Before the Bu family formed a marriage alliance with Prince Nanyuan’s mansion, they had only heard that Prince Nanyuan was exceptionally talented in his youth, skilled in both literature and martial arts. The matchmaker praised him to the skies—
“Tsk tsk, you truly cannot find anyone more complete than His Lordship in this world. The prince inherited the old feudal prince’s title at eighteen, holding all of Jiangnan Circuit in his grasp. I need not tell you—isn’t Hangzhou also under Nanyuan’s jurisdiction? How prosperous it has been these years, with the people living in peace and contentment—isn’t this all Prince Nanyuan’s achievement! When a girl comes of age, she must find an in-law family. Looking across all of Jiangnan, who could surpass the prince’s standing! You might think I’m just boasting when I speak, but I have actually seen the prince’s golden countenance. Oh my, that appearance, that bearing… tsk tsk tsk, even ten Gao Changgongs couldn’t match him. The prince has been diligent in government these years, delaying his household affairs. The old consort dowager was anxious to have her son continue the family line and summoned me to discuss it, specifically instructing that the young lady must come from a good family, be well-educated and reasonable with proper appearance. I immediately thought of your family. When I told the old consort dowager about your situation—the master is a retired grand tutor, and the young lady is a renowned beauty—the old consort dowager was immediately moved to her heart.”
At the time, Grand Tutor Bu had some hesitation. “I heard Prince Nanyuan already has three concubines…”
The matchmaker’s handkerchief flew high. “In this day and age, there are still people who worry about such things! Which powerful and influential family under heaven doesn’t have three wives and four concubines? Those three were originally the prince’s personal maids whom the old consort dowager decided to bring into the household. The prince doesn’t care about them. Once the young lady goes there, she’ll naturally be highly regarded—properly betrothed from outside, how can she be the same as those born in the household? Impossible! Listen to me, I’ll be frank with you—the throne of Prince Nanyuan’s primary consort is still vacant. If our young lady gains favor and rises step by step, won’t she become the proper mistress!”
From a worldly perspective, it was a good match, but the rank was a bit low. “What is a secondary consort? A side consort?”
The matchmaker was vague, not wanting to clearly state it was even lower than a concubine. The Qi people divided inner court ranks very clearly: primary consort, side consort, secondary consort, and below that were unranked ladies. A secondary consort was basically only two ranks above a maid and couldn’t even be considered a side consort.
Experienced matchmakers knew to avoid the important and dwell on the trivial. “Either way, she’s a mistress who commands servants—very dignified! That’s just their custom there. Women enter the door and rise step by step. Those three have served for so many years and are still only secondary consorts. Our young lady would start on equal footing with them, and in time, she could step on their heads to rise up. Such things don’t require seniority.”
Previously, Yin Lou had entered the palace under Yin Ge’s name, and the two had switched identities externally, so naturally the matchmaker was proposing marriage for the grand tutor’s concubine-born daughter. A concubine-born daughter of a grand tutor becoming a concubine in a prince’s mansion wasn’t considered degrading, so after family discussion, with no better prospects available, they agreed.
Unfortunately, Prince Nanyuan’s mansion taking a fancy to her had a purpose—the ultimate crux lay with Yin Lou. She hadn’t been able to serve the late emperor but was favored by the current emperor. Prince Nanyuan had long received this news and found ways to bring her sister into his mansion, indeed preparing to compete for marriage to a princess.
All this roundabout scheming—such elaborate effort! Yin Ge exhaled deeply from her lungs. “So that’s it—Your Highness plans to trade me for Princess Hede? The Grand Princess is His Majesty’s only sister. I fear my humble status won’t be able to help Your Highness.”
He glanced at her, his tone cold and even somewhat cruel. “You alone are naturally insufficient, so you must work harder. As long as you conceive an imperial heir, everything will be easily resolved.”
Yin Ge was somewhat choked with anger. “But Your Highness, I am still untouched. Since I have never been husband and wife with Your Highness for even one day, His Majesty has no need to feel he owes you anything. Isn’t that the logic?”
He stopped, frowning slightly. After much consideration, he turned back to examine her. “You make sense.”
