It was still San Bao who respectfully led them inside. The Crown Prince’s temper had become increasingly strange lately. With great difficulty, Prince Dongping had attended to him for a while and helped the Crown Prince recover somewhat. But as Prince Dongping was appointed as an imperial envoy and sent to Hubei by imperial decree, the Crown Prince became irritable again. Recently, with the marriage preparations for His Highness the Grand Prince underway, the Eastern Palace was decorated with lanterns and festoons, bustling with activity, making the Crown Prince even more irritable.
San Bao felt apprehensive, following closely as he led the Crown Princess, Zhou Weizhao, and Song Chuyi into the main hall. Turning a corner and going around a screen, they entered the Crown Prince’s bedchamber. He bent down and first informed the Crown Prince: “Your Highness, the Crown Princess has brought His Highness the Grand Prince and the Grand Princess Consort to kowtow to you.”
For a long while there was no sound. The Crown Prince seemed to be asleep, his eyeballs beneath his eyelids motionless. The atmosphere grew so silent it was awkward.
Crown Princess Lu gave an imperceptible cold laugh, and was just about to have Zhou Weizhao and Song Chuyi perfunctorily kowtow and be done with it when she heard San Bao cry out in surprise, “Your Highness!” Then he came back around the five-panel “Eastern Sea” painted screen: “The Crown Prince has awakened. Please go in.”
The Crown Princess had been prepared to be coldly treated by the Crown Prince, but hadn’t expected him to suddenly say he wanted to see them. She frowned and glanced at Zhou Weizhao and Song Chuyi, but ultimately nodded and took the lead walking forward.
The Crown Prince lay in bed, his face showing some abnormal flushing—having entered deep autumn, the weather was alternately cold and hot, making it easy to catch cold. The Crown Prince always threw tantrums and wouldn’t let anyone attend to him, so his illness grew heavier day by day.
Crown Princess Lu stepped closer and looked down at him from above, her voice as gentle and calm as always: “Your Highness, I’ve brought the two children to kowtow to you.”
The Crown Prince moved his fingers, struggling to turn his head. Saliva dripped from the corner of his mouth down his neck. San Bao was quick to personally take a handkerchief and wipe it for him.
But for some reason he suddenly became angry, staring with both eyes at Crown Princess Lu with resentment and indignation. After a long while, he struggled to shift his gaze to Zhou Weizhao and Song Chuyi. His eyes carried some resentment, yet also faintly conveyed helplessness.
At this point, although he still steadily held his position as Crown Prince, all this glory had nothing to do with him anymore. A Crown Prince who could neither walk nor speak properly was essentially just a useless person with a nice-sounding title.
He knew that as soon as Zhou Weizhao successfully married and reached his capping ceremony, he would be formally invested as Grand Prince. When his Imperial Father died, Zhou Weizhao could directly ascend to the throne with the identity of Grand Prince, while he himself would at best remain a half-dead Retired Emperor, posthumously given a temple name after death.
He suddenly coughed several times, closed his eyes, and pointed at Zhou Weizhao and Song Chuyi, laboriously spitting out a few vague, indistinct words from his mouth.
San Bao bent down to listen, raised his eyes to glance at Crown Princess Lu, Zhou Weizhao, and Song Chuyi, and hastily ordered someone to fetch prayer cushions.
Song Chuyi turned her head to look at Zhou Weizhao. Zhou Weizhao happened to turn his head to look at her at the same time. Their eyes met, they kowtowed three times on the cushions, then rose again.
San Bao had already taken a red envelope from the tray held by a eunuch and rewarded it to Song Chuyi.
When things were abnormal, there must be demons at work. Song Chuyi’s gaze slightly lowered as she glanced at the Crown Prince lightly.
The Crown Princess seemed not at all surprised. She nodded slightly at Song Chuyi, and Song Chuyi complied and accepted the red envelope, turning to hand it to Qing Tao.
The Crown Prince seemed to have more to say, but the Crown Princess had already instructed San Bao to attend to him well. She led Song Chuyi out the door and onto the long covered corridor. After a while, she laughed softly: “Confused for most of his life, but on the verge of death, he suddenly seems to have become clear-headed.”
Song Chuyi raised her eyes to look at her. Crown Princess Lu’s face was hidden in the deep autumn sunlight that wasn’t too harsh. She couldn’t see the expression on the Crown Princess’s face.
Zhou Weizhao didn’t respond. To him, the Crown Prince was more like a stranger. Whether he hated or liked him truly had no real impact on himself.
The Crown Princess couldn’t be as detached and indifferent as he was. After all, those who had never had expectations would never feel disappointed. And she had once, after all, wanted to live well with the Crown Prince.
She laughed coldly with rare sharpness: “Now he wants to turn back, wants us to forget Consort Fan’s past wrongs and treat Dongping well. But back then, why didn’t he make Consort Fan let us go?!”
Back then, she had held her five-year-old son on the brink of death, her heart nearly shattered, but who had pitied her?!
What made the Crown Princess angry was far more than this. What truly made her indignant was the Crown Prince’s vastly different attitudes toward Prince Dongping and Zhou Weizhao—even knowing that there was something wrong with the ginseng Prince Dongping had sent him, he still wholeheartedly protected Prince Dongping. If it had been Zhou Weizhao instead, he would probably have died a thousand or ten thousand times already.
She sighed heavily. Without waiting for Song Chuyi to speak, she gently shook her head at her: “I’m fine. It’s just that on your joyous day, he still brings up such matters to upset you both. I feel somewhat uncomfortable.”
Upon entering Mingcui Palace, Nanny Liang came forward with a smile: “Her Majesty the Empress sent word that lunch will be served at Qingning Palace.”
The Crown Princess nodded and led Song Chuyi and Zhou Weizhao to sit down, only then looking at Zhou Weizhao: “What did you say about those two girls from Longhu Mountain?”
She had been busy managing Zhou Weizhao and Song Chuyi’s wedding, and had specifically selected many items from her private treasury to send to Yong’an Palace. She was truly so busy her feet didn’t touch the ground. Moreover, Zhou Weizhao didn’t want her to worry, so he had only mentioned this matter to her briefly.
Even just a brief mention was enough to alarm her. She looked at Zhou Weizhao with some dissatisfaction: “Those two girls should have been sent back to Longhu Mountain back in Yangquan. Not sending them then, but sending them later—giving them hope, how could that not drive them mad?”
Zhou Weizhao curled his hand and coughed, his brow also furrowing: “I was too soft-hearted.”
He had always remembered the bond of fellow disciples, remembered that they had, after all, risked their lives to save him. He had never imagined that a person’s obsession could give rise to such great jealousy.
Since he had already said this, Crown Princess Lu swallowed back all the words of admonishment she wanted to say, frowning as she sighed: “Finding the people is what’s important. Right now, rumors are flying all over the capital. Fortunately, Mother Empress didn’t take it to heart. But this wave of rumors came with such force, clearly aimed at you, Xiao Yi. Rumors are fiercer than tigers, and there’s a trend of them growing worse. Even if we wanted to issue an edict of reprimand, we don’t know whom to reprimand! The Imperial Observatory came forward to refute the rumors, but it was of no use at all…”
People are creatures who only believe themselves. Although even if they found witnesses to prove it was slander, the easily swayed common people probably wouldn’t believe it either—after all, the Imperial Observatory had already spoken out, yet the rumors showed no signs of abating at all. Whether it was useful or not aside, they still needed to make a gesture, and those who did wrong should be punished.