The Frail Prince Is Just Pretending: I Control the Empire’s Spy Network

He is the most "useless" prince in the capital: Xiao Huaiqi, Prince of Shu. At eleven, he witnessed his mother consort "hang herself" in Weiyang Palace, then suffered a seizure and lost his memory. Under the pretext of "recuperating," the Empress Dowager kept him under house arrest in the capital for eighteen years, leaving him little better than an invalid. The officials avoid him at all costs, everyone in his household is a spy, and even the air he breathes carries the Empress Dowager's slow-acting poison. He is also the capital's most "shrewd" merchant: Qi Huai, owner of Tingyu Pavilion, loves money more than life and is miserly and mercenary. The capital's finest restaurant is the heart of the vast intelligence empire he has secretly built. One face, two lives. He is the frail, blood-coughing Prince of Shu who rarely leaves his quarters, and also Boss Qi, who plans every move and turns the tides with a wave of his hand. A secret passage connects the prince's household, his cage, to the power of Tingyu Pavilion. He has lain low and endured in silence, all to tear apart the vast web that has shrouded half his life...