These words were equivalent to slapping Consort Shen across the face. In front of so many palace ladies and consorts, she had no way to save face. Hanlu’s expression was tense, her hands clenched tightly.
Even if she was a princess, wasn’t she being too arrogant! Did she think she was some protected princess with someone backing her up? Even if Empress Dowager Nian protected her, could she compare to Grand Empress Dowager Wen? She was Grand Empress Dowager Wen’s person!
The Emperor chuckled quietly. “Duanwen should go rest first. Tomorrow, I will definitely have Yuwen enter the palace to practice martial arts with you.”
“Thank you, Imperial Brother.” Duanwen reached out, casually pulled Baoshan over to lean on, and walked unsteadily outside. Shen Guiyan bowed to Gu Chaobei, then also turned to leave.
“Noble Lady Yan.” Gu Chaobei called out softly.
Shen Guiyan’s steps froze. Even her heartbeat seemed to skip a beat.
The songs and dances seemed to stop. The Emperor looked at Shen Guiyan’s back, his face expressionless as he said, “Take good care of Princess Duanwen.”
Taking a breath, Shen Guiyan smiled and turned around, bowing to him. “This consort obeys the decree.”
It was just a simple decree, yet she felt warmth in her heart, tears nearly falling. When she raised her head, she quickly glanced at his face. Though she couldn’t discern anything, she still withdrew with a smile.
“Mistress, what’s there to be happy about?” Baoshan looked at Shen Guiyan, unable to help her eyes reddening. “He didn’t even show more concern for your condition, yet you’re smiling so happily.”
Shen Guiyan shook her head, supporting Princess Duanwen and saying softly, “This is already enough.”
He couldn’t say much more—she understood everything. Being able to receive this one comforting glance from him was sufficient.
Was she too easily satisfied?
Princess Duanwen was half-drunk. She squinted at Shen Guiyan, snorted lightly, and let them bring her back.
She didn’t plan to sleep tonight. Even though she’d drunk alcohol, she couldn’t sleep. Her heart was full of words, but she couldn’t burden Empress Dowager Nian, so she could only trouble others.
“I want tea. Hot tea.”
Shen Guiyan nodded. “Baoshan, go boil water and make tea.”
Duanwen sat on the soft couch, picking at the cherries on the plate, squinting as she said, “I heard you’re out of favor—you went from legitimate wife to Noble Lady, not even touching the edge of consort rank.”
Shen Guiyan sat down with her and nodded. “Yes.”
“Aren’t you resentful?” Duanwen asked with a sidelong glance.
“Not really.” Shen Guiyan smiled. “Even without consort rank, at least Heaven has blessed this consort with a child.”
She seemed quite accepting. Duanwen snorted with laughter. “A child doesn’t count as yours until it’s born. Even if born, if it doesn’t survive, it still doesn’t count. When I was young in the palace, I had many brothers and sisters. Now, only Imperial Brother and I remain.”
In this harem, children were treasures, but they had always been targets too.
Shen Guiyan covered her belly, pursing her lips. “This consort will do everything possible to protect him.”
Duanwen scoffed. A mere Noble Lady who truly stepped into someone’s trap would probably lose her life and still fail to protect the child.
However, sweeping her eyes around this palace, Princess Duanwen raised her eyebrows slightly.
Zhuangde Palace was warm in winter and cool in summer. Though far from the Emperor’s bedchamber, it was actually quite a nice place. Looking at that bed again, the satin quilts had no patterns but looked very thick. Even the cherries on the table were fresh and bright.
This was considered being out of favor? Then those in favor—wouldn’t they need rooms made of gold? Duanwen raised her eyebrows, looking at Shen Guiyan. “I’m quite bored right now. Would Noble Lady Yan mind telling me about His Majesty’s affairs from the past two years?”
Shen Guiyan was startled. She lowered her head to think carefully. What had happened with Gu Chaobei these past two years?
“There doesn’t seem to be anything particularly interesting.” She said, “It’s just that he married this consort by accident, and it hasn’t even been a year yet. This consort doesn’t know about matters from before that.”
Less than a year. Duanwen pursed her lips, saying softly, “I’ve known him for almost ten years already.”
Shen Guiyan raised her eyebrows. “That’s quite a long time.”
“Yes.” Duanwen smiled. “When we first met, we were both still children. He entered the palace with the Prime Minister and knocked over my favorite snacks. I chased him all the way. Later he went to buy me a sugar figurine from the common quarters, and we called it even.”
Back then, all the young masters she’d met were refined and cultured. She’d never encountered such a troublemaker before, so the impression was especially deep. When they met again, she was thirteen or fourteen. She left the palace, and with one casual glance, she saw him again.
Don’t they say one’s appearance reflects one’s heart? Why would Gu Chaobei, such an improper scoundrel, have such a devastatingly beautiful face? Anyone who saw him from afar would dig out their heart to give him, not leaving even a scrap behind.
“I’m a dignified princess wanting to marry the Prime Minister’s son—isn’t that perfectly natural?” With alcohol rising, Duanwen smiled. “But Father Emperor didn’t agree. He even wanted me to go to Huainan to calm down for a few years. When I left, I made an agreement with him that when I returned, I would definitely marry him.”
“I finally waited until the day of my return, but Father Emperor was gone, Fifth Imperial Brother and Sixth Imperial Brother were both gone, and he had actually become Emperor.”
