Chapter 129

Chapter 129

In this world, the more bizarre the gossip, the more people love it, and the faster it spreads.

Soon, this matter reached the ears of those in the palace.

Consort Rou hastily summoned her two sons to the palace for questioning.

Seeing Prince Jing, she laid into him without preamble: "What are you making a fuss about?!"

"Over mere rumors, you've made such a mess with your elder brother, letting all the capital laugh at the three of us."

"You're not a kid anymore—how can you still be so clueless?!"

Prince Jing gave her an icy stare.

Consort Rou remained oblivious, her anger mounting as she sought to vent years of pent-up dissatisfaction with Prince Jing.

"What standing does Princess Su have? Why would she bother with a lowly Concubine Shu?"

"You're a prince, for crying out loud—how can you buy into such crazy rumors?!"

"Hurry and apologize to your elder brother! Then go clarify these rumors, lest you damage your brotherly bond!"

Prince Su, with a resolute countenance, prided himself on being the eldest imperial son and always presented a fair and stern image.

Hearing Consort Rou's indiscriminate scolding, he immediately stepped forward.

"Mother, this isn't entirely Sixth Brother's fault."

"I failed to manage my household properly, which nearly implicated Sixth Brother..."

Before Prince Su could say more, Consort Rou's tone softened instantly: "Don't stick up for him."

"If it's not his fault, then surely it can't be yours... Stop right there, you disobedient son, where are you going?!"

It turned out Prince Jing, unwilling to watch the two put on their mother-son act, had turned and left Ruyi Palace.

Prince Su called out: "Sixth Brother!"

Prince Jing stopped, turned to face Prince Su, his eyes cold and blazing with anger!

"Elder Brother, from the moment your princess stuck her nose into my household, our brotherly bond ceased to exist!"

"From today on, you go your way and I'll go mine—no more ties between us!"

With that, Prince Jing didn't even glance at Consort Rou as he turned and left Ruyi Hall.

Consort Rou stared blankly at the scene before snapping back to reality, asking in a low voice: "Did Ruojun truly lay hands on Old Sixth's Concubine Shu?!"

Prince Su said grimly, "I failed to keep her in line."

Consort Rou found it incomprehensible: "What was she thinking?!"

Even though she favored Prince Su, she couldn't fathom Princess Su's actions.

Her eldest daughter-in-law intended to wipe out her youngest son's bloodline?!

This was absolutely insane!

She looked up at Prince Su through gritted teeth: "Your brother may not be much, but he hasn't gotten in your way."

"Others would kill for a full brother and never get one—what's wrong with you?"

Prince Su said nothing.

He couldn't tell Consort Rou that he hadn't known of this beforehand.

But husband and wife are one—what she did was the same as him doing it.

Last night, after Prince Jing's accusations, he had gone back to confront his princess.

She laid out the pros and cons, calmly breaking it down for him, and one line—"Everything I did was for you"—shut Prince Su right up.

She could say those words to him.

But he couldn't repeat them to Consort Rou.

Consort Rou also felt somewhat awkward: "Enough!"

"Today I misjudged Little Sixth."

"Since your princess messed up, have her send some gifts to Prince Jing's place as an apology."

"Surely that Concubine Shu wouldn't dare get too big for her britches."

Prince Su bowed respectfully to Consort Rou: "As for Sixth Brother, I'll also trouble Mother to smooth things over."

"Ruojun was wrong, and I've already dealt with her—I just hope Sixth Brother can forgive me."

Consort Rou nodded: "That's only natural."

"Brothers don't hold grudges overnight—surely Little Sixth won't stay angry long." Consort Rou consoled her eldest son thus.

Prince Su listened but figured that wasn't likely.

Looking at his clueless, naive mother, he suddenly felt exhausted.

Prince Jing stormed out of Ruyi Hall, ready to head out of the palace.

Suddenly, the Emperor summoned him to the study for a game of chess.

During the game, the Emperor probed repeatedly about the brothers' quarrel, urging harmony between them, playing the role of a doting father.

Prince Jing wasn't foolish.

The Emperor could know he and Prince Su were at odds, but in the Emperor's presence, he had to project brotherly amity.

Finding nothing forthcoming, the Emperor waved Prince Jing out of the palace.

The moment Prince Jing left, the entire palace knew that Prince Su and Prince Jing, the blood brothers, had fallen out irreparably, likely forging a deep enmity.

Prince Jing returned to his mansion with a dark face.

He happened to encounter the apology gifts Princess Su had sent over.

Prince Jing flew into a rage, kicking over the lead servant: "Get out!"

"From now on, if anyone from Prince Su's mansion dares to come knocking, beat them out!"

He then had Jing Wu "escort" all of Prince Su's servants out.

With all this back-and-forth, the capital's citizens had their entertainment for the month.

Out of the blue, gifts from the palace arrived at Prince Jing's mansion.

And what's more, they were specifically bestowed by Guifei Rou on Xie Run and the newborn Fifth Young Master.

Now that was a rare thing!

Prince Jing's mansion had never once received such favors from Guifei Rou.

Even when Cefei Ning gave birth to Prince Jing's eldest son, Guifei Rou had brushed it off with a dismissive remark about it being just a concubine's child.

Xie Run didn't dare accept the gifts and hurriedly sent someone to ask Prince Jing.

Prince Jing simply had Shi An pass along the word: "His Highness says that when an elder bestows gifts, one must not refuse. He just wants Shufei Xie to accept them without worry."

Xie Run mulled over those words and read between the lines.

Prince Jing wanted to fall out with Prince Su but didn't want to get a reputation for being unfilial or disrespectful, so at this point, he naturally had to show some deference to Guifei Rou.

She then had someone carry Taotao and went herself to respectfully express her gratitude.

Once Guifei Rou saw that Xie Run had accepted the gifts, she figured the matter was settled.

The next day, she specifically summoned Princess Jing and Princess Su to the palace, hoping to get them to talk things out and not damage the brothers' relationship.

Princess Su, proud and haughty, even when apologizing, put on airs and spoke in a pretentious manner.

Princess Jing, coming from a no-less-distinguished background, wasn't one to take that kind of attitude and gave a soft but firm refusal.

This left Guifei Rou with egg on her face.

After stirring up all that trouble, Prince Jing took the chance to file a request for sick leave and spent his days holed up in his study, taking it easy.

Eunuch Shi'an, while bringing in the soup, casually brought it up: "Your Highness, Shufei Yun just sent word, saying that the young princess has been fussing these past few days, insisting on seeing you."

Prince Jing lazily lifted his eyelids to look at Shi'an: "Is that what she said?"

Shi'an nodded and said cautiously, "Shufei Yun rarely sends messages about the young princess, so I thought it worth mentioning."

Prince Jing couldn't figure out the minds of his concubines, but he did take his children seriously.

When matters concerning the young masters and misses of the household arose, Shi'an dared not withhold the information.

Prince Jing lounged lazily in his chair and, after a long pause, finally said, "Tell Shufei Yun that I will dine with Ruyi at Qiufeng Courtyard tonight."

"Yes!" Shi'an acknowledged and immediately went to deliver the message.