As Su Rong finished speaking, Princess Qingping suddenly stood up. The prince consort couldn’t hold onto her in time, and she rushed straight to Su Rong.
Her face was filled with disbelief, yet her eyes sparkled with excitement. For a moment, she seemed out of control and stared hard at Su Rong, "You, are you telling the truth?"
Su Rong slowly stood up, meeting Princess Qingping’s gaze with a calm demeanor, "I dare not deceive the princess and the prince consort."
"You, how could you..." Princess Qingping cried and laughed, "Did she... did she really survive back then? Why didn’t she write to me..."
Su Rong remained silent. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶
The prince consort understood. It seemed that everything became clear in an instant. He hugged Princess Qingping from behind and whispered, "If we calculate based on the timeline, Princess Zhenmin was already pregnant when she was sent to marry in Dawei. Once she arrived in Dawei, she had to pretend to die to avoid revealing the truth. It was a matter of national dispute, very serious. Even if she was alive, how could she easily write to you..."
Princess Qingping pushed the prince consort away and suddenly burst into tears hugging Su Rong.
Su Rong was somewhat puzzled, stiff and not knowing what to say, looking towards the prince consort for guidance.
The prince consort stepped back and sighed, saying to Su Rong, "Let her cry. Your mother and her grew up together. These years, she has missed your mother dearly. On every memorial day, she would burn incense and paper in remembrance of your mother..."
So Su Rong just stood obediently, letting Princess Qingping hug her and cry to her heart’s content. She never imagined that Princess Qingping, who always carried an air of pride and arrogance, would cry so uncontrollably upon learning that she was the daughter of Princess Zhenmin.
Perhaps the more obstinate and domineering a woman is, the more uncontrollable she becomes when her soft side is touched.
Princess Qingping wept uncontrollably, as if incredibly hurt and aggrieved. Not very good at comforting people, Su Rong only tried to pat Princess Qingping’s back gently. However, the moment she did, Princess Qingping wailed even louder.
Su Rong was startled, quickly withdrawing her hand and not daring to move again.
After quite some time, Su Rong was tired from standing, but Princess Qingping showed no sign of stopping her tears. The prince consort, helpless, came forward and tried to pull Princess Qingping away, "Enough crying, you are frightening Su Rong."
Her cries interrupted by hiccups, Princess Qingping finally calmed down a bit, released Su Rong and looked at her with red-rimmed eyes, "Did I scare you?"
Su Rong softly replied, "Not really, but... Princess, please stop crying, I don’t know how to comfort people."
Tears blurred Princess Qingping’s eyes again. She pulled the sleeve of the prince consort’s robe to wipe her face, laughing amidst her tears, "Your mother used to tell me the same thing. Whenever I cried as a child, she would look helpless, telling me that she didn’t know how to comfort people and asked me to stop crying. The most she would do was to pat me, as her way of comforting me."
Su Rong remained silent.
Princess Qingping let go of the prince consort’s sleeve, "I used to think you didn’t look like your mother, but now I see that you really do. Your mother seldom cried when she was young. The first time I saw her cry was when she left the Capital City to marry into Dawei. I suppose she knew she wouldn’t be coming back. She cried during our farewell, but even then, she didn’t let it show. She bowed her head briefly, letting her tears fall into the bricks. When she looked up again, she was still Princess Zhenmin."
Su Rong didn’t make a sound.
Princess Qingping grabbed her hand, "Come, sit down and talk to me about your mother."
Su Rong sat down, allowing herself to be led by Princess Qingping, and began to reminisce, "In my memory, my mother was gentle and quiet. She often sat under the lamp, sewing clothes for me, even though I had enough clothes. She was very lenient with me. I was very mischievous when I was young, always sneaking out to play. When she found out, she never scolded me. She only reminded me to be careful next time, not to let the mistress catch me, or she wouldn’t defend me. Whenever I stained or tore my clothes, she didn’t get angry. She only remarked that I was not behaving like a proper girl and wondered why I was born a girl..."
After demonstrating a few examples, Su Rong noticed Princess Qingping’s serious expression, urging her to speak more. She sighed, "When my mother left, I was still young, and my memories of her have faded somewhat. There’s not much I can say because my mother led a very simple life. Besides sewing clothes for me, she used to copy Buddhist scriptures, or play chess with Uncle Xie, or chat with my father, but it was all small talk. They didn’t talk about love or affection, just ordinary daily affairs. Most of the time my father deliberately talked to my mother. I wasn’t interested in their talks, so I would go out to play..."
After pondering for a while, she added, "My mother hardly ever left home throughout the year. If the mistress insisted and she couldn’t refuse, she would only go to the temple to light incense, have a vegetarian meal, and listen to the monk reciting scriptures for a day during the festival."
