"If not for that illness, the Crown Prince would have been different," Pei Yue said calmly.
An Yingying looked up at Pei Yue, who was leaning against the windowsill. Though her expression was plain, her eyes were clear and crystalline, her thin lips bright and dewy like a spring plum blossom touched by morning dew—even she couldn't help but admire her beauty inwardly. "Yes, if the Crown Prince had even half of Prince Shou's talent, we wouldn't have to worry like this."
Pei Yue lowered her head with a faint smile. A damp, cool breeze blew in through the window, and her thin lips parted slightly. "But in this world, there's no such thing as a do-over."
Just as she finished speaking, Princess Huiping came stomping up the stairs. She poked her head out and pointed at An Yingying, scolding, "Yingying, you're slacking off again!"
"No, I'm not—I was just keeping Yue'er company," An Yingying said, her teacup trembling in her hand. She quickly set it down and went over with a beaming smile to take her mother's arm. "What brings you here at this hour? Is something the matter?"
Princess Huiping shot her daughter a disdainful glance, pulled her hand free, and walked over to Pei Yue. Her face immediately shifted to a smile as she said softly, "Yue'er, the Pei family sent word asking you to return home. It seems there's something they need to discuss with you."
The sudden summons from home made Pei Yue's brows furrow, and a wave of unease surged in her chest.
Princess Huiping took Pei Yue's hand and reassured her, "Don't be nervous. The messenger wasn't urgent. If it were something serious, your mother would have called for me to go back with you as well."
Pei Yue nodded, bid farewell to her aunt, and hurried out of the estate with her maidservant.
She waited in the side room for two quarters of an hour before the coachman finally arrived with the carriage.
After Pei Yue boarded, Bizhu muttered to the coachman, asking why he was late.
The coachman checked the reins while apologizing to Pei Yue inside the carriage. "I didn't expect the young lady to leave so early. I'd just gone to buy a packet of crispy candy, and on the way I saw some scholars brawling, so I stopped to watch the commotion. I'm truly sorry."
Pei Yue knew the coachman bought the candy for his daughter, and since she was eager to get home, she didn't ask further. But as the carriage slowly pulled away, Bizhu casually asked why they had been fighting.
The coachman immediately launched into a vivid account. "At first, I didn't know why either. But after listening for a bit, I learned it was because a scholar surnamed Fang had sticky fingers—he stole a fellow student's annotated text. You may not know, miss, but those annotated texts are a scholar's lifeline. Sometimes a top scholar's annotations can sell for over a thousand taels of silver. So a few of them started fighting over it."
He sighed and tightened the reins, urging the horses to go faster. "What a pity. With the autumn examinations coming up at year's end, Scholar Fang got his hand broken—his path to officialdom is cut off. And the other scholars, having committed an offense, won't be allowed to sit for the exams either."
The coachman sighed repeatedly as he spoke, but Pei Yue didn't find it a pity at all. One had sticky fingers, and the others were too impulsive—neither temperament suited being an official. She told the coachman to hurry, eager to return home, and didn't notice the other carriage passing by.
Li Chang'an, however, did notice the Pei family carriage.
Tingshu glanced back in the direction of the Pei carriage and asked doubtfully, "Your Highness, usually when you encounter gossiping people, you let them be. Why did you deal with all of them today?"
No sooner had he spoken than he was glared at by his master, and he quickly turned around and lowered his head.
Li Chang'an lowered the wooden window. After the carriage entered the Eastern Palace, he had just stepped down when his personal attendant Fuzi approached and whispered, "Your Highness, Prince Shou just went to Kunning Palace, and he seemed to be in a hurry."
Li Chang'an's gaze paused briefly. A gentle breeze lifted the wispy strands of hair at his temples, and a faint, cold smile flickered in his dark eyes. "He's feeling guilty."
Fuzi looked at his master in confusion, waiting for an explanation, but instead heard his master ask whether any letter had arrived from Jizhou. Fuzi shook his head. "Still nothing today."
The mine in Jizhou—Li Chang'an had only taken charge of it recently when a mining disaster occurred. This was his first time wielding real authority, yet such a major incident had happened under his watch, and he had been preoccupied with it lately.
But five days had passed, and still no letter from Jizhou had reached him. It was hard not to feel uneasy.
"To Renzheng Hall." Li Chang'an was about to ascend the steps when he turned back and stepped down.
Renzheng Hall was the Emperor's residence and also where he handled state affairs.
When Li Chang'an arrived at Renzheng Hall, the atmosphere inside was oppressively heavy. The moment he offered his greetings, his father hurled a memorial at him, startling him into a hurried kneel.
"Jizhou has been peaceful for years, yet within three months of your taking charge, such a severe disaster occurs. Do you know how many people have died?" The Emperor slammed the table and stood, pointing at Li Chang'an in fury.
