When Emperor Jianzhang heard of the Empress’s plan, he was slightly surprised. Although he handled countless affairs of state daily, he still had some impression of the name Song Chuyi. The truth was that this young lady was somewhat special. Back then, she had made his daughter lose face without angering people, and later became famous throughout the capital because of that dual destiny matter. It would have been difficult for him not to notice her.
The fragrance of flowers and fruits in Qingning Palace made one’s heart settle down somewhat. He fell silent for a moment before saying: “I thought you would choose a young lady from the Lu family, or if not that, there are so many noble young ladies in the capital—surely there’s one you find suitable. Why did you pick her in particular?”
Emperor Jianzhang actually didn’t much care whether maternal relatives held power or not. He had his cabinet and his court officials. If he couldn’t even control maternal relatives, what use were these capable ministers? Moreover, since this dynasty’s development to the present, there had never been an incident of maternal relatives monopolizing power. Whether the maternal clans of imperial princes and grandsons had great influence or not didn’t affect his selection of marriage partners for them.
The Empress’s gaze was somewhat complex. Meeting Emperor Jianzhang’s eyes, she shook her head. After a long while, she finally sighed: “Your Majesty, how could I still have the face to seek a young lady from the Lu family? You still don’t know his temperament—if it were a Lu family young lady, I fear Weizhao’s days would be even more difficult.”
After many years as husband and wife, the Empress had never concealed her regret and guilt on this point: “This child’s health wasn’t good to begin with, and he tends to overthink things.”
Emperor Jianzhang had been quite disheartened with the Crown Prince recently. Previously, he’d felt that although his son was somewhat stubborn, he was fundamentally honest—just that his temperament was a bit peculiar because of childhood matters. Back then, he and the Empress had been busy contending with Prince Tai’s faction and Grand Empress Dowager Rongxian, unable to attend to many things. His son had indeed suffered many hardships, and his health was weak, so he had always shown the Crown Prince more patience than his other children. But over these past years, he’d come to feel that his son wasn’t as fragile or unambitious as he’d imagined—his hands reached too far. Previously, he’d always felt he’d wronged him, but after the Yangzhou corruption case, he discovered that this son harbored resentment in his heart. Given any opportunity, he would trample his brothers to death.
Bringing up these matters gave him a headache. Emperor Jianzhang’s tone wasn’t good: “Body, hair, and skin are received from one’s parents. There’s also a saying that there are no parents in the world who are in the wrong. If he can’t understand even this point, then raising him was in vain.” He paused, looking at the Empress: “Don’t indulge him too much either. He needs to change this habit of insisting on getting whatever he wants, otherwise falling ill. Just as you said, regarding the Lu family matter—” He ultimately didn’t continue, sighing before saying: “Forget it, handle it as you see fit. Once you’ve selected the candidates, discuss it with me. I’ll ask Weizhao myself. Taking a wife is a major matter. Although there are no young ladies lacking in talent or beauty, he must be satisfied with her himself.”
The Empress nodded. After seeing Emperor Jianzhang off, she leaned against the soft pillow in a daze. She had indeed been too indulgent with the Crown Prince. Just because of that one inadvertent mistake, she’d always felt she’d wronged her son and thus tried to compensate as much as possible. But after all these years of humbling herself, the resentment in her son’s heart had only grown heavier. She didn’t know where exactly the problem lay. Back then, her younger son had even knelt and begged her for the Lu family’s sake. It was she who had been ruthless enough to confine her younger son for several days, only releasing him after the dust had settled.
Feeling somewhat vexed, she rubbed her brow and turned back to ask Xie Siyi: “Still no news from Taiyuan?”
When Zhou Weizhao was attacked in Jin territory, Prince Gong, whose fief was in Jin territory, naturally couldn’t pretend not to know. He had long since submitted a memorial of self-recrimination. But there had only been that one memorial of self-recrimination.
Xie Siyi understood Her Majesty the Empress’s thoughts. She shook her head with some difficulty, then gathered her spirits to try to lift the Empress’s mood: “The Mid-Autumn Festival is approaching. His Highness should be sending envoys to deliver seasonal gifts. At that time, Your Majesty can inquire carefully about the Prince’s affairs.”
Seeing the Empress still frowning with a worried expression, Xie Siyi also sighed inwardly. She carefully reminded Her Majesty the Empress: “The triennial audience of vassal princes is approaching. This year, His Highness the Crown Prince’s Eldest Grandson will also be getting married. His Majesty will certainly summon the vassal princes to the capital. At that time, Your Majesty might as well have a good talk with the Prince, clear up the misunderstanding from those years. What overnight grudges can exist between mother and son? So many years have passed—no matter how great the matter, it should be over by now.”
The Empress smiled bitterly without speaking. If some matters could be gotten over that easily, that would be wonderful.
She sat quietly by herself for a while before instructing Xie Siyi to make a trip to the Eastern Palace, to inform the Crown Princess about summoning the young ladies into the palace in a few days, and have the Crown Princess come look at these young ladies together. The Crown Princess was Zhou Weizhao’s mother after all. The candidate for his marriage—the Crown Princess had to take a look as well.
It was already the fourth day of the eighth month. The new moon hung like a hook. The Crown Princess stood in the corridor waiting for a while, finally waiting for her son to return wearing stars and moon. Her face, which had been expressionless before, suddenly bloomed into a smile, like a puppet that had suddenly come to life. She stepped forward to receive Zhou Weizhao while asking him: “Why did you return somewhat earlier today?”
Zhou Weizhao felt some distress for his mother: “Why wait outside? The messages from my end aren’t reliable. Although the reward list has been drafted, there are still some trivial matters to handle. You don’t need to always wait for me.”
The Crown Princess only smiled without speaking. After finishing the evening meal, she brought up what Xie Siyi had come to discuss today, gathering her brows as she looked at her son: “Your Imperial Grandmother is extremely good to you.”
Support obviously couldn’t be obtained from the Crown Prince’s side, so Emperor Jianzhang and the Empress’s support became critically important. The Crown Princess certainly didn’t wish that her son was naturally deprived of his father’s favor, but since things were already this way, she could only try her best to secure other support for him. His status destined his path to be more difficult than others’, and he had to be more dedicated than everyone else.
As the orthodox legitimate Crown Prince’s Eldest Grandson, aside from ascending to that position, he had no other path to take. Once he failed, it would be eternal damnation.
Zhou Weizhao grasped his mother’s hand and nodded to her extremely gently: “I know everything, Mother. Don’t worry about me. Your son will definitely not become someone like Father. I will treat my wife well and together with her, we’ll be filial to Mother.”
He wouldn’t be like the Crown Prince—foolishly pushing away a powerful wife’s clan, breaking his own birth mother’s heart. These were clearly sources of support, yet his obstinacy had turned them into awkwardness and embarrassment.
The Crown Princess had long since stopped putting the Crown Prince in her heart. Hearing this, she smiled faintly: “My son won’t be like him.”
Her son would understand young ladies’ difficulties, would understand that “wife” meant “equal,” would properly respect and cherish his wife, and treasure everything he’d worked hard to obtain.