Old Madam Song wasn’t surprised that the Ninth Princess and Consort Xian would reveal such intentions. After the incident with the Eastern Sea envoys, they likely felt even more strongly that the Ninth Princess’s marriage should be settled early. Otherwise, this time it was Eastern Sea envoys coming to propose marriage—what if next time it were Goryeo? Moreover, with Eastern Sea now being beaten back by Guo Huaiying, they would very likely raise the white flag and surrender before long. If they sent another group to negotiate peace with Great Zhou and again proposed the matter of a princess being sent far away for a marriage alliance—being sent far away was never a joyful matter. What’s more, now that Consort Xian had lost a son who had always been favored and filial, and the Ninth Princess had also fallen from grace before Emperor Jianzhang due to her arrogance and tyranny, it was more than normal for them to be proactive in planning for themselves.
As for how the news was leaked out—Old Madam Song pulled up the corners of her mouth in a mocking smile. Did this even need to be said? It must have been Old Madam Chen who wanted to sell this news to gain reputation for Chen Mingyu, yet also didn’t want the Song family to actually gain such a tremendous benefit. So she found a way to vaguely leak it to Consort Xian and the Ninth Princess, who were desperately searching for a way forward, hoping they would ruin this matter and prevent the Song family from truly forming a marriage alliance with the Shen family.
What surprised her was that the Empress would actually tell Consort Song about Consort Xian and the Ninth Princess secretly contacting the Shen family—what did this indicate? Did it mean the Empress had accelerated her efforts to win over the Song family? Or did the Empress actually not want Consort Xian and the Ninth Princess to use the Shen family to rise again, possibly even turning Prince Lu into the next Prince Duan?
Both possibilities existed, but being prepared was better than being unprepared. She smiled at Zhuying and said she understood, then asked her to relay a message to Consort Song: “Please tell Her Ladyship not to worry. Haste makes waste, and their manner of eating won’t be too unseemly. Everything can be discussed after entering the palace on the fifteenth. Tell her to take care of her health and not to worry about such matters.”
The breath that Zhuying had been holding in her heart gradually relaxed. She nodded and agreed, then smiled and said: “Consort Song also said that if it’s convenient, please ask Old Madam to bring Sixth Miss into the palace as well. It’s been some time since we’ve seen each other, and she misses her. She asks you not to worry about reputation or anything like that—she has no such concerns.”
But the Ninth Princess might not be without such concerns. Recently, because she had suffered a serious illness that had only just improved, Emperor Jianzhang had become somewhat indulgent with her again. Heaven knew if she would take the opportunity to stir up some trouble again. However, Old Madam Song knew that Consort Song must have something she absolutely needed to discuss with Song Chuyi, so she could only agree first: “When her health improves a bit, I’ll bring her into the palace with me to pay respects to Consort Song.”
After Zhuying left, Old Madam Song leaned against her pillow to rest for a while, then instructed Yushu to invite Old Master Song and Song Jue to dine together at Ningde Courtyard that evening. Xiang Mingzi and Song Chuyi usually ate at Ningde Courtyard anyway, so there was no need to send separate invitations for them.
After the meal was finished and the table cleared, fresh bird’s nest egg milk soup was served. Old Madam Song then brought up what Zhuying had said today: “Consort Xian was probably scared out of her wits by this incident, terrified that the Ninth Princess might be married off randomly without being able to choose a suitable prince consort. Therefore, she’s particularly satisfied with the Shen family.”
Consort Xian had never been willing to give up. Even if Prince Lu was one who accepted fate, she could force him not to accept it. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have gone to such great lengths to set her sights on the Shen family.
Song Jue frowned and sneered coldly: “Old Madam Chen is truly wily with age. On one hand, she leaked the news to us, claiming she’d be delighted to see it succeed. On the other hand, fearing that we might actually succeed, she ran to Consort Xian to reveal this news, getting Consort Xian to disgust us.”
The worries that the Ninth Princess had, Consort Song and the Eleventh Princess also had—and even more so. After all, when that batch of so-called Eastern Sea envoys came to propose marriage last time, Emperor Jianzhang hadn’t thought of having the Ninth Princess marry over there; the candidate was the Eleventh Princess.
Just as Consort Xian worried, if Eastern Sea lost this time, those daimyo would inevitably think of coming to Great Zhou to propose marriage, and borrowing Great Zhou’s military strength to eliminate other daimyo and unify the feudal lords. And Emperor Jianzhang, for the sake of peace along the coast, would very likely agree.
The bird’s nest egg milk soup in the flower-shaped bowl was bright in color and sweet in taste, making one’s mouth water at the sight. Song Chuyi held the small bowl and took a sip. Hearing Song Jue say this, and seeing both Old Master Song and Old Madam Song looking at her, she stuck out her tongue. When drowsy, someone delivers a pillow—she had been worrying about what to do with the Ninth Princess after dismissing Shen Qingrang. Now it seemed that someone had already found an exit for the Ninth Princess.
“After all, Consort Xian is in the palace, and what she can do is limited.” Song Chuyi put down her bowl, her eyes particularly bright under the lamplight, like gems embedded in a sword hilt, sparkling brilliantly. “But we are much freer than she is, and also have the advantage of proximity. In this matter, Grandmother, why not ask the Princess Consort of Zhennan and Madam Li?”
Madam Li, the wife of Li Yu, was originally close friends with Shen Yang, their relationship quite deep. And the Princess Consort of Zhennan had also deliberately cultivated good relations with the Shen and Guo families back when Ye Jingchuan was about to work under Guo Huaiying. Ye Jingchuan and Guo Yantang were so close they seemed like one person.
At this time, if those two went to speak with the Shen family, the Shens weren’t confused—why would they give up a princess who carried Song family blood to pursue the sister of Prince Duan, who was implicated in the Yangzhou corruption case?
Old Madam Song’s eyes lit up, and she couldn’t help but laugh: “Only you would be clever enough to think of those two.”
After thinking it over, she smiled and said: “In a few days, have the eldest daughter-in-law send an invitation to invite the Princess Consort of Zhennan to our home. It’s been a long time since our family has been lively. This time, taking advantage of seeing off our in-law’s mother, let’s set up a few tables so everyone can be happy.”
The pretext was ready-made anyway. Seeing off her in-law’s mother, with several families of close friends coming to join the celebration—no one could find fault with that. Old Master Song had been avoiding social obligations for so long, not even attending court. For him to host a banquet at home to see off his in-law’s mother, surely no one could pick out any fault with that. It would be the perfect opportunity to discuss this matter with both Madam Li and the Princess Consort of Zhennan, asking them to first sound out Madam Shen and see what her attitude was.
Prince consorts of Great Zhou, unlike previous dynasties, could also hold office at court. Like Princess Rongcheng’s prince consort, Ye Jingkuan, who still served as Prince Consort Commander and worked at the Commander’s Office, and could inherit the family business in the future and take charge of the Fujun Guard.
The Shen family might not refuse to marry a princess. Taking ten thousand steps back, even if they didn’t want to marry the Eleventh Princess, they absolutely could not let the Ninth Princess gain this advantage.