Chapter 5

Zhao Qingzhi’s mind buzzed, and her legs gave way beneath her. She collapsed back onto her heels, unable to take in another word of the Empress Dowager’s decree. She could defy the Old Madam, even resist to the death, but she could not defy an imperial decree. The lives of her father, brothers, mother, and every member of her family were at stake. Defying an imperial decree would bring disaster upon the entire household.

“This subject receives the decree and thanks Your Majesty for your grace!” After kowtowing, the Duke of Qin, Zhao Yong, received the imperial decree with both hands and was helped to his feet.

Zhao Qingzhi finally came back to her senses and was helped up by her mother and eldest sister-in-law, Madam Tang.

The Duke instructed his eldest son, Zhao Dongxu, to escort the Empress Dowager’s chief eunuch out. He then approached Zhao Qingzhi, drew his snow-white brows together, and asked, “What’s this? Have you been crying?”

Zhao Qingzhi pressed her lips together without speaking.

The Duke patted her shoulder. “There, there. The matter with the Song family is in the past. You’re now the future Princess Consort Jing. Stay home and prepare for your wedding. Your grandmother and mother will take care of your dowry, and only the finest things will do. Grandfather will make sure you’re married off in magnificent style.”

Zhao Ninglang anxiously stepped forward. “Grandfather, that Prince Jing is even more flirtatious and unruly than a man! If Little Sister marries her, her entire life will be ruined!”

The Duke rebuked him sharply. “Insolent brat! Is a prince someone you have the right to criticize? Get out of my sight! Your father can deal with you when he returns.” With that, the Duke flicked his sleeves and departed.

Seeing this, the Old Madam glanced at Zhao Qingzhi and her mother, gripping her silver walking stick tightly. Her lips moved slightly. “Stop standing around here. Everyone, return to your rooms.” With that, she turned and walked away.

Madam Sun glared at Zhao Qingzhi through gritted teeth. Taking her daughter Zhao Ziyou, whose face was filled with jealousy, she followed the Old Madam out. She felt terribly resentful. To think that a woman whose engagement [Read on BaiLianTales]had been broken off would actually catch the Empress Dowager’s eye! It was enough to make her furious.

Madam Xu discreetly tugged at Zhao Ninglang’s sleeve and whispered, “Is Prince Jing really that bad?”

Zhao Ninglang replied, “Mother, if you don’t believe me, ask Father and Eldest Brother when they return.”

Hearing this, Madam Xu felt as though her heart were being torn apart. “Oh, heavens! What are we supposed to do now? We’ve escaped those scoundrels from the Sun family, only to end up with the Empress Dowager’s own daughter! My poor, unfortunate child!” She embraced her daughter and burst into tears.

Zhao Qingzhi’s eyes were vacant. After a long while, she slowly raised her gaze toward the outside. She and Song Ziyou had been childhood sweethearts. Never had she imagined that their once-promising marriage would end just like that. She wasn’t afraid of death, but if she died, the imperial family would be enraged, and her loved ones would inevitably be implicated. That was why she didn’t dare die. Yet her heart had already withered away. A person had only one lifetime to live, but she couldn’t even choose whom to marry. A single imperial decree could determine her entire fate, leaving her too afraid to resist.

Zhao Qingzhi gazed at the blazing sun. Her body swayed, and she collapsed helplessly toward the ground.

Sensing something was wrong, Madam Xu lowered her head and discovered that her daughter had fainted. The entire second branch of the family instantly descended into chaos over the future Princess Consort Jing’s sudden collapse.

After leaving the Duke of Qin’s residence, Chief Steward Wu, the Empress Dowager’s chief eunuch, proceeded to Prince Jing’s residence. He waited for a while before finally seeing Lanke hurrying toward him, struggling to suppress the smile tugging at her lips.

Lanke smiled and said, “Chief Steward Wu, well… His Highness is bedridden and can’t get up. I’m afraid I’ll have to trouble you to read the Empress Dowager’s decree beside her bed!”

“Oh? But the imperial physician reported to the Empress Dowager that her injuries were nothing serious!” Chief Steward Wu remarked as he headed toward the bedchamber.

Lanke gave an awkward smile. “Well, she did fall from the second floor. How could [read the original at bailiantales.com]she recover so quickly?”

Walking with his hands tucked into his sleeves, Chief Steward Wu said, “Ah, Miss Lanke, you really ought to advise His Highness more often. She should stop frequenting those pleasure quarters. When the Empress Dowager heard that His Highness had fallen from a brothel while fighting someone over a courtesan queen, she was so furious that she smashed five teacups in one breath!”

