This remark about “lighting the lanterns” referred to the custom at Donggong where, as dusk fell, two gauze lanterns would be hung at the entrance of each mistress’s residence.
When it was someone’s turn to attend the bedchamber, servants from Yuanchun Gong would come in advance to take down the lanterns in front of that mistress’s door.
This was a tradition passed down in Donggong since the time of the founding emperor.
However, the Crown Prince had always been indifferent to matters of the bedchamber.
Before the Crown Princess entered the household, he had never set foot in the rear courtyard.
Even after the Crown Princess had been married into the household for over a year, it was only in the past six months that the Crown Prince began visiting the residences of Lady Cao and the others.
The schedule for attending the bedchamber was arranged by the Crown Princess.
If the Crown Prince felt inclined to visit the rear courtyard, whoever was scheduled for that day would attend—he had never personally chosen anyone before.
Today, however, broke all precedent.
In theory, Hai Shun should have been pleased.
But…
“Your Highness, it might be inappropriate for Song Zhaoxun’s lanterns to be taken down tonight.”
He mustered his courage to remind him.
The Crown Prince strode forward, signaling him to continue.
Hai Shun carefully considered his words: “If this servant remembers correctly, according to the Crown Princess’s arrangements, it should be Lady Cao’s turn to attend the bedchamber tonight.”
Song Zhaoxun was someone who had come from Jiarong Tang. In principle, even if the Crown Prince had no particular interest in her, he should still show the Crown Princess some face.
But the problem was this:
Lady Cao was a pawn the Crown Prince had deliberately elevated to counterbalance the Crown Princess and stabilize the power dynamics in Donggong’s rear courtyard after conflicts had arisen between him and the Crown Princess.
If the Crown Prince went to Song Zhaoxun tonight, it would be a public slap in the face to Lady Cao—and to himself.
Luo Xun remembered.
He paused in his steps.
His calm, unreadable gaze seemed to fix on nothing in particular.
A moment later.
Hai Shun thought he heard the Crown Prince chuckle softly.
Then came his usual indifferent voice: “Then let’s see whom the Crown Princess wishes to attend the bedchamber tonight.”
“Yes.”
.
No sooner had Hai Shun left Yongxu Courtyard than news of the Crown Prince elevating Kan’er to the rank of Zhaoxun spread throughout the rear courtyard.
From the stewards of each residence to the lowliest servants and laborers, everyone’s hearts were stirred by no small commotion.
No one knew the full story.
Those with some insight but not enough assumed the Crown Prince’s move was merely to uphold the Crown Princess’s dignity.
Those with a bit more insight.
Discerned a hint of something else in this matter.
However, since it concerned the two highest-ranking figures in Donggong, even if people had their thoughts, none dared to voice them openly.
In Jiarong Tang.
Zheng Mingzhi sat expressionlessly on the purple sandalwood Luohan bed carved with the Eight Immortals pattern by the window, her hands clenched tightly.
The room was eerily silent.
Shuangyue and Shuangyun stood to the side, neither daring to speak.
It was Nanny Pang, heart aching for her mistress, who stepped forward and said, “Crown Princess, please calm your anger. His Highness’s action is meant to show you respect.”
“Respect? What respect?”
Zheng Mingzhi snapped her head up.
“What kind of respect is this? Not only did he not discuss such a significant matter with me, but he elevated someone from my own courtyard!
No sooner had I sent her out to serve those lesser ones than he sent someone to deliver an oral decree! Is this what you call showing me respect?”
“This is trampling my face into the dirt!”
“‘Virtuous and gentle, graceful and elegant’—how dare that wretched servant girl deserve such praise?!”
“I think he hasn’t slept with enough women! That’s why he can’t tell good from bad, willing to bring any dirty, foul thing into his courtyard!”
“Crown Princess!”
Nanny Pang’s voice erupted in a near-shriek.
The sound startled everyone standing in the outer room and the courtyard, causing them to tremble before dropping to their knees, filling the courtyard inside and out.
Zheng Mingzhi was also startled by the outburst.
Frowning, she was about to rebuke her.
Unexpectedly, she saw Shuangyun and Shuangyue kneeling on the ground at some unknown moment, both of their faces deathly pale, trembling like sieves.
Suddenly, Zheng Mingzhi shuddered.
Her face also turned pale: "Nanny, I… I…"
Nanny Pang stiffly knelt over, tightly gripping her mistress's hand, her voice so low it was almost inaudible.
"No matter how angry you are, you must always remember your status! That person is not someone we can speak ill of!"
The Zheng family's ancestors rose from humble origins, following the founding emperor in establishing the empire and were enfeoffed as the Duke of Fengguo, with the title being hereditary.
But times are unpredictable.
Soon after, when a certain minister grew arrogant with his achievements and attempted rebellion was exposed, the founding emperor, who had long been wary of those who helped establish the dynasty, became even more suspicious of these individuals.
What followed was a series of purges.
To protect themselves, the Zheng family voluntarily surrendered their military authority.
They even found reasons to submit a memorial, pleading with the founding emperor to reduce their noble rank.
In the end, the Zheng family lost their military power, but their noble title remained, only the designation changed from Duke of Fengguo to Duke of Shunguo.
Since then, the Zheng family abandoned martial pursuits for scholarly ones, but at the same time, they established the ancestral rule that "descendants of the Zheng family shall never enter the Grand Secretariat."
Now, the Zheng family's position as founding heroes is merely in name.
The Emperor arranged the marriage between the Crown Prince and the Zheng family's daughter precisely because the Crown Prince already had maternal relatives from a prestigious clan and did not need another powerful father-in-law.
In other words, the Zheng family is unreliable!
In such circumstances.
One misstep could not only cost her the position of Crown Princess but also implicate the entire ducal mansion!
