This year, the Empress Dowager was unwell and couldn’t stay up for the New Year with the Emperor. So, the Little Emperor sent An Fengde’s favored son, Ying Cheng’en, to the Yan Prince Residence to deliver an edict, inviting Prince Yan to the palace to celebrate the New Year together.

When Xie Shiguan saw the visitor, he knew that the one in the palace was still angry with him. As a close minister to the Emperor, it was usually the chief eunuch An Fengde who came to deliver the edict. Today, the Little Emperor sent Ying Cheng’en, clearly intending to take him down a notch.

Even though he saw through it, the Prince wasn’t angry. As usual, he had Shen Que give Eunuch Ying a bag of small gold ingots as a New Year’s gift.

Eunuch Ying took it, instinctively weighing it in his palm, feigning surprise but not immediately accepting it. “This is too much, Your Highness. How could a servant like me deserve such fortune?”

“It was always given to your grandfather in past years,” Xie Shiguan said nonchalantly. “This year, since you’re here, it’s for you.”

Ying Cheng’en’s joy was unmistakable. He was An Fengde’s most favored adopted son and a favorite in front of the Emperor. His face, lightly powdered, was oval-shaped, and his long, smiling eyes made him seem like a very kind person.

“Cheng’en thanks Your Highness for the reward.” He smiled, then casually uttered a few auspicious words. After finishing, he paused and added, “The Emperor has another message, not in the edict, and ordered me to tell you.”

Xie Shiguan glanced at him. “Speak.”

Eunuch Ying quickly said, “The Emperor said he heard that there is a close attendant in the Prince’s residence named Shen Que, who is as loyal as the sunflowers to the sun, a rare loyal servant. The Emperor… wants to meet him.”

Standing nearby, Shen Que suddenly heard his name mentioned, his heart skipped a beat, and his eyes showed a mix of fear and confusion.

Xie Shiguan glanced at Shen Que, then turned back to Ying Cheng’en, smiling faintly. “The Emperor’s ears are quite sharp, knowing even the details of my residence’s attendants and their character.”

His words were clearly overstepping, making Ying Cheng’en a bit flustered. He hurriedly said, “My lord, please don’t say such things. If the Emperor finds out…”

“If Eunuch Ying doesn’t speak, would my personal guards?”

Ying Cheng’en was momentarily speechless. But after all, he was someone who mingled in front of the Emperor. Even though Xie Shiguan’s words put him in a difficult position, he still maintained that kind smile. “You see, I’ve been in the palace for so long, my nerves are too tight, making me so nervous, don’t let Your Highness laugh at me.”

“Master Shen naturally won’t speak to others, and I’m also tight-lipped,” he said, then changed the subject. “The dragon sedan from the palace is waiting outside. Does Your Highness want to prepare a bit, or go directly to the palace now?”

After speaking, he respectfully leaned in to listen to Xie Shiguan’s response.

“No need,” Xie Shiguan said coldly. “I’ll ride my horse.”

In the current dynasty, only the Regent King and the Grand Tutor were qualified to ride horses in the palace. Now that Qu Cheng had entered the imperial prison, and the rest of his faction had fallen, only Xie Shiguan retained this privilege.

Shen Que rode alongside to the palace gate, then dismounted. Xie Shiguan heard the sound of hooves stopping behind him, pulled the reins, and looked back, calling out to him, “Come here!”

Shen Que handed the reins to the green-clad eunuch guarding the palace gate, then tapped his fist twice on his side arm, meaning, “Thank you.”

The eunuch, whether he understood or not, held the reins and bowed to him.

Perhaps finding Shen Que too slow, Xie Shiguan urged his horse to walk slowly towards him. The snow-white horse stopped beside him, and the Prince sitting above extended a hand down to him. “Get on.”

Shen Que hesitated. He wasn’t of high enough rank to even ride a sedan chair into the palace, and more importantly, the person on the horse was Xie Shiguan.

“Still hesitating?” Xie Shiguan was a bit displeased. “If you don’t ride, are you going to crawl there? You’re so slow, do you expect me to wait for you outside Funing Hall?”

Shen Que naturally didn’t dare make him wait, so he hesitantly reached out, and the next moment, Xie Shiguan grabbed his hand.

The Prince was skilled in riding and archery from a young age, able to easily draw the eight-stone strong bow left by the late Emperor. After the late Emperor’s death, only the valiant General could draw this treasured bow in the capital.

