The palace lacked nothing, least of all princesses.
The current Emperor had only one son, Pei Yan. After that, every child born to him was a daughter.
Because he refused to believe it, the Emperor expanded the harem again and again. One batch of beauties after another was selected and brought into the palace, yet every child born was still a princess.
It was as though he had been cursed.
No matter what methods were used, he could not produce another son.
Some people had even taken risks and tried to switch a baby boy into the palace.
In the end, all of them failed.
Now, there were already dozens of princesses in the palace.
Granting Mei Wanying the title of princess would not be difficult.
When necessary, she could even be used in a royal marriage alliance to stabilize imperial power.
The more Empress Gu thought about it, the more she felt it was a good idea.
She looked at Pei Yan expectantly.
As long as her son nodded, she would immediately arrange it.
Pei Yan refused without even thinking.
“Don’t harm her.”
Empress Gu choked.
“How am I harming her? To put it bluntly, she is now from a fallen household. With the title of princess, at least she won’t have to worry about marriage. Bound by propriety, the Crown Prince would also find it harder to make a move against her.”
Mei Wanying was beautiful.
It would not be difficult for her to marry.
The difficulty was marrying into a high-ranking family.
She was a noble lady raised in luxury.
If asked to marry beneath her status, she would surely be unwilling.
She was an ambitious one.
Only men blinded by beauty would think she was a pitiful, innocent little flower.
Pei Yan still refused.
He found the suggestion utterly absurd.
Adopted daughter?
Princess?
Was that supposed to be something impressive?
Mei Wanying would not care for it.
“She is simple-minded and doesn’t understand schemes. A princess title would not be an honor for her. It would be a death warrant. She is the only descendant of the Mei family. If that isn’t harming her, then what is?”
Once she became part of the imperial family, whether she wished it or not, she would be dragged into power struggles.
Most likely, she would be used as a marriage pawn to forge alliances.
Mei Wanying had no cunning.
When that time came, she would be devoured until nothing remained.
Pei Yan told himself that although he did not love Mei Wanying and would not marry her, the Mei family had raised him.
He had a responsibility to pave a path for her.
What kind of family she should marry into—he would make arrangements himself.
There was no need for anyone else to interfere.
Empress Gu observed Pei Yan’s expression.
His attitude was firm.
He simply refused to let her adopt Mei Wanying as a daughter.
Empress Gu clicked her tongue.
“This won’t do, that won’t do. A-Yan, do you truly have no such feelings for Mei Wanying?”
Pei Yan answered with certainty.
“I regard her as a younger sister.”
“Fine.”
Empress Gu waved her hand.
“We’ll do as you say.”
Wasn’t he simply trying to protect Mei Wanying?
In a few days, she would summon the girl into the palace and keep her there to learn etiquette.
That would be a tremendous honor.
When Mei Wanying married in the future, it would also bring her prestige.
After the Crown Prince’s disturbance, no one had much appetite left.
After speaking for a while, Pei Yan prepared to leave the palace.
“Wait.”
Empress Gu gave a look to the senior palace maid, signaling her to bring something over.
“You are no longer young. It is time to consider marriage and continuing the family line.”
Irritation flashed through Pei Yan’s eyes.
“We’ll discuss it later.”
“Later, always later. When exactly will you take a wife?”
Since the topic had already been raised, Empress Gu refused to let him leave unless he looked at the list and portraits.
“The women Mother has chosen for you are all proper young ladies from noble families. They will surely manage your household well and won’t drag you down.”
Pei Yan’s heart remained completely calm.
He had never thought about marriage.
He only knew that he would not marry Mei Wanying.
As for other women, none of them were special.
He had no desire to marry any of them either.
Empress Gu asked eagerly,
“What kind of girl do you like?”
Pei Yan pursed his lips.
“Someone different from Mei Wanying.”
Empress Gu’s expression became complicated.
“Other than Mei Wanying, which family’s young lady do you even know?”
Why did every sentence involve Mei Wanying?
It was almost as though, in his world, there was only that one girl.
Pei Yan searched his memory.
Nothing.
He replied,
“Men and women should keep proper distance.”
Why would he go around befriending young ladies for no reason?
One Mei Wanying was already enough for him to endure.
If he became involved with another woman, Mei Wanying would surely cry and make endless trouble.
Pei Yan was too lazy to waste energy coaxing her.
So he simply avoided doing anything that would make Mei Wanying explode.
It saved him some peace.
“No wonder you’re so stubborn and clueless,” Empress Gu said.
She ordered the servants to open the portraits one by one.
Since they were choosing a principal wife, family background came first.
Most of the women in the portraits had ordinary appearances.
The few who stood out could only be considered delicate.
A beauty as breathtaking as Mei Wanying could not be found anywhere else in the capital.
True beauties were rare to begin with.
Empress Gu had already filtered through them once.
She had not chosen anyone too unattractive.
Everyone loved beauty.
She did not want to wrong her biological son too much.
Pei Yan’s mind was not on the portraits.
He did not even look at the women painted there.
Nor was he interested.
The thought of another woman appearing in his residence, perhaps chattering and causing trouble like Mei Wanying, filled him with irritation.
Whatever desire he had to marry disappeared completely.
“We’ll discuss it after I return to the capital.”
Empress Gu was not so easily fooled.
“As long as you remain unmarried, Mei Wanying will continue pestering you. Don’t you want her to give up?”
Those words successfully made Pei Yan stay.
Empress Gu pressed on.
“Mei Wanying observed mourning for three years, and now the period is over. If she still wants to marry you, she will surely use every method available. You should know better than anyone how persistent she can be.”
Pei Yan hesitated.
That day at the Mei residence, Mei Wanying had said she no longer loved him and would no longer pester him.
Yet today, she had sent someone to find him, claiming she was sick.
Was she playing hard to get?
Thinking about it, that possibility was indeed likely.
On General Mei’s memorial day, Mei Wanying had still been very dependent on him and wanted his comfort.
Then in the blink of an eye, she suddenly acted as though she wanted nothing to do with him.
It was probably an act.
Pei Yan’s jaw tightened.
“Whatever tricks she has, let her use them. Do you think I would fear her?”
Empress Gu was speechless.
Was that what she meant?
“Enough about her. Hurry and look. Which young lady catches your eye? In a few days, Mother will hold a flower-viewing banquet and arrange for you to meet her.”
The Empress coaxed him.
“This is not an engagement, much less marriage. Just taking a look won’t hurt. Nothing will be decided so quickly.”
Through the open window, Pei Yan glanced at the sun.
If the fresh fish were not delivered soon, Mei Wanying would not be able to eat it today.
Wasn’t she pretending to be sick?
He would have the cook prepare a full fish banquet.
With her favorite food placed before her, he would see how she continued pretending.
Without looking at the portraits, Pei Yan casually pointed at one.
As his mother said, it was not an engagement.
Besides, he had no intention of attending the flower-viewing banquet anyway.
Naturally, he would never meet the woman in the portrait.
He only wanted his mother to stop nagging.
“I still have important matters. I’ll leave first.”
“A-Yan…”
Empress Gu called after him, but he had already gone far.
“Where is he rushing off to?”
Her trusted palace maid answered uncertainly,
“Could he be going to the Mei family to deliver the fresh fish?”
Empress Gu shook her head.
“I truly cannot understand him.”
The palace maid nodded.
Indeed.
His Highness clearly cared about Miss Mei, yet he refused to take her in.
He was terribly contradictory.
Watching Pei Yan disappear into the distance, Empress Gu suddenly felt somewhat sorrowful.
“I missed too much. Now that I want to make it up to him, I can’t even understand what he is thinking.”