“Min? What’s wrong?”

Samaya asked, stepping forward. The poor girl looked scared … wary. She was clutching a bundle of clothes in her hands, her fists clenching tightly around the fabric. She took a deep breath and then extended her hands towards Samaya.

“I … I found these in the bath chambers of the Prince today.”

Samaya tilted her head, frowning. “He must have forgotten to put them out today. What’s wrong? Why do you look so worried?”

Min frowned and shook her head. “The Prince does not allow anyone to touch his house clothes. He said … he would like to take care of it himself.”

Okay, she could see that. Manu did wash the clothes he wore frequently himself for about a year or so now. So what was wrong?

“We never tried to look for them when cleaning out the bath chambers before. But we clean the entire residence once a month and we were cleaning the bath chambers today as well. We found his clothes tucked under the towels…” Min trailed off and then looked down at the clothes in her hands.

“Min?” She called. The girl looked up at her before sighing and seeming to square herself.

“It is better to show you, my lady,” she said as she finally opened the clothes. They were inside out and …. Samaya’s breath hitched.

Blood.

Splatters of blood.

She could tell just from the colour of those splatters that they were fresh, only starting to dry. They were concentrated around the middle of the sleeves of both hands. There was even a long line as if something thin covered in blood had brushed past the sleeve.

She snatched the clothes away from her and then started to examine the blood. Some of it stained her fingers. This was blood … her son’s blood. She was sure of it. Someone had hurt her baby boy. Her son, whom she had held and raised so preciously from the moment he came into her arms.

She could hear ringing in her ears. Her nerves felt as if they were burning, the blood in her veins boiling. She felt a rage the likes of which she rarely ever felt, red starting to cover her vision. She wanted to find out who did this to her son. Find them and torture them. Slowly, painfully, take her time breaking every bone on their body and watch them beg for their life as the light disappeared from their eyes.

How dare they? How dare they hurt her son? How long had he been hiding this from her? How long had he been in pain? How long did he have to hide his pain? He knew… he knew she would do anything to protect him. He knew he could come to her anytime he wanted. Then why didn’t he? Who forced him to hide his pain?

They were going to pay.

She was going to make them pay.

“My lady? My lady?!”

Min’s voice brought her out of her rage filled thoughts. She looked down to see that she was now clutching the clothes in her hands so hard it was nearly tearing. She could feel her own nails through the clothes.

She took a deep breath and then tried to think rationally. Until now, she was only raging mindlessly, without thinking about how to find the culprit. Min was helpful in that regard. Her voice had jarred Smaya out of her hazy mind and helped her focus her thoughts more productively.

Now that she was thinking about it, there was really only one culprit. Only a handful of persons had the authority to punish Manu. The Emperor, the Empress, herself, and … his teachers and instructors.

The two Chen brothers were not punishing him. If they had been, Manu would not have been so animated and excited when talking about those lessons. And they did not seem like people who would hurt little children to this extent. The Emperor never quite showed dissatisfaction towards Manu and he would have no reason to punish him like this. The Empress had not been in the vicinity of Manu since that first morning greeting.

So, that really left one option.

The etiquette instructor. What was her name again? Li? Lin? Yun?

Of course, it was her. The bitch sent by the Imperial Consort. She should have known the moment she saw those clothes. Those were the house clothes, worn when they were at the courtyard before they started the day and after they were done with the day.

The other one was hurting Samaya but she never went overboard. Probably because her master knew Samaya would not keep quiet. Manu … he was a child. More vulnerable. More pliable. It would be easier to hurt him, to manipulate him, to keep him under control.

Samaya pushed down the bile rising behind her throat. She thought for a moment before frowning and then looking at Min.

“Where does the etiquette instructor teach Manu?”

Min frowned and then shook her head. “We don’t know, my lady. We are usually ordered to stay out of the residence and at the gates when the instructor comes.”

Fuck. No wonder no one found anything out. She exhaled to calm down her rising anger and then spoke again.

“Have you cleaned the main rooms yet?”

“No, we usually start at the bath chambers and work our way out.”

“Good. Call everyone.”

All the maids, both her personal ones and the others working about the courtyard, gathered in front of her. A total of 7.

“Search every inch of this room,” she ordered. “Every inch of the floor, the walls, the tables, the chairs, anything, and everything … if you find any dark red or brown splatters, or even anything suspicious, let me know immediately. Get to it. Now!”

They must have gotten a sense of how frustrated and angry she was because they quickly scattered and started to search the entire room.

“If you cannot find it in this room, search the other rooms. The parlour. The guest room. Everything!”

Thankfully, they did not have to extend the search that much. Soon, one of the maids, kneeling in front of the carved in space in the wall, yelled.

“Lady Qing! There is something here!”

Samaya rushed to the place and then knelt beside her. A small amount of red and brown splatters decorated the spot. She knew it. The woman must have used a thin, sharp stick, the blood must have stuck to it and scattered about.

