil; he could not help but probe, 'Eunuch Hai, how is His Majesty's mood today? And what does he want with me?'

Eunuch Hai's lips were tightly sealed; he only said, 'I dare not guess the emperor's will, Your Highness will know once you go.'

Finding no answer, Zhai Ji spat inwardly, 'Damned eunuch.'

Not long after, the pavilion in Yu Hua Yuan came into view; as he approached, he saw that several people were already seated inside.

Emperor Xuānwén leaned sideways on a soft nanmu couch by the water, a small table beside him holding a warming pot of clear tea; his imperial bearing was as weighty as mountains.

The Crown Prince, Zhai Yu, sat upright in the chair on the left, his expression calm.

To his right sat a stranger in a green robe with a jade hairpin, his features clear and refined, resembling a civil official.

Zhai Ji did not know this man, but could infer that one who sat so close to the crown prince must be the newly appointed Junior Tutor to the Crown Prince.

On the emperor's right sat Xiao Jingyuan alone, his dark‑black brocade robe embroidered with subtle patterns, fingertips resting on his knees; upon seeing Zhai Ji arrive, he did not even lift his eyelids.

Zhai Ji's heart sank sharply.

Needless to say, the crown prince was the biggest stumbling block on his path to the throne; Xiao Jingyuan was a thorn in his side, opposing him at every turn.

With those two together, plus an unknown Junior Tutor Pei, today's situation looks difficult to handle.

He quickly suppressed the gloom welling in his eyes, assumed an anxious, uneasy expression, hurried to the pavilion steps, lifted his robe, knelt, and bowed: 'Your subject comes late; please punish me, Father Emperor.'

By now it was approaching noon, and the sun was growing increasingly harsh.

Seats in the pavilion were scarce to begin with; the crown prince and that civil official occupied the left side, Xiao Jingyuan the right, clearly leaving no place for him to sit.

Emperor Xuānwén lingered without speaking, so Zhai Ji could only remain kneeling on the steps, the sun beating down ever more fiercely on his head, while a thin sheen of sweat soon appeared on his back...