BERW - Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Shen Yuyao was somewhat troubled. What exactly was she supposed to do to fulfill the promise she had made to the Crown Prince?

Helping the Crown Prince leave the palace was no small matter, especially now that the Emperor had just ordered his confinement.

This brother was not especially close to her, and he was quite good at landing his younger sister in trouble.

As she thought, she entered the Rear Hall and met Consort Qin.

Consort Qin had married the Crown Prince at seventeen. For three years she had managed the affairs of the Eastern Palace for him. She did not have the title of Crown Princess, but she held the real power of one.

Before this, countless people had gossiped in private, believing that once the Crown Prince ascended the throne, the Crown Prince's Senior Consort would surely become Empress. Some even said that as long as she conceived and bore a son, she would certainly advance another rank and become Crown Princess.

But for three years, there had not been the slightest sign of a child from Consort Qin.

The Crown Prince had said privately that before he had a legitimate son, he would not first have a concubine-born son. Like his father, he placed great importance on the legitimate and concubine-born lines.

In Shen Yuyao's view, a man's mouth was a lying ghost; whoever believed a man's words was doomed to disaster.

Qin Shujun was that unlucky fool. She had believed the Crown Prince's words and willingly spent three years in the Eastern Palace. She had not conceived, and because of that she had endured no small number of attacks in the form of rumors and gossip. She had always thought that when the Crown Prince came to his senses, she would become Crown Princess.

Now the Crown Prince had come to his senses: he wanted to install a palace maid as his principal consort. He would even clash with the Emperor for that palace maid's sake. In twenty years as Crown Prince, this was the first time he had been confined for a month by the Emperor!

Heartbreak. Besides heartbreak, there was humiliation.

Qin Shujun had been a noble young lady of a great house since childhood. Her life had gone smoothly; apart from the matter of children, she had never suffered any injustice. In this, her twentieth year, she had received a loud slap from her husband, and her loss of face had become known to all under heaven.

Her three years of affection with the Crown Prince, a bond of childhood sweethearts, could not compare to a palace maid who came from poverty and was merely somewhat pretty!

When Shen Yuyao arrived, Qin Shujun's expression was really not good. She had been proud and lofty for twenty years. Now, humiliated by the man beside her, she could not remain calm before an outsider.

She was still young, after all. She had never truly been beaten down by society and lacked the ability to swallow humiliation.

This was nothing yet. If Qin Shujun could not stand on her own and keep the Crown Prince in check, her days ahead would be even harder.

Shen Yuyao felt some pity for Qin Shujun. As women, and especially as women of ancient times, they suffered terribly. But she had no way to help; she even had to help the Crown Prince along, to let him continue in his foolishness and pursue the love he envisioned.

It was not only that she enjoyed watching excitement and did not mind if matters grew large; it was also that Shen Yuyao thought the Crown Prince's temperament was not at all suited to being Heir Apparent.

How could the ruler of a state be trapped by private affection? For the sake of a moment's emotion, to disregard his own status and do things that harmed his own side's interests; such behavior was like a corporate executive who did not work properly but instead dated his girlfriend every day, making his subordinates worry themselves bald over work. Not only was he always on leave, but when the boss asked, he would self-righteously say it was for love.

Imagining herself in the place of the ministers in the Crown Prince's faction, Shen Yuyao already wanted to roll her eyes.

Oh, right. She also counted as one of the Crown Prince's faction. The Original Owner had always been close to the Crown Prince, which was why, despite the Crown Prince's confinement, Shen Yuyao could freely enter the Eastern Palace to visit.

When Shen Yuyao saw Qin Shujun, thousands of thoughts turned in her mind, but her face revealed nothing. She stepped forward, exchanged greetings with Qin Shujun, and sat down.

Qin Shujun was very much like the Crown Prince. She quickly ordered a pile of snacks to be laid out and placed a plate of candied fruit by Shen Yuyao's hand.

"His Highness loves candied fruit, so I keep some here. I hear Yuyang also loves sweets. Why not try some?"

Shen Yuyao picked up a piece of candied fruit and tasted it. It was not as good as the kind at the Crown Prince's place, and not quite sweet enough.

Shen Yuyao did indeed love sweets. Without sweetness, she had no joy. In the Modern World, she had performed high-intensity mental labor all day long and relied entirely on sweets to sustain her life.

