In the third year of Dawei’s Fengzheng era, the Spring Festival was brimming with joy. Every household lit colorful lanterns, and by the day of the Lantern Festival, Zhengde Street would host lion dances and a lantern fair.
However, the maidservants Pei’er and Zisu looked rather nervous. Had it not been for the sudden incident involving the Sixth Miss, the legitimate eldest young miss would likely have been betrothed to the Sixth Prince.
Previously, when the Sixth Miss accompanied her elders into the palace to pay her respects, she had stumbled and accidentally bumped into Noble Lady Yi. Although the Emperor intended to show leniency, word of a broken engagement came from the Sixth Prince’s side.
A broken engagement in an ordinary family would be one thing, but the one calling it off was an imperial prince. How was the legitimate eldest young miss supposed to conduct herself hereafter? A woman discarded by the imperial family; who would dare marry her?
Pei’er frowned slightly. Recalling that the Sixth Prince had called off the engagement because of Noble Lady Yi’s affair, she couldn’t help breaking out in a cold sweat for her own mistress.
Just as she was hesitating over how to break the news, she raised her head and saw Xu Wu standing quietly beside the multi-treasure shelf, smiling faintly. A pair of cold yet bright eyes gleamed with crystal clarity.
A girl like this was naturally deserving of pity. Furthermore, her biological mother was Princess Huayang, endowing her with an innate nobility that simply could not be matched.
Had it not been for that incident with Noble Lady Yi.
Pei’er ruminated over the matter of Noble Lady Yi repeatedly, until she finally mustered the courage to say to Xu Wu, “My lady, the Sixth Prince’s side has decided to call off the engagement.”
The smile at the corner of Xu Wu’s mouth paused slightly. Her soft, delicate fingers clenched the handkerchief embroidered with winter-sweet patterns as she said calmly, “The engagement is canceled, is that it?”
Inside the hollow-carved floral bronze censer in the main hall, wisps of faint agarwood spiraled upward. A single plum blossom petal fragrance-sachet drifted down from the tall flower stand beside the couch, leaving a desolate and melancholic atmosphere.
Xu Wu put down the handkerchief in her hand, picked up a painting of a court lady, and asked Pei’er, “What do you think of this painting?”
This was meant to be a gift for her close confidante and intimate friend, Zhang Ruopei. Yet asking about it at a time like this made Pei’er anxious. The most pressing matter right now wasn’t this ink painting, but the Sixth Prince calling off the marriage.
Banxia walked into the room carrying a tray of tea, also trying to figure out how to comfort her mistress, but she didn’t expect to hear Xu Wu’s gentle voice. “Banxia, what do you think of this painting?”
Knowing that Banxia talked too much, Pei’er said softly, “My lady, you must focus on the Sixth Prince.”
Xu Wu turned around, glanced at the painting, and said calmly, “The person in this painting is Lu Mingfang.”
Lu Mingfang? Banxia and Zisu exchanged glances, having no idea who this person was, let alone that she was a friend of Xu Wu’s.
Or, to be more precise, someone whom Xu Wu had once regarded as a friend in her past life.
Xu Wu looked at the Goddess of the Luo River painting once more. Lu Mingfang. In her past life, the reason she had caught the Sixth Prince’s eye at the palace banquet was entirely because of Lu Mingfang.
In the tenth year of Gengshou, the Sixth Prince, Li Jingling, was seventeen years old. Consort Ming of the Wang clan held a palace banquet to select a consort for him. The noble daughters of the capital had all dressed up elaborately. Which young woman in the world could fail to admire him? Li Jingling was, after all, strikingly handsome and arresting.
With a pair of handsome eyes, Li Jingling cast a nonchalant sweep over the noble daughters. Amidst his boredom, his gaze finally brushed over a slender, elegant figure. The corners of his lips curved upward slightly, leaving two small dimples at the sides of his mouth, and immediately a palace attendant headed toward Xu Wu’s direction.
The other young maidens were all casting lingering glances, and their gowns were mostly bright colors. Yet the young lady from Princess Huayang’s household appeared somewhat overly understated; her light blue top paired with a moon-white skirt made her look somewhat solitary and frail, yet her pointed chin set off her limpid, enchanting, and exquisite eyes.
As Li Jingling watched, he grew dazed. Those cold yet striking eyes bore a striking resemblance to the white moonlight in his heart.
The white moonlight in his heart was none other than Lu Mingfang. It was just that Lu Mingfang’s background was truly not presentable enough for public view.
