Elio’s Notes: Trigger warning! This and the next chapter have some stuff about brutality and gore. Please read at your own risk!
The Third Prince said nothing. He merely walked expressionlessly to a chair and sat down, quietly looking at the person kneeling on the ground.
“Why have you still not risen?”
When Madam heard the Third Prince’s voice, she suddenly trembled and quickly straightened up. After seeing the Third Prince’s expression, her entire body seemed to have been struck by lightning, and in an instant, she could no longer move at all.
The Third Prince suddenly smiled, a smile so strangely ghostly that a single glance made one shudder.
“Brew me a cup of tea.”
Hearing the Third Prince’s order, Madam quickly struggled to stand. When she rose, she nearly lost her balance and fell to the ground.
“You still remember what day today is, don’t you?”
Madam’s hand, which was pouring water, suddenly shook. She looked at the Third Prince in panic and said, “I… do not remember…”
“You really are forgetful, Aunt.”
Hearing the Third Prince call her Aunt, Madam trembled again.
“It is rare that Your Highness still remembers me as your aunt. Ever since elder sister passed away, I… have never been able to go before her grave to pay respects. I truly miss her very much.”
After saying this, Madam raised a trembling hand to wipe away the tears at the corners of her eyes, tears frightened out of her.
“It does not matter. You will be able to go find her very soon.”
Hearing these words from the Third Prince, Madam’s entire body stiffened.
The Third Prince glanced at Madam with profound meaning and asked, “Why is my tea still not ready?”
Madam suddenly set down the cup in her hand and abruptly knelt on the ground, her face covered in tears. “I beg Your Highness, please show mercy. I still have a child in my belly. He is innocent. You cannot treat him this way.”
The Third Prince turned his gaze to Madam kneeling on the ground. His expression was like the King of Hell bending over her, making anyone who saw it know their life would not last long.
“Do you still remember the question I asked you just now? I asked you what day today is.”
Madam’s face was as white as paper, and she could no longer utter a single word.
Seeing Madam like that, the Third Prince could not help revealing a look of contempt.
“Brew my tea properly. You do not want to defy my order at a time like this, do you?”
Madam’s eyes swept toward the window. At this moment, how much she hoped someone would burst in and rescue her.
“Nineteen years ago today, you dragged the rightful Madam of this manor out into the wilderness, ordered servants to beat her unconscious while she was still alive, and then intended to set a fire and burn her to death. Unfortunately for you, on that day, Heaven showed mercy and sent down a heavy rain. That Madam was saved just like that.”
Hearing this, the tea bowl in Madam’s hands clattered. The scalding tea inside also accidentally spilled over one hand, yet Madam did not even notice.
The Third Prince took that tea bowl, unhurriedly moved the lid aside, and blew into it.
“I was still young that year. I only followed elder sister to watch the excitement. I did nothing.”
The Third Prince took a small sip of tea, then suddenly smiled at Madam again.
“Aunt? You went to watch the excitement?”
The words “watch the excitement” were spoken by the Third Prince with exceptional sharpness.
Madam woodenly shook her head, mechanically saying no.
“I have always been considering one thing. Aunt, do you know what it is?”
Seeing that Madam did not make a sound, the Third Prince gave a cold laugh and said lightly, “I was thinking, are you and I perhaps even closer? “I have been thinking about something, Aunt. You are my aunt by blood through my birth mother, and you can also be counted as my aunt through the woman I call Mother. No matter which side I count from, you are still my aunt. So when I call you Aunt, which mother should I remember?”
Madam had already collapsed to the floor.
“If I remember my birth mother, I want to kill you. But if I remember my mother… I want to flay you alive.”
The Third Prince suddenly rose from his seat and walked over to Madam.
Seeing the tall figure before her, Madam’s tears poured out like a spring, and she grabbed hold of the Third Prince’s leg.
“Your Highness, no matter which side we count from, you should spare the child in my belly! He is your father’s own flesh and blood. He is your brother. If you kill him with your own hands like this, your mother was so kind—if she knew, her heart would ache too.”
The Third Prince kicked Madam away from beneath him, a terrifying chill radiating from his icy eyes.
“Since he is the biological flesh and blood of Grand Tutor Mu and you, Grand Tutor Mu is already dead, and you will die too. How can you bear to leave such a small child alone and helpless in the world to suffer?”
Hearing the Third Prince’s words, Madam’s lips trembled, and she could not say a single word.
“Or could it be that someone else is willing to raise this child? Or perhaps, to this child, that person is not an outsider to begin with.”
Madam bit her lip until it bled, staring at the Third Prince with wide, terrified eyes.
“No… do not… do not insult my innocence. I have always been loyal and devoted to your father.”
“In that case, let the orphan in your belly go together with you.”
The sword in the Third Prince’s hand suddenly pointed toward Madam’s belly, tracing back and forth over it as if teasing her. With only the slightest bit of force, it would slice open her stomach.
Madam suddenly shouted outside uncontrollably.
“Help! I’m going into labor! All of you, hurry in and save me!”
“Then take a look and see whether even one person is willing to come in.”
Not even the sound of wind came from the doorway, but Madam truly felt waves of severe pain in her belly, a sensation as though she were about to be torn apart…
…
Mu Xueshi left Changxin Courtyard in high spirits, his mind still constantly replaying the simple melody he had just learned. He was so pleased that he could not close his mouth. If he really played a piece for the Third Prince tonight, who knew how pleasantly surprised the Third Prince would be.
