My Cold-Hearted Wife Chapter 103

After staying at Xiefang Palace for more than a week, Cheng Danruo returned to the Hall of Peace and Joy and naturally had to busy herself for a while.

But she did not relax her attention to Princess Rong’an. Taking advantage of the coming and going of people at the Hall of Peace and Joy, she inquired into quite a few pieces of information, some true and some false.

First, after Princess Rong’an recovered from her illness, she took the initiative to find the emperor and admit her fault, saying that she had been immature before and only now realized that her father had chosen Young Master Han for her own good.

But the emperor was probably frightened as well. Last time she had also admitted her fault and apologized, and had there not been a second time?

So he said nothing and only told her to prepare for marriage with peace of mind.

One could well imagine that Princess Rong’an was frightened by her own father’s coldness and felt somewhat at a loss. She was not stupid. Even if she could not clearly realize that all her capital for willfulness came from imperial power, she surely knew that a woman’s support came from her father, husband, and son.

She was a princess and did not need to rely on a husband or son; rather, her husband and son needed to rely on her.

But she was only a princess, and the root of her honor lay with the emperor.

It did not matter if she cold-shouldered Young Master Han; it did not matter if she threw tantrums. But she could not lose the emperor’s love.

Her wet nurse had said this countless times.

Princess Rong’an came to her senses and became obedient.

The emperor saw it and secretly nodded in comfort. “Rong’an has grown up. For this autumn hunt, bring both her and Han Xu along.”

Eunuch Shi said, “Yes.”

The emperor thought for a moment and painfully gave up what he loved. “Do not let San-lang go.” As soon as the words left his mouth, he felt inexplicably guilty. “Remember to remind me to pick a few of the good furs sent as tribute and send them to him.”

Eunuch Shi, beaming, agreed. “Yes, I will certainly remember. Young Master Xie will not be wronged.”

The emperor still felt very regretful.

On the training ground where grass grew and orioles flew, beauties drove horses, drew bows, and shot arrows – how pleasing to the eye.

Unfortunately, in order to set off Young Master Han, it could only be like this.

“Since San-lang is not going, this year let the people below bring a few more of their own young men,” the emperor said, still active in thought despite his distress. “Let me see what they are capable of.”

Ever since Xie Xuanying passed the age of fifteen, he had stood out more with each passing year. No matter the occasion, the result was always that other young men lost their color.

They were all princes and nobles, sons of grand secretaries and ministers – who among them did not have some pride? Many young gentlemen were unwilling to serve as foils and found excuses to slip away year after year.

The emperor knew this perfectly well and simply took advantage of this year to properly test them.

“With San-lang absent, they can compete with peace of mind,” the emperor said with satisfaction. “It just so happens that I can also choose a husband for Jianing.”

On the fifth of August, the autumn hunt began.

The autumn hunt in Great Xia was not like that of the Qing dynasty, which went all the way to Chengde; it was held at a training ground not far from the capital.

Because the population was not large, the training ground operated by the imperial family was no different from beyond the passes, and there was even more game there, fed fatter and more succulent.

The young men of the various families rubbed their hands together, ready to show their skills. Beneath blue skies and white clouds, Princess Rong’an, having been arranged to go, finally met Han Xu. And Commandery Princess Jianing, who accompanied them, was also maneuvering deftly and planning for the future.

As for what exactly happened, unfortunately, Cheng Danruo did not know.

All she obtained were the results.

That is, Commandery Princess Jianing was granted a marriage by imperial decree, and this had been helped to fruition by Princess Rong’an.

She said that Commandery Princess Jianing and Wang Yongxu got along very well, often praised the Wang family’s traditions, and chatted happily with the Wang family’s young men (although at the time there were not only people from the Wang family present), so it might be better to consider selecting one as husband.

The emperor asked with a smile, “Is this your idea, or did Jianing ask you to sound me out?”

“I heard that Sister Jianing is quite mindful of Young Master Wang,” Princess Rong’an said, pretending to be embarrassed. “Since I already have a good marriage, and Sister Jianing is half a year older than me, it would not do for her to have none.”

