The crown prince knew when to stop, but still made a couple of teasing remarks.
"When I came in, I noticed you didn't look well. But after I used my hand to cool your face, it's much rosier!"
Song Xibai turned her head and rolled her eyes.
"I look perfectly fine. Is Your Highness in such a good mood because of the Crown Princess?"
Song Xibai secretly gestured to Fuliu, who understood and went to the outer room to fetch tea. After pouring a cup of tea for the Crown Prince, Fuliu pulled Wei Hong outside the door.
The prince took a sip, and the steaming hot black tea instantly warmed his body.
"You're quite well-informed!"
Song Xibai shook her head: "I didn't send anyone to inquire about the Crown Princess, but since we live nearby, if there's any commotion on the Crown Princess's side, my maids will know. Your Highness, could you tell me what it is?"
The prince took another sip of tea.
"There's nothing to hide. Everyone in the palace will know by tomorrow. The Empress Dowager has instructed the Crown Princess to assist the Noble Consort in managing the six palaces, and it will begin tomorrow."
After thinking for a moment, Song Xibai understood.
"Is the Empress Dowager helping the Crown Princess seize power in the palace? Is the Empress Dowager really that kind?"
According to what Song Xibai heard, the Empress Dowager was still quite power-hungry. Years ago, when the Empress was still alive, the Empress Dowager refused to relinquish all palace power, and she had people in every palace.
After the crown prince was born and the empress's position was secured, she gradually took over the affairs of the palace.
But after the Empress passed away, the power in the palace fell back into the hands of the Empress Dowager.
However, in recent years, the Empress Dowager has grown old and her energy has waned. In addition, she suffered a serious illness two years ago and was almost saved. Therefore, she relinquished her power and allowed the three consorts to jointly manage palace affairs.
After Consort Xian was promoted to Imperial Noble Consort, this part of the palace affairs was basically managed by the Imperial Noble Consort.
"The reason why the Empress Dowager was chosen by the late Emperor to raise my father was because of her strong abilities. The Empress Dowager started interfering in palace affairs during the late Emperor's time. If we hadn't now seized the Zhu family's weakness, the Empress Dowager might not have relinquished this part of the palace power."
The Crown Prince spoke slowly.
Song Xibai blinked, then suddenly lowered her voice: "Is it Zhu Liangyuan's follow-up compensation?"
"It's not just her problem. The people from the Mu En Marquis's residence outside are behaving improperly. I've been keeping an eye on them and have given Mu En Marquis a warning."
Song Xibai suddenly realized: "The Zhu family is really good at dragging things down!"
Marquis Mu'en was the Empress Dowager's brother, and they were even born of the same mother. However, their personalities were completely different. Marquis Mu'en was ambitious but incompetent, indulging in wine and women, and his household was a mess.
Thinking of this, Song Xibai suddenly remembered a piece of gossip that Fu Liu had once mentioned.
"Your Highness, I heard that the Marquis of Mu'en originally planned for Consort Zhu's elder sister to enter the Eastern Palace, but later, for some reason, it was changed to her younger sister? Is this true or not?"
The crown prince's expression immediately turned sour.
Who's gossiping about you?
"Nobody, I just overheard it. Is it true or not?"
Song Xibai was eager to find out the truth about this gossip, and to that end, she even nudged the Crown Prince's arm.
The two were close together, and her strength was light, so in the crown prince's eyes it looked like she was being coquettish.
So, the crown prince pursed his lips and began to speak rather reluctantly.
"Initially, the Marquis of Mu'en's family intended to marry their eldest daughter to me as the Crown Princess, but the Empress Dowager disagreed and insisted on marrying the eldest daughter of the Zhao family. The Marquis of Mu'en persisted, so the Empress Dowager granted me the position of Liangdi."
After a pause, the crown prince's expression darkened slightly.
