“Li Rong confronts Consort Rou at the palace banquet.”
The two of them probably slept for less than four hours when there was a knock on the door from outside. Jing Lan stood outside and respectfully said: “Your Highness, Prince Consort, please rise. His Majesty is hosting a banquet in the Hall of Supreme Harmony at noon today.”
Hearing this, Li Rong used all of her strength to open her eyes and give Pei Wenxuan a push: “Wake up, quickly wake up.”
Pei Wenxuan lifted his hand to cover his eyes and wrinkled his brows in suffering. After a while, he pushed himself up onto his feet and shook his head: “Wake up too.”
The two of them encouraged one another to wake up and get out of bed. They were about to leave, but the moment Li Rong moved, a piece of white silk fell down from the bed with her. The two of them had their eyes on the same white silk cloth, then Li Rong looked up at Pei Wenxuan: “You handle it.”
Pei Wenxuan reluctantly walked over and picked up the white silk cloth. He cut the side of his finger and stained the cloth with blood, then he threw it back onto the bed and called out to the people outside: “You may enter and serve.”
Jing Lan pushed the doors open and entered along with a group of maids that came forward and waited on them, helping both of them freshen up. The two of them changed into palace regalia, then they got onto the carriage and went to the palace.
On the way there, they were both so sleepy it was unbearable. Each one of them leaned into a corner of the carriage as they rested for a bit. They slept until they reached the palace when the two sensed the carriage coming to a stop, then they absentmindedly returned to their senses in this way.
The two of them stayed in the carriage for a while before finally heading out, one after the other. At this time, the Hall of Supreme Harmony was already full of people.
Li Rong and Pei Wenxuan offered their greetings to the officials they met along the way and walked to the end of the palace hall. At the end of the hall, there was a small chamber where the Emperor, Empress and members of the imperial family were inside holding a banquet amongst themselves. Li Rong and Pei Wenxuan entered the small chamber and began by saluting the Emperor and Empress first. The Emperor and Empress then bestowed them gifts before permitting them to rise, and husband and wife both took a seat down beside the Emperor.
The palace banquet was lively this time with all members of the inner palace present. No one said anything and only silently assessed Pei Wenxuan. Pei Wenxuan’s face remained unchanged, pretending to be unaware of the gazes of the people around him as he exchanged a few words with Li Ming.
Li Ming could be said to be familiar with Pei Wenxuan. He usually discussed official business and rarely mentioned family affairs with Pei Wenxuan, much less talking about everyday life, therefore the only things he talked about were trivial matters. However, the way that Li Ming had taken Pei Wenxuan into consideration had another meaning in everyone else’s eyes.
Li Ming exchanged a few words with Pei Wenxuan, then he asked about how things were at Li Rong’s mansion. Li Rong followed along and answered, and after some time, it was time for the banquet to begin.
The dishes were served one after the other. Ever since Li Rong taught the princesses a lesson, they were all well-behaved, and it appeared that they dare not cause trouble, so the meal was considered to be a harmonious one. As the meal was coming to an end, everyone was sitting around and chatting. The imperial consorts took turns asking Pei Wenxuan questions, and Pei Wenxuan answered in a flawless manner, not even a drop of water had been leaked. After he responded, Consort Rou softly laughed and said: “This child has unexpectedly grown up so much in the blink of an eye. Now that Her Highness Ping Le’s marriage is taken care of, jiejie,” Consort Rou turned her head to look at the Empress and gently said, “I wonder if jiejie has made preparations for the Crown Prince’s marriage?”
Li Chuan was two years younger than Li Rong, and now that Li Rong had gotten married, all eyes were on Li Chuan.
The Empress smiled and nonchalantly said: “Chuan’er is still young, so I have not thought about this for the time being.”
“His Highness the Crown Prince isn’t young anymore.” Consort Mei chimed in from off to the side, “Wasn’t His Majesty just as old back then when he was arranged to marry Your Majesty the Empress?”
Hearing this, the Empress gave Consort Mei a subtle glance and hints of a warning: “You are rather concerned about the Crown Prince’s affairs.”
“When it comes to the Crown Prince’s affairs,” Beside her, Consort Rou smiled and said, “Who isn’t concerned? However, what jiejie said is also true. The Crown Prince still has four years before reaching his coming of age ceremony. There is indeed no rush, but he can’t just be idle for the next four years like that. Just take your time in choosing and see which family is most suitable.”
“These words of yours,” The Emperor heard Consort Rou’s enthusiasm. His eyes fell on Consort Rou with no sign of joy or sorrow on his face, “Could it be that you have something in mind?”
“The Crown Prince’s affairs…” Consort Rou was a little embarrassed. “It is all up to jiejie to decide. How could this concubine have any thoughts about it?”
“Although the Crown Prince is the Empress’s son, you could also be regarded as someone who watched him grow up with your own eyes.” The Emperor held the cup of tea in one hand and waved it off, “There is no harm in saying what is on your mind.”
“This concubine had an eye,” Consort Rou tucked her hair behind her ear and looked up at Li Chuan. “His Highness the Crown Prince has a highly noble status. When it comes to status, it will be difficult to find a woman in this world who will be well-matched with him. It is not necessary to use status as the first and foremost priority in finding a marriage match, but the most important thing to take into consideration is character. There is a young niece in this concubine’s family that has a gentle temperament and is virtuous and about the same age as His Highness. May this concubine be so bold as to recommend this young niece. This concubine believes that this young niece of hers is quite suitable.”