"Not to your taste?"

Qin Shujun was very good at reading expressions. Shen Yuyao had just finished eating when she saw the dislike in Shen Yuyao's heart.

"It is delicious. It is just that I ate rather a lot at Crown Prince Brother's place just now. Might I ask Imperial Sister-in-Law for a bowl of digestive soup?" With a few words, Shen Yuyao skimmed past the topic.

Qin Shujun was afraid of not having hosted her well. Seeing that she had asked for something, she immediately ordered it prepared.

Once there were only a few palace maids left in the room, Qin Shujun looked at Shen Yuyao as if she wanted to speak but hesitated. That expression was all too familiar. It was the very expression Qu Yanyue wore when she wanted Shen Yuyao to do something.

Only the Crown Prince, when asking others to do things, never felt the least awkwardness. He only made others awkward.

"Does Imperial Sister-in-Law have something to say?" Shen Yuyao, with great thoughtfulness, offered Qin Shujun an opening.

Qin Shujun was delighted. She waved her hand and dismissed those around her. Only when she and Shen Yuyao were left in the room did she speak with a grieving face: "What kind of Imperial Sister-in-Law am I to you? I am merely the Crown Prince's Senior Consort. The one who was driven out of the palace is your proper Imperial Sister-in-Law."

"Imperial Sister-in-Law is the Crown Prince's Senior Consort entered into our Shen Clan Genealogy. Whether or not there is a Crown Princess, the Crown Prince's Senior Consort is a palace consort of the Upper Third Rank."

Qin Shujun clearly did not want to hear this. She had come to pour out her grievances to Shen Yuyao, not to be comforted by her.

She was already tired of those comforting words.

"Yuyang, to tell you the truth, outsiders see how glorious I am, but only I know how bitter it is inside. Yet these things are not for outsiders to hear. Today my emotions are stirred, so I wished to say a few words to Seventh Imperial Sister. Please, Imperial Sister, do not mention them to outsiders."

"Rest assured, Imperial Sister-in-Law." Shen Yuyao dutifully played the tree hollow, while inwardly complaining without stop.

Are we really that close? Pouring your heart out to me the moment we meet! We have known each other for three years, and you never once called the Original Owner Imperial Sister.

What is this? Are we exceptionally kindred spirits, hitting it off at first sight?

Then you should not call me younger sister. You ought to call me elder sister.

"It has been three full years since I entered the palace. In these three years, I have occupied a high position, accompanied the Crown Prince, and served him with all my heart. I have never made the slightest mistake. My only shortcoming is that I have not been able to continue his line with children."

As Qin Shujun spoke, her eyes reddened and she began to cry. She wept far more sorrowfully than the Crown Prince. Watching her, Shen Yuyao did feel a little pity for Qin Shujun.

When the Crown Prince's eyes had reddened, Shen Yuyao's heart had held only the words "heh heh." She did not think there was anything pitiable about the Crown Prince.

If you truly feel that being Crown Prince is so unhappy, why not let me do it?

"This matter cannot be blamed on Imperial Sister-in-Law. Besides, Imperial Sister-in-Law and Imperial Elder Brother are both still young. There is no need to rush."

The Crown Prince did not want a child. If Qin Shujun became pregnant, that would be a disaster; the cuckold's hat on the Crown Prince's head would be too obvious.

"But His Highness the Crown Prince let a palace maid with neither name nor status become pregnant, and he even wants to make her Crown Princess! Why? Why would he do this!" Qin Shujun could not hold back and revealed a look of resentment. "Three years as husband and wife cannot compare to a single moment of heart-stirring. How ridiculous!"

This touched Shen Yuyao's blind spot. She could not make sense of such tangled love and hate at all, much less know how to respond.

Shen Yuyao blinked. Belatedly, she realized something: that palace maid was pregnant?!

Before Shen Yuyao could voice her shock, Qin Shujun continued on her own: "The Crown Prince's heart has already fallen completely to that palace maid. He even quarreled with Father because of her. Fortunately, the outer court is still stable, and the matter has not been blown out of proportion. But I understand His Highness. He will not give up so easily. When this matter grows in the future, the Censors will memorialize and impeach the Crown Prince for treason..."

