Commandery Princess Qingjiang didn't return to the feast until the feast was almost over. Commandery Princess Nanzhang found it quite strange so she asked, "Why were you away for so long?"

Then she noticed that the first maid was changed too, "Where is Zhenli?"

"I got held up for something about Ping'an." Commandery Princess Qingjiang was not in a good mood but she didn't want anybody to be in the know. Neither could she be discomposed in front of the public, so she still replied to her cousin with a kind and pleasant countenance, "I am afraid that no one is capable enough for him so I've asked Zhenli to stay."

Commandery Princess Nanzhang asked with concern, "Is Ping'an okay?"

"He is fine." Commandery Princess Qingjiang pursed her lips and replied casually. Then she asked, "How was the feast just now?"

"Your absence caused uproar for a while but it was quieted down very soon." Commandery Princess Nanzhang said smilingly, "After all, this is your place. Who dares to act recklessly?"

It sounded like a compliment on Commandery Princess Qingjiang but after handling Cui Jianlian's matter and knowing that Dowager Consort of Hengshan fooled her around, Commandery Princess Qingjiang felt as if being slapped in the face to hear that. Her face got stern and grim!

However, given her age and experience, she just forgot herself for a short while. Commandery Princess of Qingjiang restored to her former countenance and got down to business. She selected some outstanding ladies and asked them to meet her closely.

After the feast was over, on the way back to the imperial capital, the ladies who were inquired by Commandery Princess Qingjiang were delighted while those who weren't inquired felt disappointed and yet hopeful. Of course, Cui Jianlian, Jiang Muting and Song Yixiao, who didn't return to the feast until they were away from the feast for a while, also aroused the attention of some people.

The minute that they left the Zhanchun Venue, someone stopped their carriage and asked why.

"Before the feast started, Cui Jianlian's maid broke my thing accidentally. Afterwards, we went to take care of it... Why did Yixiao also come with me? Xue'e asked me to take care of her. As I am true to my word, I must bring her with me all the time! Why were we away for so long? Cui Jianlian fell by accident. We are too kind to leave her alone and return to the feast. Of course we must keep her company until she can go back... Yixiao was the last one to come back? Couldn't she go to get changed?"

Jiang Muting put down the curtain unhappily, "You don't believe it? Then why do you come to ask me?"

If only she said so alone, various rumors would spread back to the imperial capital before they arrived back.

However, Cui Jianlian was got the goods on by her so she had no other choice but to give tacit consent to the words with hidden irony reluctantly. Besides, Wei Yinlian beat the drum too. Although the listeners were still confused, they didn't keep asking.

Despite that, Jiang Muting and Wei Yinlian still sent Song Yixiao back to Prince of Hengshan's mansion on their own before they went back to their home respectively.

According to the servants, Dowager Consort of Hengshan learnt that Song Yixiao was sent back by these two ladies, for which she felt startled. When Lu Kou'er and Lu Chai'er came to meet her, she hastened to ask, "Why was Song Yixiao with the daughters of the Jiang Family and the Wei Family? I've asked you to take her with you!"

The two granddaughters were extremely grieved and couldn't help complaining, "Grandma, how could you ask us to take her with us? You know what, she stole the show so much in front of Sister Roumei! If others saw that, they would believe that she was the legitimate commandery princess of a prince while we were the outsiders who lived under the roof!"

"Oh yeah?" The dowager consort felt relieved to hear that and softened her voice, "Then why was she sent back by the two ladies? Was it also an arrangement by Commandery Princess Qingjiang?"

Speaking of this, she suddenly came to her senses and frowned, "Even if Commandery Princess Qingjiang likes her and doesn't want her to come back alone, why didn't she commit her to your care?"

Lu Kou'er was filled with fury for being cold-shouldered by Commandery Princess Qingjiang today. Worse still, after she returned home, her grandma kept asking about Song Yixiao instead of showing great concern for her. She felt so grieved and couldn't help shouting, "How do I know? Sister Roumei was immersed in talking with her about embroidery. It was her maid who sensed our embarra.s.sment and asked other maids to bring us to appreciate flowers. In that case, how could we go to find her when she didn't?"

