Chapter 12: New Year's Eve Night

After obtaining the Seven-Times-a-Night Pill, the Crown Princess returned to the Eastern Palace and hid it under her pillow.

Sleeping alone, in recent days whenever midnight arrived, she would secretly take it out to examine it closely. She pondered: Does this thing truly work?

A few days later, under the guise of breeding, the Crown Princess ordered Xiao Zhen to find a female cat to mate with the Persian cat "A Jing" raised in the palace.

Following the method hinted by Prime Minister He, the Crown Princess ground a pill into powder, dissolved it in soup water, and had A Jing drink it. In less than a quarter of an hour, A Jing began to go into heat as if possessed; A Jing's eyes became bright and spirited, its ears stood erect, and it looked around alertly to the left and right.

Suddenly, it began to run around everywhere, urinating in all directions to mark its territory, while emitting "meow meow" cries, as if announcing something, urinating everywhere.

Half a shichen later, after half a shichen had passed, A Jing's condition became even stranger; upon seeing a person, it would rub against them, its front paws grabbing the person's sleeve and refusing to let go, like a spoiled child.

Afterwards, it began to rub against everything it could find, sparing nothing; carpets, walls, chair legs—it rubbed against all of them, emitting "wu wu" cries, as if seeking pleasure and comfort through the rubbing.

Next, the Crown Princess had Xiao Zhen lock A Jing in a beast cage, then put the female cat inside to mate with it.

As soon as the two cats were put into the cage, they immediately began to wrestle. A Jing, overly excited, scratched and bit, forcing the female cat to dodge back and forth.

The female cat, aroused by A Jing's teasing, began to fight back with paws and claws, chasing and playing with each other.

One attacking, one defending, scratching and biting, chasing then fleeing, fleeing then chasing!

The Crown Princess had Xiao Zhen guard outside; hearing the cries and scratching sounds coming from within, her face flushed and her heart raced, truly too shy to bear.

Fortunately, the cage was sturdy; otherwise, the two cats' fierce fight would surely have shaken the roof off the house.

The two cats fought for an unknown number of rounds; after a long time, silence finally fell inside.

The Crown Princess had Xiao Zhen go check; she saw that A Jing was already exhausted, lying aside to rest; the female cat's fur was disheveled, also lying on the ground unable to rise, gasping for breath, seemingly having reached its limit.

"This is truly a tiger-and-wolf drug!"

The Crown Princess looked at the female cat, which was nearly at its last breath, and sighed with a face full of worry.

"If giving this drug to a cat makes it this way, what if a person took it... would it be bearable?"

Xiao Zhen said, still shaken by fear.

"In Prime Minister He's eyes, I am merely a chess piece!"

The Crown Princess continued: "If it were not for helping the Emperor seek a Crown Grandson, there would be no need to use such a potent drug!"

Back then, when the Kingdom of Shule fulfilled the marriage alliance policy by selecting a Princess to marry far away to the Great Feng Dynasty, the King was extremely unwilling; the powerful minister "Balo" therefore proposed a plan: select a young girl to impersonate the Princess and marry in her place!

When Balo was young, he had studied in the Great Feng Dynasty; after returning to serve as an official, he also served as an envoy to the Great Feng Dynasty multiple times, knowing that the Great Feng Dynasty had limited knowledge of the current situation of the Shule royal family.

According to his words: "With the King's edict certification, the ceremonial escort, dowry, and attendants are all complete; who would dare to say this Princess... is fake!"

The King ultimately decided to take a desperate gamble and adopt this plan.

But to prevent leaks or the truth from being exposed, Balo also suggested selecting daughters from loyal ministers and worthy generals who possessed good looks and qualities, with a cultural level equivalent to the royal family, to impersonate the Princess!

Ye Ye Hena of the Zhang clan, whose father "Niu Dali Dali Batu" was originally the Chief Finance Minister of the Kingdom of Shule, was dismissed for opposing the King's expansion of the royal palace while simultaneously expanding the mausoleum!

