The lanterns in the palace were exquisite, each more beautiful than the last, but the atmosphere was far too desolate. It was nighttime, and the imperial garden was filled with the shadows of rockeries and trees. The only signs of life came from the faint sounds of string and bamboo instruments drifting from the waterside pavilion.
Yao Huang leaned down to whisper to Prince Hui, Has Your Highness ever visited the lantern festival on the four main streets of the capital?
Zhao Sui shook his head.
Yao Huang said, Then I will take you for a stroll down South Street tomorrow night. It is thousands of times livelier than the market in Lingshan Town. There is everything from food to toys to magic tricks. If we miss tomorrow night, we will have to wait until the Lantern Festival.
Zhao Sui nodded. Just as he did, the wheelchair rolled past a Taihu stone landscape, and two figures appeared in the field of vision to their left. Zhao Sui instinctively looked over.
Yao Huang also tilted her head to look, only to see Prince Qing and Zheng Yuanzhen standing in a section of a beautifully carved and painted corridor. Zheng Yuanzhen was looking up at a palace lantern, while Prince Qing stared intently at her. A handsome man and a beautiful woman, they were very pleasing to the eye.
Yao Huang quietly took two steps back, completely hiding Prince Hui's wheelchair behind the nearby lake rocks. She then peeked through the crevices of the rocks to observe how the other prince and his future princess enjoyed the lanterns.
Zhao Sui said, ...Let us go.
The Princess Consort turned her head and shushed him.
Zhao Sui looked down at the wheelchair beneath him. If he could move, he would have definitely pulled his wife away directly. Unfortunately, sitting in a wheelchair meant that stopping and going was entirely up to her.
See no evil. Zhao Sui did not stoop to his wife's level; he lowered his eyes and waited quietly.
But he heard Prince Qing's voice say, The characters are too small. Shall I take the lantern down for you to see, cousin?
Forget it, it is too high.
Prince Qing did not say anything more, but Yao Huang saw it clearly. With a light leap, Prince Qing raised his right hand, supported the bottom of the lantern, lifted it, and shifted it. The lantern hanging on the hook was steadily taken down by Prince Qing. The light illuminated Zheng Yuanzhen's elegant and beautiful face, as well as the romantic and suave expression on Prince Qing's handsome face.
As if possessed, Yao Huang unexpectedly thought of Li Tingwang. One year, when her brother took her to see the lanterns, Li Tingwang tagged along. When he won the prize at a lantern riddle contest with his archery skills, the frivolous and proud look he gave her in the lantern light was exactly the same as Prince Qing's right now.
After Zheng Yuanzhen read the riddle on the lantern paper, Prince Qing hung the lantern back up. His movements were swift and agile, showing that he had some martial arts skills.
The two continued walking forward, and from their direction, it seemed they were heading towards them.
Only then did Yao Huang push Prince Hui out in their original direction to meet the two. She had already seen the lanterns and scenery behind them, so naturally, she wanted to see what she had not seen ahead. If they bumped into each other, so be it. Anyway, they were all proper married and engaged couples who had come to view the lanterns under Empress Zhou's verbal decree. There was nothing to hide from.
Seeing Prince Qing and Zheng Yuanzhen looking over, Yao Huang greeted them with a smile, What a coincidence, we all strolled over to this side.
Zhao Sui remained silent.
Opposite them, Zheng Yuanzhen could not smile at all.
In crowded situations, Zheng Yuanzhen could maintain her composure. However, at this moment, there were only four people present. One was Prince Hui, the man whose verbal marriage agreement she had reneged on, and the other was Prince Qing, who should be aware of this and was about to marry her. The sense of propriety, justice, integrity, and honor in her bones turned into a ball of fire, burning from her heart all the way to her face.
Her mother was the Emperor's only younger sister, highly favored by imperial grace. As her mother's daughter, Zheng Yuanzhen had grown up surrounded by the praises of noblemen and official's wives. To date, the only thing she could be criticized for was that she had wanted to marry Prince Hui when he was in his prime, and then broke the engagement to choose another good husband after he became disabled and fell from grace.
Many decisions are made in a split second. When the imperial physician announced that Prince Hui would be confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life, Zheng Yuanzhen's first thought was that she did not want to marry him anymore. She did not want to marry a crippled prince. No matter how handsome he was, she did not want to marry him. She was the Emperor's most doted-on niece; she clearly had the qualifications to be the Crown Princess, the future Empress!
