Crowned Consort in Golden Age-Chapter 61. Mo Xiuyao’s Injury
61. Mo Xiuyao’s Injury
"Ah-Li, be careful!"
Lost in her thoughts, Ye Li was suddenly startled by Mo Xiuyao’s voice. As she turned around abruptly, a sleeve arrow shot fiercely towards her. The dagger in Ye Li’s hand simultaneously slipped from her grasp. A fleeting figure moved before her eyes, and a silhouette shoved her to the ground.
"Mo... Xiuyao..." Ye Li hesitantly stammered his name, her hand reaching for his back, instantly feeling the dampness of blood.
Mo Xiuyao helplessly collapsed beside her and smiled faintly. "It’s nothing..."
"Your Highness!" Ah-Jin rushed over to help Mo Xiuyao up. Mo Xiuyao, his face as white as a sheet, furrowed his brow and said, "I’m fine. Check if there are any survivors."
Ye Li sat up and glanced ahead. The person who had shot the sleeve arrow at her now lay dead, her dagger embedded in their heart. That person... was indeed the one she had knocked unconscious earlier, who had unexpectedly regained consciousness at some point. She laughed bitterly in her heart. Has being away from the battlefield for so long made me forget what it means to be vigilant? In this kind of slaughter, she had actually left several of them alive. No... in reality, besides this last person, she hadn’t killed any of them. If these men were to awaken at some unknown time... A chill ran down her spine.
A large, warm hand covered hers. Mo Xiuyao looked at her and smiled gently. "Ah-Li, I’m fine."
Ye Li bit her lip and said resentfully, "You’re injured and still say it’s fine? What will it take for you to admit you’re not?" Letting Ah-Jin support Mo Xiuyao, Ye Li rose, retrieved her dagger, wiped it clean, then tore open the back of his clothes to inspect the wound. The blood flowing out was a normal color, indicating the arrow likely wasn’t poisoned, and she breathed a slight sigh of relief. She heard Mo Xiuyao whisper, "If I’m not dead, then I’m fine."
Ye Li gritted her teeth and waved for Ah-Jin and the others to take him back to Wuyue Nunnery. Without her needing to command, a hidden guard had already flown off, presumably to summon a doctor.
Upon arriving back at Wuyue Nunnery, it was just as Mo Xiuyao had said; there were no signs of assassins having disturbed anything. Ms. Wen, having received the news, was already waiting for them at the entrance. As soon as their party returned, she immediately ushered them into a prepared guest room. Although Mo Xiuyao’s wound didn’t look too severe at the moment, Ye Li had already inspected the assassin’s sleeve arrows and knew they were all barbed. One could only imagine how bloody the removal process would be. Worried that Ms. Wen would be frightened, Ye Li asked her to go back to her room and rest first. Ms. Wen looked at her, still with a worried expression, and went to prepare food for them.
Mo Xiuyao sat on the bed, occasionally furrowing his eyebrows due to the pain from the wound on his back. Ye Li anxiously asked, "Is it very painful? The doctor will be here soon."
Mo Xiuyao gave a rueful smile. "Even if the doctor comes, he’ll just remove the arrow. Just let Ah-Jin do it. He should be more proficient than those doctors."
Ye Li frowned, turning her head to look at Ah-Jin. "Can he remove the arrow? This sleeve arrow is barbed." If it were an ordinary arrow and hadn’t hit a vital spot, it could simply be pulled out. However, a barbed arrow was extremely difficult to remove; if pulled out forcefully, it would likely tear off a large piece of flesh. Ah-Jin solemnly shook his head.
Mo Xiuyao said helplessly, "It would’ve saved a lot of trouble if it had gone straight through."
Ye Li gave him a cold look, unable to resist a sarcastic remark. "If it had been two inches lower and gone straight through, it really would have saved a lot of trouble."
"Ah-Li... are you angry?" Mo Xiuyao sighed, his gaze gentle as he looked at her, as if he weren’t the one with an arrow still lodged in his back.
"I! ..." Ye Li lowered her head in frustration. After a long pause, she calmed down and said, "Sorry, I’m angry at myself." If she hadn’t been careless and underestimated the enemy, if she hadn’t been lost in thought, Mo Xiuyao wouldn’t have been injured. After so many years of peaceful life, her vigilance had actually deteriorated to such an extent. If this had been her on a former battlefield, she would have died seventeen or eighteen times over by now.