Yin Ge’s heart leaped with joy. Speaking of true feelings, who wouldn’t like such a magnificent man? But he didn’t regard her as important, especially after entering the capital and seeing the person of his dreams—she became even less worthy of his attention. She had her own stubborn streak and insisted on dragging him down with her. Perhaps once contaminated, he could never let go. She didn’t necessarily want to push Yin Lou off her throne—if Yin Lou’s conspiracy with Xiao Duo to punish her family could be overlooked, if she could follow him and live peacefully, why would she need to enter the palace!
She was full of expectation, practically gazing at him with yearning, but after his examination for a long while, unable to bring himself to act, he turned and called to Shucun, “Go gather all the people who came with us this time.”
Shucun swept his sleeves and accepted the order. Yin Ge was so angry her eyebrows stood on end, calling out loudly to wait. “What is Your Highness planning to do?”
He raised his chin slightly. “Among so many people, there must be one or two who catch the eye. You can choose one at will, or even two if you like—entirely up to you.”
Regardless of the internal situation, there was still an external title. What kind of thing was this under heaven—having one’s own woman choose men, and if one wasn’t enough, she could choose two? Was she really so worthless that even offering herself freely earned his disdain?
With tears in her eyes, she angrily said it wasn’t necessary. “I’ve truly learned of Your Highness’s generosity.”
He didn’t insist, melodiously instructing her, “Think of your own solution then. Better not to reveal any flaws and ruin my affairs, or you’ll cause big trouble.”
How infuriating—treating her this way, he must be a heartless person, yet toward the Grand Princess, he became incredibly considerate. That box of food on the table had gone stale but he couldn’t bear to throw it away. The pair of clay figurines brought from Jiangnan were carefully packed and repacked before being entrusted to her to bring to the palace for the princess to win her favor.
Wanwan had always been very interested in such folk trinkets. She repeatedly removed and replaced the unity hat on the clay figure’s head, tinkering endlessly without getting bored.
“Please thank Prince Nanyuan for me. Coming such a long distance and still bringing this for me.”
Yin Ge smiled somewhat awkwardly. “As long as the Grand Princess likes it—it’s nothing valuable. Our prince often speaks of Your Highness. The pastries you sent that day are still being treasured.”
Wanwan hesitated slightly. Such words could only be heard, and it wasn’t appropriate to ask more. Her mind wandered briefly before moving on. But she couldn’t help sighing inwardly—he probably didn’t know his back courtyard was on fire yet, allowing his consort to enter and leave the palace freely.
She had also discussed this with Tonghuan. “If someone reminded him once, it might help. Bu Yin Ge is staying in the capital under the pretext of sisterly affection, doing such things—how can she face him?”
Tonghuan said, “Last time you scolded His Majesty. If His Majesty stops paying attention to her from now on, no matter what schemes she uses, they’ll be useless.”
Wanwan smiled mockingly. “I know my brother’s temperament. When has he ever taken anyone’s words to heart! To put it crudely,” she covered her mouth with one hand, “he has both the thieving heart and thieving courage. Now that he’s the number one under heaven, what does he still fear!”
So the secret liaison between Yin Ge and the emperor ultimately couldn’t be avoided. Empress Zhang even complained to the Empress Dowager about it, grumbling, “A perfectly good emperor has become a man who steals women. Won’t it be a laughingstock if word gets out? With so many people in the three palaces and six courts, isn’t that enough for his enjoyment? Looking at a minister’s beloved concubine—does he still care about face?”
The empress, driven by jealousy, spoke without restraint. The Empress Dowager was helpless—after all, the emperor wasn’t her biological son. With the barrier of different wombs creating distance like mountains, her words could be neither too light nor too heavy, putting her in a very difficult position.
A noble consort nudged Wanwan with her elbow. “Isn’t Your Highness going to intervene?”
This noble consort was no good person, always liking to push others forward while hiding behind them herself. Wanwan pulled her arm back slightly and said coldly, “I’m an unmarried girl. Originally I shouldn’t even hear such talk, yet the noble consort wants me to intervene? What should I say then? ‘The noble consort told me to advise His Majesty’?”
The noble consort was rebuffed, pouted, and leaned aside to drink her lotus seed tea.
The Empress Dowager sighed deeply. “That Prince Nanyuan is something too—how can he not even manage one woman?”