"Who knew that things would go wrong later? The eldest daughter of Marquis Mu'en lost her reputation. This matter caused a great uproar. The Emperor and Empress were furious and reprimanded Marquis Mu'en. But Marquis Mu'en was extremely shameless. He went to the palace to ask the Empress Dowager to intervene, saying that if the eldest daughter was not suitable, there was also the second daughter. The Empress Dowager favored the Zhu family and insisted that the Empress Dowager agree."
"The Empress Dowager used filial piety to suppress it, and the Empress Dowager had no choice but to accept the title of Hui because the second daughter's status was not high enough."
Song Xibai listened with great interest.
Although the Crown Prince spoke concisely and dryly, Song Xibai could imagine it!
It involved both mother-in-law and daughter-in-law conflicts, as well as palace intrigue; there must have been a long stalemate between them back and forth!
"How old was Your Highness back then?"
"When I was engaged to the Crown Princess, I was just twelve years old." The Crown Prince said, a hint of melancholy appearing on his face. "The following year, my mother passed away."
After that, the crown prince observed mourning. At the age of fifteen, he was officially made crown prince. He got married at the age of sixteen, and then his life became difficult, until now.
Song Xibai pondered that a twelve-year-old kid with no say, unable to even decide who to marry, was rather pitiful.
"After the marriage, Zhao was virtuous and the Guo and Zhu families lived in peace. Later, Zhu was harmed by a scheme, so to make amends, I promoted her to the rank of Liangyuan."
Song Xibai nodded: "Consort Zhu probably feels that His Highness promoted her rank first, so she feels that she is more favored?"
In fact, Consort Zhu's status was all due to the Empress Dowager.
She used to boast to others that she was the Crown Prince's favorite, and because the Crown Prince wouldn't explain himself to anyone, she lived a glorious life for several years.
However, after Song Xibai entered the Eastern Palace, she gained the Crown Prince's exclusive favor and was promoted several ranks to become a Liangdi (a concubine rank). This exposed Consort Zhu's lies, and in her panic, she did those things.
Song Xibai understood Zhu Liangyuan's psychology, but still couldn't feel any sympathy for her.
"What does Your Highness intend to do with her?"
"She was stripped of her title of Liangyuan and demoted to Fengyi, and was sent to reflect on her mistakes in seclusion."
After the prince finished speaking succinctly, he changed the subject and asked what they wanted to eat that evening.
Fengyi is the lowest rank. Feng Ying and Zhao Xinlan, who entered at the same time as Song Xibai, are still only Fengyi!
Normally, their ranks would only be determined after they had been chosen to serve the emperor, but the crown prince would not favor them for a short period of time. If they were left to fend for themselves, they would not have a good life in the Eastern Palace. Therefore, the crown prince simply granted them their ranks in advance.
Anyway, the people outside the Eastern Palace won't know whether the Crown Prince slept with them or not.
As for Consort Zhu, no, Consort Zhu, barring any unforeseen circumstances, she will likely remain "confined and reflecting on her mistakes." She might only have a chance to emerge once the Crown Prince ascends the throne.
Song Xibai thought that by then, she would have already left the palace and perhaps moved back to her hometown with her family.
So Song Xibai put the matter out of her mind and stopped thinking about it.
After that, she began her hibernation period.
Aside from giving the Crown Prince acupuncture every other day, Song Xibai would spend her days in the East Side Hall, fiddling with medicinal herbs and spices with Dingxiang, chatting and gossiping with the palace maids. Du Chenghui would also come by every few days.
Originally, Du Chenghui would come every day, but after the weather turned cold, her body couldn't take it anymore. Song Xibai secretly took her pulse under the guise of Dingxiang and knew that her cold illness required a long period of rest. So he advised her to stay home and wait until spring when it got warmer before going out again.
Du Chenghui would come every four or five days.
She rarely spoke when she came over; she usually just quietly did her needlework.
Song Xibai didn't want to neglect her, so he would occasionally chat with her or make small things together.
Thanks to Du Chenghui, Song Xibai's needlework skills improved rapidly during this winter.
Originally, I could only embroider the simplest bamboo branch patterns, but now I can embroider ginkgo and orchid patterns, and I'm preparing to learn how to embroider plum blossoms.
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