“Sister, sister!” Xiao Ba ran swiftly, rushing up to Shen Yiren and pointing toward the direction of the Elderly Lady’s residence, Fu’an Hall. “I just used Earth-tunneling to follow Lady Shen over there and heard them planning to secretly return the dowry to that fake! And the sachet too—they want to sneak it over to the Elderly Lady!”
“Are the whole family thieves?” Shen Yiren sighed. “There’s a saying that rings true: like mother, like daughter!”
Cang Ming, who overheard this: “??”
What strange phrasing.
“Xiao Ba, go get the sachet from the cabinet.” It was something the original owner had personally sewn. After retrieving it, Shen Yiren had kept it carefully stored, but now it had to be destroyed.
She silently apologized in her heart, then lit a fire and burned the sachet, determined not to let the Elderly Lady take advantage any longer.
But what about the dowry? Burning it would be a waste.
“Dig a pit?” Shen Yiren looked at Xiao Ba, and the two Ginseng Spirits immediately shared the same thought—they loved soil the most.
Xiao Ba could dig a large pit with just two trips tunneling into the ground.
Thinking they planned to dig by hand, Cang Ming advised, “To bury all the dowry, you’d have to dig up the entire courtyard. Anyone who enters would notice the disturbed soil.”
“I can Earth-tun— Mmph!” Xiao Ba spoke too quickly, but fortunately, Shen Yiren’s hand covered his mouth just as fast.
“Do you have a better idea?”
Cang Ming said, “We could ask the Prince for assistance.”
“You mean move the dowry to the Prince’s place?” Shen Yiren thought for a moment and found it feasible. She turned and ran into the room. “You can deliver the medicine pill along with it!”
Medicine pill? What medicine pill? Xiao Ba looked at Cang Ming in confusion, then dashed after her, seeing Shen Yiren about to open the jar.
Xiao Ba ran over and hugged the jar tightly, eyes brimming with tears.
“Just a little bit.” Shen Yiren extended a finger, indicating a single knuckle’s length. “Only this much. I won’t give him any more. Think about it—with just this little, I can become a ruler!”
“But, but he’s not a Ginseng Spirit. Eating only Buxian Mountain Soil won’t help him.”
“So, how about some of your tears?” Shen Yiren again gestured a tiny amount, promising not to take more.
“No!” Xiao Ba shook his head firmly. “Last time, sister, you plucked my Ginseng root hairs for him to eat, and now you want him to eat me too! Tears are also a no, wuwuwuwu…”
Shen Yiren hurriedly fetched a bowl to catch the tears and added a small pinch of soil.
Xiao Ba’s eyes widened: “!!”
He sniffled.
“Waaah!” He cried even harder.
Shen Yiren tried to soothe him: “Alright, alright… If you really want to cry, use a bowl to catch it. Don’t waste it.”
Xiao Ba: “…”
He stopped crying!!
Shen Yiren smiled and continued mixing the mud. With a slight movement of her fingertip, a wisp of emerald-green spiritual energy infused into the mud.
The Mud Pill was formed.
“Alright, take the dowry and the medicine pill to him.” Shen Yiren suddenly realized she didn’t know the sickly Prince’s name. “What’s his name?”
“This subordinate dare not address the Prince by his name.”
Shen Yiren inwardly praised this—when you become a ruler, others dare not call you by name. She was determined to become one!
“This subordinate will send a message to have someone come collect it.” Cang Ming dared not leave, fearing Lady Shen might bring people to cause trouble.
The person who came to collect the medicine and items was Cang Xu. He hadn’t expected it to be a dowry. Transporting a dowry to the Prince’s residence? The thought “Does that mean Miss Shen is going to marry the Prince?” flashed through his mind.
Zhou Jinyan glanced at the items on the ground tied with red cloth and adorned with double-happiness characters, then looked at Cang Xu.
Cang Xu explained, “Miss Shen is worried that Lady Shen might seize her dowry again.”
Zhou Jinyan withdrew his gaze and remarked lightly, “She certainly doesn’t hesitate to make use of this prince. Where’s the medicine?”
Cang Xu handed over a pill wrapped in a leaf and opened it.
Zhou Jinyan took a closer look—why did it look so much like it was molded from mud? And carelessly molded at that, not even round enough.
He was to enter the palace today, so he couldn’t take the medicine for now. He stored it away carefully.
Just then, a maid came to report, “Your Highness, Eunuch Fu and Nanny Ying have arrived, requesting Your Highness to enter the palace.”
One was the steward eunuch from the Empress’s palace, and the other was the personal mammy of Zhou Jinyan’s mother, Consort Xian.
“I will change clothes and come immediately,” Zhou Jinyan replied. After changing, he entered the palace.
He had always enjoyed a special privilege: his carriage could enter the palace directly and stop at the entrance of the Empress’s Weiyang Palace, after which he had to proceed on foot.
After walking for a while, he coughed lightly. Nanny Ying glanced at him with concern, “Although it is already spring, Your Highness should still wear more layers.”
Eunuch Fu, on the other hand, smiled slightly, “This humble servant notices Your Highness’s complexion looks a bit better, but why are you still coughing?”
“It’s an old ailment, not improving,” Zhou Jinyan brushed it off. Upon entering the hall, he saw the Empress seated high on her throne and his mother, standing beside her, holding a handkerchief and attending to the Empress as she wiped her hands.
