Seeing her expression seem to change, Lu Chonghua pulled her along for a few steps, her feet never stopping, speaking quickly and urgently: “Actually, Miss Du is very different from the adults in their family.”
Different from Elder Chen, Elder Du couldn’t be said to be incapable of teaching his sons. Several of the Du family gentlemen still held academic titles—one provincial graduate and two scholars. Du Daye was the provincial graduate. After obtaining that title, he couldn’t pass higher and simply stopped trying, going to the Ministry of Personnel to serve. Originally, receiving official appointments was something that even metropolitan graduates often waited years for without getting a posting, let alone a mere provincial graduate—only through extraordinary luck could one hope to receive a position. But Du Daye was different. With Elder Du there, and when Song Chengru had just entered the Ministry of Personnel and owed Elder Du a favor for the matter of delivering secret letters to Xingfu and the others, he was inclined to return the favor. He had the people at the Bureau of Appointments find him a position. As it happened, a teaching position in Yunnan opened up, so naturally he was promoted to serve as an instructor in Heqing County. Though it was a godforsaken poor place where even birds wouldn’t defecate and the local customs were fierce, at that time His Majesty highly valued education in Yunnan—those who did well frequently rose several ranks in succession.
Elder Du knew it was a good opportunity and repeatedly admonished his son to be able to endure hardship. Who knew that after three years, Du Daye’s performance evaluation only rated as “satisfactory,” and he was told to serve another term. But Du Daye absolutely refused to stay any longer. Thus Du Daye, who could have secured a good future by staying another three years, resolutely fled back to the capital. This flight didn’t matter much—other prospects were hopeless, so Elder Du could only sacrifice his dignity and arrange a nominal position for him.
Therefore Du Daye had remained unambitious and stagnant until now. But he differed from those people in the Chen family—though he was useless and incompetent, he also didn’t cause much trouble. If it weren’t for Elder Du’s power growing greater and greater later while he paid less and less attention to him, Du Daye wouldn’t have listened to others’ instigation and started cockfighting and dog racing, keeping an outside woman, becoming a ready-made knife for Song Yan to wield against the Du family’s household conduct.
But while Du Daye was like this, Elder Du calculating, and Madam Du blindly obedient, in truth Du Fangxi was genuinely an excellent young lady. From childhood she had displayed wisdom and composure unlike other girls.
Song Chuyi furrowed her brows in thought for a long while about such a person. After taking her seat, she turned back to ask Lu Chonghua: “Are you very close with Miss Du?”
Lu Chonghua understood her meaning. She took her fan to shield her face and secretly whispered in Song Chuyi’s ear: “During the period before, she frequently entered and left Qingning Hall, and coming and going we indeed developed some friendship. This Miss Du is similar to me—not particularly ambitious, but also not someone who rushes to become a man’s concubine. She said something that very much matched my own thinking.”
Song Chuyi smiled at the Eleventh Princess who had passed her a piece of fruit, then turned back to signal Lu Chonghua to continue.
The corners of Lu Chonghua’s lips curved: “Miss Du said that no matter how high-ranking a secondary consort might be, she’s still a concubine—she’s not the type to willingly degrade herself. When Her Majesty the Empress had her copy sutras, she was also different from Chen Mingyu—never fawning or trying to curry favor, earnestly copying them and silently handing them to Xie Siyi. Therefore I say she’s actually different from the adults in the Du family. If not for her mother, she probably couldn’t even be bothered to go through the motions.”
By now, if Song Chuyi still couldn’t understand Lu Chonghua’s meaning, she would be hopeless. She raised her eyebrows: “What’s this? Have you come as a lobbyist? But you know my temperament—I can’t tolerate sand in my eyes.”
Lu Chonghua gave an annoyed sound and reached out to pat her hand: “What nonsense! Would I really persuade you to accept her as a secondary consort? Even if I truly came to speak such good words, she herself wouldn’t be willing! What I mean is, if it can be done, you might as well form a favorable connection—accepting the match with Earl Guangen’s family wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing.”
Lu Chonghua was truly a very perceptive person. Song Chuyi glanced at her, saw her raise her fan, then lightly placed her own fan on the table and spoke unhurriedly: “Your thinking isn’t wrong—it is indeed time for me to widely form favorable connections. But why should the first one be Miss Du?”
When Song Chuyi was still unmarried, the most widely circulated reputation about her in the capital was undoubtedly her fate as a star of solitary calamity. Later on, when Yuanhui died and Madam Wei received reprimand, naturally no one dared mention matters of fate reading anymore. However, her fearsome reputation had spread—for no other reason than that those who opposed her all came to bad ends. Over time, naturally others looked upon her with dread.
In the past when she was still a maiden, having such a daunting reputation and capabilities naturally saved her much trouble from those plotting against her. But after becoming the Grand Heir’s consort, this could no longer continue.
With the Crown Prince in trouble, the Grand Heir was now nominally the most legitimate heir apparent. She naturally became the designated mother of the nation. As the mother of a nation, it would be better to have a reputation for mediocrity than such a frightening reputation.
Moreover at this stage, Zhou Weizhao needed to keep a low profile in his conduct. She, as the Grand Heir’s consort, naturally also needed to employ methods so that while Zhou Weizhao maintained his low profile, he could also imperceptibly consolidate his power and win hearts without revealing his edge.
Lu Chonghua wasn’t afraid that Song Chuyi wouldn’t ask—she was only afraid she wouldn’t ask. Her asking showed the matter had great potential. She smiled and moved even closer to Song Chuyi: “What’s wrong with Miss Du? She’s an extremely intelligent person. If you fulfill her wishes now and give her a place to settle, allowing her mother to temporarily establish a foothold in the Du family, naturally she’ll reciprocate your kindness.”
“The Du family uses her mother to coerce her, treating her like goods waiting to be sold to the highest bidder. Do you think someone with her spirit could truly be willing? She simply has no other choice. Once she has options, she absolutely won’t abandon her mother, nor will she be content to be the Du family’s puppet. At that time, whether you want to use or abandon the Du family, won’t either be quite convenient?”
Previously she had only thought Lu Chonghua had no malicious intent and was a straightforward girl who saw through things clearly. But now it seemed she not only saw through things clearly, she could even discourse eloquently about the external political situation—truly not an ordinary person.
Song Chuyi couldn’t help but sigh: “Fortunately you never harbored thoughts of competing with me.”
Once she had, with Lu Chonghua’s methods and her advantage of proximity, she would truly have been a difficult opponent to deal with.
Lu Chonghua rubbed her wrist and set down her fan, naturally picking up her cup to take a sip of water. Hearing these words, she burst out laughing: “I was raised by my grandfather. He taught me so many things, not so I could become someone’s concubine trapped in a cage for life. If the Lu family has fallen to the point of needing to rely on women to preserve wealth and honor, then what are my brother and the men of the Lu family for? Besides, with His Highness the Grand Heir’s devotion to you, I’m not stupid—why would I do such a thankless task? My grandfather often said that women also have ways women can live. To be like Madam Qin—now that truly means not wasting this life, living with clarity and understanding.”