Though it didn’t seem like it, Xie Shiguan’s palm was calloused, broad, but cool to the touch.

Shen Que was pulled onto the horse, and then the Prince wrapped his arms around him, shook the reins, and the horse moved. Shen Que heard him whisper in his ear, “Hold on tight.”

The wind roared past his ears, the horse’s back jolted, and even though Shen Que dared not move, he still occasionally bumped into Xie Shiguan. The Prince’s scent of wood enveloped him like a tight net, binding him firmly.

He seemed more pitiful than prey struggling in a spider’s web.

Too close, too close.

So close that his limbs tingled, his whole body almost limp, his heart pounding like the horse’s hooves. But he could only grip the saddle tightly, clenching his teeth, hoping to reach their destination soon.

Fortunately, riding was much faster than taking a sedan chair. They rode along the main road, and the palace servants all made way, so they quickly arrived outside Funing Hall.

The palace was warm, and though it was just the beginning of the night, red silk lanterns were already hung outside Funing Hall, with red decorations everywhere, creating a festive atmosphere.

Without the Emperor’s summons, Shen Que couldn’t freely enter Funing Hall. As soon as Xie Shiguan arrived, he was surrounded and welcomed in by the palace maids, while Shen Que stood under the eaves, taking the chance to straighten his attire when no one was watching.

Xie Shiguan always rode recklessly, even in the palace, making Shen Que worry that his hair was disheveled or his belt loose after dismounting.

After just a short while, a young eunuch came out of the hall, lowered his eyes, and said to him, “Guard Shen, the Emperor invites you into the hall.”

Shen Que’s heart skipped a beat, and he didn’t dare delay, following the young eunuch into the hall obediently.

Having followed Prince Yan for so many years, even when occasionally entering the palace, he usually waited outside the hall, only once catching a distant glimpse of the Emperor, not daring to look closely.

The Emperor feared the cold, so besides the floor heating in Funing Hall, the charcoal braziers were also burning brightly. The main hall’s floor was covered with a long Persian carpet, intricately patterned, with incense burners at the corners, the air filled with a unique sweet fragrance, though no smoke was visible from the burners.

Shen Que walked across the carpet to the lower hall, eyes lowered, performing the three kneels and nine kowtows ritual.

The person on the throne said nothing, even after the final bow, not saying “rise,” so Shen Que could only remain prostrate, not daring to get up.

The Little Emperor seemed not to notice him, sipping tea, speaking in a casual tone, “I heard recently there are often little singers from the theater visiting the Imperial Uncle’s residence?”

His tone carried a hint of disdain, not waiting for Xie Shiguan to answer, he continued, “Didn’t the Imperial Uncle dislike actors and singers? Why is he mingling with them now?”

“Too much porridge and rice,” Xie Shiguan laughed, “occasionally I want to try some soup noodles.”

The Little Emperor didn’t like seeing him like this, frowning slightly, “If the Imperial Uncle’s residence lacks people, you only need to ask me, it’s just a matter of words.”

“Your Majesty knows I’m indulgent, never lacking people in bed,” he replied nonchalantly, “no need to trouble Your Majesty.”

After speaking, silence fell between them, neither speaking.

The prolonged silence made Shen Que, kneeling below, feel a chill down his spine, his palms sweaty.

After a long while, he heard Xie Shiguan, sitting below the Emperor, put down his teacup, “It’s just a servant, why make things difficult for him?”

The person above didn’t lift his head, “It’s not making things difficult, just without hearing him say ‘long live,’ how do I know if he bowed?”

After speaking, the Emperor seemed to finally notice the person below, rising and walking down the hall, stopping unhurriedly in front of Shen Que.

The Little Emperor lowered his eyes, as if examining a lowly dog, but unfortunately, this dog was very well-behaved, not a hair out of place, giving him no fault to find.

“Raise your head and let me see,” he said coldly.

Shen Que slowly raised his body, but kept his eyes lowered, chin slightly raised, only able to see the hem of the bright yellow dragon robe in front of him, the gold-threaded sea and cliff pattern vividly piercing his eyes.

Seeing his face, the Little Emperor seemed to relax, turning to Xie Shiguan, “Did you almost take my uncle’s life for him?”

Xie Shiguan met his gaze evenly, “Without evidence, how can Your Majesty conclude it was my doing? If you wrong people like this, wouldn’t it be like blaming me if a female relative of the Miao family loses a handkerchief in her boudoir, how unjust.”

“They all say it was you.”

