The First Jasmine - Chapter 123

Chapter 123 - Restless Nights

Outside the palace gates, Princess Ronghua wore a grand crimson bridal gown embroidered with phoenixes through peonies, shedding tears as she bid a tearful farewell to her parents, the Empress Dowager and the imperial couple. The usually supremely arrogant Princess Zhaoren finally couldn't help shedding tears in the face of her only daughter's distant marriage to Northern Rong, yet she could say nothing as she watched that daughter about to depart. With the Empress Dowager, the Emperor, and the Empress all present to bid the peace-marriage princess farewell, even as her biological mother, she could not cling to Princess Ronghua to say anything more.

Princess Ronghua paid her respects one by one to the Empress Dowager, the Emperor, the Empress, and her parents, then walked toward the carriage, supported by her accompanying palace maids. Just before boarding the carriage, she turned back to cast a single glance in Ye Li's direction. Ye Li gently nodded and offered her a slight smile. Princess Ronghua lowered her gaze with a detached smile, then resolutely turned and stepped onto the carriage. On the lavishly decorated carriage, the peony-embroidered curtains representing a princess's noble status gently dropped down, concealing Princess Ronghua's exquisite face and figure. From this moment on, she would live in a foreign land as a princess of Great Chu, perhaps never to see her parents and family again...

"A'Li, I am leaving. Take care of yourself here in the capital." Standing beside Ye Li, Mo Xiunyao spoke in a soft voice of admonition.

Ye Li raised her head to look at the exceptional, elegant man standing before her in a dark cyan prince's robe embroidered with a silver dragon. She nodded gently and said, "I know. Take care of yourself too. Come back early." Mo Xiunyao nodded, "I will be careful. With A'Li alone in the capital..." Ye Li interrupted him, saying with firm resolution, "I will hold down the Prince of Ding's Mansion and wait for you to return."

Mo Xiunyao was momentarily stunned, then murmured softly, "As long as A'Li is safe and sound, Xiunyao will be entirely content."

An attendant nearby cautiously stepped forward to urge that it was time to depart, muttering inwardly that everyone always said the Prince of Ding and his Princess were deeply attached to each other, and seeing them now, it truly was difficult for them to part.

Ye Li took a step back, leaving Mo Xiunyao's embrace. Turning her head to Feng Han, who stood nearby, she instructed, "Feng Han, His Highness's safety is entrusted to you."

Feng Han nodded and said earnestly, "Please rest assured, Your Ladyship, this subordinate will never betray your trust."

Ye Li nodded, said a brief word of caution to Mo Xiunyao, and retreated into the surrounding crowd of well-wishers. Mo Xiunyao cast one last look back at her, took hold of a nearby white horse, flipped into the saddle, and galloped off to catch up with the procession that had already set out.

Until the entire peace-marriage delegation vanished into the distance, Princess Zhaoren finally collapsed in tears, and Princess Zhaoyang ordered attendants to support her back to the princess's estate. The Emperor and Empress also accompanied the Empress Dowager back to the palace, leaving the previously bustling palace gates suddenly much quieter. Ye Li stood in place, gazing silently at the direction where Mo Xiunyao had departed without a word. "Your Ladyship, His Highness has already left the city. It's time for us to return," Steward Mo walked up to Ye Li and said in a low voice. Ye Li nodded and replied, "Let's go back." Without Mo Xiunyao, the capital suddenly felt somewhat lonely and tedious.

With the Prince of Ding away from the capital, the Prince of Ding's Mansion closed its doors to visitors and grew as quiet as usual, just like in the past. However, only the people inside the Prince of Ding's Mansion knew that within a mere ten days, the estate had endured covert attacks several times greater in number than those of the past few years combined.

