TRBDM -Chapter 119 The Princess’s Residence

“Sister, can you wait for me outside?”

Dou Shuxin didn’t want anyone to see the Tenth Prince under the effect of the poison.

Not even her sister.

Dou Shuyao was stunned.

After a moment of thought, she relented. “I can stay outside, but when we return to the residence, you must tell me exactly what happened.”

“Mm.”

Dou Shuyao stepped aside slightly and turned to look ahead.

Dou Shuxin took a deep breath and pushed open the courtyard door.

The scene before her made her heart leap.

In the courtyard, only an empty water bucket remained. The Tenth Prince was nowhere to be seen.

She panicked and ran to the bucket, noticing a large wet patch around it.

He had come out of the water.

Dou Shuxin observed every detail carefully.

The only relief was that the water didn’t show any signs of struggle or fighting.

She hurried to the bedroom.

The sheets were messy, just as they had been before she left.

The faint scent of Zhao Jingheng still lingered in the room.

Dou Shuxin looked around—there was no one else but her.

He was gone.

The Hehuan Poison poison… how had he dealt with it?

Dou Shuxin’s head drooped in despair.

Beside the bed, a glint of silver caught her eye. She looked up and saw a dagger carved with an eagle.

It was small but heavy, and crimson blood still stained it.

The Tenth Prince had cut his own arm to stay conscious. Dou Shuxin had seen it but had turned away, trying to ignore the pang of pain in her heart.

The empty bedroom told her that the Tenth Prince had truly left.

Between them, apart from the kiss manipulated by Hehuan Poison, there was no longer any connection.

The silver dagger was cold, entirely different from the fiery presence before.

Dou Shuxin had not yet recovered from the chaos, and yet he had vanished.

As sudden as his arrival, his departure was even more silent.

Dou Shuxin clenched the dagger, carefully putting it away.

She tidied the bed, making it presentable again, and cast a lingering glance before finally closing the door.

Outside, Dou Shuyao waited anxiously. She couldn’t help pressing herself against the door to listen for any sound from inside.

For some reason, it was very quiet. Just as she was about to move to the corner to listen, the door creaked open.

Dou Shuyao immediately straightened, peering through the crack. She saw only a wooden bucket, with no sign of anyone suspicious.

“Sister, let’s go back.” Dou Shuxin closed the door and locked it.

Dou Shuyao’s heart raced, but she showed no expression.

Suppressing all her unease, she led Dou Shuxin out of the alley.

The Flower Festival crowd had not yet dispersed; the streets remained noisy.

The two of them got into a carriage in silence.

Dou Shuxin kept her head down, her mood heavy.

Dou Shuyao saw this and worried silently.

At home, only her younger sister remained, and she had no idea what had happened to make her so sad.

When they returned to Ruixiang Courtyard, Dou Shuyao dismissed the servants and took Dou Shuxin by the hand into the bedroom.

“Shuxin, tell me honestly—what exactly happened?”

Dou Shuxin didn’t reveal that the Tenth Prince had been poisoned by Hehuan Poison. She only said that he was injured and that she had taken him back to the old residence to bandage him.

“The Tenth Prince?!” Dou Shuyao exclaimed, then immediately covered her mouth.

“Didn’t he have guards? How was he alone in the alley?”

“No. Only one attendant, Eunuch Jianxi, was with him. So if anyone tried to harm him, there was no one to protect him.”

An imperial prince in such a vulnerable state—any listener couldn’t help but feel a pang of sympathy.

Dou Shuyao let out a long sigh. “I heard that the Tenth Prince keeps a low profile in the palace, rarely quarrels with anyone, and mostly stays at the Imperial Academy. Who would want to harm him?”

After Zhao Jingheng’s mother, Consort Shu, tragically drowned years ago, he had lost his protector.

A prince out of favor and without his mother’s support had a difficult life in the palace.

