Rebuke and the Secret Inside the Ice-String Zither

Dealing with someone like Marcus Wynn, Serena Feng could only accept her fate. If Marcus really sent someone to propose marriage, she'd just have to find a way to refuse. No matter what, she would never marry Master Wynn—she didn’t even have the score for "Boundless Azure Sea and Sky" to offer.

As soon as she left the Imperial Garden, palace attendants were waiting to guide her out. Still, they took her through the usual secluded side path—no chance of running into any high-ranking nobles. Serena arrived smoothly at the carriage stop.

"Miss Serena, please get in the carriage." The young eunuch, knowing Serena Feng had stolen the spotlight today, spoke far more respectfully than usual.

Serena gave her usual tip, not letting victory over Wendy Summers make her arrogant. As she stepped onto the carriage, she froze for a moment. Fortunately, her reflexes were quick. Seeing who was inside, she sat down as if nothing had happened.

"Let’s go," Serena instructed.

Once the carriage started moving, Serena finally spoke: "I didn’t know Your Highness would be here. Forgive me for any offense." Serena understood perfectly—the driver must be the Crown Prince’s man, so there was no need to hold back.

"No need for formalities." The Crown Prince waved his hand, his pale face looking even gloomier in the dim carriage.

Serena was puzzled. Wasn’t the Buddha Statue supposed to earn the Crown Prince praise from the Emperor? Why didn’t he look happy?

"What’s wrong? Can’t figure out why I’m here?" The Crown Prince saw Serena’s bewildered face, gave a self-mocking laugh, and dropped all royal formality—he didn’t even bother with "we," just called himself "I."

"Shouldn’t Your Highness be in the palace right now? The Emperor should be asking you about the Ice-String Zither. A Buddha Statue inside a solid zither is a good thing, isn’t it?"

"The Ice-String Zither? Hmph. My father scolded me for taking shortcuts to curry favor." The Crown Prince leaned against the carriage wall, closing his eyes to hide the sadness within.

"How could that be?" Serena couldn’t believe her ears. Why would the Emperor say that? Wasn’t it obvious the Crown Prince respected his father?

"Why not? I’m not his favorite, I block the path of the son he loves. Anything I do is wrong in his eyes." Bitterness filled the Crown Prince’s heart, but he kept it to himself. He rarely had anyone to talk to—today, Serena just happened to be there when he needed to vent.

"Please forgive me, Your Highness. It was my decision alone that got you scolded by the Emperor." Serena immediately stood up, looking ready to kneel and beg for forgiveness.

"No need for that, Serena. I should be thanking you, not blaming you." The Crown Prince reached out as if to stop her, but Serena wasn’t being dramatic—she never intended to actually kneel. The carriage was so cramped, she couldn’t even if she tried.

"It was still my fault that Your Highness was reprimanded. I feel guilty." Serena put on a remorseful expression for the Crown Prince to see.

A Crown Prince born with a heart condition, rejected by his own father—Serena pitied him, but only to a point. She wasn’t a saint; she didn’t think she could save him. Helping the Crown Prince this time was just self-preservation.

"Say no more, Serena. I know the truth. If it weren’t for you, I’d be facing more than a scolding from my father today. Serena, what was originally hidden inside the Ice-String Zither?" After talking for so long, the Crown Prince finally asked.

"Your Highness, do you really want to know?" Sometimes, knowing too much isn’t a good thing.

"Tell me. I need to be prepared. Even if my life won’t last long, so what? There are things I may never get, but if someone wants to snatch them, they’ll have to wait until I’m dead." Royals are all proud—the Crown Prince was no exception. He’d rather die with his title than let anyone take what was his while he was alive.

"An Imperial Curse Doll. Inside the Ice-String Zither was a doll inscribed with the Emperor’s full name and birth chart, a piece of dragon-robe fabric, and several strands of hair."

"A curse doll meant for my father—the Emperor. Are they trying to force me to my death?" Sweat beaded on the Crown Prince’s forehead. First came terror, then rage. His right hand clenched white-knuckled as he fought to suppress his fury.

Thank goodness—thank goodness Serena Feng discovered it. If the thing that fell out of the Ice-String Zither had been that curse doll, there’d be no need for an investigation. He would’ve been doomed.

The Emperor despised these filthy things most of all. This was a capital crime—attempted regicide. Did the Empress want to frame him for killing his own father?

"Your Highness, please take care of your health. You must not get angry." Serena quickly tried to calm the Crown Prince. If he had an attack from rage, she’d be blamed for it.

Heart disease can be fatal when triggered by anger. If the Crown Prince died in her carriage, not even a thousand explanations could save her.

Huff, huff...

The Crown Prince forced himself to breathe, struggling to calm down. He kept repeating to himself: don’t get angry. If he let his illness flare up, it would only bring pain to his own people and joy to his enemies.

