Chapter 57: The Old Prince Next Door 10

It’s absolutely true. We’ve got our own people in the Prince’s estate. How could it be fake?

“Imperial Physician Wang inspects the meals every single day. They’re really no different from what ordinary families eat. He said the food at that widow’s home only tastes good because it’s well cooked, but the ingredients and seasonings aren’t anything special. They even use very little vegetable oil, mostly animal fat.” After the old nanny finished speaking, she glanced at her own Empress Dowager’s expression and sucked in a sharp breath.

Here it comes again, here it comes again. As long as Prince Chen suffered even the slightest grievance, the old Empress Dowager would cry her eyes out.

They were sister-in-law and brother-in-law in name, but in truth, they were no different from mother and son.

Back in those early years, the emperor had been taken away by the retired emperor and raised personally. The Empress Dowager had never held him even once, much less brought him up herself. Prince Chen was the only child she had raised with her own hands.

That bond was truly extraordinary.

“Empress Dowager, please don’t be too upset. This old servant thinks that no matter whether His Highness eats animal fat or not, as long as his health improves, even if he has to live on coarse grains, wouldn’t that still be worth it?” Staying alive was more important than whether he felt wronged, wasn’t it?

That was true enough.

The Empress Dowager wiped away her tears and said to the old nanny, “What if we had Widow Su become Prince Chen’s secondary consort?”

It didn’t matter that she was a widow. As long as she could take proper care of the prince, that was enough. The royal family could certainly afford to grant her the position of secondary consort.

The old nanny froze for a moment, then said awkwardly, “The news from the Prince’s estate is that His Highness actually intends to marry her. He’s already set his heart on it. He says Widow Su benefits him, and even said whether he’ll survive in the future, or whether he’ll have children, all depends on Widow Su.”

The Empress Dowager’s face instantly turned red, and her eyes went wide and round.

Wasn’t that complete nonsense?

If Widow Su really had such a blessed fate, would she have brought death to her parents and then to her husband too?

The old nanny didn’t need to ask to know what the Empress Dowager was thinking. She quickly patted her back to soothe her and gently advised, “Your Majesty, don’t be anxious yet. There are so many people at the Imperial Observatory. We can compare their birth charts first. If she truly is good for His Highness…”

The Empress Dowager promptly slapped one hand on the table. “Then I will have her married into Prince Chen’s estate in full glory as his Princess Consort¹, with all the proper matchmakers and betrothal gifts, a grand sedan chair borne by twenty-four men, and a bridal procession stretching ten li in red². Go do it. Compare their birth charts.”

At the morning court assembly, Emperor Qianyuan had already heard from Prince Chen’s estate about the mess in the Duke of Yi Household.

A dignified duke couldn’t even keep order in his own inner household. After getting caught, he still had the nerve to come and complain to me.

Emperor Qianyuan thought to himself that being emperor already kept him plenty busy. He had no patience to bother with this sort of nonsense.

“Duke of Yi, since this matter was uncovered by Prince Chen, and you insist you’ve been wronged, then go ask Prince Chen for justice. Is there anything else? If not, then court is dismissed. What do you all take this court for?” Emperor Qianyuan was two years older than Prince Chen. Though they were uncle and nephew in name, he treated his own imperial uncle more like a younger brother.

Duke of Yi was denying the contents of the Censorate’s impeachment, which was practically the same as saying Prince Chen had lied.

Prince Chen might be willful, hot-tempered, and moody, but he absolutely never lied. Without solid evidence, he was not someone who spoke carelessly.

Go on, then. If you say Prince Chen was wrong, then go seek justice from Prince Chen yourself.

If Prince Chen didn’t strip a layer off him, then Emperor Qianyuan would count that as his own loss.

They lived right across from each other, door to door, and yet this Duke of Yi still hadn’t figured out Prince Chen’s temperament. This generation’s Duke of Yi truly amounted to nothing.

After court was dismissed, Emperor Qianyuan went to pay his respects to the Empress Dowager, and she brought up the matter of Widow Su.

