This was Song Chuyi’s first time entering the palace since her rebirth. The palace city was still as majestic as when she had been the Duke’s wife in her previous life, its walls on all four sides still so deep they inspired fear.
She still remembered her last palace visit in her previous life. She had been carried in, barely clinging to life, kneeling before Empress Dowager Rongxian, who by then had become Grand Empress Dowager, desperately begging her to change her mind.
At that time, Song Yan had already disappeared without a trace. She had exhausted all her strength and spent every last coin to get the Duke Manor’s people to submit a petition for her to enter the palace.
The Grand Empress Dowager, maintaining her exquisite makeup, looked down at her from on high with disdain, lightly uttering words that made her vomit out her last mouthful of blood: “Too late. A few days ago he was already made into a foundation pillar to accompany Shijia. Shijia liked handsome ones. His eight characters were suitable, and he looked quite good too. This was his fortune.”
Fortune or karmic debt? She clutched at her collar, unable to catch her breath, each gasp causing sharp pain in her chest cavity. Like a dying dog, she collapsed on the thick velvet carpet of Changning Hall while Song Chuning, Wang Jinsi, and several others mocked her.
Times had changed, separated by a previous life and this one, yet she had carved the face of every single person in that hall into her mind, even remembering the depth of their breathing without the slightest error. Hatred taken to its extreme, powerlessness taken to its extreme—so she could only force herself to remember, carving that feeling of desperate, helpless hatred bit by bit into her flesh and heart, constantly warning herself never to fall to such a state again.
She looked at the cold stone tiles on the ground, vaguely recalling her state of mind then. What had she said to herself?
At that time she had thought: if there was a next life, she would make every single one of these people accompany Song Yan in death, not leaving a single one!
And now, she had finally arrived.
The Empress Dowager’s Changning Hall still stood tall and lofty. Her personal female official, Yu Pei, still had a middle-aged appearance, standing neither servile nor arrogant beneath the flying eaves, smiling as she welcomed them inside.
She glanced at Song Chuyi, who was supporting Old Madam Song, pressed her lips in a smile with some surprise: “So this is Sixth Miss? Truly carved from jade. Why haven’t we seen Fourth Miss and Fifth Miss?”
Old Madam Song gripped Song Chuyi’s hand tightly and nodded as she exchanged pleasantries with her: “Indeed, she’s still a little girl with a playful heart not yet reined in. Little Four caught a cold, and Little Five has always been close to her. In the end, only this little troublemaker was left to accompany me inside.”
Yu Pei tactfully asked no more and, with a shallow smile, welcomed them into the main hall.
In the center of Changning Hall’s main chamber, Empress Dowager Rongxian sat steadily on the phoenix throne, coldly watching them perform their courtesies. Her phoenix eyes slightly raised, she smiled but didn’t quite smile as she extended her well-maintained hand to point at Song Chuyi: “So this is that little girl who’s sixth in line?”
Old Madam Song impassively confirmed this, catching a glimpse from the corner of her eye of the Empress seated on the right, feeling somewhat more settled in her heart.
She still had that same lightly dismissive, superior manner as always, her face overlapping with the one from Song Chuyi’s previous life, nearly causing all the blood in Song Chuyi’s chest to surge out.
Yet she maintained herself very well, behaving like a nine-year-old girl entering the palace for the first time—anxiously lowering her head without saying a word, silently pressing closer to Old Madam Song’s side.
Empress Dowager Rongxian gave a derisive laugh. Did Consort Song truly think she was a confused old fool, pushing forward such a little girl claiming she was the murderer who killed Wang Jinsi, hoping to sacrifice a pawn to save the king and have her spare the Song family?
Her eyes gradually deepened, the contempt and resentment in her heart growing wildly like water weeds.
Back then, her son Prince Tai had died at the hands of Emperor Jianzhang and his son. Her natal family had also been exterminated by them. Now even her natal family’s only remaining niece, she hadn’t been able to protect for her brother…
Good, very good. She closed her eyes, concealing the poison filling her heart. Perfect—this time she would have Zhou Ji and the Song family die together, make all these people go to the underworld together to apologize to Prince Tai and Duke Chengguo Manor!
When she reopened her eyes, she had returned to normal, still maintaining that superior manner from before. She pointed at a richly dressed noble lady and said: “Ah-Jiu, you lead these little girls outside to play. Take a good look at which young ladies suit you, then bring them in to keep you company.”
This time, Empress Dowager Rongxian had invited these young noble ladies of tender age into the palace under the pretext of finding companions for the Ninth Princess.
Song Chuyi swept her peripheral vision left and right and indeed saw several other young ladies, and coincidentally they were all acquaintances. Chen Mingyu, Ye Yunxiu, and Ye Yunyi were all prominently among them.
The Ninth Princess descended the steps from beside the Empress Dowager and was just about to take a step when she saw a female official in palace dress hurrying into the hall, covering her mouth with her hand to whisper something in Yu Pei’s ear.
She instinctively turned to look at her imperial grandmother, her mouth slightly open as if she had sensed something wrong.
Yu Pei’s face also showed a surprised expression. She folded her hands and ascended the steps to whisper something by the Empress Dowager’s ear.
Empress Dowager Rongxian’s expression suddenly changed, as if she couldn’t maintain her composed appearance. She looked at the Empress below: “What’s going on?! Wasn’t it said that the Crown Prince’s condition had stabilized? Why is the Eastern Palace sending word that he’s unconscious and won’t wake up?!”
The Empress widened her eyes as if shocked, then abruptly stood up and cried out in alarm: “This morning when I went to see him, he was somewhat better… This subject will go to the Eastern Palace to check…”
All the noble ladies in the hall were alarmed. Even Old Madam Chen’s face couldn’t help but show worry—she kept feeling today’s atmosphere was somewhat strange.
“Wait.” Empress Dowager Rongxian’s gaze swept over everyone in the hall once. She called out to stop the anxious Empress, paused, then said: “I shall go with you to see. After all, this is no small matter.”
Only she also felt a vague unease in her heart. The hidden pieces she had laid out hadn’t yet emerged, and moreover, this progression seemed much faster than what she had anticipated?
The Empress seemed somewhat at a loss, anyone could see the anxiety beneath her forced composure. She respectfully acknowledged, suppressing the anxiety filling her heart to ask: “But today Mother has guests here…”
Empress Dowager Rongxian’s voice was cool as she gave a light reprimand, her tone seemingly containing blame: “In the current situation, can’t you distinguish which is more important? Moreover, all these noble ladies are veterans of many years. Why not have them come along to see? To speak a word without fear of offense—they might as well bring some of their longevity as old birthday stars.”
Everyone inwardly groaned endlessly. The Princess Consort of Zhennan, who had received advance warning from her husband and son, even had palms sweating profusely, her heart in her throat.
The wives of families with important officials had all heard some rumors about the Crown Prince’s severe illness. But since the palace didn’t allow it to spread, they pretended not to know. Now that they had entered the palace and heard such secret matters, and in just a few words had been pulled into this whirlpool by Empress Dowager Rongxian, they all couldn’t help but carry anxious hearts on high alert with their full attention.