"Sob, sob, sob..."
From within the eldest princess's pavilion, the sound of a young girl's sobbing could be heard: "They... they think I'm easy to bully. Since my mother is gone and no one protects me, they deliberately pick on me."
"How could that be?"
The eldest princess felt a headache coming on. Recently, the second princess had been coming to her palace, crying a little every three days and a lot every five days. They had always been close, and the comforting words she had repeated so many times that her mouth was parched, but the second princess just wouldn't snap out of it.
"Why wouldn't it be?"
The second princess wiped her tears: "It's just a few pieces of silver charcoal, right? Even if I take a little less, or a little more, what's the big deal? Yet the Internal Affairs Office punished my head nanny. Isn't that a slap in my face? I know, because my mother committed a grave mistake and offended the Imperial Noble Consort, they are humiliating me, all to curry favor with the Imperial Noble Consort."
She didn't directly accuse the Imperial Noble Consort, but every word she said seemed to express her dissatisfaction with Jiang Xinyue.
"If it weren't for my mother's death, how dare they treat me like this? What's wrong with me helping my maternal grandfather? He's almost..."
The eldest princess had been holding back for a long time and finally couldn't take it anymore, interrupting her: "Shen Mingzhu, snap out of it."
She faced the second princess with a serious expression: "What I'm about to say might not be what you want to hear, but if you want to stay alive and continue living your life of luxury, you better listen carefully."
"Sister..."
The second princess seemed to have never seen the eldest princess get angry with her and was momentarily stunned.
"Your mother's death was because she mistreated the palace staff and repeatedly tried to harm the Imperial Noble Consort and the sixth imperial brother. If it weren't for the Consort's own vigilance, she would have been killed by your mother multiple times. Moreover, your mother wasn't killed by the Consort; she was stabbed to death by Xiao Ronghua, who had gone mad after being tortured by Consort De. If the Consort wanted to torment you, you'd probably have been sent to some vassal state for a political marriage by now. How could you still be sitting here blaming her?"
"Your younger brother, Xuan'er, is younger than you, yet he can distinguish right from wrong and voluntarily went to the Ancestral Temple to atone for the sins committed by Consort De. You're already twelve years old, and in three years, Father Emperor will find you a husband. Why are you so muddle-headed? Who told you that the servants' mistreatment of you was the Imperial Noble Consort's doing? The Consort is currently pregnant, spending her days playing cards, enjoying flowers and tea with the other consorts, and mostly resting in Hexi Palace. She rarely even leaves her palace. With no empress in the harem, the Consort, as the de facto deputy empress, has so much to worry about. How would she have the time to target you?"
"You're just a princess, and you'll eventually be married off. It's more worthwhile for her to target Third Imperial Brother. Which of your gossiping servants is sowing discord? Tell me, and I'll confront her on behalf of the Imperial Noble Consort to see if what she said holds any truth."
The second princess blinked and looked at the nanny beside her. The nanny's eyes were darting around, too afraid to meet the eldest princess's gaze.
But the eldest princess wasn't someone easily fooled.
She immediately stood up, her presence commanding as she stood in front of the nanny: "Is it you who's been badmouthing the Imperial Noble Consort in front of my sister, sowing discord between them?"
The nanny's forehead was dripping with sweat, and she fell to her knees with a "thud": "I dare not, I dare not..."
"I think you dare quite a lot."
The eldest princess kicked the nanny over: "Let me ask you, Cheng Guogong and Consort De conspired several times to take the Imperial Noble Consort's life and wanted to topple the Jiang family. Why didn't you tell my sister about that? That year, the sixth imperial prince in Hexi Palace nearly died from white phosphorus powder. Why didn't you say it was Cheng Guogong's doing? Yes, you are Cheng Guogong's relatives, and you sympathize with his plight, but wasn't that his own fault? His punishment was decreed by Father Emperor himself. You don't have the guts to blame Father Emperor, so you pin all the blame on the Imperial Noble Consort. Why?"
The second princess clearly found it hard to accept this reality and shook her head vigorously: "No, no, no... it's not like that. The nanny said..."
The nanny's face was pale, on the verge of collapse: "I... I just couldn't bear to..."
"You couldn't bear to see Cheng Guogong suffer?"
The eldest princess shouted: "What about the children who died at the hands of Consort De and Cheng Guogong? The concubines who died with their unborn children? The people who were tortured to death? Aren't they suffering? Why can you only see your own suffering and ignore others'?"
The Consort Zhuang in the palace was made to miscarry by Consort De, and she bled profusely, eventually passing away not long after Consort De's death.
The imperial physician said that all these years, what kept Consort Zhuang alive was a single breath.
A breath to avenge her child.
Now that Jiang Xinyue had helped her find the culprit and avenged her, the breath was gone, and so was she.
Wasn't she suffering?
The second princess was already a sobbing mess: "Sister, I didn't know... I really didn't know..."
The eldest princess hugged her and patted her back in comfort: "Mingzhu, Concubine Zhen has always been Concubine Zhen, the Concubine Zhen we once knew. She hasn't changed; it's our perspective that has changed. You're growing up and should have your own thoughts, learn to think for yourself. Don't listen to gossip. Ask yourself, has Concubine Zhen ever treated you badly?"
After Consort De's death, Third Imperial Brother left the palace, and in the back pavilion of Yanqing Palace, the second princess lived.
Jiang Xinyue was afraid she would overthink, so she had the Emperor select two well-behaved and gentle girls from among the officials' daughters to be her companions.
Everyday rewards of silk, brocade, jewelry, and gold were never lacking, which was more than enough kindness.
The second princess took all of this for granted.
That's not right.
No one is obligated to be unconditionally kind to a stranger.
"I... I understand..."
The second princess shyly smiled at the eldest princess: "Today, Consort Ru is moving into Yanqing Palace, and I still have to make arrangements. I won't disturb you while you work on your wedding dress!"
The eldest princess pretended to hit her, but the second princess dodged with a cheerful laugh and ran out the door.
After running a certain distance, she stopped, her expression darkening.
The nanny who followed her out wiped the sweat from her forehead: "Your Highness, the eldest princess seems..."
"Hmph!"
The second princess sneered: "She's about to marry that Jiang Shoucheng from the Jiang family, so now my sister is speaking up for them, completely disregarding my feelings as her sister."
The nanny nodded: "Exactly! That Low Level Consort Yu is also kissing up to the Jiang family, isn't she just trying to get some benefits? The way she curries favor with the former empress is exactly the same as now. The eldest princess didn't learn anything good, but she mastered the art of sucking up perfectly."
The second princess wholeheartedly agreed, sighing disappointedly: "Nanny, we'll have to rely on ourselves."
