Old Madam Chen immediately recalled hearing last night about the Shuntian Prefecture mobilizing to capture some thieves. She contemplated for a moment, glanced at Chen Mingyu, and asked her: “You just said Her Majesty the Empress went to Taiji Hall midway?”
What a coincidence—she had heard that Princess Rongcheng had also entered the palace today. She stroked Chen Mingyu’s glossy hair and asked thoughtfully: “You didn’t see Her Highness the Princess in Her Majesty the Empress’s palace?”
Her recent efforts had finally achieved remarkable results. Under her intentional or unintentional hints and flattery, Her Majesty the Empress no longer considered Song Chuyi as the first choice for Grand Heir Consort. Instead, she had conceived the idea of pushing Song Chuyi to the Prince of Zhennan’s household while taking advantage of Yuanhui’s pronouncement about her fate—after all, because of Princess Duanhui, the Cui family naturally already had a position. Though the Song family was useful, if the Song family could understand her meaning and marry Song Chuyi to the Prince of Zhennan’s household, the Grand Heir would simultaneously possess the support of three families: the Chen, Song, and Cui families.
This was a guaranteed profit with no loss. What their benevolent Empress was best at over all these years was playing the pig to eat the tiger. How could she not be tempted by such a good thing?
Chen Mingyu shook her head, only now showing some surprise: “Speaking of which, the Princess surprisingly didn’t come to Qingning Hall first to see Her Majesty the Empress, but rather went to Taiji Hall.” She widened her eyes somewhat in astonishment, feeling as if she had grasped something.
Old Madam Chen had obviously thought of it too. She pressed the corners of her mouth and embraced Chen Mingyu, softly instructing: “Forget it. In any case, it’s none of our concern. You just need to do your own duty properly.”
Consort Fan Liangdi’s younger sister had entered the Eastern Palace once and made His Highness the Crown Prince faint from anger. To this day, no one knew exactly what the reason was. The Chen family had always straddled the wall, grasping grass on both sides—whether the Grand Heir or Prince Dongping, they wouldn’t neglect either side.
Now with the situation unclear and the Crown Prince not yet awake, to be safe, they naturally had to proceed steadily and cautiously.
But the news that came from outside at noon made Chen Mingyu somewhat unable to sit still again. She hadn’t expected that Princess Rongcheng’s palace visit to see Emperor Jianzhang was actually because Consort Xian had instigated people to assassinate her unsuccessfully and mistakenly injured Song Chuyi and His Highness the Grand Heir. She furrowed her brows and looked somewhat uneasily at Elder Chen and Old Madam Chen: “At this critical juncture, His Highness actually still went with her to Princess Rongcheng’s residence…”
The relationship between these two people didn’t look ordinary no matter how one viewed it.
Elder Chen was completely unaffected. He didn’t concern himself with these so-called romantic entanglements. Even without Song Chuyi, if Chen Mingyu successfully married His Highness the Grand Heir in the future, would His Highness the Grand Heir have no other women?
Adults looked at the bigger picture; children only calculated immediate gains and losses.
He glanced at Chen Mingyu and shook his head at her somewhat disapprovingly: “His Highness is not someone without calculation. He couldn’t possibly abandon the Song family over a single statement from that monk Yuanhui. Moreover, speaking of evil spirits and fate—whose fate is harder than His Highness the Grand Heir’s? Furthermore, he received the true teachings of the Celestial Master from Longhu Mountain and the protection of the Three Pure Ones. How could he care about such things?”
Old Madam Chen understood Elder Chen’s meaning and also persuaded Chen Mingyu: “You must remain composed. Never mind that it’s still uncertain who will prevail, even if one day things don’t go as you wish and you’re forced to serve the Grand Heir together with Song Chuyi, would you just hold in this anger and not compete?”
Chen Mingyu lowered her head, her eyes reddening. How could she compete with Song Chuyi? Though young in years, she was precociously mature, yet with such deep scheming, she could actually win over His Highness the Grand Heir—their relationship was already this good now…
Elder Chen sighed. He kept this girl by his side all day, but regrettably she ultimately wasn’t of the male sex. No matter what, he couldn’t eliminate the suspicion, sensitivity, and overthinking inherent to girls.
He shook his head and told Old Madam Chen: “I find this illness of the Crown Prince’s quite peculiar. I heard that the one constantly attending His Highness the Crown Prince has been the Crown Princess, while Consort Fan Liangdi, who was always so close to the Crown Prince they seemed like one person, hasn’t been able to approach the Crown Prince for several days…”
This single point alone was already suspicious. In the past, matters like attending to illness would never fall to the Crown Princess—His Highness the Crown Prince had always been willing to have Consort Fan Liangdi accompany him. The Great Consort Fan he had set his heart on in his youth had always been treasured and held in the palm of his hand all these years. This was the first time things had been like this.
Now the Eastern Palace’s position was secure. As long as His Highness the Crown Prince’s health didn’t fail, ascending to the great position was merely a matter of time. But his health was poor—even the usually cautious attendants and imperial physicians vaguely said he wouldn’t live much longer.
Those wanting to maintain wealth and honor for the long term naturally should find another master to support early. Because of his poor health, the Crown Prince was already like the setting sun. He only had two sons—the next true dragon son of heaven would inevitably be one of these two.
Old Madam Chen shook her head somewhat worriedly: “I’ve never heard of a time when Consort Liangdi wasn’t allowed to attend. This time it was also people from Consort Liangdi’s maternal family who angered the Crown Prince into illness. No matter what, it’s a variable.”
Best not to join in where there were variables. Like this time—if the Crown Prince truly met with any misfortune, wouldn’t Her Majesty the Empress hate the entire Fan family to the bone? Even Prince Dongping bore some fault. If they had already firmly taken a side before, it would also be an awkward matter now.
Elder Chen deeply agreed. He sighed and stroked his beard, appearing profoundly mysterious: “Let it rest for now. Just as you’re doing now—staying close to Her Majesty the Empress certainly won’t lead to any mishaps. After next year’s spring examinations, we’ll see then.”
Speaking of this matter, not only Elder Chen himself but even Old Madam Chen’s face showed some joy: “Selecting talent for the nation is a great matter. Once Old Master completes this task, we won’t need to be so cautious looking forward and backward in the future.”
By then, even if the Song and Cui families joined forces, the Chen family wouldn’t be in such a weak position. Elder Chen wore an expression of pride, rising and allowing the maids to help him into his outer garments: “I’m going to the front study. Xiaoru is still waiting for me. You ladies talk amongst yourselves. I’m keeping Xiaoru for dinner, so you needn’t wait for me.”
Old Madam Chen nodded and personally escorted Elder Chen out. Turning back to look at the silent Chen Mingyu, she asked in a heavy voice: “Do you still feel wronged?”
Chen Mingyu’s eyes were red. The vermillion mark between her brows, set off by her tears, appeared even more vividly red and ready to drip, making one feel she was pitifully delicate—who could bear to truly reproach her?
Old Madam Chen’s heart softened. She took her hand and sat back down on the daybed, looking at her with a trace of a smile: “Usually we say you’ve made considerable progress—how is it that at the critical moment you’ve become foolish again? Do you think Consort Xian was truly targeting Princess Rongcheng? Even if you gave her ten times the courage, do you think she would dare move against Princess Rongcheng?”