Not only had Consort Song comprehended the Empress’s intentions, but Crown Princess Lu and Fan Liangdi, who came to pay respects every day, had also understood them as well. As soon as Consort Song left Qingning Palace and Old Madam Song entered the palace on the first day of the month, Crown Princess Lu couldn’t help but laugh softly.
Xiangling bent down to collect the gift list from her hands and said in a low voice: “Her Majesty has begun making plans for His Highness.”
It was very obvious that the Empress was quite satisfied with the Song family’s Sixth Miss. At first, she had been somewhat afraid of Sixth Miss’s reputation as a calamitous lone star, but after the incident with Master Yuanhui, even this layer of concern was gone. Combined with the letters sent back from Jinzhong by Cuiting and Mingtai, the Empress became even more convinced that Miss Song Six was an excellent candidate for the Grand Heir’s consort.
This aunt of hers, although unwilling to offend her own biological son, could truly be called quite good to Zhou Weizhao, this grandson who was increasingly gaining Emperor Jianzhang’s favor. But these two words “quite good” could not compare to when the Empress had turned a blind eye and stood by with folded arms when she herself had been forced into a corner while holding her son. Those difficult days from years past when tears couldn’t even flow had long since worn away all of Crown Princess Lu’s affection for the Empress mother and son.
She hadn’t been someone who absolutely had to marry the Crown Prince. She had originally liked Prince Gong, and both the family elders and Aunt Empress at the time had intentions of making it happen. Not a single person had said she shouldn’t like Prince Gong. But in the end, she was suddenly given to the Crown Prince by the Empress at the last minute. Even this would have been acceptable—she wasn’t the type who only knew how to rely on family glory without being willing to contribute to the family. She had willingly married the Crown Prince, willingly thinking that she must properly be a good Crown Princess, but her passion had turned to ashes in an instant.
She pulled up the corners of her mouth in a neither cold nor warm smile, lowered her head, and began writing a letter to her son. Even though she felt she had entrusted herself to the wrong person and had no more hopes for this lifetime, her son was still a concern she couldn’t let go of. Her only wish now was simply for her son to be well. She needed to ask her son’s thoughts. If her son liked her, she would naturally be happy to have such a clever and capable daughter-in-law as Miss Song Six as support. But if her son didn’t like her, then no matter how good Miss Song Six was, it would be useless. She herself had suffered enough from the pain of being together in appearance but separated in spirit, and didn’t want her son to be like her, losing enthusiasm for the beautiful life so early.
Xiangling and Xiangzhi attended to her from the side. After the letter was sealed, they had someone send it out, then looked at Crown Princess Lu with some worry: “Liangdi’s side seems rather unhappy…”
Fan Liangdi was naturally unhappy. They were both grandsons of the Empress, yet the Empress’s favoritism was perhaps a bit too obvious. Fan Liangdi felt the Empress’s favoritism was quite annoying—back then, she had favored Prince Gong, so much so that the Crown Prince still brooded over it and couldn’t let it go to this day. Now she was favoring Zhou Weizhao again… Why did parents who couldn’t treat everyone fairly have so many children? After letting her thoughts wander in this manner, she irritably threw the gold-dusted fan in her hand to the side, stood up, and slowly let out a breath.
Nanny Fang timely brought up a bowl of iced dessert, with cherries dotted on top that were especially pleasing to the eye. Watching Fan Liangdi slowly stir the crushed ice and fruit in the bowl, she softly advised: “Why should Your Highness worry? Although the Empress values the Grand Heir, the Crown Prince is ultimately still closer to our Prince.”
This was also the only thing that still comforted Fan Liangdi. Ever since the failed assassination attempt on Zhou Weizhao, she felt that everything was going against her wishes—there was not a single bit of news from Han Zhengqing’s side, and her parents at home had also become old and muddled, actually quarreling with her over her second brother’s matter. She truly was somewhat overwhelmed.
Fortunately, her son still very much pleased the Crown Prince; otherwise, Fan Liangdi would probably worry even more. She pinched that cherry, knitting her delicate brows with a displeased expression: “As expected, the old fox of the Song family has finally chosen a side and stood over there.”
She had thought the Song family knew how to assess the situation, but now it seemed the Song family was nothing special—so what if Zhou Weizhao was currently favored by Emperor Jianzhang? In the future, it would be the Crown Prince who succeeded to the throne, and the son the Crown Prince valued was not Zhou Weizhao. Yet they were so eager to place their bet. Zhou Weizhao’s existence was always a thorn in her heart, making her feel as if something was stuck in her throat, unable to eat or sleep peacefully. She clenched her hand into a fist, and after thinking it over repeatedly, instructed Nanny Fang to go invite Zhou Weiqi over.
Zhou Weiqi came very quickly. In the matter of Elder Chen, he had indeed done as discussed by all the advisors of the Eastern Palace—not seeking merit but seeking to avoid mistakes. Therefore, recently Emperor Jianzhang had been quite gentle with him—although in the end Elder Chen hadn’t died, the Eastern Palace had indeed done something underhanded in it, and Emperor Jianzhang was clear about all of this.
After this matter was handled well, Emperor Jianzhang soon assigned him another task, requiring him to inspect the Tongzhou granaries at midyear. Tongzhou was the gateway to the capital and also the capital’s granary. The five great granaries all stored large quantities of grain. Now that it was approaching the time to collect grain again, Emperor Jianzhang had entrusted this matter to Zhou Weiqi, and he was currently frantically busy with this affair.
Seeing his face somewhat haggard, Fan Liangdi first instructed him to pay attention to taking care of himself and rest well, then told him about the Empress’s intention to give Song Chuyi to Zhou Weizhao as the Grand Heir’s consort. At the end, she added: “If the Song family and Cui family truly use Miss Song Six as a justification to legitimately board that ship, your side will only become even more difficult in the future.”
Zhou Weiqi knew this point himself without Fan Liangdi’s reminder, but even knowing it now, what could be done? Last time, with the help of the remnants of Prince Duan’s party and the power of Huangjue Temple, despite exhaustive planning and calculation, they had still fallen short of success. Now that Zhou Weizhao had successfully quelled the rebellion and was about to return to the capital to report on his mission, they had already lost the best opportunity. It was nothing more than another vexing matter added on.
He instead advised his mother to set this matter aside for now, but Fan Liangdi shook her head: “After he returns, on the surface he won’t do anything due to Eastern Palace unity, but who knows what he might say privately to your Imperial Grandfather and Imperial Grandmother? Your Imperial Grandfather and Imperial Grandmother already favor him. What if the Imperial Guard investigates then? The Imperial Guard is no longer like before, with Jia Yingxin passing along information…”
Just this one sentence made Zhou Weiqi’s skin break out in goosebumps. He looked at his mother and opened his mouth: “But what method do we have now? Lai Chenglong and Ye Jingkuan are now maintaining twelve-fold vigilance…”
“Methods are always thought up by people.” Fan Liangdi’s delicate face took on a sinister cast: “No matter what, we must first think of a way to eliminate him. If we keep him around any longer, it will only be endless future trouble.”