When the marriage truly dissolved into nothingness, when her mother told her that Consort Shen Rou and Prince Qing were both very willing to form a marriage alliance with their family, and when she no longer had to worry about Prince Hui and Noble Consort Du holding on relentlessly, Zheng Yuanzhen completely relaxed. However, it was also at that time that Zheng Yuanzhen noticed something extra in the eyes of some official's wives and even young ladies when they looked at her.
Only then did Zheng Yuanzhen realize that she had rid herself of the disabled Prince Hui, but she had left behind a moral flaw that would follow her for the rest of her life.
Around others, she could pretend that she and Prince Hui had never discussed marriage, but she could not fake it in front of Noble Consort Du, the Second Princess, and Prince Hui.
Noble Consort Du and her daughter were simply petty people. Zheng Yuanzhen could ignore them, but Prince Hui...
When Prince Hui repeatedly refused palace banquets and refused to leave his secluded life in the princely manor, Zheng Yuanzhen felt fortunate. As long as the two did not meet, Zheng Yuanzhen could bury that guilt deep in her heart and gradually forget it. However, Prince Hui, having married a Princess Consort, was unexpectedly willing to attend palace banquets again. He even went out to escape the summer heat and came to this Mid-Autumn palace banquet.
Zheng Yuanzhen had no face to look at Prince Hui, so she saw Yao Huang's bright and moving smiling face.
Having lived together in the Chuxiu Pavilion for a month, Zheng Yuanzhen had never taken Yao Huang seriously. With such a relationship, Zheng Yuanzhen did not think Yao Huang would truly be happy to see her and Prince Qing. So, was Yao Huang intentionally smiling so beautifully to mock her for being outwardly dignified and noble but inwardly a treacherous and snobbish petty person?
Zheng Yuanzhen looked at Prince Qing; she did not want to engage in any pleasantries with Yao Huang.
By marrying her, Prince Qing gained her mother's support, taking advantage of her family. Moreover, for the past few years, Prince Qing had constantly been courting her. Zheng Yuanzhen could entirely continue to interact with Prince Qing with her former attitude.
Prince Qing was also secretly observing the expressions of his second brother and his cousin. His second brother still had his usual cold expression, while his cousin looked as if she could not avoid them fast enough.
Prince Qing could somewhat understand his cousin's feelings, and he felt happy about it because his cousin had no lingering affection for his second brother and was truly willing to marry him.
As for his second sister-in-law...
His gaze briefly swept over Yao Huang's delicate beauty and voluptuousness, which resembled a peony under the moon. Prince Qing smiled and said to his second brother in the wheelchair, Does Second Brother want to come into the corridor? There are steps at both ends; I can lift you up, Second Brother.
These short two sentences made a ball of fire burn in Yao Huang's chest too. If Prince Kang helping Prince Hui push his wheelchair was just to show the Emperor his care for his younger brother, the sympathy in Prince Qing's smiling face was simply asking for a beating. And to think she had just felt that Prince Qing's movement of fetching the lantern was romantic and suave, and that his eagerness to please Zheng Yuanzhen was what a lover should look like.
Zhao Sui said indifferently, No need to trouble you, Third Brother. I will just look from outside the corridor.
Prince Qing replied, Alright, then you and Second Sister-in-law take your time looking. We will head forward.
He led Zheng Yuanzhen away.
Yao Huang pushed Prince Hui forward. The scenery inside the corridor could be seen from the outside, so naturally, she would not insist on pushing the wheelchair up the steps.
Zhao Sui heard his wife sigh. He turned his head and asked, What is wrong?
Yao Huang leaned down and whispered in his ear, Having married a prince, I thought all princes were perfect gentlemen like you. I did not expect Prince Qing to have a mouth as punchable as Her Highness the Noble Consort's. The way he speaks is especially off-putting.
Zhao Sui did not know how to respond to that.
Yao Huang snorted, And we still have to give a gift of six hundred taels of silver to a younger brother like this. The more I think about it, the more stifling it feels.
Zhao Sui remained silent.
Yao Huang: "It's a good thing the Prince of Kang gave us six hundred taels of silver as a wedding gift. I'll just treat it as passing on this free money."
Zhao Sui: "..."
As the couple was about to circle back to the waterside pavilion, they encountered the Prince of Kang and Chen Ying returning from another path. Because the Prince of Kang was more pleasing to the eye than the Prince of Qing, and moreover, he was Chen Ying's husband and had covered a six hundred tael gift for them, Yao Huang obliged him when he came over to take charge of the wheelchair again. Taking advantage of the two brothers walking ahead, she asked Chen Ying in a low voice, "So, did you two share any intimate words?"
