Chapter 59

Since the matter of Consort Hui’s birthday banquet was settled, the harem became lively.

“Are you going to wear the jade bracelet to the birthday banquet?” Qi Baozhu exclaimed excitedly while playing leaf cards, “I still have a pair of gold-inlaid jade bracelets. If you can use them, I’ll bring them to you.”

Xu Jieyu, who played card games every day, said, “It would be nice to borrow yours.”

“If you don’t use them, I’ll be better than you that day.” Lady Zuo Zhaoyi twisted her waist, leaning on Lady Lu Meiren’s shoulder, and played a card for her.

Another round of banter ensued, with women’s voices chirping like birds, each exchanging words, a bit noisy but very lively.

In the harem, under the layers of palace eaves, the passage of time was silent.

The women here were most afraid of the boundless silence.

Nowadays, Xu Jieyu’s palace, where card games were most popular, gathered seven or eight women from the harem every day.

Even to make the gathering more comfortable, everyone asked Lady Ning to request space from the Princess Consort, arranging for Xu Jieyu to live in a spacious main hall.

Young women gathered for leaf card games, gambling with cosmetics and jewelry. The literary ladies from scholarly families recited poetry, discussed life ideals, while those skilled in needlework embroidered handkerchiefs and tailored clothes, exchanging embroidery techniques.

Or they all gathered to play a game of guessing herbs, go out to watch fish in the garden, play cuju and toss balls, much better than staying locked up in their rooms.

Qi Baozhu’s waist was a bit sore, so she asked Lady Zuo Zhaoyi to sit for her.

She stood up and walked a few steps, looking around.

The beauties extended their fair arms, the leaf cards floated lightly onto the table. Beside them, noblewomen played the zither leisurely, practicing their scores, while the incense burner emitted fragrant scents on the zither case.

Below the window, noble ladies were engrossed in reading, able to multitask while playing chess. They read the fashionable books brought in secretly by palace maids.

Since Song Qu went to guard the imperial mausoleum, Qi Baozhu thought her life would waste away in the palace. Ordinary daughters of the dynasty could divorce and remarry, but she, who married into the Royal Family, couldn’t, and no one dared to marry a royal daughter-in-law.

Despite this, Qi Baozhu was content. She had made mistakes in her youth, almost endangering her family, but fortunately, she was given a chance to turn things around. She wasn’t greedy.

It was just living alone, peaceful.

Qi Baozhu had already decided that after the old Emperor passed away, she would discuss with Feng Yuexian and let her go back home—

Her mother had long wanted to bring her back to the palace, but she became cautious, fearing the Emperor’s displeasure towards the Qi Family.

But now she felt comfortable in the palace too, with daily gatherings. When she returned home, she would be confined, unable to go out for a stroll for ten days or half a month, not as lively as the palace.

Now she was a widow, even more likely to be disliked when she returned, her several sisters-in-law probably wouldn’t approve of her.

Unlike in the palace, where everyone shared their loneliness, no one fared better.

Without favoritism to vie for, there were no conflicts, everyone was happy.

The sisters in the harem were all court ladies, each beautiful and talented, pleasant to the eye, skilled in various arts, and articulate. Qi Baozhu really liked it here.

In no time, Lady Zhaoyuan, who loved cooking, brought out a newly researched dish. Qi Baozhu perked up smelling the fragrant aroma of the meat, enjoying it while lamenting that her new dress wouldn’t fit anymore.

“Are you all preparing so meticulously just for the Princess Consort to shine the brightest?”

“Oh, you can’t say for sure this time—rumor has it the Princess is also attending the banquet.”

Qi Baozhu said, “Is it the legitimate Princess from Ming Shou Palace? I’ve been in the palace for so long and haven’t seen her yet.”

“That Princess isn’t easily seen. She’s always been pampered and rarely comes out.”

Similarly, Lady Zhaoyi, who hadn’t seen her, said coquettishly, “Then how come everyone says she’s the best-looking? I don’t believe it. It’s probably exaggerated, saying ten when it’s only three.”

“Tsk, you’re always so critical.” The noblewoman who spoke had been in the palace for a long time, smiled and said, “I’ve seen her with my own eyes, the Princess is truly beautiful, and I wonder which family’s son will be lucky enough to marry her in the future.”

“In terms of looks, only the Princess Consort in the entire harem can compete with her. You, self-proclaimed beauty, can only be a ‘runner-up’ this time.”

Lady Zhaoyi leaned on Lady Lu Meiren like a boneless body, incredulous, unmoved, and wiggled her nose playfully, saying, “Who will be lucky—better to be lucky for me.”

The room burst into laughter.

“You dare to say that.”

