On the eighth day of the fifth month, the imperial procession set off for Xishan Palace.
Emperor Yuanjia didn’t have many consorts. This time, he only brought Consort Xian and Consort Hui, while Empress and Consort De remained in the palace. All three sons – Prince Duan, Prince Jing, and Prince Fu – were brought along. The latter two had not yet married their princesses, and Princess Duan had to stay at the mansion to manage household affairs, so Prince Duan brought two beautiful concubines.
With few members of the royal family, the ceremonial procession was relatively simple, but the officials’ convoy was vast and mighty, forming a long dragon.
As a princess, Wei Rao’s carriage was positioned right behind the imperial procession, very close to the nobles.
The Princess’s mansion carriage had even higher specifications than what Lu Zhuo, as the heir of Duke Ying, could enjoy. In the spacious carriage compartment, a curtain served as a divider in the middle. When Wei Rao wanted to rest, she could lower the curtain and lie comfortably on the long couch inside. When she was tired of sleeping, she could raise the curtain for a bright view, convenient for reading.
Except for the convoy’s slow speed, everything was much more comfortable than the last trip to Jin City with Lu Zhuo.
“Princess, a eunuch is coming ahead,” Eunuch Wei said outside the window.
Wei Rao was playing leaf cards with Bitao and Liu Ya. Hearing this, she quickly prepared to receive an imperial decree.
However, Emperor Yuanjia only sent someone to bestow a plate of lychees, freshly chilled with ice, each one plump with a bright red color.
Wei Rao rewarded the little eunuch and smiled as she tasted them.
The lychee shells were hard. Bitao and Liu Ya, worried about scratching their mistress’s tender skin, took away the plate and wouldn’t let Wei Rao peel them herself.
Before the lychees were finished, Eunuch Wei spoke up outside again. This time it was Young Master Lu Zhuo.
Wei Rao leaned against the soft cushions, focusing on eating her lychees.
Shortly after, Lu Zhuo’s clear voice came in: “Princess, this subject just caught a golden oriole and wishes to present it to the Princess for entertainment during the journey.”
Bitao and Liu Ya both looked at Wei Rao with smiling faces.
Wei Rao glared at them and slightly lifted a corner of the curtain to see Lu Zhuo sitting upright on his horse, holding a birdcage made of Hetian jade in his hand, complete with a chicken-wing wood hanging stand. The golden oriole in the cage had tender yellow feathers – pretty enough, but compared to this exquisite birdcage, it wasn’t nearly as precious.
Wei Rao truly believed Lu Zhuo’s words about the golden oriole being freshly caught – she’d be a fool to believe that.
This was clearly a gift Lu Zhuo had prepared for her in advance.
“Did Young Master also just find this birdcage?” Bitao leaned over, teasing with a smile.
Lu Zhuo only looked at Wei Rao’s half-exposed, delicate, white face: “Please accept it, Princess.”
Since Wei Rao had already accepted his honey date dumplings, accepting a golden oriole wouldn’t matter either.
She nodded to Bitao and covered her face with a round fan.
Bitao then raised the curtain high and reached out to receive the birdcage.
Lu Zhuo glanced at Wei Rao, cupped his hands, and took his leave.
Bitao placed the birdcage in front of Wei Rao’s couch to prevent it from accidentally falling and breaking such a beautiful Hetian jade birdcage.
“Young Master is getting better and better at gift-giving. First, the cooling honey date dumplings, and today a golden oriole, perfect for entertainment on the road,” Liu Ya said with a smile.
Bitao snorted: “Young Master is so high-profile with his gift-giving, clearly determined to have the Princess. Even if other young masters wanted to seek marriage with the Princess, thinking of Young Master would make them feel so inferior that they wouldn’t dare make a move.”
Wei Rao also felt Lu Zhuo had this intention, but she did genuinely like these two gifts.
In mid-May, the vast convoy finally arrived at the traveling palace.
Wei Rao was arranged in Yuquan Palace in the inner court of the traveling palace. Eunuch Wei went out for a look and returned to tell Wei Rao: “Princess, I heard Consort is staying at Liubo Palace, right in front of Yuquan Palace. The two palaces are separated by a lake – they can see each other across the water. Walking there is a bit far, but a quarter-hour is more than enough.”
In such a large traveling palace, a quarter-hour’s journey was already considered very close.
Wei Rao hadn’t seen her mother for two years, but now with the traveling palace full of people, she couldn’t move about freely.
Wei Rao went to bathe first.
Bitao and Liu Ya followed to serve her. Both were skilled in massage techniques. After Wei Rao’s bath, she lay prone on a mat and let them massage her from head to toe. It was so comfortable that she kept humming. Fortunately, the rear bathing hall was large enough that her deliberately suppressed moans couldn’t escape, or it would have caused suspicion.