Chen Ying's face flushed red. She glanced at the Prince of Kang's tall, straight back and nodded. "He asked if I felt bored in the palace, and if I missed home..."
Chen Ying did miss home, very much so, especially on this day of the Mid-Autumn Festival reunion. Therefore, as soon as the Prince of Kang asked, she somehow shed tears. The Prince of Kang then took out his handkerchief and handed it to her to wipe her tears. After wiping them, Chen Ying felt the handkerchief was dirty. Just as she was wondering whether she should return it to the Prince of Kang, he casually took it back and tucked it into his sleeve pocket without a second thought.
Chen Ying then knew that the Prince of Kang did not look down on her because of her humble family background, and that was more than enough.
Yao Huang then picked the two most important points from what Nanny Liu had told her and shared them with Chen Ying. First, the previous princess consort had indeed died of illness, not due to any sinister underhanded schemes in the Prince of Kang's inner courtyard. Second, the Prince of Kang was not lustful; there were only two secondary consorts in his manor right now, unlike some noble households that were filled with a whole bunch of concubines and bedmaids.
Since Chen Ying held the title of the official princess consort, dealing with only two secondary consorts shouldn't be too difficult.
Entering the palace for the draft, neither she nor Chen Ying had a choice. They could only work hard to make their married lives go smoothly.
Chen Ying squeezed Yao Huang's hand. After tonight, she felt much more at ease.
The palace banquet ended, and Princess Fucheng, who lived outside the palace, along with the three princes and others, were all preparing to leave the palace.
Princess Fucheng led her daughter to walk in front, and they were the first to board their carriage.
The Prince of Qing mounted his horse, intending to escort his aunt and cousin back to their estate.
At this time, the wooden ramp for the Prince of Hui's carriage had just been set up. Sitting high on his horse, the Prince of Qing smiled and waved at his second brother in the wheelchair and his eldest brother who was about to help push the wheelchair.
The Prince of Kang shook his head inwardly. Third Brother was really something. Ever since their imperial father betrothed their cousin to him, Third Brother had developed a habit of showing off.
Inside the Grand Princess's carriage, Zheng Yuanzhen threw herself into her mother's arms as soon as she got on.
Princess Fucheng's face darkened, and she asked in a low voice, "What's wrong? Did Third Brother get handsy with you?"
Princess Fucheng had watched all four of her nephews grow up, and she knew their temperaments inside out. The Prince of Qing's literary and martial talents were inferior to those of the Prince of Hui, but they still left the Prince of Kang far behind. He was the prince most likely to be chosen as the Crown Prince by the Emperor. However, he was too much of a philanderer when it came to women, changing his bedmaids almost every year.
But as a dignified prince of the first rank, it was normal to have more women around him. If her daughter wanted to be the Empress, she had to have the tolerance to accept this.
Zheng Yuanzhen shook her head, lifting a sorrowful face that, although tearless, still inspired heartache and pity. "When we were admiring the lanterns in the Imperial Garden, we bumped into the Prince of Hui and his wife. Mother, I really don't want to see him. Every time I do, I feel ashamed."
So it was this. Princess Fucheng stroked her daughter's delicate, flower-like cheek and smiled. "What is there to be ashamed of? It's not like you caused him to lose the use of his legs. He knows very well that he is no longer worthy of you. He doesn't even hate the Noble Consort for treating him so harshly, so how could he hold a grudge against you for this matter? You're just young and like to dwell on these things."
Zheng Yuanzhen: "In the end, it was me..."
Princess Fucheng: "What does it have to do with you? Marriages are decided by the orders of parents and the words of matchmakers. Your marriage has always been my decision. If others want to mock or ridicule, just push the blame onto me. I'm not afraid of them. Just remember, the position of Empress is the most important thing. Once you sit in that seat, everyone will only flatter and fawn over you."
Zheng Yuanzhen looked into her mother's eyes and thought of the several male favorites her mother kept at the estate.
Because her mother was the Grand Princess deeply favored and spoiled by the Emperor, her father dared to be angry but not to speak out. No matter how much the official ladies in the capital spat on and despised her mother behind her back, they still had to be respectful and reverent in front of her.
Her conscience, which had been tortured all night, found comfort, and Zheng Yuanzhen calmed down once again in her mother's arms.
