The following morning, Crown Prince Yinreng found Wuxiha lingering near Emperor Kangxi's side.
"Baocheng, come look," Kangxi beckoned.
Approaching, Yinreng observed a scroll unfurled between them. It depicted a young girl chasing butterflies. The subject's facial structure mirrored Wuxiha's almost exactly.
"I did not know your Imperial Mother left behind such a portrait before her marriage," Kangxi remarked, his tone thick with nostalgia.
Wuxiha smiled demurely. "I discovered it recently among my late father's hidden collections. The elders say my sister painted it herself but discarded it out of dissatisfaction. I brought it to the hunting grounds, hoping it might bring Your Majesty joy."
Yinreng's Internal Analysis: A calculated deployment of a prop. She did not bring a fragile, decades-old painting on a hunting trip by accident. It was bait.
Kangxi chuckled, lost in memory. "That stubbornness is exactly her. She never let me keep her self-portraits."
Noticing Yinreng's stoic silence, Kangxi dismissed Wuxiha and handed the rolled canvas to the Crown Prince. "You often lament having no memory of your Imperial Mother's face. Keep this as an anchor."
Regardless of Wuxiha's political maneuvering, the painting was a genuine artifact of his mother. Yinreng accepted it formally. "I will preserve it with honor."
Once they were alone, Kangxi motioned for Yinreng to sit. He studied his heir closely. "Do you despise her, Baocheng?"
"I feel nothing toward her," Yinreng replied with mechanical precision. "My only concern is Your Majesty's emotional stability. You lost composure upon seeing her face yesterday. Dwelling on the dead only breeds paralyzing sorrow. Imperial Mother would prioritize your current operational efficiency and happiness over mourning."
Kangxi fell silent, offering a bitter smile. "You fear I will look at Wuxiha and spiral into grief?"
"Yes."
Kangxi's expression hardened into absolute absolute authority. "Remember the Dowager Empress's teaching: there are no identical souls in this world. Wuxiha may wear your mother's face, but she is a pale imitation. Your mother lacked physical courage—she once trembled violently before a bear—yet she threw herself in front of me to shield me. Wuxiha is bold, but she lacks that core."
Kangxi locked eyes with Yinreng. "Remember this: She is 'not' your Imperial Mother, and she never will be."
***
The Imperial Mechanism
Returning to his tent, Yinreng processed Kangxi's warning.
Strategic Deduction: Kangxi possessed total clarity regarding Wuxiha's ambitions. He was not fooled; he simply did not care. To the Emperor, a woman seeking his bed was a mundane occurrence. He viewed Wuxiha as a biological tool—a visual replica of the late Empress to be summoned for amusement and discarded when inconvenient.
However, Kangxi feared 'Yinreng' would be compromised. A nine-year-old orphan might project his longing for a mother onto Wuxiha's face, allowing the Hesheli clan to manipulate the Crown Prince. Kangxi's warning was a preemptive strike to sever any emotional attachment Yinreng might form.
Yinreng scoffed inwardly, interfacing with his System.
Yinreng: "Observe the apex of imperial pragmatism. He loves the memory, but uses the replica. This validates my operational template: emotional attachments are a vulnerability. Romance degrades cognitive function."
System: [Warning: Host's ideology is highly cynical. Note: Should Host ascend the throne, you will also command a harem.]
Yinreng: "Irrelevant. I operate as an engine for state supremacy. I reject the unpredictable variables of affection. My domain is the silent empire of the heart—absolute authority built on rational logic, not fleeting passions. Let them fight for the Emperor's favor; I require only power."
***
Fractures in the Clan
In a nearby tent, the Hesheli clan's internal hierarchy fractured.
Minister Songgotu glared at his younger brother, Fabao. "You used the late Empress's face to push Wuxiha into the Emperor's view. You have directly antagonized the Crown Prince."
Fabao sneered, resentful of Songgotu's monopoly on the Prince's favor. "The Niohuru clan sent a second daughter to the harem to maintain their power. Why shouldn't we? The Crown Prince is only nine; he doesn't understand the strategic value of having our own blood whispering in the Emperor's ear. You just want to keep all the glory for your own branch of the family!"
"You fool," Songgotu hissed, terrified of Yinreng's ruthless intellect. "The Prince is not a child to be managed!"
Songgotu stormed out. Moments later, Wuxiha entered to find her uncle fuming.
"Do not worry about Songgotu," Wuxiha advised smoothly. "The Crown Prince is brilliant in statecraft, but ignorant of harem warfare. Once I am established in the inner court, I will personally guide his perspective. I will ensure I pose no threat to his succession; I am young, and delaying childbirth is a necessary sacrifice to secure my foundation."
