When Princess Yongjia was fourteen, the Empress Dowager passed away. When she was seventeen, a consort was appointed for her.

Emperor Delong ascended the throne at twenty-one, and at that time, Princess Yongjia was nine years old.

If Empress Wen was indeed Empress Wen, Wen Xiaoqing would only be twenty-one or twenty-two. But if Empress Wen was Lin Yuan or someone else…

Qin Shuying cut off this line of thought, not daring to continue. She had already brought up everything she could think of—the rest was Princess Yongjia’s own affair.

“My sister-in-law… you say she still looks like she’s seventeen or eighteen?”

“Yes. Her Majesty said she contracted a strange illness. However, your subject’s wife has heard that some women among the common people extremely value their appearance and pay great attention to maintaining themselves. When their spirits are happy, their looks can remain unchanged for decades.”

Princess Yongjia slowly nodded. Such examples did indeed exist.

Until they reached that entertaining place, Princess Yongjia didn’t mention this topic again.

For over half a year, Qin Shuying had kept her nerves taut. Today, being able to play here was refreshing and exhilarating, and some of the knots of depression in her heart scattered.

The magnificent landscape, the prime of life, a joyful mood, and heroic spirit suddenly arose.

Life was but a moment—naturally it should be lived happily and freely.

Before her death, grandmother had repeatedly urged her to live happily, so she would definitely put her heart into managing this marriage with Liang Zhe well.

No matter how Liang Zhe treated her in the future, as long as she gave her true heart and made genuine efforts, as long as she received happiness and joy in the process of giving, future matters could be dealt with when they came.

Previously, she had thought about leaving after helping Liang Zhe gain control of the Liang family, which was still due to her own mental barriers.

She minded that her body had been defiled by Liang Yuan and Liang Jie, and felt somewhat inferior because she had once been engaged to Liu Junqing. Though no one mentioned these things, she still cared about them deep down.

But later it seemed that Liang Zhe didn’t mind these matters at all.

So why should she continue being coy and hesitant? Why be artificial and affected?

Lunch was taken on the mountain. Due to inconvenient transportation, it naturally wasn’t as refined as usual—the food was coarse and the bowls and dishes crude. However, the meal tasted quite delicious, and both Princess Yongjia and Qin Shuying ate more than usual.

After the meal, Princess Yongjia and Qin Shuying strolled through the mountains. Princess Yongjia gazed at the rolling peaks and said, “Shuying, His Majesty and the Empress are both benevolent people—this is Great Zhou’s fortune. You’re young and don’t know. When Father Emperor was alive, if there had been an affair like the Mu family’s, the Yun, Liu, and Lu families would definitely have had blood splattered for five li—how could they be treated so tolerantly? For the stability of our Great Zhou realm, His Majesty personally campaigned in the northwest and nearly lost his life on the battlefield. Such an emperor—throughout history, how many could there be? Unfortunately, our Great Zhou’s military weakness has always been difficult to change in the face of the Western Barbarians. This is Great Zhou’s calamity and His Majesty’s worry!”

This was the first time Qin Shuying had heard Princess Yongjia discuss court politics.

“Fortunately, the Black Origin Stone matter has now been completely resolved, and the Western Barbarians won’t be able to stir up trouble for several years. But this doesn’t mean we can rest easy. Fourth Brother is enthusiastic about mechanical devices, and His Majesty has him working day and night to develop means to counter the Western Barbarians’ weapons. If there could be a breakthrough here, that would be when our Great Zhou could hold our heads high proudly. So His Majesty’s energy is focused on dealing with foreign enemies and keeping Great Zhou stable. For this matter, he exhausts his mind and spirit, often unable to sleep at night, and his health has been deteriorating over these years… Don’t be afraid—Liang Zhe is by His Majesty’s side and knows something about these matters, he just doesn’t tell you.”

Qin Shuying forced a smile. “Your Highness, women may not participate in court politics. Your subject’s wife feels uncomfortable hearing these things.”

Princess Yongjia smiled. “We’re only discussing, not participating. There you go being rigid again.”

Being criticized by Princess Yongjia like this, Qin Shuying felt somewhat embarrassed.

“So His Majesty must consider his posthumous affairs. Taking advantage of this opportunity to have the Empress appear publicly, I estimate it won’t be long before the Empress appears frequently before everyone. As for the reason—Shuying, do you understand?”

Emperor Delong seemed to be fifty-seven or fifty-eight this year, already an elderly man. Princess Yongjia said his health was deteriorating, so Emperor Delong might be approaching his departure from this world!

When that day came, naturally someone would need to inherit the throne.

And if Emperor Delong intended to have the Empress reappear publicly, who else could the heir to the throne be?

Of course it was the Empress’s son—the Crown Prince!

Since Emperor Delong had established a Crown Prince, naturally the Crown Prince should ascend the throne. However, over these years, though the Crown Prince enjoyed considerable prestige among scholars, his interests lay in agriculture and moral education, which in many people’s view still lacked the dignity an emperor should possess.

Moreover, would Consort De and Lianpin obediently watch the Crown Prince ascend the throne?

Seeing Qin Shuying’s expression change slightly, Princess Yongjia knew she understood the key points and smiled. “Whoever it is, it’s all the same to me.”

They were all her nephews, so naturally they were all the same.

“If that day comes, my identity will become increasingly mysterious. I don’t understand, and I can’t ask—why did His Majesty insist on appointing Bu Ruiyang as my consort back then? I don’t understand why, since he has such deep feelings for the Empress, he still widely takes concubines and fathers one son after another to compete with the Crown Prince for that position.”

Qin Shuying was stunned.

“Of course, His Majesty taking concubines is partly due to the needs of balancing court politics, and also because men are often fickle—forgetting the old when they have someone new is too common. But why did he insist on arranging my marriage to Bu Ruiyang? If your previous speculation is correct, he should have had conflicts with the Empress at some point, then… vented his anger on me, then took concubines and fathered sons to spite the Empress.”

At this point, Princess Yongjia’s lips curved slightly, showing a trace of mocking sneer.

Others thought Emperor Delong treated his legitimate sister very well, giving her whatever she wanted. In reality, she knew that Emperor Delong had always harbored conflicted feelings toward her.

Sometimes he treated her very well—her residence was luxurious with crowds of servants. Sometimes the look in his eyes carried a cold, disgusted feeling.

After this happened many times, Princess Yongjia began to suspect her own identity.

Arranging her marriage to Bu Ruiyang and not allowing her to remarry…

Princess Yongjia was like a caged canary kept by Emperor Delong, lonely and helpless, without even any descendants.

“So why must he vent his anger on me rather than someone else?”

Qin Shuying’s complexion changed again.

She thought of a possibility, but she didn’t dare speak it.

Princess Yongjia looked back at her. “You’re too clever for your own good, always frightening yourself. Rest assured—since I’ve lived to this age, I’ve long seen through everything. And don’t worry, His Majesty is ultimately a benevolent person. If it were someone else, how could they tolerate my living until now? I would have died in an ‘accident’ long ago!”

Qin Shuying forced out a smile.

She really was… how did she come to know all these secret matters?

After a long while, Princess Yongjia smiled and said, “Regarding those speculations you mentioned earlier—the Empress is so clever, she must know you would have doubts. Perhaps she deliberately made you suspicious so you would tell me.”