On the day of the Dragon Boat Festival, the dragon boat races were held at Taiye Pool in the Western Gardens, and relatives of officials of the fourth rank and above could attend to watch the competition.
Since her marriage, Baoying had not had the opportunity to leave the Prince's residence, except for that one time she returned to her natal home in a fit of pique. Upon hearing that she could watch the races at the imperial gardens, she was so excited she couldn't sleep for two nights.
Hongxia prepared a set of dark blue regular attire for the Princess Consort with subtle cloud patterns, but Baoying disliked the outfit: "This color is too dull. I don't want to wear it."
"Then what would the Princess Consort like to wear?"
Baoying opened the wardrobe herself and, from the dazzling array of brocade finery within, selected a goose-yellow square-collar gauze blouse paired with a willow-green skirt scattered with gold flecks.
She loved wearing bright, vivid colors. Her resplendent attire, combined with her complexion fairer than snow, instantly outshone the morning light filling the chamber.
Xiaolian clapped her hands: "The young lady looks beautiful!"
Hongxia stood to the side, pursing her lips with a smile.
When she emerged from Zhaoming Hall, Zong Duo was already fully dressed and waiting outside the door. He wore a python robe with a jade belt, his bearing tall and straight as a pine, appearing exceptionally upright and dignified.
Baoying stole a glance at him—this was their first meeting since clearing the air between them. Zong Duo's face was as calm as ever as his gaze swept over her from head to toe, and he said tersely, "Go back and change."
"Why?"
Baoying was unwilling; this was an outfit she had carefully put together.
Zong Duo said, "Yellow clashes with His Majesty's dragon robe."
Baoying had no choice but to return to her room and change into a light pink cross-collar blouse embroidered with a hundred butterflies.
As soon as she came out, Zong Duo glanced at her once and said, "Her Majesty the Empress does not care for pink."
Baoying glared at him, pouted, and went back to change into an orange blouse and skirt.
Zong Duo said slowly, "Her Majesty the Empress Dowager does not care for orange."
"You!" Baoying stamped her foot. "The Empress Dowager is ill, isn't she? She won't even see it!"
"Whether she sees it or not, as a subject, you must have the awareness to observe proper taboos."
Baoying ground her teeth and reluctantly turned back to change her clothes again.
Yuan Yi remarked from the side, "Why doesn't Your Highness say everything at once? That would save the Princess Consort from running back and forth."
Zong Duo smiled faintly. "Don't you think the way she puffs up in anger…"
He suddenly stopped mid-sentence, a flicker of surprise passing through his mind: Why was he bickering with her over such trivial matters?
Half an incense stick later, Baoying emerged from inside. This time she had changed into a light crimson half-sleeve top, paired with a begonia-red skirt with narrow panels woven with gold thread. As she moved with delicate steps, her sleeves fluttered, and the gold thread shimmered with a subtle, rippling glow—so beautiful one couldn't look away.
Zong Duo's brow furrowed slightly. "Why are you wearing something so bright?"
"Why, to cheer on the Dragon Imperial Guard, of course!"
She spun around in front of him, her skirt flaring and dancing like red plum petals in bloom.
"Well, how is it? Surely none of the ladies dislike red, right?"
Zong Duo looked at her clever, sparkling dark eyes, pressed his lips together, and turned away. "Let's go."
When they arrived at the Western Gardens, they rode in a sedan chair all the way to Wanshou Palace to pay respects to the Emperor.
Baoying looked around in every direction, taking in the radiant palace halls and the fragrance wafting through the jade terraces. Gazing into the distance, she saw the imperial path brushed with vermilion, the crimson steps encircled by greenery, and all manner of rare flowers and exotic plants in lush bloom—a sight of breathtaking beauty.
At Wanshou Palace, she had to part ways with Zong Duo. He would go to the front hall to pay respects to the Emperor with the assembled ministers, while she would go to the rear hall to pay respects to the Empress.
Zong Duo instructed her: "Answer when the Empress asks you questions. Don't try to steal the spotlight, and don't pick any quarrels. Just watch the races obediently, understand?"
Baoying nodded with little "mm-hmm" sounds. It wasn't as if this was her first time entering the palace—surely she knew the palace rules well enough!
Entering the rear hall, the Empress had not yet arrived, but several Princess Consorts were already waiting inside.