They had already angered the Crown Prince once before.
At that time, if it hadn't been right after the Crown Prince and Crown Princess's wedding, and the Crown Prince found it inappropriate to depose the Crown Princess then,
given the Shun Guogong Mansion's current standing in the court, it wouldn't have been excessive for the Crown Prince to request an imperial decree to have the Crown Princess executed!
After experiencing such an incident.
For the Crown Prince to still allow the Crown Princess to retain her position and maintain her dignity over the past year could already be considered an act of mercy.
If they still fail to restrain themselves.
Then they truly are seeking their own doom!
What Nanny Pang thought of, Zheng Mingzhi also realized.
It was just that she had been too angry earlier.
So much so that she forgot even the most basic taboos.
Now, reminded of this, she was also deeply frightened.
"I know, Nanny."
After a brief moment of panic, Zheng Mingzhi exhaled to steady her mind, clasped Nanny Pang's hand, and helped her up.
"I was too angry earlier, which made me momentarily forget the rules. It's fine now, I know what I'm doing."
"That's good, that's good…"
Shuangyun and Shuangyue were also told to rise.
However, when she thought again about the Crown Prince's decision to elevate Kan'er, Zheng Mingzhi still couldn't suppress the anger in her heart.
It was true that she and the Crown Prince had disagreements.
But after all, as long as she held this position, she was the rightful mistress of the Donggong.
The inner household should be under her management.
Now, for His Highness to promote someone from her courtyard without even notifying her—how does that preserve the dignity of her as the Crown Princess?
"Nanny, tell me, why did His Highness do this? Surely he couldn't have truly taken a fancy to that lowly servant?"
"Impossible."
Nanny Pang stated firmly.
"The royal family is never short of beauties. His Highness grew up in the palace—what kind of stunning beauties hasn't he seen? It's impossible for him to be captivated by such lowly goods."
Moreover, given His Highness's position, having been Crown Prince for seventeen years, if he could be so easily swayed by beauty,
this position would likely have changed hands long ago.
These words could not be spoken aloud.
But Zheng Mingzhi understood the unspoken meaning in Nanny Pang's words.
She thought for a moment.
And felt that this was indeed the case.
Your Highness himself possesses outstanding looks and stands out from the crowd, so how could he be the kind of frivolous person who judges others by their appearance?
But with that thought, Zheng Mingzhi couldn't make sense of it.
She had been well-behaved and dutiful over the past year.
She had fulfilled her duties as a daughter-in-law to Empress Pei and Emperor Yuanlong, and although she and His Highness were not deeply affectionate, they at least treated each other with respect.
During this time, she hadn't done anything to displease His Highness.
How could His Highness make the decision to elevate her maid without even notifying her?
And even granted her the rank of Zhaoxun!
If those three vile women, Lady Cao and the others, hadn't been unaware of the inside story, they would surely be laughing at her in their hearts right now.
"Could it be because of the matter of entering the court?"
Nanny Pang whispered her speculation.
According to the regulations of the Dajing Dynasty, princes of marriageable age should enter the court to assist their father, the emperor, in governing and bringing welfare to the people.
Aside from the fourth prince, who died young.
The four elder brothers before the Crown Prince—
Prince Xin, Prince Rong, Prince Rui, and Prince Shen—all entered the court to serve shortly after marrying their respective princess consorts.
Even Prince Xuan, the seventh prince, secured a low-ranking position in the rear army of the Five Barracks after marrying three years before the Crown Prince.
Yet when it came to the Crown Prince,
more than a year had passed since his grand wedding, and Emperor Yuanlong still showed no intention of allowing him to attend court and participate in governance.
The reason was readily available:
the Crown Prince was young and impulsive, his temperament unsettled, and he needed to cultivate his character and temper his will before he could shoulder heavy responsibilities in the future.
This was pure nonsense.
But since Emperor Yuanlong had said so, who dared to refute it?
Thus, over the past year, the Crown Prince had only been assigned tasks such as performing sacrifices to heaven and earth, overseeing the compilation of classical texts, and lecturing at imperial study sessions—positions with no real power.
Until two months ago,
when someone in the court stepped forward to reiterate the proposal for the Crown Prince to enter the court. This time, Emperor Yuanlong seemed to be considering it.
The Crown Prince suddenly elevated that little wench.
Perhaps he didn’t want to be targeted by schemers at this critical moment, who might accuse him, the esteemed heir apparent, of allowing a woman in his household to follow him without status or recognition, bearing his children.
"What do you think?"
Zheng Mingzhi pursed her lips, feeling that something was off.
But she couldn’t quite put her finger on it.
After pondering for a moment, she rubbed her temples.
"It must be so. That wretched maid got off easy!"
Nanny Pang comforted her:
"She’s nothing more than a bedwarmer. Wasn’t she chosen in the first place because of her ample hips and breasts, which suggest she’s good for bearing children?
Our priority now is to hope that little wench conceives as soon as possible. Once she gives birth, the child can be registered under your name. Won’t it be easy for us to control her then?"
Zheng Mingzhi’s expression finally softened.
"That may be true, but her rank was ultimately granted by His Highness. Even if I want to control her, I shouldn’t go too far."
"What is there to fear?"
Nanny Pang dismissed the concern.
"His Highness has a cold temperament, and in the future, he’ll be busy with state affairs. How would he have time to bother with such a minor Zhaoxun? Matters of the inner household will still be entirely up to you, won’t they?"
With that, the last trace of Zheng Mingzhi’s anger vanished.
At that moment, Shuangyun, who was standing nearby, spoke up:
"Madam, tonight is Lady Cao’s turn for Shiqin (Attending the Bedchamber)…"
Zheng Mingzhi frowned, her expression darkening.