Chapter 130: The Eyes of Rouge

It was already mid-August, and the weather had cooled down, but sitting outside just after noon still felt sweltering.

Yuanzi had been in a foul mood since leaving the Queen’s palace. He refused to take a nap and insisted on watching ants under the eaves of the corridor. The young eunuch accompanying him was already drowsy, nodding off as he sat nearby.

The floor beneath the eaves was paved with red bricks and tiles laid closely together. Yuanzi stared at the gaps between the bricks and spotted a trail of tiny red ants crawling nearby. The ants were as small as the eye of a needle; if one didn’t look closely, they were impossible to see. He poked at them with a small wooden stick.

The trail of red ants was good-tempered; they silently bypassed his stick and marched back to their nest in a grand procession.

Yuanzi lay on the ground, watching their nest in the brick gap—it was a point as small as a candle wick. He had noticed it last year when he was sent to the palace to visit his grandmother. At the time, he had found it strange and wanted to dig it up, but the eunuch following him had almost burst into tears, pulling him back and saying that these bricks were bestowed upon Consort Gao by His Majesty, as precious as gold, and could not be damaged.

Yuanzi blew a breath at the ant nest and then looked at the sleeping eunuch next to him, thinking that today, no one should be able to stop him.

This was the entrance to the main hall. Usually, people were constantly coming and going, but at this hour, the palace servants were resting, making it feel deserted. With his back to the little eunuch, Yuanzi pulled out his stick and slowly began to pick at the brick gap. He was incredibly patient, making no loud noise, just slowly grinding with the stick. After about fifteen minutes, the gap loosened.

He dug further with his fingers. He hadn’t expected to succeed, but to his surprise, the brick wasn’t that secure, as if it had been pried open before, and it lifted easily.

The scene beneath was revealed.

Densely packed together were tiny red ants, clustered so tightly they looked like a clump of a woman’s red hair.

Startled, the ants quickly scattered and spread out.

Yuanzi’s eyelashes flickered; he wasn’t frightened but sat there calmly. He watched the fleeing red ants for a while, then used the stick to poke at the soil beneath the brick. His grandfather had once told him that these little red ants do not gather for no reason unless they are attracted by a toxin. Therefore, something poisonous must be hidden under the brick.

The little eunuch was still sleeping soundly, snoring softly through his nose.

Yuanzi poked the wooden stick into the ground about a foot deep until it hit something. He tossed the stick aside and dug with his hands. Noisy sounds already drifted from behind as palace servants began their tasks in an orderly fashion, but due to Consort Gao’s instructions not to approach the main hall, no one dared come near.

The little eunuch also startled awake, seeing Yuanzi with his back turned, doing something unknown.

He had long since grown used to the imperial grandson’s eccentric and solitary nature, so he didn’t suspect anything. He simply asked, “Does the little master need me to play with you?”

Yuanzi shook his head in silence. The eunuch said nothing more, closed his eyes, and began to doze off again.

Yuanzi piled the soil to the side, reached into the hole, and after feeling around for a bit, pulled out a small red bottle.

Yuanzi understood—this was a bottle of poison. His grandmother had hidden it here, attracting the little ants. Poison, he liked to eat. Yuanzi slowly tucked the red bottle into his sleeve, moved the soil and brick back to their original positions, and wiped the dust clean with his sleeve. Everything looked exactly as it had before.

But… having taken something his grandmother had hidden secretly, should he inform her?

Yuanzi tilted his head and thought for a while, deciding that he should. He stood up and pushed the door, but it was bolted from the inside and wouldn’t open. He took a detour to the small side window in the back.

He originally intended to push open the window and ask his grandmother to open the door, but he faintly heard voices… it was the voices of his grandmother and that “bad woman.”

The bad woman asked, “Aunt, I really can’t understand. That half-lunatic is already so mad; why hasn’t Father deposed her yet?”

Yuanzi frowned in confusion, thinking: Who is the half-lunatic?

