The Princess’s voice cracked like ice shattering jade, striking deep into everyone’s hearts.
All the noblewomen and young ladies in the hall instantly dropped to their knees, their very breath freezing in their throats.
Old Madam Song’s face turned deathly pale, her hands trembling slightly, yet she stubbornly maintained her upright posture. “Your Highness exaggerates… This old woman was merely disciplining a disrespectful girl. How could this involve court affairs?”
Crack!
The Princess reached out and plucked the overly ornate hairpin from Old Madam Song’s hair, casually tossing it to the ground where it shattered with a crisp sound.
“Is this something you’re permitted to wear?”
Humiliated beyond measure, Old Madam Song nearly fainted on the spot. “This was bestowed by Empress Dowager Song! Why shouldn’t I wear it?”
“She’s dead.” The Princess lightly brushed her sleeve with her crimson-lacquered fingers, speaking with detached indifference. “I could send you underground to see her. You can complain to her then.”
Old Madam Song staggered back two steps.
The Song family women behind her rushed to support her, but one cold glance from the Princess froze them in place.
Clutching at her last shred of dignity, Old Madam Song quavered, “Your Highness, by protocol… you should address this old woman as aunt…”
“Aunt?” The Princess let out a soft laugh, speaking deliberately slowly. “I fear you wouldn’t live long enough to hear that address.”
She suddenly leaned forward, staring directly at Old Madam Song. “Doesn’t the Song family bloodline flow with the tradition of slaughtering one’s own kin?”
“Tell me… if I kill you today, wouldn’t that be continuing your family legacy?”
Old Madam Song’s pupils contracted violently. The world spun around her as she swayed, nearly collapsing.
“Mother!” Liu Shi, Song Yujin’s mother, hurried forward to support her, positioning herself between the two women. She forced a smile and said, “Your Highness jests… This is hallowed ground. Such talk of killing might offend Buddha.”
Her attempt to rescue her mother-in-law only infuriated Old Madam Song further.
The Princess beckoned to Qu Ling. “Come here, A’Ling.”
Qu Ling quickly rose and approached. “Aunt—”
That single word “Aunt” not only made Old Madam Song’s heart tremble again, but also stirred thoughts in Old Madam Qu’s mind.
Did the Princess value A’Ling so highly?
“What did you do to make this old woman want you dead?”
Hearing the Princess speak like this, Old Madam Song felt like vomiting blood.
Qu Ling told the truth plainly.
The Princess’s gaze turned icy as she stared at Old Madam Song. “I gave the order to wound your daughter. Didn’t Song Jun tell you? Or did you know but didn’t dare confront me at the Princess Manor, only bullying a young girl instead?”
“You know perfectly well what she did, yet you still dare claim the position of rightful mother. How shameless.”
“Your Highness!” Old Madam Song could endure no more. “Why must you be so relentless?”
Even when Empress Dowager Song was alive, the Princess had never been particularly courteous to the Song family.
Now that Empress Dowager Song was gone, the Princess seemed determined to tear the Song family’s dignity from them and trample it underfoot.
“Attendants,” the Princess spoke calmly, “move the Song family’s seating to the back of the hall.”
Palace maids immediately came forward and, before everyone’s eyes, roughly dragged the Song family’s seating to the very last row.
Song Yujin’s pearl hairpin fell to the ground, but she only bit her lip hard, not daring to make a sound for fear of angering the Princess.
“This isn’t being relentless,” the Princess carried an aura of deadly seriousness. “This is called maintaining proper order between superior and inferior.”
Old Madam Song’s head buzzed with rage, her fingers digging so hard into her daughter-in-law Liu Shi’s arm that it caused a piercing pain.
“Fine, tomorrow I will enter the palace and ask His Majesty and Her Majesty the Empress whether they no longer recognize our Song Family as relatives!”
She was so enraged that her blood seemed to run backward, her mind clouded by fury.
The Princess let out a scornful laugh and raised her voice, “Is the wife of the Censor-in-Chief present?”
The Censor-in-Chief’s wife trembled as she stepped forward, kneeling on the ground, not daring to lift her head, afraid of being implicated.
“Go back and tell your husband that the Song Family sat side by side with our Zhao Family during the scripture lecture. Let him think carefully about how to draft his memorial and ask the civil and military officials in court whether half of our Zhao Family’s empire should be given to the Song Family.”
The Princess had escalated the severity of the matter.
Old Madam Song froze for a moment. When she finally grasped the implication, her lips trembled, but she dared not utter another word.
This was meant to utterly destroy the Song Family!
“Your Highness, please calm your anger,” Liu Shi was the first to kneel and kowtow.
She was so anxious that tears nearly welled in her eyes. “It was this humble wife’s foolish mistake to arrange the seating beside the Princess Consorts. Your Highness may punish me as you see fit, but my husband… he knew nothing of this.”
Even though Liu Shi remained in the inner quarters, she was well aware that the Princess had many allies in court.
On the surface, this seemed directed at the Song Family, but in truth, it targeted the Crown Prince.
The matter could be taken lightly or gravely. While it might not bring disaster upon the Song Family, Liu Shi feared her son would be blamed by the Crown Prince, hindering his official career.
The Princess ignored her and suddenly turned to the Princess Consorts. “The wives of the Zhao Family are actually being bullied by officials in public.”
Her fingertip traced the face of one Princess Consort. “I’ve heard you’ve been quite close with the Song Family?”
That Princess Consort’s knees buckled, and she knelt on the ground. “No…”
“I care not for your petty, underhanded dealings in private,” the Princess shoved her away abruptly and swept her gaze over the crowd. “But remember this clearly: wherever the Zhao name stands, the Song Family has no right to rule!”
The Princess never let go of Qu Ling’s hand.
This was her way of telling everyone that Qu Ling had her backing.
Someone brought a chair and placed it at the very front. After the Princess sat down, she ordered, “Add another seat. A Ling will sit with me.”
The crowd’s gazes toward Qu Ling grew more meaningful.
Old Madam Qu’s feelings were especially complicated.
This girl truly had remarkable fortune.
Before Huaisu Dashi arrived, a lady who was relatively close to the Princess mustered the courage to ask, “Why is the Jiaping Commandery Princess not here? The Commandery Princess is most filial toward you, Your Highness. Though you live in seclusion, this is the first time we haven’t seen her accompanying you.”
Mention of her daughter softened the Princess’s expression.
“She injured the Crown Prince. Her uncle punished her by confining her in the Eastern Palace to care for the Crown Prince until he recovers.”
Flattering laughter echoed through the hall, but Liu Shi could not bring herself to smile.
The Princess’s gaze swept over Liu Shi’s forcibly composed face, a trace of mockery curling at her lips. “The Commandery Princess and the Crown Prince grew up together and are very close. His Majesty dotes on her as well. Such things are beyond the reach of some, no matter how hard they strive.”
As soon as Zhao Yuanrong was confined to the palace, the Song Family immediately and eagerly sent their eldest daughter, Song Yu Zhen, into the palace as well, as if afraid of losing something.
The Princess and the Crown Prince were at odds like fire and water, yet the Crown Prince showed deep affection toward Zhao Yuanrong.
The Emperor paid no heed to governance.
Previously, Empress Dowager Song had controlled the court.
After Empress Dowager Song’s death, the Crown Prince came of age, yet the Emperor still neglected state affairs. The court became a battleground between the Crown Prince and the Princess.
The selection of the Crown Princess Consort had been decided by Empress Dowager Song.
The Song Family aspires to place three queens in the palace, the Princess covets the imperial throne, and the Crown Prince desires both the realm and its beauties.