Those two remarks from Prince Damien of Southlyn and Prince Terrence of Lyndaria carried a lot of weight. If an Eastlyn official had said the same, it would be a minor matter, but coming from foreign princes, it made the Emperor feel deeply humiliated—especially since the shame had now spread abroad.
Anyone who didn’t know the truth might think the Emperor was just petty—hoarding good wine and refusing to serve it to the princes of Southlyn and Lyndaria. But the reality was, he didn’t even have any of Feng Manor’s prized vintage in his own hands.
The Emperor kept his face neutral, but the Chief Eunuch noticed his ear twitch—a sure sign of anger. The fact that Serena Feng’s manor had better wine than the imperial cellars was practically a crime of disrespect. If the Emperor didn’t feel a sting, he wouldn’t be the Emperor.
A proper servant must know what can be said and what cannot. Sometimes you just need to hint at things and leave it at that. The Chief Eunuch figured this was more than enough to earn the fifty thousand taels Night City’s City Lord had paid him.
That’s right—fifty thousand taels. The Emperor might be wise, but the servants who wait on him are all sharp as foxes. Since the Emperor likes to appear in control and all-knowing, his staff make sure to slip up just enough for him to ‘see through’ things. An attendant with no desires is the last person the Emperor would trust.
The Chief Eunuch stopped talking and supported the Emperor as they walked slowly toward the inner palace. With so many fresh-faced beauties waiting, there was no way the Emperor wouldn’t spread his favor around.
After two steps, the Emperor had already suppressed his anger. As a ruler, even if he wanted to settle scores with Serena Feng, he’d never show it openly. “If our wine has won praise from two foreign princes, Feng Manor’s vintage must truly be exceptional. Have someone fetch two jars—I want to taste for myself what’s supposedly better than the imperial brew.”
In other words, he wanted to drink Feng Manor’s wine himself. Only after tasting it could he decide if Prince Terrence’s praise was genuine. How to get the wine—that was not the Emperor’s concern.
“I’ll prepare it at once.” After all, Feng Manor isn’t the palace—getting two jars of wine is easy. The Chief Eunuch could already picture Serena Feng’s unlucky face.
The Emperor nodded in satisfaction. Dealing with Serena Feng was a minor matter—the real issue was Prince Nolan. “My Ninth Brother still doesn’t know Serena Feng has found her parents’ remains. Make sure someone tells him. This is excellent news.”
What the Emperor really meant was for the Chief Eunuch to paint Serena Feng’s situation as tragic—just to make Prince Nolan furious.
People only make reckless moves when they lose their cool. Prince Nolan has been holding back lately, leaving the Emperor with no opening. To provoke Nolan, Serena Feng is the perfect pawn.
“Brilliant, Your Majesty.” The Chief Eunuch’s face bloomed into a smile like a chrysanthemum.
When reporting Serena Feng’s condition to Prince Nolan, there’s no need to exaggerate—just stick to the facts. Just mentioning that Serena shed a blood-red tear on the spot would be enough to break Nolan’s heart.
Rumor has it that in this freezing weather, Serena Feng stayed kneeling by the jade coffin until she was half frozen. Even someone as rootless as the Chief Eunuch couldn’t help but be moved by her overwhelming grief.
Poor child!
Of course, the Chief Eunuch’s pity didn’t last—Serena Feng’s fate had nothing to do with him. Reaching the fork in the palace corridors, he remembered his real job and started fawning: “Your Majesty, Consort Ru has choreographed a new dance and wants to perform it for you; Consort Liang has written fresh poetry and hopes for your comments; and Consort Zhen has invented a dessert called ‘Snowfall in White’ that even the Empress praised.”
The first two were just background noise—the real highlight was at the end. Naturally, the Emperor chose to visit Consort Zhen. When Noble Consort Helena Hsieh heard the news, she nearly tore her handkerchief apart in frustration.
Consort Zhen was the Empress’s protégé, so her rising favor meant more benefits for the Empress. But Helena Hsieh, even with her pregnant belly, couldn’t share the Emperor’s bed and could only stew in jealousy, watching the Emperor get drawn in by all these new beauties. The hatred in her heart was real.
“My lady, why bother competing with those little vixens? As long as you safely deliver a prince, you’ll have nothing to fear.” Helena Hsieh’s old nurse reminded her at just the right moment—don’t lose sight of the main goal.
The way of a consort is all about securing favor. To do that, you need to offer the Emperor something that can hold his attention for a lifetime—and nothing works better than a child carrying imperial blood.
That’s right—just a tool. In the eyes of the women in the harem, children are merely instruments for fighting over favor and power. Otherwise, why would they risk not being able to share the Emperor’s bed for a year and a half just to get pregnant?
Helena Hsieh exhaled and nodded. “You’re absolutely right. As long as I safely deliver a prince, I’ll be fine. And to give birth to this prince, I still need Serena Feng—she can’t die yet. Go remind her: Crown Prince Terrence praised Feng Manor’s wine, and now the Emperor wants to drink it. Tell her to prepare well.”
Of course, ‘prepare well’ didn’t mean offering up the best wine—it meant dodging this crisis. Someone as clever as Serena Feng would know exactly what to do.
“Understood, madam.” The old nurse kept her head bowed, hiding the glint in her eyes.
Serena Feng changed into clean clothes, dried her hair, and sat alone at the table, eating a simple meal—one dish and three soups. Afterward, she went to the mourning hall, offered three sticks of incense to her parents, knelt there for a while, and finally returned to the study, where Jada Tang and Mira Tang brought her the intel they’d gathered.
Serena was capable of speed-reading, but this time she forced herself to read every single word. By the time she finished, her face was streaked with tears.
She’d expected the truth to be ugly, but not this hard to accept. Serena clutched the yellowed pages, her tears falling nonstop—yet not a sound escaped her lips.
Jada Tang and Mira Tang’s hearts ached watching her. Silent tears always hurt the most. They’d rather see Serena sobbing her heart out on the jade coffin, like that day, than endure this suffocating quiet.
They wanted to comfort Serena, but realized that nothing they said could change the facts. No words could help her now.
Those exalted imperial spouses destroyed their young lady’s family and ruined her life. If not for them, their mistress would still be the cherished daughter of General Feng and Madame Feng, living a peaceful, ordinary life, never forced to shoulder such heavy burdens.
“Where did this news come from?” Serena closed her eyes, tilted her head slightly, and blinked away her tears.
She didn’t ask if the information was accurate—only where it came from. If someone dared leak this to her, it meant the news could withstand scrutiny.
“Miss, we sent people to investigate, and so far we’ve only traced it to the Crown Prince’s Manor. We still don’t know how many people are behind it.” They’d managed to find this much in just one afternoon only because the Crown Prince hadn’t bothered to cover his tracks. Otherwise, they’d have found nothing.
“The Crown Prince? He really won’t give up. With that broken body, he still wants to fight? Even if I do exactly as he wishes and destroy the Empress, what then? He can still hold the throne without a mother—Adrian Dongling doesn’t have a living mother and still enjoys imperial favor.” Serena let go of the crumpled papers, letting them drift to the floor.
“Go bring in the old nurse you found—I have questions for her.” Not only did they have documentary evidence, they’d even found a living witness. Serena had to admit, the Crown Prince had put real thought into this.
But her heart was already ice-cold toward the Eastlyn imperial family. No matter how much effort the Crown Prince put in, she wouldn’t be moved.