Seeing that the Dowager Consort became gloomy quickly, Lu Chai'er, who was a concubine's daughter, was too timid to talk like Lu Kou'er. She hastened to say, "Grandma, this is what it is. When we returned from the forest, Jiang Muting was staying with Song Yixiao. It is said that Jiang Muting is close to Xue'e. Is it that Xue'e introduces her to Jiang Muting?"

"So you just went to the feast alone without paying attention to them?" The Dowager Consort said angrily, "Do you remember what I told you when you set off? Keep your eyes on Song Yixiao and bring her to meet Commandery Princess Qingjiang. Why don't you listen to me?"

Lu Kou'er almost burst out crying, "Grandma, you don't like Song Yixiao either. Why do you regard her as apple in your eye? Today Sister Roumei didn't pay much attention to us from beginning to end. So many ladies were at the feast. We were greatly disgraced, but you don't show any care for us but keep asking about Song Yixiao. Who on earth is the blood child of the Lu Family?"

"What do you know?" Riled up by her granddaughter, the Dowager Consort tipped her maids a wink to leave and then said angrily, "Do you forget the only son of Commandery Princess Qingjiang? I have made an agreement with her close maid and she would recommend Song Yixiao to be the daughter-in-law of Commandery Princess Qingjiang. How could Commandery Princess Qingjiang not be hospitable to Song Yixiao? Do you want this kind of hospitality?"

Lu Kou'er and Lu Chai'er were startled, "Zhuo Ping'an? The stupid son of Sister Roumei?"

Commandery Princess Qingjiang's only son was as nameless among the royalties and n.o.bilities as Song Yixiao thought. Commandery Princess Qingjiang and her husband were an affectionate couple. She was pregnant soon after they got married. When they were immersed in happiness, her husband pa.s.sed away due to an accident. Commandery Princess Qingjiang who was pregnant only for seven months had premature labor, which was even difficult labor!

Although the imperial doctor was immediately sent to her, the situation was very urgent. However, given that her husband was the only child, Commandery Princess Qingjiang didn't want to keep herself safe at the cost of her child and insisted giving birth to the son to continue the blood line.

She loved her husband so much but the Empress Dowager and Jinguo Grand Princess attached more importance to her life. Therefore, afterwards, although she and her son both survived, her son became brain-damaged for staying too long in her belly! And Commandery Princess Qingjiang was unable to conceive from then on!

Her son was named Ping'an, who was born with stupidity. Worse still, he liked beating others and even exerted great strength when he hit people. He used to beat the maid who took care of him to disability when he was four or five years old. It was not that this incidence didn't cause any circulation of gossip, but Commandery Princess Qingjiang went to complain to Emperor Xianjia sobbingly. Emperor Xianjia flied into a rage and dealt with a dozen of officials to vent anger for his niece directly. From then on, no one dared to utter a word.

As time pa.s.sed, the young generation in the imperial capital seldom knew about Zhuo Ping'an. Even Lu Kou'er and her sister could have insider knowledge because they were daughters of the imperial clan.

Dowager Consort of Hengshan tried to recommend Song Yixiao to Commandery Princess Qingjiang, which could not only eradicate a helper of Wei Mengying and vent her anger but also get along well with Commandery Princess Qingjiang. She thought that she could kill three birds with one stone. It was a pity that she still didn't know that Jian Xubai sent a jade pendant to Song Yixiao. If she did, she would find out that not only her scheme failed but also she was resented by Commandery Princess Qingjiang now!

She explained the matter to her two granddaughters and questioned about what happened at the feast in detail. She found nothing wrong and then said with a smile, "Let's just wait and see. Go back and pretend that you know nothing. Do you understand?"

Lu Kou'er stopped being jealous and smiled sweetly, "Grandma, rest a.s.sured! If Song Yixiao marries Zhuo Ping'an, she will be the wife of my nephew. Why will I bully her?"

"Me too!" Lu Chai'er was not as happy as she was. She envied Song Yixiao—this outsider lived better off than a concubine's daughter in this family in light of her birth mother. On second thought, Song Yixiao was going to marry an idiot later and this idiot always abused his servants seriously!

Lu Chai'er felt a bit sorry, but she didn't dare to tell Song Yixiao either. After all, this matter was arranged by her legitimate grandma. She didn't even dare to offend her legitimate sister. How dare she offend her legitimate grandma?

