New Year’s Day, the first day of the first lunar month, marked the solemn occasion when civil and military officials, as well as foreign envoys, presented memorials and paid their respects to the Great Zhou Emperor. Simultaneously, princesses, royal consorts, and other high-ranking ladies of the court were required to pay their respects to the Empress Dowager and the Empress.
After all the formalities, by the time the family banquet was set up in Changsheng Palace, everyone was somewhat fatigued. However, their physical weariness couldn’t dampen the attention focused on the three factions: the deposed Crown Prince, Prince Lu, and Prince Yan.
The deposed Crown Prince had arrived early, sitting quietly in a corner drinking tea. Compared to his former vigor as Crown Prince, he now appeared utterly destitute. People occasionally glanced at him from the corners of their eyes, feeling both sympathy and a sense of schadenfreude. They had finally witnessed this “mud” fall from the wall, having despaired that it would remain stuck there forever. However, no one dared to approach him with cold remarks, not wanting to be the first to stick their neck out. With Prince Lu’s cautionary tale fresh in their minds, they weren’t foolish enough to risk it.
The crowd then turned their attention to Prince Lu. Although his wife hadn’t blamed him, suddenly finding himself a step below his brothers in rank made this gathering rather uncomfortable for him. After gulping down two cups of tea, he couldn’t help but growl at Prince Xiang, who was sitting closest to him, “Eighth Brother, if you want to look, then look openly. Don’t cast furtive glances like some woman!”
Prince Xiang’s mouth twitched as he cursed inwardly: Damn, is that how you use the phrase “cast furtive glances”?
“Why such a temper, Fifth Brother? I’m just concerned about you,” Prince Xiang replied aloud.
Prince Lu slammed his teacup on the table and sneered, “I don’t need your concern. Why don’t you worry about when you’ll get married instead?”
Prince Xiang’s face suddenly darkened. “Fifth Brother, what do you mean by that?”
It was a low blow to bring up his marital status. Prince Xiang had thought that encountering his bride-to-be’s lover on the way to the wedding was the biggest joke of all, but he never imagined that Cui Mingyue would actually marry her lover and then kill her husband before running away!
Whenever he thought about this incident, he broke out in a cold sweat. Women were terrifying. Being humiliated by being cuckolded was nothing; he should be grateful she didn’t kill him too. Marriage? He never wanted to get married again in this lifetime…
Prince Xiang, his sore spot hit, glared at Prince Lu with eyes that could have spat fire.
Prince Lu, currently in a state of reckless abandon, rolled his eyes provocatively and said, “It means exactly what Eighth Brother is thinking. The way you’re looking at me, do you want to hit me or something?”
After all, he had already been demoted. If the Eighth Prince dared to hit him, perhaps they’d end up as companions in misery. Prince Lu looked at Prince Xiang with eyes full of expectation.
Prince Xiang immediately became alert. The Fifth Brother wanted him to incur the Father Emperor’s wrath. Not a chance!
Prince Xiang regained his composure and said with a faint smile, “How could I? I care too much about Fifth Brother to do that.”
His scheme was foiled, and Prince Lu angrily gulped down more tea.
On the women’s side, undercurrents were also surging.
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen Third Sister-in-law. Why have you lost weight?” Princess Qi asked with concern in her voice.
Princess Jin gave Princess Qi a deep look before responding gently, “The New Year brings many tasks. Fourth Sister-in-law looks to be in good spirits.”
She had never felt as anxious and unsettled as she had in recent days. Previously, with the Crown Prince ahead of her husband, the Prince had never entertained such ambitions. But now that the Crown Prince had been deposed, her husband, as the eldest prince, had been engaged in a covert struggle with Prince Qi, filling her with dread.
Wouldn’t it be better to just be content with their children and live peacefully? The Prince said he wanted to win her the position of Empress, but she didn’t envy being Empress at all. However, as a wife, she could only grit her teeth and follow her husband’s decision, rather than hold him back.
Hearing Princess Jin’s words, Princess Qi smiled. “Yes, I didn’t expect this child to give me such an easy time. When I was pregnant with Lady Yuan, it wasn’t like this at all. Back then, I would vomit countless times a day and could hardly keep anything down. I lost over ten jin…”
Princess Jin smiled. “Fourth Sister-in-law is truly blessed.”
“Third Sister-in-law is the blessed one. Young Master Fu is well-behaved and sensible, and both your daughters are grown,” Princess Qi said, her heart turning sour at the thought. Indeed, Princess Jin was fortunate; Prince Jin’s two daughters and one son were all born to the main wife. In contrast, she already had four or five daughters born to concubines…
Princess Qi felt a pang in her heart but comforted herself: It didn’t matter how many daughters the concubines had, as long as she gave birth to a son. If the child in her belly was a boy, it would remove her husband’s weakness and firmly put them ahead of Prince Jin. Without the capital to compete for the throne, who would care whether an ordinary prince’s wife gave birth to a boy or a girl?
Thinking this, she glanced at Jiang Si.
Jiang Si’s eyes flickered, meeting her gaze.
Princess Qi unconsciously revealed a smile, quickly averting her eyes, and then felt a wave of frustration. She had felt nervous just now, which was utterly absurd. But then again, it wasn’t so strange, considering that Princess Yan had just taken down Princess Rongyang…
Thinking about this, Princess Qi became increasingly wary of Jiang Si, silently vowing to find an opportunity to ensure that Princess Yan would never be able to rise again.
Dead people certainly can’t rise again—this thought flashed through Princess Qi’s mind.
Jiang Si lowered her gaze to stare at the water cup in front of her. The cup contained clear water, reflecting her image. When had Princess Qi developed murderous intentions towards her? In her previous life, Princess Qi had personally taken action. What role had Consort Xian played in all of this?
She picked up the water cup and slowly took a few sips, overhearing Princess Qi’s words of comfort to Princess Lu.
“Fifth Sister-in-law, try to think positively. Perhaps Father Emperor will calm down in a few days.”
Princess Lu’s beautiful face wore a puzzled expression. “What are you talking about, Fourth Sister-in-law? It’s the New Year, and I’m feeling quite content. What is there to think positively about?”
In previous years, her lecherous husband would have hinted at wanting a beautiful concubine as a New Year’s gift, but this year he hadn’t dared to mention a word. She was feeling quite pleased about that. It was Princess Qi’s fake face that was spoiling her mood.
In Princess Lu’s view, it wasn’t a problem if someone was less attractive, but having a fake smile was unforgivable. She only wanted to keep her distance from such people.
Having been rebuffed, Princess Qi awkwardly raised her cup and took a sip, secretly grinding her teeth: When she became Empress one day, she would deal harshly with these little vixens.
As the Emperor and Empress announced the start of the banquet, everyone temporarily set aside their thoughts and dutifully enjoyed the music and dance while eating and drinking.
When the banquet ended, Emperor Jingming, who had been on edge the whole time, secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, no further incidents had occurred today.
Everyone bid farewell to the Emperor and Empress and headed towards the palace gates.
The family carriages were parked not far outside the palace. Yu Jin lifted Jiang Si into their carriage and then climbed in himself, a series of actions that immediately drew disapproving looks and head shakes from many onlookers.
Embracing his wife in public and sharing a carriage with a woman—how shameless, utterly shameless!
Prince Qi thought exactly this as he gracefully mounted his horse.
Princess Qi’s gaze, as she withdrew it, was filled with disdain. With Prince Yan behaving so shamelessly, how could he compare to her husband? If she were Princess Yan, she would have died of embarrassment.
Princess Qi extended her hand to her maid for support and stepped into her carriage.