Chapter 213: Chapter 213 - I Don’t Have Such a Shameless Cousin!

The Empress Dowager always supported the Crown Princess, but Emperor Xianjia was her birth son. Since she suspected the Crown Prince of attempting to kill his father, it was hard to say whether she would continue supporting the Crown Prince!

Thinking of that, Song Yixiao couldn’t help frowning, but Jian Xubai shook his head, “Grandmother didn’t suspect us. Instead, she was reminding us!”

He slightly narrowed his eyes, “You know, it is Uncle who raises the Crown Prince and regards me as his son. Putting that aside, let’s focus on the political stake. It has been only one year since Duke of Ji returned to the court. It was when the civil service was about to be suspended for the Spring Festival holiday last year that He Wenqiong was promoted from the Eastern Palace to the Director of the Ministry of War. If anything untoward happens to Uncle and the Crown Prince takes the throne as a matter of course, how can his position be stabilized?”

The Su Family of Qingzhou had been a privileged influential family since they rose in the ancient time nearest to the present!

In terms of their accumulated assets, no family could be compared with them. After all, among the six influential families back then, even the Princess Consort’s maiden family, the Wei Family of Fengzhou, was clearly on the decline now.

Respectively, among the six influential families back then, the Su Family was the most prosperous one!

It had been only one year since such a family was suppressed. Even if Emperor Xianjia left an imperial edict to put Duke of Ji to sentence, only Su Shaoge might be able to drag the new emperor down!

After all, the army of combatting against Wuhuan was dismissed for one year only.

Song Yixiao pondered and asked, “You mean someone labels Princess Yushan’s astounding act of making His Majesty pass out as an act of being incited by the Crown Prince to murder His Majesty?”

“Everyone knows that the biggest supporters of the Crown Prince are Grandmother and Uncle. To accuse him wrongfully of being unfilial is the best way to make them disappointed about him!” Jian Xubai said casually, “But Grandmother is not that easy to mess with!”

Despite that, he was still a bit worried, “The Noble Consort is still being grounded. As to this kind of matter, given the age and identity of Commandery Prince Zhongling, he is not appropriate to interfere. If Aunt and the concubines frequently advise Uncle in private, out of fury, Uncle may listen to them more or less!”

“Her Highness the Noble Consort has been serving His Majesty and stayed in the imperial palace for a lot of years!” Song Yixiao said seriously, “Doesn’t she have one or two intimate friends among the harem in the imperial palace?”

“Yes, but they are unlikely to be of any help for the moment,” Jian Xubai said with narrowed eyes, “Considering their identity, how can they say anything to help?”

Emperor Xianjia was brutal when it came to killing his half-siblings, but the officials’ opinions on him were not negative.

The reason was that apart from the strategy of running the state, he could be regarded as a wise emperor in terms of love affairs. First of all, he forbade his women from interfering in the politics. Secondly, the concubines’ decency had direct relevance to their rankings. Even a concubine as beautiful as Lady Nuan didn’t have the privilege to be haughty just as she was favored by the emperor.

The best example was that Noble Consort Cui’s birth son was the Crown Prince but she didn’t dare to act recklessly before Empress Su!

Of course, the Noble Consort was second only to the Empress. If Noble Consort Cui was released at the moment and came to serve Emperor Xianjia on her own, she might be able to compete with Empress Su. The rankings of the concubines and consorts who took refuge in Noble Consort Cui were still too low. Although they sided with Noble Consort Cui, how could they dare to intervene?

“But the reason why the Empress refuted the Crown Princess’s suggestion of ending the confinement of the Noble Consort was to prevent His Majesty from being sad and getting sick. Now that Princess Yushan has just added fuel to the flame, who will dare to propose releasing Noble Consort Cui? Even if she is let out, nobody will let her meet His Majesty. Even the Empress Dowager won’t let her!” Song Yixiao thought of it and frowned even more tightly, saying, “So, nothing can be done about it?”

Sensing the indignation of her tone, Jian Xubai was amused, “How is it possible?”