“Aren’t you afraid your palace maid will overhear and spread it?”

“But where’s Lady Lu?”

As the words fell, Lady Lu moved to the side, and Lady Zhaoyi almost tripped over.

Everyone laughed again.

The palace servants outside listened with curiosity, and inattentively, their grass broke.

The palace servant stomped her foot. “How did I lose? Doesn’t count, let’s go again.”

Magpies freely walked in the courtyard, looking for grass seeds, basking in the sunshine.

Song Pianxian, who was being watched by the concubines, was currently preoccupied with palace matters as well.

The Empress Consort was confined to the cold palace, and Song Pianxian had always ordered someone to watch over it, keeping an eye on every move, and so far, there were no abnormalities.

Xuancǎo went to the side of the Third Prince, bringing with her the remaining influence of King Chu in the palace, firmly guarding Song Duan, coaxing him not to cause trouble outside again, fearing that this young master might once again anger the Emperor and be disfavored.

However, having served the Empress Consort for a long time, Xuancǎo still had some feelings. She visited the cold palace to see the Empress Consort a few times and brought some things.

Once, when there weren’t many people around at noon, Xuancǎo brought Song Duan to the cold palace.

Unexpectedly, Song Duan stood there and glanced at the disheveled Empress Consort, avoiding her attempts to get close with disgust, and even scolded Xuancǎo, accusing her of disturbing his nap and bringing him here just to see this.

For the Empress Consort, this was like stabbing a knife into her heart. That night, she developed a fever in the cold palace, and since then, she had been bedridden and never recovered.

Thinking of this, Song Pianxian, as calm as she was, couldn’t help but reveal a hint of sarcasm in her eyes.

It was time for King Chu to enter the capital. Song Duan had stayed here for so long, it was time to resolve this.

In the original plot, it was Feng Yuexian who exposed the scandal of the Empress Consort’s affair with King Chu and the birth of the Third Prince.

At that time, Feng Yuexian wanted to leave the Emperor with no choice. After the Second and Third Princes were both deposed, he wanted the Great Li to still be surnamed Song, so he had to agree to Feng Yuexian’s choice for the Crown Prince.

At the same time, the more the Emperor trusted this younger brother, even forgiving King Chu several times when Feng Yuexian exposed his actions and he cried for forgiveness, the more unforgivable it became when he found out the extent of King Chu’s betrayal.

This situation was set up for Song Duan and King Chu.

However, for Song Pianxian, leveraging her position as the Crown Prince, she directly brought up the issue of having no heir and demanded the adoption of a collateral bloodline. When King Chu entered the palace, both of these matters could progress simultaneously.

In this era, paternity testing was conducted using the method described in “The Washing Away of Wrongs,” which involved blood reconciliation, i.e., blood recognition. Due to the cognitive limitations of this era, after Feng Yuexian discovered this matter, she could only prove to the Emperor through this method that Song Duan was not his biological son.

However, generals were seasoned on the battlefield, accustomed to seeing corpses, and had seen many cases where blood recognition could not determine blood relations. Naturally, they doubted the reliability of blood reconciliation among those of the same bloodline.

After hearing this, Feng Yuexian had people try dozens of blood relations outside and found that blood reconciliation indeed had inaccuracies and was not precise enough. In the end, the truth was extracted from the Empress Consort’s mouth by deceiving her.

Song Pianxian didn’t need to go through all this trouble. With the assistance of ’09, she could help ensure that blood reconciliation, this “uncertain identification under the limitations of the times,” would produce the expected results, which was one of the upgraded functions of the system.

She had made up her mind and was only waiting for King Chu to arrive in the capital for the drama to unfold.

However, within a few days, Song Duan caused trouble.

It was the eve of the Empress’s birthday banquet, and Song Yingguang also intended to accompany He Jieyu to the banquet. She liked the beautiful ladies in the palace and thought she should send a congratulatory gift since it was the Empress’s birthday. After discussing with He Jieyu, who laughed at her for being overeager, He Jieyu suggested that Song Yingguang personally pick flowers and arrange them for the banquet the next day, which would be considered fulfilling her filial duty.

Song Yingguang went to the Imperial Garden with palace attendants but encountered Song Duan who had sneaked out.

At that moment, while ignoring the persuasion of the palace attendants, she climbed onto a low fake mountain to personally pick the best rose of Sharon flowers. Song Duan came out from behind and pushed her down. Song Yingguang screamed in fright, her young body falling straight down.

The palace attendants scrambled and managed to catch Song Yingguang, but even so, her forehead still hit a pebble on the ground, causing blood to flow.

If they hadn’t stopped her in time, her neck might have broken!