It was now that Baoying saw her sisters-in-law all together:
The eldest prince, Zong Dian, was enfeoffed as Prince of Han, married to Lady Zhong;
The second prince, Zong Yue, was enfeoffed as Prince of Wei, married to Lady Zhou;
The fourth prince, Zong Kai, was enfeoffed as Prince of Jin, married to Lady Xu;
The fifth prince, Zong Mao, was enfeoffed as Prince of Zhao, not yet married.
After taking her seat according to seniority, Baoying's gaze swept over the three Princess Consorts. They were only slightly older than her, yet all wore dignified, somber colors like deep blue and dark green.
Among everyone present, she alone was dressed in a striking begonia red—no wonder all eyes were on her.
"I've long heard of Third Sister-in-law's famed beauty, and now that I see her in person, she truly is breathtakingly lovely." The Second Sister-in-law, the Princess of Wei, smiled sweetly. "Even this dazzling red—not just anyone could pull it off."
"What use is being pretty? Spring blossoms wither quickly—how long can one rely on beauty to curry favor?"
A young woman in a red skirt immediately retorted.
She too wore red, but it didn't suit her as well as it did Baoying. Clearly, the Princess of Wei's words had struck a nerve.
Baoying saw that the young woman was about her own age, with a handsome, spirited brow that could not hide a proud, haughty air. This must be the famous Princess Rong'an.
Princess Rong'an was the only daughter of Prince Kang, the Emperor's younger brother. Since the Emperor had no daughters of his own, he doted on this niece greatly and had raised her in the palace since childhood.
If the noble ladies of the capital were brilliant stars, then Princess Rong'an was the proud moon around which all those stars revolved. Even Baoying, who was rather sheltered, had heard of her reputation before she was even married.
Meeting her in person was better than hearing about her—this princess's temper was evidently no small matter either.
Baoying kept Zong Duo's instructions firmly in mind and decided not to make an issue of it.
After all, the princess had gotten one thing wrong—she wasn't relying on her looks to please anyone. She was relying on her birth chart. Beauty fades like flowers falling from trees, but her birth chart would stay with her until she was buried.
Baoying ignored the princess's taunts and casually picked up a piece of flower cake to eat.
But Princess Rong'an had come today with every intention of making trouble for her.
It turned out that the second Miss Xu had once been the princess's companion reader, and the two were close. So Rong'an had always felt that Baoying had barged in and snatched away Xu Lanyue's marriage match.
Add to that today's offense of wearing the same outfit—if not for the fact that Baoying was Princess Yan's wife, Rong'an would have had someone slap her several times.
Seeing that Baoying was ignoring her and eating pastries as if no one else was there, Rong'an's face fell: "I'm talking to you! Didn't you hear me? People from small households really have no manners!"
Baoying hated nothing more than hearing others speak ill of her parents. At this, she looked up and said, "Who's the one without manners? I am your sister-in-law, am I not? When the princess speaks to me, doesn't she know to use respectful terms?"
Rong'an was furious that she dared to talk back. She stood up and made to walk over and confront her face to face.
Wei Princess Consort, who had been watching the spectacle all along, caught the eye of Jin Princess Consort, who was seated beside Baoying, and gave her a meaningful look.
Jin Prince Zong Kai had always followed his elder brother Wei Prince's lead, so Jin Princess Consort likewise deferred to Wei Princess Consort in everything.
Seeing the signal, Jin Princess Consort understood at once. She quickly picked up Baoying's teacup and, concealing the movement with her wide sleeve, poured the tea onto the floor tiles in front of Baoying.
Han Princess Consort, seated nearby, took in the whole exchange. Her delicate brows rose slightly, but she chose to pretend she hadn't seen a thing.
As for the two protagonists—Baoying and Rong'an—their eyes were fixed only on each other, and neither noticed Jin Princess Consort's little maneuver.
Rong'an strode toward Baoying in a fury, but her shoe sole landed on the tea spilled across the polished golden bricks. Her feet suddenly slipped out from under her and she pitched forward, barely catching herself with both hands on the floor to keep her face from hitting the ground.
Baoying saw her kneeling before her in that comical pose and burst out laughing: "Princess, all you had to do was call me sister-in-law twice—no need to kowtow to me with such a grand bow!"
Rong'an was mortified and enraged. She rose with the help of a palace maid, looked down at the tea on the floor, and snarled, "You wretch! You dared to harm me!"
