Chapter 84

A promising marriage, long anticipated by the Empress, was mercilessly brought to an end by the Crown Prince. Furious, the Empress glared at the Crown Prince as he turned and left, then slumped weakly back into her chair.
Her younger son now had no women by his side, neither a principal consort, a secondary consort, nor even a concubine. The position of principal consort for her elder son was also vacant. Though she couldn’t bring herself to blame Yan Yiming, given that she had died saving the Crown Prince, now the Crown Prince had pushed away a princess of such noble status. What was to be done?
Although her earlier conversation with the princess had revealed her to be cheerful and easy to talk to, there was no telling whether Princess Ming would bear a grudge over the Crown Prince’s blunt rejection, leading the Emperor to reprimand him.
The Empress was deeply worried, but the Crown Prince offered no further explanation, merely saying, “Do not worry, Mother,” before striding away.
Aside from those who were truly brainless or reckless, no one dared to pursue Princess Ming at the moment. However, for the Empress, who paid little attention to court affairs, the intricacies were too complex to grasp. A willful reason like this was more convincing and left her with no choice but to accept it.
In the Eastern Palace, Jiang Yi sat leisurely in the Crown Prince’s study, savoring a cup of tea. The fragrance was delicate and elegant, the taste refreshing and thirst-quenching, it was the first harvest of early March, Biluochun tea picked before the Qingming Festival.
It was said that the Crown Prince had not originally liked Biluochun, but after the Crown Princess passed away, he would drink only the tea she had loved most in life.
Jiang Yi had not developed a taste for this tea later on, like the Crown Prince had; rather, he had always liked it, or more accurately, he was simply accustomed to it. Back when he was still a child who knew nothing about appreciating tea, he had met A’Ming. From then on, whether it was clothing or food, he had followed her preferences. She loved Biluochun tea, so naturally, he came to love it too. In fact, he had never even tasted any other kind of tea.
Now, seven years had passed, and it had become a habit.
By the time Nan Gongxuan returned to the Eastern Palace, Jiang Yi had just finished a cup. Nan Gongxuan gestured for him not to stand on ceremony and dismissed the attending maids so as not to be disturbed.
Jiang Yi casually poured a cup and handed it to Nan Gongxuan. “It seems Her Majesty the Empress indeed arranged for Your Highness to meet with Princess Ming.”
Nan Gongxuan gave an “mm” of acknowledgment and said helplessly, “Her Majesty still views this matter too simply.”
The Prince of Jiangxia held an exceptionally high status, which made Princess Ming overshadow even the noble ladies of the capital. With the Prince of Jiangxia openly declaring his intention to marry off his daughter, it was only natural that some would grow restless.
Nan Gongxuan’s greatest worry was that the Empress would also wade into these troubled waters. And sure enough, on the very first day Princess Ming arrived in the capital, she had already made her move.
Nan Gongxuan understood the Empress’s good intentions, but when it came to the uncertainties of the court and the Emperor’s true thoughts, the Empress had not fully grasped the situation.
No matter how powerful or influential the Prince of Jiangxia was, to the Emperor, he represented more of a threat. The Emperor had never once brought up the topic of marriage between Princess Ming and any of the princes, which clearly indicated his stance.
Whether the Prince of Jiangxia was genuinely seeking peace by marrying off his daughter or had other motives remained shrouded in mystery. Until everything was clarified, Nan Gongxuan naturally had no intention of tying himself to Princess Ming. The right approach was to find a way to keep his distance for the time being.
Seeing the unmistakable displeasure on Nan Gongxuan’s face, Jiang Yi smiled and said, “Your Highness’s devotion to the Crown Princess is still deeply moving. Being able to use this as a reason to decline Princess Ming is even better. Out of consideration for the Crown Princess, His Majesty won’t hold it too much against you. But since you’ve already extricated yourself from this matter, why do you still look so angry?”
In the past, it had been Jian Yuyan with whom Nan Gongxuan could discuss such private matters. But four years ago, Jian Yuyan had become despondent over an opera performer and withdrew from court affairs. Nan Gongxuan had repeatedly tried to persuade him, even scolding him for neglecting his duties over a woman. Jian Yuyan had given him a cold look and said, “If it were the Crown Princess…”
Before he could finish, Nan Gongxuan cut him off, asking how he could possibly compare a mere opera performer to the Crown Princess.
The two parted on bad terms. Later, Nan Gongxuan somewhat regretted speaking so impulsively that day, after all, no matter what, that person was the one Jian Yuyan held dear. But he also felt that what he had said wasn’t wrong: an opera performer was of low status, and comparing her to the Crown Princess was an insult in itself.
