Chapter 316: Eight Hundred Schemes
The rumors that Madam Meng rivaled Daji were completely confirmed after her trip to the palace.
She entered the palace as Madam Meng.
But when the Emperor saw her, being a monarch who loved beauty, he was struck by her celestial appearance.
He immediately conferred upon Madam Meng the title of Princess Caiyi.
It was said that Madam Meng wore brightly colored clothing that day; the Emperor was so dazzled at first glance that he could barely open his eyes to see her clearly.
Upon seeing her in person, the Emperor, disregarding the fact that she was his married grand-niece, was greatly pleased and granted her the title of Princess Caiyi.
It was the kind with a fief and a stipend. One must know that in the imperial court, no such title had been granted for over a decade.
Suddenly, clothing shops in the capital began offering all sorts of brightly colored garments.
Even custom-made clothes for nobles had to include an extra colorful ribbon, or have colorful cuffs or collars; everyone showed off their own methods, just to add a splash of color.
Some people asked Consort Zhang if Princess Caiyi was truly exceptionally beautiful, enough to make one fall in love at first sight.
Consort Zhang simply smiled and tacitly agreed.
Gossip claimed that Consort Zhang and Princess Huiyun were at odds, so if even Consort Zhang acknowledged the beauty of Princess Caiyi, then it must be true.
Suddenly, the price of brightly colored fabrics skyrocketed.
When the Jiang Changtian family heard this news, they were all a bit dumbfounded.
Was this really about Sister Yu?
No wonder they say rumors are unreliable.
Sister Yu was the most honest child in the whole family, yet they rumored her to have eight hundred schemes. It was even heard that people were selling courses outside; a book titled “The Biography of Princess Caiyi” had already appeared, and there were allegedly private tutoring sessions—one-on-one, specialized, high-level domestic intrigue lessons taught by old nannies in small groups—and a single class cost a fortune.
Mianmian even considered going to earn this money. Who said the ancients had no business acumen? They were very much keeping up with the times.
The Jiang Family felt that with Sister Yu, it would be good if she even had eight schemes.
And of those eight, five would likely be related to food.
The Emperor conferring the title of Princess Caiyi was surely just to appease the Meng Family.
What did that have to do with schemes?
Forget it, let them spread their rumors.
Jiang Changtian thought it was quite good; one should either be fierce or pretend to be fierce to avoid being bullied.
A place like the capital was where people bullied the weak and feared the strong. Even if you were a little white rabbit, you had to bare your teeth and act fierce.
Shaoxia and Feng Ge’er had both gone to war.
Life still had to go on.
The hundred-day banquet for the Meng Family’s two chubby boys was cancelled. Originally, people in the capital were looking forward to the appearance of Princess Caiyi, but now they would likely have to wait for the first birthday banquet.
Jiang Wan had not expected that her grandmother would die.
She didn’t get to wait for rumors about the unfilial nature of Jiang the Second’s family. After all, no matter how wrong her grandmother was, she had raised Jiang the Second.
Instead, she was met with the hot legends of Princess Caiyi.
Jiang Wan was furious.
It was like a fishbone stuck in her throat.
If it were any other noble lady, she might have let it go.
But for someone like Jiang Yu, why?
With her brain, if she didn’t have her father and brother protecting her, and hadn’t found a good husband, how could she live such a good life?
Moreover, the more outstanding she became, the more people would remember that Fairy Liu had once cursed the Meng Family with having no heirs, yet they had given birth to twins.
Fortunately, her aunt finally agreed to her marriage with Chu Xi.
Living life again, at least she was marrying her cousin properly.
However, they were currently in the midst of her grandmother’s funeral; once the mourning period was over, they could get married.
So this time, Jiang Wan completely rejected all those ambiguous figures from her past.
The Qingqing that Liu Tong had been pining for had actually moved into the Seventh Princes Mansion. Back then, Qingqing had sworn that they were just brother and sister, yet now, they were actually…
Liu Tong was heartbroken, like a walking corpse, living in a half-dead state at home.
But the Liu family was not left in peace either; Censor He had his eyes on them.
And Lu Jiuzhang, the youngest son of Prime Minister Lu, who had once fought with Liu Tong out of jealousy over Fairy Liu, was now in prison. Fairy Liu had never come out to see him from beginning to end, but he had seen Fairy Liu.
Fairy Liu had gone to the prison to see her grandmother and passed by.
There was no eye contact, nothing else; she just passed by.
Prime Minister Lu had never expected that his whole family was not sentenced to extermination of the nine clans because of his hated rival, Censor He.
Those subordinates who usually groveled before Prime Minister Lu were the ones who most wanted him dead.
Yet, at this moment, Censor He was still able to handle the case impartially.
Those who deserved to die died; those who didn’t were spared.
Life is like a play; only after the curtains fall does one know who is the actor, who is the spectator, and who is the boss.
Lu Jiuzhang, Prime Minister Lu’s youngest son, was released because he was a dissolute playboy—too stupid to have participated in the family’s power schemes.
After this great disaster, Lu Jiuzhang left the capital, his whereabouts unknown.
A cunning rabbit has three burrows.
Although Prime Minister Lu was sentenced to death, he might still have contingency plans.
Coincidentally, when the Lu faction was interrogated, they revealed that they had planned to frame the Sixth Prince.
Upon learning this, the Sixth Prince went to the palace and wept bitterly.
The father and son poured out their hearts; it was very touching.
For a time, the support for the Sixth Prince quietly rose again.
The Seventh Prince remained still, biding his time.
He hadn’t expected that Jiang the Second was actually the biological son of Princess Huiyun. Their feud with Jiang the Second had already been established and was irreconcilable.
The Seventh Prince now felt a bit of regret; Jiang the Second had such a charmed life—he had even sent people specifically to kill him, but they hadn’t succeeded.
The Heir Chu Xi was a bit worried, “Father, Jiang the Second is the son of Great-Aunt Princess Huiyun, wouldn’t he be even more favored by the Emperor?”
The Seventh Prince shook his head: “The Emperor extremely detests Buddhism and Taoism because he detests Master Jingjue, so he may not necessarily like Jiang the Second. Just you wait and see.”
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