Prince Qing was truly scolded to tears by Emperor Yongchang's sudden outburst.
First, he was frightened, and second, his pride simply couldn't take it.
Among the four imperial concubines, Consort Shen Rou was the youngest and had the best luck when it came to bearing children.
Empress Zhou had given birth to two princes in a row, but both died prematurely. Worthy Consort Liu was favored for three years before she became pregnant. Imperial Consort Du enjoyed immense favor for over a decade before finally welcoming the Second Princess and the Fourth Prince. Only Consort Shen Rou entered the palace at sixteen and gave birth to the Third Prince the very next year, becoming the first and last beauty in the inner palace to be promoted to the rank of Consort after Imperial Consort Du.
With Consort Shen Rou in favor, Prince Qing also played the role of Emperor Yongchang's youngest prince for six or seven years. Perhaps one day Emperor Yongchang would be disgusted by the First Prince's stupidity and rote memorization, and the next day he would complain about the Second Prince being as dull and uninteresting as a block of wood. Yet the very next day, he would hold the hand of the three- or four-year-old Third Prince and go catch butterflies. This upbringing meant that the Third Prince grew up unafraid of his imperial father, daring to ask him for whatever he fancied.
Having grown up so smoothly until the age of fifteen, his second brother Zhao Sui suddenly established military merits and was enfeoffed as a prince early on, snatching away his position as the most favored prince in their father's heart. This was considered the first minor setback Prince Qing had ever encountered. Consequently, Prince Qing worked even harder at his studies and martial arts. Just when he had accumulated a heart full of ambition and was ready to compete with his second brother, his second brother unexpectedly became crippled...
Now there was no need to even fight for it. The cousin he had admired for years even took the initiative to marry him. How could Prince Qing not be happy? How could he not be proud?
Although there were some mishaps during the bandit suppression, he still successfully completed the task. In border wars, thousands or tens of thousands of soldiers could easily die in battle. What did a mere one thousand prefecture soldiers in Tanzhou count for? It could only be considered a minor blemish on his military achievement in suppressing the bandits.
On the way back to the capital, Prince Qing had many daydreams, including that his father would officially crown him Crown Prince shortly after his return.
The more beautiful his thoughts were, the harder it hit when he suddenly suffered this unprecedented, severe scolding from his father. What was worse, it was witnessed from beginning to end by his eldest brother, his second brother, the two prime ministers, his maternal grandfather, the ministers of the Six Ministries, and those highly regarded nobles and military generals. Prince Qing's courage and pride simply couldn't endure it. Kneeling on the ground, he began to tremble and sob.
Prince Kang was kneeling not far away. Seeing his third brother's pitiful state, he was both glad that the third brother would probably never be able to compete with him again, and a little sympathetic, wondering if he, as the eldest brother, should plead for mercy on his behalf.
But what was there to plead for?
First, their father wasn't going to beat his third brother, and second, he wasn't going to demote his third brother's noble rank. Would a dignified prince of the first rank really become poor just by missing out on a year's stipend? Being confined behind closed doors for three months would at most damage his reputation. He couldn't possibly beg their father to reduce the punishment by a month or two.
Thus, Prince Kang could only kneel there in silence.
He was like this, and Prince Qing's maternal grandfather, Minister of Personnel Shen Shiyan, was the same. Originally, he could have helped share some of the blame for his grandson, but after Peng Daji's memorial arrived in the capital, Shen Shiyan had already gone before Emperor Yongchang to plead guilty. He claimed that he was guilty of failing to judge character when he proposed transferring Feng Gui to be the Prefect of Tanzhou. Emperor Yongchang, however, said that Feng Gui's previous performance evaluations were flawless and no one could have predicted he would stage such a heroic rescue of a beauty this year. The Emperor did not blame him and only told him to focus on his duties with peace of mind.
All was silent. It was Emperor Yongchang who finally broke the silence in the grand hall, saying one last sentence to Prince Qing, Withdraw. Remember to submit a memorial of self-reflection to Us every ten days.
In the grand hall, he only held the third prince accountable for his carelessness, underestimation of the enemy, and incompetence, leaving him some superficial credit. But the third prince knew exactly how many mistakes he had actually made.
If the third prince could truly reflect on himself and confess all his faults to him, including admitting his arrogance, vanity, and greed for credit, and show a willingness to turn over a new leaf, Emperor Yongchang would still give him the opportunity to take on official duties as his son and subject. Otherwise, the third prince would only ever be an idle prince for the rest of his life.