The doctor indeed arrived quickly, because he had been brought over by someone grabbing his collar. This doctor possessed considerable courage; despite being rushed all the way here while being held by the collar, he was still able to examine Mo Xiuyao’s injuries with an unchanged expression after being set down. After examining the wound and looking at the sleeve arrow Ye Li had brought back for a long time, the doctor finally spoke. "Either I use a knife to cut open the wound and take out the arrow, or... push it in a bit further and extract it from the chest. What do you gentlemen think?"
"The latter, I suppose."
"Take it out from the front."
Ye Li and Mo Xiuyao spoke simultaneously, then couldn’t help but glance at each other. Ye Li nonchalantly averted her gaze and asked, "Doctor, what do you think?"
The doctor nodded in satisfaction. "Both of your choices are very wise. Taking the arrow out this way seems very painful, but it only hurts for a moment. Slowly cutting open the flesh with a knife, however, is a slow torment, and it heals slower too."
"Doctor, you seem very skilled with this kind of arrow wound?" Ye Li asked, supporting Mo Xiuyao while watching the doctor expertly make preparations.
The doctor replied without looking up, "I used to be a military doctor."
So that’s how it is.
Watching the doctor clean the arrow shaft and then, without the slightest hesitation, grip the end of the arrow and push it forward, Mo Xiuyao’s body tensed instantly, his hand gripping Ye Li’s arm tightly. Ye Li supported him without a word, watching as the doctor looped a sturdy cord around the now-exposed barbed arrowhead and pulled forcefully outward. A spray of blood spurted out, and the entire sleeve arrow immediately left Mo Xiuyao’s chest. The doctor took the strong liquor passed from the side to clean his wound, then skillfully applied medicine and bandaged it with white cloth. Wiping the sweat from his brow, he finally said, "Alright, it didn’t hit any vital organs or bones. Change the dressing once a day, rest and recuperate, and it will be fine."
Ye Li looked at the basin of water nearby, already stained red with blood, and the pile of bloody gauze on the floor, then asked, "Does he need to take any medicine? Something to replenish blood, for example?"
The doctor pursed his lips disdainfully. "The Prince is still young and in good health; he just needs to recuperate. If Your Highness the Princess Consort is truly worried, you can stew some Siwu Tang, Danggui Blood-Enriching Soup, or Red Date Soup."
Seeing the doctor leave confidently with his medicine chest after handing her a few poultices for external use, Ye Li felt a little embarrassed. Why did it seem like those soups the doctor mentioned were for women? "This doctor... has quite a personality."
Mo Xiuyao smiled faintly. "That’s our mansion’s dedicated doctor. He used to be a military doctor for the Black Cloud Cavalry."
Mo Xiuyao was injured, so Ms. Wen wanted the two of them to stay at Wuyue Nunnery to recuperate until he was better before returning to the Capital City. However, Mo Xiuyao declined, and Ye Li did not object. Since those assassins dared to brazenly attempt to assassinate Mo Xiuyao near the Capital City, they certainly wouldn’t give up after failing once. Since Ms. Wen had already decided to disregard worldly affairs, their staying here would only bring her unnecessary danger. When the hidden guards sent from Prince Ding’s Mansion arrived, Mo Xiuyao left a portion of them to protect Ms. Wen and then returned to the Capital City with Ye Li.
The Prince of Ding Kingdom sustaining serious injuries near the Capital City was naturally no small matter. However, Mo Xiuyao seemed to have ordered the news to be suppressed. Upon their return to the Capital City, the nobles in the Capital City seemed unaware that Mo Xiuyao was injured. In any case, Mo Xiuyao wasn’t required to attend court daily like others, so he spent his leisure time recuperating at home. However, one thing caused the couple considerable helplessness. As soon as they returned to the mansion, Nanny Sun, citing the need for someone to personally attend to the Prince’s injuries, had Mo Xiuyao directly moved into Ye Li’s courtyard. Nanny Lin, Nanny Wei, and Steward-in-Chief Mo naturally welcomed this development, enthusiastically directing the servants to move Mo Xiuyao’s belongings into the new room as well. Their joyful appearance made it seem as if they had completely forgotten that their master had just been seriously injured in an assassination attempt.