The men Li Chang'an had sent to Jizhou had sent no word. Now it was clear—the letters hadn't failed to arrive; they had been intercepted and delivered only to his father's hands.
At this moment, he could only lower his head in silence.
But the Emperor was in a rage and barked, "One hundred and three people dead in total! Crown Prince, Crown Prince—I entrusted such an important place as Jizhou to you, and this is how you repay me?"
"Your son is guilty, and begs Your Majesty to punish him." Li Chang'an's voice trembled at the end, and he kowtowed in panic, timid as always.
He had barely finished pleading when the voice of the Empress Dowager came from outside the hall. An attendant entered to seek instructions, and the Emperor took a long breath. "Tell the Empress to go back. I don't wish to see anyone today."
After the attendant went out to relay the message, the Emperor looked again at the Crown Prince prostrate on the ground, rubbed his temples in headache, and asked, "Speak—what did you come to Renzheng Hall for?"
Li Chang'an raised his head shakily for a glance, then lowered it to look at the white marble floor tiles. The smooth tiles reflected his expression—a perfectly composed face, yet his tone carried a hint of grievance. "I beg Your Majesty to revoke the betrothal."
"What?" At these words, the Emperor's barely settled anger erupted again, and he demanded by name, "Li Chang'an, are you trying to rebel?"
"Your son would not dare." Li Chang'an pressed his forehead to the ground, and no matter how the Emperor questioned him, he refused to say why.
In the end, the Emperor ordered him to kneel at the entrance of Renzheng Hall.
As evening fell, eunuchs came and went from Renzheng Hall, seemingly long accustomed to the sight of the Crown Prince being punished to kneel—not one dared to glance into the courtyard.
Li Chang'an knelt in the afterglow of the setting sun, his shadow stretched long, yet his back remained perfectly straight.
Just as darkness was about to fall, the Empress Dowager arrived again, and Li Chang'an still knelt properly.
"My good son, why has your father made you kneel again?" The Empress Dowager crouched beside Li Chang'an, her heart aching as she tried to pull him up, but Li Chang'an refused. "Wait here—your mother will speak up for you."
The Empress Dowager stormed into Renzheng Hall, and before long, the sound of argument drifted out from the great hall in fragments.
"The Crown Prince is still young. This is his first time dealing with government affairs, so it's inevitable that he'll be unfamiliar with some things. Even Prince Shou stumbled quite a bit the first time he handled matters. Is Your Majesty being too harsh with the Crown Prince?" It was the voice of the Empress Dowager first.
Then came the Emperor's roar, "How is the Crown Prince still young? He is my eldest son. Prince Shou is two years younger than the Crown Prince, and he can already handle things on his own. Only the Crown Prince is still studying at the Imperial Academy with a group of ten-year-old younger brothers. If he isn't embarrassed, I am!"
"Your Majesty, have a drink of water. Please don't be angry," the Empress Dowager said again. "The Crown Prince may be a bit slow in his studies, but he is pure-hearted by nature. If you are angry, you could have Prince Shou teach him slowly. The night wind in early spring is too cold. A short punishment should suffice. Please let him rise. He will surely do better next time."
"Say no more on his behalf. I am tired. Let him kneel until the palace gates are locked before returning." The Emperor did not wish to say more, and the Empress Dowager could only sigh and withdraw.
Once outside the main hall, the Empress Dowager looked at Li Chang'an with slightly reddened eyes. "Child, in front of your father, why don't you know to soften your stance? I will stand with you. You are my child, and if you are punished, it is only right that I accompany you."
Such heartfelt words moved the eunuchs and palace maids nearby.
From the corner of his eye, Li Chang'an could see the Empress Dowager's magnificent skirt hem. With such a kind motherly heart as hers, no wonder everyone praised her.
Inside the hall, upon hearing that the Empress was standing in the courtyard with the Crown Prince, the Emperor's brows knitted tightly. He recalled the Crown Prince's request to cancel the betrothal and found it strange, so he sent someone to investigate the Crown Prince's movements that day.
By the time the palace gates were locked, both the Crown Prince and the Empress Dowager had left, and the chief eunuch who had been sent on the errand had returned.
"Today, the Crown Prince was at Princess Jing'an's residence, and nothing out of the ordinary happened. However, this servant did learn of another matter, which is…" The eunuch paused for a moment before continuing, "It is said that last year, Prince Shou frequently went to visit the young lady of the Pei family. This servant wonders if the Crown Prince may have heard of this."
Upon hearing this, the Emperor's expression turned grave. "Do not investigate this matter further. All of you, withdraw."
The Crown Prince being punished to kneel was no longer a rare occurrence, but this time it was somewhat different. After all, the Crown Prince had only just been granted a marriage the day before, and everyone was curious as to what he had done this time.
By the time the news reached the Pei family, Pei Yue was kneeling before her parents, her eyes red, clearly having just been crying.