Arrogant, Giving Ninth Royal Uncle a Reason to Strike

Serena Feng didn’t head straight to the operating room. Instead, she returned to her own courtyard, changed out of her filthy clothes, and quietly made arrangements to deliver a heavy-handed “gift” to Adrian Dongling.

After suffering such a huge loss, there was no way she could just let it slide without any response.

She put on a newly purchased dress, a cold smile flashing in her eyes. “Spring, Autumn, come in.”

“At your service, miss.”

“Go and bring out the Ninth Prince’s Princess Consort formal regalia.” These truly precious, status-defining items—even the Bloodcloak Guard wouldn’t dare destroy them if they saw them.

“Yes, miss.” Spring and Autumn assumed Serena wanted to wear the regalia to go out, so they hurried to the hidden compartment and brought out the outfit. But instead of putting it on, Serena told them to find a Bloodcloak Guard’s knife—and insisted several times that they clean all the blood off the blade.

Spring and Autumn grew increasingly uneasy, but didn’t dare defy Serena’s orders. Obediently, they found a Bloodcloak Guard’s knife, wiped it clean, and brought it back.

“Miss, here’s the knife you asked for.” Spring carefully presented the blade to Serena, her face full of worry, afraid that Serena might do something she’d regret.

She really was about to do something she shouldn’t. Serena took the knife, and let the Ninth Prince’s Princess Consort formal regalia fall to the floor.

If the Phoenix Empress Hairpin hadn’t been so precious—and a relic from Ninth Royal Uncle’s mother—Serena would have snapped it in half and framed Adrian Dongling for it, instead of targeting the Princess Consort regalia.

“Miss, please don’t—don’t do this! If His Highness finds out, he’ll be so heartbroken.” Spring and Autumn’s eyes widened in shock, staring at Serena. Under Serena’s furious glare, they didn’t dare approach and could only kneel on the floor.

“Shut up.” Serena shot the two a cold look. “What I choose to do is none of your business. Remember, I am your mistress. If the only person you care about is Ninth Royal Uncle, then go back to Ninth Prince Manor.”

“Forgive us, miss! We wouldn’t dare, we wouldn’t dare!” Spring and Autumn turned pale with fear and kowtowed desperately, begging for mercy.

“Enough. Don’t hurt yourselves—anyone who didn’t know better might think I was abusing you.” Serena only let up once she saw the two were sufficiently frightened.

Ignoring Spring and Autumn’s shock and confusion, Serena raised the knife and slashed the Ninth Prince’s Princess Consort regalia on the floor until it was beyond repair. Only when she was satisfied did she stop, tossing the knife to the ground with a sharp crack.

“Pack up the clothes and deliver them to Ninth Prince Manor first thing tomorrow morning. As for what to tell the people there—you know what to do, right?” No matter what plans Ninth Royal Uncle had, Serena was determined to force him to make a move against Adrian Dongling.

The royal family cares most about face, don’t they? She was handing Ninth Royal Uncle a perfect excuse, so he could openly and legitimately target Adrian Dongling.

With the Ninth Prince’s Princess Consort regalia ruined by the Bloodcloak Guard, if Adrian Dongling and the Bloodcloaks didn’t give Ninth Royal Uncle an explanation, even the Emperor wouldn’t be able to let it slide.

“We—we understand, miss.” Spring and Autumn were so terrified their faces lost all color, but they didn’t dare contradict Serena.

“Good. If word of what happened today gets out, don’t bother coming back.” Serena was warning Spring and Autumn: even if Ninth Royal Uncle asked, they had to say the Bloodcloak Guard wrecked the outfit.

The Bloodcloak Guard detachment had been wiped out by the Crown Prince—Adrian Dongling couldn’t even find a single survivor to question. Only Serena and her two maids knew about the destruction of the Princess Consort regalia; as long as the three of them kept quiet, the Bloodcloak Guard would take the blame for sure.

“We wouldn’t dare, miss, we wouldn’t dare.” Spring and Autumn had no way out now—if they wanted to survive, they had to do exactly as Serena said.

