"Trying to buy loyalty even on his deathbed. It’s truly laughable."
The Fifth Prince sneered. He couldn’t help but burn with anger when he thought of the Celestial Water Essence Xia Wuyang had wasted.
The Seventh Princess lightly tapped her fingertips on the table, her elegant eyes filled with scorn. "So much for a night of passion forging a lasting bond. In the end, he’s just a lecher. I wonder if those old Palace Maids know some secret, and that’s why he’s trying to buy their loyalty with money."
"All these years, and he still hasn’t learned a thing." The Third Prince casually tossed aside the Palace Maid, who had stopped breathing, and took a Snow Cloth from an attendant to wipe his hands. "These servants are nothing more than tools to us. To go to such lengths over a tool... no wonder his Cultivation Foundation was destroyed back then. With such womanly compassion, how could he ever hope to become the Venerable Emperor?"
...
The many Princes and Princesses were utterly dismissive. Few thought Xia Wuyang had done the right thing, but no one grew suspicious.
After all, it was well-known that for many years, Xia Wuyang had always been generous to the elder Palace Maids whenever they left the Palace.
Although his generosity was far greater than usual this time, they figured that since Xia Wuyang was on his deathbed, the sight of them leaving must have stirred his emotions. Giving them some extra retirement money was understandable.
It was just a shame about the Dragon and Tiger Elixirs he had squandered. With several hundred of them, what couldn’t one accomplish? Yet he had to sell them off cheap, trading them for silver coins to give to these old Palace Maids. It was the height of folly.
However, among the many servants of the Palace, and especially among the Palace Maids, Xia Wuyang’s reputation reached a new high.
"It’s a shame I wasn’t assigned to the Eastern Palace. If I had been, maybe I would’ve been treated so well too. Even having to warm the Crown Prince’s bed would have been worth it."
"I hear the elder Palace Maids who left the Eastern Palace before are all living well now. They not only received generous retirement funds from the elder Crown Prince but are also looked after by some of the Eastern Palace Concubines. They have it so much better than we do."
"When I first entered the Palace, I dreamed of one day receiving the Emperor’s favor. But thinking about it now, so what if I did? If I couldn’t bear him a son or a daughter, I’d be worse off than one of the Eastern Palace’s maids in my old age. And how many Palace Maids actually manage to win His Majesty’s favor and conceive a royal child?"
"And even if you were incredibly lucky enough to receive his favor and conceive a royal child, so what? With no power or influence, any concubine who took a disliking to you could have you killed in an instant. Haven’t countless Palace Maids died for that very reason over the years? They say even the former Empress was killed by other concubines because she was too favored."
...
Not long after his old lovers departed, a new group of beautiful young women, as lovely as flowers, was sent to the Eastern Palace to replace the elder Palace Maids who had left.
These sixteen-year-old girls all had bright eyes and pearly teeth, and they were more vibrant than the most delicate buds in the Imperial Garden.
Normally, it would take at least half a month to replenish the staff, but now they had been delivered to the front of Wenhua Hall in a single day.
Not even a fool would believe there wasn’t something fishy going on.
’It seems they’re afraid I, the elder Crown Prince, am not enjoying myself enough, not dying fast enough. So they’ve seized this chance to send over more of these beautiful, Soul-Devouring Palace Maids.’
To dispel their suspicions and keep them from targeting him with other methods, Xia Wuyang didn’t hold back. He had them all assigned to Wenhua Hall and made them attend to him in his chambers that very night.
To the outside world, Xia Wuyang lived a life of hedonism, spending his waking hours among the flowers and his drunken nights sleeping beneath them. No one knew that, concealed by the Dragon Storage Skill, his Cultivation, Combat Techniques, and Secret Techniques were all advancing at a breathtaking pace.
By now, barely anyone in the vast Eastern Palace was his match, and those who might be were mostly his own concubines, not the eunuchs or Palace Maids planted by his enemies.
