Saya, Imperial Capital of Yunxi:
In the imperial prison, several jailers sat around a wooden table, drinking wine in great gulps and tearing into plates of meat. Before the prisoner sat a bowl of vegetable soup and two moldy corn buns, untouched for two full days. When he had first arrived, his complexion had still been rosy; now his lips were cracked, his eyes sunken, and his entire face looked haggard.
The prisoner was Mu Xueshi, son of the Grand Tutor. He had been confined here for two days on the charge of murdering his father. By rights, he should have been executed at once, yet for some unknown reason the sentence had been delayed until now. The Third Prince was presiding over Mu Xueshi’s case. Never before had an imperial prince personally taken part in trying a criminal case, so the jailers had initially stood by in rigid silence, not daring to make the slightest mistake. Today, however, an imperial order had arrived saying that the interrogation would be moved elsewhere and that guards would come to take custody of the prisoner. Only then did the jailers finally breathe a sigh of relief.
“Your Highness the Third Prince, the prisoner has been brought.”
The Third Prince’s hand paused around his blue-and-white porcelain tea bowl. His gaze swept over the eunuch standing nearby, and without the slightest change in expression, he gave a quiet “Mm.” The room immediately fell silent. He gently blew across the steaming tea, took a sip, then returned to the scroll on his knees with a faint furrow between his brows.
The Third Prince was aloof and proud by nature and rarely associated with the other princes. His mother consort was not especially favored, but he himself was deeply loved by the Emperor. Exceptionally intelligent from childhood, he never flaunted it and seemed unruffled no matter what happened. He also preferred absolute quiet and, unless necessary, almost never spoke to anyone. Even when the Emperor wanted to chat with him, His Majesty had to start the conversation himself just to coax more than a few words from him.
The room was so quiet that even a falling needle would have been clearly audible. After roughly two hours, the Third Prince finally lowered the scroll and glanced at the eunuch waiting nearby. The eunuch understood at once, shuffled to the door in quick little steps, and gently pushed it open before slipping outside.
Before long, Mu Xueshi was brought into the room. The Third Prince motioned for everyone else to leave, and almost without a sound, the room was suddenly occupied by only the two of them.
The Third Prince lowered his eyes and glanced at the man kneeling on the floor. Then he picked up the written charge beside him and slowly read, “The sages of old said that among all duties under heaven, filial piety comes first. A father is as great as Heaven itself. To kill your father is a crime akin to regicide, and by rights you should be sentenced to death. Do you accept the judgment?”
Mu Xueshi parted his thin lips and answered flatly, “I accept.”
A cold smile tugged at the Third Prince’s lips. He rose and crossed the room in a few steps until he stood before Mu Xueshi. Pinching Mu Xueshi’s jaw between two fingers, he gave a light tug, and the thin disguise covering his face peeled away. The breathtaking face beneath it was exactly as he remembered. Even after several days of coarse prison fare, the skin remained smooth and delicate.
From beginning to end, Mu Xueshi remained silent and composed, not a ripple stirring in his cool, water-clear eyes. The Third Prince gave a soft laugh and reached down to help him to his feet. Mu Xueshi showed neither gratitude nor resistance. He simply obeyed every instruction the Third Prince gave him.
Only after Mu Xueshi was standing did the Third Prince take the time to study him closely. Even dressed in prison robes, he still looked so fresh and ethereal that one could not help wondering whether he truly belonged to the mortal world. It was a pity that such a face had to remain hidden all his life, unseen by the world even on the eve of death. Yet even as the Third Prince lamented it, he could not help feeling fortunate. Had he not seen Mu Xueshi splashing and playing in Jingyun Lake five years earlier, he might never have believed that such a man existed. It had been as though an immortal had fallen by chance into the stream; a single bright smile had been enough to leave passersby stunned.
After searching for days, however, the Third Prince had finally learned that this person normally kept his face covered and his features hidden, only to discover that he was the son of the Grand Tutor he had hated since childhood. The Third Prince was not a man who lost himself over beauty. No matter how captivating Mu Xueshi might be, it could never outweigh his hatred for everyone in the Grand Tutor’s household.
He had originally intended to torment Mu Xueshi thoroughly, but the man turned out to be cold to the extreme. No matter how much effort the Third Prince put into provoking him, he could not coax so much as a single change of expression from his face. It was the first time the Third Prince had encountered someone even harder to approach than himself. Mu Xueshi seemed carved from ice, without blood or flesh, looking upon everything with the lifeless calm of a dead man.
“Be my bedchamber favorite for one day, and I’ll spare your life!” the Third Prince said beside Mu Xueshi’s ear.
Mu Xueshi remained unmoved. “No.”
The Third Prince had expected that answer long ago. But whether Mu Xueshi agreed or not, the outcome would be the same. There was plenty of time ahead; no one could endure being ground down forever. If I don’t even give you the right to die, you’ll have no choice but to endure endless, merciless torment. Once you’ve been worn down completely, you’ll give in, and after that there will still be even more waiting for you.
Mu Xueshi, the choice your father made all those years ago doomed you to spend your entire life paying for his crime.
Slender, jade-like fingers touched the cinnabar, leaving fine whorled prints on the written charge. The Third Prince lifted the hand Mu Xueshi had used to press his fingerprint and gently wiped away the traces of red still clinging to his finger.
“You’ll be exiled to the frontier. Enjoy the rest of your life.”
Mu Xueshi said nothing, as though the outcome had nothing to do with him. The Third Prince brought over a bowl of hot soup, light but deeply nourishing, and held it out to him. Wouldn’t it be letting you off too easily if you starved to death on the road? Watching Mu Xueshi mechanically finish the bowl of soup the servants had spent the entire day simmering, the Third Prince personally reapplied his disguise. As that extraordinary, peerlessly beautiful face became hideously ugly in an instant, a faint smile appeared at the corners of the Third Prince’s eyes.
Mu Xueshi, our game has only just begun…