Even so, both Bitao and Liu Ya’s ears turned completely red.
After soaking again for a while, Wei Rao went to the front hall with a rosy complexion.
Unexpectedly, her mother had been waiting outside for a long time.
Wei Rao happily went to see her mother.
Xiao Zhou Shi was not happy at all. That old bastard Emperor Yuanjia had hidden this from her for so long, only writing to tell her before coming to the traveling palace that Old Madam Wei had been dead for over a year, and that as soon as Old Madam Wei died, Lu Zhuo had divorced her daughter! Although Emperor Yuanjia also said he had made her daughter a princess and that Lu Zhuo repeatedly pursued and pleased her daughter openly, even jumping into rivers to find herbs, Xiao Zhou Shi was still angry and heartbroken!
If Lu Zhuo hadn’t wronged her daughter first, why would her daughter divorce, and why would she refuse to forgive Lu Zhuo for so long?
So what if she became a princess, so what if Lu Zhuo pursued her? When her daughter first divorced, how would the people of the capital mock and ridicule her daughter? Did they think she couldn’t imagine?
“Raorao, tell Mother what exactly happened between you and Lu Zhuo?” After dismissing all palace servants, Xiao Zhou Shi looked at her daughter with heartache. Though her daughter appeared radiant and incomparably beautiful, Xiao Zhou Shi still felt so distressed that she wanted to cry. If Emperor Yuanjia hadn’t deceived her back then, saying he would support her daughter, if she hadn’t foolishly believed him and followed him into the palace, even if she couldn’t give her daughter any glory, at least she could have stayed with her daughter when she needed her mother most.
Wei Rao could feel her mother’s pity, but she was living well now and really didn’t need her mother to feel indignant on her behalf anymore.
She had already forgiven Lu Zhuo – there was no need to make her mother angry about Lu Zhuo’s past misdeeds. Getting angry wasn’t good for anything.
“I wanted to observe mourning for Grandmother, but he disagreed. He didn’t want to delay having children for a year. I was angry with him, so I divorced him in a fit of pique,” Wei Rao lied skillfully.
Xiao Zhou Shi didn’t believe it, but she could also see that her daughter didn’t want to tell the truth – her daughter was protecting Lu Zhuo.
What about Lu Zhuo then? Would Lu Zhuo dare tell her the truth?
Leaving her daughter behind, Xiao Zhou Shi went to the Hall of Diligent Government to find Emperor Yuanjia.
Emperor Yuanjia had just finished resting. Learning that Xiao Zhou Shi had gone to see Wei Rao, Emperor Yuanjia wanted to wait until Xiao Zhou Shi returned to see her, but unexpectedly Xiao Zhou Shi came herself.
One look at Xiao Zhou Shi’s expression told Emperor Yuanjia he shouldn’t expect to get close to her for the next few nights.
Summon Lu Zhuo. I want to see him,” Xiao Zhou Shi demanded coldly without even looking at Emperor Yuanjia properly. This was the inner court – if she wanted to see an external minister, she could only have Emperor Yuanjia give the order.
Hearing this, Emperor Yuanjia immediately sent someone to summon Lu Zhuo. This whole string of events was caused by Lu Zhuo – let Lu Zhuo bear Xiao Zhou Shi’s fury.
Lu Zhuo hurried to the Hall of Diligent Government and found all the palace servants standing outside, including Eunuch Kang, Emperor Yuanjia’s chief eunuch.
Eunuch Kang quietly reminded him, “Consort is inside.”
Lu Zhuo’s long lashes lowered slightly. He cupped his hands to thank Eunuch Kang and went in.
The front hall of the Hall of Diligent Government was where Emperor Yuanjia handled state affairs. Emperor Yuanjia sat in the main hall. Seeing Lu Zhuo, he expressionlessly pointed toward the study, directing Lu Zhuo to go straight in.
Lu Zhuo bowed and walked inside. Only after he entered did Emperor Yuanjia quietly approach the study. He was also curious why Wei Rao had divorced Lu Zhuo.
Emperor Yuanjia hadn’t forgotten his promise to Xiao Zhou Shi. He just wanted to wait until Xiao Zhou Shi returned to the palace to let her select a good husband, then grant the marriage. When Wei Rao married Lu Zhuo and Lu Zhuo woke up, Emperor Yuanjia was still happy that Wei Rao had found a good marriage – there was no better man in all the capital than Lu Zhuo. Who would have thought Lu Zhuo would be so disappointing?
In the study, as soon as Lu Zhuo entered, he saw Consort Li standing before the treasure cabinet with a face like frost.
He stepped forward, lifted his robe hem, and knelt, saying sincerely: “This guilty son-in-law has failed Your Highness’s trust, disappointing both Your Highness and Raorao. Please punish me, Your Highness.”
