Chapter 66: Waiting by the Tree for the Hare

Tan Qingjiu raised her brows slightly. “You found her?”

“Yes. That old nurse Li tried to flee for her life, but her greed got the better of her. After escaping, she couldn’t bear to leave behind all the silver notes and gold and jewels she’d painstakingly accumulated over the years. So she secretly contacted a trusted servant still in the heir’s residence, hoping she’d help smuggle her belongings out.”

“But she was caught in the act by Tan Yunge’s people, who’d been lying in wait.”

“Tan Yunge had that servant send a message to Nurse Li, saying she couldn’t get away just yet, but would sneak out later that night to bring her things.”

Tan Qingjiu narrowed her eyes. “Nurse Li has served at Tan Yunge’s side for so many years and knows too many of her secrets. Tan Yunge will never let her go.”

“Now that Nurse Li has betrayed Tan Yunge’s secrets, making Princess Consort Ding and the heir suspicious of her, Tan Yunge will have no reason to keep her alive.”

Zisu looked up at Tan Qingjiu. “Do you intend to...?”

“Keep an eye on Tan Yunge. If she goes to meet Nurse Li, report to me at once. I want to see how this play unfolds.”

“Yes.”

After instructing Zisu, Tan Qingjiu turned back to Xingqi and Xingyou, resuming their earlier conversation. “You two are mischievous and want to stay as bait—I don’t object. But since I’ve promised Tan Yun, I must make a show of doing my duty.”

“However, after all this, Chen Yueru and Tan Yunge will surely assign people to watch me closely. I’ll have to find a way to make a careless mistake or two—just enough to give them the slip.”

Excitement lit Xingyou and Xingqi’s eyes. “Truly? You’re not just saying that? We thought you’d insist on sending us away for our safety.”

A faint smile tugged at Tan Qingjiu’s lips. Raised in a renowned family of physicians, she’d always attracted covetous and ill-intentioned eyes due to her exceptional talents.

Her parents had the power to shield her completely.

But they never did so. They would often say, only those who survive surrounded by wolves, in a world rife with danger, are truly strong. Building high walls and iron barriers only creates hothouse flowers—fragile, doomed if ever exposed to the elements.

She could guarantee Xingqi and Xingyou’s safety, but she’d never sever their curiosity to explore the world’s perils and wonders.

Night deepened, and Xingqi and Xingyou retired early.

—

It was nearly dawn when Zisu hurried into the room. “Mistress, Tan Yunge has left the heir’s residence—she must be going to see Nurse Li.”

Tan Qingjiu merely acknowledged her, threw on a black cloak, and set out with Zisu and the others.

Nurse Li had chosen her hiding place well—a deserted courtyard near the city gates. She probably hoped to collect her treasures that night and make her escape at daybreak, as soon as the gates opened.

Tan Qingjiu waited outside the courtyard. Soon enough, Tan Yunge arrived.

Tan Yunge was accompanied by a maidservant and seven or eight men in black. At the gate, the maid stepped forward and knocked.

In the silent night, the knocking was sharp and jarring. A few dogs barked in the distance before Nurse Li’s deliberately hushed voice sounded. “Who is it?”

“It’s me. I’ve brought your things.”

With a creak, the door opened. Nurse Li, holding an oil lamp, poked her head out, glanced warily around, and, seeing no one else, looked at the maid. “Well? Did you bring everything?”

The maid stiffened, nodded, and unfastened a bundle from her waist.

“Good, good.” By the lamp’s dim glow, Nurse Li checked the bundle. Satisfied that all her belongings were there, she finally relaxed, a faint smile appearing. She took a gold bangle from the bundle and pressed it into the maid’s hand. “Thank you for your trouble.”

The maid shrank back, hurriedly withdrawing her hand. “No, no, I can’t accept it.”

Nurse Li assumed she was simply embarrassed and smiled. “I’ll never return after tonight. Just take it, please—”

Before she finished, a voice suddenly rang out. “How generous you are, Nurse Li.”

Nurse Li jolted, the bangle clattering to the ground.

“Pr—Princess Consort!”

She gasped and, almost instinctively, spun around and fled into the courtyard.

The place had long been abandoned; one section of the courtyard wall was already collapsed.

Nurse Li dashed toward the ruined wall, hoping to scramble over it and escape, but before she could reach it, the men in black caught her.

—

“Where are you running, Nurse Li?”

“Do you think you can just escape punishment after causing such trouble? Things are never that simple.”

Nurse Li’s eyes brimmed with terror. After all these years at Tan Yunge’s side, she knew well what sort of person Tan Yunge was—ruthless and utterly devoid of sentiment.

If she fell into Tan Yunge’s hands, she would meet a terrible fate.

Nurse Li struggled, but the men in black were clearly well-trained. She couldn’t break free.

Suddenly, Nurse Li dropped to her knees. “Princess Consort, for the sake of all the years I’ve served you, please spare me! I never meant any harm—it was all because Tan Qingjiu tricked me. I only said those things because I was ensnared by her schemes!”

“I never imagined Tan Qingjiu would bring Princess Consort Ding here.”

“And when I was discovered, I saw that Prince Duan was in trouble and that Princess Consort Ding and Tan Qingjiu had left. I panicked and ran. If I disappeared, there’d be no one left to confront, would there? Then, Princess Consort, you could just make up an excuse—say I was poisoned by Tan Qingjiu, or claim I was secretly working with her to frame you.”

“Either way, with me gone, Tan Qingjiu would have no evidence—dead men tell no tales, after all.”

Tan Yunge circled her slowly, her smile chilling. “You really thought everything through, didn’t you, Nurse Li?”

“Of course! I’ve served you for so many years—of course I must look out for you, Princess Consort. Please, have mercy. I promise to vanish from the capital forever. No one will ever find me.”

Tan Yunge let out a cold laugh. “You say you’ll disappear, leaving no trace, so Tan Qingjiu and Princess Consort Ding will have no proof?”

“Yes,” Nurse Li nodded desperately.

But Tan Yunge’s smile grew increasingly cruel. “For there to be no evidence, there must be no witness. Dead men tell no tales indeed. Nurse Li, wouldn’t you agree?”