Emperor Jingming was a traditionalist. His first Empress had only left him the Crown Prince, while his current Empress had only one daughter.

Although he had more than twenty daughters, and could barely match names to faces for many of them, he particularly doted on his only legitimate princess.

Moreover, Princess Fuqing had suffered from an eye ailment since childhood that left her unable to see clearly, which made Emperor Jingming even more protective of her.

Hearing Princess Fuqing’s question, Emperor Jingming exchanged glances with the Empress and smiled, “No one is as beautiful as Our Quan’er.”

Princess Fuqing lifted her face, showing a faint smile. “Really? Father Emperor must be trying to comfort me.”

“How could that be? Father Emperor never merely comforts people. In Father Emperor’s heart, Quan’er truly is the most beautiful.”

Princess Fuqing smiled, but as she continued smiling, she sighed and lowered her head in silence.

Emperor Jingming felt distressed at the sight.

His Quan’er was indeed his most obedient and beautiful daughter, but why was heaven so unfair as to make Quan’er unable to see?

As Emperor Jing ming’s mood suddenly dropped and he lost interest in seeing his new daughter-in-law, just as he was about to leave, a court attendant announced: “Prince Yan and Princess Consort Yan have arrived—”

The Empress nodded slightly, signaling to let them in.

Soon, a striking couple entered together.

“Paying respects to Father Emperor and Mother Empress.”

“Rise,” Emperor Jingming said flatly.

The Empress watched the pair with a smile.

Soon, palace maids brought tea.

Yu Jin had received prior instruction and knew that after the wedding, they needed to serve tea to their elders. He picked up a teacup and first served Emperor Jingming, then the Empress.

Jiang Si followed suit and received a set of golden hairpins from the Empress.

To the Empress, whether it was the Princess Consort of Prince Shu or the Princess Consort of Prince Yan, they were equally distant relations, so naturally, there was no favoritism – each received the same set of golden hairpins.

Then it was Princess Fuqing’s turn.

“Fuqing greets Seventh Brother.”

It was Yu Jin’s first time paying attention to Princess Fuqing. He took out the gift Jiang Si had prepared for him to give and handed it over, saying the customary words: “Just a small token, I hope Sister doesn’t mind.”

Princess Fuqing accepted the gift, instinctively feeling it with her fingers, her face showing uncertainty: “Is this… a wooden bird?”

Having been unable to see for so long, she could guess what most objects were by touch.

Yu Jin glanced around, took a teacup, and placed it on the table in front of them, then took the wooden bird from Princess Fuqing’s hands and placed it in front of the teacup.

His action immediately drew the attention of the Emperor and Empress.

They saw the wooden bird lower its head, its long beak dipping into the tea, then bouncing back up, repeatedly performing the drinking motion.

Princess Fuqing tilted her head to listen, and couldn’t help but smile, saying with slight surprise: “I hear the sound of a bird drinking water. Mother Empress, is it the wooden bird that Seventh Brother just gave me drinking water?”

The Empress was also amazed: “Indeed, the wooden bird is drinking water!”

Emperor Jingming’s earlier low spirits lifted, and he eagerly asked Yu Jin: “How does this wooden bird drink water by itself?”

Yu Jin smiled and said: “Your son doesn’t know why either. It’s called a drinking bird, and it’s a favorite toy among wealthy children in the Southern regions. When Your son returned to the capital, he brought one back…”

Emperor Jingming stroked his chin thoughtfully: “The South has quite a few peculiar things.”

Seeing Princess Fuqing show a rare genuine smile, Emperor Jingming nodded repeatedly: “It’s good that Quan’er likes it.”

Princess Fuqing indeed loved it very much, and only after exploring it for a while did she hand it to her attending palace maid. She then greeted Jiang Si: “Seventh Sister-in-law, I wish you and Seventh Brother happiness and prosperity.”

“Thank you, Princess,” Jiang Si replied, staring intently at Princess Fuqing’s eyes.

Princess Fuqing didn’t notice, but the Empress frowned in displeasure.