Due to the united efforts of everyone in the mansion, Ye Li had to take on the task of changing Mo Xiuyao’s dressing every day. Even though Ye Li had once been a soldier who had faced life and death situations, seeing the scars on Mo Xiuyao’s body still struck her as shocking. Merely the knife and sword wounds on his chest and back, along with various other scars, made it hard to connect this body with Mo Xiuyao’s outwardly gentle and scholarly image. Ye Li finally began to understand what Mo Xiuyao meant by "If I’m not dead, then I’m fine." To have survived such grievous injuries, he must have experienced an escape from death that ordinary people couldn’t imagine. Every time she applied medicine, looking at the man before her who smiled calmly at her, Ye Li couldn’t help but feel a faint, throbbing pain in her heart. However, she wasn’t one to dwell on things. She quickly attributed this unusual feeling to the fact that Mo Xiuyao was injured because of her, and quickly threw herself into the process of compensating and correcting it.
Ye Li declined Mo Xiuyao’s earlier suggestion to hire a highly skilled sword master for her. Instead, she dedicated all her time, apart from managing the mansion’s affairs and caring for Mo Xiuyao, to the secluded training ground within the mansion. She focused very specifically on training her strength and speed. Concurrently, she practiced a certain internal energy cultivation method recommended by Mo Xiuyao. But Ye Li knew that internal energy cultivation was not something that could be accomplished overnight. As for the rumors that cultivating internal energy to its peak could allow one to split mountains and shatter stones, Ye Li was unconvinced. Why would I need to use my own hands to split mountains and shatter stones? If she could regain her peak physical condition, she could break a person’s bones with a single punch even without internal energy. What satisfied Ye Li was that this body had excellent potential. In Mo Xiuyao’s words, she was good material for practicing martial arts.
Thus, Ye Li spent most of her time each day on the training ground. She had modified the mansion’s original training ground considerably. Fortunately, since only she and Mo Xiuyao used it, Mo Xiuyao didn’t concern himself with how she changed it or how she practiced. Occasionally, when he had nothing else to do, he would come to the edge of the training ground to watch her train. On the other hand, Ah-Jin had been unable to forget Ye Li’s combat skills ever since witnessing them. Every time he was with Mo Xiuyao, he would blink his eyes, gazing at Ye Li and at Qingshuang and Qingluan who trained with her, practically on the verge of begging Princess Consort Ding to accept him as a disciple.
Mo Xiuyao also had a military background. Initially, he didn’t see much benefit in Ye Li’s training methods, but as days passed, he naturally began to see the intricacies. Seeing Ah-Jin looking pitifully towards the three slender figures on the training ground from time to time, Mo Xiuyao couldn’t help but speak up for him.
Ye Li merely smiled and said, "Right now, I’m just doing restorative training. The important thing is to build strength, speed, and endurance; there’s no particular secret to it. It’s just that Ah-Jin is by your side every day and doesn’t have that much time."
The word ’restorative’ made Mo Xiuyao raise an eyebrow slightly. He smiled faintly, "Ah-Li, do you think that after such training, you can contend with martial arts experts?"
Ye Li shrugged helplessly, taking the towel Mo Xiuyao handed her to wipe her sweat. "Each has its strengths and weaknesses. The important thing about my method is that it takes less time and doesn’t have such high requirements for a person’s aptitude or comprehension. Take the internal energy cultivation method you gave me, for example. Disregarding aptitude and comprehension, even if I trained for twenty hours a day, how long would it take to achieve any significant results?"
Mo Xiuyao looked thoughtful. Ye Li smiled at him and said, "My training might not produce martial arts experts who can scale walls and walk on rooftops, but at most, within a year, it can bring a healthy person’s physical condition to its peak. If specific skills are then trained with focus... a martial arts expert still only has one life."
Mo Xiuyao understood. There were many people in good physical health, but not many martial arts experts. So, not every healthy person could become an expert. Ye Li was clearly planning to take a different path, bypassing internal martial arts to make people strong in another way.
"Ah-Li’s ideas are very unique. I look forward to Ah-Li’s results," Mo Xiuyao said with a smile.
"Thank you," Ye Li replied, also smiling. She didn’t mind revealing some things to Mo Xiuyao, because only he could provide her with what she needed.
