Chapter 78
There were only two princesses in the palace. If not Fuhua, then it would be Yueqing.
Fuhua's expression did not change. She said, "If you are unwilling, you should speak plainly to His Majesty."
Yueqing smiled, neither sad nor happy. She said, "I’m not you, sister. I only caught the Empress Dowager’s eye by accident. Before that, no one even noticed me. I seized the Empress Dowager's favor because I wanted her protection. If I then went to His Majesty for help, in the Empress Dowager's eyes, I would be a fickle, ignorant lowly person. His Majesty may be the Emperor, but there are always places he cannot reach in the rear palace. The rear palace belongs to the Empress Dowager. And as for what happens to a lowly person in the rear palace who offends the Empress Dowager—you know that better than anyone, sister."
Fuhua raised her brow and said nothing.
Yueqing sat a while longer, then rose and said, "It's getting late. Yueqing takes her leave."
Fuhua watched her retreating back and asked, "That day in the imperial garden—did you save me deliberately, or did you have other intentions?"
Yueqing paused, said nothing, and left.
Fuhua watched her and closed her eyes.
The truth was, the reason she had so readily refused the marriage to Lin En was not only because she had no feelings for him—Yueqing was also a factor. Most importantly, Yueqing did not dislike Lin En. Of course, Fuhua was not so presumptuous as to choose Lin En's wife for him.
At the time, Fuhua had thought very simply: she did not want to marry Lin En, so she refused.
If Yueqing was interested, she would naturally fight for it herself.
Now, thinking back, the incident in the imperial garden had been a convergence of coincidences. Whether Yueqing had truly meant to save her or had harbored other motives—who could say? Today, Yueqing had spoken all those words here, and Fuhua understood what she meant.
Yueqing had always felt lowly and insignificant. Faced with this situation, she naturally did not dare to speak her mind to the Emperor—she wanted Fuhua to speak for her. Yueqing was clever. She knew that everything about the princesses was in the hands of the Empress Dowager and the Emperor. She did not dare nor wish to offend either. She stood at the very bottom, willing to seize any opportunity to climb out of the mud.
At this thought, Fuhua smiled. But Yueqing did not know that the Emperor had never intended to marry any princess to Western Di.
It had taken effort for Yueqing to bare her heart today—but only Yueqing herself knew how much of it was true and how much was false.
Having weathered life's low points, Fuhua felt that in the future, she should think more carefully about the consequences of her actions.
What happened between the two princesses naturally escaped the Emperor's notice.
His mind was entirely occupied with soothing Shen Nian, because Shen Nian's anxious heart had not yet been put at ease.
Fortunately, time has a way of slipping by without much counting. Before they knew it, between one reassurance and another, the day of the banquet for the Western Di envoys had finally arrived.
It was a brilliant, sunny day—one of those rare, crisp days when a hint of warmth still broke through the lingering chill.
The auspicious hour for the banquet had been calculated by the Imperial Astronomical Bureau. Long before it arrived, all the civil and military officials of Da Qi had already gathered.
The envoys from Western Di also arrived in full ceremonial dress. The customs of Western Di were different from those of Da Qi. Since ancient times, Da Qi had valued proper attire and dignified grooming. But due to its rugged terrain and local customs, Western Di did not dress as formally as Da Qi; their people wore garments made of furs and hides.
Because of the unspoken hostility between Da Qi and Western Di, none of the Da Qi officials—except those from the Ministry of Rites—approached the Western Di envoys to speak with them. After all, with the Chang Sheng affair still fresh, the Da Qi officials were all keen to avoid any suspicion.
Though the Da Qi officials kept their distance, the Western Di envoys had no intention of being left out. When Arlie saw Qi Junyan, his eyes lit up slightly. After briefly exchanging pleasantries with the Ministry of Rites officials, he strode openly toward Qi Junyan.
The crowd fell silent at his movement, their gazes drifting subtly toward the two.
Qi Junyan's expression soured the moment he saw Arlie approaching. Arlie's hearty smile struck him as particularly grating. If not for the inappropriateness of the setting, Qi Junyan would have turned and walked away.
"Prince Rui, it has been a long time," Arlie said respectfully as he reached Qi Junyan.
He was not a subject of Da Qi, so he was not required to bow to a prince like Qi Junyan. But he did not neglect the proper courtesies. At least in terms of his bearing, he showed considerable deference toward Qi Junyan.
The faces of the Da Qi officials shifted slightly. They were all wondering what exactly that "long time" was supposed to imply.
Under the weight of everyone's stares, Qi Junyan gave a stiff, insincere smile. "Is that so?"
Unfazed by Qi Junyan's coldness, Arlie continued with an amiable grin: "Indeed. When our king received His Majesty's reply, he had originally intended to travel to Da Qi together with Prince Rui. But you left in such haste that we could not catch up. We have no other acquaintances here in Da Qi, so I am afraid we will have to impose on Prince Rui to show us the sights of the capital in the days ahead."
This was so blunt that it might as well have been an announcement to all present: Our relationship with you, Prince Rui, is excellent—so don't try to dodge us.
Qi Junyan let out a cold laugh. "You Western Di people sure do love to lie through your teeth. How can you say you have no acquaintances here? You were thick as thieves with Chang Sheng! Now that he's dead, why are you pretending he was a stranger to you?"
Qi Junyan's words were also meant for the ears of those around him: the collusion between Chang Sheng and Western Di was something he himself had uncovered. That had effectively severed Western Di's spy network within Da Qi.
By exposing Chang Sheng, he had eliminated countless hidden threats.
The Western Di people were certainly bitter about that, so they were deliberately provoking him—saying ambiguous things to sow doubt in the Emperor's mind. That was another tactic of theirs.
And indeed, upon hearing this, the others found it quite plausible.
Besides, if Western Di and Prince Rui were truly hiding some secret collusion, the envoys should have been keeping their distance, not openly seeking him out.
Running up to him like this—wouldn't that just be handing people a handle to grab hold of?
There were also those who delighted in conspiracy theories, habitually reading deeper into people's motives. They speculated that perhaps Prince Rui really was connected to Western Di, and this display of openness was actually a clever ploy to avert suspicion.
Arlie was momentarily taken aback. He opened his mouth to say something more, but Qi Junyan gave a derisive snort through his nose and turned away. His entire demeanor—from head to toe, including his face—screamed: Stay the hell away from me.
This time, Arlie did not pursue him. When one of his attendants moved to speak, Arlie raised a hand slightly to stop him.
After that, they caused no further trouble until the Emperor arrived.
The Emperor made his entrance together with Empress Wen Wan. This was the first time the Emperor and Empress of Da Qi had appeared together before the assembled officials.
Because of this, Qi Junmu had even released Wen Zhuo from house arrest. Many speculated that the Emperor was deeply devoted to the Empress, and that the Wen family had lost none of the imperial favor.
Qi Junmu could guess what everyone was thinking with his little toe.
But he did not care. Shen Nian stood beside him, not among the officials waiting in the hall below. Everyone was watching him and Wen Wan, yet only he knew the truth—from this day forward, the only one who would truly stand by his side was Shen Nian.
After the civil and military officials paid their respects, Qi Junmu calmly bade them rise. Then the Minister of Rites stepped forward to announce that the Western Di envoys were waiting outside the hall for an audience.
This was all standard procedure. Qi Junmu gave an indifferent "Mm," then said, "Let them in."
Ruan Jiqing raised his voice and called out, "Western Di envoys, present yourselves for audience!" Other eunuchs echoed the call, and after the third repetition, Arlie led the Western Di delegation into the hall.
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