However, he didn’t feel like talking about the solution. Instead, he only stroked his wife’s cheeks and said gently, “The political battles are for men. You don’t need to worry. I’m not saying that I don’t trust you. For one thing, you are always burdened by a lot of things and I can handle this currently. No need to drag you into this for now. For another…”

He pondered and said, “Grandmother, Uncle, and even Mother and Qingjiang all dislike women’s interfering in the political affairs. It won’t hurt the relationship between you and Grandmother, and that between you and Uncle anyway. However, if you are too involved in these battles, Mother and Qingjiang will surely be dissatisfied with you, which will be a big problem.”

Song Yixiao understood what he meant. She couldn’t receive any support from her maiden family. If she offended her mother-in-law and the elder sister-in-law, despite Jian Xubai’s protection, she would be inevitably sidelined on many occasions and her future would be worrying.

She was not the type of person who wouldn’t listen to others’ advice. Neither was she interested in interfering in the political affairs, but because her interest and future were closely related to her husband’s, she had to care about that. Now that her husband said so, she didn’t feel uncomfortable at all. Instead, she just nodded her head and said seriously, “I understand!”

Again, she reminded, “Yet, if anything critical happens, you had better tell me. Otherwise, if I speak or act inappropriately, I may get you into trouble!”

“Of course!” Jian Xubai leaned over and kissed her with a smile, satisfied with his wife’s obedience.

Actually, he didn’t want his wife to interfere in the political affairs. Apart from the reason he mentioned just now, there was one more reason. As Yuan Xuepei said, in terms of fighting for the throne, even if they took the upper hand at first, things were not certain until they came to a close.

The previous dynasty was an example. When Noble Consort Shentu and Madame Zhenyuan prevailed over the other concubines of the emperor, and suppressed the Empress Dowager and her son seriously, no one would think of that Emperor Xianjia, the legitimate son, took the throne in the end.

Yuan Xuepei could let his sister marry the son of Prince of Hengshan in case that she might be implicated if he failed in the throne battle.

However, Jian Xubai couldn’t divorce Song Yixiao and find a new husband that took a neutral political stand for her.

Therefore, in terms of taking precautions beforehand, he could only refer to his granduncle, Prince of Chengyang, who he had never met before.

Prince of Chengyang was the legitimate cousin of Noble Consort Shentu as well as her supporter. The reason why his bloodline could sustain until now was Elder Lady Duanmu and his other family didn’t involve much and bear a serious grudge against the Empress Dowager and her son, apart from the intercession of the Su Family.

Otherwise, even if the Su Family stood out… Oh no, otherwise, the Su Family wouldn’t plead for leniency at the risk of offending the Empress Dowager and her son!

“As to what I am going to do in the future, I shall not tell Shanyao unless necessary. In this case, even if I fail one day, maybe I can keep her alive too?” Jian Xubai thought to himself, “Even if she may fall into a situation similar to Grandaunt’s, she can survive anyway.”

He had been prepared to lose all his reputation since he stepped onto this road. Whether he would prevail or not, he had nothing to regret over. Nevertheless, he wouldn’t feel happy to drag his wife into trouble for that.

Therefore, while working for the Crown Prince, he was secretly preparing a route of retreat for his wife.

Now he felt a burden off his mind when Song Yixiao agreed on his advice without hesitation. He couldn’t help hugging her into his arms and then said, “I have been as busy as a bee these days and I even forget about Grandaunt. Tomorrow I must pay a visit to Uncle Limiao!”

“You are too late to think of that!” Song Yixiao giggled and poked at his chest with her index finger, saying with a smile, “When I came back after paying condolences to Uncle, I sent a servant to inform Uncle Limiao!”

Jian Xubai complimented on her thoughtfulness and then asked with concern, “What about Grandaunt now?”

“Uncle Limiao has tried his best but Grandaunt still doesn’t agree!” Song Yixiao stretched out her arms resignedly, “These days, Uncle Limiao has gone to pay respects to Grandaunt almost every day! Unfortunately, Grandaunt still remains unmoved by far! Nothing really can be done!”

