The Witch in the Woods: The Transmigration of Hazel-Anne Davis
Chapter 92: The Welcome

Chapter 92: The Welcome

There’s always a shift when you re-enter enemy territory. Even if you own the land.

The Crown Prince’s manor wasn’t a battlefield in the traditional sense, but it might as well have been. The weapons here were different...coated in honey, dipped in silk, and whispered behind fans. And unlike the southern war, these enemies thought they were clever.

They thought I didn’t know the walls had ears.

I did. I’d counted them.

By noon, half the residence knew I’d returned. Not because I made a grand entrance—but because I had not made one. I hadn’t reported directly to the Crown Prince. I hadn’t visited the Empress. I hadn’t so much as bowed to a portrait.

In this place, silence was the loudest insult.

The first knock came just after lunch.

Shi Yaozu opened the door. Of course.

I didn’t rise from the garden table. I kept sipping my tea, unmoved as a woman in gauzy lavender robes stepped onto the pavilion, flanked by two serving girls. Her hair was pinned high, her jewelry modest—but every line of her body dripped with barely restrained ambition.

Lady Zhao Meiling.

My half-sister. The one who’d watched me be thrown to wolves and never flinched. Who had planned to destroy me simply because she couldn’t stand the fact that I had taken the toy that she had had her eye on.

And here was me thinking that she would have been moved out long ago and into the Third Prince’s residence. Oh well... I guess not all prayers are granted.

She bowed, low and elegant. I didn’t move.

"Crown Princess," she said, voice light. "You’ve returned."

"I have," I replied, still not rising. "Was I missed?"

"Of course," she said with a well-practiced smile. "We were... concerned. After all, you left so suddenly. Without a formal guard. And there were rumors—"

"There always are," I cut in, echoing my words to Lady Yuan that morning.

She tilted her head. "But you must admit, your survival is... surprising."

"And your marriage keeps getting postponed for unknown reasons. Shall we exchange notes on disappointment?" I smiled back without warmth. If I buried the body well enough, would I still get in trouble for killing in the first place? Asking for a friend.

Zhao Meiling stiffened at my response, but Shi Yaozu didn’t even blink.

She recovered quickly. "I merely came to ensure you were well. The Crown Prince is expected to return from court shortly. Perhaps you’d like to freshen up before presenting yourself?"

"Am I required to?"

"Not... required." Her eyes flicked to the maid setting down a fresh tray of fruit. "But it would reflect well on the household if the Crown Princess were seen fulfilling her role."

"Ah," I nodded slowly. "So the usual. Be seen, but not heard. Smile, but never bite."

Meiling said nothing.

I rose slowly, brushing off invisible dust from my sleeves. "Tell the Crown Prince I’ll join him for dinner. If he wishes to see me before then, he knows where I live."

I swept past her. She moved to the side quickly, like a girl still remembering the last time I’d smiled she had been found in bed with the Third Prince. Good. It was nice to know that some lessons stuck.

However, I didn’t return to my chambers. I went to the accounting room.

The ledgers were waiting.

Shi Yaozu sat quietly beside the far window, knife in hand, peeling an apple in one long spiral as I read through the rice counts. The numbers were wrong again. Too many deductions. Too many excuses.

The steward was either incompetent or dishonest. I was going with both, honestly.

"You’ve memorized the handwriting of everyone in this manor, haven’t you?" I asked.

"Yes."

"Then tell me who wrote this adjustment here." I slid the book across the table.

He glanced, then said flatly, "One of Lady Yuan’s stewards."

I hummed. "Have him whipped. Not publicly. But enough that he has trouble moving around for the next few days. Let’s see who gets brave enough to try again after that."

Yaozu nodded. "And the kitchen staff?"

I closed the book. "Switch them. Bring in the ones from the outer estate. They might not be fast, but they’re loyal."

He stood without another word.

By the time I returned to my quarters, another gift had arrived.

A lacquered box rested on my table, painted with cherry blossoms. I already knew what it held before I lifted the lid.

Inside was a single hairpin—silver, delicate, inlaid with pink tourmaline and mother-of-pearl. It was hard to hold back the smile on my face.

Zhu Deming.

I closed the lid.

I didn’t put it on.

Not yet.

Because tonight, I had to play the part again. The quiet, smiling Crown Princess. The one who couldn’t possibly have torn through two armies with nothing but mist and a half-smile.

The one who didn’t make powerful men flinch just by existing.

Dinner was served in the smaller hall tonight. Private. Controlled. A sign that the Crown Prince didn’t know what to do with me in public just yet. He hadn’t asked me to change. Hadn’t requested my presence in court. Hadn’t even sent a personal message.

But I showed up anyway.

I wore forest green—simple, elegant, high-necked. I wore no jewelry. My sleeves were long and my eyes unreadable.

Zhao Meiling and Lady Yuan were already seated. Their laughter died the moment I stepped in.

Zhu Mingyu looked up at me his eyebrow furrowing as if he was trying to get some answer out of me. "You’re back," he nodded, and I couldn’t help but notice the tension in his shoulders relaxing just a bit.

Huh. Maybe not everything had reverted back to how it was before I left.

"I am," I replied with a tilt of my head, my own body relaxing with his. He didn’t rise, didn’t smile, didn’t do anything to give himself away. He just nodded at the servants to pour me tea.

We ate in silence.

The food was bland. Purposefully so. Another message.

I waited until the third course before I finally spoke.

"The steward in charge of ration logs has been dismissed. The garden staff will be replaced by the end of the week."

Lady Yuan blinked, her face going a bit pale as she looked at Zhu Mingyu. "Without consulting me?" she asked, her voice soft and sweet like I was some big bad ogre out to get her.

I smiled in response, cutting Zhu Mingyu off before he could say anything. "I was the one entrusted with this household. I didn’t think I needed to ask permission from a concubine to run the manor. Unless I misinterpreted something?"

Zhao Meiling flinched behind her cup while Lady Yuan’s fingers tightened on her chopsticks.

Zhu Mingyu dropped his head as he took a tiny sip of tea. It almost looked like he was agreeing with me, the soft smile on his lips reinforced that belief.

Something had happened while I was away... I just needed a private moment with Mingyu to figure out exactly what it was.

Maybe I should have gone to see him when I first got back.