Chapter 283 - A Quarrel Between the Couple

“I don’t agree.” Song Yixiao got up all of a sudden, with anger in her eyes. “Even the Wei Family is shaky, but you still support the Eastern Palace. That’s how the crown princess repays you for your loyalty? Now that she is afraid that the crown prince will be harmed if he goes to the Palace of Xuanming and also worried that they won’t know any news about what happens in the Palace of Xuanming, why doesn’t she serve His Majesty? She is His Majesty’s legitimate daughter-in-law and supposed to take care of her father-in-law. It’s more logical for her to do that than you, a nephew, right? Why did she ask you to take the risk?”

In fact, she always thought that the crown princess was nice. When they started to fight for the title of heir to the throne, the crown princess devised a way and told Commandery Prince Zhongling to formally acknowledge Gu Shao as his master, which greatly relieved the predicament of the Eastern Palace. It made Song Yixiao admire this wife of the heir to the throne more.

However, Song Yixiao had never expected that the crown princess would scheme against her husband someday.

“After all, the crown prince is the heir to the throne selected by His Majesty in person. No matter who tries to harm him, they just attempt to usurp the throne. Once it is exposed, they will have a bad name for thousands of years. How would they have no scruple?” Staring at her husband’s peaceful face, Song Yixiao restrained her fury and tried to soften her tone. “So if the crown prince goes to the Palace of Xuanming in person, although it’s dangerous for him, he may have a chance of survival, yet you are just an official no matter how much His Majesty loves you. If those people can make use of you and frame the crown prince, how would they show mercy? The former governor of Qingzhou Zhao Wu and the director who was sent by the Ministry of Punishments to escort Zhao Wu are examples.”

Tears fell from her eyes. “So how can you agree with the crown princess? Even if you don’t care about yourself, and you don’t want to care about me…”

She caressed her belly which was prominent obviously with her trembling hand. “Won’t you care about our baby? You know how my family is. It will be fine if they don’t harm me. How would they support me? And in your family, your grandpa, father and brother Yiyou in the hometown far away, all of them cast covetous eyes on your title of nobility. Even when you are alive, they have played all kinds of tricks. If there is something wrong with you, should I and our baby see you in the underworld?”

“Calm down!” Jian Xubai heard that and helplessness flashed on his peaceful face. “How would I not care about you and our baby? But you know that the crown prince and I are bound together for good or ill. Although the crown princess told me to take the risk, it is imperative under such a circumstance. Otherwise, if there is something wrong with the crown prince, how would our family end well?”

Hearing that, Song Yixiao patted his hand away and sobbed. “If you have an accident in the Palace of Xuanming, what’s the point for me and our baby even after the crown prince takes the throne someday?”

Jian Xubai explained gently, “The crown princess doesn’t want the crown prince to go to the Palace of Xuanming because the empress is in charge of this palace now. And Grandma has become estranged from the crown prince these days because of Aunt Daiguo, but have you forgotten that I have been brought up by Grandma? Even if she is unwilling to see me these days, how would she harm me? And the empress should consider Grandma’s feelings. So if I go to the Palace of Xuanming, it won’t be as dangerous as you think.”

“How would I not think of this point?” Song Yixiao sneered and stated loudly, “The Empress Dowager loves you, but didn’t she love the crown prince in the past? Since the Empress Dowager chooses Aunt Daiguo instead of the crown prince, her son’s son is not as important as her daughter, and you are just her daughter’s son, so how can you be more important than Aunt Daiguo? Moreover, even if the Empress Dowager can’t bear to harm you, and the empress won’t hurt you because of the Empress Dowager, don’t forget our Aunt Daiguo. You have told me about her character. Do you dare to say that she won’t kill you first and then report?”

She gritted her teeth. “Then as you have died, no matter how sad and shocked the Empress Dowager and Mother are, can they kill Aunt Daiguo to avenge you? That’s the Empress Dowager’s biological daughter and Mother’s younger sister. Even if they are willing to do that for you, can you come back to life then?”

“Don’t say that. It sounds like I will surely have an accident once I go to the Palace of Xuanming.” Jian Xubai sighed. “It’s said that you won’t become wealthy unless you take a risk. Once I get involved in the fight for the title of heir to the throne, I will either succeed or die. Under the situation, it is not the time to pass the buck or shrink back. If I go, I will have a slim chance of survival anyway, while if not, we will have no hope.”

