She knew very well that her elder brother’s gambling house had certainly angered the Prince.
So she hurried all the way to Chaoxu Hall. The biting cold wind had already blown her hair loose. Her cheeks were red from the cold, and a thin layer of frost covered her eyebrows and eyelashes.
She looked extremely disheveled.
Because she was rushing so fast, she nearly slipped and fell. Fortunately, the maid Chunhan caught her in time.
Several young eunuchs sweeping leaves outside Chaoxu Hall saw Song Guiren arrive, but they acted as if they had not seen her and continued sweeping the fallen leaves from the path.
“Your Highness, I know my brother committed a serious crime, and it is only right that he was thrown into prison. But I truly knew nothing about it!” Song Guiren knelt directly on the frozen ground and repeatedly kowtowed while crying bitterly.
“My parents have always favored sons over daughters. Since childhood, I was never valued and was sent into the palace. My brother used my name to violate the laws of the court. I never wanted this to happen, but what power do I have in this Prince’s Manor?
“I have always been loyal to His Majesty, Her Majesty, and Your Highness. Back when Her Majesty was giving birth to the Little Prince…”
Kneeling on the freezing blue bricks, Song Guiren cried as though her heart were breaking.
At that moment, Aunt Pei walked out of Chaoxu Hall and helped her up.
When Song Guiren had served as a palace maid beside the Empress, she had not learned many useful skills, but she had certainly learned how to react quickly.
With her speech, she completely separated herself from responsibility. Then she brought up the matter of donating blood to save the Empress. Once that was mentioned, it became difficult for the Prince to continue pursuing the matter.
“The Prince knows of your loyalty to the Empress. It is because you once saved Her Majesty’s life that your brother was merely imprisoned instead of being executed. But your family has been far too arrogant. They clearly did not take the Prince’s orders seriously…”
Although Aunt Pei wore a smile, it never reached her eyes.
Song Guiren became even more flustered but continued crying.
“Aunt Pei, I truly knew nothing about any of this. I never imagined my family would do such things. Perhaps my brother suffered under others for too long and acted foolishly for a moment…”
How could she possibly know nothing?
In front of the Prince, she behaved obediently because she relied on the fact that she had once saved the Empress. But whenever the Prince was absent, her arrogance knew no bounds.
She allowed her family to act tyrannically throughout Qingshui Town. They did not even respect the local magistrate.
And now she was pretending to be innocent.
“Madam, I will report your words to the Prince when he returns. It’s too cold to remain kneeling here. You should go back and rest,” Aunt Pei said with a smile that was more mocking than kind.
She was clearly disgusted by Song Guiren’s act.
Especially after learning that Song Guiren had schemed to marry her cousin to Chief Steward Xiao in order to secure her own position in the manor.
The woman was truly vicious.
A snake hidden behind a Buddha’s smile.
During Song Guiren’s previous visits, no one had even bothered to announce her arrival. The fact that Aunt Pei had personally come out to see her now meant there was still hope.
Having grown up in the palace, Song Guiren understood propriety very well and knew when to stop.
If she continued kneeling outside Chaoxu Hall, she would only earn the Prince’s displeasure.
Wiping her tears with a handkerchief, she continued speaking about how she had never left the Little Prince’s side since giving birth to him and how diligently she had cared for him.
Of course, Aunt Pei understood exactly what she meant.
She only replied that she would pass the message on to the Prince.
As for whether the Prince would actually bring Song Guiren to the hot spring estate, no one knew.
The next day, news arrived that her imprisoned brother had been released.
At the same time, the Prince unexpectedly ordered that she be escorted home to visit her parents.
At first, Song Guiren was delighted.
But she soon realized what it meant.
The Prince was praising her on the surface while punishing her in reality. He was sending her home to reflect on her mistakes.
“Madam, the carriage has already been prepared. You may depart tomorrow morning,” Chief Steward Xiao said with his hands tucked into his sleeves and a slight bow.
He appeared polite and wore a smile.
Yet there was a natural authority about him, an authority that came from serving the Prince.
Song Guiren did not dare object and could only obey.
Her family had committed a grave crime. There was no way the Prince would forgive them so easily.
And she knew very well that her brother’s gambling house was not his only offense.
Sending her home was the Prince’s way of making her warn her family personally.
If they dared to offend again, she would not be able to hide behind the excuse of ignorance next time.
As soon as Chief Steward Xiao left, Song Guiren angrily smashed the teapot and cups on the table.
Her brother’s gambling house had been operating for months.
Why had the Prince discovered it now of all times?
Because of it, she could no longer accompany the Prince to the hot spring estate.
She had been hoping this trip would finally allow her to gain the Prince’s favor and perhaps become pregnant with his child.
The moment Chief Steward Xiao stepped outside, the smile disappeared from his face.
His eyes were cold and ruthless.
Let her continue making trouble.
Normally, no matter how arrogant or overbearing she was in the manor, the Prince tolerated it because she had once saved the Empress.
But this time she had struck the Prince’s bottom line.
And the Prince had finally seen the vicious schemes hidden in her heart.
There were many people in the world with similar appearances.
But someone whose eyes resembled that person’s so closely and who even carried seventy percent of that person’s spirit and charm…
There would likely never be a second one.
To the Prince, this brought a small measure of comfort.
Even simply looking at her was enough.
…
The day of departure for the hot spring estate finally arrived.
The sky was still completely dark, and the Little Prince had not even woken up yet.
The head nanny ordered the wet nurses to dress him and carry him to the carriage.
Lianxiang had just finished wrapping him in a blanket when Nurse Zhao suddenly took him from her arms.
Without even looking back, Nurse Zhao carried him out the door.
Everyone else immediately followed.
In the past, something like this would never have happened.
Or at least it would never have been done so openly.
But now that Song Guiren had been sent back to her family right before the trip and still had not been recalled, everyone could clearly see what was happening.
Her brother had committed a major crime and angered the Prince.
The official reason was that she had been sent home to visit relatives.
But no one knew whether she would ever be brought back.
Perhaps when the Prince eventually returned to the capital with the Little Prince, he would simply leave her behind in Guangling.
Now that Song Guiren had fallen from favor, why would Nurse Zhao and the others continue treating Lianxiang as politely as before?
“Nurse Shen, hurry up and follow us!” Xiyu called out after noticing that Lianxiang had been pushed aside.
“When we get to the hot spring estate, don’t be like before.”
“You need to make more efforts to care for the Little Prince in front of the Prince.”
“Those women won’t treat you politely anymore. They might even take the opportunity to trip you up and get you thrown out of the Prince’s Manor.”