Consort Gao’s voice carried a hint of mockery: “Feihe, are you truly stupid or just pretending? Never mind that the Queen is mad; even if she became a snot-nosed fool running all over the palace, His Majesty would not depose her because of it. Don’t you know how illustrious the Shen family is? Five Marquises from one house—their power is so vast that moving a single hair affects the whole body. Besides, when His Majesty was still a hidden dragon, he was close friends with her brother; the two rose from hardship together and shared a bond of brotherhood. Later, her brother died on the battlefield, a true martyr. Even if His Majesty has no love for the Queen, there is an unbreakable bond of sentiment; he cannot bear to let go. As long as Empress Shen does not commit a massive blunder, His Majesty will not depose her.”

“Then tonight, she shall commit a massive blunder,” Gao Feihe also laughed. “Aunt, your strategy is truly brilliant. Not only does it give His Majesty a reason to depose the Queen, but it also severs the connection between the Fourth Prince and the Shen family. Since the former Crown Prince disappeared, the Shen family has been silent for over half a year, as if biding their time, but lately, they’ve been getting closer to the Fourth Prince again.”

Consort Gao snorted and looked down to touch her nails. “I truly regret it. Back then, I only framed him with a crime but didn’t poison him to death in one go. That Old Fourth—he may be a prince, but he hasn’t spent many days in the palace. His mother died early, and he had no one to raise him. He’s full of bad habits; I didn’t fear him at all at first.”

When she mentioned the word “poison,” Gao Feihe’s eyes flickered slightly.

Consort Gao continued, “Old Fourth is clever—none of his brothers can compare to him—but his temperament is arrogant and extreme, far too unrestrained. Some say he is like a majestic eagle of the northern desert, but that is not a good thing. Success comes from arrogance, and failure comes from arrogance. I was just waiting for the day he would bring about his own destruction, but who would have expected today! A stone full of jagged edges has actually been polished smooth… repeatedly ruining my plans!”

Yuanzi stood on his tiptoes, leaning against the window, confused again. The “half-lunatic” seemed to refer to the gentle Queen, so who was “Old Fourth”?

Consort Gao’s final tone was almost through gritted teeth. Gao Feihe watched her, but her mind was on something else entirely.

After a moment of deliberation, Gao Feihe suddenly shed a few tears. “Aunt, I am truly afraid. I fear that in the future, I too will have to face such a struggle between brothers.”

Consort Gao frowned at her. “What nonsense are you talking about? Are you not an only daughter? Where would these brothers come from?”

“It’s not me…” Gao Feihe wiped her tears. “It’s that little brat in the estate! Aunt, with that little brat around, my heart is uneasy. The Prince will inherit the throne sooner or later. That little brat is the eldest son; who will be the Crown Prince in the future? Even if I give birth to a son next year, that little brat is still six years older than my son. By the time my son grows up, he will be a major source of chaos!”

Consort Gao’s expression grew even uglier. “Then what do you want to do?”

“Talking about poison just now, I suddenly remembered: is there any of that Rouge Eye left from the poisoning case back then? Where did you hide it?” Gao Feihe looked at her expectantly. “ Rouge Eye is a poison bestowed by the Xiongnu royalty, never shared with outsiders. Three years ago, the Fourth Prince led troops to raid the side hall of the Xiongnu royal city and luckily succeeded. Besides him, no one else could possibly have this medicine. When the Fourth Prince was being convicted back then, wasn’t this a key piece of evidence?”

Gao Feihe became more excited as she spoke. “Aunt, why don’t we repeat the old trick? Use this medicine to poison that little brat and pin it on the Fourth Prince…”

Before she could finish, Consort Gao’s face suddenly turned fierce, and she raised her hand to give her a slap. “Stupid woman! You tried to kill my grandson months ago; I thought you had repented, but you are as malicious as ever!”

Gao Feihe fell to the ground, holding her left cheek, completely stunned by the blow.