Your son will certainly reflect on his actions. I hope Imperial Father takes good care of his dragon body. Your son takes his leave.
After kowtowing three times loudly, Prince Qing first used his sleeve to quickly wipe away the tears on his face, then slowly stood up. Without looking at anyone, he kept his eyes lowered and strode away.
As he left the grand hall, Prince Qing heard his father calmly order the morning assembly to continue.
Ordered by imperial decree to reflect on his mistakes behind closed doors, Prince Qing was even exempt from paying his respects to the Empress and his mother. Prince Qing went straight back to Songfeng Hall, the residence allocated to him and his wife by his father in the temporary palace. Ignoring the eunuchs and maids bowing to him, Prince Qing locked himself in the front courtyard with a dark face.
Zheng Yuanzhen was accompanying her mother-in-law and her own mother on a stroll through the gardens to admire the flowers when she received the news of Prince Qing's arrival at the Northern Park. The landscape outside the temporary palace was vast and beautiful, while the garden scenery inside was magnificent and elegant. There was no need for long treks or riding horses or carriages to get there; whenever they felt like it, they could take a stroll. If they got thirsty or tired, there were long corridors to sit in, and it was very convenient for the maids to serve tea and water.
Since Prince Qing would definitely go to the Western Palace to pay his respects after seeing the Emperor, the three women went together to Consort Shen Rou's courtyard to wait.
They waited and waited. Finally, after the court assembly was dismissed, Shen Shiyan entrusted a young eunuch to deliver a message to Consort Shen Rou.
Upon hearing the young eunuch's words, Consort Shen Rou sat frozen in her chair, her face pale. Zheng Yuanzhen, who had just been blushing from the teasing of her mother-in-law and mother, still kept her head down, but all color had drained from her face.
The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were filled with a mix of shock and fear, while Princess Fucheng was simply furious. After dismissing the palace servants, Princess Fucheng looked at Consort Shen Rou and said, The Emperor has visited your place twice over the past half month. Did he really not show the slightest hint?
If they could have sensed her imperial brother's anger, they could have made preparations in advance. For example, they could have had Prince Qing take the initiative to plead guilty before his arrival. Why would they let it escalate to the point where Prince Qing lost so much face at the morning assembly the moment he returned to the capital?
Princess Fucheng was forty-seven, nine years older than Consort Shen Rou. Whether in terms of age or the imposing aura of an eldest princess raised in the royal family, Consort Shen Rou had to show her a degree of deference.
Faced with Princess Fucheng's reprimand, Consort Shen Rou thought about the Emperor's behavior when he saw her, and her eyes reddened with grievance. The Emperor treated me just as before. If there were really any hints, I definitely would have noticed.
If there was anything different, it was that the Emperor had been unusually fierce in bed those two nights. Consort Shen Rou had even thought that the Emperor was simply overjoyed by their son's success and was rewarding her in that way...
Princess Fucheng immediately recalled her imperial brother's words and actions when they took a walk together; he was indeed completely watertight!
Unable to vent her anger on her own people, Princess Fucheng thought of Worthy Consort Liu and gritted her teeth, saying, Even if a thousand prefecture soldiers died, they were killed because there was a traitor beside the Prefect of Tanzhou. Little Xun himself was almost in danger. Even if the Emperor didn't reward him, he shouldn't have been this furious. Someone must have exaggerated Little Xun's faults in front of him!
Imperial Consort Du was beautiful. Worthy Consort Liu's favor, aside from giving birth to Prince Kang, could be attributed to her silver tongue. She could always spout grand principles that sounded so good they were worth a stroke of praise from the Imperial Diarist.
Consort Shen Rou said, So what if it is? Now that the Emperor has laid down the blame, the decree cannot be changed. Little Xun has lost face in public; who knows how terrible he must be feeling right now. No, I must go see him. He even took a knife wound in Tanzhou, and I don't know if he has healed yet...
Princess Fucheng pinned her to the chair with a single glare. The Emperor ordered him to reflect on his mistakes behind closed doors. He cannot walk out himself, and others cannot go visit him. If you go, do you want to hand someone a handle to go tattle on you in front of the Emperor again?
Consort Shen Rou knew that her concern had clouded her judgment, and she finally looked at her daughter-in-law.
Zheng Yuanzhen lowered her eyes and said, Your daughter-in-law will head back right away.
Princess Fucheng came out with her daughter. Seeing her daughter's pale face, Princess Fucheng softened her voice and comforted her, "Don't panic. It's just a temporary setback. Let Prince Qing put on a good show of self-reflection for these three months. Once he's out, he can go to the Emperor and show his remorse. There will still be opportunities later. As for Prince Kang, Mother will figure something out."
