The reigning Emperor has four sons and two daughters in total.

The Imperial Princes are the Crown Prince, Prince An, Prince Kang, and Prince Yan. The two Princesses are Princess Changping and Princess An Ya.

Princess Changping was born of the Empress’s legitimate line and is moreover the Emperor’s eldest daughter. She was pampered and adored from childhood, which in turn cultivated a domineering, overbearing, and willful character.

By comparison, Princess An Ya was far more understated.

Princess An Ya was born of Wei Jieyu. Her birth circumstances placed her more than a full tier below Princess Changping in standing. Furthermore, Princess An Ya was premature at birth, and Wei Jieyu had nearly died in the delivery. It took a long period of recovery before Wei Jieyu was well again — and even then, her health had been fundamentally damaged. She never bore another child after that.

The Emperor did show a degree of tender concern for this youngest daughter of his. Yet compared to Princess Changping, the difference was still plainly evident. To name just one thing: the matter of building a princess’s residence. Princess Changping’s residence had been chosen long ago and completed when she was ten years old, built to the utmost in luxury.

As for Princess An Ya — she was already twelve years old this year, and she still resided inside the palace. Her residence was still in the process of selecting a site and beginning construction. It appeared she would not be able to move in until the time came for Princess An Ya to take a Prince Consort.

Princess Changping had brought Princess An Ya with her to the Su household. The two sisters walked in arm in arm, quite intimately.

Although Princess An Ya was young in age, she had been born with exquisitely drawn features that were quietly, touchingly beautiful — though her build appeared to be somewhat more slight and delicate than girls of the same age. She barely reached Princess Changping’s shoulder and looked a little younger than her actual years.

Ling Jingshu’s gaze swept across Princess An Ya’s fair and delicate face, and unbidden, the thought of Imperial Physician Wei’s incomparably clear and refined features arose in her mind.

Princess An Ya’s eyes — strikingly clear, their black and white sharply defined — bore a marked resemblance to Imperial Physician Wei’s.

To produce a daughter as beautiful as Princess An Ya — one truly couldn’t imagine what sort of breathtaking, peerless beauty that renowned Wei Jieyu must be…

Princess An Ya was notably quiet and well-behaved. After entering the room, she sat beside Princess Changping and had not spoken a single word throughout.

Compared to Princess Changping, who radiated brilliance and conversed and laughed with effortless ease, Princess An Ya was like a still and quiet moon.

Ling Jingyan gave her a few appraising glances, then leaned close and whispered: “A’Shu, this Princess An Ya does bear quite a resemblance to Imperial Physician Wei!”

Ling Jingshu nodded, and replied in a low voice with a small laugh: “They always say a niece or nephew takes after the maternal uncle. Princess An Ya is Imperial Physician Wei’s own niece by blood, so it is not at all remarkable that their features would be similar.”

“Even so, this Princess An Ya is truly quiet and spare with her words.” Ling Jingyan continued murmuring: “Since she walked in the door, she has not opened her mouth to say a single thing!”

Ling Jingshu gave a soft sound of agreement.

The two were still whispering to each other when they saw the smiling face of a senior household manager enter the room. She raised her voice and announced: “Reporting to the Second Young Miss — the auspicious hour is nearly upon us. The Crown Princess has also arrived. The Master and Mistress have instructed the Young Misses to change into their new garments and proceed at once to the inner hall.”

Ling Jingshu followed the others to the Su family’s inner hall.

All the senior relatives of the Su family were present. The Crown Princess sat with composed elegance at the place of honor. Standing at the Crown Princess’s side was a slender, strikingly handsome young man.

The Crown Grandson had come as well — unexpectedly!

Ling Jingshu instinctively glanced at the Crown Grandson. At that very moment, the Crown Grandson happened to look over as well.

Their gazes met briefly in the air and each just as quickly looked away.

The guests entered the inner hall, and the first order of business was to pay their respects to the Crown Princess. Even Princess Changping and Princess An Ya were no exception: “Greetings, Imperial Sister-in-law.”

It was then that Ling Jingshu finally heard Princess An Ya’s voice — still carrying a faint childlike quality, yet clean and pleasing to the ear.

The Crown Princess smiled warmly and said: “I had not expected that both Changping and An Ya would come today as well. Come, come and sit by Imperial Sister-in-law’s side.”

