Volume One, Chapter Seven: Killing the Chicken to Warn the Monkey, The Eve of the Wedding

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Li Xuan’s announcement of the new regulations was not loud, yet it struck each person in the Eastern Palace like a heavy hammer. The eunuchs and palace maids, usually lazy and careless, were now silent as if frozen, not daring to even breathe.

Only the steward Zhao De’s face shifted between pale and flushed. He had served as steward in the Eastern Palace for over a decade, since Li Xuan was but a mere child. He knew the prince’s character thoroughly. To him, the crown prince was simply acting out in a fit of madness after being provoked; once the storm passed, everything would return to normal.

“Your Highness,” Zhao De forced out a smile more pitiful than tears, bowing as he approached, “I have taken note of your commands. But there are hundreds of people in this household, and these rules have been handed down by our ancestors. Changing them all at once… it will be difficult.”

His words carried a double meaning—both asserting his seniority and hinting at the complex web of interests in the Eastern Palace that no new crown prince could easily unravel.

Li Xuan did not even raise an eyelid. He strode directly to his desk and sat down, lightly tapping the tabletop with his fingers, producing a dull “tap, tap” sound.

“Where are the account books?” he asked calmly.

Zhao De’s heart skipped a beat—this was bad. The Eastern Palace’s finances were a huge black hole; they were so corrupt that even he had grown too weary to look at them. Of the silver drawn from the Imperial Household Department each year, seventy to eighty percent ended up in his and his subordinates’ pockets. Less than ten percent was actually spent on palace affairs.

“Your Highness, the ledgers… they are all locked away in the storeroom. If you wish to see them, I will fetch them immediately.” Sweat beaded on Zhao De’s forehead as he spoke, while signaling a nearby young eunuch to quickly destroy some unsavory records.

“No need.” Li Xuan interrupted, drawing a booklet from his sleeve and tossing it onto the desk. “I have one here. See if it’s clearer than yours.”

Zhao De’s eyes fixed on the cover. The title boldly read: “Eastern Palace Expense Audit Records.” He was struck as if by lightning, his knees nearly giving out.

Where did this come from?

Without looking at him, Li Xuan flipped through the pages, his voice steady but icy cold:

“Seventh day of the third month, purchased writing materials—brushes, ink, paper, inkstones—cost three hundred and twenty taels, but only under thirty taels were actually stocked. Fifteenth day of the third month, roof repairs cost eight hundred taels, yet only a few tiles were replaced. Twentieth day of the third month, bought beef for my beloved dog ‘Ah Huang,’ costing one hundred fifty taels… Zhao De, I do not recall ever having such a dog.”

With each line read, Zhao De’s face paled further. The stewards behind him were terrified to their core; several timid ones had already knelt, bowing their heads repeatedly.

Some of these entries were written by Zhao De himself; others were whispered to him by subordinates seeking favor. Yet how could the crown prince know the details so thoroughly, with exact dates and amounts?

They didn’t realize that although Li Xuan had only recently arrived, his soul as a martial arts grandmaster was extraordinarily powerful. After merely a brief tour of the manor and overhearing servants’ whispers, combined with fragments of the original lord’s memories, he had reconstructed much of the Eastern Palace’s corruption. This booklet was painstakingly copied from memory the night before.

“Zhao De,” Li Xuan finally raised his eyes, his gaze sharp as a blade, piercing straight to Zhao De’s heart, “do you have anything to say?”

“Your Highness! Spare me! I… I was blinded! I will never dare again!” Zhao De broke down completely, sobbing and begging on his knees.

Watching coldly from the side, Xiao Ningshuang’s beautiful eyes flickered with a strange light.

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She had thought Li Xuan’s new rules were merely the whims of a spoiled nobleman, perhaps just a way to lash out at servants. She never imagined that when he acted, it was like a thunderclap striking the heart of the matter. Such wisdom and resolve—this was no longer the frivolous, pleasure-seeking crown prince.

Suddenly, she recalled his strange bare-handed technique to seize a blade in the tavern, and his flawless yet twisted words at the imperial audience. This man truly seemed unlike the legends.

“Take them away,” Li Xuan waved with disgust. “Send them to the Clean Army Headquarters. Tell them I do not wish to see this man again. All the embezzled silver must be recovered and redistributed to the innocent servants he oppressed. As for his accomplices,” his eyes swept over the kneeling stewards, “deal with them accordingly.”

Immediately, the crown prince’s guards burst in, dragging Zhao De and the others away like dead dogs. Their screams and pleas echoed through the courtyard before fading.

The great hall fell into deathly silence.

Li Xuan stood, surveying the trembling crowd, his tone softening slightly: “From today, Wang Fugui will temporarily take over as steward of the Eastern Palace.”

An inconspicuous, elderly eunuch standing in the corner suddenly lifted his head, disbelief evident on his face.

Wang Fugui was a veteran of the Eastern Palace, honest and never involved in Zhao De’s schemes, so he was marginalized and relegated to menial chores.

“I… I am foolish and unworthy of such responsibility,” Wang Fugui stammered, his voice trembling with emotion.

“If I say you can handle it, then you can,” Li Xuan said, stepping forward to pat his shoulder. “What I want is not tactfulness, but loyalty. Manage the Eastern Palace well, and I will not treat you unfairly.”

Tears welled in Wang Fugui’s eyes as he knelt deeply. “I swear loyalty to Your Highness!”

This harsh lesson in discipline, combining kindness and severity, instantly reversed the atmosphere of the Eastern Palace. The servants’ contempt for Li Xuan turned into profound reverence.

After settling the palace affairs, Li Xuan’s gaze fell on a purple-hair jade brush carelessly placed on the desk. This “gift” was sent by the second prince, Li Zhan. The brush was elegant and finely crafted.

He picked it up and lightly twisted it between his fingers. A nearly invisible black powder oozed from the seam of the handle.

“A fine ‘Soul Severing Brush’,” Li Xuan sneered.

This was a slow-acting poison, colorless and tasteless, absorbed through the skin, which over time severely drained vitality, causing death without detection. In his past life, he had some knowledge of such dark arts and recognized it at once.

His second brother’s “gift” was truly thoughtful.

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Xiao Ningshuang noticed his action as well. Coming from a military family, she was familiar with poisons and her expression shifted slightly when she saw the black powder.

“This is…”

“My second brother’s regards,” Li Xuan casually said as he tossed the brush back into its box. “A wedding gift, no less.”

His tone was light, as if speaking of something trivial, but Xiao Ningshuang sensed a chilling undercurrent. This brotherly rivalry within the royal family was deadlier than any blade on the battlefield.

Just then, a eunuch bearing an imperial edict entered, his shrill voice breaking the silence.

“The Emperor commands: Crown Prince Li Xuan and General’s daughter Xiao Ningshuang, a match made in heaven, shall wed in three days. The Ministry of Rites and the Astronomical Bureau are to organize a grand ceremony to display the nation’s glory!”

Three days from now?

Li Xuan and Xiao Ningshuang exchanged a glance, each seeing complexity in the other’s eyes.

This sudden grand wedding was like a massive whirlpool, binding two people who should be enemies even closer.

Late at night, Li Xuan stood alone in the courtyard, gazing at the waning moon.

Since crossing over, only a few days had passed, yet it felt like a lifetime. From a doomed fate to a political marriage, he moved carefully, every step fraught with tension.

And in three days, he would marry the woman who hated him with all her heart.

He knew this was more than a wedding—it was a political declaration to the world. This “wasteful crown prince” was coming back.

And the show of authority in the Eastern Palace was only the beginning. The true battlefield awaited on the imperial court and at the grand, perilous wedding soon to come.