After leaving Changxin Palace, Song Wan still felt her cheeks burning hot, quite restrained in manner.
As for Jiang Xingjian, whether he had forgotten or for some other reason, he kept holding her hand without releasing it.
Song Wan understood her aunt’s meaning. Jiang Xingjian had already taken two concubines, yet the two of them had never consummated their marriage.
If the Marquis household produced an eldest illegitimate son, chaos would surely follow in the future. Her aunt felt sorry for her and didn’t want her or her children to suffer grievances.
Only…
Song Wan lowered her head to look at their clasped hands, her heart obscure and unclear.
If he hadn’t had that experience at the frontier, or had never met Lin Jiayue, the two of them could certainly have been a harmonious couple who treated each other with courtesy and respect. But now, who knew what kind of situation the future would bring.
Song Wan’s nose grew sour. She exerted slight force wanting to withdraw her hand.
But the moment she moved her fingers, she was gripped tightly by Jiang Xingjian.
The man neither turned his head nor spoke, only held her hand ever more firmly.
“Husband…”
Jiang Xingjian stopped. Behind them, Heng Zhi and Heng Wu, as well as the eunuch Consort Yun had sent to look after Song Wan, all halted their steps.
“Is the space on the wall to the east of the main courtyard where the incense burner is placed empty?”
Song Wan nodded blankly.
Jiang Xingjian’s face was stiff as he pressed his lips together and said, “It would be suitable to hang a famous work there.”
Song Wan’s eyes were flustered. For a moment she didn’t know how to answer him. The young lady’s face was full of bashfulness, her dazed appearance seeming somewhat foolish. Jiang Xingjian forcefully suppressed the joy in his heart and pulled Song Wan toward Imperial Consort Jiang’s Yanqing Palace.
It wasn’t until they entered the palace gate of Yanqing Palace that Song Wan slightly came back to her senses.
Yanqing Palace was deathly quiet, without any of the warm and lively atmosphere of Changxin Palace.
“Young Master Jiang, Her Ladyship has been waiting for you for quite some time.”
The supervising eunuch from Changxin Palace arrived belatedly. Jiang Xingjian was pulling Song Wan, just preparing to go see his own elder sister, when he heard the eunuch say, “Madam Jiang, please wait.”
“A few days ago, the Imperial Astronomy Bureau said that Her Ladyship has been unwell recently and cannot see those born in the years of the Rabbit, Snake, Goat, or Dog. To avoid offending Her Ladyship, you should wait in the small garden instead.”
Jiang Xingjian frowned. Song Wan, however, sighed silently. The eunuch from Changxin Palace who had followed them also narrowed his eyes.
“Husband, please go. Don’t keep Her Ladyship waiting.”
Song Wan released their clasped hands and stood outside Yanqing Palace with a smile.
Jiang Xingjian was uneasy. After instructing the eunuch beside him to look after Song Wan well, he went alone to see Jiang Man.
In the Changxin sleeping chamber, Jiang Man wore a moon-white palace satin brocade dress, with only a silver filigree bat pearl hairpin on her head. Though not as plain as what Song Wan had worn during her widowhood, in the palace it was an extremely rare austere appearance.
In the sleeping chamber, only one or two of Jiang Man’s trusted confidants were present.
“Elder Sister.”
Jiang Man’s eyes reddened slightly. “These past years have been hard on you.”
“It’s younger brother who is incompetent, unable to ease Elder Sister’s worries.”
Jiang Man extended her slender fingers. Her nails, glowing with cherry-pink soft light, appeared exceptionally lustrous and glossy. A palace maid beside her supported her hand and brought it to Jiang Xingjian’s side.
“The gunpowder formula in that woman’s hands—is it truly as powerful as claimed, capable of moving mountains and leveling seas?”
“Younger brother has seen it. The power is considerable.”
Jiang Man covered her lips. “Then your years of scheming at the frontier weren’t in vain. With this person and this item, Father’s great revenge can surely be repaid.”
“…”
Jiang Xingjian pressed his lips together, his complexion turning slightly pale.
Jiang Man’s brows and eyes were sharp—a rarely seen heroic appearance among women. If judging by features alone, compared to the gentle-natured Song Yuning, she was three parts less charming and two parts less graceful. But Jiang Man possessed a pair of peerless eyes.
