Chapter 301: Chapter 302 - Mystical Bond

At the end of the ninth lunar month of the 21st year after Emperor Xianjia took the throne, the emperor recovered from a serious illness. On the day after a secret conversation with Grand Princess Daiguo, the emperor gave an imperial edict to clean up the imperial court without warning. The reason was “to pursuit and suppress the remaining evil elements” which stunned everyone in the imperial court.

These “remaining evil elements” were mainly divided into two groups. One group was the remaining lackeys of Noble Consort Shentu and Madame Zhenyuan in the imperial court. The other group was the remaining force of Emperor Xianjia’s more than 40 half siblings.

In just two days, dozens of people in the palace went to the guillotine. Five or six of them were old people who had worked in the Palace of Xuanming for more than ten years.

When the emperor ascended the throne, he killed people madly, and countless royal relatives and nobles were beheaded. Even Prince of Chengyang was seriously punished. Everyone thought that the remaining forces had long been eliminated.

Twenty years had passed, and a whole generation had grown up. If those people’s names hadn’t been clearly written in the imperial edict, many people would not have expected that there were still some people who were loyal to those who had long died.

The serious illness of Emperor Xianjia, the poisoning of the crown prince, and even the death of Consort Cui were all charged to these people. It didn’t even mention the matter of the two princes fighting for the title of heir to the throne in the imperial edict. All of them were overwhelmed by the sudden decision of Emperor Xianjia. Before they could figure out the emperor’s thought, no one dared to mention that rashly. Therefore, it was strangely silent in the imperial court!

However, as the days went by, the emperor had never handled the affairs in person, and everyone understood the situation. No matter how Emperor Xianjia got critically ill, his days were obviously numbered though he had recovered after being ill for more than 20 years.

This also meant that it was impossible to put off the issue of the heir to the throne.

None of them mentioned this matter, but they were all waiting for the result carefully.

Song Yixiao didn’t have to worry about the future of her family because her husband would tell her the inside story. She was calm and leisurely concentrated on nourishing her fetus.

Unexpectedly, she was summoned by her mother-in-law this day. She thought her mother-in-law snatched a little leisure from her busy life and wanted to care about her pregnancy. However, when she arrived at the Grand Princess Jinguo’s mansion and greeted her, Grand Princess only absentmindedly said “take a seat”. Song Yixiao glanced around and found that all the servants retreated including Jiayue.

Noticing this, Song Yixiao knew that something must have come up. She sat up straight and put on a serious look.

Unexpectedly, Grand Princess Jinguo frowned for a long time and then said, “Do you think… Wuying can trust Prince of Zhao with her life?”

“Prince of Zhao?” Hearing this, Song Yixiao was surprised. When Prince of Zhao and his allies had the upper hand, Grand Princess Jinguo didn’t want to let her daughter marry him. Besides, Emperor Xianjia was determined to pass the throne to his eldest son. It was hard to say what would happen to Prince of Zhao who was the empress’s son in the future. Why did Grand Princess Jinguo want him to be her son-in-law?

Seeing that her daughter-in-law was puzzled, Grand Princess Jinguo briefly explained, “His Majesty said that he would let someone adopt Prince of Zhao, so that Prince of Zhao would not hinder the crown prince in the future. The crown prince is broad-minded and probably won’t make things difficult for Prince of Zhao anymore. We elders are still alive now. I’m just worried that some people might surmise their thoughts and sow discord between them after we die. You know Prince of Zhao’s temperament. He is not willing to pocket his pride and complain and won’t tell anyone when he suffers a loss. He’s a prince anyway. How can we watch him be bullied by villains?”

Although Emperor Xianjia was determined to support the crown prince, he also cared about his other sons, especially the legitimate son Prince of Zhao. Therefore, considering the future of Prince of Zhao, he privately asked Grand Princess Jinguo to betroth Nie Wuying to Prince of Zhao.

“His Majesty did that for two reasons. First, the two children are in love with each other. Second, Wuying was raised up by me, but she is only my adoptive daughter. You guys are her only family. Prince of Zhao will not lose out if he marries her, and the crown prince won’t make things difficult for him.” Grand Princess Jinguo rubbed her glabella with a worried look and said, “I’d like to fulfill Wuying’s wish, but His Majesty plans to make Prince of Zhao a seignior in the future. At that time, they will be far away from us. His Majesty said that Prince of Zhao didn’t like to make complaints, but Wuying also tends to keep things to herself.”