"I may as well collect something to dower Song Yixiao!" Lu Chai'er thought, "It is kind of a goodwill gesture."

Song Yixiao didn't know about Zhuo Ping'an. Although she sensed something wrong when Commandery Princess Qingjiang mentioned her Ping'an, she was too absorbed in speculating about Jian Xubai's real purpose to think of other things?

According to Commandery Princess Qingjiang's order, after returning to Prince of Hengshan's mansion, she only talked with Ms. Zhao about the okra yellow jade pendant. She didn't even tell Wei Mengying. After all, in her eyes, the foster nurse was more reliable than her mother.

Ms. Zhao was overjoyed to hear the news, "Great! Thank G.o.d! I have been praying that you can marry someone nice but I never expect him to be Duke of Yan!"

She was pleased with Jian Xubai being Song Yixiao's husband not because Jian Xubai was highborn. "Duke Jian is Jinguo Grand Princess, who is raised by the Empress Dowager! The Empress Dowager lived in the imperial palace and Jinguo Grand Princess lived in her own mansion. Both of them will not live with Duke Jian! If you marry him, you won't need to stay with your mother-in-law, which is much easier for you!"

Speaking of this, Ms. Zhao couldn't help recalling the past, "Actually, Her Highness Princess Consort lived happily with Master Song. If it were not for the trouble that Elder Lady Pang disliked Her Highness, Her Highness wouldn't remarry afterwards! Therefore, a married woman is most afraid to have a mother-in-law who doesn't like her. In your case, you don't have to live with your mother-in-law. You may only need to stay with her for a while when you greet her. No matter how she dislikes you, you just have to hold in for a while. When you go back home, you can have a say in your own household affairs. In this case, a lot of trouble can be avoided!"

"Don't leak the matter first!" Ms. Zhao even started to talk about how to get along with the mother-in-law if Song Yixiao got married. Song Yixiao felt so bitterly worried but she didn't know how to confess. Then she pa.s.sed the jade pendant to Ms. Zhao, "Please put it away for me just in case that Jinxun may find it when she serves me."

"Sure. We shouldn't let her know. She has a big mouth!" Ms. Zhao put away the jade pendant carefully, "But why don't you tell Her Highness? At present, the battle over the selection of the heir of the prince has started. The Dowager Consort and Her Highness are in a deadlock. If Her Highness knows that you received the jade pendant from Duke Jian, the Dowager Consort will surely place obstacles in the way. If Her Highness knows about it early, she can plan ahead for you, right?"

"Ms. Zhao, you don't know how many n.o.ble ladies there were at the feast." Song Yixiao stayed quiet for a while and decided not to tell Ms. Zhao about what she saw in the pavilion in Marquis Boling's mansion. If Jian Xubai really wanted to hold anyone accountable for that, those in the know would be inevitably killed. She had failed to keep Zhiqin safe. Why did she drag Ms. Zhao into the trouble?

One of the reasons why she didn't tell Wei Mengying was surely that she didn't trust her mother. Apart from that, she was also afraid to get her mother implicated.

Hence, she told Ms. Zhao, "The jade pendant is given by Duke Jian in private, but marriage should be up to parents. Who knows whether his seniors like me or not? If anything goes wrong, I will just return the jade pendant secretly. If this thing is leaked, I will be greatly shamed! And my mother will be disappointed."

Hearing her explanation, Ms. Zhao also agreed that the matter was not confirmed before the Jian Family brought up the proposal of marriage. She got nervous instantly and prayed in secret, "Despite Her Ladys.h.i.+p's embarra.s.sing family background, she is no worse than any n.o.ble lady in terms of appearance and talent. I wish this could work in the end!"

She didn't know that Song Yixiao really hoped someone to stop it. They both prayed for several days but they wished for different things. Then the result of the event at the feast on the Shangsi Festival finally came!

Such a thing always pa.s.sed from upper cla.s.s downwards, so the first thing that became known to all was that Commandery Princess Nanzhang became Princess Consort of Wei!

Hearing the news, Song Yixiao was so startled that she even broke the tea bowl, "How so?"

Cui Jianlian had admitted that she slandered Jiang Muting on purpose. Why was Jiang Muting still replaced by Commandery Princess Nanzhang?