He put his hand on his wife’s belly. “I know that you don’t mind sharing my joys and sorrows. Moreover, we have Mother. Even if the crown prince fails, we will suffer at most, and we don’t need to worry about our lives. Here is the problem. Who is sure that others won’t get back at us after Mother passes away? And we have a baby now. Do you hope that our child will be inferior to others and implicated after he is born?”

“No matter how inferior he is, it’s better than having no father,” Song Yixiao shouted harshly. “I am clear about the pain as I don’t have my father’s protection, so I would rather die with you two than let my child suffer the same in the future.”

Her words made Jian Xubai remain silent for a long time. Then he expressed, “I have made up my mind.”

Next, no matter how Song Yixiao cried and begged him, he didn’t change his mind. He just told Ji Su to pack up and prepare to enter the imperial palace.

After a long time, seeing that his wife cried more loudly, Jian Xubai learnt from the crown princess and secretly told Aunt Yun to make a bowl of harmless sedative soup. He comforted Song Yixiao and told her to drink it. Then she fell asleep soon. He finally heaved a sigh of relief in secret and carried his wife, putting her to bed. Afterward, he stared at her quietly for a while and then waved his sleeves, leaving a word, “Take good care of her.”

Then he turned to leave without hesitation.

At dusk, the effect of the sedative soup was gone, and as soon as Song Yixiao woke up, she asked about her husband in an unclear voice.

Jinxun and Yuedeng who stayed beside her bed cautiously ignored her question and talked about something else. “Your Highness, you wake up? Are you hungry? The cubilose porridge is ready in the kitchen. Do you want to eat some?”

“So he has gone?” Song Yixiao understood everything and murmured out of sorts.

Jinxun had grown up with her and they loved each other deeply. Seeing that, she felt sad yet controlled herself and didn’t dare to show compassion. She just suggested with a smile, “Your Highness, just eat some porridge. Aunt Yun came just now and said that you can’t be hungry. After all, you are pregnant.”

She purposely mentioned Song Yixiao’s pregnancy and wanted her to think about the baby and then cheer up, but after Song Yixiao heard that, her long eyelashes trembled, and two rows of tears fell from her eyes. She questioned sadly, “So what even though I am pregnant? Did he hesitate when he left?”

Jinxun was regretful and wondered how to correct her mistake, yet fortunately, Song Yixiao still cared about her baby even though she said that. She shed tears for a while and then ordered, “Bring water first to let me have a wash. Otherwise, how can I eat porridge?”

This day, all people in the mansion of Duke of Yan knew that the duke and his wife quarreled about whether he should enter the imperial palace to serve Emperor Xianjia, so no matter if they should face Song Yixiao, they trembled with fear while serving.

Next day, the news spread to the mansion of Grand Princess Jinguo. The grand princess also got mad at the crown princess after hearing about it, but she knew that the current situation was complicated and if she expressed that she was critical of the crown princess, others would make use of it, so she just put on a straight face and told Jiayue to send some tonic to the mansion of Duke of Yan and comfort her youngest daughter-in-law. Jiayue stated, “Your Highness, Her Highness asked you not to worry. Now His Majesty is unwell, and Her Highness enters the imperial palace to visit him almost every day. If there is something inconvenient when Duke takes care of His Majesty, Her Highness will certainly keep an eye.”

Song Yixiao heard that and there were tears in her eyes at once. She pursed her lips for a while and then responded, “My husband is just His Majesty’s nephew. All the princes and princess respect their father a lot, so I am afraid that when my husband is in the Palace of Xuanming, he will disturb them. Moreover, the imperial concubines should serve His Majesty, too, and my husband needs to avoid seeing them. As you said, it’s inconvenient indeed.”

Jiayue understood what Song Yixiao meant. Song Yixiao hoped that Grand Princess Jinguo would tell Jian Xubai to go back home, but the grand princess didn’t say something like this, so Jiayue didn’t dare to agree rashly, and she just comforted Song Yixiao. “Your Highness, don’t worry. Even though Duke is just His Majesty’s nephew, he grew up in front of His Majesty and is always regarded as his own son and loved by His Majesty. Now, Duke serves His Majesty who is unwell, which is what he should do, so how would the royal family members think that he will disturb them? As for the imperial concubines, the empress is His Majesty’s official wife and Duke’s aunt, and she has watched Duke grow up. Why should he avoid seeing her?”

