“Old Madam? Old Madam?” Nanny Wan called softly, seeing her face turn pale.
The Old Madam snapped back to attention, looking urgently at Nanny Wan, and demanded, “Didn’t I tell you to look after the Commandery Princess properly? To let her stay in the ancestral hall with good food and drink? How did this still implicate Her Majesty the Empress?”
Nanny Wan quickly explained, “Please calm your anger, Old Madam. This servant would never dare to treat the Commandery Princess harshly!”
She racked her brain, then suddenly remembered something, her face shifting. “This servant recalls now, the Third Miss went to the ancestral hall this afternoon.”
“Qiyun?” The Old Madam frowned deeply. “What did she go there for?”
Nanny Wan quickly reported the day’s events in detail: “The Third Miss went to the ancestral hall today saying she wanted to chat with the Commandery Princess. However, their conversation led to a disagreement, and she pushed the Commandery Princess. The Commandery Princess fell, and the tea cup shattered all over the floor.”
“What?” The Old Madam felt her vision darken upon hearing this, nearly fainting. She clutched her forehead, trembling with rage.
“That Zhao Qiyun, she truly causes endless worry! Is the Commandery Princess someone she can just push?”
The Old Madam pointed toward the door and angrily instructed the head nanny, “What are you standing around for? Hurry to the ancestral hall and escort the Commandery Princess out!”
“This old servant will go immediately.” Nanny Wan scurried out.
Zhao Qihuang was confined to the ancestral hall, and the Empress was placed under house arrest—this Destiny was proving terrifyingly accurate.
The Old Madam murmured, reciting a silent prayer to Amitabha Buddha: “Her Majesty the Empress must not suffer any mishap.”
The ancestral hall door creaked open, and Nanny Wan rushed in, holding up her skirt.
“Congratulations, Commandery Princess, the Old Madam has agreed to release you.” Nanny Wan offered an anxious smile, her tone laced with caution.
Zhao Qihuang was reclining on a soft couch. Hearing this, she didn’t even lift an eyelid, merely turning over lazily to face away from the entrance.
“Oh, but I don’t feel like leaving right now,” she said, yawning.
Nanny Wan stamped her foot in distress. “Commandery Princess, people have arrived from the palace! They say Her Majesty the Empress is unwell and specifically summoned you to the palace to keep her company. We cannot delay!”
Only then did Zhao Qihuang slowly turn around, knitting her brows, feigning concern as she asked, “Her Majesty the Empress is unwell?”
Nanny Wan nodded. “Indeed.”
Zhao Qihuang immediately faced the ancestral tablets, pressing her palms together. “Then I certainly cannot leave! I must remain here in the ancestral hall to pray for Her Majesty’s swift recovery.”
Hearing this, Nanny Wan nearly collapsed onto her knees. “Commandery Princess, please stop teasing this old servant! At this critical juncture, only your release from the ancestral hall will bring comfort to Her Majesty the Empress.”
But Zhao Qihuang seemed determined, refusing to budge no matter how Nanny Wan pleaded.
“Nanny, please report back to Grandmother. Tell her that I, Zhao Qihuang, am too lacking in fortune and fear offending Her Majesty the Empress. I am quite comfortable staying here in this ancestral hall.”
Having no choice, Nanny Wan returned to the Glory and Longevity Hall with a bitter expression, running all the way to report.
“She refuses to leave?” The Old Madam’s already poor complexion darkened further, looking as if it might drip water.
“Rebellious! Utterly rebellious!” She slammed the table in fury. The head nanny quickly stepped forward to soothe her breathing.
“Calm your anger, Old Madam, the Commandery Princess—”
“Say no more!” The Old Madam interrupted. “Help me up. I will personally go and invite her out.”
A large group headed majestically toward the ancestral hall.
Before reaching the entrance, the Old Madam raised her voice, sharply reprimanding the servant women and guards stationed outside the ancestral hall: “You scoundrels! Who gave you the audacity to keep the Commandery Princess locked up until now? Didn’t I instruct you just to make a show of it, letting her rest inside for a couple of days? Have you become addicted to locking her up?”
The servants were so terrified they dropped to their knees, repeatedly bowing their heads. “Please quell your anger, Old Madam! Please quell your anger!”
“It was the Third Master’s order,” one slightly bolder servant woman stammered. “The Third Master said the Commandery Princess was mischievous and needed to be confined for a few more days to temper her character…”
The Old Madam feigned a stern rebuke: “Can the Third Master override my authority?”
The moment she finished speaking, Zhao Qihuang’s faint voice drifted out from the ancestral hall.
“Grandmother, please don’t make trouble for them.”
Zhao Qihuang slowly strolled to the doorway, leaning against the frame with a languid expression. “It is Qihuang who is unfilial, causing Third Uncle annoyance. It is only right that Third Uncle should punish me.”
