What else could the King of Shu say? He could only laugh dryly and respond, “Of course, I don’t mind.”
In his heart, he felt a certain admiration for Yu Jin: his seventh brother was quite determined when it came to beauty.
As a man with normal physical and psychological needs, who wouldn’t want to marry a gorgeous woman? However, pleasing her husband was the least significant of a wife’s duties. Bearing children, managing the household, serving the in-laws… any of these were more important than the former.
And as a princess consort, she would have even more responsibilities.
His princess consort couldn’t rely on beauty alone.
Marrying for virtue and taking concubines for beauty – that was the wise choice.
When his seventh brother took out that green plum blossom, he felt a twinge of regret but was ultimately relieved.
Marrying a noble lady from a prestigious family would best meet his mother’s expectations and serve his interests.
As for beauties, he could always choose a few stunning consorts and concubines later according to his preferences.
Amidst the stunned and slow reactions of the crowd, Yu Jin calmly returned to his seat.
The Worthy Consort, who had stood up at some point, swayed slightly.
What on earth had that wretched seventh prince done?
She must be dreaming. How else could she witness such an absurd scene?
The pain in her palm brought the Worthy Consort back to her senses, her face dark enough to drip water.
It wasn’t a dream. That wretched seventh prince had not only done something so outrageous but had also returned to his seat as if nothing had happened. Did he have any regard for her as his mother at all?
She could already imagine that as soon as this Plum Blossom Appreciation Banquet ended, she would become the laughingstock of the palace and beyond, and it would also bring shame to her fourth son.
The Worthy Consort trembled with anger but couldn’t lose face in front of Consort Zhuang. She took a deep breath and said calmly, “Prince Yan, how could you fool around on such an occasion?”
By dismissing Yu Jin’s shocking act as youthful mischief, the Worthy Consort thought that if Yu Jin had any sense, he should know to back down.
The Worthy Consort stared intently at Yu Jin, her gaze burning with warning.
Yu Jin stood up and laughed brightly at the Worthy Consort: “Your Highness jests. I’m not a child anymore, how could I fool around on such a serious occasion?”
The Worthy Consort bit her lip hard and said word by word, “All the young ladies present are heaven’s favored daughters, and many of them displayed excellent talents earlier. You giving all six plum blossoms to Miss Jiang alone is quite unfair to the other young ladies.”
Yu Jin smiled.
A handsome and graceful young man with a cool and clean aura, coupled with his recent shocking behavior.
Such a Prince Yan, the ladies had to admit, was extremely captivating.
What could be more heart-stirring than an excellent man who disregarded all women but was devoted to only one?
Ji Fanghua coldly observed the reactions of the crowd, resting her chin on her hand and silently rolling her eyes.
These fools, she thought. No matter how good a man is, if his eyes are on someone else, what does his excellence have to do with you?
Besides, her cousin was only annoying. Come to think of it, her third brother was also annoying. It seemed none of them were as interesting as Miss Jiang.
Yu Jin smiled, his voice neither loud nor soft, yet extraordinarily clear to the ladies’ ears.
He said, almost with a sigh: “Your Highness, where in this world is there absolute fairness?”
The Worthy Consort was stunned, momentarily unable to express her feelings.
In that instant, she suddenly thought of many things.
For instance, her fourth son who carried all her expectations, and her seventh son whom she wished had never been born…
No matter how unreliable the seventh prince was, he wasn’t wrong about this: where in this world is there absolute fairness?
Indeed, how unfair it was. She had given birth to two princes, one of whom was born under such an inauspicious star that the Emperor fell gravely ill. As a result, not only did she not enjoy the glory of having two princes, but she also suffered much ridicule and neglect.
Even now, she was less favored than Consort Zhuang, who only had one prince.
Yu Jin spread his hands, composed and frank: “I just felt that giving these green plum blossoms to Miss Jiang was most appropriate. If I were to give them to other young ladies for the sake of so-called fairness, wouldn’t that be going against my conscience? Wouldn’t that be unfair to the other young ladies?”
He paused for a moment, then said loudly: “In my opinion, that’s not fairness, it’s ridiculous.”
Choosing a consort? Choose your sister as a consort! Why should others decide who his wife would be? He insisted on giving all six green plum blossoms to A Si. Without other candidates, let’s see how the Worthy Consort would choose.
The Worthy Consort’s face turned green with anger: “What’s ridiculous or not? Is this a banquet to select talented ladies? This is a consort selection banquet!”
In her fury, the Worthy Consort couldn’t help but tear off the fig leaf of the Plum Blossom Appreciation Banquet.
The young ladies immediately lowered their eyes and bowed their heads, their cheeks flushing.
Usually, they were all pampered noble ladies. Even though they were being selected by the royal family, once it was explicitly stated, they couldn’t help but feel embarrassed.
Yu Jin raised his eyebrows high, feigning surprise, then smiled, showing a mouthful of white teeth: “If that’s the case, then I have even less reason to distribute the six green plum blossoms to six young ladies. After all, I’m just one person, I don’t need six wives.”
Pfft! Ji Fanghua couldn’t help but laugh, quickly covering her mouth with a handkerchief, pretending nothing had happened.
Jiang Si lowered her eyelids, hiding the laughter in her eyes.
To argue so confidently with such twisted logic, probably only the Yu family could do it, no one else.
The ladies unconsciously nodded at Yu Jin’s twisted logic, then realized it was wrong: why nod? The position of Prince Yan’s consort hadn’t even been contested yet, and it had already flown away!
The Worthy Consort was also dumbfounded, feeling as if she had been forced into a corner.
To only select one person at a consort selection banquet was unheard of.
If this had happened to someone else, she could have laughed it off as a joke, but when it came to her own son, it wasn’t so amusing anymore.
But in such a setting, she couldn’t completely lose face and scold the seventh prince.
The Worthy Consort felt as if she had been hit with a muffled club, unable to vent her anger. She clenched her hands tightly and said, “It’s true that you only need one wife, but marriage has always been decided by parents’ command and matchmakers’ words, even in the royal family. How can you directly decide on the position of princess consort? This matter still needs to be thoroughly discussed by me and your father, the Emperor.”
Yu Jin looked surprised and aggrieved: “Earlier, Father Emperor promised me that my future Princess Yan would be to my satisfaction, and you promised the same, Mother. How come it’s different now from what was promised before?”
The Worthy Consort froze, trembling slightly with anger, feeling as if her heart, liver, and lungs were about to cramp up.
That wretched seventh prince! No wonder he made that unprecedented visit to the palace that day. He was setting a trap for her!
And not just for her, the foolish Emperor had fallen into an earlier trap!
Bringing up Emperor Jingming, the Worthy Consort was momentarily speechless.
With the Emperor’s nod, apart from that Jiang girl, if she chose any noble lady and the seventh prince said she wasn’t to his satisfaction, wouldn’t that be like putting her on the hot seat?
The Worthy Consort unconsciously looked towards Jiang Si.
The young woman in a red jacket and plain skirt reminded her of the glory days of the capital’s number one beauty.
Absolutely not!
Even if it meant losing some face today, she couldn’t be forced by the seventh prince to choose that Jiang girl as her daughter-in-law!