After entering the Eastern Palace, Xie Muhua was granted the title of Liangdi, replacing Jiang Sujie.
Jiang Sujie had recently quarreled with Chen Liangdi while vying for favor. In the chaos, she fell and suffered a miscarriage. The Crown Prince was furious, believing Jiang Sujie had acted without propriety and restraint, flaunting her pregnancy and behaving recklessly. Rather than comforting her for her loss, he demoted her to the rank of Chenghui.
She was placed under house arrest, and it was only due to Bai Shixi’s intercession that she was allowed to come out and drink a celebratory cup of wine on the day Xie Muhua entered the palace.
Jiang Sujie took one look at the new Liangdi, Xie Muhua. Her looks were only passable—delicate at best—but her features were clear, her demeanor gentle, carrying the soft grace of a Jiangnan woman. Her speech was tender and smooth, and even to Jiang Sujie’s ears, her lilting Wu dialect was captivating.
Jiang Sujie stared at her. Once upon a time, she too had been known as a flower of the capital.
Now, she had fallen to this.
She didn’t hate Xie Muhua for taking her place—because even before Xie Muhua entered the palace, Jiang Sujie had already lost her title. There was nothing to blame her for.
Her hatred was reserved for that wretched Chen Rong, who caused her miscarriage, and the cold indifference of the Crown Princess.
“Pleading on my behalf?” —It was nothing more than pretending to be magnanimous.
Bai Shixi, now content with having a daughter, glanced at the resentful Jiang Sujie and didn’t take her to heart.
As for Chen Liangdi…
When Bai Shixi looked at the new Liangdi, Xie Muhua, she thought: with her arrival, Chen Liangdi’s good days were surely numbered. Just wait and see.
Sure enough, only a few days after Xie Muhua entered the Eastern Palace, the scandal involving Qian Zhifu broke out, and the Crown Prince flew into a rage.
Chen Liangdi chose that very moment to put on a virtuous act, only to run right into the Crown Prince’s fury. She was scolded harshly and returned to her quarters in tears.
In contrast, Xie Liangdi quietly sent the Crown Prince a gift of one hundred thousand silver taels, which his staff then used to run errands for him and garner some support among the court officials.
As for Duke Cao, he now held an empty title with no real post and couldn’t even get an audience with the Emperor, let alone plead on the Crown Prince’s behalf.
And when he had power, the Duke had acted arrogantly, while Marquis Xingan had strutted around offending everyone in support of the Crown Prince.
When the Crown Prince was in favor, people dared not say a word. But now that his situation was crumbling, who wouldn’t want to take a secret jab while he was down?
Bai Shixi, having taken full control of the Eastern Palace’s inner court, naturally had her own spies feeding her updates.
She acted as though she knew nothing. When the Crown Prince came to see his daughter, she remained as gentle and virtuous as ever, entirely focused on her child, feigning complete ignorance of outside matters.
Though he hadn’t been placed under house arrest, the Emperor also hadn’t allowed him to return to court affairs. The Qian Zhifu scandal had once again cast a shadow over the Crown Prince’s already fragile standing.
His temperament grew increasingly unpredictable. Bai Shixi lived in constant unease—when he came to see their daughter, her whole body tensed until he finally left.
Su Ying, seeing this, felt heartache for her mistress.
When would these days finally come to an end?
Bai Shixi looked at Su Ying. “Tell the kitchen to be more attentive with Chen Liangdi and Xie Liangdi’s meals. Send more nourishing food to help them recover their health—it’s the only way they can bear heirs for His Highness.”
As long as either of them gave birth to a son, the Crown Prince would stop fixating on her daughter.
She had suffered injuries during childbirth due to a difficult labor. The imperial physician had advised that she should not conceive again for the next few years, and she had used this as a reason to refuse the Crown Prince’s advances.
The Crown Prince was a proud man—she had rejected him once, and after that, he had never stepped into her chambers again after dark.
The Crown Prince had named their daughter Yunzhu, but Bai Shixi didn’t like the name at all.
