The attendants who had followed Wei Chengye earlier were now all kneeling amid the scattered debris, trembling before the enraged Wei Chengye and Noble Consort Shu, who had not said a word.
Their years serving Noble Consort Shu and Wei Chengye had gone far too smoothly.
After all, Noble Consort Shu had enjoyed imperial favor for years, rising from the rank of consort to become the only imperial noble consort beneath the empress.
Recently, she had even received the phoenix seal, allowing her to bypass the empress and take charge of many affairs of the harem. For a time, no one could rival her prominence.
His Majesty also defended Wei Chengye in everything. Even when Wei Chengye bullied the other princes, the matter would be brushed aside with a few words, and he had never received so much as a punishment.
As a result, they, his servants, had long been able to swagger around in front of the other palace servants.
But today, Eunuch Qin had given them a real slap in the face.
On the surface, he had been reprimanding them, but in truth, he had been using them to strike at their masters, leaving Noble Consort Shu and Wei Chengye no face at all.
How could Noble Consort Shu not be angry?
If she lost her temper, it was entirely possible she would have the servants who had ruined things beaten to death with sticks!
Noble Consort Shu swept her gaze over the mess around her and looked at her irascible son. Rubbing her brow, she waved the servants away to kneel in the outer hall, then said to Wei Chengye, "Ye'er, you really must change that temper of yours."
"If you lose your composure when something happens, it will be easy for others to get a hold on you. You may suffer a great loss for it someday."
"What do you mean, Mother? Are you saying this was my fault?" Wei Chengye glared. "So Wei Zeyu is allowed to curse me, but I'm not allowed to say anything about him?"
"Besides, when I called Wei Mingxiu a bastard, Imperial Father never said a word to reprimand me. So why can't I tell the truth about Wei Zeyu being a fool?"
"In the end, isn't it all because Wei Zeyu's mother is Her Majesty the Empress, and she outranks you in every way..."
"Wei Chengye!" Noble Consort Shu shouted.
Wei Chengye instinctively shrank back, realizing he had gone too far.
He said, "Please don't be angry, Mother. I was being thoughtless and spoke out of turn."
Seeing that he knew he was wrong, Noble Consort Shu pulled him close and said, "I've told you before that although your second imperial brother would never be qualified to compete with you for the throne, he is also someone you must never provoke. It seems you've forgotten all of it."
"...I only remember you saying he wouldn't compete with me for the throne because he's a fool. If he became crown prince, the whole world would laugh at us."
"You only ever listen to half of what I say."
"Mother, I don't understand. Why can't I provoke him?" Wei Chengye asked in confusion. "Imperial Father is cold toward the Feng Family now, and he even took the phoenix seal from the empress and gave it to you. Although I'm not the eldest legitimate prince, it should only be a matter of time before I become crown prince. Why must I let that fool outrank me?"
"Because..." Noble Consort Shu seemed to have remembered something terrifying. She paused, but ultimately chose to keep it to herself. "I'm not truly the empress yet, and you haven't become the crown prince."
Taking Wei Chengye's hand, she said, "So even though we enjoy such favor, we must still be wary of the empress and the second prince. We must never let them get hold of anything they could use to stab us in the back."
Noble Consort Shu still remembered the year Wei Zeyu fell into the water.
She had been pregnant with Wei Chengye when she saw Wei Zhao fly into a rage and kill all the palace servants who had been accompanying Wei Zeyu. Afterward, he ordered every imperial physician in the Imperial Medical Institute to watch over Wei Zeyu day and night.
But Wei Zeyu's condition did not improve. Instead, it grew worse.
In the end, the fever left him a fool.
Afterward, the empress fell ill and never recovered. Her health was damaged at its root, leaving her unable to bear children.
That same year, Noble Consort Shu gave birth to Wei Chengye and suddenly became the object of the emperor's boundless favor.
Her father benefited as well. Though he had been only a fifth-rank civil official, he rose steadily until he became the left chancellor, a position equal to that of Grand Preceptor Feng, who also served as right chancellor.
Although she was proud of the Zhao Family's rise to prominence, she knew what her family was capable of.
Under normal circumstances, there was no way they could have risen so high in such a short time.
So there could only be one reason for all these strange things.
It was all part of the emperor's plan.
He was also the one who had made Wei Zeyu a fool.
He had done it to prevent Wei Zeyu from becoming crown prince.
That was why Noble Consort Shu had told Wei Chengye not to worry about Wei Zeyu becoming crown prince.
And the reason Wei Zeyu must never be provoked was that Wei Zhao's harming his own child was a secret that could never be mentioned or exposed.
As a result, the fact that Wei Zeyu was a fool had also become a sore spot for Wei Zhao.
But Noble Consort Shu did not dare tell any of this directly to her quick-tempered son.
Otherwise, if Wei Chengye ever let it slip,
the entire Zhao Family would suffer with them.
"What could they possibly have on us?" Wei Chengye asked dismissively. But when he saw Noble Consort Shu's serious expression, he finally reined himself in and said, "I understand, Mother. As long as he stays out of my way from now on, I won't go out of my way to curse him either."
Seeing him like this, Noble Consort Shu felt a trace of worry gather between her brows.
But she also knew Wei Chengye was still young and had experienced too little. It was no small thing that he would listen at all. All she could do was have the palace servants pay closer attention to him in the future.
Rubbing her brow, Noble Consort Shu asked, "I heard you mention Wei Mingxiu just now?"
At the mention of Wei Mingxiu, Wei Chengye's eyes reddened again.
"That's right. I suspect that bastard set up everything that happened today! I saw what he said! He was deliberately using Wei Zeyu to provoke me!"
Noble Consort Shu pondered for a moment, then asked, "Do you remember how Zhou Ye reacted at the time?"
"Him? He just acted blind and mute. He didn't even let out a fart, just watched us make a scene!"
Hearing this, Noble Consort Shu breathed a sigh of relief. "If he didn't react, it means he wasn't part of the scheme and hasn't joined forces with anyone."
"This Wei Mingxiu really is an unpredictable factor." A sharp glint flashed in Noble Consort Shu's eyes. "Back then, his mother should never have been able to give birth to him, but she clung to her last breath and made it past the gates of hell. Then she lingered on for another six years to protect him. If he had kept his head down until he came of age, established a residence outside the palace, and lived as a prince without any duties, I wouldn't have bothered with him."
"But now, whether intentionally or not, he's using the empress to oppose you and me like this."
"Clearly, he won't be easy to deal with."
"So I can't sit back and do nothing."
From her expression, Wei Chengye knew Noble Consort Shu would not let Wei Mingxiu off. His mood immediately lifted, and he hurriedly asked her, "How do you plan to punish him, Mother? Tell me!"
Amused by his eagerness, Noble Consort Shu patted Wei Chengye and said, "Don't be so impatient."
"You've only just caused trouble and insulted Wei Mingxiu in front of the empress's people. If anything happened to him now, you would naturally be the first person held accountable."
Wei Chengye said dejectedly, "Then doesn't that mean there's nothing we can do right now?"
"It's not as though there's nothing we can do."
Noble Consort Shu's lips curved upward. She rose and called toward the outer hall, "Qiaohe, bring in a few sticks of incense."
Once Qiaohe had lit the incense, Noble Consort Shu held it close to her eyes. Before long, both eyes reddened and tears began to fall.
"Mother, what are you..."
Wei Chengye did not understand.
The next moment, however, he heard Noble Consort Shu say, "Come, let's go apologize to Her Majesty the Empress."