The Future Crown Princess

After morning court ended, Shen Anxin thought that now she was the crown prince's attendant, she no longer had to go to the Hall of Bright Radiance and cram at the last minute with the other civil officials.

As it turned out, she still had to go. Only then did she remember that Xiao Yanchen had also been in the Hall of Bright Radiance yesterday, studying and discussing texts with the other scholars.

At court, Shen Anxin had stood, so she had managed to stay awake.

But in the Hall of Bright Radiance, she sat, facing piles of classical texts with discussions of essays filling her ears. It was the perfect combination for lulling her to sleep.

Shen Anxin's head bobbed and bobbed. She had no mind even to eat melons, and soon fell asleep sprawled over her desk.

When Xiao Yanchen saw her, he instructed a palace attendant to drape a cloak over her.

Everyone saw, but pretended they hadn't. Even so, their discussion involuntarily grew quieter.

Meanwhile, the two court diarists had just emerged from the imperial study.

Both wore the expressions of men who had survived a calamity.

As they stepped onto a path, they heard someone shout, "You scoundrels, take my fist!"

Caught off guard, the two were knocked down by a punch apiece from General Wu and Minister Zheng.

They cried out in pain. When they looked up again, they saw a crowd of the storybooks' victims closing in on them, fierce as demons and glaring furiously.

The two crouched on the ground and forced out smiles.

"Dear brothers, spare us, spare us! We understand just how wrong we were, and we promise we won't write about you again!"

"Besides, His Majesty has already ordered us to compensate you, my lords, ten times what we earned from the storybooks."

The victims said nothing, only advancing with cold smiles.

Before long, a continuous chorus of wails rang out from a corner of the palace.

By the time the crowd dispersed, the two diarists were black and blue.

Minister Zheng looked at their miserable state and asked coldly, "Did His Majesty say how the 'storybooks' were dealt with?"

The two diarists were still crying out in pain, but at his words they immediately answered in unison, "They've all been recovered and burned."

As for the one copy of each set still on the desk in the imperial study, well... perhaps His Majesty had other plans.

In any case, if His Majesty said they had all been recovered and burned, then they had all been recovered and burned. They knew nothing about anything else.

General Wu raised a fist. "Count yourselves lucky this didn't turn into a bigger affair. Otherwise, you wouldn't have gotten off so easily today."

The two gave him ingratiating smiles. General Wu was right about that.

Fortunately, the affair had come to light today. Come to think of it, they even had to thank Shen Anxin for eating their melons and helping them escape a disaster. Otherwise, once everything truly erupted, they wouldn't have had the face to see anyone either.

What's more, because of a casual remark from Shen Anxin, they had actually earned Emperor Hongyao's appreciation.

Although they had been dismissed from their posts as court diarists, they had been assigned to the Hanlin Academy. From now on, they would be responsible for making things up... oh, no, for waging public opinion warfare against other states.

If these matters hadn't been impossible to discuss openly, the two would have sent Shen Anxin a gift of thanks no matter what.

"Yes, yes, we were lucky. Miss Shen truly is our Great Qi's lucky star."

General Wu and Minister Zheng were taken aback, and felt a pang of discomfort. Though Shen Anxin's inner voice had spared them the unfortunate fate of losing face all the way to Southern Xia in the future, it had also exposed their darkest past.

But... so many people's darkest secrets had been exposed that, once they got past their initial inability to accept it, they felt much better whenever they thought about the others.

With that, the ministers settled their little dispute.

Emperor Hongyao also heard what had happened. He smiled and thought nothing of it.

He picked up one of the confiscated storybooks and read a few pages before quickly closing his eyes. It was too painful to look at. Forget it, forget it; he would seal them away.

Before long, the empress arrived.

The empress came from the Duke of Wei's Residence, and her elder brother was the current Duke of Wei.

Empress Wei was dignified and virtuous. She and Emperor Hongyao had been married since they were young, and their relationship had always been harmonious.

When he saw Empress Wei arrive, Emperor Hongyao put down his memorial and asked with a smile, "What brings you here today?"

Empress Wei smiled gently. "I just received a message from my sister-in-law. She wants me to bring Baozhu into the palace tomorrow to stay for a while."

Emperor Hongyao's smile faltered. "It seems the Duke of Wei is getting anxious."

Empress Wei knitted her willow brows slightly. "I thought it strange too. Didn't we just say we would wait a little longer? Why is he in a hurry again? Has something happened?"

In truth, Emperor Hongyao and Empress Wei had long had an understanding. If the crown prince hadn't remained unwilling to agree, the crown princess would already have been chosen.