She smiled faintly, though the warmth didn’t reach her eyes. “It’s best if I, this ‘pretty vase and empty head,’ remain here in peace. That way, I won’t go out and offend Third Uncle’s sight or cause trouble for the elderly gentleman.”
Hearing her words, the Old Madam grew even more frantic; this girl clearly held a grudge.
She took a deep breath and instructed the head nanny beside her, “Go, summon the Third Master here.”
Zhao Yuanjiang was quickly “invited” over. Having faced multiple setbacks in court today, he was already in a foul mood. Seeing this scene, his expression grew even uglier.
“Mother, why have you called your son to the ancestral hall so late at night?” he asked stiffly.
The Old Madam pointed at Zhao Qihuang inside the hall and raged at Zhao Yuanjiang, “Look at the mess you’ve made! Qihuang is a Commandery Princess, a golden branch and jade leaf, and your own niece.”
“Now, Her Majesty the Empress is unwell and specifically requested Qihuang to attend her in the palace, but you? You locked her in the ancestral hall and won’t release her.”
“If this delays Her Majesty, can you bear the immense consequences?”
As the Old Madam spoke, she subtly gave Zhao Yuanjiang a meaningful look.
Before arriving, Zhao Yuanjiang had heard the general situation from the Old Madam’s nanny. He hadn’t expected the damned girl’s Destiny to be so potent.
Though he was intensely resentful, he understood the gravity of the situation; the Empress truly could not be slighted.
His face stiff, he looked at Zhao Qihuang, his voice awkwardly attempting conciliation. “Qihuang, Third Uncle was thoughtless earlier, and my words were offensive. Please don’t take it to heart.”
Zhao Qihuang replied with difficulty, “But I haven’t finished copying the sutras. When I entered the ancestral hall, I swore to copy the scriptures one hundred times to pray for my mother.”
Zhao Yuanjiang ground his teeth and said, “How many are left? I will copy them.”
Zhao Qihuang waved her hand, signaling Xiao Hong to bring over the paper she had used for copying the sutras.
She smiled sweetly. “In that case, I shall trouble Third Uncle. There are ninety-nine copies remaining.”
Zhao Yuanjiang was so enraged he nearly passed out.
The Old Madam laughed placatingly. “The scripture copying is now your Third Uncle’s responsibility. You should hurry to the palace.”
Hearing this, Zhao Qihuang frowned delicately. She supported her waist with one hand and rubbed her ankle with the other, displaying an expression of unbearable pain.
She sighed softly. “Grandmother, Qihuang still cannot go to the palace.”
“This afternoon, Younger Sister Qiyun came to ‘visit’ me in the ancestral hall. Whether intentionally or not, she pushed me to the ground.”
She pointed to her ankle, saying pitifully, “This leg, I fear the tendons are sprained. It hurts terribly, and I can’t even stand steadily, let alone enter the palace to meet Her Majesty the Empress.”
The Old Madam pretended to be greatly shocked upon hearing this, and raged, “That girl Qiyun, how dare she lay a hand on you? She is utterly lawless!”
She ordered the maid beside her, “Go summon the Third Miss and bring her to the ancestral hall. Make her kneel here for several days to properly reflect.”
Zhao Qiyun was on the verge of falling asleep when she was forcefully escorted to the ancestral hall.
Having always been arrogant since receiving praise from the Crown Prince, she wore an expression of sheer defiance at being arbitrarily summoned to the ancestral hall for punishment.
“Grandmother, why should I kneel?” She stamped her foot, her face full of grievance. “It was Zhao Qihuang who spoke disrespectfully and provoked me first!”
The Old Madam glared at her. “If I tell you to kneel, you kneel. Stop with the excuses!”
Zhao Qihuang, slowly assisted by Xiao Hong, strolled out of the ancestral hall, passing right by the furious Zhao Qiyun.
She paused, leaned her head close to Zhao Qiyun’s ear, and whispered with a light laugh, using a tone only the two of them could hear: “Younger Sister, do you understand now the use of having this ‘good Destiny’?”
Hearing this, Zhao Qiyun’s eyes turned bloodshot with fury. She stared intensely at Zhao Qihuang, her gaze wishing to devour her alive.
Zhao Qihuang, however, was completely unconcerned. She offered a dazzling smile that was breathtakingly beautiful yet utterly galling.
Leaning on Xiao Hong’s arm, she reached the ancestral hall entrance. Then, as if remembering something, she turned back and instructed the attending servants, “Oh, right. Move my small couch, along with all the soft cushions and silk bedding, back to the Splendid Pavilion.”
She paused, glanced at the trembling Zhao Qiyun, and added slowly, “Since one is being punished, one must at least look the part of being punished.”
With that, Zhao Qihuang, assisted by Xiao Hong, gracefully swept away.
Zhao Qiyun was left behind, utterly livid, smoke practically pouring from her seven orifices, her teeth ground almost to powder.
“Zhao! Qihuang!”
Hearing the roar behind her, Zhao Qihuang curved her lips into a smile.