Chapter 222: Birds of a feather

It was almost midnight when Crown Prince Zhao Chen got his cue to leave his chamber. Empress Lihua had tightened the security in his residence.

He had been watched more than ever.

The doors were guarded from the outside, the windows had been sealed, and even the servants who entered his residence seemed to have been carefully selected by the Empress.

Every conversation ended with the same polite reminder that His Highness needed rest, that the court was concerned about his condition, and that it would be best if he remained inside until he had recovered from whatever illness had supposedly taken hold of his mind.

Zhao Chen knew better.

He stood beside the window, staring through the narrow opening between the curtains. Two guards stood beneath the corridor lanterns, their silhouettes stretching across the polished floor.

His jaw tightened.

He reached beneath his robe and pulled out the small jade object Han Shuying had given him several days earlier.

It was no larger than the first joint of his thumb, carved in the shape of a lotus bud with a tiny opening beneath its petals. At first, he had thought it was nothing more than an ornament, but Han Shuying had quietly explained its purpose.

A sleeping incense pellet.

One of the old palace preparations, she had called it, was something used by physicians when they needed to calm an agitated patient or put an injured person into deep rest. She had warned him that it was not something to use carelessly.

Zhao Chen remembered her exact words.

Only when there is no other way out.

Tonight, there was no other way.

He placed the little jade holder beneath the door and activated the pellet as Han Shuying had instructed. Within moments, a thin ribbon of pale smoke began to curl through the narrow gap.

Zhao Chen stepped back and waited, using his arm to cover his nose. He couldn’t risk inhaling it too.

His heart hammered against his ribs. He hated what he was doing. He hated even more that he had to do it. But when the first guard outside stumbled against the wall, Zhao Chen knew the incense had worked.

The second guard tried to call for help, but his voice became a muffled murmur before he sank heavily to the floor.

Zhao Chen immediately opened the door. He stepped over them, glancing down only once. "Serves you all right. Next time you listen to me," he whispered, a smirk etched at the corner of his lip.

Then he ran.

The corridors were almost completely empty at this hour. Zhao Chen moved quickly through the shadows, keeping his head lowered whenever he passed beneath a lantern. He had never realized how enormous his residence was until he had to cross it without being seen.

Every sound made him tense.

Every distant footstep sounded like an entire battalion coming for him. But he did not turn back.

Han Shuying was the only person he could trust right now. She had been the one who told him the truth when everyone else had treated him like a deranged prince.

She had been the one who had given him the incense and quietly suggested that if he ever truly needed to leave his residence, he should remember that the palace had more doors than the guards knew about.

And, more importantly, she had understood why he wanted Ru Yi back.

When Zhao Chen finally reached Han Shuying’s residence, he slipped through the servants’ entrance and hurried toward her private chamber.

He barely had time to knock when he heard a loud crash coming from the courtyard.

Zhao Chen froze.

A familiar voice thundered through the residence. It was no doubt General Han Zheng’s voice. He could recognize that deep tenor from miles away.

Zhao Chen knew he couldn’t let the General see him. He might not be the brightest but he knew General Han Zheng was working with the Empress.

He immediately slipped into one of the dark corridors, grateful there wasn’t a maid in sight. He waited until the old man stormed out and continued to her chamber.

Han Shuying sighed when she saw the silhouette outside her door. "You can come out now."

Zhao Chen stepped in.

Han Shuying looked at him, her face stripped of every emotion she’d let herself show. She knew he heard everything, but she wasn’t worried about Zhao Chen. He had no real bite.

"You actually came." She sounded bored, the broken woman from earlier was already tucked away in the deepest recess of her mind.

Zhao Chen straightened his robes, trying to recover whatever dignity remained after crawling through half the palace like a thief. "I had to."

She gave him a single nod. "Did you use the incense?"

"Yes."

"You were supposed to use it only if there was no other way."

"There really wasn’t."

Han Shuying stared at him, then shook her head. "You are completely insane."

Zhao Chen frowned. "You aren’t exactly sane yourself."

A surprised laugh escaped her. It was brief, but genuine.

Zhao Chen’s expression softened. Then he looked toward the door. "I’m sorry—"

Han Shuying pulled out a small knife from the sleeve of her robe and threw it at Crown Prince Zhao Chen without warning.

The man barely managed to twist out of the way, watching with wide eyes as the weapon embedded itself into the wall close to his head.

Han Shuying’s smile disappeared. "Don’t you dare feel pity for me."

Zhao Chen gulped. Hard.

He’d momentarily forgotten just how vicious Han Shuying really was because she was helping him. He threw his hands up in a gesture of surrender. "I’ll keep my mouth shut."

"Good for you if you want to walk out of her alive." She raised a brow. "And? Do you have an answer to what I asked you?"

He swallowed. "I think I do."

Han Shuying studied him for a long moment. Then she walked toward the window and looked out at the dark courtyard. "Do you know what you and I have in common, Your Highness?"

Zhao Chen frowned. "What?"

She glanced over her shoulder. "We both have parents who look at us and see something they wish we were instead."

Zhao Chen went quiet.

Han Shuying continued, her voice softer now. "Your mother sees a broken prince she can control. My father sees a daughter he wishes had been a son."

Zhao Chen looked down. "So we’re both stuck with awful parents."

Han Shuying stared at him. Then, despite everything, she laughed. "That is a remarkably undignified way to describe it."

"But am I wrong?"

"No." Her smile faded. "You are not wrong."

For a moment, the two of them simply stood there, united by the strange misery of having been born into families that demanded everything from them while giving them almost nothing in return.

Then Zhao Chen looked at her. "Help me bring Ru Yi back like you promised."

Han Shuying’s expression changed. This time, there was no hesitation. "And you will do just like I asked?"

Zhao Chen hesitated—

Han Shuying turned away from the window. "I think," she said quietly, "that it is time you stopped letting others dictate your life."

Zhao Chen stared at her.

Han Shuying walked toward the table and picked up a blank imperial document. "Because if they intend to take your throne from you..."

She dipped the brush into ink.

"...then we should give them a reason to fear what happens when the Crown Prince finally decides to fight back."

Han Shuying folded another imperial document and slipped it beneath the edge of the writing table. "General Han Zheng will be gone for some time, and once he leaves, you’ll get the opportunity to return to the inner court."

Zhao Chen frowned. "How do you know he will be gone?"

Han Shuying’s fingers paused against the table. For a moment, she simply looked at him. There was something unreadable in her expression, something that made Zhao Chen realize he had asked the wrong question.

"You ask too many questions for someone who just broke out of confinement," she said lightly.

"Han Shuying."

Her smile disappeared.

Zhao Chen stepped closer, lowering his voice. "I know you’re not helping me without reason. You have been planning something since the day we first spoke."

Han Shuying held his gaze. "You think I am using you."

"I think you know much more than you’re telling me."

A long silence stretched between them.

Then Han Shuying walked toward him and stopped only a few steps away. "Do you trust me?"

Zhao Chen hesitated.

She watched the uncertainty cross his face and gave a quiet, humorless laugh. "That’s what I thought."

"I didn’t say no."

"But you didn’t say yes."

Zhao Chen clenched his jaw.

Han Shuying’s expression softened slightly. "Then trust me now," she said. "When the time comes, I will tell you everything."

"And if I refuse?"

Her eyes hardened. "Then you will remain a prince who keeps asking why everyone is lying to him while the people you love disappear one by one."