MTLNOVEL Chapter 136: Uninvited Guests
The morning sun filtered weakly through the high windows of the outer audience hall, casting pale rectangles of light across the marbled floor. Zhu Mingyu sat on the central platform, shoulders relaxed and expression unreadable, as the heads of three noble families paced the polished wood before him.
Gone was the silk veil of civility that had once clouded the Crown Prince's demeanor. He was no longer hiding behind the mask of filial obedience or gentle diplomacy. Not after everything. Not after what they'd done to her.
He did not speak as they argued amongst themselves—low, urgent tones that reeked of desperation and false concern.
"—and the rumors have reached even the border provinces. A skull, placed on a young lady's pillow like some barbaric threat. What kind of household allows such violence within its inner gates?"
"—and our daughter reports being starved of funds! Her courtyard hasn't received its monthly allowance in three days. It is outrageous and completely unforgivable! How could anyone live like that?!?"
"—the concubines are in fear, Your Highness. We simply wonder if it is wise to keep a woman so dangerous as the Crown Princess in such a position of influence. She is clearly the problem."
Zhu Mingyu sipped calmly from his porcelain cup, eyes fixed on the koi pond beyond the open doors. He said nothing.
One of them—Minister Bai—stepped forward with more confidence than the others, puffed up by years of court presence and the illusion of his own importance.
"With all due respect, Your Highness, a prince who cannot manage the women within his own walls may not be prepared to manage the empire. The court is whispering. And they are not kind."
That made Zhu Mingyu smile.
Just slightly. Just enough for the older man to falter.
"I see," he said softly, setting his cup down. "So you've come to speak for the court now?"
A flicker of unease passed between them.
The youngest of the three—Minister Hui, whose niece had been sent to the manor alongside Lady Bai—cleared his throat. "We mean only to help, of course. The chaos within your household has become... concerning. I am receiving multiple reports from my niece on a daily basis."
"Chaos." Zhu Mingyu echoed the word thoughtfully, his head slowly nodding up and down. "I see."
He rose, the rustle of his robes louder than their breathless tension.
"You speak of chaos. Of fear. Of inappropriate violence. And yet none of you seemed concerned when your daughters, nieces, and cousins were sent into my household without invitation. You were not concerned when they began cornering the Crown Princess. When they insulted her, threatened her, poisoned her food, tried to kill her. You didn't come then."
He stepped down from the platform, the sound of his footsteps measured and sharp. "But the moment she responds—defends herself—you claim she is the one causing disorder and not your precious daughters."
Minister Bai stiffened. "You cannot deny that placing a human skull on a noblewoman's pillow was—"
"Lady Bai," Zhu Mingyu interrupted, voice smooth as polished jade, "hired an assassin to kill my wife."
Silence thundered through the hall.
"She went to the Bloody Knife Guild and paid in full. The assassin nearly made it to the Crown Princess before he was stopped."
"She—surely—" Minister Bai sputtered, but Zhu Mingyu raised a hand.
"There is proof. The contract was recovered. Signed in blood, like all of their jobs are. She wanted my wife dead. And you wonder why my household is no longer peaceful?"
His gaze sharpened, cutting into each man one by one.
"You ask if I can manage a household. Let me answer you clearly."
He stepped forward until they could see the edge in his eyes, the madness and clarity balanced in equal measure.
"You each has around five women in your harems, not including your daughters. Some of you have more, some of you have less. In contrast, I have thirty-three in mine. I never asked for a single one of them. Yet here we are."
He turned away slightly, as if the very sight of them exhausted him.
"If your women are so terrified of their new mistress—if they feel unsafe—then allow me to make things easier."
The men exchanged tense glances.
"You may take them home." He waved a hand, a casual flick that could have shattered a mountain. "All of them. Immediately. That way you don't need to worry about their security, or their stipends, or whether they're feeling neglected."
Minister Hui stepped forward too quickly. "Are you saying—are you dismissing our family members from the harem?"
"I'm saying," Zhu Mingyu replied coldly, "that I don't have time to babysit weak women who think palace life means throwing tantrums over jewelry while we have a country bleeding at our feet."
He turned and strode back to the raised platform, every step heavy with disdain.
The silence burned.
"And one more thing," he added as he sat down once more. "I am married to the Weapon of the West. The Witch in the Woods. The woman who held off armies alone without lifting a sword. If your daughters believe they can succeed where thousands of trained men failed—" he leaned forward, his smile razor-sharp, "—that speaks far more to your intelligence than to hers."
None of them could look him in the eye after that.
They bowed—stiffly, humiliated—and left one by one, their arguments crumbling beneath the weight of his authority.
The doors closed behind them.
Zhu Mingyu exhaled slowly.
He let the silence stretch out as he poured himself another cup of tea with steady hands. The warmth of it did nothing to ease the bitterness in his chest.
He wasn't defending her out of duty.
He wasn't defending her out of fear.
He was defending her because he finally understood.
If the empire was to survive what was coming, they would need her. And if he allowed these pampered insects to chip away at her power from within, he deserved everything the gods would throw at them.
He finished his tea.
Then stood.
"Xinying," he murmured aloud, though she was nowhere near. "You were right."
He looked out over the garden, where black-eyed sparrows chirped between the hedges, unaware of the war building in every shadow.
"They're going to destroy this country."
He smiled again, though this time it was nothing close to kind.
"But not while you and I still breathe."