After that, Jian Yuyan resigned from his official post entirely. He spent his days painting and reading, truly becoming a man of leisure. It was said that Chancellor Jian was so furious he nearly resorted to family discipline, but even that failed to make Jian Yuyan change his mind. In the end, Nan Gongxuan also gave up on the idea of bringing Jian Yuyan back to the right path.
Later on, he became acquainted with Jiang Yi. Though not sharing the bond of growing up together like Jian Yuyan, Jiang Yi was the person he admired most, young yet erudite, with talents that spanned heaven and earth, as praised by Nan Gongxuan. Over time, seeing that Jiang Yi remained unmarried for years, Nan Gongxuan further commended him as a rare, devoted soul like himself, growing even more appreciative.
Now, years later, Nan Gongxuan and Jiang Yi, as ruler and minister, got along as harmoniously as friends. Beyond court affairs, they often discussed other matters.
Nan Gongxuan, having suppressed a bellyful of irritation from Yan Yiming until now, flushed with anger at Jiang Yi’s mention of it. His handsome face instantly contorted with rage as he exclaimed, “I’ve never seen such an insolent and shameless woman! Just because she has a red mole at the corner of her eye, she dares compare herself to the Crown Princess, utterly despicable!”
At the sudden mention of the red mole, Jiang Yi felt a slight daze.
He had indeed met Princess Ming and heard that the Crown Princess also had a red mole at the corner of her eye, but he paid it little mind. Instead, it reminded him of someone else, who also had a red mole in the exact same spot.
What a sorrowful coincidence, the same position, the same feature. And, come to think of it, the same preference for Biluochun tea.
He wondered if Princess Ming also favored Biluochun.
Jiang Yi sighed almost imperceptibly. Taking another sip of tea, he realized it had gone cold. Setting the cup down as if brushing off those memories, he turned back to the Crown Prince’s words. A faint, teasing smile touched his handsome features as he remarked, “It’s rare to see Your Highness so incensed. It seems Princess Ming must have said something truly remarkable.”
Only then did Nan Gongxuan recount his meeting with Yan Yiming that day, perhaps colored by personal bias, making her seem even more unreasonable and shameless than the actual encounter.
Jiang Yi, however, was slightly surprised. Had he not met Princess Ming himself, he might have believed her to be as brainless and brazen as the Crown Prince described.
Having known her for only about ten days and exchanged but a few words, Jiang Yi observed that Princess Ming disliked being attended to and rarely spoke with the accompanying Minister Wei, indicating a reserved and stern nature.
Though he had never seen the legendary female general of years past, upon meeting Princess Ming’s aloof yet intensely commanding gaze, he thought a female general must have looked just like that.
He had initially assumed she might have led troops under the Prince of Jiangxia, for how else could she carry such an undeniable air of severity?
Yet the Crown Prince claimed she was quite talkative and even proactively compared herself to the future Crown Princess. Could it be genuine admiration that made her so forward?
Not that the Crown Prince was unworthy, but Jiang Yi struggled to reconcile Princess Ming with the person described.
Where there is abnormality, there must be a scheme; where a person acts out of character, there must be a hidden motive. Princess Ming’s uncharacteristic proactiveness surely had another cause, perhaps to conceal something or to achieve some aim.
Or maybe, step by step, she deliberately steered the conversation toward the Crown Princess, intentionally provoking the Crown Prince’s anger, all to achieve her ultimate goal, to reject the marriage proposal.
Jiang Yi’s eyes narrowed slightly.
Fully aware of the Crown Princess and Crown Prince's taboos, she deliberately lured the Crown Prince into her trap, effortlessly achieving her goal while shifting the blame onto him. If this were truly the case, she had already made the Crown Prince suffer a hidden loss right from the start. This Princess Ming was truly remarkable.
Jiang Yi glanced at Nan Gongxuan, who still couldn't hide his anger, but refrained from voicing these thoughts.
For now, everything was mere speculation. If his suspicions were correct, after this incident, Princess Ming would surely take advantage of the Empress's guilt to stay in the capital, rather than being rejected by the “deeply devoted” Crown Prince and returning in anger to Liangguang.
If his assumptions were accurate, the person she would seek to contact afterward would be her true purpose for coming to the capital.
Whether it was the Eldest Prince or the Third Prince, Jiang Yi couldn't be certain.
But it didn't matter. With time, the truth would inevitably reveal itself.
He was in no hurry at all.