“Zuo Xingyu, you are responsible for the Family Temple affairs!”
“Your servant obeys the decree!” Zuo Xingyu accepted the assignment and was about to leave when he heard Ji Yingying’s thoughts: [What’s happening with the Family Temple?]
Before she could get the gossip, the Emperor concluded the court session. Ji Yingying had plans with the Crown Princess today. As she exited the hall heading for the Eastern Palace, she bumped into the Crown Prince.
“Little Lord Ji, where are you planning to go?”
“Oh~ Your Highness! This subject is going to your palace to chat with the Crown Princess. Will Your Highness be returning?”
“Yes, let’s go. I’ll take you there.”
“Alright then,” she replied verbally while thinking: [Does the Crown Prince have feelings for me? Why is he so attentive? But this won’t do. I’m only ten years old. By the time I turn twenty-five and can marry, he’ll be almost thirty-five. I’m not interested in older men…]
Crown Prince: […] Rest assured, he’s not interested in her.
“Little Lord Ji, what are your thoughts on today’s matter regarding the Second Prince?”
“The Second Prince?”
[Xiangxiang, serve me the tea! This Second Prince is definitely involved in something.]
[Okay]
[Good heavens! He’s actually been controlled by the Emperor, who even brought back the Empress Dowager and the monks. No wonder the Emperor just ordered Zuo Xingyu to raid the Family Temple – he’s not even sparing his own ancestors!]
Wrong. The Family Temple isn’t the ancestral temple. The ancestral temple enshrines the Ning family’s forebears, while the Family Temple purely worships a single Buddha and serves as a place to punish certain consorts.
Later, for unknown reasons, it became known as a very spiritually responsive Family Temple, and many concubines wanted to worship there.
[No way, no way! The Family Temple isn’t their Ning family temple? But looking at the Crown Prince’s situation now, it seems he won’t die – no, should say he can’t die, but will become disabled. What exactly is happening? Xiangxiang, more tea please!]
[The tea about the Crown Prince is still updating. But Host, since you became an official, you’ve been consuming so much tea that Xiangxiang has gained energy. It might update soon.]
[Is that so? Then I’ll consume more tea!]
Entering the Eastern Palace, Ji Yingying went straight to find the Crown Princess, while the Crown Prince retrieved some items and went to the Imperial Study.
The Empress Dowager, Empress, Imperial Noble Consort, a group of monks, and the Second Prince were all present.
Initially, the Empress Dowager arrogantly accused the Emperor of being unfilial, claiming that although she wasn’t his birth mother, she was still the Empress Dowager, and he was slandering her.
Essentially, she threatened the Emperor with charges of unfilial piety. The Emperor ignored the Empress Dowager and directly interrogated the monks instead. The monks couldn’t withstand the pressure and finally confessed.
It turned out that when the Empress Dowager was Empress, she couldn’t resist her desires and had illicit relations, becoming pregnant. Unfortunately, the Emperor passed away shortly after she became involved.
She could only secretly give birth in the Family Temple, which explained why the Empress Dowager had remained there continuously for a year and a half back then.
“Then where is my son?” The Imperial Noble Consort cried heartbreakingly. The child she had raised for over ten years wasn’t her biological child. The Empress supported her, trying to comfort her.
“Haha, he was discarded long ago! Probably dead by now!”
“You… coughs up blood…” The Imperial Noble Consort had already been administered slow-acting poison, and now, overwhelmed by fury, she vomited blood.
“Imperial physician! Someone summon the imperial physician!”
With her last breath, the Imperial Noble Consort waved off the Empress. Struggling to rise, she knelt before the Emperor: “Your Majesty, I beg you to help me find my daughter. As for the Second Prince… execute him!”
“No, Mother Consort, your son knows nothing, truly.” Upon hearing he would be executed, the Second Prince panicked, genuinely fearing the Emperor would have him killed.
“Very well!”
The Emperor agreed: “Guards, take the Second Prince away. Confine him in the Imperial Clan Court and grant him white silk and poisoned wine. As for the Empress Dowager, she has fallen ill. From today onward, the Palace of Compassionate Tranquility shall permit no entry or exit. These monks shall be executed at a chosen date.”
“Your Majesty, have mercy! It was all the Empress Dowager’s…” The lead monk’s words were cut short as he was gagged and dragged away.
The Empress Dowager was likewise escorted back.
As the drama concluded, the Imperial Noble Consort collapsed. The imperial physician examined her pulse but ultimately shook his head.
“Empress, I know I was wrong and have wronged you, but I can no longer continue searching for my daughter. I beg you to help me. This is my compensation…” She handed the Empress an exquisitely beautiful jade pendant.
The Empress recognized it as a token from her family’s merchant caravan. With this pendant, one could make any request of the caravan—even murder or arson!
This was her final trump card!
“Very well, I will help you. But you must take care of yourself and wait for your daughter’s return.”
“I cannot wait any longer, Empress. When you find her, please give her this box and tell her… her mother was sorry.”
In the end, she could not be saved.
…
By the time Ji Yingying emerged from the Eastern Palace, she learned that the Imperial Noble Consort had passed away. Blinking twice, Ji Yingying sensed another opportunity for “eating melons.”
Just as she was about to seek out the gossip, someone dragged her away. Startled, she was ready to unleash a torrent of protests when she realized it was her own father.
“Goodness, Father, you scared me! What is it?”
“Time to leave the palace and return home. Official hours have ended. If we don’t leave now, we’ll be stuck here.”
“Ah? Alright then!”
Upon returning home, she was surprised to find her eldest brother had visited. Having not seen him for so long, Ji Yingying joyfully rushed forward to give him a bear hug, only to be pulled away by her father.
“My child, you are a young lady now. You must maintain propriety with men and avoid such impulsiveness!”
“Yes, daughter, as a young woman, you mustn’t be so frivolous…” Fang Yulan added weakly, knowing full well her daughter’s stubborn nature—she rarely listened, and even when she did, she seldom changed her ways.
“Why worry? This is my brother, my own flesh and blood! What’s wrong with hugging him?”
“Hmph, your brother is still a man. I forbid it, and that’s final.”
Ji Jiaming chuckled. “Father, don’t scold her. Little sister, see what I’ve brought for you.”
He carefully opened a box to reveal a luminous pearl, exceptionally beautiful.
“Ah… Brother, where did you get this?” Her eyes gleamed with avarice as she reached out with covetous hands. So beautiful! What a windfall! I’m rich!
“I came across it during my travels and brought it back especially for you.”
Hmm? Wait, something’s off about my brother. No way… Was he actually pursued, fell off a cliff, and spent a long time recovering? And that village had a gold-digger who tried to throw herself at him, nearly succeeding?
Thankfully, my brother was clever and escaped. Otherwise, that woman would have seduced him and cuckolded him too. My poor brother, you’ve suffered so much. I’ll sacrifice half a chicken wing for you tonight!
What a devoted sister—knowing he’d endured such hardships, her grand gesture was half a chicken wing.
Ji Cailiang and his wife exchanged worried glances, relieved to see he was unharmed.
Late at night, Ji Yingying lay in bed reading a vernacular storybook when she suddenly heard a clamor outside resembling the howling wind and pouring rain.
“Pingguo, Nanny Xia, what’s happening outside?”
The noise persisted, yet no one answered her…