Invitation to the Palace
Li Xiting adored Murong Qing and paid him extremely close attention. She had known since the Autumn Hunt1 that relations between the Jiang family and Murong Qing had soured; the Prime Minister was always giving His Highness the cold shoulder after court for no apparent reason.
And then there was that girl from the Song family, who had the audacity to point the finger at the Seventh Prince after she was kidnapped!
Naturally, Li Xiting didn’t believe for a second that Murong Qing would do such a thing, and as a result, she harbored a degree of disgust and dislike for Song Muyun.
The moment she saw them, she was about to ignore them and walk away, but Murong Qing suddenly grabbed her hand and took a few steps forward to greet Jiang Yao and Song Muyun.
This was the first time Song Muyun had seen Murong Qing since her rebirth. She trembled with a hatred that consumed her entire body, but she didn’t dare lift her head, terrified that a single glance would unleash the storm of emotions in her eyes.
She had only to hear Murong Qing’s voice, which dripped with an affected elegance. “Miss Jiang, Miss Song. It has been a while.”
Jiang Yao’s expression was frigid. She swept her eyes over the pair and it was so absurd she almost laughed when she saw Li Xiting staring at her warily, as if afraid she would do something to hurt Murong Qing.
“Seventh Prince,” Jiang Yao acknowledged coolly.
Murong Qing’s gaze fell on Song Muyun, who kept her head lowered and hadn’t even bothered to greet him. His voice feigned concern. “Is your headache any better, Miss Song? Should I ask an Imperial Physician to take a look?”
He didn’t dare call her Muyun, Muyun anymore, probably because his fiancée was present.
Jiang Yao glanced at his fiancée. The woman was still staring at her as if she were one of the floods and fierce beasts.2
Hmph.
“No need to trouble yourself, Your Highness. My Jiang Residence isn’t so destitute that we can’t summon an Imperial Physician. If you have so much free time, perhaps you should mind your own business.”
Her father had subtly hinted that Murong Qing was about to be finished. She wasn’t the least bit afraid of starting a fight with him in the middle of the street.
Jiang Yao’s words were incredibly rude. Li Xiting frowned, finally unable to resist stepping forward for the man she loved. Her eyes widened in anger. “Jiang Yao, His Seventh Highness is just showing you concern! How could you be like this?”
“Me? What am I like?”
Jiang Yao shot her a sideways glance but couldn’t be bothered to look at her for long, afraid of making the little lady by her side jealous.
“Is this kind of rudeness the upbringing of the Jiang Residence?”
“Tsk. Oh, yes, yes, it is. You absolutely must not speak to someone with my kind of upbringing. After all, when I get angry, I don’t care who I’m facing.”
As Jiang Yao spoke, she lifted the end of the long whip coiled at her waist, admiring it. The gesture caused Li Xiting’s beautiful face to pale with fright, and she clutched Murong Qing’s hand tightly.
Murong Qing’s expression also soured. He shielded Li Xiting protectively, his voice gentle. “Xiting is a bit hot-headed, and she was only speaking up for me. Please don’t hold it against her.”
Jiang Yao snorted, giving him no face at all. “Her personality and who she’s doing it for have nothing to do with me. If she provokes me, I won’t bother with such distinctions. Now, if you’ll excuse us, Seventh Prince, this female subject needs to take her wife inside for dinner.”
His already grim expression darkened further. Murong Qing’s gaze landed on the top of Song Muyun’s head, sharp and bone-chillingly cold, but his voice remained mild. “Wife? Miss Jiang is certainly one to depart from the classics and rebel against orthodoxy.”3
“Indeed. But it’s better than certain people who only know how to use dirty tricks. Muyun is so kind and well-behaved; she can’t very well be with a rat from the gutter.”
Without any warning, a hand stroked the tender white skin on the back of her neck. Song Muyun stiffened, and a blush crept up her cheeks. Only then did she dare to look up, shooting Jiang Yao a reproachful glance.
Murong Qing felt as if a great hole had been torn open in his heart, letting a cold wind howl through, giving him no peace.
“You’d accompany her in something so unacceptable to the world?” he asked, his eyes fixed on Song Muyun.
Hearing him speak to her, a flash of hatred crossed Song Muyun’s eyes.
