Chapter Twelve: On the Carriage

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Shen Tubai arrived punctually, holding her pipa with delight and boarding the carriage within the time set by Li Tinghan.

Ignoring his scrutinizing gaze, she sincerely thanked him. "Prince, if you wish to hear any song, I will play it for you once I return to the manor."

"And what if I want to hear it now?" Li Tinghan suddenly closed the distance between them, his breath trailing from her cheek down to her neck.

As if unaware, Shen Tubai adjusted her posture while holding the pipa and replied sweetly, "I will play it for you now, Prince."

She strummed two notes lightly before a large palm pressed down on the strings, stopping her from playing further.

Li Tinghan’s fingertips brushed her earlobe. "Why have all your jewelry disappeared?"

Shen Tubai smiled softly. "The housekeeper has long wished to turn the Thousand Gold Pavilion into a tavern, to provide a safe haven for the sisters living there."

"Now that I am supported by the prince’s mansion, I leave those worldly things to those who need them more." Though her words sounded casual, they carried a genuine warmth.

"You certainly value loyalty." Li Tinghan paused his hand, his gaze growing complex as he looked at her.

Blushing shyly, Shen Tubai smiled. The next moment, Li Tinghan lifted her waist, seating her on his lap.

Startled, Shen Tubai gasped, her wide eyes innocent. "Prince, do you intend to—here in the carriage…?"

"Silence!" Li Tinghan’s face hardened as he raised her hands above her head and began to caress her waist.

"Prince," Shen Tubai’s eyes reddened slightly, a hint of grievance in her expression.

At that moment, the carriage came to a halt.

Li Tinghan fixed his eyes on hers and pinched her chin. "Do you have anything you wish to say to me?"

Confused, Shen Tubai looked at him and timidly shook her head.

Disappointed, Li Tinghan threw up his hand and strode away.

Within her sleeve, Shen Tubai clenched her hand; indeed, the bottle of medicine had returned to her.

In the following days, Shen Tubai sensed a subtle wariness and discomfort whenever Li Tinghan faced her.

She, however, kept to a routine: learning etiquette from Nurse Zhao by day, taking on chores from Eunuch Lu Zhu by night, serving tea twice, and then carefully avoiding approaching Li Tinghan.

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Li Tinghan’s mood shifted from initial caution to anticipation and now, to frustration. Shen Tubai knew the time was nearly right.

But she did not expect someone to act before her.

On Mid-Autumn Festival day, Li Tinghan took his secondary consort, Lady Lu, to the palace banquet. The entire manor enjoyed a half-day respite, with a small feast set in the rear courtyard. Shen Tubai, serving in the front yard, had no right to join.

She sent five hundred taels of silver to the Thousand Gold Pavilion through a running eunuch and had him bring some side dishes, hosting Nurse Zhao in a private celebration.

After seeing her off, she began preparing before the mirror.

The housekeeper had said the fourteen days before the monthly message were the most fertile. Using the medicine given by the Cui family, even if explanations were needed later, this month offered only this one chance.

Shen Tubai sat on the bed in the side chamber, guarding it. The pear soup simmered repeatedly in the small kitchen, but Li Tinghan did not appear.

When she went to the kitchen to change the water again, she overheard two young eunuchs whispering.

"Tonight, the prince went straight to the rear courtyard with Consort Lu upon returning."

They exchanged knowing glances and smiled.

"I say, the prince must be anxious. The Empress Dowager scolded the Emperor fiercely at the banquet today, threatening to depose him!"

"If the Emperor falls, wouldn’t our prince be next to ascend?"

One eunuch clapped his hands. "That’s why I say the prince should hurry. Rumors say he has no heir, and the Empress Dowager supports the Crown Prince’s son instead."

"That won’t do! That’s a slap in the prince’s face."

"Exactly. Now we just hope Consort Lu’s belly can hurry up and give the prince a little heir."

Their voices faded as Shen Tubai regained her senses and quickly released her grip on the stove handle.

She poured the scalding pear soup onto the grass outside the kitchen, a bitter smile tugging at her lips. All her careful plotting these days had come to nothing.

She washed off her makeup, blew out the candle, and wrapped the quilt tightly around her head, but her mind swirled with thoughts—fearing palace agents might strangle her with white silk, yet doubting the Cui family possessed such power.

Her mind felt like two small voices tugging and quarrelling, making sleep impossible.

Half asleep, she suddenly felt a burning hand inside the quilt gripping her small arm tightly.

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Startled awake, Shen Tubai struggled fiercely, screaming as she tried to flee.

A pair of hot hands covered her mouth and nose. In the darkness, a hoarse voice struggled for control, "Don’t make a sound. It’s me."

She nodded and relit the candle, placing it between them. Li Tinghan’s neck veins bulged, his face flushed unnaturally, and fine beads of sweat dotted his forehead—clearly he had been drugged.

"Prince," Shen Tubai whispered softly. His burning gaze locked onto her as if about to consume her whole.

She hurried to run out. "I will call the doctor at once."

"Stop!" Li Tinghan grabbed her arm.

In the candlelight, his features appeared even more chiseled, but his tightened lips curled with mockery. "Isn’t everything that happened today exactly what you wanted? Why pretend otherwise?"

Shen Tubai shook her head innocently. "I don’t know what you’re talking about."

Li Tinghan wrapped one arm around her waist, pulling her close. Through the thin fabric, she clearly felt his warmth.

He leaned down, whispering near her ear, "Do you dare say you didn’t put this drug here?"

In a flash of insight, Shen Tubai understood his intention. Her body trembled—not from fear, but from joy.

Though she had considered such a step, she never wished to take it unless absolutely necessary, even if later she could explain she had been coerced.

Now that someone else had taken that step for her, how could she not be pleased?

"Prince, you wrong me." Her voice lowered, strangely enticing in the moment, tightening Li Tinghan’s tension even more.

Yet he was not ready to relent. He rummaged through her makeup box and found the small red bottle, holding it to her nose. "Tell me, what is this?"

Shen Tubai gripped the bottle tremblingly, her gaze filled with disappointment but also a trace of grievance.

She tipped the bottle, and the round pills fell into her palm. "I never intended to use such means to force the prince into things he did not wish to do."