After being dismissed from office, Niu Dali Dali Batu was pushed down when the wall fell; he was framed by the opposing forces of his former officialdom, convicted and imprisoned, and finally exiled to the Gobi!

Filial Ye Ye Hena, in order to save her aging and frail father from the Gobi, stepped forward to participate in the open selection.

After the preliminary selection, re-selection, and final selection, she finally stood out from over a hundred candidate beauties, becoming the youngest and lowest-ranked Thirteenth Princess in the royal family.

The reason the King selected Ye Ye Hena was not only because her appearance, beauty, temperament, and talents were all extraordinary, but most crucially, it was Balo's assessment: saying she was the daughter of a criminal minister, marrying while bearing guilt, could guarantee her silence and safety!

Furthermore, the title of Thirteenth Princess was specifically crafted for Ye Ye Hena!

In fact, the King of the Kingdom of Shule had five sons and seven daughters, totaling twelve people, and had never given birth to a Thirteenth Princess.

The Imperial Envoy who came to the Kingdom of Shule back then to welcome Ye Ye Hena on behalf of the Crown Prince was none other than Prime Minister He.

It was just that the King of the Kingdom of Shule and Balo never expected that Prime Minister He had long since learned of Ye Ye Hena's identity as a fake Princess through his own intelligence channels!

The cunning Prime Minister He chose to see through it without exposing it; he even seized upon this small secret of Ye Ye Hena's, making her his puppet, stationed by the Crown Prince's side as a secret agent!

On New Year's Eve, as per custom, the Crown Princess did not stay overnight at Lingtai Temple but remained in the palace to celebrate the festival.

After eating the New Year's Eve dinner with the royal family, the Crown Princess, carrying the Imperial Wine bestowed by the Emperor during the meal, returned to the Eastern Palace first, then ordered Xiao Zhen to grind the Seven-Times-a-Night Pill into powder and dissolve it in the wine.

A little later, after the Crown Prince returned, the Crown Princess brought the Imperial Wine to the Crown Prince's bedroom, intending to invite the Crown Prince to drink together as husband and wife under the name of New Year's Eve.

The Crown Prince had already drunk wine all night before the Emperor tonight; at this moment, he was completely drunk; even upon returning to the bedroom, he had to be carried in by a eunuch, unable to walk at all!

While the Crown Prince was still somewhat sober, the Crown Princess hurriedly took off her heavy ceremonial robes, wearing only a thin, cicada-wing-like plain silk robe.

With her soft chest half-exposed, the Crown Princess sat with her back to the Crown Prince on the edge of the bed, her hands trembling slightly, carefully pouring a cup of Imperial Wine to the brim.

Unexpectedly, when she held the wine cup and turned around to look, the Crown Prince was already lying in bed, snoring loudly!

No matter how she shook him, she could not wake him.

The Crown Princess looked at the Crown Prince with a face full of melancholy, sighed heavily in defeat; after putting down the wine cup, she stood up, put her ceremonial robes back on, held the wine pot, and withdrew from the Crown Prince's bedroom in loneliness.

"The Crown Prince didn't drink?" the maid Xiao Zhen asked curiously, looking at the wine pot in the Crown Princess's hand.

"No..." the Crown Princess shook her head and said, "I just finished pouring the wine, turned around, and the person was asleep!"

"Then what about this pot of wine..." Xiao Zhen said with an implied meaning, "We did put 'something' in it!"

"Pour the wine away..."

The Crown Princess handed the wine pot to Xiao Zhen and continued, "This 'something' dissolved in the wine; by morning, we don't know if the effect will still be there."

"Anyway, we still have some left; there is plenty of time ahead, we can find another opportunity."

The next day, the Crown Prince woke up, and it was already noon.

After a night of heavy drinking, upon waking, his head was splitting with pain, and his mouth was dry and his tongue parched!

The Crown Prince discovered a cup of watered wine on the Shangshan Shangshan Jian beside the bed; curious, he lifted the wine cup and sniffed it.

