Empress Zhu looked at the scene of the happy family of three, feeling a wave of melancholy in her heart.
Once, when her Eldest Prince and Second Prince were still alive, she had shared such sweet moments with the Emperor too.
Her eyes grew moist as she gazed at them enviously.
Jiang Xinyue glanced at her and said voluntarily, "Empress, why don't you hold the little one too? You are his legal mother after all!"
Empress Zhu was the official wife. In civilian terms, the Sixth Prince would call her mother, while Jiang Xinyue would only be called concubine-mother.
"I... may I?" Empress Zhu was surprised by Jiang Xinyue's suggestion. "May I hold him?"
"Of course you may."
Jiang Xinyue sat up and nudged the Emperor, signaling with her eyes for him to let the Empress hold the baby.
The Xuanwu Emperor, reluctant to give up cuddling the infant, passed the little one over. "Be careful, Empress."
Having raised the Fifth Prince, Empress Zhu's muscle memory was still intact. She held the baby much more skillfully than the Emperor had.
The Sixth Prince's eyes were tightly shut, but one could still see the beautiful curve of his large eyes beneath his eyelids.
He slept soundly, little bubbles forming at his mouth.
Empress Zhu popped the bubbles with her finger, a smile unconsciously appearing on her lips. "He's so adorable."
He didn't resemble the Emperor's cold face at all. He looked extremely docile, quite like Concubine Zhen.
"Your Majesty... Empress... This concubine was wrong..."
"Consort Liang, you can't go in. Concubine Zhen has just given birth. You're soaking wet, what if you harm the Sixth Prince..."
"I won't go in," Consort Liang knelt stiffly in the outer courtyard of the birthing chamber. "I'll just wait here for His Majesty and the Empress."
The pouring rain instantly turned Consort Liang into a pale water ghost again.
The commotion outside reached their ears, reminding the Xuanwu Emperor that he still had Consort Liang to deal with.
"Nanny Li, take the Sixth Prince to be fed."
As soon as he spoke, Nanny Li came forward to take the Sixth Prince, bringing him and the wet nurse to the rear hall.
"Yue'er, rest well. I'll come see you again after I've dealt with Consort Liang."
Jiang Xinyue propped herself up on the bed, her long black hair draped over her shoulders. The thin garment slipped from her shoulder, revealing smooth, snow-white skin.
She lowered her beautiful eyes and said, "Consort Liang... she... probably didn't mean to. I was also at fault then. Those eunuchs were bullying Little Man, saying it was Consort Liang's orders..."
The beautiful young girl... no... though her appearance was still youthful and beautiful, she had given birth to a child now. She could be called a beautiful woman.
Jiang Xinyue bit her lip lightly. "I was too impulsive. I shouldn't have led people to wreck Shunan Palace."
These words made the Xuanwu Emperor even more displeased with Consort Liang. "You don't need to worry about this, Yue'er. I've had enough of Consort Liang's temperament. In the past, although she often engaged in verbal disputes, she never used any tactics against children. I didn't expect her to become more and more outrageous recently. If I don't teach her a harsh lesson this time, she'll forget her place."
Empress Zhu, worried about Consort Liang, forced a smile at Jiang Xinyue before hurriedly following the Emperor out to assess the situation.
Consort Liang shivered in the downpour, her eyes barely able to open from the rain, yet she dared not utter a single complaint.
"Let her in."
The rain outside was so heavy that even shouting at the top of one's lungs wouldn't be heard. The Xuanwu Emperor, his eyes blazing with murderous intent, barely glanced outside before returning to the main hall of the birthing chamber.
Though it was April and the weather had begun to warm, Consort Liang still trembled from the cold.
She had made a mistake, pushing Concubine Zhen and causing her to go into premature labor, nearly resulting in two deaths. Everyone in Hexi Palace hated her now. No one would offer to dry her or provide clean clothes to change into.
So she could only kneel in the hall, bedraggled and soaked.
Empress Zhu, fearing that the Emperor might condemn Consort Liang without hearing an explanation, spoke up before he could: "Consort Liang, why did you push Concubine Zhen?"
Jiang Xinyue, supported by Magpie and Frost, walked behind the screen outside the birthing chamber to eavesdrop on Consort Liang's answer.
At this question, Consort Liang's face showed some indignation: "Your Majesty, Empress, I was wrong to push Concubine Zhen, but she spoke out of turn first. She actually suggested to Your Majesty that the Princess be married off as a second wife to that prince from Fusang Country whose wife had died and who is old enough to be the Princess's father. I was so outraged that I... I accidentally pushed her."
Behind the screen, Concubine Zhen curved her lips in a smile. "Fool."
"Utter nonsense!" The Xuanwu Emperor was so angered by Consort Liang's rambling "false accusations" that he laughed. "Concubine Zhen was just speaking up for you inside, and you really don't deserve her kindness and generosity. At a time like this, instead of apologizing to her, you're trying to frame her."
"I'm not!" Consort Liang hurried to defend herself. "If Your Majesty doesn't believe me, you can call Concubine Zhen out to confront me. If I've spoken a single falsehood, then..."
"Consort Liang has really gone to great lengths to make me ill," Jiang Xinyue said as she emerged from behind the screen, dressed in white and looking as delicate as a willow. Leaning on Magpie for support, she wore an expression of great distress. "Even if I were to die here today, I must make things clear with Consort Liang. I don't know any prince from Fusang, nor have I ever suggested marrying the Princess to anyone from Fusang."
"You... you... you clearly said..."
"Enough!" The Emperor interrupted her. "The prince of Fusang is only seventeen and has never been married. How could he have a dead wife and be looking for a second one? I don't know where you heard that the Fusang prince asked me for the Princess's hand, but let me tell you, it was Concubine Zhen who said that Fusang, being a small country, wasn't worthy of our Great Yan's princess. That's why I rejected Fusang's request for a marriage alliance. How could you say Concubine Zhen wanted the Princess to marry far away to Fusang? It's impossible!"
Fusang had long been a vassal state of Great Yan, subservient to Great Yan for a hundred years. It wasn't unreasonable for them to seek to marry a princess of Great Yan to strengthen the relationship between the two countries.
Many ministers in the court, upon hearing the news, supported the idea of the Princess going for a political marriage to cement the friendship between the two nations.
Only Lord Jiang opposed it, privately telling him, "Your Majesty, those not of our kind must have different hearts. If there is sincerity between the two countries, it doesn't require marrying off the Princess to maintain good relations. If there is no sincerity, even if the Princess marries over there, it would only be sacrificing an innocent girl. Does our Great Yan need to rely on marrying off princesses to maintain relationships with vassal states?"
Jiang Yankun's meaning was that if they agreed to Fusang's request for a marriage alliance this time, then one day the Goryeo Kingdom might make the same request, and the Nieluo Kingdom might do the same. If all the vassal states made such requests, how many princesses did Great Yan have to marry off?
It made it seem as if Great Yan was the vassal state, needing to send princesses to exchange for peace.
The Xuanwu Emperor had only mentioned this briefly to Jiang Xinyue, not expecting her to also firmly oppose sending the Princess for a political marriage. She spoke disdainfully of Fusang, her words very similar to Lord Jiang's.
Those not of our kind must have different hearts. The Princess going there would be like walking into a disaster. If she couldn't overcome it, wouldn't it be wasting her life? Wouldn't that be harming the Princess?
How could someone like that say what Consort Liang claimed?
Impossible!