Mu Xueshi even wished the sky would darken right now, so the two of them could stay in a little room with only each other and enjoy themselves to their hearts’ content. As soon as he imagined the Third Prince’s admiring expression, waves of heat surged through his heart.
“Judicial Affairs Minister, where are we going?”
“To Grand Tutor Manor, of course. I still have to go there and investigate some things.”
“Yes, Judicial Affairs Minister. This servant will prepare the carriage for you at once.”
“…”
When they arrived at Grand Tutor Manor, Mu Xueshi saw Steward Wang and a group of servants all standing in the courtyard with grave expressions. Every door and window in the manor was shut tight, revealing a murderous atmosphere.
“What happened here?” Mu Xueshi asked Steward Wang.
Seeing Mu Xueshi arrive, Steward Wang first gave a bow, then said quietly to him, “His Highness the Third Prince has come to the manor.”
“The Third Prince is here too!” Mu Xueshi blinked, a smile appearing on his face.
The other servants remained completely silent. Mu Xueshi had long since grown used to this kind of atmosphere. No matter where the Third Prince went, he would chill everyone around him into silence.
Mu Xueshi’s gaze quickly swept to the parrot that had fallen on the ground. To this day, he still had quite a sentimental fondness for this spiritual little parrot. Now that he saw it looking as though it had died, he quickly walked toward it.
“Young Master, you must not go over there!”
Steward Wang suddenly stumbled after him from behind, a terrified expression appearing on his face.
Seeing an elderly man chasing after him like this, Mu Xueshi quickly stopped.
“What is it, Steward Wang?”
Steward Wang gasped heavily as he said, “His Highness gave orders that no one is allowed to approach Madam’s room, and no one is allowed to make even the slightest sound. Those who disobey will die.”
Mu Xueshi was also startled after hearing this and secretly began to ponder. The Third Prince had gone to Madam’s room for nothing more than to ask about some circumstances and help him solve the case. He himself was the reviewing official for this case, and he was so close with the Third Prince, so what could happen if he went in for a bit?
“It’s fine, Steward Wang. This is a private matter between me and the Third Prince. He allows me to enter.”
“Young… Young Master…”
Steward Wang stood frozen in place, while Mu Xueshi had already walked toward that room.
When Mu Xueshi was still about two zhang away from the room, he heard bursts of heart-rending cries and moans coming from inside. He suddenly felt something was not quite right, so he did not rashly barge in. Instead, he crept softly to the window.
A pool of blood flowed across the floor of the room. The Third Prince’s sword had not struck Madam even once. All this blood had flowed from Madam herself.
“Your Highness the Third Prince, I beg you. Hurry and call someone. I’m about to give birth.”
“How about I help deliver the child for you?”
When Mu Xueshi heard these words from outside, his entire body went still. He swallowed, carefully poked a small hole through the window paper, and looked inside.
The Third Prince suddenly drew a small curved knife from his side. After spinning it twice in his hand, he placed it before Madam.
“How about I help you dig the child out, let you watch him breathe his last with your own eyes, and then let you die willingly?”
“You cannot be this cruel! If you do this, you will suffer retribution. You will die a miserable death.”
“I will say you died in childbirth, leave you some dignity before everyone, and hide away all those ugly matters of yours. Is that not already merciful?”
“No, you cannot kill me…”
“Or do you insist that I tell the world you are the murderer who killed Grand Tutor Mu?”
Madam suddenly screamed and wailed loudly, “Impossible. It was not me at all. On the day Grand Tutor Mu met with disaster, I was not in the manor at all.”
Mu Xueshi was just about to enter the room when Madam’s words abruptly froze him in place.
“Who would believe that? Who would believe you were not there that day?”
“Because that day… that day, I secretly went out…” Madam wanted to speak but stopped. Suddenly, another burst of severe pain tore through her belly, making her scream aloud.
The Third Prince pressed closer and closer toward her, placing the small knife against her belly, his smile exceptionally ruthless.
“What did you go out to do? Hm?”
“I… I…”
“You cannot say it, can you? Since you cannot say it, that proves the person in the room was you. It was you who killed Grand Tutor Mu. If I kill you, I am acting on behalf of Heaven.”
Hearing the Third Prince’s words, Madam panted violently, her eyes filled with hatred.
“You were the one who ordered it. You ordered all of it. You designed everything. You knew I was having an affair outside at the time, so you found someone to impersonate me and killed your own father. You knew that after I came back, I would be unable to speak of it and would definitely say I had been there that night, so you pinned all the blame on me. Now that you cannot hide it anymore, now that you are afraid, you came to murder me. You are the real murderer—the murderer who killed his own father…”
Mu Xueshi suddenly felt cold all over, an extreme fear surrounding him. He hated that he had suddenly heard these words at this moment. He suddenly understood why Madam had said that bowl of medicine was the first time she had drunk it. He also suddenly understood why two Ning Yues had appeared, and what one of them had actually been used for. What he was even more unwilling to think about was whether the set of materials the Third Prince had given him had truly been a portion he had kept—or whether he had possessed them from the very beginning…
Leave a Reply