Within the entire mansion, the only two dissatisfied with Ye Li’s obsession with martial arts were Nanny Lin and Nanny Wei. Apparently, the two nannies couldn’t understand why their formerly refined and gentle young lady had suddenly taken a liking to wielding weapons after marrying into the King of Ding Kingdom’s Mansion. They even tried devious ways to persuade Ye Li that a woman should prioritize gentleness and tranquility, that being too formidable would displease the Prince, and so on. Bothered by their nagging, Ye Li would want to turn and flee the moment she heard their voices. Mo Xiuyao merely watched this with amusement, saying nothing and letting Ye Li be bombarded by the two nannies.
"Prince, Princess Consort. An invitation has arrived from Prince Li’s Mansion," Steward-in-Chief Mo personally delivered a large, red wedding invitation adorned with gold-etched dragons and phoenixes symbolizing auspiciousness. Ye Li took it, raising an eyebrow. "Prince Li is welcoming Princess Ling Yun as his consort?"
Steward-in-Chief Mo was well aware that the current Princess Consort Li was his own Princess Consort’s biological younger sister. He explained, "The invitation from Prince Li’s Mansion states it is to marry Princess Ling Yun as Consort Ping."
These past few days, Ye Li had been busy with Mo Xiuyao’s injury and her own affairs, so she hadn’t paid attention to matters irrelevant to her. She had almost forgotten about the marriages of Princess Ling Yun and Princess Qixia. Curious, she asked, "Then... has Princess Qixia truly entered the palace?"
Steward-in-Chief Mo reported, "Princess Qixia is currently still residing at the Eldest Princess’ Mansion in Zhaoyang. It seems the Emperor and the Empress Dowager intend to choose an auspicious day in August to welcome Princess Qixia into the palace. However, her title has already been conferred; the Emperor has already enfeoffed Princess Qixia as Consort Xia. As for Princess Ling Yun, because the Heir of Southern Garrison Prince was about to set off back to Xiling, her wedding was arranged rather hastily." What Steward-in-Chief Mo didn’t say was that although Princess Ling Yun was to be a Consort Ping, a Consort Ping was ultimately different from a primary Princess Consort, so naturally, her wedding wouldn’t require as many preparations.
"When is the wedding banquet set for?" Mo Xiuyao asked.
"Three days from now."
Mo Xiuyao nodded. "Understood. Steward-in-Chief, go prepare a wedding gift on behalf of myself and the Princess Consort."
Steward-in-Chief Mo hesitated. "Does Your Highness intend to attend the wedding? Your Highness was just assassinated; it’s somewhat worrying for you to go out to attend a wedding." 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞
Mo Xiuyao smiled faintly. "We can’t just stop going out because of this small matter, can we? Go and prepare."
"Yes." Steward-in-Chief Mo quickly assented and departed. He not only had to prepare Prince Li’s wedding gift but also meticulously arrange the guards and hidden guards around the Prince and Princess Consort to ensure absolute safety.
Watching Steward-in-Chief Mo hurry away, Ye Li sighed helplessly and looked at Mo Xiuyao. "I don’t know why, but I have a feeling that the peaceful days are about to end again."
Mo Xiuyao raised an eyebrow and asked, "Do you like peaceful days?"
Ye Li nodded. "It would be best to live a peaceful and tranquil life, smoothly reaching old age, and then passing away peacefully in bed without regrets."
Mo Xiuyao shook his head. "If that’s the case, why still practice martial arts?" Mo Xiuyao always felt that Ye Li was an extremely contradictory person. Although she presented herself as an elegant and serene lady from a noble family, his first impression of her was different from that of an ordinary noble lady. At times, she even seemed more like a general’s daughter than Murong Ting did. The sharpness that occasionally flashed in her eyes was not something an ordinary woman could display.
Ye Li sighed. "Just consider it my preference to be prepared for danger even in times of peace." Even though she kept telling herself she wanted to live peacefully like a noble lady, Ye Li knew in her heart that it was impossible for her to completely entrust her life to someone else’s control, like Ms. Wen did. She could make concessions regarding her father’s differential treatment, the cumbersome rules she wasn’t accustomed to, and even her marriage. But she could never compromise on the essence of who Ye Li was. She could not allow herself to truly become a weak woman who knew nothing, relied on others for everything, and lacked even the strength to protect herself. There were many things she prepared that she might never use in her lifetime, but she would rather have them sit there unused forever than to one day find herself needing them and not having them.