"Imperial Sister-in-Law, you are overthinking. In the end, this is only a family matter. It is not serious." Treason was a charge that only when the Emperor was thoroughly sick of the Crown Prince and wanted to depose him would any Censor dare to pin on the Crown Prince's head.

And judging from the Emperor's methods in handling this matter this time, he was still far from completely abandoning the Crown Prince.

But if the Crown Prince remained in his current mindset, sunk in his rebellious phase and unable to extricate himself, then the Emperor's familial affection would quickly wear away.

That affection existed because the Crown Prince had indeed shown the bearing of a wise ruler. But when he single-mindedly pursued his love and disregarded the state, he would no longer be a qualified Crown Prince. Then the Emperor would naturally transfer his expectations to someone else.

Shen Yuyao had managed to transmigrate once. She absolutely would not let herself remain unknown. She liked to be an outstanding person in her environment. She did not need to be the very best, but she absolutely could not be worse than people she regarded as trash.

Shen Yuyao's words seemed to have a miraculous effect. Qin Shujun's somewhat collapsing emotions quickly eased, and at the same time she revealed her thoughts.

"I fear someone will turn a family matter into a state matter. That palace maid is pregnant; she cannot be settled arbitrarily. But she has bewitched the Crown Prince's mind and cannot enter the palace again. Entry and exit from the Eastern Palace is inconvenient. Please, Imperial Sister, help me, help the Crown Prince."

Qin Shujun meant that once Qiluo gave birth, the child would be brought into the palace. As for what became of Qiluo, it did not matter.

It was a good method: with the left hand, use the mother to steady the Crown Prince; with the right hand, use the child to steady those who valued the imperial heir.

But should she not handle this secretly herself? Shen Yuyao began to suspect that the Original Owner had some closer relationship with the Eastern Palace, for example, that the Original Owner was actually the Crown Prince's full sister.

By the Emperor's line, that was indeed the case. By the mother's line, it was different. If Shen Yuyao remembered correctly, the Zheng Clan and the Qu Clan were greatly at odds.

The Crown Prince born of Empress Zheng and the Princess born of Noble Consort Qu were extremely close. Was that reasonable?

Unreasonable!

Shen Yuyao had some guesses. Perhaps the Crown Prince himself did not care about conflicts among consort kin, or perhaps he and the Original Owner truly got along very well. In any case, both the Crown Prince and Qin Shujun trusted Shen Yuyao.

It was Qin Shujun's method, rather, that surprised Shen Yuyao. She had thought both people in the Eastern Palace were romance-brained. Unexpectedly, only the Crown Prince was in his rebellious phase; Qin Shujun was quite clear-headed.

For example, Qin Shujun did not really care about the Crown Prince's affection. What she cared about more was his position and power. Therefore, as for settling Qiluo, she chose to bring the child back and leave the person outside the palace. The Crown Prince could stay together with her as long as he wished.

As long as Qiluo would not become Crown Princess, Qin Shujun could become the next Empress.

"But how can I help Imperial Sister-in-Law? Even if I leave the palace, I cannot simply snatch the child back. Imperial Sister-in-Law, a woman carries a child for ten months. There is still a long time before she gives birth. Perhaps there will be a better method later."

Although Shen Yuyao thought Qin Shujun's method was quite good, at least for the present it was the best choice for Qin Shujun herself, she did not intend to help.

If Qin Shujun actually succeeded, this grand drama would no longer be interesting.

By then everyone would stop making trouble and all would be satisfied. How would she spectate the drama?

Besides, she was just an ordinary spectator of drama. Do not drag her into everything. The Crown Prince asking her to help him leave the palace was already headache enough; now a Crown Prince's Senior Consort wanted her to snatch a child. Did they think she was made of iron?

Although she was indeed very tough, with her built-in Overpowered Gift of Bronze Skin and Iron Bones.

"There is no better method. She is already more than six months pregnant and will give birth soon."

If she gave birth prematurely at seven or eight months, the child could still survive.

"Imperial Sister, think about this matter again. If truly necessary, discuss it with someone you trust. Come to the Eastern Palace again tomorrow, and we two can reminisce."

Shen Yuyao raised her head and met Qin Shujun's gaze. She was startled by the indescribable stubbornness in the other woman's eyes.

If she had not misheard, did this mean she should go back and talk to Qu Yanyue?

Shen Yuyao was bewildered. This factional alignment seemed rather off.

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