Zheng Yuanzhen couldn't stop trembling. As she looked at her mother, tears welled up in her eyes. "Is there really still a chance?"
If the Emperor was angry, he could have scolded Prince Qing in private. Why did he have to lose his temper so publicly at the morning assembly?
Zheng Yuanzhen didn't feel sorry for Prince Qing at all, but she was terrified that he had completely lost the Emperor's favor. She feared that she and her mother would ruin their reputations and lose their advantages, ending up with nothing for all their efforts.
Princess Fucheng gripped her daughter's hand tightly, her gaze gentle yet piercingly resolute. "There is. Mother won't let you suffer this grievance in vain."
"Go on. Comfort Little Xun well today, and come pay your respects tomorrow morning."
"Mhm."
After parting with her mother, Zheng Yuanzhen led her maidservants toward the east. As they passed the Qinghui Hall of Prince Kang and his wife, and the Yunshan Hall of Prince Hui and his wife, she heard that it was completely quiet inside.
Zheng Yuanzhen knew that Yao Huang had once again taken Chen Ying, the two secondary consorts, the children, and the two princesses out to play. It seemed they were going to play chuiwan today. Chuiwan was a simple game that adults and children could play together.
Yao Huang, Prince Hui.
If Prince Hui's legs had not been crippled, he would have been Emperor Yongchang's undisputed choice for Crown Prince. She would have long since become Princess Hui, peacefully waiting to become the Crown Princess.
Unfortunately, there were no 'ifs'. She was now Princess Qing.
Entering the Songfeng Hall, Zheng Yuanzhen immediately sensed the servants in the courtyard keeping as quiet as winter cicadas. Learning that Prince Qing was in the inner chamber of the front yard, Zheng Yuanzhen ordered her maids to stay outside and went in alone.
The door to the inner chamber was not closed; only a layer of gauze curtain hung down. Zheng Yuanzhen stood outside the curtain and said softly, "Third Brother, I'm back."
Before their marriage, she had always called Prince Qing 'Third Cousin', but after they married, Prince Qing felt 'Cousin' was not intimate enough and asked her to call him 'Third Brother' instead.
No one answered from inside.
Zheng Yuanzhen lifted the curtain and walked in. Sweeping her gaze around, she saw Prince Qing's python robe thrown outside the canopy bed. He was lying across the bed, a pair of black boots tipped over by the bedside, likely kicked off after he had lain down.
Zheng Yuanzhen slowly approached the bed. Just as she looked over, she met Prince Qing's icy eyes. Glaring at her, he demanded, "I had someone send you a message, so why are you only coming back now?"
Zheng Yuanzhen replied, "...I was with Imperial Mother. I thought you would go pay your respects to her first..."
Prince Qing laughed, a smile that looked uglier than crying. "Then why didn't you keep waiting for me to go over?"
Zheng Yuanzhen knew he was upset from being scolded. Sitting by the edge of the bed, she held his hand and said, "Third Brother, don't be like this. Imperial Father suddenly lashed out, and we didn't notice any signs in advance at the Northern Park either. Now, we are all just as distressed as you are."
Prince Qing turned his head, glaring fiercely at the inside of the bed. His cousin's words were unpleasant to hear, but he knew she was just caring for him.
Seeing that he had calmed down a bit, Zheng Yuanzhen asked in confusion, "Imperial Father has doted on you since childhood, Third Brother, and has almost never spoken an angry word to you. For him to suddenly lose his temper like this today... could it be that you accidentally made some other mistake in Tanzhou, and Imperial Father found out?"
Upon hearing this, Prince Qing fiercely threw off her hand, sat up, and glared at Zheng Yuanzhen with biting sarcasm, "What mistake could I have made? You looked down on me before we even left the capital, and now you think everything is my fault. You think that if I had just listened to you, I wouldn't have ended up in this state, right?"
It was just suppressing bandits! Imperial Father didn't trust him, his maternal grandfather didn't trust him, and even these women—his mother, aunt, and cousin—all looked down on him!
If they hadn't constantly nagged in his ear one by one, he wouldn't have been in such a rush to earn merit, and he wouldn't have neglected to investigate Prefect Feng!
"Get out. I don't want to see you right now."
Pointing out the door, Prince Qing looked at Zheng Yuanzhen with a gaze full of utter disgust.
Zheng Yuanzhen left in a wretched state.