"If Ah-Li doesn’t like those trivial external matters, you don’t have to bother with them," Mo Xiuyao said. "There will naturally be people below to manage them. Besides... the King of Ding Kingdom’s Mansion doesn’t require too many social exchanges."
Ye Li understood. The quiescence of the King of Ding Kingdom’s Mansion these past many years was exactly what the one in the palace desired. These years, he has been slowly suppressing the prestige of the King of Ding Kingdom’s Mansion in Great Chu. If she, the newly appointed Princess Consort Ding, were too active now, it would instead arouse the Emperor’s vigilance. Thinking of this, a sudden insight flashed through Ye Li’s mind. She looked up sharply at Mo Xiuyao. "Why did Nanzhao and Xiling suddenly seek marriage alliances with Great Chu?" The reasons she had given Princess Ling Yun before were merely to fool a child. Xiling and Great Chu seemed like fated rivals; it was already commendable that Great Chu didn’t take advantage of Xiling’s disasters. How could a mere princess offered in marriage resolve such issues?
Mo Xiuyao’s eyes flickered slightly. He said faintly, "Nanzhao was just incidental. The one truly wanting a marriage alliance with Great Chu is Xiling."
Ye Li lowered her gaze, her thoughts racing, yet for a moment, she couldn’t grasp any clear thread. After a long while, she looked up and asked, "If Great Chu goes to war again, what will happen to the King of Ding Kingdom’s Mansion?"
Mo Xiuyao was startled. A trace of imperceptible sorrow crossed his eyes. After a long pause, he said gravely, "The King of Ding Kingdom’s Mansion no longer has anyone capable of going to war. Within five years, the centuries-old prestige of the King of Ding Kingdom’s Mansion will inevitably be obliterated." The common people are always forgetful. Even if the King of Ding Kingdom’s Mansion once protected Great Chu for over a hundred years, even if the King of Ding Kingdom’s Mansion was like a god of war in their eyes, once war erupted again and the King of Ding Kingdom’s Mansion was powerless, they would no longer remember its former glory, only its incompetence. However... the King of Ding Kingdom’s Mansion could not blame them, because they were not wrong.
"Beirong..." In the study, after a long silence, Ye Li’s voice sounded softly. Looking at Mo Xiuyao’s expressionless face, she sighed under her breath. Isn’t it good for everyone to live peacefully when the world is at peace? Why drag the common people into the merciless fires of war for completely unnecessary reasons? Ye Li felt she could never understand the thinking of those in power.
Ye Li suddenly felt this man was very pitiful. He should have been spirited and commanding, like his ancestors, shaping the world with heroic flair for a lifetime. But he had to rally the collapsing situation as a mere youth when his elder brother died suddenly. By the age of eighteen, he had already given everything he could, just to preserve the centuries-old, unwavering prestige of the King of Ding Kingdom’s Mansion. After losing his healthy body and handsome face, he still had to cautiously face scrutiny and schemes from all sides, as well as assassinations that could come at any time. Intelligent as he was, he had perhaps long seen the future of the King of Ding Kingdom’s Mansion; it was just that he was unwilling, and unable, to concede defeat.
"Can... we retreat?" Ye Li asked, but the moment the words left her mouth, she regretted her naivety. Throughout history, how many of those whose great achievements threatened their rulers were able to retreat unscathed?
Mo Xiuyao said faintly, "Mo Xiuyao can retreat, but where can the eight hundred thousand Mo Family Army and the fifty thousand Black Cloud Cavalry retreat?"
Ye Li was silent. The people of the Mo Family, as intelligent as the former Regent Prince Mo Liufang, and even the masters of the Mo Family from previous generations, would not be dumber than she was. The masters of the King of Ding Kingdom’s Mansion were few and could indeed leave; the world was vast, where could they not go? But the hundreds of thousands of soldiers loyal to the Mo Family, loyal to the King of Ding Kingdom’s Mansion, could not leave so easily. When Great Chu was in difficulty, they were needed. When the land was pacified, every one of them became a thorn in the Emperor’s side. Once the masters of the King of Ding Kingdom’s Mansion left, the best outcome they faced was being disbanded and suppressed, while a worse outcome was something no one dared to imagine. In the eyes of an emperor, hundreds of thousands of troops are sometimes worth less than a chess piece in hand.
"If Beirong truly reignites the flames of war, what do you intend to do?" Ye Li asked.
