Elderly Prince: My Spirit Increases by 1 Point Daily

Dong Yujie sat alone before her dressing table, her reflection in the Copper Mirror revealing a face that still held its charm.

She was Xia Wuyang’s Xiu Rong, who had once dazzled the Eastern Palace with an Ice Lotus Dance, winning Xia Wuyang’s favor.

Although he had grown cold toward the palace concubines after his deposition, he had not been particularly harsh with Dong Yujie. Her treatment remained as it always had been, and he didn’t fly into rages at the slightest provocation like he did with some of the others.

Even so, Dong Yujie could not bear it. Watching Xia Wuyang decay day by day, she felt like a delicate flower left to wither alone in the Deep Palace. Her resentment toward him grew heavier and heavier.

Her heart stirred anew, especially after she tried contacting her childhood sweetheart, her cousin from outside the Palace, and received an enthusiastic response.

Even though the elder Crown Prince was not yet dead, she was already finding it hard to endure.

Hidden in the bottom of her Makeup Box was a silk handkerchief embroidered with twin lotus blossoms on a single stem—a keepsake from when she and her cousin had pledged their love before she entered the Palace.

It had lain dormant for decades. She never thought she would have a use for it again.

’Since my cousin’s response was so encouraging, once the elder Crown Prince dies, I’ll find a way to leave the Palace immediately and secretly reunite with him to rekindle our old flame.’

Unfortunately, with the elder Crown Prince still alive, nothing was convenient. As much as she wanted to see her cousin, she dared not make a rash move.

If word got out, she wouldn’t just lose her chance to be with her cousin—she would likely lose her life.

Today, she heard that her cousin had advanced further in the imperial court. This made her heart race even more. After much hesitation, she decided to write another secret letter to further express her feelings and secure a path for her future.

"To my dearest cousin: I am overjoyed at the thought of rekindling our love. Whenever I recall our strolls through the peach blossom forest in years past, my silks are stained with tears. Hearing of your success in your official career brings my heart great comfort. My only sorrow is that these deep Palace walls keep us apart for now..."

Every line was filled with ambiguous affection, interspersed with enough explicit language to make one blush.

She wrote for dozens of pages before carefully sealing the letter. Summoning her most trusted personal Palace Maid, Hong Wen, she repeatedly warned her, "You must deliver this letter into my cousin’s hands personally. Do not let it pass through anyone else. This is our only way out."

Hong Wen nodded, tucked the letter securely against her body, and slipped out of the Eastern Palace through a side gate.

What Hong Wen did not expect, however, was to run into the Seventh Prince, Xia Wunian, and his entourage shortly after leaving the Eastern Palace.

Xia Wunian’s relationship with Xia Wuyang was not good. To be precise, the relationships between most of the Princes and Princesses in the Palace were not good, especially among those who had a chance at the throne.

Moreover, the competition encouraged by Emperor Xia had long since soured, so such strained relations among the Princes and Princesses were only normal.

When Xia Wuyang was the Crown Prince, his power was immense and his resources plentiful. His downfall was like a whale fall nourishing a thousand life forms; countless Princes and Princesses scrambled to devour his resources and assets, not even sparing the forces under his command. Many of his former subordinates were lured away by other royals.

Xia Wunian himself had poached an entire Sect, along with many resources and treasures, from the ruins of Xia Wuyang’s power. The enmity between the two ran deep.

Xia Wunian often wished for Xia Wuyang’s swift death, which would be a way of pulling the problem out by the roots and avoiding any future retaliation.

Now, seeing a Palace Maid from the Eastern Palace scurrying along, his suspicions were immediately aroused.

"Stop!"

Xia Wunian shouted, startling Hong Wen. She trembled and instinctively clutched her chest.

This movement made Xia Wunian’s eyes light up. ’This Palace Maid from the Eastern Palace is definitely up to something.’ "What are you hiding in there? Are you trying to steal Palace property? Take it out, quickly."

"No, no, it’s just a woman’s personal effects," Hong Wen said, her face pale with fright.

Xia Wunian sneered, not believing a word she said. He gave a subtle signal, and the eunuchs and Palace Maids behind him swarmed forward. They forcibly searched Hong Wen and quickly found the secret letter Dong Yujie had written to her cousin.

"Your Highness, it’s a letter," a Palace Maid said, presenting it to him.

Xia Wunian took the letter curiously. As he broke the seal and read it, his initial shock quickly turned to ecstatic delight.

The letter’s lingering, sorrowful whispers of love and its undisguised, explicit confessions were, in his eyes, the perfect weapon to strike at the Crown Prince.

’This might even kill that old bastard a few months early!’ At this thought, Xia Wunian couldn’t help but burst out laughing. "Well, well, Dong Yujie! Bravo, Dong Xiurong! To think you’d cuckold my big brother so spectacularly."

As he spoke, he deliberately showed the letter’s contents to the surrounding Palace Maids, Guards, and eunuchs, who soon erupted in jeering laughter.

"The Seventh Prince is absolutely right. That’s a huge pair of horns."

"Hahaha, the Crown Prince is going to become the laughingstock of the Palace."

"Wasn’t the elder Crown Prince already the Palace laughingstock? This just adds another, bigger joke to the list."

...

The crowd naturally understood Xia Wunian’s intentions and eagerly joined in, mocking Xia Wuyang.

Seeing this, Hong Wen’s face went ashen. She collapsed to the ground, knowing that she and her mistress were likely doomed.

The news spread through the Imperial Palace with astonishing speed, causing an uproar among its residents.

"Did you hear? Dong Xiurong cuckolded the elder Crown Prince! I could die laughing."

"The letter was so explicit! It said something about reminiscing about their past intimacy and lamenting that the Palace walls kept them apart."

"I never knew Dong Xiurong was so talented, to be able to write such a wonderful letter."

"The elder Crown Prince was already on his last legs. This is probably going to kill him from pure rage."

...

The matter became the talk of every palace during their teatime chats. Some troublemakers even added fuel to the fire, painting Dong Yujie as a promiscuous woman who had already cuckolded Xia Wuyang countless times.

In reality, Dong Yujie had only been corresponding with her cousin. Although she showed signs of emotional infidelity, her main goal was to secure a future for herself. She had not yet physically placed the cuckold’s hat firmly on Xia Wuyang’s head.

Xia Wunian had deliberately exaggerated the letter’s contents to make the outside world believe Xia Wuyang had already been cuckolded.

Since most people had never seen the letter, they mistakenly believed Dong Yujie had indeed been unfaithful, stirring up a massive commotion throughout the Palace.

This was all done, of course, to deal an even greater blow to Xia Wuyang—ideally, to make him die of anger. Just as Xia Wunian had expected, the Palace was in an uproar, and the scandal spread like wildfire.

The Third Prince, Xia Wuchen, who had recently become a target of Xia Wuyang’s, took this opportunity to mock him in front of a large crowd. "Gentlemen, you know the saying about an old tree having deep, twisted roots? Well, I’m afraid our dear Crown Prince’s roots are about to come completely loose."

The crowd around him roared with laughter, and a stream of vulgar jokes and insults filled the air.

The news also reached the Eastern Palace with astonishing speed. However, upon hearing it, everyone fell silent as cicadas in winter. For a time, no one dared to speak of the matter.

After all, they feared that if the elder Crown Prince heard the news and died of rage on the spot, they might be the ones to take the blame.

But how could something this big be kept secret? It was only a matter of time before it reached Xia Wuyang’s ears.

However, Xia Wuyang never imagined that *they* were the ones who had spread the news.