The emperor nodded and said neither yes nor no.

The next day, after testing the martial skills of the descendants of many ministers, he summoned Commandery Princess Jianing and proposed three candidates.

Grand Secretary Li’s nephew, Grand Secretary Yang’s youngest son, and Minister Wang’s grandson.

“Even I think they are all good candidates. Do you have a preference?” the emperor asked.

Commandery Princess Jianing said generously, “Whomever Your Majesty thinks is good must be good. I am willing to marry whomever you bestow.”

The emperor deliberately asked, “What if the one I designate is not to your liking? What then?”

Commandery Princess Jianing replied, “I am not only Your Majesty’s niece, but even more Your Majesty’s subject. Whatever choice Your Majesty makes, there must be a reason for it. I will absolutely not fail to live up to Your Majesty’s expectations.”

She was just short of writing “Even if I do not like him, I will still marry honestly” on her face.

But it had to be said that after experiencing Princess Rong’an’s suicide, the emperor truly fell for this approach.

He chose the Wang family and asked Minister Wang, “My dear minister, the match I made for you last time was not bad, was it?”

Minister Wang answered, “Not bad at all. Consort Chai is virtuous, and her nephew is also motivated. He and my granddaughter are in harmony and living quite well.”

The emperor said, “Then let me make another match for you.”

Minister Wang said, “I was just worrying that I have too many grandsons and it is hard to arrange their marriages. Who is it?”

The emperor said, “What do you think of Jianing?”

Minister Wang said, “A princess of the imperial house – she is certainly good.”

The emperor said, “What about as a granddaughter-in-law for you?”

Minister Wang said, “I only fear my grandson is dull and unworthy of the Commandery Princess.”

The emperor said, “My dear minister, your family is a scholarly household. How could he be unworthy?”

Minister Wang said, “May I ask which one Your Majesty has in mind?”

The emperor said, “Which of your family is of suitable age?”

Minister Wang said, “The fifth and sixth are acceptable.”

The emperor said, “My dear minister, you are truly my pillar and bulwark!”

He summoned Commandery Jianing and told her to choose between Wang Wu-lang and Wang Liu-lang.

Wang Liu-lang was the legitimate youngest son of the first branch. The first branch would certainly gain more in the future than the fourth branch, so Wang Wu-lang was slightly inferior; the fourth branch was not very promising, and he himself was not the legitimate eldest son.

In her heart, Commandery Princess Jianing leaned more toward the sixth.

Wang Liu was good at studying and had passed the xiucai examination very early. Becoming a juren was well within his grasp, and he was also more handsome and refined. But he avoided her as much as possible and repeatedly showed a mocking expression during the hunt, as if he had seen through her intentions.

Your Prince Qi Residence has ill intentions.

Do not think I do not know your calculations.

Revealing his cleverness and thinking highly of himself, Commandery Princess Jianing was almost angered into laughing.

What did he amount to? Did he really think he was indispensable?

What she favored was the Wang family, not Wang Liu!

A husband who was unwilling to help her would be troublesome even if she got him, and he was not as beautiful as Young Master Xie, to the extent that his face could be taken as food.

Better Wang Wu. Although he was mediocre and ordinary, with only average talent and learning, a commandery princess’s husband, like a princess’s husband, was both husband and subject; obedience was more important.

If things succeeded in a few years, there would be plenty of men.

If not… with the foundation of the fourth branch, they still would not dare to bully her.

Able to advance or retreat, Commandery Princess Jianing considered herself fully prepared, yet deep in her heart, a faint sense of melancholy still rose.

Actually, being able to be like Rong’an and consider only whether that person liked her was also a kind of happiness.

But her father the prince would not allow her to be so willful, and what she wanted was not merely a harmonious marriage.

In the Hall of Peace and Joy, when Cheng Danruo heard this news, she could not help but be surprised.

But on second thought, if the Wang family could marry into Consort Chai’s natal family, then adding a Prince Qi was nothing much. In a family with flourishing offspring, there were plenty of descendants.