Grand Princess Jinguo was also afraid that her little daughter would keep her grievance to herself after being wronged and lose out for nothing!

“Mom, do Prince of Zhao and Wuying know this now?” Song Yixiao knew the reasons why Emperor Xianjia put forward this proposal to Grand Princess Jinguo. In addition to the two reasons that Grand Princess Jinguo had mentioned, another reason was that she knew Nie Wuying was close to Jian Xubai and her. Moreover, they were in the crown prince’s camp. If the crown prince wanted to settle the old scores with Prince of Zhao in the future, she and Jian Xubai wouldn’t stand by and look on for the sake of Nie Wuying. The emperor indeed considered a lot for his legitimate son’s future.

However, she didn’t dare to tell her thoughts about such a big matter. After all, no one could tell what would happen in the future. In particular, Prince of Zhao was confident of fighting for the title of heir to the throne but was eliminated without any warning. His father wanted to have him adopted, and he couldn’t even call his parents mother and father anymore. It was hard to say whether he would cherish the girl he liked after he married her at this time.

Even if Prince of Zhao was open-minded and didn’t blame Nie Wuying for his situation that was getting worse rapidly, he was at least a prince, young and good-looking, and many people scrambled for marrying him. Who could guarantee that he would love Nie Wuying for a lifetime?

Even Song Yixiao who had married her husband and was pregnant with his child wasn’t sure that her husband would love her for a lifetime.

If she agreed to Wuying’s marriage to Prince of Zhao and Wuying couldn’t have a happy marriage life later, her mother-in-law would probably blame her for that while she was still alive. So, she pondered for a moment and decided that it was better to give an ambiguous answer, “Prince of Zhao and I had only met several times, and I don’t know much about him. This is a matter about Wuying’s lifelong happiness, so I can’t approve or disapprove of it rashly!”

Fortunately, although Grand Princess Jinguo asked about Song Yixiao’s opinion, she did not intend to let her make the decision and take the responsibility for that. Hearing Song Yixiao’s words, she sighed and said, “I watched Prince of Zhao grow up. To be frank, he and the crown prince are both kind and generous. But sometimes having a kind and generous husband might not be a good thing for the wife. Back then, when Cui Jianlian just married the crown prince and entered the Eastern Palace, she picked on Crown Princess again and again just because Noble Consort Cui favored her and the crown prince spoiled her. Even my mother couldn’t tolerate her and said something to warn her. For those who value rules, such side concubine should have been taught a lesson a long time ago. However, the crown prince only said she was ignorant because she was too young. He only said something to coax her and then could do nothing with her. You know what kind of person Crown Princess is, and she has her first legitimate son Commandery Prince Zhongling as her backer, but she still suffered, let alone Wuying.”

Song Yixiao pondered on her mother-in-law’s words and felt that her mother-in-law was actually inclined to agree. Essentially, she was worried that after Prince of Zhao became a seignior, his relationship with Nie Wuying would become stale, and he would fail Nie Wuying.

So, it was just an excuse to call her here to discuss this matter?

She pondered for a while and said tentatively, “In fact, I don’t want Wuying to leave the imperial capital, either, but people have different fates. If we don’t approve of her marriage to Prince of Zhao and make her unhappy for that, I will also feel distressed. Moreover, blood is thicker than water. Even if we are thousands of miles apart, we are still family.”

Song Yixiao didn’t know what exactly her mother-in-law was thinking, so she added, “This is my humble opinion. Please enlighten me!”

Grand Princess Jinguo had a gloomy look in her eye. A long while later, she said, “Wuying is the youngest and the simplest. I’m old and don’t know how long I can take care of her. In the future, I’ll entrust her to your care!”

“Mother, you’ve overstated. You still have years ahead of you!” Song Yixiao knew that her mother-in-law’s words were a euphemistic approval. She indeed wanted to agree to Emperor Xianjia’s proposal. It was not surprising. Grand Princess Jinguo had always spoiled her children. Nie Wuying had a compromising origin, and was sensitive and fragile. Moreover, she was Grand Princess Jinguo’s youngest child and the one that worried Grand Princess Jinguo most in recent years. If Prince of Zhao had not joined the fight for the title of heir to the throne and had an unpredictable future, Grand Princess Jinguo would approve of Nie Wuying’s marriage to him.

