“Abnormalities?”

Minister Yu thought for a moment and shook his head. “There haven’t been any abnormalities!”

After speaking, he clicked his tongue a few more times.

He said, “The Crown Prince’s grand wedding certainly caused quite a commotion. Nearly all the civil and military officials went to the Eastern Palace to drink celebratory wine. It looked quite peaceful on the surface, but…”

“But what?” Jingrong asked solemnly.

Minister Yu narrowed his small eyes and said, “Just last night, Minister Zhou from the Ministry of Justice said he saw all the guards belonging to the Eastern Palace enter the palace. I don’t know if it was because of the Crown Prince’s wedding—whether they went to protect their master’s safety or to drink celebratory wine.”

In any case, he was the one suffering!

Everyone else went to the Eastern Palace to drink celebratory wine, while he was still here cheerfully currying favor with Jingrong. How pitiful!

The Crown Prince was different from princes—he had the right to maintain troops outside the palace. However, those troops could only operate within the capital city, which also meant the troops couldn’t be maintained in full strength or expanded greatly. They were no different from ordinary household guards, except that the Crown Prince’s troops could enter the palace at any time.

Minister Yu’s words didn’t sound particularly strange. For the Crown Prince’s grand wedding, it wasn’t unusual for the Eastern Palace’s troops to enter the palace.

However—

“For the Crown Prince’s wedding, the ones who should be transferred to guard the Eastern Palace ought to be guards from the imperial palace. Why would they transfer the Crown Prince’s guards into the palace? Unless some major incident occurred, it would be impossible to mobilize troops so conspicuously,” Jingrong analyzed.

“Prince Rong’s meaning?”

He pondered carefully, and the fog of confusion in his mind gradually began to clear.

“Minister Yu!” he called out earnestly.

“This humble subject is here.”

“This prince must make a trip into the palace.”

Eh!

Minister Yu was startled. “Enter the palace? This…”

How could this be possible? You are currently still bearing guilt, a suspect confined in the Judicial Court’s prison.

It would be difficult enough just to leave the prison!

Jingrong offered a condition: “Minister Yu, if you can help this prince secretly enter the palace, I will certainly not treat you poorly in the future.”

“This…”

He seemed to see through Minister Yu completely and continued, “At this time, even the Chief of the Judicial Court has washed his hands of this case, and the civil and military officials all believe this prince has fallen into a tiger’s den with certain death. Yet precisely at this moment, Minister Yu, you bring fine wine and delicacies to visit this prince. The meaning behind this—others may not understand, but this prince knows it clearly.”

You want to rely on this prince as your great mountain!

Minister Yu looked at him in surprise, then smiled frankly.

That’s right. While others scatter when the tree falls, he felt this was the only opportunity to climb this great tree called Jingrong.

“Since Your Highness has spoken plainly, this lowly official won’t hide it anymore. Right now, all the civil and military officials are leaning toward the Crown Prince and Prince Yi, but this lowly official has different thoughts. Actually, this lowly official is somewhat similar to Your Highness. This lowly official rose from a minor civil official to the current position of Vice Minister of the Judicial Court, and Your Highness—you were born with an extraordinary bearing. Combined with your actions and words, everything proves that Your Highness will certainly rise like a soaring dragon in the future, reaching the pinnacle among men. This lowly official simply wishes to share a cup of wine with Your Highness.”

In his words, there was less flattery and more sincerity!

This Minister Yu seemed to have honey smeared on his lips—his rise through the ranks must have involved considerable bootlicking.

Hearing his lengthy speech, Jingrong suddenly glanced at him coolly. “Minister Yu can tell fortunes?”

“I understand a little!”

Brothers, we’re getting off track!

Jingrong’s expression became serious. “Since Minister Yu wishes to stand in this prince’s camp, then this prince will open the gates wide to welcome you. However, you must find a way, by any means necessary, to get this prince into the palace.”

“Does Your Highness wish to go to the Eastern Palace to drink celebratory wine?”

“No.”

Minister Yu thought for a moment and didn’t continue asking. He lowered his head in contemplation for a while, then slapped his thigh. “Alright, this lowly official will risk everything. As long as it can help Your Highness, I’ll spare no effort!”

Gritting his teeth!

This great tree must absolutely be relied upon!

…

In the Zhaoxian Hall of the imperial palace.

Kong Yu sat before that exquisite bronze mirror.

In the bronze mirror, she wore a bright red wedding robe with phoenixes embroidered in gold thread, lifelike and vivid. Gold, silver, jade, and emerald jewels adorned her entire body.

That delicate, fair face had gently curved willow-leaf brows outlining those clear, ink-black eyes, like a lonely boat on a limpid river. Below her prominent, shapely nose, her small red lips were slightly closed, emanating a woman’s subtle elegance.

Her calm, water-like countenance—whether joyful or sorrowful—was impossible to discern.

The wedding attendant was reminding her by her ear of matters to pay attention to later. Seeing her in a daze, not responding or answering, the attendant repeated everything again.

Behind her, two palace maids were arranging her hair and inserting hairpins, being extremely careful.

Kong Yu like this was just like a puppet.

At this moment, Jing Xuan entered from outside, quickly pushing through the crowd and rushing to Kong Yu’s side.

She called out, “Sister Yu.”

So pitifully!

Kong Yu’s gaze flickered slightly. She turned her head to look at her, extending her slender fingers to gently touch her face.

“Why have you come?” Her voice was warm, gentle, and pleasant.

“Sister Yu, you don’t want to marry at all. Why force yourself?” As she spoke, Jing Xuan choked up.

“Silly girl, it’s the position of Crown Princess—why wouldn’t I want to marry?”

The position of Crown Princess—countless women had fought tooth and nail for it. Now that this title had fallen upon her, it was a great honor!

But while others heard these words without deeper meaning, Jing Xuan understood.

She grasped Kong Yu’s hand, tears streaming. “Sister Yu, I promised I would definitely send you out of the palace. I broke my word—it’s my fault, I’ve wronged you and caused you to end up like this.”

Kong Yu shook her head. “Leaving the palace or not, I never held any hope for that. Alright, stop crying. Today is my joyous day. You should be happily sending me off to the Eastern Palace. If you cry like this, how can it still be considered a joyous occasion? Those who don’t know might think it’s a funeral procession.”

“Bah, bah, bah! Of course it’s not!”

Jing Xuan quickly suppressed her crying and wiped away her tears.

She took a deep breath. “I won’t cry anymore.”

Kong Yu nodded with a smile.

From outside came the sounds of gongs, drums, and suona horns. A young eunuch dressed in red came rushing in from outside in great haste.

“The auspicious hour has arrived, the auspicious hour has arrived! The bride should board the sedan chair!”

Running so fast, he seemed about to fall flat on the ground…

The wedding attendant also quickly fetched a red veil, while shouting to everyone in the room, “Hurry now, don’t delay the auspicious hour!”

The room began moving in orderly chaos.

The wedding attendant placed the red veil over Kong Yu’s head and helped her to her feet.

The next moment, however, Jing Xuan suddenly stood up and reached out to grab her hand, using considerable force. Kong Yu extended her other hand and gently patted the back of Jing Xuan’s hand.

Although she couldn’t see the face hidden beneath the red veil, Jing Xuan knew she was smiling—smiling beautifully.

After a long moment, she finally released her hand.

Standing in place, she watched as the wedding attendant helped Kong Yu out of Zhaoxian Hall, into the flower sedan chair, which was then carried all the way to the Eastern Palace…