When the Eleventh Princess returned to her sleeping quarters, Consort Song was having Zhuying wring out a towel to dry her hair. Seeing her daughter’s expression of unbridled joy, like a young maiden unable to contain her happiness, she couldn’t help but smile and beckon her over, drawing her to sit in front of her. “Are you really that happy?”
She knew of her daughter’s grievances. One could manage heaven and earth, but not the Ninth Princess who wasn’t her own daughter. For the sake of reputation and the greater good, they could only endure and yield again and again, which resulted in others mistaking them for easy targets and repeatedly riding roughshod over them at will. Both were princesses, yet the Ninth Princess, relying on a bit of favor, truly believed she could reach heaven and earth with nothing beyond her grasp. She treated the Eleventh Princess not like a younger sister, but rather like a palace maid who could be ordered about at will. Her usual speech was filled with mockery and ridicule, and that was still tolerable, but the matter with the lion dog last time…
Consort Song touched the scar on the Eleventh Princess’s elbow, a dark gleam flashing in her eyes. The Ninth Princess had first allowed that Yuzhao lion dog to bite the Eleventh Princess, then later clamored for the Eleventh Princess to pay with her life for a dog.
What a joke. No wonder the censors had all caught wind of it and submitted memorials during that period—the Great Zhou had produced such a sensational princess who wanted her own sister to pay with her life for a dog. Submitting even one memorial about this could probably earn them a place in the history books.
They had endured again and again, yet who knew that after being confined and punished, the Ninth Princess still didn’t know how to restrain herself, but instead intensified her behavior. Such a person—unless she suffered some consequences, she would never understand the principle that heaven’s way runs in cycles.
The Eleventh Princess’s eyes were bright, rarely showing such a pleased smile. “Finally there came a day when I could see her frantic with rage yet with nowhere to complain. I’m truly overjoyed.”
Consort Song stroked her head and instructed Zhuyi to take her to rest properly. “There’s still a banquet tonight. If you want to watch the spectacle, there’s no need to rush now—there will be plenty of opportunities tonight. Don’t get so carried away that you miss tonight’s good show.”
Today was the second day at the hunting grounds. Emperor Jianzhang had personally hunted a deer and countless rabbits, roebucks, and other game—an excellent start and good omen. Even though Prince Duan’s inauspicious matter had dampened the mood, there was still no reason to cancel the evening banquet. The more one cared about something, the less one could show excessive concern, otherwise the gossip would only become more rampant with no end in sight.
When the time came for the evening banquet, Consort Xian did attend after all, but the smile hanging on her face looked somewhat forced no matter how one looked at it. Even Empress Dowager noticed something wrong with her complexion and asked with concern, “Should you return and call for an imperial physician to examine you? The wind is strong tonight—don’t catch a chill again.”
Her daughter had not only been humiliated and injured, but even her usually steady son had caused trouble. How could Consort Xian possibly look well? Hearing the Empress ask this, she felt it was clearly meant to slap her face. Though furious in her heart, she still had to maintain her usual composed, gentle smile on the surface. “Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. It’s nothing, I just napped too long this afternoon. A bit of wind will clear my head.”
From the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Song Chuyi sitting beside Princess Duanhui, and her expression froze again. The Ninth Princess, feeling she had lost too much face, stubbornly refused to come out and see people, yet the instigator remained blissfully unaware and still attended the evening banquet with the air of a victor. She looked inconspicuously to her right at Consort Song, who was smiling charmingly while leaning in to listen to what the Eleventh Princess was saying, and the breath stuck in her chest grew even more stifling. The Song family had truly become arrogant to this extent. Although both the Emperor and Empress were magnanimous and didn’t reproach them, they themselves didn’t know to show restraint. Not only did they not have Song Chuyi hide and avoid appearing before people, they actually had Song Chuyi sit beside Princess Duanhui, clearly showing they didn’t take the Ninth Princess’s matter to heart at all. An attitude of “we hit her and we hit her—what can you do about it?”
No matter how deep her cultivation, she couldn’t help but flush red with anger, her delicate hand squeezing a strawberry until its juices overflowed without feeling any relief, wishing she could devour that plague Song Number Six alive on the spot.
But she knew she couldn’t. Today Emperor Jianzhang had distributed the venison from his hunt, and the Song family was prominently on the list. Even Emperor Jianzhang showed complete indifference to the matter between Song Chuyi and the Ninth Princess, and the Empress had dismissed it with a light remark about children’s play. If she made a fuss now, she would clearly be walking straight into gunfire. She hadn’t reached the point of losing her head to that degree.
Han Yueheng stared somewhat dumbfounded at Song Chuyi sitting beside Princess Duanhui, as if trying to see a flower bloom on her face. Even Young Madam Fan noticed her somewhat intense gaze and glanced upward following her line of sight.
At the time, she had gloated, thinking Song Chuyi was probably going to be in trouble. The best outcome would be a reprimand from the Empress followed by being sent back to the capital overnight by the Song family to reflect behind closed doors. But unexpectedly, after these two days passed, not only did nothing happen to Song Chuyi, but today she could even sit together with Princess Duanhui. This meant that the Ninth Princess had eaten this loss for nothing.
Chen Mingyu was also shocked, her eyes wide. Her mother had never been presentable in society, and Old Madam Chen was too old after all, unsuitable for the exhausting journey back and forth. Therefore, with no elder nearby to consult, she could only swallow her shock and confusion. She still remembered how Consort Xian had stormed into Yanbo Zhishuang Hall with eyebrows raised like willows turned upside down, but she never expected the matter to suddenly begin and then have no conclusion. She and the Ninth Princess never received news of Song Chuyi’s downfall in the end.
In her heart, she became even more convinced that Song Chuyi was a serious threat, and she grew increasingly vigilant and guarded against her.
Today, besides Emperor Jianzhang’s abundant harvest, the other young nobles also had their gains. Although the Crown Prince’s poor health still prevented him from personally hunting, his two sons both had gratifying results.
The atmosphere was harmonious. Whether it was Prince Duan’s matter or the Ninth Princess’s affair, both were like pebbles sinking into the sea without stirring up the slightest ripple. But the song and dance performance below had just finished when the envoys from Eastern Ying publicly raised the matter of seeking a marriage alliance once again.
The venue suddenly fell silent, with only the crackling of the bonfire remaining.
This was originally an expected matter. Consort Xian breathed a light sigh of relief, finally feeling the resentment in her heart had found an outlet, and the faint smile at the corners of her mouth finally held a few traces of genuine pleasure.
The Eleventh Princess’s entire body stiffened. Though she tried hard to control her expression, her hand gripped Consort Song’s arm tightly, unconsciously trembling somewhat.
Princess Duanhui looked across the distance at those few envoys below whose faces couldn’t even be seen clearly, a trace of cold mockery flashing across her face.
Emperor Jianzhang held his wine cup, smiling as he looked at the envoys below and was about to speak, when from outside Cen Biliang came rushing in breathlessly with stumbling steps, his expression rather poor as he shouted loudly, “Urgent report from Fujian!”