“Empress, please speak freely.” The Emperor took his seat, regarding the Empress with respect.
“The Crown Prince is nearing twenty, and it is time he took a virtuous wife. Grand Preceptor Qin’s daughter, Qin Yu, would be most suitable—dignified and refined in appearance. What does Your Majesty think?”
The Emperor smiled and turned his gaze toward Qin Yu, who sat beside Grand Preceptor Qin.
“Would Yu’er be willing to marry the Crown Prince and become the Crown Princess?”
Qin Yu rose and knelt in the center of the hall, bowing her head. “This humble daughter is deeply honored. I thank the Empress for her gracious praise.”
She paused briefly before adding, “And I thank Your Majesty for this great favor.”
The Emperor’s expression flickered almost imperceptibly before he smiled casually. “Good, very good. Let the Ministry of Rites select an auspicious date.”
Hearing this, Grand Preceptor Qin rose joyfully, raising his cup.
“To form a marriage alliance with Your Majesty is this minister’s great fortune! I thank Your Majesty!”
A barely visible flash of anger passed through the Emperor’s deep eyes, quickly concealed as he smiled. “It is also My fortune.”
In the Qianyuan Chao, Chancellor Kang led the civil officials, while Grand Preceptor Qin led the military.
The Crown Prince already stood at the height of prominence; with the Grand Preceptor’s legitimate daughter as his wife, his path to the throne could not have been smoother.
Fu Jingyi weighed the wine cup carved with serpents and clouds in his hand, gently swirling the fine liquor within, watching it all with keen interest.
“A marriage alliance! A mere minister dares to speak to Me of a marriage alliance!”
Consort Chen patted the Emperor’s back to soothe him. “Grand Preceptor Qin is of military origins—he can barely read. It’s only natural he’d misuse his words. Why trouble yourself over him, Your Majesty?”
The Emperor grasped her soft, fragrant hand, yet the fire in his heart refused to subside.
“Never mind the Grand Preceptor’s illiteracy—but his daughter is a renowned talented woman, is she not? When Qin Yu gave thanks, she thanked the Empress first, and then Me! Is this the upbringing of a general’s daughter?!”
Consort Chen smiled gently and helped the Emperor sit down. “Your Majesty, I know nothing of such matters, but Qin Yu will be the Empress’s daughter-in-law. Isn’t some closeness only natural?”
“She is the Empress’s daughter-in-law—is she not also Mine?!”
The Emperor slammed his hand on the desk, startling a few drops of ink from the inkstone.
Consort Chen and Eunuch Yu hastily knelt in alarm.
“Your Majesty, please calm your anger!”
“In the eyes of the world, this realm has likely long since belonged to the Crown Prince and the Empress. Who still regards Me with any respect!”
Consort Chen raised her head, her clear, limpid eyes brimming with tender affection. She knew well that what the Emperor loved most was her pitiable, obedient demeanor.
“Your Majesty, I presume to speak out of turn. There is something I wish to say to you.”
“Speak.”
“The Crown Prince’s influence grows ever greater, and now he has gained the Grand Preceptor’s support. If he remains loyal and filial, all is well—but should he harbor even a trace of disloyal intent, I fear he may move against Your Majesty.”
The Emperor furrowed his brow and let out a cold laugh. “He has long harbored such intent.”
He helped Consort Chen to her feet.
“Now only you still think of My welfare. Everyone else is too busy currying favor with the Crown Prince, as if I were already dead.”
Hearing the word “dead,” Consort Chen raised her delicate hand to gently cover the Emperor’s mouth, casting him a reproachful glare. “How can Your Majesty speak such inauspicious words?”
He drew her into his embrace, and gazing into her tender, shimmering eyes, his agitation slowly softened. “Very well, I won’t say it.”
Consort Chen smiled radiantly, leaning against his chest. “Your Majesty, guarding against one person is exhausting. But there are a hundred ways to test whether someone is loyal and filial.”
