When Madam Wei came to apologize, Old Madam Song didn’t receive her personally. However, since she had come openly and properly after being reprimanded by Her Majesty the Empress, Old Madam Song had the First Madam entertain her for a while.
When the First Madam returned, she told Old Madam Song: “She was truly frightened badly. I noticed she was much more subdued than before.” The First Madam honestly couldn’t understand what was going through this Madam Wei’s mind—she always did such preposterous things. Last time at Huangjue Temple when she schemed against Xiang Mingzi was already reckless enough, and that had thoroughly offended the Earl of Changning’s household. Since the Earl of Changning’s household didn’t pursue the matter, she overestimated herself and crashed into trouble again. This time her fate was even more miserable than before—this time the Earl of Changning’s household didn’t even need to lift a finger; Her Majesty the Empress personally issued an edict to reprimand her. Madam Wei would probably not dare show her face in public for at least several years.
Old Madam Song wasn’t even interested in hearing about it. What concerned her now was only Song Chuyi’s marriage prospects. However, Song Chuyi had just returned and there were many matters to handle. Besides, Cui Yingshu would clearly be arriving in the capital in the next few days. On Princess Duanhui’s side, Song Chuyi had been delayed by the rumors and hadn’t paid a visit, but today she went. Old Madam Song couldn’t find the time or opportunity to bring up Song Chuyi’s marriage with her.
Princess Duanhui had become much more haggard. On the second day after arriving in the capital, Cui Huanlan was brought back to the Princess’s residence by Lady Yu. Mother and daughter held each other and cried bitterly. She questioned her daughter in detail about the assassination on the boat. Although she had known early on that her daughter was safe, her heart had still been filled with worry. When Cui Huanlan mentioned that Song Chuyi fell into the water and was saved by Zhou Weizhao, she was stunned for a moment before reacting: “His Highness personally jumped into the water to save her?”
It seemed her mother still hadn’t fully grasped the situation. Cui Huanlan sighed and rested her head against her mother’s bosom. Having experienced life and death, the little resentment she had previously harbored toward her mother had vanished. Blood ties connected mother and daughter born of the same flesh. Nestled in her mother’s embrace, breathing in her mother’s fragrant scent, she felt her entire body relax: “Yes. His Highness treats Xiao Yi differently.”
Zhou Weizhao’s treatment of Song Chuyi was indeed very special—this was something Princess Duanhui had noticed early on. However, Princess Duanhui truly hadn’t thought in that direction before. The truth was that she and Princess Rongcheng shared the same thinking: Zhou Weizhao was a complete blockhead who had never shown the slightest awareness in romantic matters. They simply couldn’t imagine he would actually have someone he admired. Moreover, Song Chuyi was also a special child. These two initially didn’t seem like they could develop those kinds of feelings for each other. Lady Cui stood there in a daze for a while, then couldn’t help but smile bitterly. Yes, these two people were both so extraordinary, yet they happened to be so perfectly in sync in everything they did—weren’t they a match made in heaven?
She held her daughter in her arms, feeling a complicated mixture of emotions. After a long pause, she finally sighed: “Mother originally wanted to… but now, looking at the situation, never mind.” Since Zhou Weizhao admired Song Chuyi, her previous good intentions now seemed unnecessary.
Cui Huanlan hugged her mother’s waist tightly, tears rolling from her eyes: “Mother, I once thought I still had a chance… but in such matters, it’s not about who came first or second. You don’t know—I did so many foolish things.”
She told Lady Cui about what happened with Song Chuyi in Jinzhong. Finally, she looked up at Lady Cui, her eyes bright and clear: “Lady Qin and Nanny Xiao Xu were right—you’ve never heard of any young lady from a prestigious family chasing after someone she likes, or competing with her sisters out of jealousy. I truly lost all sense of propriety.”
Lady Cui had originally intended to reason with her, but seeing that she clearly understood everything herself, she saved herself the trouble. Instead, she actually laughed: “I originally thought that since you two could be considered childhood sweethearts, and you’re also cousins, making such a match between relatives would be ideal. But since he has no such intentions, I won’t force you on him. Girls from our Cui family should naturally choose someone they can depend on and support each other with for the long term.”
Lady Cui hadn’t concealed any of this from Song Chuyi. When Song Chuyi came to visit, she told her everything, adding: “I won’t hide this from you either—I truly did have plans before to marry Huanlan to Weizhao. Had I known earlier that you liked the Grand Heir, I wouldn’t have meddled in such matters.”
Back then, Lady Cui had also feared that Song Chuyi would be unwilling to marry into the imperial family, and felt that there were too many troubles in the imperial household. That’s why she had advised Song Chuyi not to wade into the muddy waters of the imperial family. Song Chuyi nodded knowingly: “I understand all of this.”
She truly did understand. Lady Cui said no more—who could explain matters of the heart clearly? The more you talked about them, the more confusing they became. Better not to discuss them at all. She held Song Chuyi’s hand, her brow furrowing into the character for “river”: “Regarding Yingshu’s matter, I truly have run out of options.”
At home, Song Chuyi had already heard from Song Chengru about the Cabinet’s handling opinion on this matter. Both witness and material evidence were complete. Having the Ministry of Justice review it one more time would be about it.
The Jiujiang prefectural yamen had indeed been destroyed by flooding, and the newly constructed academy had also been scattered in ruins. Because of the flood disaster, an epidemic broke out. Four to five thousand people died or were injured in Jiujiang. Someone had to take responsibility for this.
Song Chuyi shared her analysis with Lady Cui: “Uncle was sent down as a Vice Minister from the Ministry of Works. The blueprints had to be reviewed and approved by him before they could be counted as official. Materials couldn’t be purchased until he had given his approval. So everyone can push all responsibility onto him.”
Lady Cui was so anxious she almost cried: “I know this too, but now they’re all speaking with one voice, insisting that your uncle embezzled funds, cut corners with shoddy workmanship, and caused the Yangtze River levee to break, resulting in floodwaters surrounding the city and devastation everywhere. Even His Majesty and Her Majesty refuse to see me. Is there truly no way out?”
Pushing all responsibility onto Cui Yingshu, and fabricating such complete evidence—this couldn’t be accomplished by one person alone. This required pooling all the forces of Jiangxi’s official circles to so unitedly shirk responsibility and make the Vice Minister of Works carry this scapegoat.
The most difficult aspect of the trap Elder Chen had set lay precisely here—dealing with one or two people was manageable, but what if it involved a string of officials? When you pull up a radish, the mud comes with it. Whichever one you offended first, a whole string beside them would be waiting to jump up and bite you.
“No, there is a way.” Song Chuyi looked at her aunt and broke into a smile: “Aunt, don’t worry. Soon you’ll know what method I have in mind.”
Lady Cui had always trusted Song Chuyi’s words greatly, mainly because what she said always came true. Hearing this, she actually felt relieved, and even her headache seemed to ease somewhat.
After comforting Lady Cui, Song Chuyi was returning to her residence when she happened to encounter Zhou Weizhao—Qing Zhuo didn’t take the shortcut, but instead insisted on taking the long way around through Chongyin Ward. When passing through Chongyin Ward, she was naturally stopped by Han Feng.