Song Chengru had been established in the court for over sixty years. Having experienced the ups and downs of officialdom and the conflicts among the nobility, he understood all too well what would happen if one became embroiled in factional struggles.
Those with good fortune who followed the right person—what would come of riding the coattails of dragon-following merit in the future? Like the Marquis of Jinbei and the Marquis of Huai’an—back then their military achievements were illustrious, they were enfeoffed as marquises and granted noble ranks, how glorious was that? Later their sons even married princesses, but what was the result? Even the princesses couldn’t protect their lives.
Not to mention those with poor fortune who followed the wrong person—the outcome was usually that even nine generations of their clan would be implicated.
From the day he became the head of the Song Family, he had never once considered placing the Song Family in such a dangerous position. Forget about just a Prince Duan enfeoffed in Fujian—even if Consort Song bore an imperial son in the future, he would never bet the entire Song Family on competing for that supreme position.
But the tree desires stillness, yet the wind does not cease. He didn’t provoke others, but others had already set their sights on him first.
He carefully sorted through the cause and effect, and could roughly match what happened in Song Chuyi’s dream with reality. In Song Chuyi’s dream, Song Jue would meet with trouble and Consort Song would die suddenly—all because they hadn’t anticipated it.
But now that they knew in advance, there was no reason to sit and wait for death.
After thinking carefully for a while, Old Madam Song couldn’t help but let out a cold laugh. “Indeed, I almost let myself be led by the nose.”
She brought up He Shi’s unusually enthusiastic attitude, and couldn’t help but recall how First Madam Su had pestered her at the time, insisting on talking about how Consort Song was doing in the palace. It was probably only because of the incident in the garden later that she didn’t have the chance to continue.
Song Chengru asked Song Chuyi for her view on this matter.
“His Majesty and the Empress were childhood sweethearts with deep affection. The Crown Prince was born just as His Majesty ascended the throne, and has always been regarded as an auspicious sign. Because of this, the Crown Prince was established early. If nothing unexpected happens, his position should be unshakeable.”
But there just happened to be some unexpected circumstances.
The Crown Prince was benevolent and intelligent, and favored by the current emperor, but his health was extremely poor—he had been a medicine jar since childhood.
In her previous life, though the Crown Prince’s health was poor, he lived peacefully and steadily. If he hadn’t been assassinated, who knows if he could have lived until his enthronement.
Song Chengru truly enjoyed conversing with this little granddaughter more and more. Her words were always gems that cut straight to the heart of matters. She also spoke candidly and clearly, without creating false confusion to make people lose their bearings.
His interest piqued, he tapped his fingers on the table a few times, then suddenly asked her, “Then in your view, how should your grandfather respond? Should I write a memorial as Zhang Tianhe suggested, or pretend not to know?”
Song Chuyi lowered her brows and eyes, thought briefly, then shook her head. “If Grandfather submits a memorial, what would you write?”
The corners of Song Chengru’s mouth lifted slightly, his well-groomed beard trembling.
“That the Northwest military provisions were stolen? But the provisions are currently fine—haven’t they already passed Shizui Mountain? Commander Zhang says to write a memorial, but why should you be the one to write it?” Song Chuyi unhesitatingly pointed out why it couldn’t be done. “You’ve been occupied with the household registration books and the Baoquan Bureau minting new currency—you haven’t been paying attention to these Northwest provisions at all. This matter was handled by Uncle Ji. If you knew about it more clearly than he did, what would His Majesty think? What would the censors think? And what would Uncle Ji think?”
Song Chengru looked at Song Chuyi with eyes full of delighted surprise, almost unable to resist applauding in praise.
Song Chuyi continued neither arrogantly nor rashly, “Moreover, Prince Duan clearly wants to win you over first. If that doesn’t work, he’ll certainly have follow-up moves. Right now he’s still Prince Duan. If you submit a memorial accusing him of attempting misconduct, who would believe it? What iron-clad evidence is there? What witnesses? Since there are none, you’d inevitably be accused of slandering an imperial relative, and you’d offend Prince Duan. And since Prince Duan had once intended to win you over, the Crown Prince might not fully trust you from now on either.”
Of course, if Song Chengru were part of the Eastern Palace faction, he would naturally have to inform the Crown Prince first and let him prepare early.
But Song Chengru wasn’t. He had endured from the previous emperor’s reign until now, relying on never aligning with any faction. Whoever became emperor, he served loyally—this was perhaps the best method of self-preservation.
When this little girl who was just over seven years old discussed these matters, she was as calm and natural as other young ladies discussing rouge and powder, as if these were trivial matters.
Old Madam Song felt both proud and heartbroken. She thought that what Song Linlang couldn’t accomplish, this little granddaughter could certainly achieve.
“The Eastern Palace forces have been established for many years and may not be unprepared for Prince Duan’s moves. Perhaps this time Old Madam Su personally accusing First Master Su also has the Crown Prince’s hand in it. Grandfather, the urgent matter now is to properly restrain the people in our household.” Song Chuyi’s brows furrowed slightly, concealing a trace of worry. “In the previous life, Prince Duan made his move starting with Elder Brother. In this life, Elder Brother went to Qingzhou, so there’s no guarantee they won’t set their sights on other people in the family.”
Prince Duan was actually extremely skilled at manipulating hearts. In her previous life, he first made his move on Song Jue, leaving the Song Family at that time at a complete loss—they were knocked senseless from the start. Later, using the Su Family as a link, he adopted a policy of winning over the Song Family. If the Song Family had agreed, then the testimony of the assassins who attacked Song Jue would certainly have been completely different, with the accusations definitely pointing directly at the Crown Prince’s faction. And if the Song Family didn’t agree, the outcome would naturally be the same as in the previous life—being falsely accused of embezzling military provisions.
Song Chengru and Old Madam Song exchanged glances and immediately understood the deeper meaning.
Yes, at this time, everyone in the family must be vigilant and more vigilant.
“When you enter the palace tomorrow, remember to mention this to Consort Song.” Song Chengru looked at Old Madam Song with a serious expression. “She’s a child with propriety and knows what to do.”
Old Madam Song agreed, then asked the Old Master whether they should host a banquet after the New Year—before the New Year, most noble families had sent invitations to the Song Family, and it wouldn’t be good to have no response at all.
But in the current situation, hosting a banquet had also become inappropriate. Not to mention it would be easy for people with ulterior motives to exploit.
“Let’s wait and see. Even if we host one, waiting until after the Lantern Festival would still be in time.” After thinking about it, Song Chengru also instructed Old Madam Song, “Matters of the inner household must not be taken lightly either. I just heard that you reprimanded the First and Second Madams—that was very right. Without rules, nothing can be accomplished. You’ve been far too indulgent with them on ordinary days. Otherwise, how could there be problems with the people serving the young ladies? This is fortunate that it was at Xiaoyi’s side—”
He thought about it and felt something was wrong. Song Chuyi was so intelligent and clearly different from ordinary people—why would she have no way to deal with a supervising nanny and a senior maid?
Had she truly not discovered that the supervising nanny and senior maid had overstepped their bounds, or was she borrowing a knife to kill?
He glanced at his little granddaughter sitting upright and proper, and a layer of cold air shrouded his eyes.