What was rather interesting was Commandery Princess Jianing’s choice.

After entering the palace, Cheng Danruo came into contact with the names of important ministers more frequently than she had in the inner quarters of the Yan family.

The Grand Secretariat currently had four members.

The First Grand Secretary, Minister of Personnel concurrently Grand Secretary of the Huagai Hall concurrently Left Pillar of State.

The Second Grand Secretary, Left Vice Minister of Personnel concurrently Left Vice Minister of Works concurrently Grand Secretary of the East Hall.

Grand Secretary Cao, Minister of War concurrently Grand Secretary of the Wenyuan Pavilion.

Grand Secretary Cui, Right Vice Minister of Rites concurrently Junior Supervisor of the Household of the Heir Apparent concurrently Bachelor of the Wuying Hall.

Grand Secretary was the leading title for entering the Grand Secretariat. Setting that aside for the moment, from the above titles it was not hard to see that the First Grand Secretary’s Grand Secretariat firmly controlled the Ministry of Personnel.

Once he retired, the Second Grand Secretary would inevitably be promoted to Minister of Personnel, and the vacated position would most likely be filled from among the Minister of Revenue and the Minister of Rites.

Therefore, choosing the Li family, which was about to retire, was not worthwhile; the Yang family was too prominent; the Wang family was just right.

She calculated silently in her heart, but could not figure out why the emperor had agreed to these two marriages: checks and balances were very important, but balancing the water so evenly was too strange.

Surely it could not be as simple as compensating the Xu family and incidentally finding a good family for his niece?

After the betrothals granted at the autumn hunt, not to mention how the Wang family prepared for the wedding, for the inner court, this year’s male selection program ended here.

The palace had to busy itself brewing new wine, eating crabs, and celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Cheng Danruo naturally had crabs to eat too, but this year, her prize was not limited to crabs.

At the Mid-Autumn family banquet in the palace, Wang Yongxu wrote a poem praising the rivers and mountains and received imperial reward. Afterward, Princess Rong’an also composed one.

One line in it, “Seventy years hence on the Mid-Autumn day, I shall drink Nanshan wine with Father,” finally melted the emperor. Laughing as he said, “Seventy years from now I will be over a hundred,” he drank three cups of osmanthus wine in a row, his joy written all over his face.

Undoubtedly, the double meaning of longevity and reunion struck the emperor’s heart.

He said to Princess Rong’an, “We hope that when I am seventy, I will see you and the consort with children and grandchildren gathered around your knees.”

Princess Rong’an felt bitterness and desolation in her heart, yet on her face she had to feign shyness. “Father…”

“You are the princess I love most. I will not let you be wronged,” the emperor said.

But Princess Rong’an no longer dared to take it seriously.

Over these past few months, she had not truly forgotten Xie Xuanying; she had merely been forced to give him up under the shadow of survival. She had once naively fantasized that as long as her father could forgive her, she could make new plans.

But the emperor was, after all, the emperor.

He examined Rong’an, disciplined Rong’an, paved a smooth road of happiness for her, and clearly warned her that imperial command could not be defied.

With such methods, even the court ministers could not withstand them, let alone a young girl.

She recognized reality and was forced to give up hope.

“I know. You are doing it all for my good,” Princess Rong’an said, glancing at Commandery Princess Jianing at the banquet. Her cousin sat smiling below the Empress Dowager, dignified and composed, stabbing deeply at her eyes.

Father Emperor has no son.

She suddenly truly understood the meaning of this sentence.

“I will…” She gritted her teeth and looked obediently at her father. “I will be obedient.”

The emperor nodded with gratification.

His daughter had finally grown up, and he was deeply comforted. The next day, he had the Ministry of Revenue increase the princess’s dowry and expanded the regulations of the princess’s manor to equal those of a prince.

In addition, he did not forget to reward according to merit.

During the epidemic at Huiyuan Temple, the Provisioning Officer in charge was demoted to female scribe and transferred to the Empress Dowager’s small kitchen. Director Tao then transferred the palace apothecary who was skilled in medicinal cuisine and promoted her to Provisioning Officer, putting her in charge of a whole division.

