Chapter 135: Volume 1, Chapter 135: Wielding the Authority of the Crown Princess

At this time, in the Yaoguang Hall, Song Huihe sat before the window with brows knitted together, a game of chess laid out before her. She played both sides herself, but halfway through the game, her mind grew troubled and chaotic, and she slapped the board over with one palm.

Yuzhu and Qinglian hurried forward to tidy up—one putting away the chessboard, the other crouching on the ground picking up the pieces.

Qinglian put away the chessboard and looked at the Good Lady, saying, "Good Lady, the madam has already said that you still need to wait for now, so please wait a little longer. Once some more days pass and His Highness confirms that you have no connection with Consort Ming, he will naturally feel at ease."

Song Huihe gave a cold laugh upon hearing this. "How could things be so simple?"

Her mother said it was because of this, but she still felt it was because of Rong Luoge.

Even if the Crown Prince was wary because of Consort Ming, he couldn't possibly cold-shoulder all of them—could it be that all five of them were Consort Ming's people?

But His Highness had not touched a single one of them, and had placed them all in the East Hall. Before, she hadn't understood why His Highness did this—she had thought His Highness placed her in Yaoguang Hall because he favored her—but now, having been in the Dong Gong for some time, Song Huihe only felt her heart growing colder and colder.

The Dong Gong, like the Hou Gong, was divided into east and west. In the Hou Gong, favored consorts such as Consort Ming mostly resided in the East Palace, while the West Palace mostly housed those whom His Majesty disliked.

After entering the Dong Gong, she had assumed it would be the same as the Hou Gong, but who knew it was completely reversed.

In the Dong Gong, only the Changxin Palace in the West Hall was where His Highness went, while those of them living in the East Hall were the ones being cold-shouldered.

Moreover, both the East Hall and the West Hall had palace gates, and one had to pass through the palace gates to reach the Jique Palace where His Highness resided. But often when seeking an audience with His Highness, she would be stopped at the very first palace gate, unable to even catch a glimpse of the Jique Palace—so how could she see His Highness?

Everyone said that once you entered a noble house, it was deep as the sea, but only after entering the imperial palace did you realize that the vastness of the palace gates left you powerless.

Song Huihe now knew that worrying was useless and could only wait slowly. She hadn't simply sat idle either—these past days she had spent a fair amount of silver to bribe people in the Dong Gong, wanting to gather more information.

Fortunately, the silver hadn't been spent in vain. Only now did she learn that His Highness's fondness for Rong Luoge was even deeper than she had anticipated. Ever since Rong Luoge entered the Dong Gong, His Highness had consistently stayed at the Changxin Palace; even on nights he did not sleep at the Changxin Palace, His Highness would still lodge at the Jique Palace.

What surprised Song Huihe even more was that before Rong Luoge entered the Dong Gong, there had surprisingly not a single person by His Highness's side.

They all knew the Dong Gong had no Crown Princess, but even without a Crown Princess, could there really be no one to serve him?

Never mind His Highness—even her own brother had several favored bedchamber maids by his side before marriage, yet His Highness surprisingly had not a single person.

This being the case, Song Huihe felt things were very thorny. This showed that perhaps Rong Luoge truly counted as the first person by His Highness's side. Under such circumstances, with the debt of saving his life looming overhead, and Rong Luoge's appearance being far from ordinary—though she was the Former Consort of the Qi Prince, everyone knew she was in fact still a virgin…

How could Song Huihe not be troubled and agitated? When she was first arranged by her family to enter the Dong Gong, she hadn't been very willing—given her status, becoming a Good Lady was truly beneath her.

But her family had kept urging her that the Dong Gong had no Crown Princess, and as long as she could bear the Crown Prince's eldest son after entering the Dong Gong, the family would lobby on her behalf and persuade His Highness to name her Crown Princess.

She had previously thought it feasible, but who knew that only after entering the Dong Gong would she discover the situation was entirely different from what she had imagined.

If these rumors could not be fully believed, then judging from how the palace servants of the Dong Gong did not dare to go against Rong Luoge's instructions while she was in the Dong Gong, she did indeed wield invisible authority in the Dong Gong.

Though she was not the Crown Princess, she effectively held the authority of one.

Things could not go on like this. Song Huihe felt she could not just sit and wait for death—she had to think of a way to improve the current situation.

Living in the Dong Gong day after day like them, yet unable to even see His Highness's face—how could she seek favor if she couldn't even see the person?

But given what happened last time, Song Huihe also knew that Rong Luoge had likely grown wary, and finding a good opportunity would not be easy.

Song Huihe recalled that the Empress's birthday should be coming soon—perhaps this was an opportunity.

The Crown Prince would certainly have to make an appearance at the Empress's birthday, and as a Good Lady of the same rank as Rong Luoge, she naturally had the chance to offer birthday congratulations to the Empress, which meant she could meet the Crown Prince.

She had to prepare well.

Song Huihe was not wrong—this was indeed an opportunity.

The Empress's birthday was near at hand, and Rong Luoge also had to prepare a congratulatory gift. Moreover, right before the Empress's birthday, the military exercises—if His Majesty agreed—would also be held as scheduled. With all this, the capital truly had one event after another recently.

The congratulatory gift for the Empress's birthday naturally had to be properly prepared, so that the Empress could find no fault to seize upon and reproach her.

After much thought, Rong Luoge decided on a jade ruyi symbolizing that all things go as one wishes. This item was truly suitable to give anywhere—though it lacked novelty, it won by playing it safe.

The Empress had no affection for her, so Rong Luoge naturally had no true feelings for her either—so long as appearances were passable, that was enough.

Han Xinglan had also given her the key to his private treasury. She opened the inventory of their shared storehouse and picked out several ruyi, laying them out one by one on the desk, pondering which one to give.

When Han Xinglan strode in, he saw those ruyi and asked with a smile, "What are you doing?"

Rong Luoge heard Han Xinglan's voice and turned to look at him. "Why are you back so early? Did things go smoothly?"

"Smoothly, no need to worry. Xiao Shen will present the matter of the military exercises to His Majesty tonight. As long as nothing unexpected happens, it should be approved." Han Xinglan was in a good mood today—if good news came from the Three Great Camps as well, it would truly be an especially happy day.

"That's truly wonderful," Rong Luoge said happily. "It just so happens you can help me pick a ruyi as a birthday gift for the Empress."

Hearing this, Han Xinglan pointed to a ruyi made of mutton-fat jade inlaid with gems. "This one. Mother likes jade."

Rong Luoge had Rong Xin and the others carry the rest away, keeping only that mutton-fat jade ruyi. Rong Luoge placed it into a brocade box made of sandalwood and put it away.

"The Empress's birthday is only a few days away, but I feel like there's been no movement in the palace. How will this birthday be celebrated?" Rong Luoge looked at Han Xinglan and asked.

Han Xinglan shook his head. "His Majesty is unwell, so Mother will likely submit a petition to cancel the birthday banquet of her own accord. How His Majesty will arrange things still needs to wait for news."

Rong Luoge found this reasonable upon hearing it. She looked at Han Xinglan and said, "His Majesty's health does not permit exertion. Even if the Empress's birthday banquet is held, His Majesty may not attend—and before that, there are also the military exercises."

Han Xinglan gave a cold laugh. "That's not necessarily so either."

His good imperial father might also do the opposite of what was expected.