Emperor Qianyuan handed the peeled chestnuts in his hand to the Empress Dowager. “I feel the same way, Mother. Royal Uncle has suffered too much. Whether this means bitterness has finally given way to sweetness and his health will greatly improve, or Widow Su truly benefits him, or Royal Uncle has simply taken a liking to Widow Su, none of that is a major problem. Why shouldn’t a widow be allowed to become a Princess Consort? This year, I even plan to have all widows of suitable age in the Great Jing Dynasty remarry. The Northwest is short on people. If all these widows spend their lives clinging to memorial arches for chastity³, then what happens to the population of the Great Jing Dynasty?”

As soon as he said that, the Empress Dowager no longer had any objection at all to Su Huandan’s status as a widow.

At lunchtime, the Imperial Observatory delivered the results of the birth chart comparison.

After reading it, the Empress Dowager said to the old nanny, “Widow Su doesn’t have any exceptionally blessed fate, but neither does she have a fate that harms others. Marrying her won’t adversely affect the prince in any way. Send someone to the Prince’s estate and ask whether they want an imperial marriage decree, and if so, when it should be granted.”

Su Huandan was still at home practicing calligraphy.

The original owner had written a beautiful floral small-script⁴ hand. Even with the original owner’s memories, Su Huandan still didn’t write it quite smoothly. If she wanted to reach the original owner’s level, she would need more practice.

Besides that, the original owner really had been a gifted young woman accomplished in qin, chess, calligraphy, and painting⁵.

Su Huandan felt that this lifetime had finally given her some work to do.

She had the memories, so she at least had a foundation in these talents. What she lacked was only proficiency.

Starting from scratch was something Su Huandan had no interest in, but practicing a little to pass the time was fine.

Right in the middle of her practice, the Duchess of Yi arrived.

Back when they had both lived in the ducal estate, these two sisters-in-law had never even met. And now this high and mighty duchess had actually deigned to set foot in her humble home?

Could the sun have risen in the west today?

“What elegant leisure you have, Sister-in-law.” That was how she opened, with such empty politeness. Paired with that face that clearly didn’t want to smile but was forcing itself to anyway, Su Huandan only glanced at it once and didn’t dare look a second time, for fear she’d have nightmares tonight.

“The Duchess is here? Please, have a seat. Xia Chan, go make some tea and bring out some pastries.” After sending Xia Chan off to work, she turned back. The Duchess of Yi had also taken a seat and was currently looking the house over.

This house had also been renovated before the original owner moved in. The furniture, while not made from the rarest and most precious woods, was still of a quality hard to find on the market. But in terms of refinement, it couldn’t compare to the Duke of Yi Household.

So the disdain in the Duchess of Yi’s eyes was impossible for her to conceal.

“What instructions do you have?” We don’t have the kind of relationship where we can reminisce, so let’s just get to the point.

The Duchess of Yi was also rather surprised as she looked at the woman who had become so much more lively after leaving the ducal estate.

In the past, she had lived like a quail, timid and shrinking. Now she carried herself like the wealthy mistress of some grand household, and her bearing was no worse than the duchess’s own.

So this was the real Su woman?

Then again, that made sense. Before, she had always been living under someone else’s roof. Now that she was living behind her own closed doors, she naturally had no need to keep pretending.

“I came here because I have a good match to tell you about. Back in our ancestral home in Shandong, one of our clan cousins will be coming to the capital in two months to report on his official duties. He’s not that old, still under fifty. His wife died of illness two years ago. The two of you would be quite suitable, so I thought I’d act as matchmaker for you. If you’re willing, then once he arrives, the wedding can be arranged. If you’re not, then just pretend I never said anything.” The Duchess of Yi had barely finished speaking when Su Huandan refused.

Only an idiot would marry some old man pushing fifty.

The Duchess of Yi looked utterly incredulous. “What did you say?”

Su Huandan slapped a hand down on the table. “Was I not clear enough? I don’t agree. I want nothing to do with this marriage. I never planned to stay a widow forever anyway. Remarrying is a given. I’m young and beautiful, so what kind of man couldn’t I find? Why would I insist on marrying an old widower?”

She had thought the Duke of Yi Household would keep her a widow for life. Turns out they were planning to marry her off after all.

Good.

The Duchess of Yi lowered her eyes, drawing in her earlier kindness. When she looked up again, her face was ice-cold.

Did she really think that once she left the Duke of Yi Household, they would have no way to deal with her?

Translator’s Notes