Serena Feng’s close friends all had their own ways of comforting her, warming her heart. She’d already planned to bring Feng Jin, Snow Wolf, and Zed into the palace once things settled down, but after what happened, it was better to have them come sooner.
Normally, Serena could decide this herself, but ever since Little Dumpling’s incident, she and Ninth Royal Uncle had each been busy with their own affairs, and things had grown distant and awkward between them. Not wanting the rift to deepen, Serena took the initiative to have someone ask Ninth Royal Uncle if Feng Jin and the others could move into the palace.
Compared to Ninth Royal Uncle, Serena Feng’s emotional intelligence was on a whole other level. As soon as she reached out, he naturally seized the chance to get closer to her.
Ninth Royal Uncle personally took charge of arranging for Feng Jin, Zed, and Snow Wolf to move in, overseeing every detail himself. If the staff couldn’t make a decision, he wouldn’t let them disturb Serena—instead, he’d come ask her directly.
With every question and answer, the invisible ice between them began to melt. Under Serena’s guidance, Ninth Royal Uncle even tried a few times to hold and soothe Little Dumpling, but...
One didn’t know how to hold a baby, and the other refused to cooperate. Every time Ninth Royal Uncle picked up Little Dumpling, the baby burst into tears. The more Little Dumpling cried, the stiffer Ninth Royal Uncle’s arms became, which only made the baby cry harder, staring at him with tear-filled eyes, leaving him completely at a loss—he could only stare back, helpless.
Father and son often ended up in a staring contest—one crying pitifully, the other stiff as a board. Serena tried several times, but the two just couldn’t connect. In the end, she could only take Little Dumpling back herself, no longer expecting Ninth Royal Uncle to suddenly turn from an iceberg into a warm, doting dad.
Luckily, because Serena lived in the inner palace, William Wang Jinling rarely saw her or Little Dumpling. Otherwise, given how much kids naturally liked William, Little Dumpling would definitely want him to hold him—and Ninth Royal Uncle would probably be jealous enough to kill someone.
Ninth Royal Uncle still hadn’t forgotten that William Wang Jinling was the first to notice Little Dumpling moving in Serena’s belly.
With their relationship easing up, Ninth Royal Uncle worked more efficiently. Before nightfall, he’d finished all his memorials. Instead of summoning ministers for discussions like usual, he sent everyone away and headed straight to Little Dumpling’s palace.
During this period, Serena ate and slept with Little Dumpling every day. If Ninth Royal Uncle wanted to see her, he had to go to the child’s palace.
This made Ninth Royal Uncle a little disgruntled, but whenever he remembered the danger when Little Dumpling was poisoned, his dissatisfaction was quickly replaced by guilt and worry.
Today was Feng Jin and Zed’s first day in the palace. To show how seriously she took this, Serena deliberately held a small family banquet in Little Dumpling’s hall to welcome them—so the palace staff wouldn’t dare look down on Feng Jin, Zed, or Snow Wolf.
Even though it was just a family meal, Serena made it a real occasion. She dressed Little Dumpling in a festive little red jacket, and had Feng Jin and Zed wear bright red too—they looked absolutely adorable. But before they could even start eating, blood was spilled...
Zed had always been a sharp, precocious kid, and after all he’d been through lately, he acted even more mature—though he hadn’t lost a bit of his inner wolfish fierceness. When he was with Snow Wolf, the two of them were like a wolf pup and its shadow, perfectly in sync.
As they entered, a pretty palace maid grew impatient with Feng Jin’s slow pace. Seeing no senior servants or adults around, she roughly grabbed Feng Jin to hurry him along...
Feng Jin stumbled and nearly fell. Because of the angle, Zuo An didn’t see it—but Zed did. Without a word, Zed pulled Feng Jin behind Snow Wolf, drew the small knife he always carried, and stabbed it straight into the maid’s leg...
No one expected such a sweet-faced, harmless-looking child to attack. The maid was stabbed cleanly and, reacting in pain, tried to kick Zed. But Zed didn’t flinch; his delicate features twisted into a cruel smile as he ordered, “Snow Wolf, bite her!”
Snow Wolf and Zed were perfectly attuned. At Zed’s command, Snow Wolf didn’t hesitate—he pounced on the maid, knocking her down and raking his claws across her pretty face, leaving her horribly disfigured...
Feng Jin just stood there, stunned, not understanding what was happening. Zuo An reacted instantly—he jumped down, scooped Feng Jin away, and shielded him from the bloody scene, sparing him the worst of it.
Even though Zed’s meridians were damaged and he didn’t move as smoothly as before, his killing strike hadn’t changed—in fact, he was even more ruthless now. Once Feng Jin was out of the way, Zed didn’t hesitate: he drove his knife straight into the maid’s throat. She died before she could even cry out.
Blood splattered across Zed’s face, but he didn’t care—he wiped it off casually and stood up. The nearby maids and eunuchs were stunned; only then did they start screaming for the imperial guards.
Hearing the commotion, Serena sent Autumn and Summer out to see what was going on. One look, and they knew Zed had killed again.
“Take Young Master Zed to wash up. I’ll take Young Master Feng Jin inside,” Summer sighed, but she had no choice but to handle the aftermath. Zed didn’t think he’d done anything wrong, and calmly followed Autumn away.
He knew Feng Jin and Little Dumpling were timid and easily scared—he’d need to clean up before seeing them again.
Summer reported everything honestly. Serena was relieved to hear that Zuo An had whisked Feng Jin away before the worst of it. She ordered Summer, “Zed wouldn’t kill for no reason—go investigate further.” Even as Empress, she couldn’t approve random killings; if Zed killed without cause, she owed the lower ranks an explanation.
"Yes, Your Majesty." Summer groaned inwardly. Before coming in, she’d already asked the palace maids and eunuchs outside—they all said the same thing: Zed just calmly drew his knife and killed, with no warning at all.
"What happened here?" Ninth Royal Uncle strode in, immediately sensing the tension—maids and eunuchs all had their heads down, looking terrified, and outside the hall, blood still hadn’t been cleaned away.
"Zed killed a palace maid," Serena said bluntly. There was no hiding anything from Ninth Royal Uncle in the palace.
"Just a maid—if she’s dead, she’s dead. It’s no big deal," Ninth Royal Uncle said dismissively, waving Summer away. Summer couldn’t wait to leave.
"It’s still a human life. Zed is just a child—at his age, he shouldn’t solve everything by killing." Serena felt her temples throbbing and couldn’t help rubbing them.
Truth was, Zed and Ninth Royal Uncle were a lot alike—except Ninth Royal Uncle could tell right from wrong, and Zed just... couldn’t.
"We’ll question everyone and find out what happened. Zed wouldn’t kill for nothing," Ninth Royal Uncle said. He stepped behind Serena and began to massage her temples. Serena leaned back into his chest, eyes closed, but her voice was firm: "Even if there’s a reason, you can’t just kill people in the palace. There are rules here. What if Little Dumpling and Feng Jin start copying this?"
"You worry too much. With you teaching them, I’m not worried about Feng Jin or Little Dumpling. As for rules? You are the rules—who would dare say otherwise?" Ninth Royal Uncle was all swagger, but Serena just sighed. "If only things were that simple. Not even an emperor gets his way all the time."
Ninth Royal Uncle still refused to take concubines, so the palace officials already resented Serena. Only the imperial physicians’ confirmation of his fertility issues, and the fact that Serena had produced his eldest son, kept them quiet for now. But if the harem under her control fell into chaos, those officials would pounce on the chance—they would never let her off...