Late at night, another wave of attacks concluded. Ye Li sat in a chair placed beneath the eaves, watching with a face as calm as still water as a group of men in black knelt across the courtyard. To her left and right stood Zhuojing, Qin Feng, Steward Mo, Feng Zhiyao, Mo Hua, and Zhang Qilan—who was specially stationed at the mansion due to the Prince's absence—along with Han Mingxi. Aside from Feng Zhiyao, who remained as carefree and bantering as ever, the expressions on everyone else's faces were rather grim. Tonight, assassins had actually broken through the outer perimeters of the Prince of Ding's Mansion and almost managed to breach the main courtyard where Ye Li resided. Mo Hua's expression as the commander of the shadow guards was even uglier; this was practically a direct slap to the face of the shadow guards.

"Alright, let's hear it. Where did this batch of people come from?" Ye Li glanced at the gloomy expressions of her subordinates and asked calmly.

The assassins, forced to kneel in the courtyard, flashed looks of disdain in their eyes and proudly averted their gazes. Ye Li chuckled, "My mistake. Without a proper interrogation, I suppose none of you gentlemen intend to talk. But as it happens... in these past ten days, a total of seven batches of people have come to my place, and among them, there might even be some of your companions. However, none of their bones were stubborn enough to put up a fight to the death with me. Qin Feng, hand them over to you."

Qin Feng laughed heartily and said, "Many thanks, Your Ladyship. It just so happens that those lads under my command are currently learning interrogation techniques, and their progress over the past few days has been astonishingly fast. We truly must thank these gentlemen for their contributions." Feng Zhiyao let out a light scoff, feigning disdain, but his eyes were already eagerly fixed on Qin Feng as he said, "This young master requests to observe." Feng Zhiyao prided himself on being the most formidable interrogation expert in the Prince of Ding's Mansion, but ever since Qin Feng brought back those few young men, he realized there was always someone better, and that the newer generations surpassed the old. Furthermore, these interrogation experts were seemingly mass-produced. Qin Feng gave him a smile that didn't reach his eyes and said, "Strictly classified, outsiders keep out." With a wave of his hand, attendants came forward to haul the people out of the courtyard.

Feng Zhiyao glared with bitter resentment at the dashingly departing Qin Feng, then turned back to look pleadingly at Ye Li. There was no helping it; ever since Qin Feng began following the Princess, aside from the direct commands of the Prince and Princess, nobody else's words carried any weight with him. Ye Li smiled gently and said, "Feng San, Qin Feng isn't deliberately making things difficult for you. This really is classified." Feng Zhiyao grumbled, "An interrogation is just an interrogation; even if there are unique methods, it shouldn't count as a military secret." Ye Li smiled, "The identity of the interrogators is currently still classified."

Feng San rubbed his nose and fell silent. As one of Mo Xiunyao's most trusted confidants, he naturally knew that the Princess possessed a secret unit composed of personnel selected from the various military branches under the Prince of Ding's Mansion. No one knew what the Princess intended to do with these people, and even the Prince was unaware of what happened to them after being handpicked by the Princess. Right now... were these people the ones he was thinking of? Feng Zhiyao recalled the few individuals Qin Feng had brought back a few days ago to undergo their torture and questioning tasks. Although he had only glanced at them in passing and they seemed entirely ordinary, the vigilance Feng Zhiyao had cultivated over years of battlefield and covert operations told him these people were definitely not simple.

Ye Li stood up, smiled at the group, and said, "Thank you all for your hard work tonight. Let's head into the study to talk."

Zhang Qilan said with an ugly expression, "The moment the Prince's back was turned, these people targeted the Prince of Ding's Mansion. Are we really just going to let this go?" Ye Li smiled lightly, "General Zhang need not worry; naturally, we won't just let it go. This Princess... happens to need a few people to practice on anyway." Her soft tone carried a chilling, blood-curdling murderous intent that made everyone involuntarily turn serious as they followed Ye Li toward the study.