Her stomach twisted and then she straightened.

“All of you, leave!” She growled.

The servants scrambled outside but she ignored them as they left the room.

“Ah-Liu!”

It did not take one moment for the boy to rush to her side.

“Ah-Liu. I need you to stay here. Hidden. Keep an eye on Manu when he comes back.”

“What about you?”

“I’m gonna take a little stroll. Stay here.”

She waited only for Ah-Liu to answer affirmatively before she stormed out of the room, finding Su and Min in short order.

“Come with me, the two of you.”

She would have preferred to go alone but as a concubine, she could not move around without maids. Stupid fucking rules. If she was going to take the maids, she might as well take the ones she was a bit close to.

Samaya had only checked on Manu in his lessons a handful of times but she had memorized the way to them the first time. When she arrived at his academic lessons, Manu was gone already and Zhongqing was already packing up.

“Lady Qing,” his voice was tinged with surprise before he composed himself. This Chen brother was starting to get used to her visits. He straightened. “Prince Xu has just finished his lessons. He should be starting his training with Young Master Chen Yuming right now.”

She nodded. “I know. I am not here for him.”

This time, he did not hide his surprise. She usually visited to see how Manu was doing his lessons. A few times, she herself sat down beside him and started helping, sometimes learning new nuances of the language. So, it was clearly a surprise that she was not here for her child.

“Is there a problem, my lady?” He asked, his perceptive eyes fixed on her face. “You do not seem … well.”

Samaya took a deep breath. “I am fine. But the situation I find myself in is not.”

Chen Zhongqing was clearly curious but did not ask, clearly waiting for her to speak. Samaya sighed and took a seat on the closest couch.

“Before I elaborate, there are some questions I need to ask you. And … maybe a favor as well.”

The man nodded and sat down opposite her. The next half an hour was filled with a soft conversation between the two of them. Every word helped her prepare, and make a case for herself when she would inevitably be questioned. When she was done, she thanked the man and asked him to help her when needed.

“And when would that be, my lady?”

“You’ll know.”

The man paused and then nodded. As he was about to leave, Samaya spoke up again.

“Oh, one more thing. Please do keep what happened today a secret. Not for long. You will need to reveal what you said to me soon.”

Chen Zhingqing bowed and made his way out. She sighed softly and followed him.

“One down, one to go,” she whispered to herself. Even if this one failed to keep his promise, the other one could be used. Chen Yuming was young, brash, blunt, and, most importantly, honest to a fault.

She sighed softly and made her way to the second Chen brother.

---

The Morning Court was exhausting, as it always tended to be. It was a mindless, unceasing bog of politicking and bickering amongst the courtiers to see who could fool him the most and take the most benefits. One more hour of sleep would be more productive than coming to the Court on most days.

But Huang Yasheng could not do that. It was a duty that the Emperor could never shirk unless there was a matter of life and death. Not if he wanted a stable reign and nation. After all, he could manage to manhandle the Court officials into doing their damn jobs on most days if he listened to them bicker for a bit.

The courtiers had left and now Han Qin was briefing him on the matter of a mass kidnapping of noble children in the regions of Beilong and HuangDu, near QingHu, where they had first found the Prince and his mother.

“So the children have been returned safely?” Huang Yasheng asked.

“Yes.” Han Qin nodded. “Once the ransom was paid, the children were returned. However…”

“However?” Huang Yashed turned to look at Han Qin, raising an eyebrow in askance.

Han Qin sighed. “Some of the families have lost their family treasures. Though they are lower noble families, some of them have a rich history that goes back to the founding of the empire. Losing those family treasures dealt a bloom.”

Huang Yasheng frowned. “What were the magistrate and law enforcement of the region doing?”

Han Qin shook his head. “They were trying their best but this is a remote region, almost in one corner. People who are stationed here rarely know any proper martial arts or even procedures. They could do little.”

Huang Yasheng frowned. “Send some compensation to them and put some competent people in those places. Huangdu and Beilong are two very important strategic places on our borders. They connect many of the trade and transport routes. The fact that we have no proper soldiers there is a failure on our part. And…” he paused for a moment before continuing, “let the families know that protecting the future is more important than clinging to the past.”

Han Qin nodded and saluted. “It will be done, Your Majesty!”

Huang Yasheng nodded and turned to make his way to his palanquin when he saw Eunuch Li rushing toward him.

“Your Majesty!”

“Eunuch Li.” The man frowned. “What happened? Why do you look so harried?”

“Your… Your Majesty.” The man was trying to catch his breath. “Lady … Lady Qing…”

Huang Yasheng’s frown deepened. What had this woman done now?

He found out a moment later.

“Lady Qing was found abusing one of the Senior Palace Attendants of the Imperial Consort! She has been summoned for trial in the Inner Court!”