Placated by her tactical foresight, Fabao agreed to support her fully.
Within days, Wuxiha's aggressive networking yielded results. She spent a night in the imperial tent and was immediately granted the title of Concubine (Pin).
However, the hunting expedition was abruptly terminated. A frantic messenger arrived from the capital: Consort Tongjia's premature infant daughter was dying.
***
The Freesia Gambit
In Chengqian Palace, the air was suffocating with impending death.
Consort Tongjia screamed at the kneeling imperial physicians. "Cure her! She still has a heartbeat! If she dies, I will have you all executed!"
"Your Ladyship," the head physician pleaded, "her internal organs are failing. The medicine cannot be swallowed."
Within the hour, the fragile breathing of Little Yuan'er ceased entirely.
Tongjia's mind snapped. She held the cooling corpse, singing lullabies, her grief rapidly weaponizing into a cold, psychotic hatred.
When her head maid, Chunying, gently urged her to let the child go, Tongjia's eyes turned venomous. "Consort De visited this courtyard twice recently. My daughter was stable until those visits. De triggered this."
"We have no proof, Your Ladyship," Chunying warned. "Consort De never even entered the nursery. She only spoke to the wet nurse in the courtyard."
"Then we find the proof," Tongjia ordered. She summoned Dongzhu, a maid extensively trained in pharmacology and toxicology, commanding a granular sweep of the nursery.
After hours of tearing apart the room, Dongzhu knelt, shaking her head. "There are no poisons, Ladyship. No hidden needles, no toxic herbs. It was simply the child's natural weakness."
Tongjia grabbed Dongzhu by the throat, her nails drawing blood. "Unacceptable. If there is no evidence, it means the enemy was flawless." She threw the maid aside, her mind calculating a new, terrifying trajectory.
Tongjia's Internal Logic: If Consort De left no biological weapon, Tongjia would provide one.
"Dongzhu, forget this search happened," Tongjia commanded, wiping the blood from her hands. She turned to Chunying. "The Emperor is riding hard to return. He will arrive tonight. Bring me an extract of Freesia (Xiangxuelan)."
Chunying blanched in sheer terror. "Ladyship! You are violently allergic to Freesia. The flowers have wilted for the season, but an oil extract... if you touch it, it could trigger respiratory failure!"
"Do as I command," Tongjia smiled—a ghastly, hollow expression. She was prepared to risk her own life to engineer an airtight murder charge.
***
The Execution of the Trap
Kangxi breached the palace doors just after nightfall.
Tongjia collapsed into his arms, the perfect image of a shattered mother. "She waited for you, Your Majesty... but she could not hold on."
As Kangxi wept, holding his favorite concubine, Chunying suddenly gasped. "Your Ladyship! Your arms!"
Kangxi looked down. Angry, raised red welts were erupting across Tongjia's skin.
An imperial physician was summoned instantly. He took one look and diagnosed a severe allergic reaction. "Has Her Ladyship been exposed to Freesia? Her medical records indicate a lethal sensitivity to it."
"Impossible," Chunying lied flawlessly. "Freesia is strictly banned in Chengqian Palace. We screen everything."
"Allergies are hereditary," the physician noted grimly. "If the infant inherited this sensitivity, even a microscopic exposure to Freesia would cause severe respiratory distress and rapid pulmonary collapse—matching the exact symptoms of the Princess's final hours."
Kangxi's sorrow instantly transmuted into murderous rage. His daughter had not died of natural weakness; she had been assassinated via biological warfare.
"Search the palace!" Kangxi roared.
Knowing the scent of the Freesia extract was too faint for normal detection, Kangxi summoned Miss Liu—the daughter of the man who invented the smallpox vaccine, renowned for her superhuman olfactory senses.
Miss Liu swept the palace. She stopped at the nursery and presented a piece of clothing. "Your Majesty. I detect the unmistakable chemical signature of Freesia on the cradle, but the primary source is here. This uniform belongs to the Princess's wet nurse."
The trap was sprung. The evidence formed a perfect, undeniable chain of causality.
The Narrative Reconstructed: The wet nurse was contaminated with Freesia (allegedly during her interaction with Consort De in the courtyard). The wet nurse transferred the allergen to the infant, triggering the fatal asthma attack. Tongjia, by holding her dying child, contracted the allergen herself, triggering her current rash.
Kangxi's eyes burned with cold fury. "Arrest the wet nurse. Interrogate her using any means necessary. I will know who orchestrated this execution."