Once she was finished speaking, she scratched her head, "I don’t have much else to say. If you want to hear more about my mother, you can ask my father or Uncle Xie someday. I’m sure they have more to tell."
Princess Qingping finally remembered to use her own handkerchief to wipe her tears. She covered her eyes with the handkerchief for a while before asking, "How did she pass away? Was she assassinated too?"
"No, she died of illness. My mother was carrying me at the time and faking her death to escape from Dawei wasn’t an easy feat. She was injured and after that, she had a difficult childbirth. She hemorrhaged heavily and the strong medicine the doctor used to stop the bleeding left her with chronic illness, making her overall health poor. Plus, she was also frequently lost in her thoughts, which is why she couldn’t hold on and passed away when I was seven."
Qingping started crying again. "She was so young, she must have suffered a lot to not be able to hold on..."
Su Rong quietly said: "Her greatest torment was conceiving me and giving birth to me."
Qingping looked at her. "Your mother fought so hard to bring you into the world. She must have loved you very much, and also deeply loved that man."
Su Rong blinked her eyes.
Qingping asked: "Why did she become your father’s concubine rather than marrying Xie Yuan?"
Su Rong knew the answer to this. "I asked Uncle Xie. He said that after experiencing so much, my mother lost her heart. She preferred to occupy the status of being my father’s concubine than to marry Uncle Xie. It seems that she herself fell out of love and didn’t want to hinder Uncle Xie from remarrying, or tarnish the bond that they once shared. I don’t really understand as well."
Qingping burst into laughter in between her tears. "You call this not understanding? Every point you made is reasonable."
After a good cry, she felt somewhat better and said to Su Rong: "So, the arranged marriage with the Duke Residence was also set by your mother?"
Su Rong nodded.
"Why did you call it off? Is it because of Duanhua?" Qingping became a bit anxious. "If I had known earlier, I would not have let you call it off under any circumstances. This is a marriage arranged by your mother, how could you make such a decision?"
Su Rong held her hand. "Princess, don’t get anxious. While it is true that I called off the engagement to Zhou Gu by myself, Uncle Xie, my parents, and my elder brother all supported the decision."
Qingping frowned. "Why is that?"
Su Rong sighed without concealing anything. She discussed her considerations and current situation, except for the collaboration between Crown Prince Yan Huisheng and her. The Crown Prince was her last resort in Capital City. Even though Princess Qingping was extremely friendly to the Prince Consort, and even though Princess Qingping and her mother had a good relationship, Princess Qingping could not fully reveal everything she knew.
The revelation of her birth was inevitable, it was just a matter of sooner or later. As for other things, that would depend on future developments.
After listening to Su Rong, Princess Qingping looked at the Prince Consort.
The Prince Consort heaved a deep sigh. "So, it’s because you have decided to go to Nanchu in future to claim power, and possibly ascend the throne. That’s why you called off the engagement with Zhou Gu?"
"Yes, seeking revenge is my first priority. As for claiming power..." Su Rong measured her words carefully, "If I don’t want to be controlled by others, if I don’t want to be constantly assassinated, being the only child of the Nanchu King, it seems like I wouldn’t have a choice but to accept the throne. After all, in Nanchu history, there has been a precedent of a woman being a king. Hence, no matter who succeeds the throne in Nanchu next, they would probably not allow me to live peacefully. It is necessary to eliminate me first. My mother fought desperately to give birth to me; Uncle Xie made great efforts to raise me; my parents worried about me since I was a child, and even my elder brother always put me before himself. My life isn’t just my own anymore. How can I not live as best as I can?"
She gave a long sigh. "However, Zhou Gu is different from me. He is a scholar raised by the old Duke for the Duke Residence. He is intended to make contributions to Dawei, to make a name for himself in history. How could he go to Nanchu with me and become a king’s husband?"
Su Rong explained, smiling, "So, it’s not my mother’s fault. After all, she arranged the engagement between me and Duke Residence, thinking it would provide me with a support. Who could have predicted that the Nanchu King, who did not have an Imperial Harem for so many years, would now only have me as his rightful heir."
Qingping was stunned for a moment and did not say a word.
The Prince Consort also fell into silence for a long time.
The two of them glanced at each other, the Prince Consort held Princess Qingping’s hand and said to Su Rong, "We owe a debt of gratitude to your mother. She gave her life to protect Dawei. That’s one reason. The second reason is the bond she shared with the princess. Therefore, public or private, we will be your backer from now on, irrespective of the circumstances."
Qingping nodded, saying solemnly: "Since you have made your decision, the Princess Residence will support you. I was weak back then and could not protect your mother. Even now, there is not much I can do to protect you. But as long as you are in the Capital City for one day, I will risk my life to ensure no one can harm you!"
Su Rong felt deeply moved. She stood up, bowed deeply to them and said, "Thank you, Princess, Prince Consort."
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