Chapter 5 — The Heir to the Throne with the Wicked Face

The Master Returns to the Capital

Three years have passed since the night of the incident at Kim Loan Palace. The capital city of Vân Khánh still retains its familiar prosperity on the surface, bustling shopping streets, curved pagoda roofs silhouetted against the clear blue canal, but hidden deep beneath that peaceful shell is a power apparatus that is increasingly tightened under the hands of Prime Minister Khưu Bá Trạch.

On an autumn morning, a convoy of horse-drawn carriages filled with precious goods entered the eastern city gate, led by a gilded wooden sign engraved with four large words: Thông Bảo Trang. No one among the guards guarding the gate knew that the real owner of the merchant branch that had just opened a branch in the capital was the man the whole court had tried to hunt down three years ago.

Nhược Hi, now nineteen years old, stepped down from the palanquin in front of Thông Bảo Trang's main store, wearing a sophisticated jade silk outfit, with the dignified appearance of a wealthy businesswoman, without any trace of the wandering nun of the past. Only the sharp, cold eyes that probed every corner of the surrounding area remained intact from three years ago.

"Master, have you made the arrangements yet?" Tang Dịch Phong, now acting as the merchant's manager, asked softly as he walked inside with her.

"Everything is ready." Nhược Hi nodded slightly, her eyes scanning the rows of shelves filled with silk, ceramics, and rare medicinal herbs transported from all over Đại Hạ. "Over the past three years, the Night Shadow Pavilion has taken root in more than twenty districts, with more than five hundred absolutely loyal people. It's time for us to step into the true center of power."

Thông Bảo Trang is, in name, just a merchant trading fabrics and medicinal herbs, but it is actually the financial and intelligence lifeblood of the entire Night Shadow Pavilion. Every shipment passing through the districts carries cleverly encrypted information, and every profit is used to nurture a network of loyalists secretly planted everywhere, from the army to local officials.

That afternoon, news of Thông Bảo Trang's appearance in the capital spread to the ears of many greedy mandarins who were accustomed to exploiting small merchants for profit. An official holding the position of De Xing Porcelain in the capital, who was famous for soliciting newly arrived traders, sent someone to personally meet with owner Thông Bảo Trang, offering to demand a generous "introduction ceremony" if he wanted to do business peacefully.

Nhược Hi received the servant in the private living room, her attitude was so calm that it made him feel guilty.

"Go back and tell your De Hinh Porcelain," she took a sip of tea, her voice gentle but containing an unusual weight, "that Thông Bảo Trang does not have the habit of paying tribute to those who do not deserve it. If he still wants to keep the ao sa hat on his head, it would be best to remember who, three months ago, quietly reported to the Imperial Palace about the theft of money for dike repair that he thought no one knew about."

The sailor's face turned pale, he bowed his head and retreated, not daring to say another word. That very evening, the De Xing Porcelain quietly withdrew all intentions of causing trouble, and even sent someone to bring gifts to apologize.

News of a new trader arriving in the capital but not afraid of local power, even knowing the dark secrets of the mandarins, quickly spread in the trading world. In just one month, Thông Bảo Trang has become a name that is both respected and feared throughout the capital city of Vân Khánh, even though no one knows the real face behind it.

Not long after that, a young man from a wealthy family, who was accustomed to relying on the family's power to oppress small businesses, came to Thông Bảo Trang with the intention of causing trouble, bringing with him a dozen strong servants to crowd the entire front yard. He loudly demanded to meet the owner, insulting that a business headed by a woman would sooner or later collapse, and that she should know how to give a portion of her shares to his family to be able to do business in peace.

Nhược Hi stepped out, not showing any signs of flinching in front of the fierce servants, her eyes swept over each person one by one with a chilling calmness.

"Young master, do you want shares, or do you want me to publicly announce in front of the Royal Palace the fact that your palace is harboring an escaped criminal at the manor house south of the city, whom the court has had a bounty on for half a year?" She spoke, her voice still light as if she were chatting, but each word fell like a hammer blow straight into the young man's face.

