The atmosphere inside the hall eased somewhat with his arrival.
The Empress composed herself and said, “Rise.”
Pei Ziyan looked up and saw Yun Xueyao’s pale face, while the Empress’s mood was clearly unsettled. He frowned. “Mother, what has happened?”
“Ask your future Crown Princess,” the Empress replied curtly. “Yesterday, several shops went to the Yun household to collect debts. Just the Zhenbao Pavilion alone is owed more than twenty thousand taels. Such extravagant spending— even the imperial treasury could not withstand it.”
“I truly didn’t mean it.” Yun Xueyao’s eyes reddened, tears brimming. “Your Highness, last month I only gifted the Empress Dowager a white jade screen, and this month I gave Her Majesty a set of ornaments. I… I thought that since the Empress Dowager and the Empress hold such exalted status, I should give them the very best, so I didn’t consider the price…”
The Empress’s gaze turned icy. “So what you mean is, those twenty thousand taels were all for the Empress Dowager and me? Did you forget to mention that you ordered jewelry for yourself worth more than ten thousand taels?”
“I…”
“Xueyao, you are to be the Crown Princess in the future. How can you be so indulgent and extravagant?” The Empress’s face was cold. “You spend money without any sense of measure. Your father’s and brother’s annual stipends combined aren’t enough to cover a few of your shopping trips.”
With such wasteful habits, how could she ever manage the Eastern Palace’s inner court?
Yun Xueyao bit her lip, her eyes fixed unrelentingly on Xiao Qingxue. “The debt collectors came yesterday, and today Sister Xiao already knows the exact amount I owe. How is Sister Xiao so well-informed?”
Pei Ziyan’s expression shifted, and he turned toward Xiao Qingxue.
“I can foresee the future; I’m simply well-connected,” Xiao Qingxue replied with mocking disdain.
“You’re deliberately sowing discord, trying to make the Empress dissatisfied with me.” Yun Xueyao’s voice was bitter. “You’re a scheming woman! On the surface, you claim you want to divorce the Crown Prince, insisting it’s not a threat, but in truth you’ve been stirring trouble between him and me all along. You… you’re terrifying!”
“Think whatever you like.” Xiao Qingxue bowed to the Empress. “Within the next ten days, I will no longer come to pay my respects. I only hope that when we meet again, it will be with the divorce decree in hand.” Without sparing Pei Ziyan a glance, she turned and walked away.
“Qingxue,” the Empress forced down her anger, “I know your medical skills are extraordinary, but medicine is meant to save lives, not to harm them. You had better—”
“Your Majesty misunderstands.” Xiao Qingxue paused mid-step, turned back with a faint smile. “So long as others do not move against me, I will not use poison against them. My wager with you is ten days—it has nothing to do with medicine.” With that, she lifted her skirts and left, ignoring everyone else.
Pei Ziyan’s face shifted through several shades as he stared at the Empress. “Mother, what did she mean by this wager of ten days?”
The Empress frowned. “Qingxue just brought me a divorce decree, asking to separate from you. I tore it up. She said she was betting that within ten days at most, I would be the one to urge you to divorce her.”
Pei Ziyan’s heart sank heavily.
Ten days? What exactly is Xiao Qingxue planning?
A sudden panic welled up in Pei Ziyan’s heart. He could think of nothing else—he turned on his heel and strode out.
“Your Highness!” Yun Xueyao cried urgently. “Wait for me!” She rose quickly, offered a hasty bow to the Empress, then rushed after him. “Your Highness! Your Highness!”
The Empress leaned wearily against the phoenix couch, her expression dark, her brows and eyes shadowed with cold disdain. “The Crown Princess chosen for the Prince by His Majesty is truly not a virtuous woman.”
Her close attendant frowned. “It cannot be helped. Our Prince’s health was poor in the past—he lay bedridden for so long. With no foundation in court, the only way forward was through marriage alliances. Otherwise, the heir’s position would be unstable, and the throne even less attainable.”
The Empress rubbed her temples. “All of you can understand these things, yet only Qingxue refuses to see reason. In her first year here in the capital, she stayed up night after night to cure the Crown Prince of poison—so why can’t she show him a little consideration now?”
The old matron chuckled. “Perhaps it’s precisely because she cares too much that she’s throwing a tantrum. Your Majesty need not worry. A concubine of humble birth—where could she possibly go? As long as His Highness takes the time to coax her, it will be fine. And if she truly refuses to be appeased, then confine her for a while, let her lose her freedom. Once the Crown Prince marries and takes up residence in the Eastern Palace, the matter will be settled. When she sees it’s a fait accompli, she’ll naturally accept reality.”
The Empress was silent for a moment, then slowly nodded. “That’s the only way.”
The lofty Empress clearly did not take Xiao Qingxue’s defiance to heart. So long as she promised not to use her medical skills for harm, the Empress did not believe she had any other means to overturn the heavens. Even the matron beside her assumed it was only natural that a royal consort’s resistance—especially one of lowly origin—was hardly worth worrying about. If her husband valued her, he could spend effort to soothe her. If he did not, then a few disciplinary measures would suffice to make her submit.
As for talk of divorce… that was nothing but a fantasy. A consort married into the imperial clan—what other man in the realm would dare take her? Even if she were granted separation, as long as the Crown Prince forbade her departure, she would remain trapped in the capital, unable to take a single step beyond its walls.
And Xiao Qingxue was but a physician’s daughter. Even Yun Xueyao, born of a general’s household, had her life and honor bound in the Emperor’s hands all the same.
“When His Highness one day secures the throne, holds power firmly, and cultivates loyal ministers and generals of his own—if Lady Yun still proves so unruly, then find a pretext to depose her.” The matron’s voice carried the shrewdness of one long seasoned in the palace. “This old servant believes that with Lady Qingxue’s bearing and temperament, and His Highness’s feelings for her, so long as she can endure for now, sooner or later she will replace Lady Yun.”
The Empress felt much more at ease after hearing those words; her mood lightened considerably. “You make sense,” she sighed softly. “I only fear Qingxue’s stubborn nature—she may refuse to endure or compromise.”
The old matron said nothing. Remembering Xiao Qingxue’s reaction just moments ago, even she felt uncertain.
“Qingxue!” Pei Ziyan chased after her as she left Fengyi Palace, catching hold of her wrist. “Explain yourself—what do you mean by this ten‑day wager?”
Mingyue’s face darkened. “Your Highness, please release my—”
“Your Highness!” Yun Xueyao hurried out after them, calling anxiously, “Your Highness, don’t walk so fast! Your Highness!”
At the sound of her voice, a vein throbbed at Pei Ziyan’s temple, and a flicker of strained patience crossed his face.
“Your fiancée has come looking for you. You’d best go and comfort her, Your Highness.” Xiao Qingxue shook off his hand and turned away without a backward glance.
Mingyue gave a cold snort and followed close behind her mistress.
“Xiao Qingxue, stop right there!” Yun Xueyao caught up in a few quick strides, shouting angrily. “You tattled on me before Her Majesty the Empress—I haven’t even settled accounts with you yet. Why are you running away?”