After a moment, she replied coolly, “There is no law stating that women cannot love other women. Your Highness, if you have the energy to manage this female commoner-subject, perhaps you should pay more attention to your fiancée. There are distinctions between men and women. Your insistence on blocking my path might give Miss Li the wrong idea.”
She couldn’t say anything too harsh for fear of revealing herself, so she could only endure it, her face a cold mask.
The young woman had been holding Jiang Yao’s hand, but now she was unconsciously clinging to her arm, her expression utterly detached and her eyes filled with nothing but disgust.
Murong Qing had been skilled at observing words and watching expressions4 since he was a child, so he could naturally see it. Though he had to maintain his gentle and warm like jade5 facade in front of Li Xiting, he already despised them both in his heart.
He didn’t know what was wrong with him. He knew perfectly well that neither of them would give him the time of day, yet the moment he saw Song Muyun, he couldn’t stop himself from approaching.
He was a man, and a prince at that. He never could have imagined that Song Muyun would cast him aside like a worn-out shoe6 to be with Jiang Yao and Jiang Yao alone.
He had assumed the Prime Minister would never allow it and would surely intervene, but that hadn’t happened either.
Song Muyun had moved right into the Jiang Residence, and the Prime Minister was even helping to reverse a verdict7 for the Song family!
A wave of irritation washed over Murong Qing. Before he could speak, Li Xiting erupted, her brow furrowed. “What are you talking about, Song Muyun? We used to be acquainted, but I never knew you were the type to speak nonsense8 and curry favor with the powerful and influential.9 When did His Seventh Highness ever block your way? He was merely greeting you and exchanging a few words out of consideration for your past friendship! You’re the daughter of a convicted official, and you’ve been in a Music House.10 Don’t tell me you think the Seventh Prince could possibly be interested in you? Why would I possibly—ah, Jiang Yao!”
Before she could finish, the whip at Jiang Yao’s waist had been drawn. Jiang Yao flicked her wrist, and the whip uncoiled with a beautiful, deadly flourish, cracking on the ground right beside Li Xiting’s feet.
Li Xiting jumped in fright, her face ashen as she stared at Jiang Yao in terror.
She knew Jiang Yao was a fighter, but ever since she’d arrived in the capital, she had only ever fought men. Li Xiting had always assumed that Jiang Yao didn’t hit women.
But that lash had landed so close, and it told her in no uncertain terms that Jiang Yao did not, in fact, refrain from hitting women. If she said another bad word about Song Muyun, she really would get hit.
She’s so protective of this daughter of a convicted official! She was even in a Music House! Who knows if her body is even clean anymore? Only someone like Jiang Yao, who isn’t picky, would want her!
Li Xiting thought all this but didn’t dare say it aloud. Jiang Yao’s ferocious expression told her that if she dared, Jiang Yao would definitely hit her. She definitely would!
So fierce, and a brawler, too. Nothing like the scholarly, elegant, and easy-going11 child a Prime Minister should have produced!
Again, Li Xiting only dared to voice these thoughts in her mind.
Outwardly, she was cowering.
She hugged Murong Qing’s arm as if seeking help, but in her heart, she knew the Seventh Prince’s position at court was precarious. It was best not to cause a scene.
For His Seventh Highness’s sake, it’s right that I endure a little grievance.
Li Xiting’s face was a picture of repressed anger, a sight that brought Jiang Yao a measure of delight. Murong Qing seized the opportunity to play his part, telling Jiang Yao not to take her anger out on a woman and to direct it at him instead.
Of course Jiang Yao wanted to direct it at him. If he weren’t a prince whom she couldn’t openly beat up, she’d have thrashed him a hundred times over by now.
Song Muyun gently tugged on Jiang Yao’s sleeve, no longer wanting to argue with the pair. “Didn’t we come to eat? Let’s not waste time on irrelevant people. Let’s go in.”
She couldn’t stand to watch Murong Qing’s pretentious act. It disgusted her. By extension, anyone who liked him also disgusted her.
After everything she had been through in her past life, a few nasty words from others no longer fazed her.
At most, she found it tiresome. But Jiang Yao protecting her like this filled her heart with warmth.
Song Muyun glanced at Li Xiting, who immediately glared back.