“I’ll come back early tomorrow. Let’s go over there before dusk and persuade her with Uncle Limiao!” Jian Xubai thought for a while with a frown and then said.

He didn’t spend any time with Elder Lady Duanmu before, but when he was poisoned in Wuhuan, it was her who kept him alive.

Now that this senior suffered from wandering arthritis, she must live in a warm place with a southern exposure so as to recover. However, currently, she resided at a house deserted for decades, which was definitely detrimental to her health!

It was fine that he was too busy to ask about that. Since he had time, he couldn’t continue standing by.

Unexpectedly, the next morning, shortly after Song Yixiao got up, Princess Changxing sent a maid to her, “Her Highness has something urgent to discuss with you. Please come with me to meet Her Highness!”

Princess Changxing and Song Yixiao often clashed in front of their mother-in-law, Jinguo Grand Princess, so of course the former’s maid wasn’t respectful to Song Yixiao.

However, Song Yixiao always felt that the maid was not only arrogant but also angry. When she returned to the inner chamber and changed her clothes, she couldn’t help thinking to herself, “Is she venting her anger on me after she suffers grievance from Changxing? Or does she feel that Changxing has suffered loss because of me again?”

It would be fine if the former guess was the case; if the latter was, she must be prepared. She didn’t mess with Changxing recently and neither did she want to be framed by anyone!

However, when she arrived at Princess Changxing’s mansion, they greeted each other and sat down with the tea served by the servants. Without even exchanging pleasantries, Princess Changxing directly ordered all the servants to go away and cut to the chase, “Grandaunt, I mean, the annulled Princess Consort of Chengyang, what kind of person is the granddaughter who she brought to the imperial capital?”

Song Yixiao was slightly shocked and then asked, “Why are you asking about Cousin Qimo?”

“Cousin?” Princess Changxing snorted and rolled the jade bracelet on her wrist heavily, saying with disdain, “I don’t have such a shameless cousin!”

As she said so, how could Song Yixiao not know that Shen Qimo had an affair with Jian Yiyou?

At least, Princess Changxing suspected that they two were somewhat romantically related!

“Is there any misunderstanding?” Song Yixiao was stunned at first and then found it quite unbelievable, “Changxing, think about it. How many days has it been since Grandaunt brought her to the imperial capital? Moreover, the next day after Grandaunt arrived, Xubai and I went to visit her and heard that Cousin He’ai who came with Grandaunt got a cold. Hence, Cousin Qimo was ordered to take care of him. Even if Cousin He’ai got better the next day, Grandaunt has been suffering from wandering arthritis! Since Cousin Qimo has to show filial piety to the senior, how can she have time to go out?”

If Shen Qimo didn’t get out of the residence, “You and Yiyou seemed to show yourselves on the day Grandaunt arrived. Afterwards, you haven’t been there anymore, have you?”

How could Jian Yiyou just fall in love with Shen Qimo at the first sight?

“You thought that I didn’t want it to be a misunderstanding?” Princess Changxing looked at her with a poker face, “Tell me, why did he send his self-carved mandarin-duck jade pendant to his cousin as a gift?”

Princess Changxing was not a virtuous and elegant lady. It was not easy for her to endure until now. With her eyes reddened, she said through clenched teeth, “What gift do you think Yiyou sent the gift in return is?

“A handkerchief embroidered with the pattern of a couple of mandarin ducks whose necks are crossed along with twin lotus flowers on one stalk! On one of the corners, the character Mo, a character of her name is also embroidered!”

“If my maid didn’t remind me that she was brought here by Grandaunt, I would think that she was from a brothel!”

Song Yixiao looked at her furious appearance and yet didn’t feel sorry. She thought to herself, “Now you feel grieved and unhappy? No matter how Cousin Qimo seduces your husband, you won’t be forced to divorce anyway. On the contrary, back then, Pei Yourui was made to give up her fiancé! Tsk!”