Mo Xiuyao looked at her and said calmly, "Lead the troops to battle. Ah-Li, when the time comes, I will send you to Yunzhou. With Mr. Qingyun there, no one will dare to do anything to you. If I... the imperial family will be even less likely to touch you."
Ye Li frowned, suddenly finding it somewhat absurd. Weren’t they just discussing Mo Jingli marrying a Consort Ping? Why had they suddenly jumped to such a topic? Clearly... clearly, these things weren’t even on the horizon yet. But the faint unease in her heart told her that their recent conversation wasn’t just a figment of her imagination due to a sudden whim; even if she had a whim, Mo Xiuyao wouldn’t have one along with her.
Turning her face away, ignoring Mo Xiuyao’s words, Ye Li nonchalantly changed the subject. "Prince Li is going to marry a Consort Ping. Should I make a trip back to the Ye Family?"
Ye Li didn’t even need to consider it; before noon, a steward came to report that Old Madam Ye requested Princess Consort Ding to return to the Ye Family for a discussion.
Upon returning to the Ye Mansion, Ye Li was directly invited into Old Madam Ye’s courtyard. As she stepped into Rongle Hall, the first things she saw were Ye Ying’s eyes, red and swollen from crying, and Ms. Wang’s furious shrieks. Old Madam Ye and Minister Ye were also sitting with somber expressions. Ye Li pursed her lips, somewhat understanding what was happening. "Grandmother, Father."
"Li’er..." Old Madam Ye’s eyes lit up when she saw Ye Li enter, and she quickly beckoned Ye Li forward. Ye Li’s mouth twitched slightly, thinking silently. Surely the Old Madam doesn’t think I can manage something like an imperial marriage decree? As Princess Consort Ding, never mind Prince Li marrying a princess, even if he were to take a concubine, I wouldn’t be able to interfere! "Li’er, you’re finally back! Look at your sister... Ying’er’s fate is truly bitter..."
Ye Li walked forward, glanced at Ye Ying who was sobbing pitifully in Ms. Wang’s embrace, and sat down beside Old Madam Ye. "What’s wrong with Fourth Sister?"
Old Madam Ye said anxiously, "Ying’er has been married for less than a month, and Prince Li is already going to marry a Consort Ping! Where does this leave the dignity of our Minister’s Mansion? How is your sister supposed to live in the future?"
Ye Li nodded. "Our Prince also received an invitation from Prince Li’s Mansion just now. At a time like this, shouldn’t Fourth Sister be in Prince Li’s Mansion presiding over matters instead of running back here?"
Ms. Wang’s eyes widened, and she shrieked resentfully, "What did you say?! Ying’er is in this state, and you’re still blaming her for coming home? Ye Li, are you even human? Husband, look..."
"Shut up!" Old Madam Ye glared at Ms. Wang and rebuked angrily. "Li’er is right! I, this old woman, have been talking to you all for half a day, and you’ve clearly let it go in one ear and out the other! Prince Li’s Mansion is currently busy with wedding preparations. If Ying’er, the primary Princess Consort, doesn’t show up to take charge, what will others think?"
Ms. Wang said discontentedly, "It’s Prince Li who has wronged Ying’er, yet Ying’er still has to manage the wedding for him? Is there any justice in this world?"
Old Madam Ye sneered. "The Emperor’s words are heavenly law! You were also present that night when the marriage was decreed; why didn’t you step out and defy the decree then? Stop giving Ying’er those rotten ideas."
Ye Ying’s mind was still preoccupied with her conversation with Mo Xiuyao that morning; how could she be in the mood to listen to them talk about this? She patiently tried to console Ye Ying a few times, but Ye Ying was unappreciative. Clinging to Ms. Wang, she sobbed, "SOB... Father, it’s all your fault! Why did you insist on me marrying Prince Li back then? If not for that, how would Daughter have suffered today’s grievance... This was originally supposed to be hers..."
"Ying’er!" Minister Ye roared under his breath, his face dark as he glared at Ye Ying. His unprecedentedly gloomy expression made Ye Ying instinctively shrink into Ms. Wang’s embrace, sobbing wretchedly. Ye Li silently lowered her eyes, subtly concealing the ripple of emotion in them. So, Ye Ying getting involved with Mo Jingli wasn’t her own idea at first? Then... what did Father mean by having one of his daughters seduce another daughter’s fiancé?