Originally, one palace apothecary post in the Dispensary Office had become vacant.

Female officials and eunuchs were both the emperor’s household servants, promoted at will and without the slightest scruple.

Since Cheng Danruo had merit and there happened to be a vacancy, the emperor directly raised her by one rank to palace apothecary of the seventh rank.

The seventh rank was roughly equivalent to the county magistrate of a medium-sized county.

Cheng Danruo expressed her thanks, but truly did not know what to say.

The emperor could not see that she had lowered the mortality rate in the inner Hall of Peace and Joy from ninety percent to fifty or sixty percent, yet she was promoted because she had schemed against Princess Rong’an.

No wonder the eunuchs had power that reached the heavens.

One word from the emperor, and one rose straight up on the spot.

But apart from herself, everyone else thought it entirely normal.

“You and Records Supervisor Wang are both daughters of official families, so naturally you rise faster than us.” The Medicine Manager, who had worked longer than her and was nearly twenty-five, was not jealous at all and looked as if it were only natural. “But promotion means giving a banquet. Even if you were a fairy from heaven, do not think you can escape.”

Cheng Danruo had no choice but to do as the locals did and pretend that such a thing was very normal.

She set out a table of wine and dishes and invited the female officials she knew to eat.

The Provisioning Office was the neighboring department, so ordering dishes was easy enough, but the guest list actually took some time.

Cheng Danruo deliberated for several days and set up three tables. One was set up in the Hall of Peace and Joy, where the palace maids and eunuchs were given extra dishes, and the other two were set up in Ganxi Office.

The main table was for the female officials with whom she was on better terms.

The Medicine Manager and female scribe of the Dispensary Office, two or three female officials from the Provisioning Office, and the female scribe from the Palace Furnishing Office – all were connections she had made at Huiyuan Temple.

Though they did not usually visit one another, a little mutual socializing was never wrong.

The accompanying table was for Ji Qiu and several other subordinates. Originally, as a palace maid, Ji Qiu was not qualified to sit with the female officials, but in the summer examinations she had smoothly been promoted to female xiucai and become a candidate for female officialdom, so sitting at the lowest seat was no longer a problem.

Of course, Wang Yongxu was there too.

She really did give Cheng Danruo face; she came as soon as invited and even arrived quite early.

“Yo, the great favorite has arrived,” everyone joked.

Wang Yongxu felt a little awkward. “Do not say that. What does it have to do with me?”

Ever since entering the palace, she had been the most prominent among the many female officials, successively appreciated by the princess, the consort, and the emperor. On festivals and holidays, whenever poems or lyrics were composed, there was sure to be lavish reward.

Who would have thought this year would be even more remarkable – her own elder brother had become a commandery princess’s husband.

The husband of Commandery Princess Jianing… carried far more weight than those of other commandery princess.

But what Wang Yongxu thought of it was hard to say.

In any case, once the decree came out, she resigned from her post as study companion in Xiefang Palace and instead took charge of the inner court library.

“Do not tease her,” Cheng Danruo said as she poured wine for everyone. “Thank you all for honoring me with your presence. I drink to you.”

At this time, autumn was crisp and bright, and a crescent moon had just climbed into the sky outside.

On the two small round tables, dishes were piled in layers. Among the meat dishes were roasted venison, stewed pigeon, stuffed crab, roast duck, braised fish, and drunken shrimp; among the vegetables were crisp lotus root, cold-dressed okra, dry-fried green beans, luffa soup, lotus seed soup, and yam with wood ear; there was also a fruit assortment box with watermelon, loquat, kumquat, and longan.

However, what drew the most attention tonight was still the chrysanthemums in the vases. Wang Yongxu had obtained them from the Bureau of Gardens – red, yellow, and white branches interwoven, a riot of brilliant colors, truly beautiful.

On such a lively night, Cheng Danruo smiled and drank the osmanthus wine, yet deep in her heart she remained faintly detached.

Promotion and wealth were certainly good.

And yet… and yet!