For over a decade since his birth, he had often witnessed this scene. Even though the Empress had the most and the finest maids and eunuchs in the rear palace to serve her.
Zhou Jinyan lowered his gaze and bowed, “Your son pays respects to Mother Empress and Imperial Consort Mother.”
“Yan’er is here,” the Empress said, wiping her hands clean before handing the handkerchief to Consort Xian. She beckoned to Zhou Jinyan, “Come quickly and let us see you. It’s been four years since we last met. You truly are something—returning to the capital and not coming to see us first in the palace, but instead rushing off to attend Lord Cen’s wedding banquet.”
Zhou Jinyan stepped forward.
Tall and upright, with handsome features, his thin lips pressed lightly together. On either side of his high nose bridge were a pair of deep, gentle eyes, strikingly similar to the Emperor in his youth.
Only his sickly demeanor bore some resemblance to the delicate Consort Xian.
Consort Xian raised her eyes, her restrained gaze carefully sweeping over her son, whom she hadn’t seen in years. The last time they met, he only reached the tip of her nose; now, he stood a full head taller than her.
His features had matured as well.
His complexion was indeed slightly better, yet still not as healthy as an ordinary person’s.
“Yan’er’s complexion looks good. Yujing truly nurtures people well. It must have been hard for you to go to such a remote fiefdom at such a young age,” the Empress said, instructing Eunuch Fu to offer a seat. “I will speak to the Emperor. Yan’er should stay in Yujing.”
“Your Majesty, that cannot be,” Consort Xian spoke up promptly, her soft, melodious voice tinged with a hint of tension. “It goes against the rules. Yan’er has been enfeoffed as a prince and should remain in his fiefdom. He is not permitted to enter the capital without summons. This time, he entered the capital by the Emperor’s decree and should return once his affairs are concluded.”
The Empress glanced at Consort Xian, who stood meekly before her, then looked at Prince Duan, whose expression remained indifferent in the hall, and smiled.
“Consort Xian, he is your only son. How heartless you are. Aren’t you afraid Yan’er will blame you?”
Consort Xian lowered her gaze and remained silent, her fingers curling slightly.
Yan’er must surely blame her in his heart.
Zhou Jinyan looked at his frail mother and frowned slightly.
“It’s not that Yujing nurtures people well. It’s just that spring is still cold for me, so I’ve worn more layers. The warmth has given me a flushed complexion. I beg Mother Empress and Imperial Consort Mother not to blame me for not removing my fox fur cloak. I truly fear the cold. The shift between heat and chill might make me ill, and then I would worry Father Emperor and Mother Empress again.”
The Empress’s smile widened. “Among all the princes and princesses, Yan’er is the most considerate toward his parents. It was my decision to summon you back to the capital. Yan’er has already reached the age of capping ceremony and should have married long ago.”
She raised her hand, and Eunuch Fu led palace maids in presenting scroll after scroll.
“These are noble ladies selected by me and your Imperial Consort Mother. We sent painters to their mansions to create these portraits. Yan’er, take a look and see if any catch your eye.”
Nanny Ying, standing beside Consort Xian, glanced at the scrolls and sighed inwardly. This was hardly a joint selection with Consort Xian—rather, the Empress had chosen them herself, merely shown them to Consort Xian for a glance before unilaterally deciding.
Yet Consort Xian still hoped her son would choose someone to marry. Having a companion by his side was better than being alone.
Eunuch Fu instructed the palace maids to unroll the scrolls.
Zhou Jinyan scanned them. The foremost portrait was of the fourth young lady from the Minister’s household, Xie Linger.
Also the Empress’s own niece.
This was clearly an attempt to place a watchdog by his side.
Zhou Jinyan withdrew his gaze.
The Empress lightly smoothed her handkerchief and smiled gently. “Among these portraits, has Yan’er taken a liking to any?”
“None.”
Zhou Jinyan’s blunt reply startled Consort Xian, her heart leaping to her throat as she quickly interjected, “Yan’er.”
“Imperial Consort Mother.” Zhou Jinyan looked at his anxious, worried mother. “Your son already has someone in mind, but she is not among these portraits.”
Seeing the Empress’s smile fade slightly, Consort Xian immediately said, “Yan’er, the noble ladies Her Majesty the Empress has selected for you are all from prominent families in the capital.”
What defined a noble lady? First, an excellent family background; second, being a legitimate daughter; third, possessing talent and grace.
Consort Xian shook her head at her son.
“Consort Xian, do not pressure Yan’er too much. Children grow up and always develop their own ideas.” The Empress again wore a benevolent smile, but her final words made Consort Xian’s tension evident on her face.
While it sounded as though he merely had his own preferences regarding marriage, the implication was that Yan’er was already beyond control—if he would not listen about marriage now, might he not harbor rebellious intentions later?
She was merely the daughter of an ordinary merchant from Jiangnan, brought into the palace by the Emperor due to her exceptional beauty. Merchants held low status, and even after years in the palace, she had only been a Beauty. Were it not for Yan’er’s birth and the Empress’s deliberate promotion, she would never have been elevated to Consort.
Without a powerful maternal family and holding only an empty consort title, she could not protect her son.
“Yan’er…” Consort Xian felt a tumult of emotions, fearing the Empress might secretly set traps for her son while also worrying that forcing him to marry someone he did not like would further strain their mother-son relationship.
The Empress inquired, “May I ask which young lady Yan’er has taken a liking to?”