Chapter 203: The Emperor’s Uncle Saves the Day

Chapter 203: The Emperor's Uncle Saves the Day

While the Dowager Duchess discussed Xiao Yuchen, Tang Shuyi was also speaking about Princess Jianing with her maids, Cui Zhu and Cui Yun.

"She's beautiful and has a pleasant disposition," Tang Shuyi recalled her interactions with Princess Jianing, adding, "and she seems intelligent."

"To escort her brother all the way from their distant fiefdom to the capital must have been challenging," Cui Yun remarked, placing a cup of ginseng tea beside Tang Shuyi.

Tang Shuyi hummed in agreement, "Her mother died early, and her father remarried. I've heard her stepmother has a son around the same age as her brother. You can imagine their life hasn't been easy."

In some noble families, even full-blooded brothers fight bitterly over titles, let alone those born of different mothers.

"Alas, she's had a hard life," Cui Zhu sympathized.

Tang Shuyi took a sip of the ginseng tea, "Though nobody wishes for such hardships, they're not necessarily a bad thing. In life, who can always have smooth sailing? Difficult experiences can forge a person's will and their ability to adapt, so they won't be easily crushed by major challenges."

A girl like this, with more growth, would make a competent mistress of a household.

Once this thought emerged, Tang Shuyi couldn't suppress it. She began to analyze the compatibility between Xiao Yuchen and Princess Jianing. First, their families were well-matched. Princess Jianing, hailing from a princely house, could only marry down and not up, unless she married a foreign prince through a political alliance, which she likely wouldn't prefer.

If marrying down, her suitors would be dukes or marquises. The Marquis of Yongning's household was not the very top among the capital's nobility, but it certainly wasn't lacking.

Furthermore, Xiao Yuchen and Princess Jianing were of similar ages, and having shared life-and-death experiences, they shared a special bond. What remained was to see if the Emperor would agree.

In fact, though the title of the Duke's residence was of a princely rank, it had already been a generation since its connection to the current Emperor. The first Duke was a sibling of the previous Emperor.

The emperor now harbors suspicions against his own brothers and son; surely he wouldn’t be wary of his cousins, right? Besides, Prince Duan is not a vassal king. He holds no military power, merely possessing extensive fiefdoms, a bit wealthier, that’s all.

Naturally, as members of the royal family, their status is transcendent.

Everything depends on the emperor’s will.

“Keep a close eye on the household of Duke Li and Princess Jianing,” Tang Shuyi instructed Cuizhu and Cuiyun.

It’s essential to choose a future son-in-law early, and the same goes for a daughter-in-law. Moreover, Xiao Yuchen is eighteen already; after the imperial examinations next spring, he’ll be twenty - it's about time for him to marry.

………

The following day, after having breakfast, Princess Jianing, accompanied by her younger brother Li Jinghao, went to the imperial palace. They had sent a card to the palace the day before, and the empress had replied, saying that the emperor was pleased to hear of their arrival in the capital and wished to see them at the empress’s palace.

Princess Jianing paid little heed to these courteous words. On the way to the palace, she whispered to Li Jinghao, “Behave yourself when we meet the emperor and empress. If the emperor asks about your studies and martial arts, keep your answers modest.”

Li Jinghao nodded. “Don’t worry, sister. I understand.”

Having grown up oppressed by his stepmother, he had long learned how to conceal his talents.

Princess Jianing hummed in acknowledgment, her gaze drifting through the window screen to the hazy scenery outside. Today’s visit to the imperial palace was of utmost importance; there was no room for error.

Upon reaching the palace gates, they presented the card from Prince Duan’s mansion, and the palace attendants promptly let them through. After entering the gate, they saw two sedan chairs parked by the roadside, and a matronly woman approached them, kneeling and saluting, “Are you Princess Jianing and the young master from Prince Duan’s mansion?”

Princess Jianing nodded, and the matron smiled, “The empress knew you were coming today and had me wait here early. Please, princess, young master, take your seats in the sedan chairs.”

Princess Jianing nodded slightly to her, a weight lifting off her heart; at least the empress was outwardly cordial to them. They boarded the sedan chairs and, after a quarter of an hour, arrived at the empress’s chambers.

Upon entering, the siblings knelt to pay their respects. The empress rose and personally helped them up, smiling, “It was only after receiving your card yesterday that I learned of your arrival in the capital.”

Princess Jianing’s face showed a hint of regret, “When we arrived in the capital the day before yesterday, it was already late, and we did not wish to disturb my royal uncle and aunt’s rest, so we sent the card yesterday.”

The empress, holding her hand and looking her up and down with a smile, turned her affectionate gaze to Li Jinghao, “I last saw you in the palace when you were little, brought by your mother. This is my first time seeing you, Jinghao.”

After speaking, she sighed, “Your mother was such a good person, I never expected her to pass away so early...”

She dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief, while Princess Jianing and Li Jinghao already had tears streaming down their faces. The empress was taken aback and then said, “I apologize for bringing up such a painful memory.”

By this time, Princess Jianing and Li Jinghao were crying profusely. The empress frowned slightly but still asked softly, “What happened? Have you been aggrieved in some way?”

Princess Jianing, pulling Li Jinghao along, knelt before the empress once again, crying, “Please save us, royal aunt!”

"What... what is this? Get up, whatever it is, stand up and say it."

The Empress bent down to help the siblings up when a voice rang out, "What’s going on here?"

Upon noticing the Emperor's approach, the Empress promptly paid her respects before explaining, "Jianing and Jinghao have arrived in tears, pleading for salvation."

The Emperor, furrowing his brow, strode over as Princess Jianing and Li Jinghao shifted to kneel before him. Princess Jianing, with tears streaking her face, looked up at the Emperor and implored, "Imperial Uncle, save us, someone seeks our lives."

"Who would dare! Who dares to harm my imperial kin?" The Emperor seated himself and commanded, "Stand and speak plainly."

Princess Jianing and Li Jinghao rose, and the Empress directed them to sit to the side. The Emperor, with a stern face, urged, "Speak."

Dabbing her face with a handkerchief, Princess Jianing recounted, "Over a month ago, while I was enjoying the lake view in our estate, someone pushed me from behind, and I fell into the water.

Desperate cries for help went unheard; normally, there are maids around, but that day, there were none. Struggling for my life, swallowing water, I was near death when my handmaiden arrived just in time to save me."

"Wasn't your handmaiden with you?" inquired the Empress.

Princess Jianing shook her head, "They were lured away."

"You didn't report this to your father?" asked the Emperor.

Looking distressed and at a loss for words, Princess Jianing was prompted by the Emperor's encouraging gesture.

"I told my father, and he promised an investigation, but in the end, he claimed I had merely slipped into the lake myself," Princess Jianing sobbed, "but... but those connected to my fall into the lake, they all died. Imperial Uncle, I may not be wise, but I am no fool; it's clear that this is..."

Struggling to articulate the conspiracy, Li Jinghao clenched his fists in anger, "It's the doing of the Princess Consort, but my father favors her."

The Emperor and Empress understood that the "Princess Consort" referred to the current wife of Duke Duan. The Emperor exclaimed in a low but stern voice, "Foolishness!"

The Emperor believed part of Princess Jianing's story. Normally, a duke's legitimate eldest son would be recognized as the heir at the age of five or six, but he had seen no such petition from Duke Duan, which raised suspicions.

It boiled down to this: the Duke's heart was ensnared by his new wife after the death of the heir's mother, hoping her child would inherit the title. Yet, by custom, the legitimate eldest son should succeed unless he was incapacitated or deceased.