Chapter 258: Further Overtures
Princess Consort Zhao ate a meal without appetite in the Empress’s Palace, and then returned to her own residence.
The servants quickly came to help her take off her outer clothes, and Princess Consort Zhao asked, “Is His Highness not home?”
“His Highness did not leave the manor today; he is in Concubine Lan’s room,” the maid replied busily.
“I knew it,” Princess Consort Zhao muttered, clearly displeased.
However, she had just changed into loose clothes and had taken a sip of tea when Prince Zhao walked in.
“You certainly have a leisurely disposition,” Princess Consort Zhao couldn’t help but retort, “My entire heart has been like it was being roasted on an iron plate all day.”
“What’s wrong? Why are you so unhappy after visiting the palace?” Prince Zhao quickly stepped forward and asked.
“What else could it be? Didn’t you say a few days ago that you would use the Liu family’s affairs to put pressure on Prince Chu? I met Princess Consort Chu in the palace today, and she was so arrogant, completely disregarding me. I think your pressure was completely useless.” Princess Consort Zhao vented all the grievances she had suffered in the palace that day. “Now they have someone backing them in the palace; Princess Duanmin invited everyone except Tong’er to her place for roast meat. This is simply too much bullying.”
Prince Zhao said nothing, listening as she recounted everything from beginning to end, then asked, “What did the Empress say?”
“The Empress didn’t take it to heart, only saying that she would preside over it,” Princess Consort Zhao said. “You know my sister’s temper; she never goes back on her word. If we say too much, it might be counterproductive.”
“Has Prince Chu eaten leopard’s courage or something?” Prince Zhao pondered and said, “Never mind, isn’t it said that once the bow is drawn, there’s no turning back? Tomorrow I will have someone impeach him in court. After all, the truth will out. The Liu family is still putting up a strong front now; if we really give them a hard time, they certainly won’t be able to hold on.”
“In my opinion, there was no need to show any mercy from the start,” Princess Consort Zhao snorted. “It’s always been said that one cannot sleep soundly with others lying beside their bed. If they hadn’t been so subservient before, why would they still be around today?”
Prince Zhao then arranged for someone to impeach Prince Chu at the morning court the next day. Of course, he himself would not personally step forward yet, as it had not reached that point.
The Emperor and the King of Fenye returned to the palace at dusk, naturally with full hands.
That evening, they simply lit a bonfire in an open space in the palace, imitating the way they roasted wild game on the grasslands. An entire yellow sheep and a roe deer were skinned and set up to roast over the fire.
The people in the palace found it novel, and many gathered to watch the spectacle.
Princess Duanmin refused to go, instead sending away the attendants serving her: “I detest this the most. You don’t know, those Manchu people sing and dance around the bonfire until midnight. That’s one thing, but they always get drunk and vomit everywhere. So every time they do this, I stay in my yurt and refuse to be with them.”
As she was speaking with the Grand Princess, Wen Mingqian entered with an incense burner.
“How is it now? Have the body odors of those two women mostly disappeared?” Princess Duanmin asked as soon as she saw her.
“They are already like Han people,” Wen Mingqian said, putting down the incense burner. “As long as young girls avoid eating meat and fish for a month, and combine it with fragrant herb baths and drinking fragrant tea, their body odor will naturally disappear.”
“That would be for the best,” Princess Duanmin said, very pleased. “Thanks to you, your things are perfectly suited for them.”
It turned out that Princess Duanmin had brought back a pair of twin sisters from the grasslands. They were not only exceptionally beautiful but also skilled in singing and dancing.
However, because they grew up on the grasslands and ate beef and mutton year-round, their body odor was much stronger than that of Han people.
Previously, Princess Duanmin had sent people to the Capital City to present beauties to the Emperor, but the Empress had returned them all, citing their strong body odor as unsuitable for serving His Majesty.
This time, she had brought two more, intending to present them to the Emperor on his birthday in a few days.
The Grand Princess then reminded her that if she wanted to achieve her goal, she needed to properly remove their body odor.
Wen Mingqian was skilled in making incense, so it was naturally a task she could handle with ease.
However, this matter could not be known to the Empress, otherwise Wen Mingqian would surely lose her trust.
“I’ve been here for some time and need to leave quickly,” Wen Mingqian said.
“You may go! Chang An and the others have probably run ahead to watch the bonfire. Although I’ve instructed those accompanying them to be extremely careful, if you have nothing else to do, you might as well go and take a look,” the Grand Princess said to her.
Wen Mingqian agreed and left.
Only Princess Duanmin and the Grand Princess remained in the room. Princess Duanmin poked at the incense ash in the burner and said, “Aunt, a few days ago I asked you why Wen Mingqian entered the palace, and you told me to guess myself. But I guessed several times and none were correct. Now I will guess again.”
The Grand Princess smiled and said, “Alright, then you guess.”
“I think that for her alone, entering the palace was not the best choice. She would have lived more freely outside than in the palace, but she still entered. So she must have a very important matter, and this matter can only be accomplished by staying by the Empress’s side.
Does she have some injustice? And this injustice is difficult to rectify through ordinary means, requiring an imperial decree to be issued.” Princess Duanmin had been repeatedly pondering this question these past few days.
She had previously thought that perhaps Wen Mingqian entered the palace for the sake of her two elder brothers’ official careers.
After all, she was already divorced and could only rely on her maternal family, but her maternal relatives were not in the Capital City.
But the Grand Princess said no.
Given Wen Mingqian’s connections, she could have asked the Grand Princess or Princess Consort Zhao to help her two brothers return to the Capital City smoothly, without such a complicated process of entering the palace.
Later, she guessed that perhaps Wen Mingqian was hiding from enemies, and maybe she had offended someone with high power and status.
Or perhaps she was young, beautiful, and possessed unique skills, making her inevitably entangled by those with ill intentions.
She even guessed that Prince Zhao had designs on Wen Mingqian, as Prince Zhao was quite lecherous.
In short, Wen Mingqian entered the palace to hide from someone, but this was also denied.
Therefore, she pondered for several more days before coming up with the idea that perhaps Wen Mingqian had suffered an injustice that could not be resolved through normal channels, and that was why she chose to enter the palace.
The Grand Princess did not reply in a hurry. Instead, she slowly took a sip of tea before nodding slowly and saying, “You’ve actually guessed correctly this time.”
“What?! It’s true?!” Princess Duanmin was not happy about guessing correctly; instead, she was very surprised.
“Look at you, would I lie to you?” the Grand Princess said, “But you must keep this matter strictly confidential; she bears a great responsibility.”
“What injustice does she bear? Can you tell me, Aunt?” Princess Duanmin lowered her voice, too curious to contain herself.