Lanke smiled and readily agreed. She quickened her pace, pushed open the bedchamber door, and approached the bed. “Your Highness, Chief Steward Wu is here.”

“Hmm?” Jiang Jingqiao lay on the bed with a damp towel draped across her forehead. Her voice was barely audible, and she looked half-dead. Opening her eyes only a crack, she glanced toward the bedside.

“This old servant pays his respects to Your Highness.” Chief Steward Wu stepped forward, knelt, and greeted her.

“Mm.” Jiang Jingqiao’s voice sounded as feeble as her appearance suggested. With great difficulty, she raised a finger to signal that Chief Steward Wu could rise.

After standing, Chief Steward Wu leaned forward to take a closer look. “Oh, my dear Prince Jing! What’s happened to you? I thought you’d injured your leg in the fall. Why does your head seem to be troubling you too?”

“Oh, His Highness has probably been lying down for too long. The stuffiness must have gone to her head,” Lanke explained, desperately trying not to laugh.

“Oh. In that case, Your Highness may remain lying down while you listen. The Empress Dowager has instructed this servant to inform Your Highness that the tenth day of next month will be your wedding day. Your bride is the granddaughter of Zhao Yong, the Duke of Qin~”

The moment those words left his mouth, Jiang Jingqiao shot upright in bed. Her eyes flew wide open as she stared at Chief Steward Wu in astonishment.

“Say what?”

Chief Steward Wu blinked. “Uh, Your Highness, you’re better?”

Jiang Jingqiao froze for a moment, then hurriedly pressed a hand to her forehead. “Oh… Owww! Lanke, quick, quick! Help this prince lie down! Owww, my head hurts! My head hurts!”

Lanke wanted to laugh but didn’t dare. Suppressing the corners of her mouth, she stepped forward and helped Jiang Jingqiao lie back down.

“Chief Steward Wu, did you just say Mother has arranged for me to marry a daughter of the Zhao family? Everything was perfectly fine, so why has Mother suddenly decided to marry me off so soon?” Although Jiang Jingqiao was lying down again, her eyes were no longer barely open as they had been earlier. Instead, she stared at Chief Steward Wu with bright, alert eyes.

“Well, the Empress Dowager heard that Your Highness had been fighting with someone over a courtesan queen. She thought that since Your Highness has grown up, perhaps getting married sooner would make you more attached to home and encourage you to settle down,” Chief Steward Wu explained with a smile.

Jiang Jingqiao curled her lips in displeasure. All she had done was a good deed outside, yet now she was being forced to marry a woman she didn’t even know. So much for the saying that good deeds were rewarded!

Jiang Jingqiao stared at the bed canopy and thought for a while before suddenly realizing something was wrong. “Wait a minute. Haven’t all the well-known young ladies of the Zhao family in the capital already been promised in marriage? I remember that the Zhao family’s eldest young lady, the one who’s so understanding and considerate, was already betrothed to General Liu’s eldest son, wasn’t she?”

“Your Highness, it’s not the eldest young lady. It’s the third young lady, Zhao Qingzhi. Oh, she’s an exceptionally talented scholar! Last year, the Empress Dowager tested her with essays from previous imperial examinations, and her answers were even better than those of the top-ranked scholars!”

Jiang Jingqiao blinked. “Zhao Qingzhi? I feel like I’ve heard that name somewhere before.”

Chief Steward Wu smiled. “Has Your Highness forgotten? You met the third young lady at the Empress Dowager’s birthday celebration last year. Afterward, the Empress Dowager even sighed to Your Highness that it was a pity the third young lady was already betrothed. Otherwise, she would [unauthorized copy]have bestowed Your Highness upon the third young lady. Oh, no, I mean she would have bestowed the third young lady upon Your Highness.”

Jiang Jingqiao looked at Chief Steward Wu with disdain. “Chief Steward Wu, the way you put that almost made this prince forget who’s who!”

Chief Steward Wu laughed. “This old servant got carried away. I beg Your Highness’s forgiveness.”

Lanke pondered for quite some time before speaking up. “Chief Steward Wu, could there have been some mistake? I have a distant relative who works as a maid in the Zhao household. I heard before that the third young lady was already engaged. If I remember correctly, her fiancé was the youngest son of a marquis.”

Jiang Jingqiao suddenly found the situation amusing. She looked at Chief Steward Wu teasingly. “Chief Steward Wu, don’t tell me you got carried away again and said the wrong name! So with just a few words from your mouth, this prince’s future consort has suddenly become someone else? Hahahahaha…”

Seeing Prince Jing laughing so hard that she was wiping tears from her eyes, Chief Steward Wu hurriedly said, “Oh, even if this old servant had ten times the courage, I wouldn’t dare make such a mistake! As for the third young lady, well, the Song family broke off her engagement just yesterday.”