"Alright, it’s already like this. What’s the use of saying these things now?" Minister Ye waved his hand impatiently and looked at Ye Li. "Li’er, what do you think about this?"
Ye Li suppressed the questions in her heart, raised her head, and said calmly, "The Emperor’s command is hard to defy. Moreover, as this concerns diplomatic relations between two countries, I’m afraid there’s no room for discussion."
Minister Ye frowned. "Are we just going to let it be? If it were someone of low status, that would be one thing, but that is a princess of Xiling Kingdom."
Ye Li smiled faintly. "Isn’t it precisely because she is a princess of Xiling that there’s no need to worry, Father?"
Minister Ye pondered for a moment, and his brow gradually smoothed out. "That’s right. Prince Li’s future heir can absolutely not have the imperial bloodline of Xiling. Moreover, after Princess Ling Yun’s display in the imperial palace that day, Prince Li probably harbors some resentment towards her in his heart. As long as Ying’er can firmly grasp the power within the mansion, she doesn’t need to worry about a princess married for alliance."
"If Fourth Sister wants to gain a firm foothold in the mansion, I’m afraid she’ll have to start with Grand Consort Wise Zhao," Ye Li said softly.
"What?" Ye Ying couldn’t help but scream. "That old hag has always disliked me, and you want me to go and flatter her? She’s always trying to find ways to torture me! I..."
Ye Li frowned and interrupted her. "Grand Consort Wise Zhao is Prince Li’s biological aunt and the Empress Dowager’s younger sister. If you don’t want to flatter her, plenty of others do. Besides, I’m not asking you to flatter her. You just need to ensure she can’t find fault with you; it would be best if you could make her feel that you are a Princess Consort who satisfies her." Grand Consort Wise Zhao had lived in the depths of the palace for decades; she was hardly easy to flatter. It was more likely that trying to curry favor would backfire spectacularly.
Ye Ying said resentfully, "Ever since our wedding, she has been constantly finding fault with me. Whatever I do, this is wrong, that is wrong! How can I possibly satisfy her?"
"If she finds trouble with you, endure it. When you have time, properly consult Grandmother on how to be a virtuous and supportive wife. You are Zhaoyi’s sister, the daughter of the Minister’s Mansion, and you hold the title of the primary Princess Consort. Your advantages far outweigh those of Princess Ling Yun, a princess from another country married from afar. If you can’t even do that, then just pack your things and come back to the Minister’s Mansion. I’m sure Father and Mother wouldn’t mind supporting you for the rest of your life."
"You!" Ye Ying instantly forgot her grievances and distress, her small face flushed red with anger, her watery eyes glaring at Ye Li as if spitting fire. She sneered sarcastically, "That’s right. If you weren’t capable of enduring, you would have run back to the Minister’s Mansion crying by now. No... if I were you, I would have just hanged myself with a rope before the wedding even happened."
Ye Li couldn’t be bothered to argue with her. She calmly put down her teacup, glanced at Ye Ying, and said, "If you have the energy to throw a tantrum at me, you’d be better off going back early and doing what you’re supposed to do."
Ye Ying wanted to retort, but Old Madam Ye slammed the table. "Ying’er, have you made enough of a scene? Learn properly from your Third Sister! Look at what you’ve become!"
Ye Ying was stunned for a moment. Remembering her own situation, sorrow welled up from within, and she started crying again, wiping her tears. "What can I become? Whose fault is it that I’m like this now? Who knows how many people in the Capital City are secretly laughing at me right now! SOB... How could His Highness Prince Li treat me like this... What did I do wrong?"
Old Madam Ye’s head throbbed from her crying. She said irritably, "Enough! What’s the use of crying? All you do is cry all day! You’re already married; do you still think you’re at home where you can act according to your whims? Someone, send people to invite Prince Li to escort the Fourth Miss back."
"Grandmother."
Ye Li stopped her. "Since Fourth Sister has returned, it won’t hurt for her to stay a little longer. Prince Li should come personally to pick her up. If we send someone to invite Prince Li now, we would appear to be at a disadvantage."
Minister Ye looked at Ye Li with approval. "Mother, Li’er is right."
Old Madam Ye pressed her temples and sighed. "I’m about to be driven mad by her."
"Old Madam, Minister, Madam, Prince Li has arrived," the steward outside the door reported.
