"This prince will marry Miss Yu." Before Xinyi Zigu finished speaking, the red plum blossoms in the garden seemed to tremble. The heater in Yang Shuyu's hand clanged against the bluestone slab and rolled away. "Is the Fourth Prince confused?"
Yu Chuwei's knuckles turned white as she clutched the handkerchief, and her ears were buzzing. She had thought it was a blessing to be given the title of concubine, but who would have thought...
"Your Highness, please think twice!" Jiang Yuyao dug her nails into her palms. "The Yongchang Marquis's Mansion is just an empty shell now. How can it be worthy of this?"
"Why not?" Jiang Songyi suddenly interrupted, her crimson cloak fluttering in the snow. "When Miss Yu risked her life to save her master, did she ever ask if she was worthy?" She turned to look at Xinyi Zigu, her eyes gleaming with ice. "If Your Highness truly remembers her life-saving grace, he should have welcomed her with the formalities of three letters and six formalities."
The women's chatter spread like a tide. One lady in a lilac-colored jacket and skirt gently fanned herself, "The Fourth Prince said a few days ago that he hates women who use favors to repay favors."
"That's right," the young woman with the fallen horse bun beside him lowered her voice, "At the Lantern Festival, he said in public that Princess Jiaqing was not even worthy of carrying his shoes."
Jiang Yuyao's face burned as she listened to these whispers. Suddenly, she caught sight of the gilded hairpin in Yu Chuwei's hair—the very same one the Fourth Prince had given Jiang Songyi as a birthday gift the previous year. Her nails nearly tore the handkerchief.
"Your Highness," Yang Shuyu suddenly bowed, "Although Miss Yu is not from a high family, she has a gentle character." She changed the subject, "At least she is better than some concubines' daughters." Her eyes swept over Jiang Yuyao, whose face turned pale instantly.
Xinyi Zigu's forehead veins throbbed. He was about to speak when he saw Jiang Songyi walk lightly to Yu Chuwei's side and said, "Ladies, please judge for yourself. With Miss Yu's appearance and character, wouldn't it be a disgrace for her to be a concubine?"
Yu Chuwei's hand trembled slightly as she held it. That day by the lotus pond, she had witnessed with her own eyes how Jiang Songyi was humiliated by the Fourth Prince, but now...
"You are wrong, County Lady," an old lady in a crimson jacket said slowly, "Concubines are also listed in the imperial edict."
"The old lady is right," Jiang Songyi said with a smile, "but Miss Yu could have been the principal wife, why did she choose to be someone else's concubine?" She suddenly turned to Xinyi Zigu and asked, "Is Your Highness afraid that the Yu family is too weak to support the dignity of a principal wife?"
These words were like cold water dropped into boiling oil, and the whole garden was in an uproar. Xinyi Zigu's face turned pale, and he was about to explode when Jiang Songyi pulled a brocade bag from his sleeve. "This is the jade pendant that Your Highness gave me last year. Today I return it to its original owner." She threw the brocade bag to the ground. "Since Your Highness wants to repay the favor, why not repay it thoroughly?"
Yang Shuyu suddenly realized something and said hurriedly: "County Lady, please be careful with your words! Fourth Prince."
"Miss Yang, why are you in such a hurry?" Jiang Songyi raised her eyebrows. "Are you afraid that Miss Yu will really become the queen and surpass you?" She deliberately emphasized the word "surpass" and was satisfied to see Yang Shuyu's blushing face.
Yu Chuwei suddenly realized that she had become a pawn in the game between the two noble ladies. She looked at the jade pendant rolling on the ground and suddenly remembered how the Fourth Prince had thrown it at Jiang Songyi's feet that day.
"Enough!" Xinyi Zigu suddenly waved his sleeves, "This prince has made up his mind. Yu is the concubine, and Jiang..." He paused, "Both are concubines."
Jiang Yuyao staggered, only to be caught by her maid. She stared intently at Jiang Songyi, only to see a sneer curl up at the corner of his lips: "Your Highness truly treats everyone equally." The four words he emphasized pierced Jiang Yuyao's heart like a needle.
"Your Highness!" Yu Chuwei suddenly knelt down. "I am terrified."
"What are you afraid of?" Jiang Songyi leaned over to help her. "The ones who should be afraid are those who have usurped the throne." She glanced at Jiang Yuyao meaningfully. "After all, a pheasant can't turn into a phoenix even if it flies to a branch."
Yang Shuyu could no longer hold back: "The county lady is standing up for Miss Yu like this, isn't she thinking..."
"This county lady is just speaking out for justice," Jiang Songyi straightened up. "It's better than some people who called me a poor family the other day and are now rushing to show their goodwill." She adjusted the pearl hairpins in her hair. "After all, the world is full of fence-sitters."
A chill wind blew snowflakes into the corridor. Xinyi Zigu watched Jiang Songyi's retreating figure, suddenly remembering how she had straightened her back the same way when she fell into the icy lake. He bent down to pick up the brocade pouch. The word "Yi" on the jade pendant had been worn down to a blur.
…
Incense smoldered from the incense burner, and the ambergris in the imperial study couldn't suppress the tense atmosphere. Xinyi Zigu knelt on the cold jade bricks, the veins on his forehead throbbing as the emperor scolded him: "As a prince, you fell into the water in the street and needed the young lady of the Yongchang Earl's Mansion to save you. Have you learned anything about riding and archery?"
"Your son."
"Shut up!" The Longquan paperweight slammed down on the imperial desk, startling the copper bells on the eaves. The emperor turned to look at Xinyi Daoyi, who was leaning against the soft couch, and his tone softened, "Daoyi, are you still coughing so badly? I asked the Imperial Hospital to prepare some new loquat paste."
Xinyi Zigu dug his nails deep into his palms. The same jade bricks, the Crown Prince's mattress, were covered with a white tiger skin, while he had no cushion where he knelt. The memory of his father personally teaching him how to apply red ink, now felt like poisoned needles piercing his eyes.
"Fourth brother, it was an unintentional mistake." Xin Yidao covered her lips and coughed lightly, her pale knuckles reflecting the dark python pattern. "It was Miss Yu from the Yongchang Earl's Mansion."
The emperor suddenly grabbed the teacup and threw it at Xinyi Zigu: "You bastard! I was honoring you by letting you offer sacrifices to heaven on behalf of the prince, but you almost caught a cold!"
With Biluochun splattered all over him, Xinyi Zigu stared at the curled tea leaves on his hem. That day, a sudden downpour hit the altar, and the crown prince only soaked the corner of his clothes, yet his father dispatched an 800-mile express delivery of medicine overnight. He spent three days in a coma with a high fever, leaving only his mother's swollen eyes.
"I know I was wrong." He kowtowed deeply, blood staining the cracks between the bricks. "I only ask that you, Father, grant me and Miss Yu a happy marriage."
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