Chapter 53: A Banquet at the Prince’s Residence

This person was none other than Cao Jinshen, the Third Prince, born to Consort Wanshu, the daughter of Second Madam.

He was seventeen this year and still lived in the palace.

By the laws of the dynasty, a prince could leave the palace and establish his own residence once he turned eighteen or married.

“There is no need for such ceremony, Third Prince,” the Prince said indifferently.

“I have not yet met my eldest cousin-in-law since she entered the residence, so I came over to greet her.” The Third Prince turned to Yu Yuanzheng.

“Greetings, Your Highness.” Since he had gone out of his way to speak to her, Yu Yuanzheng had no choice but to rise and bow.

“I never expected my eldest cousin-in-law to possess such remarkable skill on the qin. My mother consort specifically asked me to come and inquire whether, apart from the three pieces you played just now, you happen to know any others. She would like to ask you for one or two, learn them, and play them for Father.”

The Third Prince was certainly direct.

But should she agree?

Even the Empress had not asked for that. She had merely requested the pieces Yu Yuanzheng had just played so that the palace musicians could learn them and perform them at future palace banquets.

Consort Wanshu, on the other hand, intended to use them to win the Emperor’s favor.

Yu Yuanzheng knew nothing about Consort Wanshu. Was she cut from the same cloth as Second Madam, or was she a woman who understood propriety?

“Mother Consort?” Yu Yuanzheng called softly to the Princess Consort.

“If you have another piece, give her one. If not, forget it,” the Princess Consort replied indifferently.

Yu Yuanzheng understood. In other words, she was to give them one piece merely as a token gesture.

“Write down everything you know and send it into the palace for Consort Wanshu,” Second Madam ordered forcefully.

Yu Yuanzheng did not respond.

“No, no. Three or five pieces will be quite enough.” The Third Prince smiled, looking as though he had no intention of making things difficult for her.

Three or five pieces? She did not even want to give him one.

They were hardly acquainted.

Yu Yuanzheng had always felt a certain aversion toward the Third Prince.

The impression he gave her was entirely different from that of the First Prince.

The First Prince seemed every inch a gentleman—gentle, refined, and warm, yet possessing both intelligence and brightness.

The Third Prince, by contrast, reminded her of a venomous snake living in the shadows. A smile rested on his face, but somehow it never reached his eyes.

Although this was the first time she had met either prince, that was simply the impression they had made on her at first sight.

Yu Yuanzheng found herself in an even more difficult position. He was a prince, while she, though his cousin-in-law, naturally could not compare with him in status.

“Give her one piece. Yuanzheng cannot write music herself; I will write it down for her,” the Princess Consort interjected.

She had seen her daughter-in-law’s predicament.

“How is my eldest cousin?” the Third Prince asked, seemingly out of concern.

“The same as ever,” the Princess Consort answered flatly.

“Third Prince, come, sit here. Let your grandmother and I have a proper talk.” Seeing her own grandson continually speaking with the main household, Second Madam grew anxious.

After entering the palace, she had gone to pay her respects to the Grand Empress Dowager and the Empress, then proceeded to Consort Wanshu’s palace. She had not even had the chance to see her grandson. He was the hope of their branch of the family.

No—the hope of the entire princely household.

The Third Prince went over to that table, but only exchanged a few perfunctory words with Second Madam before leaving.

He looked down on the ignorant old woman. Had she not been the mother who gave birth to his mother consort, he would not have bothered with her at all.

The banquet ended in the middle of the hour of the Monkey, at four in the afternoon.

“Mother Consort, is this how the Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated every year?” Yu Yuanzheng asked on the way back.

“No. Last year the palace did not hold a banquet. Instead, His Majesty personally led the civil and military officials outside the city to watch the dragon-boat races.”

“Oh, I see. So the festivities are different every year.”

“For the most part, however, there is a palace banquet.”

Once they returned to the princely residence, the Princess Consort grew busy again. The palace banquet was over, but the family banquet still had to be held.

The Shangguan clan was a large one.

In addition to the five houses of the direct line, there were numerous collateral branches. Every year during the Dragon Boat Festival, the princely residence invited several senior clan members to gather there.