As long as the crown prince had no one he wished to marry, it was certain that the future crown princess would be the Duke of Wei's legitimate daughter and Empress Wei's niece, Wei Baozhu.

Although Empress Wei did not involve herself in court affairs, the palace had been lively lately, so she had naturally heard some news. She kept feeling that something had happened, yet she could find out nothing.

She didn't know whether it had anything to do with her brother's sudden urgency.

Emperor Hongyao pondered for a moment. "Aren't there other candidates besides Baozhu? Empress, find a reason to arrange a banquet tomorrow. I'll bring the crown prince along."

"Your Majesty means to settle the crown prince's marriage?" Empress Wei asked in surprise. "Has he agreed?"

Emperor Hongyao thought, I don't know whether he has or not. Once I bring Shen Anxin along, we'll naturally find out who the future crown princess and the crown prince's secondary consorts are. As for Shen Anxin...

He was willing to bring them together, but the girl seemed to lust only after his son's beauty and had no intention of marrying into the imperial family.

On the crown prince's side, however... the way he treated her differently didn't seem to stem entirely from the Gossip System.

Emperor Hongyao could never force someone so special. Naturally, he would not issue an imperial decree ordering her to marry.

Besides, if the crown prince and his future wife were to live in harmony, it would naturally be more appropriate to follow the original course of fate.

"Make the arrangements first," Emperor Hongyao said gravely.

Empress Wei sensed that something seemed to be on the emperor's mind, so she nodded and agreed. She was just about to take her leave when Emperor Hongyao called her back.

"Today I chose another attendant for the crown prince, the third-place examination candidate from the Marquis of Shuoping's Residence."

Empress Wei thought for a moment, as though recalling something. "Ah, Lord Shen. I know him. If the second princess weren't already betrothed and the third princess still so young, I would truly have liked that third-place candidate to become our imperial son-in-law."

"You admire him so much?"

"That third-place candidate is graceful and gifted in letters, and exceptionally handsome. Naturally, he would make a fine son-in-law. The ladies of several households have their eye on him for their daughters."

The corner of Emperor Hongyao's mouth twitched. He decided he had better prepare the empress in advance. "He'll be at the crown prince's side these next few days. If, when you see him... you hear any strange voices, don't be surprised, and don't show it. Just listen."

Empress Wei froze, her face full of confusion. "What does Your Majesty mean? What voices?"

"We'll talk about it when the time comes." Emperor Hongyao wasn't sure whether the empress would hear it, so naturally he couldn't say much. He could only warn her in advance so she wouldn't be frightened.

Empress Wei returned to her palace in a daze, her head full of questions, and began arranging the next day's flower-viewing banquet in the imperial garden.

The next day, several young ladies from the families of important ministers were brought into the palace with their mothers.

Not long after the flower-viewing banquet began,

Eunuch Chen came in person to the Hall of Bright Radiance and asked Xiao Yanchen to come over.

Xiao Yanchen frowned at once. "Tell Imperial Father that I'm busy here and cannot spare the time."

Eunuch Chen looked troubled. "His Majesty said that if Your Highness has no time, Attendant Shen may go alone and take a look on your behalf."

Xiao Yanchen instantly understood Emperor Hongyao's intention. Taking a deep breath, he had no choice but to rise and bring Shen Anxin with him.

Shen Anxin had been staring down the poems of Southern Xia, and they had been staring right back. As soon as she heard she could spend some time at the flower-viewing banquet, she perked right up.

The other princes heard the news from various sources and came along to join the fun.

As the group approached, they ran into Emperor Hongyao at the entrance.

Emperor Hongyao was also arriving with the young ladies' fathers, several important court ministers.

When the ministers saw Shen Anxin behind the crown prince, their faces lit up with excitement. Every one of them looked as though he were waiting for the winning numbers to be drawn.

Seeing that both the emperor and the crown prince had arrived, Empress Wei led the young ladies in rising to pay their respects.

After they greeted them in unison, the imperial garden fell quiet.

Suddenly, an unexpected voice rang out as though it were close to Empress Wei's ear.

Shen Anxin: [So this is Her Majesty the Empress? She's so elegant, so beautiful! Such exquisite, mature beauty—a magnificent, noble peony in all its national splendor! No wonder she gave birth to a beauty like the crown prince. Those genes are incredible! I can just imagine how lovely she must smell! I want to swoon in her arms and shout, "Big sister, look at me, look at me!"]

Empress Wei: ????!!!!!

It... it sounded like something a lecher would say, but the voice was clearly that of a young girl!

But... but which of the young ladies around her would dare say such a thing? Did she have a death wish?