Consort Gao’s chest heaved with rage. Just as she was about to scold her further, she suddenly heard the urgent voice of the little eunuch outside the window: “Little Master, Little Master, why did you sneak over here? Come away with me quickly!”

Hearing this, Consort Gao panicked for a moment, and Gao Feihe also scrambled up to push open the window, coming face-to-face with Yuanzi’s steady gaze.

She grabbed Yuanzi’s hand and pulled him up through the window, then barked at the eunuch to leave. She asked Yuanzi nervously, “How much of that did you hear?”

Yuanzi lowered his eyes, thinking: Even though I don’t understand, I heard it all.

But when facing Gao Feihe’s gaze again, Yuanzi shook his head. “I just arrived; I didn’t hear anything.”

Consort Gao and Gao Feihe both breathed a sigh of relief. A child would not lie.

Consort Gao pulled Yuanzi to sit on her lap. Still uneasy, she stroked his cheek and said, “Yuanzi, Grandmother loves you, doesn’t she? No matter what you just heard, it doesn’t matter, as long as you remember not to say it. Bury it in your stomach; you must not say a single word to outsiders. Otherwise…”

Consort Gao put on a pained expression. “Grandmother will be hurt.”

Yuanzi nodded.

Consort Gao smiled. “Good, I knew Yuanzi was the best. Go take a nap.”

Gao Feihe bowed. “Aunt, I will take Yuanzi down.”

Consort Gao hummed an acknowledgement, acting as if she hadn’t just slapped her, her face once again full of smiles.

Yuanzi gripped the red bottle in his sleeve and followed Gao Feihe out toward the side hall.

On the way, Gao Feihe gripped his wrist tightly, as if trying to snap his arm, and threatened in a low voice: “Go to sleep when we get back. When you wake up, act as if nothing happened today. I don’t care what you heard; in short, if you dare say a single word outside, I’ll pull out your tongue!”

Yuanzi obediently agreed. He lay down on the bed, and Gao Feihe gave him another glare before leaving, arranging for palace maids to guard his door.

Yuanzi closed his eyes for a short nap. Feeling a craving, he sat up again, opened the small red bottle, and tipped a pill into his mouth.

He smacked his lips; it was very bitter and didn’t taste good at all.

Is this the Rouge Eye that Grandmother hid? Yuanzi let out a yawn and rubbed his eyes, only to find that his eyes had started to hurt.

He got out of bed and walked to the mirror. The person in the mirror had eyes that were slowly seeping with blood vessels, soon turning a brilliant, shocking red, as terrifying as a vengeful ghost.

Yuanzi thought: No wonder it’s called Rouge Eye.

…

Before evening had even arrived, the lights of the Hall of Supreme Harmony were already lit. From a distance, the entire palace was shrouded in a hazy yellow glow, merging with the setting sun.

At the first quarter of the hour of the Rooster (5:15 PM), the Emperor of Zhou entered the hall. After the officials paid their respects, the palace banquet began, with music and dance flourishing.

Bao Ning and Pei Yuan sat at the third table from the top.

The first table was for Crown Prince Pei Xiao; his illness was not yet cured, and less than fifteen minutes after the banquet began, he was persuaded by the Emperor to go rest. The second table was for the Second Prince, Pei Shu; he was born with deficiencies and was somewhat dim-witted, staring blankly at the dancing girls.

Pei Yuan’s position was neither too close nor too far from the Emperor, and neither too close nor too far from the singers below—it was a great spot for eating.

The so-called palace banquet was simply everyone gathering together under the Emperor’s watchful eye to socialize stiffly, watch performances, eat melon seeds, and chat.

Pei Yuan peeled melon seeds, and Bao Ning peeled peanuts. They pushed the shells aside and gathered the kernels into a pile inside a handkerchief.

Pei Yuan tied the handkerchief tight and shook it to mix them, then held it out to Bao Ning. “You eat first.”

