"All right, now that everything is out in the open, it's time to start solving problems." Ren Ruyi put a stop to the childish bickering between her two disciples.
"Wuer, do you know who ordered tonight's assassination?"
At the mention of tonight's assassination, Li Tongguang couldn't help feeling a twinge of guilt. "I know. It was... Noble Consort Chu." He threw a cautious glance at Ren Ruyi, relieved to see her expression hadn't changed much.
"Some of the people I sent to protect her are from the Shabu Tribe. She must have found out where Your Highness was tonight through them."
Yang Ying wasn't as calm as Ruyi. "I have no grudge against her whatsoever, yet she wants my life. On what grounds?" The words had barely left her mouth before realization dawned on her. "Because I said I wanted to be Empress?"
Ren Ruyi let out a long breath, glad that Yang Ying was far more strategic now than before. "What else? For women in the harem, their entire horizon stretches no further than the throne of the Central Palace. If you take that away from her, won't all her hopes be dashed?"
"Since she's vicious enough to want my life, what should I do? Sister Ruyi, please teach me."
"She's vicious? Why don't you just be even more vicious than her?" Ren Ruyi picked up a cup of tea and took a sip.
...
The night was long. After Li Tongguang dropped Noble Consort Chu off at her estate, she had no choice but to sneak back into the palace. Tossing and turning in her bedchamber, she waited anxiously for word from her subordinates on whether the assassination of the Prince Li of Dawu had succeeded.
"Tap, tap—" A soft knock sounded at the door.
"Your Ladyship, news has arrived," a maid's voice whispered, as if testing whether the Noble Consort had already fallen asleep.
Noble Consort Chu got up, threw on an outer robe, and walked toward the side room. Pushing the door open, she saw a figure standing with her back to her—short in stature, looking more like a woman.
The visitor removed her hood and slowly turned around. Noble Consort Chu could not hide the shock in her eyes; it was actually Yang Ying—Yang Ying, who should have died in the desolate wilderness.
Noble Consort Chu instinctively retreated, only to find her retreat already blocked. The door was shut tight, leaving only her and Yang Ying inside the room.
"Long time no see, Noble Consort Chu."
Yang Ying had already styled her hair into a woman's bun, and this was the first time she had ever met Noble Consort Chu looking like this.
"Seeing me, Your Ladyship seems quite surprised." There was a heavy undertone of threat in Yang Ying's voice as she stepped closer and closer to Noble Consort Chu.
"What do you want? This is the palace of An Kingdom! Do you really think I won't call out 'assassin' and have you killed on the spot?" Shocked by the murderous intent Yang Ying displayed, Noble Consort Chu froze for a moment before quickly steadying herself, summoning the pride of a noble consort to fake her composure.
"You ask what I want? You sent people to kill me, and you're asking what I want?" With that, Yang Ying strode forward, executing the combat techniques Ren Ruyi had taught her and which she had practiced day after day. A short blade was already pressed against Noble Consort Chu's neck.
The edge was so sharp that Noble Consort Chu could actually feel it slicing into her skin.
"Breaking into the palace to commit assassination is a capital offense that carries the destruction of one's entire clan!" Seeing that Noble Consort Chu was panicked enough to scream, Yang Ying leaned in and whispered close to her ear. "Guess what—if this gets out, will the one whose family and clan are wiped out be me, a foreign princess, or you and the Shabu Tribe?"
At the mention of the Shabu Tribe, Noble Consort Chu was visibly stunned.
"If you dare utter a single sound, I dare kill you." Yang Ying's normally low voice, accustomed to masquerading as a man's, lent an ominous weight to the threat.
"When the Emperor of An demands accountability tomorrow, I will simply say that Her Ladyship coveted the position of Empress and attempted to assassinate me. I suspect His Majesty wouldn't mind using this excuse to rein in your Shabu Tribe."
This was inevitable, and Yang Ying knew it, just as Noble Consort Chu did. Ever since the Emperor of An favored marrying Chu Yue to Li Tongguang, he had made it clear that he did not want the Shabu Tribe to hold too much power. If the Noble Consort showed too much ambition for the throne, it would undoubtedly invite suspicion and even fatal disaster.
"You wanted to kill me, so I came to kill you. Isn't that fair?" Yang Ying held the absolute upper hand in this game of wits.
"Fair? I've schemed and scraped in this harem for years just to earn the title of Noble Consort! On what grounds do you get to claim the Central Palace just by bearing the title of a princess? Tell me, where is the fairness in that!" Noble Consort Chu's psychological defenses were on the verge of collapsing.
