While the Song family was on edge over the excessively generous rewards, the Chen family was similarly troubled by the matter of the bestowals. It wasn’t that they begrudged their own family receiving less than others—what troubled them was the Empress and Eastern Palace’s overly subtle attitude toward the Song family this time.
Bestowing rewards simultaneously, all of them for Song Chuyi, every single item a palace-crafted masterpiece—any one of them would be incredibly eye-catching when singled out, let alone six or seven items at once. One couldn’t help but ponder deeply the implications within.
Old Madam Chen rubbed her temples, feeling a headache coming on. Seeing the despondent expression on Chen Mingyu’s face as she half-knelt and embraced her waist, she asked, “You’re saying that at the hunting grounds, His Highness disregarded his own safety to rescue this Miss Song the Sixth?”
That must be it. Otherwise, why would the Crown Princess, who never liked to make a show in such matters and had this time forcefully prohibited the Lu family from participating in the Yangzhou corruption case, suddenly join in this commotion and bestow gifts upon Song Chuyi?
Chen Mingyu pressed her face against Old Madam Chen’s body, her arms circling around her waist as she quietly nodded. “I told Grandfather before that His Highness, he… he treats Song the Sixth differently.”
Different from the very beginning. At the Tongzhou villa, they had already displayed extraordinary rapport, and this time at the hunting grounds they cooperated seamlessly. She had seen with her own eyes Zhou Weizhao rush to Song Chuyi’s side and pull her away from the assassin’s long blade behind her.
Elder Chen had said that no man would like a girl whose schemes ran too deep and who was hard to control, telling her to be more proper and wait for the family to make plans for her. But she knew it wasn’t like that. At least Song the Sixth had never concealed her scheming nature before Zhou Weizhao, yet Zhou Weizhao still regarded her differently. Instead, she herself had been reserved about her status, restrained and proper from beginning to end, and in the end hadn’t even entered Zhou Weizhao’s eyes.
Holding onto Old Madam Chen, her voice gradually became tinged with exhaustion and helplessness. “Grandmother, you see, if not for His Highness’s sake, how could the Crown Princess possibly look favorably upon a woman with an inauspicious fate?”
The Crown Princess had always cherished Zhou Weizhao like her life. If Zhou Weizhao hadn’t spoken well of Song Chuyi before her many times, how could she possibly bestow gifts at the same time as Fan Liangdi?
Chen Mingyu felt unwilling and aggrieved. She honestly believed that in terms of status, position, appearance, and talent, she was no less than Song Chuyi, yet every time it was Song Chuyi who stole the spotlight.
Even when comparing relationships with the Eastern Palace, Elder Chen served as both the Crown Prince’s Grand Tutor and was a devoted member of the Eastern Palace faction. By rights, he should have been more valued by the Crown Prince than the Song family. Yet because the Song family wavered uncertainly, the Crown Prince had to treat them with special favor to win them over.
Old Madam Chen gently adjusted the kingfisher-feather phoenix hairpin on her head, her tone gradually becoming stern. “This still doesn’t justify your unauthorized actions! Moreover, the plan was so riddled with errors and omissions. You and Miss Song the Sixth were both raised and taught by grandmothers—her surpassing you means Old Madam Song surpasses me. You’ve lost face not just for yourself, but for me as well.”
Chen Mingyu lowered her head, her eyes reddening as she choked out an acknowledgment. Yet in her heart, thoughts grew uncontrollably like wild grass—she would not forever be a step behind Song Chuyi, she would not!
Seeing her show understanding, Old Madam Chen’s tone gradually softened. “In a few days, I’ll submit a petition to enter the palace to pay respects to Her Majesty the Empress. You’ll come with me.”
It would also be an opportunity to sound out Her Majesty the Empress’s intentions—what exactly did it mean for both the Crown Princess and Fan Liangdi to simultaneously show favor to the Song family?
She stroked Chen Mingyu’s hair with a half-smile and sighed. “Besides, why must you always fixate on His Highness the Crown Prince? The Eastern Palace has more than just one Crown Prince.”
For instance, this Yangzhou matter had little to do with His Highness the Crown Prince—it was entirely promoted by Fan Liangdi and that other prince. This alone proved that this prince was no ordinary talent either. Given the degree of favoritism the Crown Prince showed toward Fan Liangdi and this prince, the outcome was still uncertain—she had heard that His Highness the Crown Prince had already memorialized requesting that this prince be enfeoffed as a prince of the second rank.
If His Highness the Crown Prince failed to recognize gold inlaid with jade, she believed Fan Liangdi and this prince would surely see clearly.
Chen Mingyu frowned without speaking. Since childhood, she had known her grandfather and grandmother’s plans and had devoted herself wholeheartedly to becoming the Crown Prince’s consort. After meeting Zhou Weizhao, she had poured her entire heart onto him. Even if that other prince was more favored than Zhou Weizhao, she couldn’t muster the interest. Moreover, she absolutely didn’t want to lose to Song Chuyi.
Song Chuyi, whom she regarded as her imaginary rival, was completely oblivious to this role. It wasn’t that she was being affected—rather, as someone who had been a moth to the flame and ultimately died over those two words in her past life, she could no longer generate such romantic thoughts.
No matter how good her relationship with Zhou Weizhao was, she defaulted to considering it a friendship formed through chance encounter—after all, counting both past and present lives together, she was well over forty years old. To expect her to develop feelings for a teenage boy was truly far too fantastical.
She was also pondering what this pile of eye-catching rewards meant, a terrifying speculation vaguely forming in her heart that made her shiver involuntarily at the thought.
If Her Majesty the Empress truly intended to use her as a bargaining chip to bind the Song family tightly and add support to the Eastern Palace, to whom would she betroth her? Zhou Weizhao or Zhou Weiqi? And what did the Crown Princess and Fan Liangdi mean by their actions?
She resolved to find an opportunity to ask Zhou Weizhao. Her eyes swept across and caught sight of Bilian entering with another box. She was somewhat surprised. “Didn’t Grandmother say she would keep the reward items for me first? Why is it being sent over again?”
Bilian smiled and shook her head. “This isn’t something bestowed from the palace to you—it was sent from a ducal manor.”
Which ducal manor would be so attentive to the Song family and Song Chuyi besides Duke Yingguo’s Manor? Song Chuyi frowned somewhat impatiently. “What is it?”
Bilian gently opened the clasp, and a string of eighteen jade beads immediately caught her eye, lying quietly inside.
This string of eighteen jade beads was connected at the bottom by a coral Buddha head. The knot was tied with fine rice-grain pearls, with pink tourmaline and tourmaline pendants dangling below. It appeared exceptionally lustrous and warm, translucently moist and bright—clearly a fine piece with years of history.
Song Chuyi was shocked pale, suddenly standing up and slamming the lid shut with a snap of her hand.
She could never forget this item for the rest of her life—back then, the Shen family had used it as a betrothal token to settle her marriage. On her wedding day, she had worn it joyfully, thinking she would never take it off for her entire life.
But she had ultimately taken it off after all, hanging it on little Ran’s wrist, only hoping he would grow up safe and sound. In the end, it was retrieved from the icy, bone-chilling lake waters together with little Ran. That eerie coloration still appeared in her mind during midnight dreams to this day, becoming her inner demon, impossible to dispel.