“Who knows what his intentions are? It might be a means of flattery and seeking favor.”
“Who would joke around with their reputation? He’s a feudal prince after all, and doesn’t often stay in the capital. There are plenty of beauties in Jiangnan—are the Bu family sisters reborn immortals? If he wanted to please His Majesty, how much better to pick an absolutely beautiful virgin and send her to the palace—was it worth wearing this green hat!”
Someone snorted. “I don’t mean to gossip before the Old Buddha, but men are just like this—their own is never as good as others’. Prince Nanyuan probably saw this clearly and had his woman seduce His Majesty…”
Wanwan really couldn’t listen anymore and rose to leave the hall.
The wind was picking up, and it was getting colder. The leaves on the two plane trees in Cining Palace were yellow and withered, occasionally dropping one or two pieces that rolled all over the ground and flew far away.
Tonghuan put a cloak on her, earnestly reminding her to be careful of catching cold. She gathered the ribbons at her collar and sighed deeply. “That Prince Nanyuan is truly a pitiable person, suffering such a silent loss and still being suspected like this.”
Tonghuan said, “That’s other people’s business—you shouldn’t worry about it! You already did your best last time. His Majesty wouldn’t listen to your advice, so we’re out of options. This servant has something I haven’t reported to you yet. Earlier Cao Chun’ang brought word that Director Xiao has dealt with that Zhao Huanzhi. Nowadays, there’s no official who doesn’t take bribes. Last year he embezzled silver from his office. After the incident was discovered, his father used connections to suppress it. This time it was perfect to use this as grounds to dismiss both father and son. Old Empress Zhao got sick with anger upon hearing the news and has asked the Empress Dowager for leave from the Tanzhe Temple incense offering in a couple days. Amitabha Buddha, it’s finally resolved! Otherwise, who knows how long we’d have to keep this anger bottled up!”
It was good news. After hearing it, Wanwan showed a slight smile. “You know, making friends with a villain or two isn’t without benefits.”
“If Director Xiao heard you say that, he’d definitely be upset. He wholeheartedly sought revenge for you, yet you call him a villain!” Tonghuan laughed after speaking. “Actually, your words aren’t wrong either. With a bad reputation out there, he doesn’t have so many scruples when handling affairs. The Eastern Depot isn’t a good place to begin with—those agents are extremely vicious when they seize people, even more frightening than the Jinyiwei. If we relied on censors to bring down the Zhao family with criticism, we’d have to wait until the year of the monkey and month of the horse. Director Xiao’s way is better—quietly handling it so no one knows the inside story.”
She hummed in agreement, walking around the screen wall planning to return to Yude Palace. Entering the passageway, she happened to see Xiao Duo stepping out from Yuehua Gate. Seeing her, he came forward to pay his respects. She nodded with a smile. “Tonghuan has already told me about that matter. The Factory Minister handled it well—I must thank you.”
Xiao Duo said he dared not. “That night during Mid-Autumn, I failed to properly attend to Your Highness—it was my fault to begin with. Now I absolutely dare not claim credit. Zhao Huanzhi’s matter is temporarily handled thus. As for Empress Rong’an, Your Highness please wait a few days. I will definitely give Your Highness an explanation.”
Wanwan wasn’t so fixated on details. The matter had passed for a while, and she was no longer as angry as initially. She slowly shook her head. “As for old Empress Zhao, not pursuing it further is fine. Just keep a respectful distance from now on. I see she’s a widow without support—I can’t bear to make things difficult for her. If she does anything excessive in the future, it won’t be too late to settle accounts then.”
Indeed, a crab without claws probably couldn’t make much of a scene. Xiao Duo bowed in agreement. She nodded and passed by him. The corridor was straight, with palace walls so high on both sides. The young princess walking within always gave people a feeling of fragility. He also felt somewhat guilty and impulsively called out to her, “Your Highness… have you been well lately?”
Wanwan looked puzzled. “Very well. Why does the Factory Minister ask this?”
He slowly formed a smile. “That’s good then. Go back—the wind is strong in the passageway.”
She turned around. The ornamental steps on her skirt made only the slightest clear sound because she walked steadily, but her heart sank to the depths of the earth.