She had only this one daughter, whom she cherished like her own life, yet heaven had been unfair in afflicting her daughter with an eye ailment. While others carelessly viewed this colorful world, her daughter could only remain in darkness.

Princess Fuqing’s eye ailment wasn’t just Princess Fuqing’s suffering – it was also the Empress’s heartache.

The Empress sensitively noticed Jiang Si staring at Princess Fuqing’s eyes and was naturally greatly displeased.

Even in Emperor Jingming’s presence, the Empress’s face darkened as she asked coldly: “What is the Princess Consort looking at?”

She had just said that whether it was Princess Consort of Prince Shu or Princess Consort of Prince Yan, they were equally distant to her, but now it seemed this Princess Consort of Prince Yan indeed lacked propriety.

Fixating on another’s defect wasn’t just improper – it showed a lack of breeding.

The more the Empress thought about it, the more annoyed she became, her expression growing colder.

Hearing the Empress’s words, Princess Fuqing immediately lowered her head.

Seventh Sister-in-law must be curious about why she was blind, right?

Seeing Princess Fuqing’s reaction, Emperor Jingming felt a pang of heartache and said with a stern face: “Seventh Son, Seventh Daughter-in-law, you may withdraw.”

“Then we shall take our leave,” Yu Jin, though puzzled by Jiang Si’s inappropriate behavior, showed nothing on his face as he took her hand to leave.

But Jiang Si didn’t move. Still looking directly at Princess Fuqing’s eyes, she suddenly asked: “When did the Princess lose her sight?”

At this question, the hall fell instantly silent. Even the attending palace maids lowered their heads in shock.

Had the Princess Consort of Prince Yan gone mad? How dare she bring up Princess Fuqing’s affliction in front of the Emperor and Empress?

Princess Fuqing gathered her skirts and quickly curtsied: “Father Emperor, Mother Empress, I just remembered I have matters to attend to, I shall take my leave first.”

The Empress could no longer contain herself and angrily exclaimed: “Princess Consort Yan, you are out of line!”

In all other matters, she could play the role of the magnanimous and virtuous Empress, but not when it came to matters concerning Fuqing.

Facing the Empress’s anger, Yu Jin remained remarkably calm and said quietly: “Why should Mother Empress be angry? Why not hear what A Si has to say?”

The Empress couldn’t help but look at Jiang Si, her gaze growing increasingly profound.

Although Emperor Jingming was displeased with Jiang Si’s earlier behavior, his curiosity was piqued.

This daughter-in-law who could perform magic tricks seemed to be up to something again.

Hmph, if she could satisfy him, that would be fine, but if not, he would punish this impudent girl by making her perform a hundred different magic tricks, with no repeats allowed!

Jiang Si curtsied slightly, then straightened up and asked: “If your daughter-in-law hasn’t guessed wrong, the Princess’s eye ailment isn’t congenital, is it?”

The Empress laughed coldly: “What difference does it make whether it’s congenital or not?”

Everyone of consequence in the capital knew that Fuqing had developed an eye ailment in her childhood. For the Princess Consort of Prince Yan to ask this was deliberately probing a painful spot.

The Empress’s good impression of Jiang Si instantly plummeted to freezing point.

No, she had neither good nor bad impressions before, but now this ill-mannered girl had successfully provoked her anger.

Emperor Jingming glanced at the Empress, then glanced again.

The Empress’s attention was partially diverted as she wondered silently why His Majesty kept looking at her. Even when they slept together, he didn’t look at her this much.

Emperor Jingming thought to himself: This daughter-in-law certainly had the ability – it had been a long time since he’d seen the Empress angry.

To be precise, usually when the Empress was angry she didn’t show it, which made him feel suffocated on her behalf.

The previous head of the Imperial Medical Bureau had said that anger needed to be released to avoid harming the body; keeping it bottled up could easily lead to illness.

The inner palace had been peaceful for so many years, and although Emperor Jingming didn’t particularly like his second Empress, he still hoped the Empress would stay healthy and energetic without incident.

As the Emperor and Empress were momentarily distracted, they heard Jiang Si say: “The Princess’s eye ailment can be treated.”