"This... isn't this the Imperial Wine we drank last night?"

The Crown Prince recognized the scent immediately and said in confusion, "How could a cup be left here?" He had blacked out before the Emperor last night; he had no memory whatsoever of anything that happened after the blackout!

Before the eunuch could bring the tea, the Crown Prince directly drank the entire cup of wine in one gulp!

A while later, the young eunuch "Xiao Chengzi" brought a tea bowl and walked over quickly.

He saw that at this moment, the Crown Prince was sitting on the bed with his upper body half-naked, his face flushed and red, shivering!

"Your Highness, what is wrong? Is something uncomfortable? Should we summon the imperial physician?" Xiao Chengzi asked very anxiously.

"I don't know, but... but I feel..."

The Crown Prince, breathing heavily, said, "Quick... quickly summon 'Ling'er'! I suddenly very much wish to see him now."

Xiao Chengzi, who did not understand the situation, instinctively obeyed the Crown Prince's instruction and brought the young boy privately raised by the Eastern Palace, "Ling'er."

On the morning of the first day of the new year, since Ling'er entered the Crown Prince's bedchamber, he had not come out again; even Xiao Chengzi and other eunuchs and maids were ordered not to enter without summons, including the Crown Princess!

Not until the afternoon, at the third quarter of Shen hour, did Xiao Chengzi hear the Crown Prince's summons and hurriedly enter.

Xiao Chengzi skillfully passed through the front hall and the study in succession, finally arriving at the bedroom where the Crown Prince was.

But upon a sudden glance, the entire scene before his eyes shocked him to the extreme!

The room was in a complete mess; originally neat furniture and decorations lay toppled on the floor, tables and chairs were broken, and vase shards were everywhere.

The red curtains and gauze canopies on the bed, which had already been neatly arranged, were also nearly ruined; tattered fabrics scattered around, as if violently torn by someone.

On the wooden tables and chairs lying on the ground, several claw marks remained on the lacquered surface!

The Crown Prince lay inside the bed, raising his hand to summon Xiao Chengzi over.

Ling'er's body on the floor made Xiao Chengzi's heart jump even more; he rushed immediately to the front of the Crown Prince's bed.

He saw Ling'er lying crookedly on the ground, his face pale, white foam still spilling from his mouth, already completely silent.

And what shocked Xiao Chengzi most was the large amount of fresh blood flowing from Ling'er's lower body, which had already soaked the ground for several feet beneath him; the crimson bloodstains were shocking to behold.

Xiao Chengzi gently probed toward Ling'er's nose and felt only a faint breath.

"Yu Dian... Yu Dian... Yu Dian... Dianxia, you... you... you... what... what is going on again?" Xiao Chengzi was so frightened he stuttered!

The Crown Prince's face was iron-green, his expression hateful, as he said, "Ling'er lost his mind last night and came in, crashing around everywhere! I wanted to call for people, but he actually lost control, pounced and bit me... When I fought back, he ended up like this."

The Crown Prince's explanation was hypocritical and meant to cover up; Xiao Chengzi also detected the dissonance and concealment in his words, but at this very moment, it was not appropriate to ask further.

He hurriedly ordered, "Dianxia, calm your anger; I will immediately summon the imperial physician to tend to your injuries."

"Do not summon the imperial physician; I am fine. Quickly, quickly get him out of here and bury him!"

The Crown Prince, his breath faint, commanded, "Today is the first day of the new year; do not let the matter spread... Do you hear me!"

"Ob... Ob... Ob... Obey!"

After Xiao Chengzi agreed, he immediately summoned several relatively reliable old eunuchs, brought quilts and bed sheets, wrapped Ling'er up, and without caring whether the person was still alive or not, hurriedly carried him out of the palace first!

Later, Xiao Chengzi brought people to reorganize the Crown Prince's bedchamber, restoring it to its original state, as if nothing at all had happened here all morning.