Chapter 38: The Absent Princess and a Father’s Enigma

As princesses, they were all raised with the strict understanding that entering another princess’s chambers without explicit permission was forbidden, a rule that even Huangren, the formidable First Princess, was bound by.

Thus, her initial intention had been to bide her time, waiting for her younger sister to open the door before making her move.

However, with no response forthcoming from within, she found waiting indefinitely outside to be an increasingly untenable situation.

Ultimately, Huangren resolved to open the door herself and ascertain whether her younger sister was truly inside.

“She’s not here? Then where did she run off to?”

Having successfully opened the door and stepped inside, she found no trace of her younger sister.

The room’s arrangement, startlingly, remained exactly as it had been the day Huangren had taken her to the human world, as if the girl had never returned.

Puzzling, indeed.

According to Yinlang, her younger sister was meant to have returned to her room to change.

How could she not have been back at all?

“Judging by your expression, you didn’t find our younger sister in her room, did you?”

Observing Huangren emerge without having accomplished anything, Jiqiao felt not the slightest surprise.

Had she herself been the target of her eldest sister’s relentless pursuit, she, too, would have steered clear of her own room; it was simply too perilous.

“What? Do you know where our younger sister is?”

The ‘I knew it’ tone in Jiqiao’s voice made it exceedingly difficult for Huangren not to conclude that she was already privy to their younger sister’s whereabouts.

“No, I don’t know either.

It’s just that her absence from the room was well within my calculations.

She must have long since foreseen that you would come to finish her off once more, upon discovering she hadn’t truly perished.

That’s precisely why she isn’t in her room.

It’s entirely possible our younger sister has already left this imperial residence.

You should abandon this pursuit, Eldest Sister.

While I’m unsure why you’re so intent on her, continuing this chase significantly increases the likelihood of Father discovering your actions.

No, it’s even probable that Father already knows.”

Jiqiao recalled Yinlang having previously mentioned that one of Father’s retainers was always by their younger sister’s side.

Knowing her younger sister’s nature, she had, in all likelihood, already confided in that retainer about being nearly killed by their eldest sister, instructing the retainer to relay this grave news to Father.

If this proved to be true, even their eldest sister would find herself in an unenviable position.

It was common knowledge that their Father was an absolute ‘daughter-s*ave’ (TL Note: A term used to describe a father who dotes excessively on his daughters), showering them with boundless affection.

Should he learn that one of his daughters had been nearly slain, and by the hand of another of his own children no less, his fury would undoubtedly be boundless.

“How troublesome.

I should have waited for her to draw her last breath before leaving.”

That earlier oversight had now plunged her into a considerably precarious situation.

Not only was she unable to resume her pursuit of her younger sister anytime soon, but Father had also become aware of her act of fratricide, perpetrated behind his very back.

“Rather than regretting, you should first think about how to face Father.

Even you will be unable to withstand Father’s wrath.

Would you like me to intercede on your behalf when the time comes? It might just mitigate the severity of Father’s punishment.”

“There’s no need.

If I truly feared Father’s retribution, I would never have chosen to commit that act in the first place.

Come, let us return.

We cannot possibly be absent from Sixth Sister’s farewell tea party.”

With her younger sister nowhere to be found in her chambers, and no clue as to her current whereabouts, Huangren had no choice but to abandon her search for the moment and return to attend Jidi’s farewell tea party.

“It seems you’ve steeled your resolve, then.

Very well, I shall refrain from further comment.”

Having, for the time being, persuaded Huangren to abandon her relentless pursuit of their younger sister, Jiqiao followed her back to the tea party.

****

“Oh? Eldest Sister, Second Sister, weren’t you two meant to fetch our younger sister?

Did she not come with you?

Why have only the two of you returned?”

Observing their younger sister’s absence, Jidi inquired as to the reason.

She had, after all, already meticulously planned what she would say to her younger sister upon their reunion.

“Our younger sister wasn’t in her room.

Second Sister and I didn’t find her when we went.

Yinlang, are you sure our younger sister returned to her room?”

Yinlang remained unaware that she had once gravely wounded their younger sister, so it was unlikely she would deceive them regarding the girl’s whereabouts.

Yet, if her words were indeed true, then why did their younger sister’s room retain its previous arrangement?

“Oh.

I completely forgot to mention it.

When I noticed our younger sister heading in the wrong direction from her room, Father’s retainer informed me that he and she had some matters to attend to.

They were only planning to return to her room to change and join the tea party once those tasks were completed.

So, they hadn’t finished yet when you went?

How terribly slow of them.”

Yinlang only now chose to divulge this information.

Previously, she hadn’t deemed it necessary, assuming that by the time Eldest Sister and Second Sister reached the room, their younger sister would already be there, and thus had remained silent.

“You truly should have mentioned such a crucial detail sooner!

In that case, I shall return to her room and wait for her there.”

Here she was, thinking her younger sister had fled out of fear, only to realize she had simply arrived too early, before the girl had returned.

This revelation, at least, offered a logical explanation for why the room’s arrangement remained unaltered from its previous state.

Thus, she would now return to the room, lie in wait for her younger sister, and once the girl returned, she would finally finish her off.

“Wait, Eldest Sister.

Fifth Sister, which direction did they go in then?”

Jiqiao sensed a subtle disquiet.

Recalling the details now, she found Fifth Sister’s account of their younger sister’s situation to be remarkably peculiar.

Initially, the explanation given for her absence was that she was executing a secret mission entrusted to her by Father.

However, considering Jiqiao’s own assessment, coupled with Eldest Sister’s admission that she had personally ‘dealt with’ their younger sister, it was clear their younger sister had never embarked on any secret mission whatsoever.

While one could argue that their younger sister might have been concerned about implicating Yinlang, who was not initially a target, by speaking the truth, the subsequent claim of “having matters to attend to” simply didn’t add up.

What exactly had she gone to do?

Could she have gone to lodge a complaint with Father?

No, with Father’s own retainer accompanying her, there would be no need for her to personally seek out Father.

“They headed in the direction of the [Gate], then.

Why do you ask?”

“Towards the [Gate]?

Oh, I see it now.

Eldest Sister, there’s no need for you to go; you won’t be waiting for our younger sister.

And neither should we.”

Jiqiao instantly grasped what their younger sister had truly been up to at that moment.

While she claimed to be attending to matters, in truth, their younger sister had most likely already passed through that [Gate] into the human world.

Even if her own power was insufficient to open that particular gate, Father’s retainer possessed the capability to do so, should they choose.

This, however, immediately raised a new conundrum: Father’s retainers were all constructs of his immense power, and under no circumstances could a retainer defy his will unless explicitly permitted by Father himself.

So, why would Father allow their younger sister to venture into the human world?

Hadn’t he already granted Jidi permission to go to the human world?

Could it be that he sent their younger sister to hide in the human world, intending to teach Eldest Sister a lesson, ensuring she would never again dare to harm her, before allowing her to return?

No, that explanation simply did not hold water.

Given Father’s immense power, if he truly wished to protect their younger sister, not even Eldest Sister would be able to lay a single finger on her.

Hmm… no, it defied all logical explanation.

What exactly was Father truly thinking?