Although Lu Mingfang’s father was the Duke of Hui, her mother was a slender courtesan from Jiangdong. Because the Duchess of Hui was fierce and overbearing, the Duke had secretly kept her in an outer residence, making Lu Mingfang an illegitimate daughter.
How could the daughter born to an outside mistress ever become the Sixth Prince’s consort? Li Jingling was crystal clear on this point.
Therefore, Li Jingling contacted close ministers, attempting to alter Lu Mingfang’s background and status. But Consort Ming of the Wang clan found out about it, and soon afterward, Lu Mingfang mysteriously vanished.
Thus, when Li Jingling saw those enchanting and delicate eyes of Xu Wu, he instantly superimposed her onto Lu Mingfang, the white moonlight of his heart.
It wasn’t their appearance that was alike, but the feeling. A resemblance in feeling was the most fatal thing of all.
Moreover, this elegant and striking young maiden was the eldest daughter of Princess Huayang, and Princess Huayang’s paternal cousin was Consort De in the palace. Such a lineage was an absolute match.
“Your Highness, she is the eldest daughter of Princess Huayang’s household, just turning fifteen this year,” a palace attendant hurriedly reported in a low voice from behind Li Jingling.
Li Jingling cast a casual glance at Xu Wu and said to Consort Ming of the Wang clan, “Imperial Mother, this son has taken a fancy to the eldest daughter of Princess Huayang’s household.”
Consort Ming followed Li Jingling’s gaze, slanted a look at Xu Wu, and then smiled. “She has a good appearance and a respectable family background.”
Just like that, Xu Wu was chosen as the Sixth Prince’s consort at the palace banquet. Although the imperial edict had not yet been issued, verbal promises had already been exchanged.
However, promises from the imperial family naturally spread rapidly throughout the capital.
At that time, Xu Wu had indeed been very happy. Li Jingling was an imperial prince, handsome and intelligent; such a man was naturally the absolute best of the best.
It was only later that she learned Li Jingling had never favored her at all. He had merely treated her as a substitute for the white moonlight in his heart.
Xu Wu reined in her gaze slightly, gently pressing her aching wrist. After letting out a soft sigh, she recalled the events of her past life in detail, especially Lu Mingfang.
Speaking of Lu Mingfang, Xu Wu had once genuinely regarded her as a close friend.
Because Lu Mingfang was an illegitimate daughter facing hardship everywhere, Xu Wu had always helped her out. Later on, the reason Lu Mingfang was able to return to the Duke of Hui’s estate was also because Xu Wu had persuaded her mother, Princess Huayang, to lend a hand.
Yet she never expected that Lu Mingfang hadn’t died after all, and that she would later cross paths with Li Jingling again through twists of fate, eventually being conferred as Noble Consort Wan.
Li Jingling granted Noble Consort Wan special dispensation from the daily morning greetings and constructed a separate palace courtyard exclusively for her, which was why Xu Wu had no idea at first that she was actually Lu Mingfang.
It wasn’t until later that a scandalous affair broke out in the palace between an imperial concubine and an imperial guard, and that concubine had allegedly been administered Spring-Return Powder by Noble Consort Wan.
When such a filthy scandal erupted within the palace, Xu Wu went personally to Chunxi Palace. To her surprise, before she could even question anyone, Li Jingling arrived in a flurry, immediately adopting a protective stance. When Xu Wu invoked palace regulations, Li Jingling retorted with the declaration that she meddled far too much.
Barely half an hour after she returned to Weiyang Palace, officers from the Palace Tribunal arrived. They arrested her maidservants Pei’er and Banxia, claiming that the floral bathwater they had sent to Consort Chun contained Spring-Return Powder, and even searched out voodoo dolls pierced full of silver needles from beneath Xu Wu’s bed.
Xu Wu looked at Li Jingling. He understood her temperament better than anyone. Even if she were to die, she would never do such a thing. She waited expectantly for him to speak a word of justice, only to hear him say coldly in the end that the Xu clan should be stripped of her empress title and confined to Weiyang Palace.
Xu Wu was innocent. Even if she were to poison someone, she would never let her closest maidservants carry it out. Any fool could figure that out, and the entire inner palace could understand it clearly.
The palace servants who had once received her grace repeated over and over that His Majesty would surely investigate the truth.
Xu Wu trusted Li Jingling, too. She waited day after day, and her wait lasted for seven full days.
Seven days, which felt neither long nor short.
She did not wait for Li Jingling. Instead, she received the news that the entire Xu family had been implicated in witchcraft and plotting against the Son of Heaven, resulting in their entire clan being put to the sword.