The Empress’s intentions were conveyed through Consort Song’s mouth. After leaving the palace, Old Madam Song fell ill. She had always harbored this worry, feeling she had wronged Song Chuyi and didn’t want Song Chuyi’s future life to be sacrificed into the dark and sunless depths of the inner palace. But now, the meaning the Empress vaguely revealed clearly showed she wanted to seek Song Chuyi’s hand in marriage for Zhou Weizhao.
Such a dragon’s son and phoenix’s grandson was naturally desirable. Zhou Weizhao had indeed helped the Song family and Song Chuyi quite a bit. It wasn’t that she had no favorable impression of the Grand Prince. But so what? The Grand Prince’s status was too special. He was the son of the heir apparent, destined from birth to be the next heir apparent. Yet the Crown Prince had a biased heart, doting exclusively on his younger son. Above him stood a beloved Fan Liangdi, making his future uncertain. This position had always been one where the victor became king and the vanquished a bandit—if one lost, one’s life wouldn’t be enough to fill the void. Moreover, even if in the end one won the gamble and successfully ascended, there would still be no respite afterward. Even after successfully ascending the throne, there would still be three thousand beauties in the rear palace. Although Emperor Jianzhang didn’t favor women, not one of the four consorts by his side was missing. Throughout all of history, how many emperors had truly been like Emperor Chengzu, who had only Empress Yu and remained devoted to her until old age? One could count them on a single hand.
Song Chuyi had suffered too much and never enjoyed a few days of peace. In her heart, she had originally thought that the Prince Zhennan’s manor would be most suitable. But now after this commotion, the Prince Zhennan’s manor was firmly in the Eastern Palace faction. Whether they would withdraw on their own was still uncertain.
Old Master Song knew this was her worry. He held her hand to comfort her: “It’s not necessarily set in stone yet. Empress Mother is also very attentive to that girl from the Chen family. Looking further ahead, didn’t we reach an understanding with the Cui family about their legitimate eldest daughter? In the current situation, Empress Mother may not immediately make a decision. She’s a clever person, and clever people think things through more carefully. The Lu family also has girls of appropriate age. Chief Grand Secretary Chang’s family also has girls of refined character and talent. Even Elder Du’s granddaughter has recently been frequently entering the palace to accompany Her Majesty in picking Buddha beans. It may not necessarily fall to Xiaoyi. Don’t worry about troubles before they come. After Xiaoyi takes a trip to Jinzhong, perhaps Old Madam Cui can find her a suitable match.”
Old Master Song’s words made some sense. Old Madam Song regained some spirit, leaning against the cushion Old Master Song had propped up for her and sighing: “I’ve really lost my composure somewhat. Previously, Empress Mother had no such intentions, but this has all happened within the past half month. Such shocks and surprises—isn’t it frightening? If you ask me, it would be better to discuss with Cousin-in-law early and set out for Jinzhong sooner. Dragging this out like this, I really can’t feel at ease.”
Old Master Song stroked the white hair at Old Madam Song’s temples. His other hand still tightly grasped hers as he smiled and nodded: “We’ll do as you say. When they come this evening, we’ll tell them.”
In the afternoon, when Song Chuyi returned from outside, Old Master Song had someone summon her to the study. Without any concealment, he revealed the Empress’s intentions to her and spoke to her earnestly: “Xiaoyi, your grandmother and I previously kept your wishes in mind, thinking it must be to your satisfaction. But look, the situation changes in the blink of an eye. Now Empress Mother has again formed the intention of matching you with the Grand Prince. Search your heart and ask yourself—do you want to wade into the muddy waters of the imperial family?”
Compared to this, a place like the Prince Zhennan’s manor was simply ideal beyond measure. Song Chuyi wasn’t surprised. That day, the Empress had been guarded at every turn, probing her with words within words—she had already perceived the Empress’s intentions, but she had played dumb and muddled through.
She lowered her head for a long time without speaking. After a while, she raised her head to look at Old Master Song and asked him: “Do Grandfather and Grandmother now want me to make an immediate decision?”
Of course, it couldn’t possibly be a decision about whether to marry Zhou Weizhao, but rather a decision about whether to marry Ye Jingchuan.
She looked at Old Master Song with some difficulty, rarely showing such hesitation: “But I haven’t thought it through yet.” Although both Consort Song and Yin Yunduan had taught her many principles from the perspective of those who had been through it and explained the pros and cons to her, ultimately she couldn’t get past that hurdle in her heart.
The experiences of her previous life were truly too tragic and cruel. Even now, she couldn’t forget Ran’er’s eyes, couldn’t forget Shen Qingrang’s heartlessness and Song Chuning’s betrayal. She wasn’t afraid of not obtaining or not being able to seek something—what she feared most was obtaining it and then losing it. That would be the most fatal.
Outside the room, the wind howled loudly. Old Master Song shook his head looking at Song Chuyi: “Grandfather has no intention of making you decide.” Seeing Song Chuyi raise her head again, a loving smile appeared on his face: “What we help you choose may certainly be the most suitable, but it may not be what you like. You need time to think about whether this is what you want. We’ll discuss everything after you return from Jinzhong.”
At least she was given time to consider. The anxiety in Song Chuyi’s heart lessened somewhat. She stepped forward to look at the courtesy gifts Old Master Song had prepared for her to bring to Jinzhong for her cousins.
She had just seen a Wencai Mandarin Duck inkstick when Song Jue arrived. His face bore a somewhat gloating smile as he looked at them, coughed twice, and said: “Something has finally happened with Third Madam Chen.”
Madam Fang had step by step lured Third Madam Chen into the trap. During these days when the streets and alleys of the capital were all busy inquiring about Master Yuanhui’s matters, Madam Fang, at their suggestion, had not abandoned her plan for Third Madam Chen either.
By now, Third Madam Chen had invested seven thousand taels of silver as capital. It was said this was her entire dowry.
According to the plan, now was indeed when this sum of silver should run into trouble—because Third Madam Chen’s eldest daughter was about to be betrothed. Betrothal required preparing a dowry, and a dowry couldn’t be prepared in a short time. More particular families would even specially plant trees in the mountains from the moment a daughter was born to prepare wood for making furniture for her in the future. Old Madam Chen naturally couldn’t be so attentive to a concubine-born son’s daughter. So although the public funds would contribute silver, it wouldn’t be much. Third Madam Chen had to plan it all herself.
Seeing that Song Chengru didn’t speak, Song Chuyi turned her head to ask Song Jue: “Have we already followed the plan and had Ma Changjiang and the others instigate those who borrowed at high interest to flee?”
Once those who borrowed the silver fled, Third Madam Chen would lose everything with no return. She couldn’t blame Madam Fang either, because Madam Fang was also a victim—she was also lending at interest. Even less did she dare report it to the authorities, as this violated the law to begin with. Mentioning it to her family was something she didn’t even dare to think about. Old Madam Chen and Old Master Chen were already extremely dissatisfied with her because of the matter with Old Madam Xiang. If she revealed this matter, with Old Madam Chen’s temperament, she would probably immediately have Third Master Chen divorce his wife.