Xie Shiguan immediately retorted, “Who are ‘they’?”

The Little Emperor strode over, slapping the table in front of him with one hand, his round eyes filled with anger, “You’re always like this, in the past, I’ve always turned a blind eye to your actions, ignoring the reports against you, but what have you done this time?”

He paused slightly, then suddenly raised his voice, “That’s my own uncle!”

“You cut off his hand,” the Little Emperor glared at him, “it’s like slapping me in the face…”

Before he could finish, the person at the table interrupted calmly, “It was half a hand, Your Majesty.”

“Xie Ling, do you really think I don’t dare to punish you?”

The Little Emperor, unable to bear it, his anger rising, pulled the silk tablecloth off the table, spilling food and drink along with the bowls and plates onto the floor, shattering with a clang, one jade chopstick rest directly hitting Xie Shiguan’s brow bone.

The sound startled Shen Que below, his heart trembling, daring to glance at the Prince.

The Little Emperor clearly hadn’t expected to accidentally injure him, momentarily stunned, biting his lip in confusion.

But Xie Shiguan didn’t even blink, slowly rising, stepping over the broken porcelain pieces, kneeling straight in front of the Emperor, “Your Majesty, please calm down.”

Just this once, the skin above his brow bone broke, the blood seeping out, dripping down, tracing his eye socket, and with his delicate features, skin like flawless white jade, it made the blood even more striking.

The Little Emperor looked at his wound, his eyes stinging, the grievance in his heart surging up, “They’re all demanding an explanation from me, because of this, Mother won’t even spend New Year’s Eve with me this year, they’re all pressuring me, Imperial Uncle, are you going to pressure me too?”

Xie Shiguan didn’t answer.

The Little Emperor then crouched down, using his sleeve to gently wipe the blood from his brow bone, his voice low, as if conceding, “I was wrong earlier, I shouldn’t have gotten angry with you.”

“I know you’re upset, but Uncle was just worried about his son, he’s over forty, and to suffer the pain of losing a child again, it’s understandable he lost his head,” he paused, continuing to softly persuade, “it’s just a worthless life, a mouse or sparrow, giving it to him, what harm is there?”

He spoke as if mentioning an ant, a speck of dust on a leaf, so lightly.

Seeing Xie Shiguan still silent, the Little Emperor simply knelt in front of him, looking up slightly, his tone a bit coquettish, “Imperial Uncle, just this once, okay?”

In the Emperor’s view, the matter of the Imperial Uncle’s hand was indeed excessive, and it was indeed Xie Shiguan who went too far, but he couldn’t bear to punish him, so he could only use Shen Que’s worthless life to appease the Imperial Uncle.

Losing a mouse or sparrow, yet gaining favor on both sides, why not?

He fully believed that as long as he conceded, as long as he spoke, Xie Shiguan would comply, the Prince had always indulged him, how could he defy him for such an ordinary guard?

But this time, he was wrong. Xie Shiguan didn’t nod, only giving him a cold look.

The Little Emperor’s heart sank, and then he heard Xie Shiguan speak, “Your Majesty, you say I’m pressuring you?”

“Miao Zongping deserved to die, the entire Miao family deserves to die!” Xie Shiguan sneered, then leaned closer, his blood-stained phoenix eyes fixed on him, “Why did the late Emperor have my mother buried with him, was it just because she was a foreign woman?”

The Little Emperor was taken aback, instinctively retreating.

“Those memorials urging her death are still in my hands,” Xie Shiguan smiled faintly, covering his hand, “does Your Majesty want to see? Who’s in them, does Yizhi know or not?”

Yizhi was the nickname Xie Shiguan gave him, calling him so intimately, yet speaking such frightening words.

How could he not know? Back then, three people urged the death of Consort Liu, one was his father, the then Crown Prince; the second was the three-time Grand Tutor Qu Shanmeng; the third was his maternal grandfather…

When Consort Liu was dragged to the grave, Xie Shiguan was only eight years old, and it was said that day he was locked in his chamber, crying until he fainted, ignored by all.

“Why doesn’t Your Majesty dare look at me?” Xie Shiguan smiled, speaking softly, “If Miao Zongping weren’t your uncle, he’d already be a skeleton underground. I spared him for your sake.”

“Today he wants Shen Que’s life, tomorrow he’ll dare to demand mine. When that time comes, will Your Majesty give it or not?”

Xie Yizhi lowered his eyes, his voice trembling slightly, “Uncle wouldn’t…”