Inside the Moon-Viewing Pavilion, Consort Ye paced back and forth, lamenting, "What should I do? My cousin doesn't like me anyway, and he... he'll definitely demote me. What am I going to do? Aunt, what am I going to do?"
"Liangdi, calm down." Aunt Lu quickly pulled her down to sit down: "You must calm down."
"How can I stay calm? My cousin dotes on the Su family, he must... he must want me demoted." Ye Liangdi's eyes reddened.
“Consort, first of all, you are still a daughter of the Ye family. Your status cannot be so low. Secondly, even if… even if His Highness favors Consort Su more, Consort Su is someone without any family background. Even if she is demoted, it will not stop her from being favored. Don’t worry.”
Aunt Lu took a deep breath: "If, by any chance, you really are demoted, that's still an opportunity. His Highness won't be blind to the injustices you've suffered. Besides, one's position in the manor isn't necessarily the same as one's position in the palace."
"But..." Ye Liangdi cried again; she felt so wronged.
"Alright, alright, don't cry. We don't know what will happen yet, let's wait a few days." Aunt Lu wasn't sure either.
What if Your Highness feels that your own family members are the ones who should be wronged?
Su Liangdi was equally uneasy and depressed, but she was still able to sit still.
She was even calculating gains and losses.
I probably didn't sleep well that night.
The next day, the Crown Prince closed his doors, saying only that he was recuperating from his injuries, and refused to enter the palace. The atmosphere was awkward as everyone in the inner courtyard paid their respects to him in the main courtyard.
Ye Liangdi and Su Liangdi remained mostly silent.
The Crown Princess couldn't say anything. Regardless of who was demoted, and who knows what the newcomer would be like, she had nothing to be happy about.
On the contrary, the people below were much more at ease, since they were no longer afraid of being demoted.
So the morning greetings were also completed in a hurry.
Three days have passed since the Crown Prince returned. In Jiyue Pavilion, Yan Nangui is watching the maids pull up all the extra morning glories. The seeds that fell from the trees have grown into a large patch, too many of them.
As soon as Shu Chengfeng arrived, she stood up and said, "Your Highness."
"Yes, come sit here for a while." Shu Chengfeng's face was still pale.
After all, this time it was a near-death experience, but the injury is in my shoulder, and I don't want to be lying down all the time.
It was clear that the Crown Prince was in a bad mood, so Yan Nangui went out with him and sat down in the pear grove.
The peak blooming season for pear blossoms has already passed.
There are only a few pear blossoms here now, but the leaves are quite large.
That's quite interesting.
Yan Nangui ordered some refreshing flower tea to be served and poured it for him: "Is Your Highness so angry?"
Shu Chengfeng neither said yes nor no, he just took a sip.
It's not a very sweet flower tea, but it has a refreshingly sweet flavor. It's more like a treat for the nose.
"How can you comfort me?" Shu Chengfeng asked.
Yan Nangui sat down and poured himself a glass: "It depends on why you're angry. If it's about the assassination, then you can't rush it. Anyway, all the rotten fish and shrimp will eventually be buried together. If you're in a hurry now, wouldn't that be impulsive?"
"If it's because of that princess, then there's always a way to circumvent the rules. Calling her a princess sounds nice, but why didn't that Prince Xianli dare offer his daughter up directly while you were still in Menghaijiang?"
"Isn't it because you offered yourself up back then that you can't even get a proper title? Don't think you're so sorry for your daughter. If you really cared, would you have put her in your backyard?"
"Once you return, you'll be eagerly submitting a memorial to send your daughter away. Of course, the one on the throne will want to annoy you all the time. What a perfect opportunity!"
"I reckon the fact that you managed to win over Prince Meng Haijiang and his ilk while you were injured is enough to infuriate him. Wouldn't he take this opportunity to disgust you as much as possible?"
"They call her a princess, but she's just a marquis's daughter. And she's already making you her concubine?"
"Oh? What do you think? How should I do it?" Shu Chengfeng loved listening to her indirectly insult him.
"According to me? Do you even need to 'accept me'? Just follow the opinion of the one on the dragon throne. Does he dare to say directly that the daughter of the Prince of Xianli will be made a concubine for the Crown Prince? Isn't that just playing word games? What does 'marry with the rites of a concubine' mean? A concubine is something you marry? Apart from the Crown Princess, which one isn't taken as a concubine?"
"He said to treat her with the rites due to a concubine, so let's treat her with the rites due to a concubine. It's not like he said that if we bring her back with the rites due to a concubine, she will definitely be a concubine. When that person was buried, he said to treat her with the rites due to a noble consort. Does that mean she really is a noble consort?"
"Cough cough." Shu Chengfeng almost choked, coughed several times, and then laughed hoarsely.
My shoulders are sore from wearing it.
Pointing at her with his left hand: "Stop talking..."
"You still can't figure it out?" Yan Nangui scoffed.
Shu Chengfeng suppressed a laugh: "I thought of something, so can't I come and sit here for a while?"
Thinking about it is one thing, but isn't it still just as disgusting?
The imperial edict stated that the marriage would be conducted with the rites due to a concubine, not that the woman would be married as a concubine.
They were all legitimate concubines of the Crown Prince's household; even His Majesty could not indiscriminately order one of them to be removed.
Although the two concubines were also concubines, they were still people whose names were directly recorded in the family genealogy.
Unless he actually died of illness, how embarrassing would that be?
"Nan Gui is clever." Shu Chengfeng smiled. "I haven't rewarded you yet since I came back, but I specially saved something for you."
The prince was in no mood for anything but chaos upon his return.
Only then did he give the order: "Send the rewards from all places, and bring the ones from Jiyue Pavilion."
Yun agreed and went to make the arrangements.
In no time at all, everyone in the backyard received their rewards.
These are all local specialties from Meng Haijiang's area.
Among the things brought here by the geese returning south was a luminous pearl, which is actually a stone that glows at night.
It's quite pretty. It looks ordinary on the outside, but when you look at it in the dark, it has a faint glow, which is quite interesting.
"Just put it on the shelf," Yan Nangui handed to Luo Kui.
There were also some of Meng Haijiang's jewelry, such as coral and turquoise, which Yan Nangui didn't like. However, she didn't say anything and just told someone to put them away.
There are some nice pieces of leather; I could make a few cloaks for winter.
Compared to the unease of those two people, Yan Nangui was much more comfortable.
Sure enough, once he arrived at Jiyue Pavilion, Shu Chengfeng's mood quickly improved.
At lunchtime, there was a table full of delicious food, but Yunji told him to avoid certain foods, but he couldn't be bothered to listen.
Unless there's something seriously wrong, eat it.
Inside Mingyue Pavilion, Ning Chenghui coughed for a while; she had caught a chill a few days ago.
"Where has Your Highness gone to see Consort Yan?"
“Yes, although Consort Yan is not favored, she still sees His Highness quite often,” Hongdou said.
“You underestimate her. Compared to Consort Su, His Highness visits Consort Yan far less often. Yet she often goes in the morning and doesn’t leave until the next morning. Do you still dare to say she’s not favored? Being seen all the time doesn’t necessarily mean she’s favored.”
"Ah... I really hadn't thought of that." Hongdou scratched her head.
"It's alright, you're a sensible person, you naturally won't provoke them." Ning Chenghui took a light breath: "Su Liangdi..."
“It is true that Your Highness dotes on her, but as time goes on, is it more doting or more needing?” Ning Chenghui asked.
Hongdou was taken aback: "Huh? This... I don't know."
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