The spacious inner hall held roughly a dozen seats, yet the guests numbered several dozen. Very few among them were entitled to sit.

Changping accepted cheerfully, and she and Princess An Ya each took a seat at the Crown Princess’s side.

The remaining guests then stepped forward one by one to offer greetings and pay their respects.

The Crown Princess carried herself with dignified grace, warm and approachable, making everyone feel as though bathed in a gentle spring breeze.

When it came Ling Jingshu’s turn to offer her greetings, the Crown Princess’s eyes flickered momentarily, and the smile at the corner of her lips dimmed by several degrees. Her tone was neither warm nor cold: “Today is the joyous occasion of Ying’er’s coming-of-age ceremony. I had not expected the Ninth Young Miss of the Ling family to come and offer her congratulations in person.”

She had deliberately singled out Ling Jingshu to address her — yet her tone was distinctly less than cordial.

In an instant, everyone’s attention was drawn over, and all eyes fell upon the Ninth Young Miss of the Ling family.

No one had paid her particular notice before, but now, looking more carefully, the assembled guests were each quietly struck with admiration.

This Ninth Young Miss of the Ling family was possessed of a striking, ethereal beauty that could overturn a city — and moreover carried a composure and steadiness far surpassing other girls her age.

She was seen to lift the corners of her lips and reply with a composed smile: “In response to the Crown Princess — some days past, I attended a banquet at Princess Changping’s residence, where I had the good fortune of making acquaintance with the Second Young Miss Su. At that time, the Second Young Miss Su was kind enough to invite me to her coming-of-age ceremony, and two days ago she even sent a formal invitation card. And so today I came specifically to offer my congratulations.”

Her words were gentle and melodious, unhurried and unrushed.

Yet the Crown Princess’s smile paused ever so slightly, and a swell of subtle indignation rose within her.

This Ling Jingshu — she appeared soft-spoken and deferential, but was actually nothing of the sort.

Those words just now had clearly been her way of conveying to herself that it was Su Ying who had personally invited her as a guest, and not that she had gone out of her way to come here and fawn upon the Su family!

“That girl Ying’er is usually proud and lofty in her ways. I had not expected that she and you would get along so well,” the Crown Princess said, her face smiling while her heart remained cold. “Having met you only once, she would invite you to attend her coming-of-age ceremony.”

Truly unknown what tricks this girl had used — not only had she ensnared A’Yao, but now even Su Ying had been drawn in by her.

What scheming intentions indeed — it was plain she had made up her mind to climb her way into the Crown Prince’s residence!

The trace of contempt and disdain in the Crown Princess’s eyes naturally did not escape Ling Jingshu’s notice.

Within her heart, Ling Jingshu laughed coldly to herself without cease.

The Crown Princess had always harbored a prejudice against her, deliberately making things difficult for her before the assembled guests. It was fortunate that she had never harbored any designs on climbing toward power and influence — if she had, with such a shrewd and cutting mother-in-law, she would spend her entire life stifled and put-upon!

“Indeed — it is true that between people there exists such a thing as natural affinity,” Ling Jingshu replied, her expression unchanged, smiling gently. “The Second Young Miss Su and I share a particularly natural bond — we felt at ease with each other from the very first meeting.”

Just as the Crown Princess was about to say something further, the Crown Grandson behind her gave a quiet, gentle cough: “Mother Consort, Cousin Su should be arriving soon, should she not?”

Offering his protection this early already!

The Crown Princess suppressed the urge to purse her lips in disdain and smiled as she replied: “Yes, the auspicious hour is nearly upon us. Ying’er should be on her way.”

That interruption naturally brought the earlier exchange to an end.

Ling Jingshu took the opportunity to step aside.

Jiang Shi and Ling Jingyan had remained silent throughout, yet their hearts had been quietly clenched tight with anxiety on Ling Jingshu’s behalf.

No matter how one looked at it, the Crown Princess’s attitude toward Ling Jingshu could not be called warm. Those words just now, moreover, had seemed to carry layers of pointed meaning beneath each sentence. The more carefully one savored them, the more unsettling they became.

Ling Daye and his wife, day in and day out, were busy calculating their scheme of having Ling Jingshu married into the Crown Prince’s residence. Yet they did not know that Ling Jingshu harbored no such intentions whatsoever — nor did they know that the Crown Princess already held such strong reservations against Ling Jingshu!