As soon as these words were spoken, Li Chuan’s cold eyes swept over, and the Empress also had a rather ugly expression. The Emperor brought his eyes up and glanced at Li Chuan. Seeing that his expression wasn’t very good, he frowned and turned to look at Li Rong, who had her head bowed as she blew on the tea in her hands with a calm look of contentment. He couldn’t help but feel that it was a bit strange and asked: “Ping Le, are you not going to ask about your younger brother’s marriage?”
Li Rong had been directly addressed, so she lifted her head and asked with a puzzled expression: “What is there to ask about?”
“This is a matter of great importance,” Li Ming was amused by Li Rong’s question. “Are you not concerned about it?”
“Father Emperor,” Li Rong put her cup of tea down with a solemn expression on her face, “There are rules in place in the imperial palace. Consort Rou niangniang may not know, but how could erchen not know these rules? While Chuan’er is my younger brother, he is also the heir apparent of the country. Apart from Father Emperor and Mother Empress, who would dare to say more about his marriage? Moreover, Father Emperor is wise and will certainly find a good match for Chuan’er, so there is no need for me to worry about such things.”
Having said that, she looked up at Consort Rou, eyes curving up with her smile as she said: “Consort Rou ought to do the same. Why must one be so concerned?”
Consort Rou’s expression did not waver after hearing that, but Hua Le jumped in to say: “Jiejie, these words don’t sit quite right. We are all one family, and my Mother Concubine also wants what is best for His Highness the Crown Prince. What you have said is hurtful for her to hear.”
“Oh. Must I make it clear, meimei?” Li Rong let out a sigh. She turned to look at Li Ming, “Father Emperor, erchen didn’t mean to hurt Consort Rou’s feelings. After all, Consort Rou niangniang has erchen’s best interests in her heart, and she has also watched erchen grow up. To put it in terms of a commoner’s household, she occupies a position like that of a concubine or stepmother. It’s just that there are some things erchen believes will not be good if they are said, but I wonder if Father Emperor thinks it should be said?”
Hua Le’s face suddenly changed when Li Rong used the words concubine and stepmother. Li Ming glanced over at both sides, then he said: “Speak.”
“Chuan’er is to inherit the country. Who he chooses as his wife is of great importance, and regardless of family background, appearance, and character—all are crucial. There are countless women from influential aristocratic families, so why choose a young lady from a small, nameless household? If Consort Rou’s niece was truly to be wed to the Crown Prince, what would the court officials think? As for the common people, what would it make them think? If Chuan’er was to marry a young lady, things ought to be like it had been for me,” Li Rong smiled and pulled Pei Wenxuan’s hand into hers. “At the very least, it should be a legitimate Young miss from a renown aristocratic family, isn’t that right?”
Li Rong’s words were spoken so innocently. Li Ming’s face originally didn’t look very good in the beginning, but when Li Rong took Pei Wenxuan’s hand, Li Ming immediately felt relieved and felt that this daughter of his was only looking down on Consort Rou’s origins from the bottom of her heart.
Although he was not particularly fond of this matter, he could understand it. After all, Consort Rou’s status was indeed that of someone who should not take center stage, and with Li Rong’s temperament, it was expected of her to not see Consort Rou fitting to the eye. Consort Rou also wanted to send her own niece in to be the Crown Princess, which Li Ming also felt was unsatisfactory.
Li Ming nodded and deftly changed the subject: “Chuan’er is still young. Let us discuss this at another time. If there is a suitable young lady, please make a note of it and proceed to inform the Empress.”
The Empress’s complexion significantly improved after these words were spoken. After the group of people leisurely chatted again for a bit, an eunuch came back from outside and whispered a few words by Li Ming’s ear. Li Ming responded, then he looked up and said to everyone: “It is almost time. Zhen also has something to do, so let us be on our way.”
After Li Ming finished his sentence, everyone knelt down and sent him on his way. When Li Ming went out into the outer hall, he said a few more words to the officials, then Li Ming soon left.
Once Li Ming had left, the Empress announced that she was leaving. Li Rong came forward to bid the Empress and Li Chuan farewell, then she left with Pei Wenxuan as well.
Autumn: Apologies for the last minute update. Something urgent came up today, so I had to put everything on hold.
Update 8/6: It has been an unusual and stressful week between moving, figuring out my housing situation, and starting a new job at the same time. (Yay!) It’s been so crazy, I can’t wait to get some sleep, but I think I drank too much coffee...
Autumn Pond Reflection 
oh it’s finally heeeere hahahaha!!!
thank god there’s countdown for the next chapter as well
thank you fir the translatiooon
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Thank you for your chapter 😉
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Is it just me, or did I read too quickly?
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Hahahahaha instead of pillow talking Consort Rou was kinda stupid to bring this up publicly, guess she didn’t expect to get blasted so easily
Thanks for the chapter 🙃
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Consort Rou needs to check herself. While strong strategic thinking is key in the harem, careful consideration is also needed to stay alive. That was a careless move on her behalf. She should’ve schemed on her pillow and not at the dinner table.
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