Bao Ning happily took half into her palm. Just as she was about to eat, she saw the crowd below and suddenly felt embarrassed.

Pei Yuan noticed her awkwardness and flicked his wide sleeve to shield her face. “I’ll block for you. Go ahead and eat.”

Bao Ning quickly stuffed the food into her mouth, chewed, and squinted her eyes. “Delicious.”

Pei Yuan smiled silently. Just as he was about to say the rest were for her, he spotted a small head behind her shoulder. “Yuanzi is here?”

Bao Ning turned in surprise—it really was Yuanzi.

She happily touched his face and said to Pei Yuan, “Look, we haven’t seen him for months, and our little Yuanzi has grown a bit taller.”

Pei Yuan didn’t speak, but merely held his wine cup with two fingers and gave a slight nod.

Bao Ning stuffed the remaining melon seeds and peanuts into Yuanzi’s hand and smiled. “They’re already peeled. Take them back and eat.”

She truly wanted to take Yuanzi away immediately, but that wasn’t a task for a single day; she couldn’t rush it. For now, it was best to interact as usual and wait for the right moment.

Yuanzi took them, pressed his lips together in a smile, but then looked a bit aggrieved. “Auntie, I thought you didn’t like me anymore. In the Palace of Constant Autumn, you didn’t pay attention to me.”

Bao Ning pinched his nose and coaxed him, “How could that be? It was just that your mother was there, so it wasn’t convenient to be close to you.”

It took Yuanzi a moment to realize that Gao Feihe was his mother in name.

He had snuck out. The little palace maid by Gao Feihe’s side was watching him closely and would likely find him soon. Before that, he had to clarify one question.

Yuanzi looked at Pei Yuan and asked nervously, “Are you Old Fourth?”

“…” Pei Yuan was stunned for a second, his expression shifting through various shades, before he set his wine cup down heavily. “You little brat, how are you talking?”

Yuanzi understood. “You are Old Fourth.”

Pei Yuan narrowed his eyes, wanting to grab him by the collar and scold him, but Bao Ning stopped him. “Alright, alright, don’t fuss with the child.”

As they spoke, the palace maid had already found him in a panic. She gave a hurried bow and grabbed Yuanzi’s sleeve to pull him away. “Little Master, why are you running around? The palace is so big; be careful not to get lost and eaten by wolves! Come back with me quickly!”

Yuanzi followed her obediently. halfway through, he looked back at Bao Ning, who smiled and waved at him.

Pei Yuan’s annoyance remained. He said to Bao Ning, “That little brat needs a lesson, calling an elder by a nickname. I’ll hit him when I get the chance.”

Bao Ning smiled and comforted him. Amidst their laughter, a sudden scent of flowers drifted by.

The two looked up to see a graceful woman gliding onto the stage, her face covered with white gauze. She struck a pose, ready to dance. Without looking at her face, just by the fragrance and the intoxicated look on the Emperor’s face, one could tell this was this year’s Consort Butterfly Fragrance, who was said to be the favorite of the entire inner palace.

“It’s starting,” Pei Yuan said seriously. “You should take your leave of His Majesty now and return to Mother’s palace.”

Bao Ning whispered her agreement.

Her heart began to beat faster. Just as she stood up, something was suddenly placed in her palm. Pei Yuan shoved the object further into her sleeve.

“This is a beacon used by the Wolf-Running Army for communication. It’s similar to a firework, but it creates an orange flame that doesn’t fade for a long time. If you encounter an emergency, light it, and I will see it.”

Bao Ning nodded solemnly. “I remember.”

Pei Yuan stopped looking at her and merely lowered his head to drink. Someone came over to talk to him, and his expression remained exactly as usual.

Bao Ning took her leave of the Emperor on the grounds of feeling unwell. She successfully received permission and left the main hall accompanied by palace maids, heading toward the Palace of Constant Autumn.

Consort Gao watched her leave, a smile appearing in her fox-like eyes. She said to Gao Feihe, “The good show is about to begin.”

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