The low-key prince summons trainees from the Imperial Household Department at the start of the game.

Looking back, he saw Zhao Gao leading a group of eunuchs walking towards them.

Her expression changed instantly.

The sharp and sarcastic expression on his face just now seemed to have been wiped away by an invisible hand, replaced by a fawning smile.

"Oh, isn't this Eunuch Zhao! This old servant greets Eunuch Zhao!"

The old nanny quickly bowed and greeted him, her face crinkling into a smile. "Eunuch Zhao, what brings you here to stroll in the Imperial Garden today? The flowers are in full bloom. You must be tired; you should rest more."

Zhao Gao stopped and stood at the bottom of the pavilion steps.

He didn't look at the old nanny, but instead glanced at Consort Huang in the pavilion.

Consort Huang remained leaning against the railing, a lychee in her hand, her face showing a hint of impatience.

In her view, Zhao Gao was nothing more than a eunuch, and no matter how favored he was, he was still a servant and not worthy of her getting up to greet him.

Zhao Gao withdrew his gaze and landed on the old nanny's face, his tone as calm as if he were asking what dishes the imperial kitchen had prepared for the day: "This nanny, just now I heard someone making a loud commotion outside the moon gate, their words disrespectful to the master. Which master is here?"

The old woman's smile froze for a moment.

She quickly made a decision in her mind.

Zhao Gao works for the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs and shouldn't have much contact with the Ninth Prince. If he explains things clearly, he should be fine.

Her smile returned: "Reporting to Eunuch Zhao, it is Consort Huang who is here to admire the flowers."

"Just now, the maidservant beside the Ninth Prince was unruly and offended a noble person. This old servant is disciplining her."

"The country girl was not properly trained, did not know the rules, and offended an important person. She really deserved to be beaten."

"Don't you agree, Eunuch Zhao? His Highness is young and doesn't have anyone to manage things. These girls are all used to being wild. This old servant is just trying to share some of His Highness's burdens."

She thought her answer was flawless.

She both invoked Consort Huang's name and portrayed the beating as disciplining a maid on behalf of the Ninth Prince, thus offending neither side.

But she didn't know that from the moment she said, "A person without someone to raise them is a person without someone to raise them," her fate was already sealed.

After hearing her words, Zhao Gao suddenly laughed.

The laughter was soft and short, like the faint sound of a knife slicing through silk.

He ignored the old nanny's words, instead raising his eyes to look at Consort Huang in the pavilion, and asked unhurriedly, "Your Highness, was it Your Highness's instruction that this nanny disciplined the palace maid just now?"

Consort Huang paused slightly as she peeled the lychee with her slender fingers.

She finally looked at Zhao Gao properly, her tone languid: "It was at my behest. What? Am I, a mere noblewoman, not even allowed to discipline a palace maid who dared to offend me?"

"Of course, Your Highness can discipline the palace maids." Zhao Gao's voice remained calm, but his pace was slower than before, each word seemingly drawn out, making it particularly unpleasant to listen to. "But who gave the maidservant beside Your Highness the audacity to speak so disrespectfully to the prince?"

The old nanny's face turned deathly pale.

She opened her mouth to explain, but Zhao Gao didn't give her a chance to speak.

He turned to face the old nanny, his eyes as cold as two pieces of iron just pulled from an ice cellar.

His tone suddenly turned stern, each word like a whip lashing a stone slab, crisp and fierce: "I heard everything you said outside the moon gate just now clearly."

"'Those who have no one to raise them are truly those who have no one to raise them'—who are you referring to? The Ninth Prince? The Ninth Prince is His Majesty's biological son, the ninth prince of the current dynasty."

"You're saying he has no one to care for him? Are you saying the Empress failed in her duty of raising him? Or are you saying His Majesty failed in his duty as a father?"

"As a palace maid, how dare you publicly insult a prince and make insinuations against the Emperor and Empress in the Imperial Garden? Who gave you the audacity?"

With each question he posed, his voice rose a notch, until the last question echoed throughout the entire pavilion.

The old woman knelt down with a thud, her whole body trembling like a leaf, kowtowing repeatedly, her forehead slamming against the stone slab with a thud.

She kowtowed repeatedly, begging for mercy in a shrill voice: "Eunuch Zhao, please understand! This old servant would never dare! This old servant only spoke casually, it wasn't intentional, absolutely not intentional!"

"Was it unintentional?" Zhao Gao looked down at her, his anger growing colder. "You've been in the palace for decades, don't you know what you should and shouldn't say? When you said 'no one will take care of you' just now, you raised your voice so high, as if you were afraid others wouldn't hear you."

"What, now it's all turned into an unintentional mistake? Do you think we're deaf, or that everyone in the Imperial Garden is deaf?"