Only then did Baoying notice the puddle of tea on the ground. She muttered, "What does that have to do with me? I didn't pour it."
"If not you, then who?" Rong'an was completely blinded by rage.
Wei Princess Consort chose that moment to speak up: "That's easy to settle. Just see whose teacup is empty—that's whose tea was poured."
With that, she gracefully lifted the lid of her own teacup, revealing clear tea with wisps of fragrant steam rising from it.
Rong'an looked around one by one. Only Baoying's teacup held nothing but tea leaves at the bottom.
"What do you have to say for yourself now?" She glared hatefully at Baoying.
Baoying was stunned too. She had taken a couple of sips of tea while eating her flower cake, but surely not enough to finish the whole cup? She scratched her head, utterly unable to figure out what had happened.
Seeing her stay silent, Rong'an took it as an admission of guilt. She stepped forward and raised her hand to strike—but before the slap could land, a eunuch's voice rang out from outside: "His Majesty has arrived!"
Everyone hurriedly rose to their feet and knelt in a rustle of fabric to welcome the emperor.
The emperor, in his dark gold dragon robe, walked slowly into the hall with the empress at his side. Seeing the assembled women kneeling with heads bowed, he raised his hand and said, "Rise, all of you. Rong'an, what's going on? I could hear your shouting from outside the hall."
Princess Rong'an was the first to stand. She hurried over to the emperor's side and tugged at his arm: "Imperial Father! You must see justice done for me—I've been bullied!"
"Oh?" The emperor raised an eyebrow in surprise, his gaze sweeping over his daughters-in-law below. "Who would dare to bully my Rong'an?"
Baoying trembled with fear. Judging by the emperor's indulgent tone toward the princess, even if she were in the right, she'd be in the wrong. She was doomed.
She truly didn't understand how things had come to this. Why had the princess suddenly started picking a fight with her? Why had a puddle of tea appeared on the floor? Why had the princess slipped on it? And most importantly—why was her teacup the one that was empty?
Baoying could have cried.
"It's her!"
Rong'an pointed straight at her, and Baoying immediately felt two oppressive gazes land on her.
She bowed her head even lower, trying to make herself invisible to the emperor. Clearly, this fool's errand didn't work, for she heard the emperor say, "Third son's wife? Come forward."
His voice was flat, impossible to read.
But Baoying had learned from Zong Duo: an unreadable tone meant anger.
She stepped forward trembling, head bowed, and tried to defend herself: "Your… Your Majesty, I did not bully the princess."
The emperor was silent for a long moment, but those two gazes that pressed down like a weight never left her face.
Baoying felt as if each moment stretched into an eternity. This must be how condemned prisoners felt waiting on the execution platform.
"Raise your head." The emperor's voice sounded slightly unsteady.
Baoying could only raise her chin tremblingly, her eyelids hanging so low they might as well have been shut, terrified that the Emperor would charge her with disrespect.
"What is your name?"
Baoying was somewhat bewildered, suppressing the urge to raise her hand and wipe the cold sweat from her brow, and answered cautiously, "This daughter-in-law is of the Shi family, Your Majesty, given name Baoying."
"Shi Baoying…" The Emperor repeated her name twice to himself, then suddenly asked, "What is your mother's name?"
Huh? Why ask about her mother? Surely he wasn't planning to charge her mother with failing to raise her daughter properly?
Baoying was now thoroughly confused, and couldn't help but steal a quick glance up at the Emperor.
He was a man of immense dignity, with thick brows and deep-set eyes, his handsome features sharpened further by the passage of years. Yet the eyes that looked at her held an indescribable tremor and wistfulness, utterly at odds with his imposing bearing.
The chief eunuch beside the Emperor said, "Princess Consort of Yan, His Majesty is asking you a question."
Baoying snapped back to attention and hurriedly said, "My mother is called Zhenniang, Wei Zhenniang. The Secretary of the Bureau of Rites, Wei Lian, is my maternal uncle."
Even at this moment, she didn't forget to mention her uncle's name before the Son of Heaven.
The Emperor raised his thick brows in surprise, repeating Zhenniang's name to himself, and when he looked up again, the wistfulness in his eyes had vanished, replaced by a gentle gaze upon Baoying.
"Where did you fall just now? Are you alright?"
Baoying was stunned.
