"I will pass on the message. As for what to do, that is up to Lord Ye himself."
The solemn tone coupled with a sorrowful expression made Li Qinyun increasingly believe that Song Jinzhao was currently filled with anxiety.
"Prince Qi finds you an eyesore. If you submit any more brilliant ideas to the imperial court in the future, Chancellor Gu will definitely jump out to obstruct you when the Emperor grants his rewards. In fact, Lady of the County, you could simply tell my Prince first. He appreciates your talents and will certainly fight for the greatest merit on your behalf."
Song Jinzhao curled her lips into a faint smile. "As a woman, I have no need for such great merit. It is all for the imperial court."
Li Qinyun flattered, "My Prince was indeed right. Your pure and kind heart for the country and the people is the most rare of all."
Having sat for nearly half an hour, Madam Meng's bottom was almost numb by the time she waited for them to return.
Seeing that both of their expressions looked very satisfied, Madam Meng started to feel a drumming in her heart.
They had been gone for so long, who knew what they had talked about.
Seeing the empty plates on the table, Li Qinyun smiled and instructed a maid, "Go pack a plate of plum blossom cakes for Madam Meng to take back, and prepare an extra portion of the other pastries as well. Children love sweet things, so the Lady of the County can also take some back for her younger siblings to taste."
Song Jinzhao smiled but said nothing.
Madam Meng's eyes twitched at the corners, cursing Li Qinyun a hundred times in her heart.
Hindered by the other party's status, her thousands of words could only be condensed into one sentence, "The craftsmanship of Your Highness's chef is simply excellent. I have never tasted such sweet and fragrant plum blossom cakes anywhere else."
Li Qinyun lowered her eyes and smiled faintly, a touch of shyness appearing on her face.
"The chef who made these pastries was originally an imperial chef in the palace. After the Prince established his estate, he has been serving in Prince Ying's residence. This time for my father's birthday, the Prince specially sent him over to be the head chef. You two must definitely come to the birthday banquet the day after tomorrow."
Madam Meng said enviously, "His Highness Prince Ying dotes on Your Highness so much, it truly makes others envious!"
Song Jinzhao silently watched the two exchange pleasantries.
Envious of what?
Envious that she is a concubine?
Traveling thousands of miles to recruit troops and buy horses for him, he naturally had to show some appreciation. Moreover, it was just a chef; the Prince didn't even show up himself, yet he reaped all the good reputation of honoring his father-in-law.
On the way back, Madam Meng stole several glances at Song Jinzhao. Seeing that she had no intention of speaking, she could only swallow the words on the tip of her tongue.
Song Jinzhao did not go home, but directly had Qingshuang drive the carriage to the Ye residence.
Although Qin Yunqian had already left Anyang Prefecture, he had left many guards for Ye Liangyu.
Song Jinzhao had roughly guessed that the Qin family and Ye Liangyu were mixed up together.
Returning to the capital this time, Ye Liangyu was not unprepared; at the very least, he would not let assassins cripple him again.
After sitting down, Song Jinzhao told Ye Liangyu everything Li Qinyun had said, wanting to know his thoughts.
The more Ye Liangyu listened, the tighter his brows furrowed, and a faint anger emerged on his face.
As soon as Song Jinzhao finished speaking, he slammed his fist onto the table, standing up in a fierce rage with a contorted expression.
"The national treasury is empty. In the front, the Northern Shuo Kingdom is glaring like a tiger, and in the rear, the southwestern foreign tribes are swarming like bees and ants. As imperial princes, instead of thinking about strengthening the country and enriching the people, they only know how to play political games and form self-serving cliques all day long. If they take the throne, our Dongzhao Kingdom is doomed to perish."
Song Jinzhao asked in confusion, "Does the current Emperor have no other princes?"
With so many concubines in the imperial harem, how could there be no other princes born?
Could it be that they were all killed off by the mothers of these two princes?
Ye Liangyu shook his head heavily. "Let alone princes, there is only one princess, Princess Yongjia."
"What about pregnancies?"
Ye Liangyu shook his head again. "After Princess Yongjia was born, I haven't heard of any other concubine in the harem getting pregnant. I suppose heaven is not blessing our Dongzhao."
Song Jinzhao raised her eyebrows; this was strange.
The imperial concubines didn't use contraception, and with so many encounters every month, how could none of them get pregnant?
"Could it be that there is a problem with the Emperor's body? Has he been seen by an imperial physician?"
In order to fight for the throne and eliminate potential competitors, completely cutting off their own father's ability to reproduce was not entirely impossible.
Ye Liangyu was stunned for a good while before saying hesitantly, "There are countless imperial physicians in the palace, so there shouldn't be any problems."
Song Jinzhao stared at him without speaking. Ninety percent of the time, things that defied common sense had a problem.
Whether the Emperor could reproduce or not concerned the foundation of the state.
Even if he couldn't, it wouldn't be spread outside. For such a shameful matter, probably not even the imperial physicians would dare to tell the truth easily. The wrath of an emperor could take a life with a single word.
Seeing Song Jinzhao's demeanor, the more Ye Liangyu thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong. Could there really be a problem with the Emperor's body?
He held his head and paced in circles, feeling extremely panicked inside.
"Miss Song, this matter absolutely must not be spread outside. Regardless of whether it's true or false, if it reaches the Emperor's ears, it is a capital offense."
"You don't need to worry about Prince Ying's side. I will be returning to the capital in three months. If anything happens, I will block it. Qiming is my only student, and I treat him like my own son. If you encounter any difficulties in the future, Miss Song, you can always come to me."
Whether as Song Qiming's sister or the lifesaver who rescued his legs.
With a single word from Song Jinzhao, as long as it didn't violate his principles, he would do his utmost to help.
Song Jinzhao asked Ye Liangyu in return, "The Emperor only has two princes, and you have offended both of them. In the future, no matter who ascends the throne, your fate will likely not be too good." He would probably end up without an intact corpse.
Ye Liangyu clenched his jaw, his unyielding tone carrying a trace of regret.
"If the princes' virtues do not match their positions, the throne can be passed directly to an imperial grandson. The current Emperor is not yet fifty years old; he can afford to wait."
"At worst, a talented youth from the imperial clan can be chosen to take the throne." This possibility was too small, unless the Emperor's lineage completely died out and it truly reached the point of having no successors.
"Even if none of these work out, by the time the Emperor passes away, I will be old. My parents have already passed, and I have no wife or children in this life. They can take this worthless life as they please."
Song Jinzhao gazed at Ye Liangyu with slight surprise, not expecting him to think this way.
From ancient times to the present, it seemed that the famous civil officials in the history books all had particularly stubborn tempers, constantly offering remonstrances at the cost of their lives. The words leave a name in history and be remembered through the ages were truly not just for fun.
"What kind of person is Princess Yongjia?" If the princes were unreliable, wasn't there still a princess?
Ye Liangyu thought Song Jinzhao was afraid that Princess Yongjia would target her because of the Duke of Qing matter, so he took a breath and said, "Rest assured, Anyang Prefecture is thousands of miles away from the capital, and the inner palace cannot interfere in politics. She cannot do anything to you."
"Moreover, as far as I know, Princess Yongjia is not an arrogant or domineering person. I hear she is very gentle and well-behaved, so she shouldn't do anything out of line."
Song Jinzhao smiled but didn't speak. She figured that in the minds of these ancients, there was probably no concept of letting a princess ascend the throne to become an empress regnant, so it was better for her not to bring it up.
