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Xia Qingyun suddenly let out a low laugh, the sound carrying a touch of languor and a sharpness that saw through worldly affairs. "You girl. Back then, you were a pampered flower of a nation, born with a golden spoon, bearing the honor of the imperial Zhu Liang surname, yet you became the wife of the Chen family Main Lineage."
Her fingertips tapped lightly on the table, and her tone abruptly sharpened. "A noble daughter of the imperial house like you, marrying into the Chen family—a princess of a nation and the Chen family Main Lineage. In the eyes of those high-ranking ministers in purple and vermilion, would that count as casting a pearl into darkness, damaging the dignity of the imperial family?"
Xia Qingyun's words struck straight at the heart of the matter.
Zhu Qianqing met her gaze calmly, her bearing as still as water, yet her fingertips unconsciously brushed across dust on her shoulder that did not exist—that was courtly poise engraved into her bones.
"Aunt, you overstate it." Her voice was composed, her enunciation clear from the refinement of royal education.
"Qianqing did not inherit the imperial family's core martial soul. What awakened in me was my mother's clan martial soul. For this reason, Imperial Father specially permitted me to inherit my mother's surname as a sign of exceptional favor, and the palace rules made an exception in this matter as well."
"Besides, although the Chen family had shown signs of decline back then, it had already begun to rise again and still possessed illustrious fame. Yin Zu was even a dragon and phoenix upon the jade steps, so how could there be any talk of 'marrying down'?"
Xia Qingyun suddenly laughed softly and pointed at her with a jade-like finger.