For several days, Ye Luan did nothing but visit Xiao Chizhan or read and admire flowers in her room. She didn't go anywhere else.
Gradually, the guards in the prince's manor became lax.
For several consecutive days, rain fell incessantly, pooling and swirling in the courtyard. Occasionally, a few pear blossoms from outside the window would drift onto the water, flowing down the small channels.
Ye Luan pushed open the window and looked at the fine rain outside, her mood somewhat heavy.
The tightly shut door was pushed open, and Fu Dai walked in, asking in a low voice, "Miss, we should leave."
Ye Luan shook her head.
"No."
She felt that something was amiss.
Everything was too smooth, as if heaven itself was helping her. She suspected Xiao Chizhan was testing her, so she had been delaying any action.
"But if we miss this opportunity, when will we ever leave this man-eating abyss?"
Man-eating abyss?
Ye Luan slightly lowered her gaze.
The weather had been cold recently, and the rain was frequent. In the sleeping quarters, the warm pavilion was supplied with silver silk charcoal all day long.
However, she was sensitive to the cold and loved bathing. The palace grounds were all dug with fire channels to create an insulating layer, and the imperial concubines' chambers were prized for their warmth, making the entire palace feel like an air-conditioned room.
Her favorite scent was glazed *linglingxiang*, a tribute from vassal states, priceless and difficult to obtain. The Empress had bestowed several *hu* of it, and because she loved the scent, the prince's manor burned it all day long.
She loved to drink *jingguagongcha*, a tribute tea from the imperial court, purchased from the Dian Kingdom, which was worth a fortune. But ever since she wanted to drink it, the prince's manor had never been without it.
"Miss, don't you want to leave anymore? This servant has followed you since childhood. If you don't want to go, this servant won't go either. But Miss must know that you are in this manor without a proper title or status. How will you ever get married in the future?"
Ye Luan patted her hand and said faintly, "Given the prince's temperament, if I were to run away and be caught, it would be a dead end."
"But hasn't Miss already found the route? We escape the prince's manor, bring along wet nurse Fang, and flee far away. The prince is gravely ill now, and no one in the manor will bother with us."
Ye Luan frowned. Yes, besides this one opportunity, when else could she leave the prince's manor?
But she always felt uneasy; the situation was too strange.
The dosage she administered was precise, and it would take at least another half month for the poison to take effect. Within these two weeks, she would return to the Ye manor to avenge the original owner.
But it was too sudden. Xiao Chizhan had succumbed to the poison so quickly, completely disrupting her plan.
"Wait, just wait a bit longer."
She absolutely could not act rashly.
As soon as she finished speaking, with a bang, the door was pushed open.
Thunder and lightning flashed, and the heavens opened up.
Lightning tore across the sky, and streaks of blue light struck the man, as if tearing silk.
Ye Luan was startled and watched as Xiao Chizhan strode in, her heart sinking deeper and deeper.
As expected, it was a ploy.
"What exquisite skill! Poisoning this prince and planning to flee? Hahaha, Ye Luan—"
His hand, like that of a death god, clasped her throat tightly. His crimson eyes held a terrifying, bloodthirsty gleam, with an emotion she couldn't quite decipher.
"You want this prince dead so badly, who do you plan to flee with? Hmm?"
The maids and wet nurses guarding the courtyard knelt on the ground.
The dragon-scale guards in golden armor instantly surrounded the entire courtyard.
Long Tian, entering from outside, saw this scene and explained, "Miss Ye, the prince's body is immune to all poisons."
He had been refined by poison for so long that he had developed resistance.
Ye Luan's heart jolted. He was actually immune to all poisons.
She immediately regained her composure and said coldly, "What is Your Highness talking about? This humble woman does not understand."
Fu Dai, terrified, fell to her knees and begged for mercy, "Your Highness, spare my life, spare my lady, spare my lady—"
Xiao Chizhan looked at her expression and let out a sinister laugh.
Ye Luan immediately pried his hand away and looked at his handsome face, "Your Highness, what evidence do you have to prove I poisoned you? Your Highness set up a trap to test me, but is it wrong for me to want to leave the prince's manor?"
"I have stayed in the prince's manor without title or status. Is it wrong for me to want to leave while Your Highness is gravely ill? Your Highness, tell me, where did I go wrong?"
At her words, Xiao Chizhan's expression turned even more fearsome.
"Do you take this prince for a fool? Besides you, who in the entire capital dares to poison this prince."
"You want to frame me, you have any excuse. If Your Highness thinks this way, I have nothing more to say."
Xiao Chizhan's rage surged, and he tightly gripped her hand as if to crush it.
"Good, very good."
Seeing the terrifying killing intent radiating from him, Ye Luan sneered, "Is Your Highness going to threaten me with my life again, to make me yield?"
"Long Tian, take this girl back, flay her skin, and make her into a beauty lamp."
Xiao Chizhan laughed chillingly, "I enjoy beauty lamps the most on rainy days."
Ye Luan was slightly surprised.
"Is Your Highness now threatening me with the lives of others?"
"Yes, you are correct. This prince cannot bear to kill you now, but with others, this prince will show no mercy."
Ye Luan shook her head with a sneer. He had always been like this, always.
It was like this before, and it was like this now.
He simply didn't understand that this would only make her detest him more and more.
Ye Luan watched Fu Dai being dragged away, broke free of his hand, and immediately rushed out.
The rain began to fall harder.
The entire garden was cold and desolate.
Fu Dai knelt on the ground, soaked and disheveled, shouting for mercy.
People carrying tools walked out.
"I said I didn't poison you. You have no evidence, and you're deliberately causing trouble for me based on mere words."
On rainy days, Xiao Chizhan's legs would ache terribly, but he paid it no mind, his obstinate and fierce face showing no trace of emotion.
He sat on the gilded nanmu spring bench in the corridor, looking at the defiant Ye Luan, and sneered, "Even if you didn't poison him, this girl instigated you to leave the prince's manor. It's a dead end."
He had been immersed in poison since childhood, and he knew perfectly well whether she had poisoned him or not.
Ye Luan gritted her teeth, "Are you sick? You enjoy seeing others suffer, is that it?"
"Yes, the more they fear, the more satisfied this prince is. Do you want to try?"
Ye Luan clenched her fists and watched Fu Dai, who was about to be flayed, immediately ran over and shielded her.
Seeing her, the others dared not move, only looking towards the noble man in the corridor.
Ye Luan, in a red long dress, knelt in the rain, her jade-like face etched with fierce resolve.
"If Your Highness intends to kill her today, then kill me first."
"Miss—" Fu Dai cried with red eyes.
Xiao Chizhan's crimson eyes were dark. He touched the prayer beads on his wrist and said nonchalantly, "Do you think this prince wouldn't dare? Ye Luan, you overestimate yourself."
"Whether I overestimate myself or not, we'll only know by trying."
Moss and rain, flowers and branches in disarray.
Raindrops struck her straight back. Confronting him, she was like a noble plum blossom on a branch, its bones proud against the cold.
Xiao Chizhan's expression was grim, and his bloodthirsty eyes betrayed his obvious rage.
The guards holding knives dared not harm Ye Luan, so they stood aside, letting the rain wash over them.
"Hold her down and make her watch with her own eyes what a beauty lamp is!"