Chapter 98 Part 2

The matter between Lu Wenjun and Chengping, Xuyu knew a little. But it was their private matter, and it also involved the relationship between men and women, which was very difficult to explain. How could she ask rashly? However, now that the grand princess came to her and asked for help, it was difficult to refuse. Moreover, as far as she was concerned, she had a good impression of Lu Wenjun and naturally hoped that nothing bad happened to her.

“If I saw an opportunity, I will tell Prince Consort to go talk to Prince Ashina if he had the chance. But I don’t know whether the Prince will listen or not, and Prince Consort probably cannot guarantee that he will be able to convince him.”

The grand princess said hurriedly, “Of course I know that. As long as Prince Consort is willing to help and persuade him, I will be very grateful.”

Xuyu agreed and returned with the grand princess. From a distance, she could see that Pei Xiaoyuan had once again been surrounded by a group of women in the courtyard, taking advantage of the opportunity to tease him. The women chattered one after another, and upon closer listening, their words turned out to be of a rather suggestive nature. One of them said, “Prince Consort is truly a great man. The princess is fortunate indeed.” Another said, “But Prince Consort mustn’t indulge like this every day in the future. Some restraint is necessary. If every night were like last night’s wedding chamber festivities, the princess’s delicate body would not be able to bear it. See, even this morning’s delay until now has left us old ones waiting endlessly!!”

As soon as she finished speaking, all the women burst into laughter. Pei Xiaoyuan stood in the middle, feeling awkward and at a loss as to what to do. He kept looking around, obviously looking for her to save the situation.

The grand princess was walking closely with Xuyu’s arm around her, and she also saw this whole scene.

Topics like this were nothing to a group of noble ladies who had little restraint in private. She pointed to a noble lady in her forties standing at the back that was looking at the prince consort, and whispered in Xuyu’s ear with a smile, “Did you see this person? Lady Lu, the mother of your seventeenth sister, County Princess Guyang. She’s also my husband’s cousin. Last year, she selected a fine match for your Seventeenth Sister from among the newly appointed Jinshi. But who could have guessed—handsome in appearance, yet utterly useless in other matters. Their wedding night was unspeakable. Later, she spent a fortune to buy some so-called ‘Brahmin’s immortal aphrodisiac’ from India, said to greatly invigorate a man’s strength and vitality. She had him eating it daily as if it were his regular meals, but it did no good. Your Seventeenth Sister is now crying all day long, while Lady Lu is utterly distressed. A few days ago, she told me that she wanted to arrange divorce and find another husband for your Seventeenth Sister. I can’t imagine how envious she must be that Princess has married such an extraordinary husband!”

Xuyu was stunned at first, but suddenly she understood why the women were making fun of Pei Xiaoyuan. It also dawned on her why, earlier that morning, when she had insisted on letting Pei Xiaoyuan sleep and forbade anyone from waking him, He Amu had tried to gently dissuade her. Though He Amu ultimately relented, her expression had carried a peculiar mix of relief and helplessness.

At that time, she didn’t think much about it. She just felt sorry for him and wanted him to get enough sleep before entering the palace.

It turned out… their delayed arrival at the palace this morning had led people to entertain that kind of misunderstanding!

No matter how easy-going she was, she didn’t know how to deal with this unprecedented situation. Unable to suppress the shame and anger that surged in her heart, she froze in place.

The grand princess whispered this joke to her, originally intending to make her smile, but when she noticed Xuyu stop in her tracks, her face flushed with a faint red, her expression a mix of irritation, embarrassment, and a hint of panic. After a moment’s hesitation, she quickly understood.

Though the princess had now become a wife after a night of marriage, it was still a recent change. Her face, delicate and sensitive, couldn’t compare to the thick skin of these women who had long been accustomed to such matters.

Even if it wasn’t for her daughter’s matter, she wanted to please her niece who had been away for many years and was just now returned. If it was said that the previous trip to Cangshan was just a sign and no one dared to think too much, then this time the princess’s wedding, where even Empress Xiao Liu was excluded, it was almost certain. Unless the emperor was deliberately harming his daughter, the crown prince’s chances were now slim to none.

As for how the throne would eventually be passed on, the grand princess dared not speculate. However, judging from the emperor’s love for the princess, such an important matter would be carefully planned so that it would not fall on the head of someone who might harm the princess in the future. So instead of trying to guess what the emperor was planning, it would be better to make friends with the princess and establish a good relationship with her in advance.