"They’ve gone too far. I am the Empress’s legitimate eldest son, and the Emperor is still in his prime. No matter how impatient they are, there should be a limit." The palace was full of schemes, but no one dared use forbidden witchcraft—until now.

The current Emperor hated sorcery most of all. Ten years ago, because of a curse doll incident, he had the entire harem purged in blood. Everyone involved, evidence or not, had their families wiped out.

When an emperor is enraged, corpses litter a thousand miles. Using forbidden witchcraft against the Emperor was a death sentence. Unless he rebelled outright, there was no way out. If this time the Ice-String Zither he presented shattered and exposed witchcraft, not just him, but even his mother’s family would be doomed.

The Crown Prince’s eyes were bloodshot, murderous intent surging. Serena lowered her gaze, staying silent. Only when the Crown Prince had calmed down did she say, "Your Highness, the seven Ice-Silk Threads are still at my residence. If you have time today, I’d like to return them to you personally."

Serena subtly told the Crown Prince she wanted to hand over the Imperial Curse Doll to him. She knew only if he handled it himself would he feel safe.

"Thank you, Serena." The Crown Prince didn’t refuse. He nodded, his whole demeanor cooling down.

Seeing how easily the Crown Prince controlled his emotions, Serena suspected his earlier outburst was mostly an act. Judging from the Empress’s expression, he’d probably already guessed what was going on.

But that wasn’t her concern. All she cared about was that once she handed over the curse doll, this matter would be over and she’d be safe from any fallout.

Thinking of today’s danger, and the Crown Prince’s terror when he heard about the witchcraft, Serena was deeply grateful she’d listened to Lance Quinn.

That night, when she removed the strings, she accidentally discovered the hidden latch on the Ice-String Zither. Both she and Lance Quinn were amazed at the clever design—the mechanism was set right in the string mounts, and you had to remove the strings to see it.

Most people would never think to take off the Ice-String Zither’s strings. Once removed, you couldn’t put them back. Only Serena was bold enough to risk destroying the zither the Crown Prince had presented to the Emperor.

After all seven strings were off, Lance Quinn used a bit of skill to open the zither. Even though it looked like a solid block of wood, it could be opened. The hollowed-out section inside had been filled with an Imperial Curse Doll of matching weight.

When Serena saw the curse doll, her first thought was voodoo. It was a surprise, but she didn’t panic. She believed in all sorts of ruthless tricks in the world, but also believed that harming someone wasn’t as simple as using a doll like this.

But Lance Quinn’s expression changed instantly—even behind his mask, Serena could feel his worry.

Only when Lance explained how serious this was—a single misstep could mean clan extermination—did Serena truly take it to heart. She was incredibly lucky; if she hadn’t been unable to play, and hadn’t wanted to use a stringless zither to distract everyone, she never would’ve removed the strings.

Once the shock passed, Serena started thinking of countermeasures. Her first idea was to use the enemy’s trick against them—switch the name and birth chart on the curse doll to the Crown Prince’s, so the blame would fall on the Empress and she couldn’t talk her way out. But Lance Quinn refused, saying even if it worked, the Crown Prince would never forgive her.

With sorcery and curses, it’s better to believe than to doubt. Lance knew this even better than Serena. If the curse doll bore the Crown Prince’s name and something happened to him later, he’d blame Serena for it.

"If we can’t use the Crown Prince’s name, then put mine on it. If the curse doll falls out with my name and birth chart, at least the Emperor won’t blame the Crown Prince." Serena knew about voodoo, curses, and witchcraft, but didn’t think a single doll could really do harm. Besides, the hair wasn’t hers—what did it matter?

But Lance Quinn was adamant. When it comes to sorcery, it’s safer to believe than doubt. People had died from curses before—this wasn’t something to mess with lightly.

Serena thought it over. If something really did happen, she’d have nowhere to turn. She gave up on the idea of framing the Empress by using her own name.

In the end, the two of them decided to swap the curse for a blessing. They put a Buddha Statue inside the Ice-String Zither, inscribed with “Heaven Bless Our Emperor.” That way, nothing could go wrong—maybe the Crown Prince would even gain favor with the Emperor.

Lance Quinn immediately went to Vincent Su, searched through nearly all his collections, and finally found a suitable Buddha. By the time they finished, dawn was breaking—they hadn’t had time to warn the Crown Prince.

In the end, the Crown Prince was still scolded by the Emperor. Serena couldn’t make sense of it—there was no real father-son bond in the imperial family. At least once she handed over the curse doll, it had nothing to do with her anymore...

After sending the Crown Prince off and settling the curse doll matter, Serena felt the heavy weight on her heart finally lift. She’d barely slept last night, covering her exhaustion with thick powder. Without another word, she shut her door and went straight to bed, determined to rest up for tomorrow’s battles. As for the city’s rumors, she ignored them all.

She’d already defeated Wendy Summers today, was riding high—there was no need to show off.