When Emperor Wu'an heard about the rings, he found a superb piece of jade and fashioned it into a pair of jadeite rings, which he gave to Empress Lin one evening.
Empress Lin had also heard about the rings from Meng Jiyao, but she had never expected Emperor Wu'an to make one for her.
They had been married for so many years, and although Emperor Wu'an often gave her gifts, most were made under the supervision of the Imperial Household Department.
Sometimes Emperor Wu'an would think up a design and order his subordinates to make it, but he had never made a gift for Empress Lin with his own hands. This was the first time!
So even though the jade ring looked plain and simple, Empress Lin loved it dearly—even more than her favorite nine-phoenix hairpin.
Emperor Wu'an had specially commissioned that hairpin. It was light yet exquisitely crafted, because he had felt sorry for Empress Lin having to wear such a heavy phoenix crown every day.
It was the only one of its kind in the world. When Emperor Wu'an gave it to her, everyone in the palace heard about it and envied his deep affection for Empress Lin.
The imperial consorts had never dared provoke the Empress in the first place, and after such an open display of favoritism, they became even less inclined to cause trouble before her. This made managing the inner palace much easier for Empress Lin.
Two days later, Shen Shixu and Xiao Jinyi took Jiang Bin and An Chengyu to wait at a tea stall ten li outside the Capital's gates.
Originally, only Shen Shixu and Xiao Jinyi had planned to go, but when Jiang Bin and An Chengyu heard about it, they insisted on coming along.
They said that, as practically half-sons