The mad princess forces love upon him, and the aloof imperial advisor trembles every night.

Chu Qingyue said, "Cangming, as the Pavilion Master of Jinxue Pavilion, go and negotiate with my cunning third brother."

A calculating glint flashed in Chu Qingyue's eyes.

"Tell him that with 500,000 taels of gold, this organization will help him eliminate Chu Xuanche at the sacrificial ceremony."

"Add another 500,000 taels, and I can slaughter the entire Prime Minister's mansion for him."

Cangming's pupils contracted slightly: "Your Highness, isn't this too risky? The Third Prince is cunning and suspicious; he may not believe everything and could even turn around and bite back."

"He will believe me," Chu Qingyue said confidently.

"Because he had nowhere else to turn. With Consort Li's death, he seemed to have severed ties with the Li family, but in reality, his hatred for her only deepened."

"The Empress and Chu Xuanche are determined to get rid of him. He needs the fastest knife."

"And Jinxue Pavilion has always had an excellent reputation, as long as you can afford the price."

She paused, her tone growing increasingly cold: "Besides, I had no intention of actually letting him live until the final payment was due."

Cangming said, "It is Your Highness."

Looking at the lightning and thunder outside, Chu Qingyue continued, "It's thundering, it's raining, it's time to summon the heavenly thunder."

She gazed at the menacing lightning in the dark sky and slowly spoke:

"Use thunderbolts to rip off the roofs of the Phoenix Palace and the First Prince's residence... and make Chu Xuanche crawl to the altar for the sacrifice."

"The commotion must be loud, like—divine punishment."

Chi Xiao's spirits lifted, and he clasped his hands in a fist salute, shouting, "Yes! Your subordinate will make sure the entire city sees how Heaven is enraged!"

Chi Xiao and Cang Ming exchanged a glance and said, "Your Highness, if... if the Grand Preceptor were to intervene..."

Chu Qingyue smiled slightly and said, "If the Imperial Advisor shows up to stop us... there's no need to confront him head-on. Retreat. Then go and blow up his Star-Picking Tower, and spread the news that 'the Imperial Advisor tried to stop Heaven's punishment and protected a sinner,' but was punished by Heaven himself."

She intends to gradually pull Si Chen down from his lofty, untainted pedestal, drawing him into this sordid power struggle and causing a conflict between the "national destiny" he protects and his personal reputation.

She wanted him to experience for himself what it was like to be controlled by public opinion, suspicion, and desire.

"Did you understand?" She turned around, her gaze sharp as lightning.

"Understood!" they all replied in unison.

"Go."

Chi Xiao accepted the order and left, his figure quickly disappearing into the rainy night.

She said to Liuyun beside her, "Liuyun, prepare the largest courtyard next to the Princess's residence, and use the highest standards for everything. Mianmian is coming back, so she can stay there."

Mentioning this name seemed to soften Chu Qingyue's cold, hard features for a moment, but she quickly returned to her original expression.

"In addition, find the best embroiderers to embroider a wedding dress according to Si Chen's measurements using shimmering brocade. The pattern should be nebula, with dragons and phoenixes subtly embroidered."

Liu Yun looked up abruptly, her eyes filled with shock: "Your Highness! You...you really want to..."

"We also need to build a pure gold cage with shackles, and the inside of the shackles must be lined with the softest snow fox fur, so that it won't actually hurt him."

Liu Yun said, "Yes... Your Highness, is Your Highness's bridal chamber prepared in that place?"

Chu Qingyue said, "Yes, hurry up and prepare everything. Use the best of everything. The cage should be made of pure gold, and there should be 108 luminous pearls."

Liu Yun replied, "Yes, Your Highness."

She looked up and gazed out the window toward the Star-Picking Tower, but despite the torrential rain, she couldn't see it at all.

"I gave him a choice," she said softly, as if talking to herself, "either love me or hate me. Either fulfill me or destroy me."

"He chose silence, he chose duty, he chose that damned fate and destiny of the nation."

She laughed, a laugh that was both tragically beautiful and tinged with a kind of madness on the verge of collapse.

"Then I will choose for him."

Chu Qingyue rubbed her temples and said, "Step down."

Chi Xiao and Liu Yun bowed and withdrew.

"Your Highness..." he said softly, "you are tired."

"Tired?" Chu Qingyue seemed to have heard the biggest joke in the world. She suddenly let go of her hand and laughed loudly.

She laughed for a long time until tears welled up in her eyes, then gradually stopped, her chest rising and falling slightly.

"Yes, I'm tired." She gasped for breath, raising her hand to wipe the tears from the corner of her eyes, the movement carrying a cruel, nonchalant air.

"Calculating people's hearts is exhausting, plotting murder is exhausting, even living is exhausting..."

After much hesitation, Cangming asked, "Your Highness wishes to get married. Does the Grand Preceptor agree?"

Chu Qingyue said, "If Si Chen agrees, what's the point of having a cage?"

Cangming asked, "Does His Highness know about the upcoming marriage? Can he keep it a secret?"

Chu Qingyue said, "Of course we can keep it a secret. I will consummate our marriage first, and then hold the wedding ceremony."

Cangming said, "Your Highness, no, a forced relationship will not be happy, and the Grand Preceptor's cultivation is profound..."

"Cangming, the minister of Dali Temple - Shen Yue."

"Shen Yue, the consort of the Fifth Princess Chu Qingyao, you... have overstepped your bounds."

She stroked the white tiger cub in her arms, interrupting him with each word distinct and deliberate.

Cangming knelt down.

Not one knee, but both knees.

His forehead slammed heavily against the cold stone slab.

"Your Highness." His voice was hoarse, as if it had been ground by gravel.

"Shen Yue died long ago. He died on the road to exile, he died beneath a beggar, he died from the white silk that his sister used to hang herself."

He looked up, blood trickling down his brow, across his nose, and dripping onto the corner of his lips.

"Only Cangming is alive... Please, Your Highness, do not send me away."

Chu Qingyue looked at the man kneeling in front of her.

Seven years ago, he was the most dazzling star in Kyoto, Shen Yue, the young master of the Shen family, who was both scholarly and martial, and whose eyes and brows were full of youthful spirit.

On the day of the palace banquet, he wore a moon-white brocade robe and stood under the apricot tree to reason, his voice clear and melodious like jade striking stone.

"The Fifth Princess struck first and injured someone, which is unreasonable."

That one sentence ruined his life.

Chu Qingyue bent down and wiped the blood from his forehead with her nail polished fingers.

"Get up," she said. "I didn't say you were leaving."

She pulled him up, her fingertips icy cold.

Cangming's hands were trembling—not from fear, but something deeper, so deep that even he himself was unwilling to admit what it was.

"What I want to say is..." Chu Qingyue's eyes shone brightly in the darkness, "Shen Yue, happy birthday."

Cangming stopped breathing.

Even he himself has forgotten.

Today... turns out it's his birthday.

"I have prepared a grand gift for you." Chu Qingyue curled her lips into a smile that was both alluring and cruel. "It's in the dark dungeon. I'll take you there."

——————Dark Prison—————

The smell in the dark dungeon was a mixture of blood, mold, and fear.

The instruments of torture hanging on the wall gleamed coldly in the torchlight, and there were dark brown stains on the ground, layer upon layer, making it impossible to tell which prisoner's blood they were.

A woman was tied to a cross-shaped wooden frame.

The former Fifth Princess Chu Qingyao now has disheveled hair, tattered clothes, and bloodstains from Chu Qingyue's fingernails on her face.

When she saw the man walking in behind Chu Qingyue, her pupils suddenly contracted.