Chapter 75

Xie Run's eyes flickered with thought. "Consort Yun has deliberately set up this stage, giving Lady Li and Lady Han a chance to compete."

She and Fang Yuaner, who were nearing their due dates, were too preoccupied with themselves to bother targeting others.

If anyone was going to stir up trouble, it would likely be Lady Li and Lady Han.

No, she had forgotten one—Wan Linlang.

"You two keep an eye on their courtyards these days, just in case."

The two maids nodded solemnly. "Yes."

After discussing for a while, Xie Run finally had time to look at the letter on the table.

She was curious about who would send her a letter.

When she saw the signature, she froze.

Xie Jing?

Dan Tao exclaimed, "It's from the eldest young master, Xie Jing? I wonder if he's arrived in the capital yet."

Xie Jiang, always free-spirited, had found Xie Jing too slow and arrived in the capital alone.

But Xie Jing had fallen ill halfway, then spent time with some learned friends, so he was delayed and only entered the capital a few days ago.

Dan Tao cautiously studied Xie Run's expression. Seeing no displeasure, she said, "The Xie family still cares about you, mistress."

Dan Tao feared Xie Run still harbored grudges over the past and refused to reconnect with the Xie family.

The original Xie Run had broken ties with the Xie family over entering the prince's manor.

At home, she had once gone on a hunger strike and even attempted suicide, vowing to sever all ties.

After entering the manor, aside from the matter of Yuli, she had never sent word home.

Dan Tao dared not mention the Xie family lightly.

Now that the Xie family had taken the initiative to write, if Xie Run still ignored them, it would mean completely abandoning her birth family.

Xie Run opened the letter and said calmly, "My older brother has already arrived in the capital. It seems he'll spend the New Year here."

In Xie Jing's letter, he mentioned that the Xie family had sent two New Year gifts to Prince Jing's manor.

One was from Xie Jing on behalf of the Xie family, and the other was a separate gift from Xie Jiang.

These gifts weren't meant to curry favor—they were a show of support for Xie Run.

They were telling the manor that the Xie family still had people who cared about Xie Run.

Xie Run acknowledged this kindness.

As a mere consort in the prince's manor, she needed her birth family.

She put the letter away. "Dan Tao, my older brother has just arrived in the capital, and it's hard to prepare things on short notice. Pack some items and send them over."

"The spring imperial examination is in the third month of next year. I only hope he can pass and bring honor to the Xie family."

Dan Tao was also delighted. "The master often praised the eldest young master Xie Jing's scholarship at home, saying he would surely pass the autumn provincial exam. And indeed, he passed on his first try."

"If he can pass the spring metropolitan exam..." Dan Tao suppressed her excitement. "Then you, mistress, will become the daughter of an official."

How could the daughter of a xiucai scholar compare to the daughter of an official?

If Xie Jing really achieved something, Xie Run's humble origins would soon be compensated.

Xie Run smiled faintly. "Now my father should finally get his wish."

Xie Run's father had mediocre scholarly achievements, only becoming a xiucai scholar in middle age, remaining a xiucai scholar for life.

Thus, he placed immense hope in his son, Xie Jing.

He didn't expect an official post; he only wanted Xie Jing to outperform him and at least obtain a juren degree.

But then the local magistrate set his sights on Xie Jing and wanted to force him to marry into the family.

That magistrate belonged to a collateral branch of the Xie family, low-ranking but well-connected.

According to this dynasty's laws, a son-in-law who married into the family could not be the head of a household, could not own land or property, could not become an official, and his descendants could only enter officialdom after three generations.

This would have ended Xie Jing's official career and ended the Xie family line.

Thus, the Xie family would rather die than comply and were forced to offer their daughter as a concubine.

Now, the influence of aristocratic families had waned, but Chen Commandery was still the stronghold of the Xie family's main branch. Without the backing of Prince Jing's manor, even if Xie Jing obtained a juren degree, his future would be ruined.

Xie Run was not the former Xie Run. She needed support, a birth family, so she had to "repair ties" with the Xie family.

She had no concerns about Xie Jing's future.

In the story where Xie Jiang is the heroine, Xie Jing passed the jinshi examination.

Xie Jiang later married the only prince not of the imperial clan, Prince Zhennan, and Xie Jing benefited from it, rising steadily in the court, eventually becoming the prime minister.

As for whether a prince who held military power would be suspected, or whether a prime minister who was too young was a problem—in Xie Jiang's story, none of that mattered.

With the protagonist's plot armor, everything was made plausible.

Now, even though it was just the beginning, Xie Jiang had already built a reputation in the capital, established a connection with Xie Run, and had a sister who was a consort in Prince Jing's manor.

Xie Jing's official career would go even more smoothly than in the book.

Similarly, Xie Run would benefit, enabling her to stand more firmly.

This was the mutual benefit between family members in this ancient society.

Xie Run picked up her brush to reply to both Xie Jing and Xie Jiang, and also sent some silver to Xie Jing.

After doing all this, it was almost time for the evening meal.

Xie Run rubbed her wrist and was about to order someone to bring dinner when she heard a report from someone outside the corridor.

"Mistress, the prince is here!"

Xie Run's eyes lit up with a smile, and she walked out slowly to receive Prince Jing.

As the New Year approached, the prince had been getting busier.

Still, he would come to Chunshan Courtyard every few days.

He said it was to see the child, but the other two pregnant women did not enjoy such treatment.

Sometimes Xie Run wondered if life might not be so bad if there weren't so many scheming individuals in the household.

But she soon realized she had been blinded by the peace.

How could there ever be true peace in this household?

Just over the New Year, Prince Jing and the princess were both run off their feet.

And someone started stirring up trouble again.

As the news spread that Shiqie Han was carrying a child of fortune, another rumor quietly took hold.

Shiqie Han wasn't pregnant at all!

At first, no one took it seriously; they just treated it as a joke.

Pregnancy isn't like an illness—you might fake it for a while, but can you fake it for ten months?

The prince's household had few children, so matters of offspring were taken very seriously.

If she were exposed, Shiqie Han would have a lot to answer for. Who would be stupid enough to do that?

But as more "evidence" emerged, the rumor grew more rampant.

"She didn't get pregnant early or late—she just happened to get pregnant right when it was said Shiqie Li might be expecting? And she 'coincidentally' beat her to it, securing the position of Shu Fei. How could such a coincidence exist?"

"The ladies in the household are delicate. That day she and Qiu Kui slipped on the rockery. Qiu Kui's foot was broken, but she came out unscathed. Which pregnant woman could withstand that kind of fall?"

"As I see it, the 'child of fortune' is just an excuse! She's got nothing in there, so she can do whatever she wants!"

"She hasn't been seen vomiting, nor has she come out for walks. It's obviously guilt!"

In fact, the vomiting accusation was unfair to Shiqie Han.

To make it more convincing, she even drank a medicine that induced vomiting.

But since it was a rumor, those spreading it conveniently ignored such details and spread it with the most outrageous exaggerations.

With these rumors, the mood in the rear courtyard grew unsettled.

The princess petitioned for a special favor on behalf of the three Shu Fei. Two of them were exempted from attending the palace banquet this year, and she took only Princess Ruyi with her to the palace.

Xie Run, heavily pregnant and unable to get around easily, stayed in her courtyard every day.

Thus, she spent the New Year in exceptional leisure.

Before she knew it, the fifteenth day of the first lunar month—the Lantern Festival—had passed.

Prince Jing and the princess could finally catch their breath.

By then, the rumors in the rear courtyard had become impossible to suppress.