The Emperor had decreed arrangements for Shen Yingruo’s coming-of-age ceremony. Though not as grand as Shen Xihe’s and not held in the palace at the Shen residence, it would still be officiated by the Ministry of Rites and the palace’s Department of Internal Affairs and Six Offices. Shen Xihe would also attend.

Distinguished officials and nobles would certainly attend. For Shen Xihe’s ceremony, the guest list had been personally reviewed by Shen Yueshan and Emperor Youning – not everyone qualified to attend. Shen Yingruo’s was different; she could invite whomever she wished.

Yu Sangning wanted to attend the ceremony. Since Yu Sangzhi had already been betrothed and had no relationship with Shen Yingruo, she naturally wouldn’t be invited. Yu Sangning couldn’t tag along with her sister and had to find her way.

“Why… why is she still pondering these things?” Bi Yu was puzzled.

If her target was Yu Sangzhi’s marriage, and Yu Sangzhi wasn’t going, could she be aiming for Prince Zhao?

Even Shen Xihe couldn’t fully understand Yu Sangning’s intentions. Her guess about Yu Sangning wanting to attend Shen Yingruo’s ceremony was merely speculation – she never wasted thought on insignificant people.

However, she hadn’t expected someone would be waiting when she returned to her residence.

The warm orange light divided the Princess’s residence in half, one side in light and one in shadow. A slender, graceful figure stood before the gates hidden in darkness, wearing the colorful, splendid attire of the Tubo royal family, strikingly different from the capital’s ladies and immediately catching the eye.

Shen Xihe ascended the steps silently, reaching the entrance where she faced Princess Yaoxi.

“Princess,” Shen Xihe greeted first.

Princess Yaoxi, clearly well-versed in Han etiquette, must have prepared thoroughly for the marriage alliance. She returned Shen Xihe’s greeting: “Princess, I have something to discuss with you.”

Shen Xihe could roughly guess her intentions. After a moment’s consideration, she nodded in agreement and invited Princess Yaoxi inside.

“I wish to speak with the Princess privately,” Princess Yaoxi said when they reached the main hall, as Shen Xihe had servants prepare tea and refreshments, looking at the surrounding servants.

Shen Xihe gave Zhenzhu a look, and Zhenzhu led all the servants out in succession, leaving only Shen Xihe and Princess Yaoxi in the room.

“I beseech the Princess’s help in entering the Eastern Palace,” Princess Yaoxi stood and made a deep bow to Shen Xihe.

Shen Xihe also stood, supporting Princess Yaoxi: “Princess, I regret I cannot help.”

“Princess, His Highness the Crown Prince is the heir apparent. He will eventually take consorts; the Eastern Palace won’t have just you,” whether in the Celestial Dynasty or their Tubo, rulers never had just one wife or concubine. “If I enter the Eastern Palace, I will certainly respect you as primary and won’t compete for favor. Princess should know that even if I bear sons, they won’t have the right to inherit the throne.”

She needed support, and Shen Xihe needed a reputation for virtue – they could benefit each other.

Princess Yaoxi didn’t understand Shen Xihe. Shen Xihe didn’t need a virtuous reputation. Though not jealous, she wasn’t someone who would use Xiao Huayong to demonstrate wifely virtue without regard for his feelings.

If one day Xiao Huayong personally told her he wanted to take a consort, she would certainly fulfill her duties as Crown Princess. She wouldn’t make decisions for Xiao Huayong for her benefit.

If it were someone else, even a lady who had feelings for Xiao Huayong as the future Crown Princess, they would be tempted by Princess Yaoxi’s proposal.

In ladies’ conventional thinking, even ordinary men had more than one wife, let alone the heir apparent. Knowing they would eventually share a husband with others, why not choose early someone most beneficial to themselves?

With Princess Yaoxi coming to ask today, she would owe a great debt. Later, entering the Eastern Palace, Princess Yaoxi herself knew that even if she bore children, they would have no right to inherit the throne. She and her sons would have to rely on the Crown Princess, naturally following her lead and orders. When new people came, she could intervene to control and suppress them. The Crown Princess would remain above it all, forever a virtuous Eastern Palace consort, all the unsavory matters unrelated to the magnanimous and virtuous Crown Princess.

“Please return, Princess,” Shen Xihe dismissed her guest.

Princess Yaoxi stared at Shen Xihe with confused, uncomprehending eyes. She had taken the initiative to offer herself as a pledge, yet Shen Xihe remained unmoved.

“Does the Princess have feelings for His Highness?” Princess Yaoxi probed.

“My affairs are not the Princess’s concern,” Shen Xihe didn’t answer.

Princess Yaoxi didn’t leave. After hesitating for a moment, she bit her lip: “I can accept just the title.”

If Shen Xihe minded sharing a husband, she could be a consort of the Eastern Palace in name only. What she sought was the identity of becoming the future imperial consort of the Celestial Dynasty’s Crown Prince, so that the Xiazha family would fear her and not dare harm her brother.

As long as she held an important position in the Celestial Dynasty, Xiazha wouldn’t dare usurp the throne, or else the Celestial Dynasty would have reason to march on Tubo.

A flash of surprise crossed those obsidian-bright eyes. Shen Xihe hadn’t expected Princess Yaoxi would go to such lengths. At this moment, there was urgency and sincerity in her eyes. Shen Xihe believed she was genuine – she just wanted to find support.

Thinking of this, Shen Xihe had a thought: “Princess, have you heard that His Highness the Crown Prince suffers from a serious illness that affects his longevity?”

“He’s pretending,” Princess Yaoxi immediately refuted, not concealing anything from Shen Xihe. “I saw him in Tubo. He not only possesses extraordinary wisdom but is also martially skilled, completely unlike the rumors in the capital.”

So she had met Xiao Huayong in Tubo. Shen Xihe understood but said: “He indeed isn’t seriously ill, but he has an unresolved strange poison. Until now, neither he nor I have found an antidote. If we still can’t find one in three to five years, he will certainly become as the rumors say…”

Princess Yaoxi frowned slightly, scrutinizing Shen Xihe, trying to judge the truth or falsehood of her words.

Shen Xihe met her gaze calmly.

Unable to discern Shen Xihe’s truth from fiction, Princess Yaoxi simply asked: “Why are you telling me these things?”

“I am informing you that His Highness the Crown Prince is not your best choice,” Shen Xihe’s expression was composed. “His Highness isn’t yet the sovereign. If Dalun wants to usurp the throne, even if you enter the Eastern Palace, it will only provoke him to secretly conspire with other princes for imperial power.

In the struggle for the throne, if His Highness the Crown Prince loses…” Speaking thus, Shen Xihe smiled faintly and changed her words, “No, he won’t lose, but he might have to exit midway.”

If Xiao Huayong could find the antidote, the throne would undoubtedly be his, but Shen Xihe didn’t want anything to happen to him, and still couldn’t be certain they would find the antidote.

“You want me to…” Princess Yaoxi instantly understood Shen Xihe’s meaning.

The Crown Prince wasn’t the best choice; the Crown Prince might not ascend to the throne, and then any prince might not ascend to the throne. The best solution would be to marry Emperor Youning, who was already emperor.

Since she could choose to enter the Eastern Palace in name only for power, why couldn’t she marry Emperor Youning, who was many years her senior, for power?