Yan Shiyao reined in her feelings. “No need.”

Seeing how truly terrible her expression was, the maids wisely shut their mouths.

Jiang Jin looked at the maids clustered around Yan Shiyao and swallowed her fury. These maids had all been appointed by His Highness to attend the Third Imperial Prince’s consort — there was no need for her to be cross with them. What mattered now was the child in her womb.

Yan Shiyao waited from morning all the way to midday, yet Qi Qingchen did not return. At the maids’ urging, she ate her noon meal, then sat back in the sandalwood chair to continue waiting.

The sky gradually darkened, and a fine drizzle began to fall. Yan Shiyao turned to the maid at her side with a stiff expression. “What hour is it? Has Qi Qingchen still not come back from paying his respects?”

Was he hiding from her?

“In reply to Eldest Young Miss Yan, it is the second quarter of the hour of Xu. His Highness perhaps will not be returning tonight,” the maid answered with a smile.

Yan Shiyao let out a long breath. Not returning?

She did not believe he would not return. The girl lifted her teacup and drained it in one swallow. “Arrange a bedchamber for me.”

She would stay in this estate — he could not avoid returning forever.

“Yes.” The maid bowed and withdrew from the main hall.

……

For several consecutive days, Qi Qingchen did not come back to the estate once. Yan Shiyao stopped waiting and slipped out through a back route to return to the Chancellor’s residence.

Why a back route? Because she had no desire to hear any more nonsense from those street vendors.

She had not yet had the chance to tell Yan Ruijing that she did not wish to marry Qi Qingchen, when she learned from Chunyi that Chu Wantang had drunk a soup prepared by Lu Jin’an and miscarried.

On top of that, word had spread again through the capital — that the Chancellor’s secondary wife was jealous of the Chancellor’s principal wife.

The Chancellor had not punished the secondary wife, and the gossip spread that the honorable Chancellor could not tell right from wrong. Left with no alternative, the Chancellor had confined Lu Jin’an to the ancestral hall to investigate the matter.

Yan Shiyao set aside her intention to speak with Yan Ruijing about her own marriage and hurried over to Tangyuan Pavilion.

Telling her father would likely be useless anyway — after all, it was an edict from His Imperial Majesty Qi, and her father was a subject with no power to override it. The only hope would be if Qi Qingchen himself went to His Imperial Majesty Qi and said he did not wish to marry her.

Tangyuan Pavilion.

Chu Wantang lay resting against the bed’s headboard while Nanny Liu held a ladle and fed her medicinal soup spoonful by spoonful.

“Yaoyao, you’ve come.” Chu Wantang caught sight of Yan Shiyao, and the corners of her eyes crinkled with a smile she could not suppress.

Two days ago, the head eunuch at His Imperial Majesty Qi’s side had personally come to deliver the edict and the betrothal gifts — her Yaoyao had truly brought honor to the family.

There was no telling how many people in the capital envied her right now.

If the Third Prince were to succeed to the throne in the future, she would become the mother of an Empress — and with Lu Jin’an now confined to the ancestral hall, the days ahead would only get better.

“Mother, how are you feeling?” Yan Shiyao took the medicinal soup from Nanny Liu’s hands and sat down at the edge of the bed.

When she had heard it from Qi Qingchen, she had assumed it was Consort Lu who was with child. She never imagined it would turn out to be her mother.

“Mother is fine, Yaoyao. How is the Third Prince’s injury?” Chu Wantang reached out and stroked Yan Shiyao’s cheek.

When the eunuch came to deliver the edict, he had told them that Yaoyao was at the Third Prince’s estate, caring for him.

“He is fine.” Yan Shiyao blew gently on the medicinal soup. “Mother, drink your medicine.”

The mere mention of Qi Qingchen was irritating. If Qi Qingchen would not call off the engagement, she would find someone she cared for and give herself to him before year’s end.

Then Qi Qingchen would no longer be willing to marry her. The difficulty was that her marriage to Qi Qingchen had been decreed by His Imperial Majesty Qi, and any gentleman in the capital who knew her identity would keep his distance from her.

Where on earth would she find someone who was drawn to her and whom she was drawn to in return?

And even if she found such a person — would he dare to offend His Imperial Majesty Qi and Qi Qingchen for her sake? After all, that was a matter that could cost him his life.

One wrong move and she could drag the entire Chancellor’s residence down with her. The only option was to find a way to make Qi Qingchen call off the engagement — and if all else failed, take the risk.

Besides, with Xuan Yanyu there, he would not stand by and watch her bring ruin upon the Chancellor’s residence, if only for Ningning’s sake.