His face changed color, and the servants behind him suddenly fell silent. None of them expected that an emerging female merchant would understand every detail of such a shocking secret in such a short time. The young man stammered a few words of defense and then hastily left, not daring to come back and cause trouble again.

Tang Dịch Phong stood behind the door observing the whole thing, unable to help but be secretly amazed at his master's bravery. After the group of people left, he stepped out and asked softly: "Master, how did you know that his family harbored serious criminals?"

"I don't know." Nhược Hi smiled slightly, a cold smile flickering across the corner of her lips. "But most people who rely on their family's power to oppress others have a habit of being startled. Just hit the place where they fear the most, and he will automatically reveal the truth. This is just a test, and it seems that he really has a disability."

Late at night, when the store was closed, Nhược Hi and Trường Phong - who had just returned from the border town after secretly arranging the transfer of military power to a trusted deputy general - sat in a secret room behind the warehouse, spreading a map of Vân Khánh capital on the table.

"In the past three years, how far has Khưu Bá Trạch consolidated his power?" Nhược Hi asked, her finger sliding across the map to the palace.

"He has installed his people in almost all key positions in the six ministries," Trường Phong replied, his voice thoughtful. "The army is held by Cận Bá Tuyên, one of his powerful men, controlling the entire imperial capital. Empress Dowager Uất Nguyệt Hàn is still nominally regent, but the real power is in the hands of Khưu Bá Trạch."

"What about the next throne?" Nhược Hi asked, her voice trembling slightly even though she tried to stay calm.

"For the past three years, the court has not officially appointed a successor, citing the unfinished funeral and the unstable situation." Trường Phong frowned. "But recently there have been rumors that Khưu Bá Trạch is secretly campaigning to establish Khương Bạt Nghi, the Immortal Emperor's half-brother, as the new emperor. If that comes true, the last door for Her Highness to legitimately reclaim the throne will be closed forever."

Nhược Hi clenched her fist, her eyes flashing with a cold light. "So we don't have much time left. We need to know exactly what Khưu Bá Trạch did that night. We need irrefutable evidence to present to the court, not just an empty accusation from a criminal."

"I have asked people to review all survivors who were present in the night palace," Trường Phong said. "Most have been eliminated or exiled, but there are still a few clues that haven't been completely extinguished."

"Eunuch Khấu," Nhược Hi spoke the name, and her heart ached. "For three years I have not dared ask about him, afraid that one mistake would make all his sacrifices meaningless."

"I have secretly let you find out." Trường Phong looked at her, his eyes both sad and a little hopeful. "He is still alive, imprisoned in a small farm outside the city, in the name of retirement, but in reality he is still closely monitored. Perhaps, he is the one who holds the most important clues we are looking for."

The candlelight in the secret room swayed with the wind blowing through the door, casting long shadows of the two people on the map of the capital spread out on the table. Nhược Hi looked at the spot marking Kim Loan Palace, where her parents fell three years ago, then gently clenched her fist.

"Then," she said, her voice sharp with determination, "the first thing we need to do is find a way to meet Khấu Đình Ân without leaving any trace for Khưu Bá Trạch to follow." Trường Phong nodded and rolled up the map. "I will have Tang Dịch Phong arrange medicinal herbs for the suburban manor where Khấu Đình Ân is being held. He can approach as a physician without arousing suspicion. But Your Highness must remember: every step must now be calculated. Khưu Bá Trạch is no ordinary man. He has held power through three years of upheaval and must have eyes and ears everywhere."

"I know." Nhược Hi nodded slightly, her eyes looking out the window where the moonlight was gradually disappearing behind dark clouds signaling a late autumn rain. "But no matter how difficult the road ahead is, I will not back down. Three years of patience is not meant to get close to the finish line and then give up halfway."

She stood up, walked to the door frame, looked at the royal palace hidden far away behind the close tiled roofs of Vân Khánh citadel. There, among the majestic palaces, a man who had dipped his hands in her parents' blood was still sitting in a chair of power, leisurely as if his crimes would forever sink into oblivion. But Nhược Hi knew that as long as she was patient for a while longer, that truth cannot be buried forever.