At that moment, Yang Ying decisively withdrew her blade. Noble Consort Chu collapsed limply to the floor, reaching out to touch the trickles of blood seeping from her neck.
"Was becoming the Empress of the Emperor of An your only goal in life? If so, your life sounds pretty pathetic." Yang Ying said with feigned disdain.
Regaining her breath, Noble Consort Chu retorted, "You were able to find me here—Li Tongguang must have told you, didn't he? Do you know he promised me? He promised to help me! He was going to help me ascend to the throne of the Empress, and he was to be my regent! But he..." Every word was laced with accusation.
"Yes, and what of him? He is still fulfilling the promise you made to each other, but what about you?"
Doubt flickered in Noble Consort Chu's eyes. From her perspective, the moment Li Tongguang stood alongside this princess of Wu, he had already betrayed her.
"Listen well: when I came here, I was the Prince Li of Dawu, and one day I will surely return to Wu."
Throughout her conversation with Noble Consort Chu, Yang Ying used the imperial pronoun "Gu," a form of self-reference she had long grown accustomed to. Only by remembering she was still the Prince Li of Dawu could she stand this tall and draw her sword this swiftly.
"I have no interest in your An Kingdom's harem. I may have said I was going to bear a legitimate heir for your An sovereign, but whether his physique allows him to produce one is another matter altogether. Who knows, the future of An might just fall to a thr—"
Yang Ying cut herself off before finishing the word "three," leaving only the shape of it on her lips. Some things didn't need to be spoken too clearly; the rest could be filled in by imagination.
Yang Ying noticed a figure outside the door—it was Li Tongguang, urging her to leave. Dawn was approaching, and staying any longer would cause unnecessary complications.
Risky as it was, this trip had been essential. Noble Consort Chu harbored misunderstandings about her; if those weren't cleared up, the entire Shabu Tribe would become Yang Ying's future enemies. But if the two of them became friends, they could both be powerful allies.
Squatting atop the rafters, the two watchers felt a wave of relief as they saw Yang Ying emerge safely and unharmed from Noble Consort Chu's quarters.
"I never thought A-ying would actually pull off a stunt like coercion and intimidation." Ning Yuanzhou's eyes were filled with gratification as he cast a meaningful glance at Ren Ruyi beside him, as if praising her for teaching Yang Ying so exceptionally well.
"You saw it, didn't you? A-ying is different from before. Besides, with me and Wuer here, you don't need to worry."
"Ruyi, are you trying to chase me away?" A trace of dejection flickered in Ning Yuanzhou's eyes.
"Ning Yuanzhou, you are Ren Ruyi's Ning Yuanzhou, but you are also Chief Ning of Liudao Hall. You have your mission. I don't want you to harbor any regrets because of me, A-ying, or anyone else."
Ren Ruyi's words struck straight at the core of Ning Yuanzhou's heart. Every day he had spent away from the diplomatic mission, he had worried about them—worried whether Qian Zhao could keep the troops in line, whether Yuan Lu was taking his sugar pills on time, whether the Emperor of Wu would make it safely back to Wu...
He was torn, too. Since ancient times, loyalty and filial piety have been hard to balance; for the past twenty years, he had lived entirely as Chief Ning. He wanted to live as Ning Yuanzhou, too. But how could a person easily cast aside their duties?
The covert sentinel outside the door signaled that it was time for Ren Ruyi and Yang Ying to rendezvous and retreat.
Ren Ruyi pulled her veil back over her face, turned to Ning Yuanzhou, and said, "Ning Yuanzhou, you and I have no need to feel indebted to one another. I have things I must do, and you have things you must do. We are the same kind of people—we will pursue what we want to do until the day we die. If you turn into a coward because of me, I will look down on you."
With that, she leaped down.
In that moment, Ning Yuanzhou realized: this was truly his Ruyi. He adjusted his veil and followed right behind her.
Li Tongguang and Noble Consort Chu stayed separated by a single door for a quarter of an hour, but in the end, he never went inside.
Noble Consort Chu curled up by the doorway, her expression a blur of joy and terror.
The look in the Dawu princess's eyes when she spoke to her earlier had sent a shiver straight to her core—a feeling that reminded her of the first time she saw His Majesty, when he sat upon the dragon throne, looking down upon her as if she were nothing more than an ant...
Yet alongside the terror, there was a glimmer of joy. Her Marquis Changqing still stood by her side.
As she turned Yang Ying's words over in her mind, she suddenly found herself dwelling on a particular phrase: "...whether His Majesty will survive is uncertain..."
Noble Consort Chu's gaze gradually hardened. She had already decided what she needed to do next.