“Yaoyao,” Chu Wantang said after swallowing the medicine, “you will be the Third Prince’s formal consort in the future — do not let the side consort Jiang bully you. If you are ever wronged, you must tell Mother, understand?”

Yan Shiyao nodded absently. She had no intention of marrying Qi Qingchen.

“Yaoyao, hold tight to the Third Prince. And if the side consort Jiang bullies you, find indirect ways to let the Third Prince know — do you hear me?” Chu Wantang studied the indifferent Yan Shiyao and tapped her gently on the forehead.

“Mother, the medicine is getting cold — finish it quickly.” Yan Shiyao smiled and held the wooden spoon to Chu Wantang’s lips.

Chu Wantang gave up and finished the medicine.

“Mother, was it really the way the capital is saying — was it Consort Lu who…”

“It was. Yaoyao, if not for her, how would Mother have miscarried?” Chu Wantang deflected the conversation. “Yaoyao, is Yan Yunning still at Yuanjing Manor? Has she not come back yet?”

Yan Shiyao smiled. “No, Ningning loves playing with Little Yan — she will probably want to play for a few more days before she is willing to come back.”

“Has Xuan Yanyu not come back with you?” Chu Wantang asked again.

“Mother, Yanyu-ge and Ningning stayed at Yuanjing Manor.” Yan Shiyao tucked the quilt more snugly around Chu Wantang’s shoulders.

Chu Wantang took her hand and pressed, “Yaoyao, Xuan Yanyu is someone you brought back to the household. Look at how quickly Ningning managed to make him willingly stay by her side — now that she’s back — can you not pay a little more attention? And your father, your brother — if you still don’t…”

“Mother, if you speak like this and Ningning were here to hear it, how sad would she be?” Yan Shiyao thought for a moment and then urged, “Mother, and also about Xuan Yanyu — please do not address him by his name in front of him, and do not criticize Ningning in front of him.”

He was the Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Xuanzhao, raised from childhood in the indulgence of Prince Xuan, and Ningning was the Crown Princess he had chosen for himself. To show Ningning no respect in front of him was to show him no respect — and there was no telling what he might do.

He had not even given consideration to Qi Qingchen’s status as an imperial prince. When Qi Qingchen had provoked him, he had struck back without a moment’s hesitation, not once pausing to consider whether it might cause trouble.

If Mother were to say something unpleasant, he might well not take into account that Mother was Ningning’s mother.

“Yaoyao, am I supposed to watch what I say in front of Xuan Yanyu when I criticize Ningning?” Chu Wantang’s voice sharpened with displeasure.

Xuan Yanyu was nothing more than someone Yaoyao had taken in — the only reason the maids and manservants in the household addressed him as “Young Master Xuan” was because the master of the house had taken a liking to him. She was the Chancellor’s principal wife — the mistress of this household. Why should she need to watch her words for his sake!

“Mother, Ningning hasn’t done anything wrong. Why would you criticize her?” Yan Shiyao said, her disappointment plain.

Seeing Yan Shiyao’s displeasure, Chu Wantang softened her tone. “That is not what I mean. I am saying that even if Ningning did something wrong, am I not allowed to say so in front of Xuan Yanyu? Even after Ningning marries him, Mother still has the right to speak to her — and to speak to Xuan Yanyu as well.”

Yan Shiyao’s eyes flickered slightly. “Mother, no matter whether Ningning has done something wrong or not, you must not criticize her in front of Yanyu-ge — and even less so say anything against Yanyu-ge.”

“Yaoyao, you should remember your current position as the Third Prince’s consort,” Chu Wantang reminded her. “Do not refer to Xuan Yanyu as ‘Yanyu-ge’ anymore — if the Third Prince were to hear it, he would be jealous. And as for whether Mother scolds Ningning or not, that is none of your concern.”

Yan Shiyao was quiet for a moment before speaking. “Ningning was not by your side when she was growing up. She has only just come back. We should cherish her properly.”

Chu Wantang: “Mother has already transferred Yan Yunning to Lu Jin’an.”

Yan Shiyao’s bright eyes dimmed. “Mother, why did you transfer Ningning to Lu Jin’an? Everyone outside is saying that Lu Jin’an caused your miscarriage — transferring Ningning to Lu Jin’an at a time like this, won’t that drag Ningning into the criticism too?”

People out there would not care that Ningning had no say in the matter — gossip would fly regardless. Her own mother was harmed by a concubine, and yet the daughter turned around and acknowledged that same concubine as her mother.