“Ouch… Sister Zheng, today’s headdress looks absolutely stunning on you. Is it for the Crown Prince’s selection ceremony?”
“Sister Zheng is turning seventeen this year, and the Crown Prince is nineteen. You two are quite well-matched in age, but what’s the point if the Crown Prince doesn’t like you? After all, this is about selecting a wife, not matching a lock to a door. It’s not about compatibility—it’s about affection. Don’t you agree, Sister Zheng?”
“You...”
“Sister Zheng, do you know what the Crown Prince desires?”
Meng Yixuan’s eyes sparkled with intensity as she spoke of the Crown Prince, her gaze brimming with an unusual light. “What the Crown Prince wants is someone who can truly connect with him. That’s why he chose me as his Crown Princess—he saw that I harbored no ambition for the position itself, only for him as a person.”
In other words, the Crown Prince had long since realized that Zheng Keren’s participation in the selection was merely a bid for wealth and glory, an attempt to become the Crown Princess.
If the Crown Prince today were an ordinary son of a common family, Meng Yixuan would still have unwaveringly married him, regardless of his wealth or status. She would have.
But the noble ladies like Zheng Keren? They wouldn’t even spare him a second glance.
Although the others might not have fully grasped the subtleties of the conversation, everyone understood Meng Yixuan’s dig at Zheng Keren’s aspirations to be Crown Princess.
It was a valid jab. After all, Zheng Keren was clearly being sarcastic because she hadn’t been chosen.
“You… I…”
How could Zheng Keren admit that she had always known the Crown Prince harbored feelings for Meng Yixuan, and that her jealousy had driven her hostility? Doing so would only make Meng Yixuan even more elated.
She had believed that even if the Meng family rose to become a first-rank noble household, Meng Yixuan’s lowly-born mother would still render her an improper match for the Crown Prince.
Losing to someone like Yan Qingqing, a daughter of a top-tier noble family, was not embarrassing—she would have conceded gracefully. But losing to Meng Yixuan? She simply couldn’t swallow that.
How could the Crown Prince be so blind?
“Enough, enough. Today is Sister Zheng’s birthday. Since we’re all here as sisters, there’s no need to quarrel. Let’s go to the front courtyard to enjoy the performances!”
Jing Shuyi, the daughter of the third branch of the Jing family, was roughly the same age as the Third Princess but held a much higher familial rank—she was the Third Princess’s great-aunt.
With someone of such seniority mediating the situation, it was truly unseemly to continue the confrontation.
Meng Yixuan gave Zheng Keren a disdainful smirk before turning and walking over to the Third Princess and Yan Qingqing.
Yan Qingqing raised a thumb in admiration. “Yixuan, nice move! You’re finally showing some of the spirit Aunt Xique instilled in you. That Zheng Keren deserved that comeuppance.”
The Third Princess smiled faintly. “Qingqing is right. Yixuan, you should have stood up for yourself like this from the start. But don’t worry. My Crown Prince Brother knows how she constantly targets you. There’s no way he’d let her into the Eastern Palace.”
Besides selecting a Crown Princess, the Emperor and Empress would also arrange several concubines and lesser consorts for the Crown Prince.
However, the Emperor and Empress had always taken a casual approach to their children’s marriages. As long as their offspring did not associate with unscrupulous or morally degenerate individuals, the royal couple would support their choices.
Given their lenient stance, they certainly wouldn’t meddle in something minor like the appointment of concubines.
Therefore, not only would Zheng Keren never become Crown Princess, but she wouldn’t even have a chance as a concubine.
This was because Noble Consort Shen Mingye would never allow someone who sought to harm his Crown Princess to reside in the Eastern Palace.
It had already been five days, yet Yan Jinsha still couldn’t figure out where she had gone wrong.
On that day, the Crown Prince had clearly shown interest in her when he saved her. Why hadn’t he summoned her to the Eastern Palace in all this time?
Since that incident, she had been crushed by those who resented her—especially the goddaughter of the Internal Affairs Department’s overseer, who had just been demoted.
She was given the least food yet forced to shoulder the heaviest tasks. She slept the latest and woke the earliest, only to find an endless stream of chores awaiting her.
Manager Zhang, elderly and beset by ailments, was nearing the end of his life. It was only a matter of time before the deputy overseer took his place. The winds had long since shifted within the Internal Affairs Department, and no one dared to assist Yan Jinsha now.
The silent, dark night enveloped the Internal Affairs Department like a massive net, suffocating its inhabitants with a sense of utter helplessness.
No matter how hard one struggled, it felt as though escaping this prison was impossible. The suffocation was utterly despairing.
“Clang!”
A furtive set of footsteps approached, followed by the sound of a bolt being silently forced open. “Are you sure this won’t cause trouble?”
The woman glared at the guard. “What trouble could there possibly be? That old fart, Manager Zhang, used to take special care of her, wary that I might bully her. He even arranged for her to have an entire room to herself. Well, isn’t that just perfect for our plans tonight?”
“Relax. She’s the daughter of a convicted traitor, with no relatives to speak of. Even if you defile her, no one will come to her rescue. Haven’t you been lusting after Jinsha’s beauty for a long time? Don’t tell me you lack the guts to claim her.”
The guard grit his teeth, resolutely pushing the door open.
On the roof of the Internal Affairs Department, a pair of dark, gleaming eyes watched the shadowy guard enter the room. Only after the guard had vanished inside did the figure in blue leap down from the roof, sprinting swiftly toward the Eastern Palace.
At the Eastern Palace—
A silver fishing line swayed gently in the water, and Noble Consort Shen Mingye, clad in his four-clawed golden dragon robe, lifted the corner of his lips in satisfaction as a fish bit the hook.
With a practiced pull of his fishing rod, a magnificent golden-scaled carp was hauled ashore.
Little Yuezi and several palace maids clapped enthusiastically. The Crown Prince truly was marvelous—he managed to catch a fish even with a straight hook.
Was this a modern rendition of “Jiang Taigong fishing, those who are destined will bite?”
The blue figure landed silently on the rooftop of the Eastern Palace, drawing immediate vigilance from the concealed guards. However, upon recognizing the newcomer, they relaxed once more.
The blue-robed guard landed silently but stumbled momentarily as he approached Noble Consort Shen Mingye, his movement disrupted by a plump carp plopping right into his arms.
He fumbled to catch the flapping fish and hurriedly returned it to the artificial pond nestled amidst the rockery. “Crown Prince, Yan Jinsha… she’s in danger…”
Shen Mingye rose, stowing his fishing rod. “Let’s pay a visit to the Internal Affairs Department then.”
He wasn’t in any hurry. After all, the maid had initiated her own ploys against him. If she couldn’t even protect herself in such a situation, if she were merely a vapid beauty, then she wasn’t worth his efforts.
“Clang!”
“Ugh… mmm… mmm…”
A suffocating, airless sensation flooded in, jolting Yan Jinsha awake.
Before her, a strange man was clamping a hand over her mouth, tearing at her garments. “My beauty, I’ve longed for you for so long. Just submit to me—I’ll be gentle.”
“Let… mmm… save… mmm…”
The man stuffed a sweaty cloth into her mouth, pinning her hands above her head with one hand while unfastening the buttons around her neck with the other.
Jinsha fought desperately, but the guard was incredibly strong. As a frail woman, she stood no chance against him.