“As for the other imperial concubines, the empress personally arranged the time to serve His Majesty, and it’s different from the time for the men such as Duke. It won’t cause gossips.”

After Jiayue said that, Song Yixiao naturally understood that there was almost no chance if she expected her mother-in-law to tell her husband to return home, so her eyes darkened in an instant. She played with the glaze cup in her hand and expressed absently after a long while, “In this case, thanks for your explanation.”

Then when Jiayue talked about something else, Song Yixiao was lukewarm. After saying only a few words, Jiayue felt awkward and then said goodbye.

“Your Highness, when I walked with Jiayue to the carriage, she looked unhappy all the way.” In the afternoon, Song Yixiao got up after a nap and sat in front of the dressing table, letting Jinxun comb her hair. The crystal mirror reflected the two. Jinxun peeped at her lady in the mirror several times and saw that Song Yixiao noticed that but didn’t say anything, so she had to muster up her courage and then stated, “When she got into the carriage, I wanted to help her, yet she didn’t allow me to.”

Song Yixiao finally responded, “Hmm. I am always polite to my mother-in-law’s servants, but I embarrassed Jiayue more or less today. Moreover, it was not her fault, so she would naturally be unhappy.”

“Why did you embarrass Jiayue, Your Highness?” Jinxun saw that Song Yixiao was not mad, so she was relieved and added in a hurry, “After all, Jiayue is a maid favored by Grand Princess Jinguo, and even Duke is always polite to her when he sees her at ordinary times. I know that you are not in a good mood, but…allow me to say something even if I will show disrespect to you. No matter what will happen to Duke in the future, Her Highness is your and Duke’s elder.”

Song Yixiao was at odds with her husband this time just because she was afraid that there would be something wrong with him when he was in the Palace of Xuanming.

However, if there was something wrong with Jian Xubai, Song Yixiao would have only one backup, Grand Princess Jinguo.

Under the situation, she couldn’t offend Jiayue.

How would Jinxun not worry for her?

“What do you know?” However, Song Yixiao just smiled faintly. “My mother-in-law is an elder, while the Eastern Palace is my husband’s future. If I offend the former, I just need to apologize later at most, and since Jiayue can serve my mother-in-law for so many years, how would she be narrow-minded? And the latter is more important.”

Seeing that Jinxun looked confused, Song Yixiao sneered and then continued, “The crown princess is the crown prince’s good wife. She used a sleeping pill and declared that the crown prince was poisoned. It can avoid the danger as the crown prince doesn’t need to serve His majesty and meanwhile arouse all people’s sympathy and their suspicion on Prince of Wei and Prince of Zhao. She is allowed to love the crown prince, while am I not allowed to consider for my husband?”

She breathed out slowly and fiddled with a hairpin with beads on the dressing table, with coldness in her eyes. “My husband’s future is tied to the crown prince, and he can’t refuse the crown princess’ request as she considers for the crown prince. He can’t refuse and has to agree without a murmur. Otherwise, he will inevitably make an unfavorable impression on the couple even if the crown prince succeeds in the future. It is really a hard but thankless job.”

However, she was not Jian Xubai. She was a woman who grew up indoors and had seen the crown prince and his wife for only a few times, and it happened that she was pregnant, so it was human nature when she objected to her husband taking a risk for the crown prince.

Even if the people in the Eastern Palace knew this matter, would the crown prince and his wife have the face to blame her?

Song Yixiao did that not just because she was reluctant and made a scene specially but mainly because, “Although my husband has told me in private that it is not dangerous, everything in the world is hard to predict. If I can make the Eastern Palace feel guilty, why not do it? After all, it’s said that a child who cries can have candies, right?”

Thinking that Jian Xubai whispered to her after he told her to enter the inner room as soon as he came back, Song Yixiao couldn’t help but narrow her eyes. “I really have never expected that…the royal family…is so…fathomless.”

Although Jian Xubai said that he just guessed, thinking of the cause and effect, Song Yixiao believed that her husband probably guessed right.