Puchai Alihu froze, unable to react for a moment. "What did I miscalculate?"
Wanyan Chongjie copied her earlier expression and let out a deep sigh as well. "Mother, have you forgotten that my surname is Wanyan?"
"Yes, so what?" Puchai Alihu was utterly bewildered.
"Song Qingshu's current identity is Wanyan Dan. By seniority, he is my paternal uncle. How could I marry him?" Wanyan Chongjie tilted her head as she looked at her mother.
Puchai Alihu's expression finally changed. She had instinctively considered her daughter's marriage to Song Qingshu, only to forget that Song Qingshu's true identity could not be revealed. His public identity was Wanyan Dan—how could he possibly take a niece from the same clan into the palace as a consort?
Wanyan Ping, on the other hand, had no such problem. She was Wanyan Dan's biological younger sister and, as a princess, already lived in the imperial palace. Whatever they did within the palace, who outside would ever know? Once she became pregnant, they could simply place the child under the name of some consort. The entire palace was already under their control, so how could the court officials possibly discover the trickery involved?
Could she really just watch such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity slip away? Puchai Alihu found it deeply unwilling to accept.
A sly smile suddenly appeared on Wanyan Chongjie's face. "Mother, it's not as though there's no way around it."
"What way?" Puchai Alihu's eyes lit up as she hurriedly asked.
With her hands behind her back, Wanyan Chongjie rose onto her toes and leaned close to her mother's ear. "Mother, while I can't marry into the palace, you don't have that restriction. You can marry him. I wouldn't mind having another little brother..." With that, she giggled and ran off.
Puchai Alihu's expression became extraordinarily