Returning to the study and taking their respective seats, Ye Li turned to Han Mingxi, who sat to the side, and said, "The matters concerning Xiling and Nanjiang ought to be attended to as well. Mingxi, you should set off to leave the capital tomorrow." Hearing this, Han Mingxi frowned, wanting to say something. Ye Li shook her head and said, "No need to say more. You can see the situation in the capital for yourself. There is nothing for you to do staying here, so you might as well set off sooner. Eldest Brother should still be in Yongzhou; if you encounter anything you cannot decide on, you can take my token to consult him." Han Mingxi looked at her calmly, let out a soft sigh, and said, "I understand. I will set off tomorrow. I'll go back and pack my things first."

Ye Li didn't try to make him stay, merely giving a slight nod.

As soon as Han Mingxi left, the atmosphere in the study immediately grew somewhat livelier. It wasn't that the people of the Prince of Ding's Mansion distrusted or guarded against Han Mingxi; it was just that anyone present possessed shrewd eyes capable of seeing through the ways of the world. No matter how covert Han Mingxi's feelings were, how could they escape the notice of these people? Yet these individuals were fiercely loyal to Mo Xiunyao. Even though they knew there was nothing improper between the Princess and Han Mingxi, in the eyes of these loyalists to the estate, they inevitably treated Han Mingxi with a degree of cold aloofness.

As if entirely oblivious to everyone's expressions, Ye Li spoke with natural ease as she discussed matters concerning the estate with them. Everyone remained somewhat worried about the safety of the Prince of Ding's Mansion, and Steward Mo asked, "Your Ladyship, should we transfer more shadow guards into the mansion?" With the estate being continuously attacked these days, the guards and shadow guards must be utterly exhausted, and tonight assassins had even broken into the Princess's personal living quarters. Ye Li smiled and said, "There's no need for such trouble. Since they went through all the trouble to sneak into the capital and risk their lives to breach the famously impregnable Prince of Ding's Mansion, the least we can do is see what they actually want. Starting tomorrow, catch fewer assassins. Let a few of them go back."

Feng Zhiyao's eyes flashed as he smiled, "Does Your Ladyship intend to... let them think the defenses of the Prince of Ding's Mansion are gradually failing? Will they believe it?"

Ye Li smiled, "Since they stubbornly came wave after wave knowing full well they couldn't break through, if I give them an opening, tell me—would you believe it?"

Zhang Qilan said worriedly, "If word of this spreads, I'm afraid the mansion will become even more unsettled."

Ye Li's smile turned cold and detached as she said calmly, "This Princess will let the entire world know that the Prince of Ding's Mansion is not only impregnable, but also a living hell from which no one returns!"

A shock ran through everyone's hearts as they stared blankly at the gentle, graceful woman in green before them, unable to speak for a long time.

"Your Ladyship." Qin Feng pushed the door open, his expression somewhat peculiar. Ye Li raised an eyebrow and asked without surprise, "Couldn't get anything out of them?"

Qin Feng said with a trace of annoyance, "One committed suicide, and the rest are just small fries who don't know anything."

Ye Li shook her head and said, "No, the one who died wasn't the leader."

Qin Feng looked at Ye Li in puzzlement, and she calmly explained, "The other party couldn't possibly be unaware of how formidable the interrogations of the Prince of Ding's Mansion are. If he truly had a death wish, he would have killed himself the moment he was captured. Compared to experience, you lot still fall short of Feng San." Feng Zhiyao looked triumphantly at Qin Feng and grinned, "That's right, at least under this young master's watch, a prisoner committing suicide like that would never happen." Qin Feng didn't mind Feng Zhiyao's provocation at this moment, his sword-like brows furrowing deeply as he asked, "Does Your Ladyship mean that the one who killed himself was merely a decoy to cover the real leader?" Ye Li rested her chin in her hand and said, "There's at least a fifty percent chance of that. Of course, it's also possible he was genuinely terrified by your methods and happened to fall into the hands of a few inexperienced rookies, allowing him to exploit a loophole to commit suicide. Still... your methods shouldn't have reached that level yet, right?"