After saying this, he suddenly turned to the group of eunuchs behind him and said coldly, "There are rules in the palace: what is the punishment for a servant who speaks words that insult a prince or allude to the emperor or empress?"

The eunuchs looked at each other, then one of them, who was quick-witted, stepped forward, bowed, and replied, "Reporting to Eunuch Zhao, according to palace rules, he should be beaten to death."

Upon hearing those two words, the old woman felt as if her bones had been removed; she collapsed to the ground, her lips trembling, unable to utter a word.

Consort Huang finally couldn't sit still any longer.

She stood up, her face ashen, and glared at Zhao Gao, her voice rising several notches above her previous one: "Eunuch Zhao, you think you can just order my people to be beaten to death like that? I'd like to ask Eunuch Wang when the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs started interfering in my pavilion!"

Zhao Gao turned to face Consort Huang, bowed slightly, his posture still respectful, but his words were as crisp and decisive as cutting tofu with a knife.

Although he was a member of the Directorate of Ceremonial, he was also a servant of the inner court, serving His Majesty and the princes.

If the Ninth Prince hadn't heard Huang Guiren's people publicly insulting him, that would have been fine. But since he did hear it, if he doesn't take action, His Majesty will ask about it later.

The officials from the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs just stood there, listening to people cursing the prince, but did nothing. Who will bear the blame for this?

Consort Huang's lips moved, wanting to refute but unable to find the words.

She instinctively gripped the lychee in her hand, her knuckles turning slightly white, and she froze on the spot.

Just then, the eunuch who had been sent out by Zhao Gao rushed back, followed by a person.

This man, dressed in indigo-blue martial arts attire with a short sword hanging at his waist, was none other than the Second Prince, Zhou Xun.

Zhou Xun happened to be inspecting the Imperial Guards' training nearby when he was invited over by a young eunuch.

He strode to the pavilion, first glancing at Consort Huang, whose face was ashen, then at the old nanny slumped on the ground, and finally at Zhao Gao, his brows furrowing slightly.

"What's going on?" His voice wasn't loud, but the imposing aura he exuded from his time in the military camp silenced everyone present.

Zhao Gao briefly recounted the events.

Chunlan was chasing butterflies when she accidentally bumped into Consort Huang. The old nanny slapped Chunlan and said in public that the Ninth Prince was "unsupported." He happened to overhear this as he was passing by.

He emphasized the words "no one will take care of him" and then asked the Second Prince a question in return.

The Ninth Prince is His Majesty's own son, and he addresses the Empress as his mother. This old nanny said that the Ninth Prince has no one to care for him. Who is she referring to? Is she insulting His Majesty or the Empress?

Zhou Xun's expression was relatively calm at first, but when he heard the last sentence, his brows furrowed sharply.

Although he was not close to Zhou Xing, he was, after all, a prince.

Even if Ninth Brother is not favored, he is still Father Emperor's son and his younger brother.

A servant girl dares to say in public that "no one will take care of her." Today she's talking about the Ninth Brother, but who knows who she'll be talking about tomorrow?

He turned to Consort Huang and said coldly, "Consort Huang, mind your own business. Ninth Brother is a prince; not just anyone can step on him."

Consort Huang's face turned white then red, then red then white again.

She wanted to say something.

I wanted to say that this was just a minor matter of disciplining palace maids, that Zhao Gao was making a mountain out of a molehill, and that the Second Prince had misunderstood.

But the Second Prince has already made his stance clear, and if she says another word, she will only be humiliated.

She bit her lip and turned her head away, which was a tacit agreement.

Zhao Gao stepped forward and delivered the final verdict.

A maidservant was beaten to death according to palace rules for making insulting remarks about the prince and alluding to the emperor and empress.

He then waved to the eunuch beside him.

Two strong young eunuchs stepped forward and helped the old woman, who was slumped on the ground, up from either side.

The old nanny finally came to her senses and cried out for help to Consort Huang, kicking her legs to try to break free from the restraints, even kicking off one of her embroidered shoes.

Consort Huang's face was deathly pale, her fingers twisting the silk in her sleeves tightly, but she ultimately remained silent.

The second prince was still standing there. Her gaze lingered for a moment on the eunuch who sent chills down her spine, and she finally understood something.

Zhao Gao wasn't standing up for the Ninth Prince; he was standing up for the rules.

Rules are never applied differently depending on the person.

Zhao Gao ignored her cries and simply lowered his head to straighten his sleeves.

His gaze passed over the deathly pale-faced Consort Huang in the pavilion and met the Ninth Prince, who was standing alone at the other end of the pavilion.

That gaze was so brief, so fleeting, that no one noticed it, but in that brief exchange of glances, he slightly lowered his eyelids.

Then he turned and left, his figure in the scarlet official robe quickly disappearing at the end of the willow embankment by Taiye Pond.