Back to the Palace, no longer silent in mourning, it now buzzed with seditious murmur—quiet enough to be respectful but loud enough to spread like wildfire.
Everyone in the Palace, the concubine, the consort even the eunuchs and maids exchanged looks in corridors and shadows.
"They say… the young Prince was the only one with her…"
"He's always been a strange boy, haven't you noticed?"
"Didn't the Empress say once that the child was born with a strange mark?"
"It's the omen, the mark—it must have something to do with this."
"Could the Fourth Prince a child… truly…"
No corner of the palace was spared. What began as hushed speculation within the court soon slipped beyond the inner walls, creeping through the halls of noble mansions and then across the Empire.
In teahouses and markets, scholars and beggars alike repeated the rumor with wide eyes and lowered voices:
The Crown Prince killed his mother.
In his chambers, the young Prince Wei Li sat curled on the bed once shared with his mother, her scent still lingering on the pillows.
He hadn't spoken much since that day. Not to his tutors. Not to his guards.
But when he heard the whispers drifting through cracks in the doors, when he saw the way the servants looked at him—he understood.
They blamed him.
His small fists clenched. He didn't cry. He didn't shout. He only stared at the rain pattering against the window pane.
'If they think I'm a monster… then maybe I need to find out what kind of monster I am.'
Wei Li thought.
The Emperor sat in the Hall of Clear Reflection, surrounded by his ministers, his face expressionless but a storm building in his eyes. The pain of losing Xia Rui had not even settled in his bones when this vile accusation reached his ears. An Eunuch among the first to kneel before him that morning.
"Your Majesty," he said , "we do not know the truth. But the people are speaking. If word continues to spread like this, it may harm the Crown Prince's future."
Her voice was honeyed with concern, but the look in her eyes gleamed like polished steel.
"He's right," another minister added cautiously. "The people must be reassured. If the child is innocent, we must make it known. If not…"
The words hung dangerously in the air.
The Emperor's hand clenched around the carved armrest of his throne. His gaze swept across the hall like a blade.
"My son," he said, voice low and dangerous, "was born of Heaven's will. Anyone who dares suggest otherwise walks a path of treason."
The room fell into dead silence.
However, in truth, the Emperor's heart was not at rest.
He recalled the mark that once shimmered on the boy's forehead. A mark that vanished too quickly. And Xia Rui's sudden death—no illness, no wounds, just a heart that had stopped without warning.
He rose from his seat.
"This matter will be investigated," he declared. "I will hear it with my own ears. No one will accuse my son without evidence."
In the dark, someone with a sinister smile was already making plans."We need to remove that boy from our way. He can be a destruction."
"Master, Hua Rui is dead so what should we do?"
"Hmmm...then we'll change our ways. In the next coming years, it'll be very interesting", he smirked.
At the Courtyard
Xiao Lan sat beneath the twisted plum tree in her garden, wrapped in a thick shawl, her daughter cradled in her arms. Little Hua Rui cooed softly, chubby fingers reaching for a falling blossom.
"Wanwan," Xiao Lan said without looking up, "is it true what I heard?"
The maid, standing just behind her, hesitated. "My lady… the rumors are everywhere."
"That the Crown Prince killed the Empress?" She finally turned, her eyes hollow but sharp.
Wanwan nodded solemnly.
"Even among the guards, the talk doesn't stop. Some say the boy has a cursed soul. Others say he was born to bring ruin."
Xiao Lan looked down at her daughter, tracing the rose-shaped mark on her daughter's forehead. "They speak of curses… yet know nothing of fate." Her voice was laced with bitterness.