Tonight, the palace was lively, and beyond its walls, the eight streets and nine lanes of Jinling Cheng blazed with lantern light, bustling with equal fervor.
And when crowds jostled shoulder to shoulder, it was also the perfect time for pickpockets to strike.
Fu Jingyi squeezed through the crowd, watching a street performer smash stones against his chest, when he suddenly felt a tug at his waist.
He frowned slightly and caught sight of a ragged, short youth desperately shoving through the crowd in flight.
“Hand it over!”
The youth was cornered in an alley. A woman with her hair tied high in a bun, dressed in pristine white, her figure slender and capable, blocked his path with her palm extended.
“Hurry up!”
The woman urged impatiently. The youth immediately pulled a money pouch embroidered with golden thread from his coarse cloth waistband and placed it in her palm.
“Granny, I worked pretty hard for that steal. How about a little commission—just a little? Deal?”
The youth bowed and scraped, grinning ingratiatingly at her.
The woman weighed the heavy pouch, pulled it open, and couldn’t help but beam with delight.
Well, well—golden and gleaming. The pouch’s owner clearly wouldn’t miss the money. Why not take it?
She reached into her own waist pouch, fished out two copper coins, and tossed them high into the air. They landed with a crisp clatter at the youth’s feet.
“Your hard-earned pay!”
The youth picked up the coins and muttered under his breath, “You she-devil, such a cheapskate.”
“What did you say?”
The woman turned, her smiling eyes sending a chill down the youth’s spine.
He quickly flashed a fawning smile.
“I said, what a joy it is to serve you, Granny!”
The woman before him was called Qing Ci, the personal maidservant of Qin Chengze, the eldest legitimate son of the Taishifu.
She had some skill in martial arts, capable of taking on five at once.
The petty thugs of Jinling had been thoroughly tamed by her, following her lead without question. This youth had simply run into terrible luck—he’d just made a big score when she happened to catch him.
She stayed by Young Master Qin’s side and never lacked for money, so why did she insist on competing with them small-time crooks?
No one was happy about it, but no one dared to say a word.
Qing Ci’s almond-shaped eyes curved slightly as she gave him a brilliant smile.
“By the way, you lot have good connections—help me find out if there are any portraits of Commandery Princess Nanhua.”
“I’ll go ask right away!”
The young man scurried off in a flash.
Fireworks kept bursting in the sky, thunderous booms rising and falling around them, the narrow alleyway alternating between bright and dim.
Qing Ci opened her money pouch again, took out a gold ingot, and bit down on it to test its authenticity.
Just from the texture of the pouch alone, one could tell these gold and silver pieces were no counterfeits.
She happily put the ingot back into the pouch, tossing it up and catching it again, endlessly amused.
“Stop.”
Someone called out to her from behind—a voice clear and warm, yet brooking no refusal.
Qing Ci turned around, looking in confusion at the young man before her, who appeared to be just under twenty years of age.
He wore a robe of sky-blue Sichuan brocade, his countenance cool and fair like snow-white jade, his clear, limpid eyes unfolding before her like clouds parting to reveal the bright moon.
When his faintly cool gaze landed on her turned face, it seemed to pause for a moment, then quickly settled into the stillness of a deep sea, his line of sight shifting downward to the money pouch in her hand.
Qing Ci instinctively tightened her grip on the pouch.
“Something I can help you with?”
“Miss, would you happen to know the way to Jiyue Lou?”
Qing Ci’s suspended heart dropped back into place—she had thought he was going to claim the pouch was his.
“You go that way, and when you see a baked flatbread stall, turn left. Walk straight for about a hundred paces and you’ll be there.”
Fu Jingyi noted the directions carefully. “Thank you.”
He headed off in the direction Qing Ci had pointed. Watching his figure recede step by step, she furrowed her brows.
He looks so familiar—but why can’t I remember where from?
Just then, several black-clad figures flashed past the eaves of the walls, moving in silent haste.
Qing Ci narrowed her eyes and quickly followed.