Qin Feng said somewhat distressedly, "Those lads are just learning this; they don't know how to control their strength yet. If they actually killed him..."

Ye Li lowered her gaze and said softly, "We aren't short on time. Change methods and take it slow."

"Change methods?"

Ye Li said, "Eagle-taming."

"Eagle-taming?"

Ye Li toyed with the white porcelain cup in her hand, speaking softly, "Light up the prison cells until they are as bright as day. Stop using physical torture and beatings; have the prison guards take turns watching them, changing shifts every single hour. There is only one rule: do not let me see a single person fall asleep, until they are willing to speak the truth." Feng Zhiyao asked in confusion, "Just by keeping them awake? Does that actually work?"

Ye Li smiled, "Third Young Master Feng might have tried staying awake for a day or two, but have you ever tried going four or five days without sleep? This method can tame even the proudest eagle into total submission, let alone a human being."

Although Feng Zhiyao harbored doubts regarding Ye Li's claim, Qin Feng accepted it entirely without hesitation, turning around immediately to issue the instructions.

Feng Zhiyao turned back to look at Ye Li and asked, "These past few days, what does Your Ladyship make of these assassins?"

Ye Li gestured to Zhuojing, who handed over a dossier. Taking it and opening it, Ye Li said, "The ones who broke into the mansion these past few days are all sorts of characters. Some were hired killers, some came seeking revenge, and others came trying to fish in troubled waters."

"Fish in troubled waters? Who has the guts to fish in troubled waters at the Prince of Ding's Mansion?" Mo Hua, who rarely spoke up, asked with a sneer.

Feng Zhiyao chuckled, "Whether they were truly fishing in troubled waters is anyone's guess, but with so many outlaws suddenly appearing in the capital over these past few days, were the garrison troops and the capital magistrate just eating free rations?" Steward Mo said in a deep voice, "The Prince of Ding's Mansion has been subjected to continuous attacks. Even though the estate is vast with few neighboring residences, the person in the palace couldn't possibly be unaware of it. Yet after all this time, the palace hasn't sent a single person to inquire, acting as if nothing happened at all." Ye Li rubbed the bridge of her nose, smiled brilliantly, and said, "The person in the palace probably also wants to see just what level the Prince of Ding's Mansion's strength has reached. Feng San, tomorrow spread the word that this Princess has been frightened day after day and is feeling unwell."

"Frightened?" Feng Zhiyao looked with a somewhat uncanny gaze at Ye Li's smiling face. Whether it was the Princess of Dingnan or those unlucky assassins who had been frightened these past few days was genuinely open to debate. Ye Li glanced sideways at him, "What? This Princess isn't allowed to be frightened? I am, after all, still a woman, and His Highness isn't by my side. What's wrong with being frightened when assassins visit my doorstep day after day?"

Feng Zhiyao rubbed his nose and said respectfully, "Nothing at all. The Princess has suffered excessive fright, and her noble constitution is slightly indisposed."

Ye Li gave a light hum and said, "Very well, let them be happy for these next few days. The Princess is startled and refuses to see anyone—that's all."

Steward Mo hesitated for a moment before asking, "What if the palace issues a summons..."

Ye Li smiled, "My condition is severe, so I cannot enter the palace. Feel free to accept any imperial physicians or rewards sent from the palace, but don't agree to anything else."

"This old servant understands," Steward Mo nodded and said.

Dismissing the others, Ye Li left the study alone and walked toward her bedchamber. Raising her head to look at the nearly full moon hanging in the night sky, she let out a worried sigh, then turned back to address a patch of darkness, "Why are you following me?"

From the darkness came Mo Hua's somewhat rigid voice, "His Highness said I must protect the Princess's safety."

Ye Li smiled faintly, ignoring him further as she turned and walked into her room. Once she had gone far out of sight, Mo Hua finally stepped out of the shadows, exposing himself to the moonlight. A clear look of vexation and frustration still lingered deep within his eyes. Was his stealth capability really inferior to the Princess's?