The emperor had granted her the title of Princess Ruian, and Bai Shixi actually found that much more pleasing.
Ruian…
She hoped her daughter could live a life of peace and auspiciousness.
Now, she only called her daughter by her title and never used her given name.
Everyone around her followed suit and called her Princess Ruian. The name Xiao Yunzhu gradually faded away, merely left as a stiff line of characters on the imperial genealogy.
After the New Year, the court was beset by constant turmoil, and more children were born into the imperial family. Regardless of who gave birth, the three-day and one-month celebrations were all held quietly and low-key. Especially during Ruian’s three-day banquet, when that disaster had struck—an open conflict between the Empress and Consort Gui—and her daughter got dragged into it. How could she feel any joy in her heart?
So when the Crown Prince asked whether they should celebrate their daughter’s hundredth day, she politely declined.
The Crown Prince was already distracted by the court’s affairs. Seeing her refuse, he didn’t insist.
Xie Liangdi had offered silver and was now favored above all others in the Crown Prince’s harem. Chen Liangdi had lost favor. Jiang Sujie, on the other hand, seemed quite pleased by this. Every time she came to greet Bai Shixi, the way she looked at Chen Rong always seemed a bit strange.
But they could squabble amongst themselves—as long as it didn’t reach her doorstep, she pretended not to see.
In the blink of an eye, Princess Zhaohua’s hundredth day arrived. The Duan Wang’s household only held a small banquet, inviting close friends and family. As usual, Bai Shixi didn’t attend—she only sent a congratulatory gift.
Mingxi wrote a formal letter of thanks in reply. The two women maintained a façade of courtesy, tacitly understanding each other’s boundaries.
After the scandal involving Qian Zhifu, the Crown Prince had lost his right to observe state affairs. The Empress still hadn’t regained full authority over the Six Palaces. Zhang Jieyu had suffered unjust accusations, but the emperor didn’t restore her rank as Consort Gui—only reinstated her as a consort, without even a proper title. People now simply called her Consort Zhang.
Because she had no title, she became the lowest-ranked among the four consorts.
Consort Shu assisted the Empress in managing the harem. Being a clever woman, she involved Consort De and Consort Xian in the process. Now the three of them had carved out a share of power from the Empress and stood tall together.
Back when Consort Zhang had betrayed Consort Shu, Consort Shu had never forgotten it. Now that Consort Zhang had been reinstated, Consort Shu made no move to offer her any authority.
Since she didn’t speak up, neither did Consort De nor Consort Xian—and of course, the Empress had no intention of speaking up. This left Consort Zhang in an awkward position.
She and the Empress had fought a battle that left both sides wounded. Neither of them had gained the upper hand.
As the intense summer approached, the emperor’s appetite grew worse. The imperial kitchen tried dish after dish to please him, but the results were unimpressive.
Unexpectedly, the Imperial Kitchen submitted two new dishes that improved the emperor’s appetite. When he inquired, it turned out they had been recommended by Duan Mingjing. Pleased, the emperor promoted Second Master Duan, raising him from Zhangshi to Jinshu.
Dingyuan Marquis’s household was overjoyed by the unexpected blessing. Given all the strife in the court, they didn’t even hold a celebration banquet—just a small family gathering.
A few days later, Second Madam Duan visited Mingxi to express her gratitude. “If it weren’t for the recipe you gave, how could Second Master have such good fortune?”
“It was Second Uncle who put in the effort. You asked me for help, and I just gave a recipe. It wasn’t really my contribution—it was Second Uncle’s own initiative,” Mingxi replied modestly. She hadn’t expected the emperor to reward her uncle—it truly had been a pleasant surprise.
Second Madam, however, didn’t see it that way. If it hadn’t been for Mingxi’s recipe, and if the Duan Wang’s household didn’t have its current standing, who knew if her husband’s credit would’ve been stolen by someone else? How could such a good thing have come their way otherwise?
“There’s one more matter I’d like to discuss with you,” she said, looking at Mingxi. Today’s visit wasn’t just to offer thanks—there was something important she needed to handle.
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