Why was the Emperor being so kind to her? And besides, she wasn't the one who had fallen!
It wasn't just her—everyone else in the hall was exchanging bewildered glances as well.
The Empress gave Baoying a thoughtful look.
Rong'an, standing nearby, stamped her foot in fury: "Imperial Uncle, I'm the one who fell!"
"Oh." The Emperor looked as if he had just woken from a dream. "Then what does your fall have to do with your sister-in-law?"
Rong'an cried out, "She deliberately poured water on the ground and made me slip!"
The Emperor glanced at her, his tone no longer as indulgent as before: "The Princess Consort of Yan is your sister-in-law. How could she possibly pour water to harm you? It was merely the palace maids failing to clean properly. Pass down the order—the palace maids who cleaned the rear hall today shall receive thirty strokes of the cane. Rong'an, does that satisfy you?"
Though Rong'an was willful and spoiled, she was not without sense.
Since the Emperor had spoken thus, she naturally dared not press the matter further, but she still wanted to express her displeasure within safe bounds: "Not enough! Make it fifty strokes!"
"Very well, fifty it is." The Emperor was still quite indulgent with her.
Having been given a way out by the Emperor, Rong'an had no choice but to swallow her resentment, however unhappy she felt inside.
Baoying, however, stared wide-eyed.
She had gone to the yamen and watched executions before—fifty strokes of the cane would take half a person's life!
"Um, that… Your Majesty, F-Father, fifty strokes would kill someone."
Though she knew she shouldn't speak up, it was fifty strokes! Because of a quarrel between her and the commandery princess, some poor palace maid would be beaten or even die because of it. Baoying couldn't just pretend nothing had happened.
The other princess consorts exchanged shocked glances, and the hall fell into dead silence.
In their eyes, the Princess Consort of Yan had gone beyond not knowing what was good for her—she was practically throwing away her own good fortune.
In a single sentence, she had both kicked away the face the Emperor had given the commandery princess and implied that the Emperor was cruel.
Even if they had deliberately tried to find fault, they couldn't have come up with such words.
The Emperor was silent for a moment as well.
Seeing that no one was speaking, Baoying nervously rubbed her sweaty palms against her skirt, and steeled herself to say to Rong'an, "Commandery Princess, hit me instead. I know that hitting me will satisfy you more than hitting a palace maid. Don't worry, I won't fight back, but please don't hit me too many times."
Rong'an certainly wanted to hit her, but in front of the Emperor, she wasn't that foolish. She turned to look at the Emperor, waiting for her Imperial Uncle to deal with this ungrateful pauper.
But the Emperor burst into loud laughter.
"Adorable, truly adorable… Since you've already pleaded for them, I shall exempt them from the caning. Have them come and thank you for your mercy later."
He then turned to look at the fuming Rong'an. "Don't be angry either. Later I'll have someone open the treasury, and from this year's tribute goods, you may pick three items to take back and enjoy, hm?"
At these words, Rong'an's anger immediately turned to joy.
Those were tribute goods from the imperial treasury! Even picking just one would be enough to become a family heirloom for an ordinary household. And she could pick three freely—far more practical than having a palace maid beaten fifty strokes.
"Thank you, Imperial Uncle!"
Rong'an descended from her high horse with a beaming smile, though in her heart, she still had no intention of forgiving that damned Princess Consort of Yan.
Baoying didn't understand the value of being able to pick freely from the tribute goods, but hearing that the palace maids wouldn't be beaten made her happy too: "Thank you for your mercy, Your Majesty!"
"Still calling me Your Majesty?"
"Father!"
Baoying pursed her lips shyly.
The Emperor said cheerfully to the chief eunuch behind him, "Gao Yan, pass down the order—when the treasury is opened, bestow those two coral trees that Annam tributed last year upon the Princess Consort of Yan, as a token to calm her nerves."
The princess consorts who had been watching the spectacle were left utterly dumbfounded.
Among all the princes, Prince Yan alone was the least favored by the Emperor; among all the princess consorts, Princess Yan's background was the most humble.
They all looked down on Princess Yan and wanted to see her suffer misfortune—ideally, provoking a stern rebuke from the Emperor, so that the Prince Yan's household would lose imperial favor from then on, and their own husbands would praise them for handling matters well.
But why did the Emperor not only refrain from punishing her, but actually show her special favor?