Having gotten the result she wanted, Serena didn’t make things difficult for them. She waved her hand. “You may go.”

Spring and Autumn, still trembling, carried the shredded regalia out. Though frightened, they also felt a strange relief—after this, they were truly part of Serena’s trusted inner circle.

Stepping outside, the cold wind helped clear their heads. Spring and Autumn exchanged a smile, clutching the ruined clothes with resolve—they would carry out Serena’s orders, no matter what.

If framing Adrian Dongling for destroying the Princess Consort regalia was meant to force Ninth Royal Uncle to attack Adrian, then Serena’s late-night order for Victor Yun to gradually halt sales of her prenatal tonic was a move to cut off Adrian’s outside support.

Everyone in the Eastlyn capital knew how popular the prenatal tonic was. The Young Family Pharmacies were packed every day, with nobles and dignitaries flocking to buy it.

For a while, the Young family was unrivaled—nobles and officials would greet Victor Yun with extra warmth, say flattering things, just to be first in line for the tonic.

For those high-ranking nobles and ministers, money wasn’t the issue—some things simply couldn’t be bought, like the Young family’s glass-bottled prenatal tonic.

The Young family didn’t sell it openly at all—the pharmacies only stocked the regular prenatal tonic. These wealthy elites couldn’t bear being lumped in with commoners, so everyone tried to pull strings and buy directly from the Young family itself.

Victor Yun had once explained this sales model to Serena, and she’d teased him for his business savvy—saying he was basically building connections for the Young family, paving the way for official-business collusion.

The benefits of the prenatal tonic could be used by both Victor Yun and Serena. She didn’t need to beg anyone for favors—she simply had Victor Yun quietly reduce the supply of glass-bottled tonic. If anyone asked, he was to vaguely mention the stock had been smashed. No need to say who did it or how much was lost; the clever ones would figure it out themselves.

The day after Adrian Dongling and the Bloodcloak Guard smashed up Feng Manor, three wagonloads of glass shards were carted out of the estate and burned to ash outside the city.

Serena smashed every bottle she’d used in recent days, including the saline bottles from the snow disaster. All were clear glass—close enough in appearance that no one could tell the difference without a close look. As for evidence...

Let them search the ashes themselves.

Serena hadn’t done much, but these two moves together were enough to cripple Adrian Dongling’s power. Unfortunately, Adrian never imagined she’d strike back—he didn’t think smashing up Feng Manor was wrong. Right now, his only concern was the Crown Prince...

The Crown Prince and his three brothers sat in the carriage in silence. Adrian Dongling, Prince Yong, and Prince Zhou sat on one side, facing the Crown Prince, who didn’t take them seriously and smiled the whole way.

When the carriage stopped at the palace gates, the Crown Prince gestured to the door. “Seventh Brother, we’ve arrived at the palace. I won’t escort you in—Father probably doesn’t want to see me anyway.”

“As long as you understand, Your Highness. You’d best figure out how to explain things to Father tomorrow.” Now that he was safe and at the palace, Adrian Dongling no longer cared about the Crown Prince.

“Explain? You think I care about Father’s opinion? I stand by what I’ve done. Seventh Brother, get out. Instead of worrying about me, you should think about how you’ll explain your own failures to Father.” The Crown Prince didn’t care about Adrian’s hostility; if not for his self-restraint, he’d have kicked Adrian out of the carriage himself.

Adrian Dongling glared at the Crown Prince, flicked his sleeve, and stepped out of the carriage. “You’ll regret this, Your Highness.”

If not for the Crown Prince, he wouldn’t have lost so much face. Adrian Dongling worried about how Father would punish him, though he refused to show weakness in front of the Crown Prince.

“Regret?” The Crown Prince sneered. “I do regret something—regret not seeing through you sooner. Take care, Seventh Brother. As for my affairs, don’t trouble yourself. Since I’ve chosen to be arrogant, I’ll stay arrogant to the end.”

He’s already faced death—what’s left to fear?