When the Bright Moon Shines on Zhaohe - Chapter 12

News of what had happened on Mount Wu reached the capital a day later. General Wan, they said, had rebelled and assassinated the emperor. The Eighth Prince, Pei Jin, had arrived too late to save him, but had killed the general on the spot. He’d carried Wan’s head back to the palace and taken charge.

Pei Ye had no children, and a country could not go a day without a ruler. Though the ministers had their doubts, they meant to make Pei Jin emperor. The consorts had scattered. Only Noble Consort Shu remained in the palace, her fate uncertain.

I had little time to sit around enjoying the gossip. That very night, a band of men in black crept into my princess’s residence. I hid in the secret room behind the study and escaped them. At daybreak, I came out and quietly set off for Mount Wu with the squad of covert guards Pei Ye had left me.

I didn’t believe Pei Ye was dead. Unless I saw his body, unless I watched him take his last breath before my eyes, I wouldn’t believe a word of it. Besides, he was far too cunning to be outwitted by that second-rate cripple in a wheelchair. I didn’t believe it. I refused to.

They said Pei Ye had last been seen at the cliff, so we went to its foot and searched upward. I’d always liked hiking and had even spent a few years learning to climb. I had everyone carry first aid supplies: sugared water, salted water, herbs, bandages, and fire starters. We divided into groups and began climbing toward the summit. We would find him. I was certain of it.

And I was right. Pei Ye had the protection of a novel’s male lead, and he had Eunuch Hong, who was loyal to him to the end. The two must have fallen one after the other. Pei Ye was far more badly hurt. Hong had broken a leg, but at least he was conscious and had managed to build a fire to keep them alive overnight.

When I found them, Hong looked at me as though I were the Goddess of Mercy herself and burst into tears. Pei Ye lay nearby, unconscious with a raging fever. I gave him sugared water, tended his wounds as best I could, and splinted his broken limbs with pieces of wood.

Perhaps the pain reached him. His lashes quivered, and at last he woke. After staring at me for a long moment, he rasped, “Am I dead? Why else would I be seeing that ungrateful Pei Zhaohe?”

Hong tried to answer, but I stopped him. I swallowed the ache in my chest, leaned close, and glared fiercely at Pei Ye.

“That’s right, Pei Ye. You’re dead. Completely dead. Don’t you know that only after you die can Pei Zhaohe inherit your estate and carry away all the gold and silver from your harem? She’ll use it to buy the biggest house and build the finest gardens. Then she’ll buy eighty eight male favorites all at once. They’ll sing, dance, bathe her, and give her massages every day. She’ll sleep with two every night for over a month without repeating a single one! Pei Ye, close your eyes and die already. Whatever you do, don’t come back to life and disappoint me!”

He shut his eyes for a moment and swallowed hard. A man who’d looked ready to breathe his last a moment ago now seemed about to stand up and shout, “Pei Zhaohe, you ¥%#@¥!!!”

Good. Excellent. He wouldn’t die just yet.

Hong looked at me in awe. “Your Highness. You. Are. Incredible!”

Of course I was. Getting Pei Ye to do what I wanted was child’s play.

I stayed out of most of what happened after we returned to the capital. It was the usual satisfying ending of a revenge story. Backed by his ministers, Pei Ye marched grandly back into the palace. That second-rate cripple’s plans collapsed, and he cut his own throat. Noble Consort Shu was devoted to him to the end; she threw herself against a pillar and died beside him.

Pei Ye sat in the golden hall, picking at his fingers. “Tch. Now I have to find someone to clean the floor. What a nuisance.”