Xiao Zhou Shi turned around, looking at her former son-in-law kneeling there, and said coldly: “I only want to know why you and Raorao divorced. I asked Raorao, and she said it was because she wanted to observe mourning for the old lady, you were unwilling, didn’t want to delay having children, so she left in anger. Is this true?”
Lu Zhuo’s heart shook. Wei Rao had said that?
He had treated her so badly, yet she was still willing to make excuses for him in front of her mother?
But Lu Zhuo didn’t need it. The person before him was her mother, his mother-in-law. If he had made a mistake, he should bear the consequences.
Lu Zhuo kowtowed, saying in a low voice: “Your Highness, the Princess is filial and feared you would be angry, so she told a lie.”
Xiao Zhou Shi gritted her teeth: “Then why exactly did you divorce?”
Lu Zhuo pressed his forehead to the ground, closed his eyes, and said: “It was all this guilty son-in-law’s fault. This guilty son-in-law trained at the frontier for eight years. When I returned to the capital, I heard the Princess had a poor reputation. Therefore, when I woke from illness and learned my bride was the Princess, this guilty son-in-law was displeased and refused to consummate the marriage. The Princess had no choice but to propose being fake spouses for five years before requesting a divorce. This guilty son-in-law agreed and even signed a contract with the Princess. Later, when the old lady passed away, the Princess became disheartened and terminated the marriage early.”
Before he finished speaking, Xiao Zhou Shi was already trembling with hatred and pain, tears rolling down.
Her flower-like daughter, who had wrongfully married Lu Zhuo for good fortune, had been so despised by Lu Zhuo that he refused to consummate the marriage.
“Last time, last time you two…”
“The Princess was filial, afraid the old lady and Your Highness would worry, so she always asked me to accompany her in acting.”
Xiao Zhou Shi couldn’t listen anymore. Her tears burst like a dam. She turned and grabbed a large blue porcelain vase from the treasure cabinet and hurled it at Lu Zhuo: “You scoundrel has wronged my daughter too much!”
Lu Zhuo maintained his kowtowing position throughout. The vase struck heavily against his bowed back, then bounced to the floor and shattered.
The water from the vase soaked Lu Zhuo’s back. Several tender orchid branches lay among the broken porcelain and water stains. In Xiao Zhou Shi’s eyes, they looked like her pure and innocent daughter who had been humiliated in every way.
She knelt on the ground, crying through blurred tears: “How was Raorao’s reputation bad? Her only misfortune was having a mother like me. I was the one who didn’t keep women’s virtue, I was the one…”
Emperor Yuanjia entered just in time, saying with a complex expression: “Don’t speak nonsense.”
He was the emperor, with awesome imperial majesty. Xiao Zhou Shi smiled bitterly and swallowed her previous words, continuing to question Lu Zhuo: “Tell me, what about Raorao wasn’t good enough for you? What outrageous thing did she do, or was she ugly, that made you humiliate her so?”
Lu Zhuo said with regret, “Raorao is wonderful. This guilty son-in-law was blinded by folly. This guilty son-in-law wronged her, wronged Your Highness, and wronged the old dowager and old lady. This guilty son-in-law has no excuse for past actions, but after being married to Raorao for a year, this guilty son-in-law’s feelings for her have grown deep roots. Please give this guilty son-in-law another chance, Your Highness. If this guilty son-in-law wrongs Raorao again, may I be struck by lightning and die a terrible death.”
He kowtowed heavily, his forehead red and swollen.
Xiao Zhou Shi couldn’t see him – her eyes were full of her daughter, who had come to visit her at the traveling palace two years ago. Such great grievances, yet her daughter could hide them all from her. Was it because she feared her mother would suffer along with her, or because she felt her mother couldn’t support her?
Yes, what use would telling her have been? She was just a consort thrown to the traveling palace by Emperor Yuanjia. She couldn’t even protect herself – how could she protect her daughter? If not for her daughter’s fortune back then, she would have been killed by the Empress Dowager long ago!
With two bitter laughs, Xiao Zhou Shi wiped her tears, shook off Emperor Yuanjia’s hand trying to help her, didn’t look again at Lu Zhuo kneeling there, and walked away alone.
Emperor Yuanjia sighed and told Lu Zhuo to stand up first.
Lu Zhuo obeyed and stood up.
Seeing his disheveled state and glancing at the broken porcelain on the floor, Emperor Yuanjia asked in a deep voice: “Still want to marry the Princess?”
Lu Zhuo looked at where Xiao Zhou Shi had just stood: “If not the Princess, this subject would rather not marry.”
Emperor Yuanjia nodded and thought of a solution for Lu Zhuo: “The one who tied the bell must untie it. Go kneel in front of Liubo Palace. If the Princess has you in her heart, she will naturally plead for you before the Consort.”
In this matter, besides Wei Rao, no one could help Lu Zhuo.