The palace attendants were terrified, and Song Yingguang, dazed, covered her forehead, tears streaming down her face.

Why did her Third Brother bully her again? Didn’t Mother say that he couldn’t bully her anymore?

Song Duan stared at her, fiercely, saying:

“I haven’t had a good day, why should you be so comfortable? Why didn’t you just break your neck to show this young master? Ha, wait until I become—”

The rest of his words were interrupted by Xuancao, who hurriedly arrived, and he didn’t finish.

When Song Yingguang returned, He Qiuchan looked at her pale little face, the handkerchief soaked in blood on her forehead, and was almost scared unconscious, holding Song Yingguang and crying out for the imperial physician.

Fortunately, nothing serious happened, but He Qiuchan truly began to hate Song Duan.

She went to Qianqing Palace to complain, and the old Emperor hesitated for a moment, only saying that this was just a child’s play, that Song Duan was naturally mischievous, and he punished him with three weeks of house arrest as a warning.

He Qiuchan clenched the handkerchief tightly, turned and left Qianqing Palace, gnashing her teeth in hatred.

What kind of house arrest? That little beast was already locked up in there. She thought it was safe, considering his young age, she had forgiven him for bullying Yingguang before.

But who would have thought that he was fundamentally rotten? So malicious at such a young age, beyond redemption.

Thinking of the words the palace attendants imitated, He Qiuchan leaned against the carriage, her heart pounding.

The moon was bright and the stars were sparse.

She sat in the carriage, looking towards the east.

After a few breaths, she commanded:

“Go to the East Palace.”

Arriving at the East Palace, the personal attendant of the Princess Consort greeted her personally and led her inside.

When she entered the main hall, the warm lights were comforting, the palace attendants moved with silent discipline.

As she walked in, she saw the Crown Prince and Princess Consort sitting comfortably, their every move coordinated. For some reason, seeing this, He Qiuchan’s heart calmed slightly.

After exchanging pleasantries, she said:

“… Today, Yingguang has suffered some grievances. As her mother, my heart aches, and I just want to do something to make her feel better.”

“I thought of coming to the East Palace to ask for some food. She admires you, the Crown Prince and Princess Consort, very much.” With that, He Qiuchan squeezed her sweaty palms and softly said, “I also hope that her brother and sister-in-law can take better care of her.”

There was clearly more to the last sentence.

In the hall, the Princess Consort and Crown Prince sat side by side, like a perfect couple.

Feng Yuexian spoke first:

“Seeing He Jieyu today, she was really frightened. Get some cold water and bring a bowl of calming soup.”

“Also, have the kitchen prepare various snacks and pack them up. You will personally deliver them later.”

“Yes.” Yin Bing acknowledged and left with the palace attendants.

He Qiuchan pursed her lips and said, “The Princess Consort is truly considerate.”

Song Pianxian then said, “If it comes to care… Song Duan is really not reliable. With the Emperor present, he will surely discipline him. Jieyu, rest assured.”

At the mention of this, He Qiuchan felt extremely resentful.

She didn’t really appreciate the Emperor’s character, but recently, seeing how fond he was of Yingguang, she began to see him in a better light.

A daughter is a mother’s flesh and blood. This time, seeing Yingguang suffer, while the Emperor protected that little beast, it pained her heart.

Even though she usually presented herself as an innocent and pitiable white lotus, at this moment, she couldn’t help but express her resentment:

“I just returned from Qianqing Palace. The Emperor has punished the Third Prince with three weeks of house arrest.”

Song Pianxian furrowed her brows, looking reluctant to criticize the Emperor:

“This…”

Feng Yuexian sighed leisurely, “Yingguang is truly wronged. Poor thing.”

He Qiuchan took a deep breath:

“Song Duan also said those words—probably already spread around. The Emperor must know, yet he only imposed a mild punishment.”

She looked at the two in front of her, her gaze becoming firm:

“If I find out how to deal with Song Duan, the Crown Prince…” She paused, her gaze shifting to Feng Yuexian, “and the Princess Consort, are you willing to join forces with me?”

The candlelight flickered, casting dancing shadows.

The two on the throne exchanged a glance.

This time, it was Song Pianxian who spoke first:

“What does He Jieyu intend to do?”

Once the decision was made, He Qiuchan appeared much calmer. She smiled coldly, her gaze determined:

“Since the fifteenth year of Yuanfeng—twelve years ago, when King Chu left the Chu Mansion in the capital and moved into the palace, there have been only two new offspring born.”

“One is Song Duan, the other is Yingguang.”

She fluttered her eyelashes and looked at the two on the throne, her face blossoming with a gentle smile.

“The reason behind this…”

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Translator: Glariosa
Editor: Ruu

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