The Prince did not serve as clan head; he had merely inherited the title.

Yu Yuanzheng first returned to her room to change, then came out to receive the guests arriving one after another alongside the Princess Consort.

Shangguan Zishu and Yu Chaoyang arrived soon afterward as well. After giving a few instructions, Shangguan Zishu went outside the main gate to receive guests with the Prince.

Yet Yu Yuanzheng could not shake the feeling that Yu Chaoyang kept glancing at her from time to time, her eyes strangely unreadable.

Yu Yuanzheng avoided her and stayed close to the Princess Consort.

Perhaps there was something else Yu Chaoyang knew that she did not.

Whatever came, she would deal with it. Where there were soldiers, there would be generals to meet them; where there was water, there would be earth to contain it.

At that moment, a servant from the outer courtyard slowly approached, leading an old woman.

The Princess Consort immediately stepped forward to support her.

“Chaoyang, Yuanzheng, this is Grandmother Hong. She is the wife of the head of our Shangguan clan,” the Princess Consort introduced her to the two new daughters-in-law.

The woman was over seventy, but appeared to be in fairly good health. Her back was not even bent.

The two women greeted her in unison.

But why was she holding the hand of a three-year-old child?

Yu Yuanzheng did not understand.

“This must be Little Lin. I saw him when he was one year old, and now look how big he has grown.” The Princess Consort smiled as she playfully teased the child holding Grandmother Hong’s hand.

“Yes, indeed. Come, call her Grandmother Princess.” Grandmother Hong nudged her great-grandson toward the Princess Consort.

The child immediately retreated, too shy to come forward.

“He is just a little afraid of strangers. There is no need to press him, Aunt Hong. Please come inside and take a seat. Chaoyang, help Grandmother Hong into the inner hall,” the Princess Consort instructed.

Grandmother Hong had barely entered the hall when another old woman arrived, leading a child by the hand.

The Princess Consort smiled and introduced her to the two new daughters-in-law as well.

In this manner, ten elderly clan members arrived in all. Each held the hand of a child, and every child was a boy.

The oldest was five; the youngest had only just learned to walk.

Yu Yuanzheng found it very strange.

Yet she could not say why.

Yu Chaoyang, meanwhile, kept casting her faintly amused glances.

Once everyone had arrived, the Prince and Shangguan Zishu led ten elderly or middle-aged men of varying ages into the main hall.

The Princess Consort introduced them to the two new daughters-in-law once again.

They were all uncles or grandfathers of the clan.

No one knew exactly how many generations removed they were. Two of them had even fallen beyond the five degrees of mourning kinship.

The Great Wei dynasty had stood for more than one hundred and seventy years. The Prince of Rong’s residence, however, had been founded roughly a century ago, when the third head of the Shangguan family won the hereditary Iron-Cap Prince title on the battlefield.

No one had told Yu Yuanzheng that part of the family history, so she knew nothing about it.

What little she did know, she had only managed to learn by making inquiries over the past month.

Everyone took their seats.

“Your Highness, I heard that on the day you changed the heirship and appointed Zishu as heir, you announced directly that Ziqi would receive forty percent of the family estate in the future?” Old Master Hong, the clan head, asked bluntly.

“Yes.” The Prince admitted it openly.

“Is there any chance that Ziqi will awaken?” Clan Head Hong asked again.

Everyone else pricked up their ears, afraid of missing a single word.

“Imperial Physician Gu said the possibility of his awakening is exceedingly small. But I am still making inquiries to find out whether there are any more capable physicians among the common people,” the Prince answered honestly.

“In other words, there is little hope?” Old Clan Elder Hong shook his head, his expression troubled.

“Ziqi is my legitimate son. Whatever his condition, I, as his father, will protect him with everything I have.” The Prince made his position clear, his face stern and imposing.

“If Ziqi truly never wakes, what do you intend to do?”

“What do you mean?” The Prince stiffened, his voice tinged with anger and bewilderment.

“What do I mean? If Ziqi never wakes, he cannot be left without someone to perform the funeral rites on his behalf, can he? He is the only legitimate young master of the Shangguan clan.”