Chapter 3

Chapter 3

I looked at the contempt in her eyes and smiled. “I could never compare to Miss Meng, so free and unrestrained, treating the rules of this world as if they were nothing at all.”

Hearing me say that, she seemed quite pleased. Her tone was full of smugness and pride. “That’s right. His Highness said what he yearns for most is a life of freedom, to act according to his own heart. And you could never give him that.”

“I hear the Crown Prince has already petitioned for an imperial decree, and before long, both his principal consort and secondary consort will enter the household at the same time. How very worthy of congratulations. Yanru has already prepared a generous gift.”

As soon as I finished speaking, something strange flickered across her face. Then she declared with ringing certainty, “His Highness’s heart cannot hold so many people. The man I marry must have only me in this life.”

Her words would have shocked any other woman in this world, but I was not surprised in the slightest.

With no small measure of regret, I said, “What a pity. As the Heir Apparent, I fear His Highness is destined to disappoint you.”

Her brows lifted slightly, as if I had provoked her competitive streak. With a scoff, she said, “What you could not accomplish, I will make sure you see me do.”

Several days later, the imperial decree bestowing the marriage descended upon the Meng family. To show the importance of the matter, the Crown Prince went in person to announce it.

Yet no one expected Meng Yuanxi to state on the spot that she wanted to be the Crown Prince’s one and only for a lifetime. If that could not be granted, she would rather never marry at all.

Her words drew sidelong glances from everyone present and shook the entire court and capital. The one placed in the most difficult position was the Crown Prince.

Meng Yuanxi’s confidence came from the Crown Prince’s affection for her, and every word she spoke was of the love between them, unique in all the world, absolutely unable to tolerate a third person.

The Crown Prince had never met a woman so bold and unrestrained, nor had he ever seen such a fierce insistence on being his only one. His eyes reddened on the spot, and he said only that he understood the weight of her love and would never betray her.

In the end, he took her hand and knelt with her outside Suiyu Hall, begging His Majesty to rescind the order allowing a secondary consort into the household. He was willing to bear all blame alone. If His Majesty refused, he would remain kneeling and not rise.

They knelt for an entire day. The emperor was so furious he smashed more than a dozen teacups.

The Late Empress and the emperor had been husband and wife from their youth. She had accompanied him through the difficult years of exile in Bashu, and their bond was unlike that of ordinary people. The Crown Prince, meanwhile, was the child he had personally raised and taught. In the end, the emperor still had the heart of an ordinary loving father toward him.

At last, the emperor softened. When night fell in a hazy veil, he granted the Crown Prince’s request.

Meng Yuanxi married into the Eastern Palace as she wished, becoming the sole mistress of the Eastern Palace.

At first, the women of the capital thought she had gone mad. Now, every one of them envied her beyond measure. To make the Heir Apparent of a nation love her so deeply that he left his rear courtyard empty-

Everything women in this world did not dare dream of asking for, she had obtained in full.

When she appeared before me again, she was dressed in brocade, her face radiant with springtime delight. A maid behind her held a box in both hands.

“These are the items you gave Jin’an over the years. They are no longer suitable to keep in the Eastern Palace, so Jin’an told me to bring them back to you.”

Ye Jin’an was the Crown Prince’s personal name. She deliberately called him that to show off their intimacy, and to needle me in passing.

I glanced over the letters, writing brushes, tassel pendants, and other things inside the box…

Every year on his birthday, I would give him a small gift, each one carefully chosen. I had not expected they would have accumulated so many…

I ordered my maid to take them, then smiled lightly. “I must trouble the Crown Princess to return them in person. What a shame that the summer fireflies the Crown Prince once caught for me, the magnificent fireworks he once set off for me… can never be returned.”

Displeasure flashed through her eyes, but she quickly concealed it and said deliberately, “The Crown Prince sees you as a younger sister. In the future, I will treat you the same way.”

“Then you have my thanks.”

I was so calm and indifferent that she frowned instead, as if some measure of her satisfaction and joy had slipped away.