“What?” Jiang Jingqiao’s laughter came to an abrupt halt. She shot upright again, completely abandoning her attempt to feign illness and avoid her mother’s scolding. She jumped out of bed barefoot and stared at him in bewilderment. “The princess consort Mother has chosen for me is someone whose engagement was just broken off by the Song family? Chief Steward Wu, are you sure you haven’t made a mistake?”

Chief Steward Wu hurriedly replied, “No mistake, no mistake! Your Highness, please look at the Empress Dowager’s decree!”

Jiang Jingqiao stared blankly at Chief Steward Wu before taking the decree from his hands and unfolding it. The three characters of Zhao Qingzhi’s name stood out unmistakably. She pressed her lips together, utterly baffled. “This can’t be right. No matter how eager Mother is to see this prince married, she can’t just push someone whose engagement was broken off yesterday onto me! Unless… the third young lady was falsely accused by the Song family, and Mother investigated the matter and concluded that the talented young lady wasn’t at fault?”

“Your Highness, the truth is that the Empress Dowager has had her eye on this third young lady for a long time. She was disappointed for quite a while when she learned the young lady was already betrothed. So when she heard that the engagement had been broken off, she was afraid someone else might claim her first and immediately issued the decree. As a result, she hasn’t had time to investigate why the engagement was dissolved.”

Jiang Jingqiao was dumbfounded. She stared at Chief Steward Wu in disbelief. “No, wait… How can she be so careless about this? I’m her own flesh and blood! Marriage is a lifelong commitment! Both the Song and Zhao families are prominent households. If the Song family didn’t have something they could hold against bailiantales.comthe Zhao family, would they really dare break off the engagement and publicly humiliate them? What if… what if that supposedly talented young lady has some incurable illness? Or perhaps she’s committed some terrible offense?”

“Well, this old servant wouldn’t know about that.” Chief Steward Wu smiled.

Jiang Jingqiao pressed her lips together and looked at him. “Can this prince refuse to marry her?”

Chief Steward Wu replied, “This old servant has already gone to the Zhao household and proclaimed the Empress Dowager’s decree.”

Jiang Jingqiao raised her eyebrows. So what? She could always run away! No matter where she went, she could spend a year or so traveling and enjoying herself before returning.

“Chief Steward Wu, you may return and report back. Oh, right, if Mother asks about my condition…” Jiang Jingqiao narrowed her eyes.

Chief Steward Wu’s eyes lit up. “This old servant will tell her that Your Highness is still unable to get out of bed.”

Hearing this, Jiang Jingqiao smiled and waved her hand. Chief Steward Wu respectfully withdrew.

“Lanke, come on! Call Qingyan. Let’s go out and have a look around.” Jiang Jingqiao sat on the edge of the bed and began putting on her shoes.

Hearing this, Lanke asked, “Your Highness, you’re not pretending to be ill anymore?”

“Chief Steward Wu said the wedding is on the tenth day of next month. Mother hasn’t left me much time! We need to hurry out and find out why the engagement was broken off. If the reason is something this prince can accept, then tonight I’ll sneak over to the Zhao residence under cover of darkness and see what Read on BaiLianTalesthat talented young lady looks like. If she’s pretty and has a good personality, I’ll accept the marriage. If she’s ugly, we’ll flee overnight. Hmm… we’ll head straight for the northern frontier! I’ve heard the sheep there are nice and fat!”

Lanke smiled as she fetched Jiang Jingqiao’s everyday clothes. “I’ve heard about this third young lady before. Some say she’s an extremely gentle person, while others say she’s timid and doesn’t dare speak up for herself.”

As Jiang Jingqiao dressed, she replied, “Gentle is good! I’m only worried she might be hiding needles beneath that softness. Once I marry her, she’ll be this prince’s only woman, so we’d better investigate everything carefully.”

Lanke smiled. Although she didn’t understand why Jiang Jingqiao deliberately cultivated an image of herself as someone who spent her days drinking and chasing women, she knew that her prince was genuinely kindhearted, approachable, and good-natured. She had never actually fooled around with other women outside. The only worrying thing was that whenever her roguish, mischievous side got out of hand, she could stir up so much trouble that everyone around her was thrown into utter chaos.

“Let’s go.” Fully dressed, Jiang Jingqiao strode cheerfully out of the bedchamber.