Those eyes were bright and full of feeling. Even when looking at people coldly, they naturally carried a sultry, alluring charm of wanting to speak yet hesitating.
If such a pair of eyes were born on an ordinary woman, they would only give the impression of frivolous behavior. But on her, they inexplicably added several parts of a desire people wanted to conquer.
If she truly didn’t have exceptional qualities, she wouldn’t have been in the palace only one year before giving birth to the Fifth Prince.
Having lived the duplicitous palace life for so long, she saw human hearts and human nature ever more clearly, let alone her younger brother whom she had watched grow up since childhood.
With one glance, she knew what Jiang Xingjian was thinking.
“You want to ask me why I never told you about Song Wan marrying into the Marquis household?”
Jiang Xingjian straightened his back, his hands and feet slightly stiff.
“Come with me.”
The two walked to a side room in the hall. Jiang Man moved aside the white jade Guanyin enshrined in the small Buddhist hall, revealing the memorial tablet behind it.
“Kneel.”
Seeing his father’s name, Jiang Xingjian knelt down without hesitation.
“After I unexpectedly entered the palace carrying the dragon’s child, you and Father were immediately arranged to go to the frontier to transport grain. This assignment shouldn’t have fallen to you two, correct or not?”
“Correct.”
“Father died, the Marquis household rapidly declined. The First Prince lacks virtue, the Crown Prince has been paralyzed for years, Qianshu’s birth poses the greatest threat to the Third Prince Shen Qianbai, correct or not?”
“Correct.”
Jiang Man’s eyes reddened. “You and I both know in our hearts that a prince without family support is like a small boat on waves—difficult to navigate even without wind. Don’t tell Elder Sister that you can’t see Song Lan’an’s ambitions, Song Yuning’s schemes, can’t see who was behind the plot that harmed you and Father’s lives!”
Jiang Xingjian pressed his lips together, the light in his eyes slowly dispersing.
“Yi’er, Elder Sister knows you have feelings for Song Wan.”
“Those palace lanterns, wood carvings, and hand bracelets you gave her in childhood—Elder Sister accompanied you carving them stroke by stroke. Elder Sister also knows that since youth you’ve been waiting to marry her into the family.”
“But what of it?”
“The enmity of killing one’s father cannot be erased. If you must resent, then resent that she was born into the wrong family, reincarnated into the Song household. If you must resent, then resent Song Lan’an and Song Yuning’s overweening ambitions.”
Jiang Man gripped Jiang Xingjian’s shoulders, so forcefully that her index finger nail broke without her noticing.
A palace maid beside her stepped forward, but was waved away by Jiang Man.
“If one day the Song household is destroyed with everyone dead, leaving only Song Wan, Elder Sister will permit you to be with her. But if Song Lan’an and Song Yuning never fall, Elder Sister won’t mind using Song Wan as a weapon when necessary.”
“I…”
Jiang Xingjian closed his eyes in pain. After a moment, he said in a heavy voice, “Elder Sister, I know what I must do now.”
Seeing that he seemed to have made up his mind, though Jiang Man felt reluctant, she still gently patted his shoulder. Only then did the siblings slowly begin reminiscing, yet both seemed to deliberately forget about Song Wan still waiting outside the hall.
Song Wan stood outside Yanqing Palace, the sun making her head dizzy. The young eunuch who had come to look after her stamped his feet anxiously.
“Madam Jiang, please return to Changxin Palace with this servant.”
“I cannot.”
Song Wan smiled. “If I leave on my own without Her Ladyship’s summons, I fear I’ll be charged with the crime of disrespecting an Imperial Consort. Wan’er knows that Eunuch has a kind heart and cannot bear to see me exposed to the scorching sun here.”
Looking up at Yanqing Palace’s garden, Song Wan pointed at the artificial mountain. “Why don’t you accompany Wan’er to stroll over there and escape the heat—would that be acceptable?”
How could the eunuch not agree? He hurriedly escorted Song Wan to a shady area in the garden. But before they had even entered, they heard rustling sounds from a corner where a group of young eunuchs were surrounding a sweeping eunuch covered in injuries, bullying and tormenting him.
Song Wan looked at the back of the person on the ground and slightly furrowed her brows.