Thus, Xia Wuyang didn’t have to worry about anyone discovering anything unusual. Besides, with his improved Dragon Storage Skill—one he had practically tailor-made for himself—it was uncertain if even a Martial Artist of the Upper Three Grades could detect anything amiss, even if they were sitting right in front of him.
But no one in the Palace knew this, nor did anyone on the outside. They all still saw him as a decrepit, incompetent old man who could be humiliated at will.
A few days after the elder Palace Maids left, news arrived from the outside. The West Gate Guard, Bai Qingzhi, had gotten drunk and tried to abduct the Eastern Palace Fifth Class Attendant, Wang Bing. Wang Bing resisted with all her might, and Bai Qingzhi beheaded her in the middle of the street.
After learning that Wang Bing was a Fifth Class Attendant of the Eastern Palace, Bai Qingzhi sent some gifts as an apology, hoping the elder Crown Prince would forgive him.
Fifth Class Attendant Wang Bing was one of his concubines. Though they had grown distant over the past few decades, she was still his woman.
She had left the Palace this time to visit an elder Palace Maid she was close with, wanting to see if she was doing well and offer a bit of help.
Who would have thought that on her way back, she would run into the West Gate Guard, Bai Qingzhi, and be killed by him just like that.
It was said that she had identified herself as a Fifth Class Attendant of the Eastern Palace, but Bai Qingzhi, far from stopping, grew even more brazen. He declared he wanted to have a taste of the Crown Prince’s concubine.
Wang Bing’s steadfast refusal was what led to her death.
The West Gate Guard was one of the Fifth Prince’s men. He held the rank of Standard Fifth Grade, which was respectable enough outside the capital. But here in the Capital City, where high officials were as common as rain, he was no one important—he was even mockingly called a doorman.
Yet this very "doorman" had dared to abduct the Crown Prince’s concubine. He even dared to kill her after Fifth Class Attendant Wang had revealed her identity.
It was not only outrageous, but it showed he had absolutely no regard for the Crown Prince.
Before Xia Wuyang could even react to the news, a message arrived from the Fifth Prince. He hoped the Crown Prince would let the matter go—it was just one Fifth Class Attendant, after all. To make amends, he could send over ten stunning beauties from various races.
Not long after, a group of exquisite beauties from several races was delivered to the Eastern Palace as a formal apology.
Xia Wuyang feigned hesitation, then gave all the compensation from both Bai Qingzhi and the Fifth Prince to Wang Bing’s family and friends, keeping nothing for himself.
Upon receiving the compensation, Wang Bing’s family and friends were surprisingly understanding. They bore no resentment toward the elder Crown Prince. In fact, they came to thank him, knowing his current predicament and feeling that he had already acted with great integrity.
They could only blame their daughter’s terrible luck for running into the drunken West Gate Guard, a misfortune that had cost her her life.
Even within the Eastern Palace, many people were understanding of the situation.
"What could the elder Crown Prince do in a situation like this? That West Gate Guard is a Standard Fifth Grade Military General, and his Cultivation has reached the Fifth Grade City-Breaking Level. On top of that, he has the Fifth Prince backing him. Do you really think the elder Crown Prince could kill him? Right now, he probably couldn’t even kill a lowly Ninth Grade Official."
"I heard Bai Qingzhi and the Fifth Prince sent a lot of compensation. Bai Qingzhi’s part alone was said to be worth at least several hundred thousand taels of silver. I can’t believe the elder Crown Prince didn’t keep a single bit, giving it all to Fifth Class Attendant Wang’s parents. He truly is a man of integrity."
"If not for the elder Crown Prince’s status, why would Bai Qingzhi have sent so much compensation? The Wang Family was lucky. With a Crown Prince so honorable and mindful of old ties, receiving such a generous sum is the best they could have hoped for."
"It’s just a shame about Fifth Class Attendant Wang. Even though she was over forty, she was still breathtakingly beautiful. To be killed just like that..."
...