Jiang Yao doted on her; whatever she said, went. The two were about to leave when a servant boy came running up, drenched in sweat. He nodded and bowed before Murong Qing, his expression urgent. “Your Highness, someone has come from the palace! The Emperor summons you!”
Jiang Yao and Song Muyun stopped in their tracks. Jiang Yao had a strange feeling that her father had made his move. She turned to look at Song Muyun, who was also looking at her.
Her ears twitched. Beyond the sound of Murong Qing questioning the servant, she could hear the approach of a group of people. Their footsteps were so light they were almost inaudible. Eunuchs.12
Jiang Yao looked up and, sure enough, saw several eunuchs walking toward them.
Ordinary commoners had already moved out of the way upon seeing their attire.
The lead eunuch was one who perennially attended the Emperor. He saw Jiang Yao and gave her a kind smile before quickly walking up to Murong Qing.
Murong Qing had a bad premonition. He clenched his fists inside his sleeves but still managed a strained smile. “Hai Gonggong,13 for what matter does Father-Emperor seek me?”
Hai Gonggong flicked his horsetail whisk, a painfully fake smile on his face. “You will know once you follow this slave14 into the palace.”
With that, he turned to Song Muyun, and his old face bloomed into a smile as bright as a flower. “Miss Song, this slave was just on his way to find you. Please come to the palace as well.”
Song Muyun froze for a second, then her eyes lit up.
Jiang Yao, however, grew worried. She gripped Song Muyun’s hand and looked at the eunuch, her tone much milder than before. “Muyun hasn’t been to the palace in a long time. I’m worried she might offend His Majesty. May I go with her?”
Hai Gonggong bent slightly at the waist, beaming. His attitude was even more amicable than it had been toward Murong Qing. “The Prime Minister is also there. If Miss Jiang Yao wishes to come, please do.”
“Thank you,” Jiang Yao said.
Li Xiting was still busy crying out against injustice15 for Murong Qing, feeling that the man she held on the tip of her heart had been slighted and wronged. Seeing that the eunuch was inviting them to the palace—and that even Jiang Yao and Song Muyun could go—she quickly piped up, “What about me? Can I go with you?”
Then she muttered under her breath, “Even Jiang Yao gets to go.”
The smile on the eunuch’s face faded slightly, his expression turning a little cold as he nodded. “The Old Duke Cheng is also there. Miss Li may naturally attend.”
Hearing this, Li Xiting was stunned.
Her grandfather hadn’t involved himself in outside affairs for a very, very long time. Why would he suddenly be in the palace?
If her grandfather was there, why was the Emperor summoning the Seventh Prince?
“If you would all follow this slave,” Hai Gonggong said. He even had a carriage prepared for them, though he hadn’t expected so many people, so it wasn’t very large.
Jiang Yao glanced at Murong Qing, whose expression was a clear mix of shock and suspicion. She suddenly smiled, pulling Song Muyun to sit with her on the carriage shaft, having absolutely no desire to share an enclosed space with him.
The four of them entered the palace together. Among them, only Murong Qing’s face was utterly grim. Unfortunately, Li Xiting didn’t notice and continued to speak with righteous indignation. “Jiang Yao is such a bully! That whip almost hit me, and she’s always so rude to you. I’m going to tell my Grandfather, and have him tell the Emperor, too! Who does she think she is!”
Murong Qing’s smile was strained. In his heart, he had no desire to deal with this ridiculously stupid young miss of the Li family, but he couldn’t afford not to. The Old Duke Cheng’s appearance in the palace was likely related to him. He still had to coax Li Xiting, in the hopes of carving out a path of retreat for himself.
“It’s nothing. A little hardship is nothing for me to bear. I’m just glad she didn’t hit you. I didn’t react quickly enough just now, or I wouldn’t have let her frighten you.”
Even just by listening, Jiang Yao could imagine Li Xiting’s deeply moved expression. “Your Highness, you are so good to Xiting. Xiting was right about you.”
Jiang Yao: …
Your eyes are truly blind.
Song Muyun hugged Jiang Yao’s arm tightly and whispered, “The Emperor is summoning me… Is it about my family’s case?”
Jiang Yao patted her arm reassuringly. “Mm. It’s eight or nine out of ten.16 Don’t be afraid.”
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