The additional trousseau gift that the Crown Princess rewarded to Xiang Mingzi was quite magnificent—a floral crown woven from red gold silk thread. The crown was adorned with uniformly-sized, round pearls that looked extremely beautiful. At a glance, it was clearly carefully selected. Grand Madam Song couldn’t help but feel pleasantly surprised. When she first adopted Xiang Mingzi into her household, it was merely to please Old Madam Song and Old Master Song. Now, however, she had truly developed some genuine affection for her. Moreover, Xiang Mingzi was indeed a lovable girl. With the Crown Princess giving her such face, Grand Madam Song thought again of Consort Song’s young prince who was still of tender age. Her thoughts began to multiply. The young prince had so many older brothers ahead of him who had already come of age and been enfeoffed as princes. The Grand Prince and others born to the Crown Prince were all quite a bit older than him. Under the constant instruction of Old Master Song and Grand Master Song, Grand Madam Song also knew that this child’s future would be nothing more than being enfeoffed as a vassal prince like his brothers. However, vassal princes were also divided into different ranks. While Emperor Jianzhang was still on the throne, things were naturally good—the vassal princes were all his sons, so their lives wouldn’t be too difficult. But afterward, when the Crown Prince ascended the throne, the vassal princes’ lives wouldn’t be as easy as now. Taking advantage of this time, if she could establish good relations with both the Crown Princess and the Grand Prince, that would be excellent.
Old Madam Song was also very pleased. Although she knew the Crown Princess was not someone who couldn’t distinguish right from wrong, the fact that the Crown Princess could make this gesture proved that she sincerely wanted to get along well with the Song family. With this intention, there was no worry that she would treat Song Chuyi poorly. All at once, her most beloved granddaughter and great-granddaughter both had their destinies settled. She felt as if a great weight had been lifted from her heart, and her whole person became much more relaxed. In the evening, she couldn’t help but sigh to Old Master Song, “Back then they were both still so small. I always worried that Xiaoyi was so thoughtful, Mingzi so sensitive, and with their parents’ example before them, that they would end up in dead ends in the future. Now they both finally have their destinies settled. This weight on my heart can finally be put down.” She sat holding her quilt for a while, then sighed again, “If they live well, when I go to the underworld and see Tingting and Linlang, at least I won’t be too ashamed to face them.”
Old Master Song emerged from behind the screen and sat by the bed, grasping Old Madam Song’s hand. “They’re both intelligent children who know what they want. Naturally their future paths will be smooth.” After saying this, he added, “The Li family and our family are old family friends. That child of Madam Li’s has grown up before our eyes since she was small, and got along with Linlang like sisters. I trust their character. I’m at ease with Mingzi marrying into their family. What I’m worried about is Xiaoyi.”
Old Madam Song looked toward him. “The Crown Princess is a sensible person. This marriage was something Her Majesty the Empress had her heart set on long ago. Xiaoyi herself is even more intelligent. I see that His Highness the Grand Prince is also quite devoted to her.”
Old Master Song didn’t feel reassured by Old Madam Song’s words. He sighed, “Yes, but the problem is that His Highness the Crown Prince is inscrutable.” Actually, it wasn’t so much that he was inscrutable—if formerly everyone wasn’t very clear about the Eastern Palace’s situation, now anyone with eyes could see the Crown Prince’s favoritism between his two sons.
Old Madam Song hesitated for a moment, then couldn’t help but let out a cold laugh. “In this world, there are always some people who don’t deserve to be parents.” After this complaint, she looked toward Old Master Song again, as if seeking his agreement. “But wasn’t it said that this time with Yang Yunyong’s matter, Her Majesty the Empress was persuaded to take action? Since Her Majesty the Empress has already made her move, the Crown Prince should restrain himself somewhat, right? Moreover, even a vicious tiger doesn’t eat its cubs. Although he doesn’t like Crown Princess Lu and consequently isn’t very close to His Highness the Grand Prince either, the Grand Prince is still his son. Surely he wouldn’t…”
Unfortunately, there were no absolutes in this world. Old Master Song fell silent for a while, then told Old Madam Song about the Prince Consort’s situation. “From what Yingshu means, out of consideration for the vassal princes entering the capital, Her Majesty the Empress only verbally warned the Crown Prince. If there are no unexpected developments in the Fan family matter, it will have to wait until after the New Year when the vassal princes return to their fiefs. But neither the Crown Prince nor the Fan family are people who would wait for doom. Since the Crown Prince even dared to get involved in Xibei affairs, do you believe he’ll restrain himself because of the Empress?”
If Empress Lu could truly control the Crown Prince and had ways to deal with him, she wouldn’t have let the Crown Prince expand to his current state.
Old Madam Song’s heart grew anxious from Old Master Song’s words. The good mood she had accumulated with such difficulty was swept away completely, and her heart felt extremely uncomfortable, rising and falling. “Before, I only thought the Crown Prince was weak. Now I wish the Crown Prince really was weak.” She thought for a moment and couldn’t help but ask, “So what if the Crown Prince isn’t afraid of Her Majesty the Empress? Now that Her Majesty already knows about this matter, he surely can’t still be thinking of protecting the Fan family, can he? If so, I’m afraid he’s gone mad!”
Old Master Song actually wasn’t afraid of the Crown Prince trying to protect the Fan family. What he feared was that the Crown Prince didn’t care about the Fan family’s fate at all, and instead would put this account on the Song family’s head. Especially now that the Fan family was in trouble while the Song family was marrying a daughter into the Eastern Palace—marrying into the family of the son he didn’t really care about at all. This situation was also entangled with the Hubei Xiangfan matter, and before that there had been the entanglement between the Chen family and Fan Liangdi. Even someone like him, accustomed to experiencing the world’s ups and downs, couldn’t help but worry. “It’s hard to say. I just feel that His Highness the Crown Prince is gloomy and dark.” Moreover, his attitude toward Zhou Weizhao seemed really too strange. With the Crown Prince being this way, the Grand Prince’s path would undoubtedly be much more difficult in the future.
His thoughts coincided with Song Yan’s. Song Yan sat across from Master Qingfeng, his expression serious as he asked, “Master, do you think that in this Xiangfan matter, will His Highness the Crown Prince intervene or not?”
In such a short time, Song Yan had already subdued the people Cui Yingshu had sent him into complete obedience, and even dared to dispatch them to handle affairs. Master Qingfeng was actually quite satisfied in his heart, though his face showed no emotion. He glanced at him and asked in return, “What do you think yourself?”
Song Yan nodded with certainty. “As you said before, Master, His Highness the Crown Prince lost quite a bit of silver because of Chen Dezhong and Yang Yunyong. Since he has the silver from Xibei but still keeps trying to reach into Yangzhou and the Jiangsu-Zhejiang area, it shows he desperately needs silver. If that’s the case, Xiangfan is a gold mine to him. No matter what, I’m afraid he won’t give it up.”
Master Qingfeng leisurely wiped the paperweight on his desk, pulled out a journal and opened it, then found time to raise his head and say to Song Yan, “You’ve left out one point. The vassal princes are entering the capital to celebrate His Majesty’s longevity. Given the grudge between the Crown Prince and Prince Gong, and given the Crown Prince’s sensitive and suspicious nature, he definitely won’t be content to fall behind others. And presenting gifts also requires silver. He has no choice but to act.”