She, being a woman of sharp wit and keen observation, immediately noticed the princess’s discomfort and quickly dropped the playful tone she had been using. Gently squeezing the princess’s arm as a signal for her to wait, she stepped forward, cleared her throat, and made her way through the crowd. She approached the seemingly flustered prince consort and blocked the people for him, then with a smile, scolded, “What nonsense are you all talking about? You’re being disrespectful to the newlywed couple! If this gets out, you’ll be the laughingstock of the younger generation! Keep quiet now! The Princess and Prince Consort have already arranged a feast inside for you all. Move aside so the young couple can leave the palace as ordered. You can go enjoy the feast! If you want entertainment, I’ll come and tell you all a joke later!”

The women had not expected her to speak so suddenly, and looked over in confusion. The laughter slowly stopped. Pei Xiaoyuan was finally able to escape, and seeing Xuyu standing on the side, he hurried over. The grand princess then led the group to escort the two out.

Xuyu and Pei Xiaoyuan left the Imperial Ladies Court and walked out along the palace road. At first, she just walked with her head lowered. After a while, Xuyu finally calmed down a little and secretly looked at the person next to her.

His line of sight was on the ground, but as he walked forward, he must have noticed that she was watching him. His eyelashes trembled slightly, as if he was about to turn his head to look at her.

Xuyu immediately turned her face away, pretending to admire the flowers and trees along the palace road. At this time, they came to a fork in the road and met several palace servants. Seeing them from a distance, they stepped aside, bowed, called “Princess” and “Prince Consort”, and lowered their heads to wait for the two to pass by first.

Being interrupted like this, Xuyu stopped, turned around to look at Yang Zai’en and others who were following a few steps behind, hesitated for a moment, and finally made up her mind. She asked everyone to wait, and whispered to Pei Xiaoyuan, “Follow me”, then took the lead to walk towards the palace road shaded by flowers and trees.

Pei Xiaoyuan followed silently.

Xuyu walked to the depths of the palace road, and seeing that there was no one nearby and Yang Zai’en and the others could no longer hear their conversation, she stopped and stood under a brown maple tree by the side of the palace road.

Pei Xiaoyuan stopped in front of her.

At this point, she finally understood why Pei Xiaoyuan had insisted and even sweated in anxiety when she said that they didn’t need to enter the palace in the morning…

If she didn’t make things clear to him now, she wouldn’t be able to anything else for the rest of the day. She just wanted to cover her face and find a hole in the ground to crawl into.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t think it through this morning.”

Pei Xiaoyuan was startled when he heard her voice. He quickly looked up at her face, but she had her head lowered, her eyes fixed on the ground.

He immediately said: “I’m fine—”

He habitually wanted to say something like “I’m afraid it will damage the princess’s reputation”, but suddenly realized that the two had been married yesterday, and it seemed inappropriate to say this, so he kept silent.

She remained quiet. After a moment, noticing that she still seemed to be in of slight depression and shame, Pei Xiaoyuan spoke again in an emphatic tone, “As for what happened this morning, as long as the Princess doesn’t take it to heart, it’s really fine with me!”

Inexplicably, when his powerful words came into Xuyu’s ears, her mood suddenly became much lighter. However, thinking of how others had misunderstood, she couldn’t let go completely, so she just hummed softly and fell silent again.

He seemed to be feeling the same as she was, still vaguely uncomfortable, and stopped talking, just standing quietly opposite her.

The weather was getting cooler, and the palm-sized leaves of the brown maple tree gradually turned red, brown, gold and green as the day and night changed. A gust of wind blew across the palace road, and a few half-dried colorful leaves fell from the branches, circling over their heads before falling. One of them gently landed on her beautiful skirt.

She stared at it, and so did he. The two of them stared at the half-dried colorful leaf stuck on the hem of her skirt.

Pei Xiaoyuan finally raised his eyes quietly, looked at her, and paused.

“Princess, don’t you still have to go to Shenshu Palace to discuss the mural?” After hesitating for a moment, he finally spoke.

Xuyu heard his reminder in her ears.

She raised her eyes and looked at him. She saw that his expression had returned to his usual calm state and he was looking at her with a smile.

She had not forgotten. She had originally intended to explain the matter to him before leaving.

It was already the Tenth Month, and the emperor’s birthday celebration next spring was getting closer. It would be decided in the next two days who will be in charge of painting which mural.

The painter Zhou He, who she had promised to support and whose painting skills were not bad, had been brought to the palace. Today, in addition to Zhou He and the painters from the Jixian Hall, many renowned artists and scholars from the capital who were famous for their painting or their expertise in painting appraisals had also been invited to participate. They were tasked with evaluating the artwork and providing suggestions to help select the final chief painter. Among them was Lan Tai.

She came to her senses: “Yes, I’ll go right away. You…”

She was about to tell him that he was still injured and to let him go back and rest, but he interrupted her and said, “I rested enough last night. I’ll take the Princess there. We’ll go back together after the Princess is done.”

His tone sounded normal, but his words did not leave any room for her to refute.

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