Amidst constant dangers, he found an opportunity to stay somewhere far from court intrigues, living at the Imperial Academy. Unless there was a major palace event, he seldom entered the imperial court.

But as long as his surname was Zhao, and the royal blood ran through his veins, Zhao Jingyan would never let him be.

“Alright, Shuxin, the Tenth Prince left on his own. Perhaps it was Eunuch Xi seeing to it that someone escorted him away. Don’t worry too much.”

Dou Shuyao knew her words weren’t very convincing, but she didn’t want Dou Shuxin dragged into royal conflicts.

She wished for the orphaned girl, with neither father nor mother, to live a peaceful life. That was all Dou Shuyao hoped for.

Dou Shuxin tugged at the corner of her mouth. “I understand, sister.”

Night had fallen, and all was silent.

The Flower Hall of the Princess’s residence was brightly lit with candlelight.

Zhao Lingchen sat on a carved armchair, her heroic brows slightly furrowed.

“Tenth Prince, still not awake?”

“Reporting to Princess, not yet. The imperial physician said a potent drug has been administered; now the Tenth Prince must rely on his own willpower to resist the Hehuan Poison.”

Zhao Lingchen’s long nails tapped rhythmically on the armrest.

“Relying solely on one’s will to resist the Hehuan Poison… interesting.”

Zhao Lingchen had traveled extensively in her youth and met countless people. She had never heard of anyone being able to withstand the Hehuan Poison.

“Did the maid sent in make contact with him?”

“No. The Tenth Prince strongly resisted; the maid was immediately grabbed by the neck and pushed out the moment she touched him.”

Three maids had been sent in, all met the same fate.

“Indeed, interesting.”

Zhao Lingchen didn’t have a strong impression of Zhao Jingheng; after all, she had many younger brothers.

Zhao Jingheng’s birth mother, Consort Shu, was low-profile and unambitious. Among the other concubines in the harem, she was as gentle as a chrysanthemum.

Since she died young, her only son, Zhao Jingheng, shared her temperament and low presence. Among all the princes, he did not stand out.

If he truly could resist the Hehuan Poison, Zhao Lingchen would have to see him in a new light.

“Princess, the imperial physician said it may take at least a full day and night before the Tenth Prince can wake. You should rest first.”

But Zhao Lingchen could not sleep.

She had spent several days starting from the portraits, finally narrowing it down to five people. The answer was right before her eyes, her blood boiling—how could she sleep?

The other four had already been interrogated; none of the paintings were their work.

That left only the last suspect: Zhao Jingheng, studying at the Imperial Academy.

Eager to find him, Zhao Lingchen, after eliminating all others, sent guards to the Imperial Academy to search for Zhao Jingheng.

“Remember, don’t let anyone know.”

Zhao Lingchen’s search had to be secret; not a word could leak.

If her vulnerability was exposed, it would be directly exploited.

The guards climbed into the Imperial Academy late at night but found nothing—only a disheveled woman in Zhao Jingheng’s room.

Leaving the Imperial Academy, they searched everywhere.

After several hours, they finally located Zhao Jingheng, poisoned by the Hehuan Poison.

Once at the Princess’s residence, the poison’s effects were overwhelming. He had scratched his arms until they bled.

At first, the pain could suppress the drug’s effects, but later it became completely ineffective.

Zhao Jingheng was at a loss and reached toward his own eyes.

Seeing this, Zhao Lingchen immediately ordered the residence’s imperial physicians to treat him.

The Hehuan Poison was a potent poison; the physicians administered a strong antidote to counteract it.

In truth, the most direct solution would have been to find a woman to engage with him.

But Zhao Jingheng was burning and unconscious, refusing anyone near.

For the first time, Zhao Lingchen felt curious about usually invisible Tenth Prince.

She wondered just how strong his willpower truly was.

Zhao Lingchen yawned. “Keep a close watch on him. If his will breaks, then send the maid in.”

She did not want him harmed, which could affect her search.

“Understood.”