tallest building

Chapter 258 Shows Even More Goodwill

Princess Zhao ate a meal in the Empress's palace without tasting anything, and then returned home.

The servants quickly came forward to remove her outer clothes, and Princess Zhao asked, "Isn't the Prince at home?"

"The Prince didn't leave the manor today; he's in Consort Lan's room," the maid hurriedly said.

"I knew it," Princess Zhao muttered, clearly dissatisfied.

However, she had just loosened her clothes and taken a sip of tea when King Zhao walked in.

“You certainly have the leisure to do this,” Princess Zhao couldn’t help but mock. “My heart has been on a hot plate all day.”

"What's wrong? Why are you so unhappy after coming to the palace?" King Zhao hurriedly stepped forward and asked.

"What else can you do? Didn't you say the other day that you'd use the Liu family's matter to give Prince Chu a warning? I met Princess Chu in the palace today, and she was so arrogant, completely disregarding me. I see your warning is completely useless." Princess Zhao vented all the anger she had suffered in the palace that day. "Now that they have powerful backers in the palace, Princess Duanmin invited everyone except Tong'er to her place for roast meat. Isn't that just too much of a bully?"

King Zhao remained silent, listening as she recounted the entire story in detail, before finally asking, "What does Her Majesty the Empress say?"

"Her Majesty the Empress doesn't take it to heart, she just said she'll make the decision," said Princess Zhao. "You know my sister's temper, she's always a woman of her word. If we say too much, it might backfire."

"Has the King of Chu lost his mind?" King Zhao thought for a moment and said, "Well, they say once the arrow is released, there's no turning back. Tomorrow I'll have someone impeach him in court. The truth will out. The Liu family is still putting on a show. If we really teach them a lesson, they won't be able to hold out."

"In my opinion, there was no need to show any mercy from the beginning," Princess Zhao snorted. "It's been said long ago that one shouldn't let others sleep soundly beside one's bed. If their family hadn't been so subservient before, why would we have had to wait until today?"

King Zhao then arranged for someone to meet with King Chu at the morning court the next day. Of course, he himself would not appear in person, because it was not yet time to do so.

The Emperor and the Prince of Fenye returned to the palace at dusk, naturally with a full load of goods.

In the evening, they simply lit a bonfire in the open space of the palace and, imitating the way wild game is roasted on the grasslands, slaughtered and cleaned whole gazelles and roe deer and roasted them over the fire.

People in the palace found it novel, and many came over to watch the spectacle.

Princess Duanmin refused to go and sent away all the servants who were attending to her: "I hate this the most. You don't know, those Manchus sing and dance around the bonfire until midnight. That's not all. They always get drunk and vomit everywhere. So every time they do this, I stay in the yurt by myself and refuse to be with them."

She was talking to the eldest princess when Wen Mingqian came in carrying a censer of incense.

"How are they now? Have the smells on them gotten rid of almost completely?" Princess Duanmin asked as soon as she saw her.

“We’re already just like the Han Chinese,” Wen Mingqian said, putting down the incense burner. “Young girls only need to avoid eating fishy or muttony foods for a month, and then take a bath with herbs and drink fragrant tea, and their body odor will naturally disappear.”

“That would be perfect,” Princess Duanmin said, delighted. “Thanks to you, your things are just right for them.”

It turns out that Princess Duanmin brought a pair of twin sisters from the grasslands. They were not only exceptionally beautiful, but also skilled in singing and dancing.

However, because they grew up on the grasslands and ate beef and mutton year-round, their body odor was much stronger than that of Han Chinese.

Princess Duanmin had previously sent people to the capital to present beauties to the emperor, but the empress returned them all on the grounds that their body odor was too strong to serve the emperor.

This time she brought two more, intending to present them to the Emperor on his birthday. The eldest princess then reminded her that to achieve her goal, she would have to thoroughly remove their body odor.

Wen Mingqian is skilled in making incense, so it's natural that she would be very adept at this task.

However, the Empress must not know about this, otherwise Wen Mingqian will surely lose her trust.

"I've been here a while, so I have to hurry and leave," Wen Mingqian said.

“Go ahead! Chang’an and the others have probably all gone ahead to check on the bonfire. Although I’ve already told the people following them to be careful, if you have nothing else to do, you might as well go and take a look,” the princess said to her.

Wen Mingqian agreed and went.

Only Princess Duanmin and the Eldest Princess remained in the room. Princess Duanmin stirred the incense ash in the incense burner and said, "A few days ago, I asked you why Wen Mingqian entered the palace. You told me to guess. But I guessed a few wrong. Now I'll guess one more."

The eldest princess smiled and said, "Alright, then guess."

"I think that for her own sake, entering the palace was not the best choice. She would be more comfortable outside than in the palace, but she still went to the palace. She must have something very important to do, and it is something that can only be done by staying by the Empress's side."

"Does she have been wronged in some way? And this injustice is difficult to redress by ordinary means; it requires an imperial decree." Princess Duanmin had been pondering this question repeatedly these past few days.

She had previously wondered if Wen Mingqian had entered the palace so that her two elder brothers could advance in their careers.

After all, she was already divorced, and the only people she could rely on were her family members, but none of them lived in the capital.

But the eldest princess said no.

Given Wen Mingqian's connections, whether he asks the Eldest Princess or Princess Zhao for help, he can ensure that her two brothers can return to the capital smoothly without having to go through so much trouble to enter the palace.

Later, she guessed that Wen Mingqian might be trying to avoid enemies, or perhaps she had offended someone of high status.

Or perhaps because she is young, beautiful, and possesses exceptional skills, she is bound to be harassed by people with ill intentions.

She even guessed that the King of Zhao had designs on Wen Mingqian, after all, the King of Zhao was very lustful.

In short, Wen Mingqian entered the palace to avoid someone, but that too was rejected.

So she pondered for several more days before realizing that Wen Mingqian might have been wronged and that conventional channels could not resolve the issue, which was why he chose to enter the palace.

The princess did not rush to reply, but slowly took a sip of tea before nodding and saying, "You were right this time."

"What?! It really is?!" Princess Domin was not happy that she had guessed correctly; instead, she was quite surprised.

"Look at you, would I lie to you?" The princess glanced at her and said, "But you must keep this a secret, she is carrying a great responsibility."

"What injustice did she suffer? Aunt, can you tell me?" Princess Duanmin lowered her voice; she was extremely curious.