Although Prince of Zhao had failed in the fight, Emperor Xianjia still wanted to protect him, and the crown prince was not a mean person. Prince of Zhao’s future would certainly be affected, but he was very likely to have a wealthy and safe life in the future. Naturally, Grand Princess Jinguo would change her mind.

Song Yixiao sighed with emotion about the mystical bond between Wuying and Prince of Zhao, and respectfully said, “Mother, you are in vigorous spirit and good health. You’ll have a long time to spend with us! Two days ago, Xubai told me that we should ask you for more advice on the upbringing of our child in the future. You will love us as much as you love Wuying, right?”

Hearing this, Grand Princess Jinguo rested her eyes on her bulging belly and said, “I’m not worried about you two. As I said before, you are down-to-earth and generous. In the future, whether it’s a boy or a girl, you will educate him well and make him a sensible and smart child!”

Then they had a small talk. Seeing that her mother-in-law had no other things to discuss with her, Song Yixiao left.

Instead of leaving Grand Prince Jinguo’s mansion immediately, she went to see Pei Yourui and Nie Wuying.

After she made some inquires, she was told that Pei Yourui and Nie Wuying were making string bags in Mingzhu Villa. As she was walking there, she broke a branch of osmanthus fragrans. When she walked into Mingzhu Villa, she saw the two sisters sitting on the soft couch under the plum tree in the garden and discussing something with their heads down. When they saw Song Yixiao, they put down the string bags in their hands, got up, and walked up to her, “I heard from the maids that Mother called you here just now. You actually arrived when I was thinking when you would come to us.”

“Let’s sit down!” Pei Yourui was older and more cautious. Considering that although Song Yixiao was not about to give birth, it was not comfortable for her to stand with a big belly, she supported her with her hand and led her towards the soft couch after saying that.

“The osmanthus fragrans is still blooming? I saw that the few osmanthus fragrans outside the yard had already withered away, and thought that the flower season had all passed,” After the three people sat down, Nie Wuying saw the flower branch in Song Yixiao’s hand and said casually.

When Song Yixiao was about to speak, the look in Pei Yourui’s eyes changed. Suddenly, she ordered all the people serving in the yard to retreat. Song Yixiao thought that she had something private to tell her and also hurriedly asked Jinxun and Yuedeng to go out. When there were only the three of them here, Pei Yourui said with a smile, “Yixiao, you came here with osmanthus fragrans. Are you bringing any good news to Wuying?”

“You’ve hit it!” Although Song Yixiao had learned from her mother-in-law that there would be no problem with Nie Wuying’s marriage to Prince of Zhao, she did not intend to tell them this thing without her mother-in-law’s permission. However, since she had come to her mother-in-law’s mansion and there was no urgent matter that needed her to return home immediately, she should come here to visit Pei Yourui and Nie Wuying who were close to her before leaving.

Since Pei Yourui asked about that matter, she obviously had known about it. Seeing that all the servants had retreated, Song Yixiao thought about it and felt that there was no need to hide it. She inserted the branch of osmanthus fragrans in her hand into Nie Wuying’s hair and said with a smile, “Congratulations, Wuying. You can finally marry the man you love!”

“What are you talking about?” Nie Wuying was surprised and looked overjoyed when she heard this. She subconsciously smiled for a while and then reacted. She blushed instantly, took down the osmanthus fragrans from her hair, stared at Song Yixiao with annoyance, and glared at Pei Yourui sulkily, “You are making fun of me… You are so annoying!”

Then she stamped her foot and hurriedly ran into the room. When she reached the corridor, Pei Yourui covered her mouth and said, “Wuying is angry with us, but she didn’t forget to take the osmanthus fragrans. Hee-hee…”

“Yourui!” Nie Wuying turned back with a red face and said angrily, “I thought you were good. However, you are the most annoying!”

She was probably afraid that Pei Yourui would make fun of her again. After saying this, she ran into the room and closed the door with a bang!

Seeing this, Song Yixiao looked away with a smile but caught a glimpse of Pei Yourui’s rare smile. Her delicate face that beamed with joy was not stunningly beautiful, but the innocence and lack of guile in her elegant temperament were attractive. She suddenly thought of something and subconsciously said, “Since you are happy for Wuying’s engagement, why don’t you consider yours?”