Smiling and smiling, Duanwen clutched her handkerchief and tears fell. “He could have been anything—a scoundrel, a Prime Minister’s son, anything. Why did he have to be my Imperial Brother? My biological brother—not leaving me even the slightest hope.”
So many years of longing, and this was the ending she received.
Shen Guiyan’s heart ached slightly watching this. Not knowing how to comfort her, she simply gave her own handkerchief.
“Are you afraid my own handkerchief won’t be enough to wipe my tears?” Duanwen glared at her, took the handkerchief, and finally cried in complete devastation.
When Baoshan came in with tea, she was startled. Shen Guiyan signaled for her to put things down and leave. She poured tea for Duanwen, thought for a moment, then added many more tea leaves and poured hot water over them.
After a long while, Duanwen, parched from crying, finally picked up the tea and took a sip. Who knew this tea would be unbearably bitter when it entered her mouth?
“What is this?” She spat it all out, her face darkening. “Don’t tell me you can’t even make tea properly? Why did you put in so many tea leaves? It’s so bitter.”
Shen Guiyan raised her eyebrows. “You can still taste the bitterness of this tea?”
“Of course, I have a tongue.” Duanwen frowned.
Shen Guiyan smiled. “When my birth mother died, I kept vigil in the mourning hall. Someone poured tea for me then—it was as black as medicine and probably very bitter, but I couldn’t taste it.”
Duanwen was stunned.
“Princess, your feelings have indeed been bitterly misplaced all these years. But think about it—the nation still stands, you’re still a noble princess. You haven’t been displaced or left helpless and alone. That’s still fortunate.” Shen Guiyan said, “When you truly feel the pain is almost unbearable, Princess should think—there are worse situations that haven’t happened. That way, things are already quite good.”
Duanwen thought for a while, wiped her tears and said, “What if one day all the worst situations occur and things can’t get any worse—what then?”
“That’s also good.” Shen Guiyan said, “If it’s already the worst, then you don’t need to worry about things getting worse. From then on, each day will only be better than the current situation. Thinking this way, there’s hope again, isn’t there?”
Finding this actually made some sense, Duanwen stopped crying and looked at her with a frown. “Is this how you’ve always thought your way through life?”
Shen Guiyan nodded. “Some people’s fates are more tortuous than ordinary people’s—perhaps they’ve caught Heaven’s attention and must endure more trials. Those who’ve attracted Heaven’s attention can’t resist, so they can only make themselves think more positively. Otherwise, not only can they not fight against Heaven, but they’ll also make themselves half-dead with anger. Not worth it.”
Duanwen pursed her lips. Thinking about it, that was true. She couldn’t continue to like Gu Chaobei, but Gu Chaobei couldn’t avoid her either—she was now his biological younger sister. Even if there would be no future between them, it was a blood relationship that could never be severed for life.
Moreover, she now held the military authority of the Prince of Huainan and had a group of subordinates loyal to her. As a woman, she was already extremely fortunate, wasn’t she?
After thinking for a while, her heart felt much better, and drowsiness came over her. Princess Duanwen yawned and asked, “Where should I sleep?”
Shen Guiyan said, “The bed is very warm. The Princess needn’t worry about the cold—just go sleep there. This consort will rest on this warm couch.”
The other palaces in Zhuangde Palace hadn’t been prepared, so they could only rest together here. Who told Princess Duanwen to put the Emperor in an awkward position in front of so many people? She could only save the situation.
Duanwen looked at Shen Guiyan twice. She was truly tired and didn’t refuse, going over to sleep first.
Shen Guiyan did some embroidery work, then went to draw a couple of sketches with Baoshan. Seeing the hour was about right, she went to rest.
In the middle of the night, Duanwen was awakened by faint sounds.
She was very alert when sleeping. Even having drunk alcohol, at any slight noise, she quickly reached for her sword and rose.
Before she could even ask “Who,” Gu Chaobei had already covered her mouth.
Seeing his face clearly by moonlight, Duanwen didn’t strike. She just drew in a sharp breath, instinctively clutching her collar tight.
In the middle of the night—what was this about!
Gu Chaobei was both amused and exasperated. He let her go, walked to Shen Guiyan’s side, gently lifted her up, and carried her toward the bed.
“She’s pregnant and sensitive to cold, yet you came and seized her bed.” Gu Chaobei said in a low voice.
Duanwen was startled, reaching out to touch the bedsheets beneath her. She had felt something was off—how had the bed been warm as soon as she lay down? It turned out this Emperor had secretly placed treasures underneath.
Yielding the covers, Duanwen squinted, watching Gu Chaobei lay Shen Guiyan down, then immediately pulled him outside.
“What are you doing?” she asked. “You’ve become Emperor yet still sneaking around like this. If you want to dote on someone, can’t you do it properly? Did you see how your wife was bullied at today’s banquet? And you just watched?”
Gu Chaobei was stunned for a moment, not expecting Duanwen to have accepted things so quickly and even lecture him.
“Don’t you know what the situation in the imperial palace is like?” He sighed. “Though this is somewhat presumptuous, Duanwen, I very much want to ask you—are you willing to help me?”
Duanwen raised her eyebrows. “Want to seize power?”
Gu Chaobei nodded frankly.
Duanwen chuckled lightly, then assumed an official expression. “Grant conditions to Huainan, and Duanwen will assist with Huainan’s strength without question. As long as my lord is wise.”
Thinking it would take considerable effort to persuade her, Gu Chaobei looked at Duanwen twice. Could it be that women nowadays had hearts even broader than men’s?