Princess Changle

  Princess Changle

  Early in the morning, Ye Li received an edict from the Empress Dowager summoning her to the palace. In fact, the Emperor had not summoned her for questioning since their return to the capital, and she was already impressed by Mo Jingqi's patience. With Ye Li's current status, there was no one in the entire capital who could casually ask to see her except for the Emperor, Empress Dowager, and the Grand Empress Dowager. However, the Grand Empress Dowager was now half-confined by Mo Jingqi, and since Ye Li had caused such a commotion during her last visit to the palace, the King of Ding could have refused the Emperor's summons to see the Princess of Ding, so she was summoned in the name of the Empress instead.

  The Empress summoned Ye Li under the pretext of admiring flowers. It was said that the peach blossoms in the Imperial Garden were blooming perfectly, so the Empress ordered all the noblewomen of the capital to gather and welcome the Crown Princess while also appreciating the flowers. Seeing the vibrant flowers in the Imperial Garden, Ye Li suddenly recalled that this year's Hundred Flowers Festival had already passed. She couldn't help but smile wryly, thinking that with her busy schedule outside, who would have remembered the grand festival that those young ladies in the capital were eagerly looking forward to? When Ye Li entered the palace, Mo Xiuyao didn't care whether he received an invitation from the Empress or not and followed her in anyway, openly showing his distrust of the imperial family. Mo Jingqi's face turned black with anger but couldn't say anything. After all, the case of the Crown Princess's disappearance back then still hadn't been cleared up yet.

  "The king and queen will not lose their way in this palace. Don't you trust me?" The Empress smiled, covering her mouth as she looked at the two of them walking together. However, when she saw Ye Li's eyes, she added a hint of emotion and admiration, and playfully teased the two of them.

  The relationship between the Mo and Hua families was originally close, and Mo Xiu-Yao didn't seem to have any ill feelings towards the Empress. He smiled faintly and said: "Ye Li has never liked noisy places, and our family doesn't have many elders to teach her about these things, so it's inevitable that she wouldn't know some things. I just happened to be free today, so I accompanied her here. Please don't blame me, Your Majesty."

  The familiarity between the two of them in public made Ye Li feel a bit uncomfortable, and she glanced at Mo Xiu-Yao. However, he remained calm and composed, as gentle and refined as jade.

  The noblewomen present couldn't help but admire him, and the envious and jealous glances they cast at Ye Li increased even more. Ye Li clearly saw Hua Tian-Xiang's mocking smile behind the Empress, and she secretly gave her a fierce glare.

  "The Emperor and the Empress Dowager have arrived, so it's only natural that I should feel a bit more at ease. However... all of you who came today are ladies-in-waiting, if the Emperor were to stay here, I'm afraid they would be the ones to feel embarrassed." The Empress smiled ambiguously as she looked at the two of them and said: "So, it's better for the Emperor to take a walk elsewhere, don't disrupt my flower banquet." Princess Zhao Yang, who was sitting on one side, also followed with a smile: "The Empress Dowager is right, when the Second Prince of Dingguo appeared, half of the girls in the capital lost their souls. It's better for you to leave and not stay here to attract attention. With the Empress Dowager and me present, are you afraid that your queen would suffer any harm?" Princess Zhao Yang, who was usually a bit cold, seemed to be in a good mood and even made a joke. However, her words caused the ladies-in-waiting present to blush and lower their heads, not daring to look at Zuo Ran's figure standing in front of the Empress Dowager again.

  Looking at the different expressions of the people present, Ye Li couldn't help but smile inwardly. She looked at Mo Xiuyao and said softly, "If Your Highness has something to attend to, please go ahead and take care of it first. I won't be in the way."

  Mo Xiuyao nodded and said softly: "I'll go see the Emperor first, wait for me and we'll return to the mansion together."

  Ye Li nodded, and Mo Xiuyao finally bid farewell to the Empress and the Princess, turning around to leave. Hua Tianxiang, who was standing beside the Empress, gave Ye Li a flirtatious glance, raising an eyebrow and batting her eyelashes, being overly affectionate in public, arousing jealousy...

  After sending off the attention-grabbing Mo Xiu Yao, Ye Li sat down in the first empty seat under the queen's gaze. The two princesses, Zhao Yang and Shan, who were sitting opposite her, smiled at her, but the two princesses beside them, Zhao Ren and Rong Hua, did not look so friendly. Ye Li felt a bit helpless about this, as she didn't have any particular grudge against Princess Rong Hua, but it seemed that the princess looked down on her, the future queen consort. In the past, when Ye Ying was around, most of the time Princess Rong Hua's anger was directed at Ye Ying, but now that Ye Ying was gone, it seemed that Princess Rong Hua's attention had shifted back to herself. Looking at the disdainful gaze, Ye Li secretly smiled in her heart: Did this Princess Rong Hua know that a large part of her future might be controlled by her own hands?

  "Yun Fei Niang Niang has arrived! Wang Zhao Rong has arrived!" Just as the Empress was about to speak, a somewhat shrill announcement came from outside. The Empress couldn't help but furrow her brow, clearly not very welcoming to the arriving person.

  Before long, two women in Chinese dress came forward, the first woman's appearance was delicate and charming, with a few hints of flirtation between her eyebrows. The woman following behind her had only a clear and elegant appearance, but those slender phoenix eyes outlined a few hints of seduction. The two women bowed slightly, "Your servants have seen the empress." These two were both favored concubines of the emperor, and Cloud Consort was even ranked among the four consorts. Everyone in attendance, except for Ye Li and the two princesses, had to rise to pay their respects. The empress glanced at the two women and said lightly, "Rise, why have Cloud Consort and Wang Zhaorong come?" Cloud Consort smiled, "Your servants have disturbed your noble gathering, please forgive us. It's just...your servants and Princess Wang heard that Defei is also here today. Your servants have admired Defei's reputation for a long time, and finally got this opportunity, so we begged the emperor to let us come pay our respects to Defei." Cloud Consort's words were innocent and charming, but they also pointed out to everyone that she had received the emperor's permission to come, and was specifically here to see Defei. Originally, when the empress summoned the ladies of the court, there was no invitation, even palace consorts couldn't come without one. Her words both washed away her crime of disrespecting the empress and pointed out the emperor's favor towards her.

  "It's an honor to meet you, but I'm not worthy. Ye Li has met the Cloud Consort." Ye Li smiled faintly, but didn't intend to get up and pay respects. The Yun family and the Wang family were among Mo Jingqi's loyal followers, and the Empress Dowager was not trusted by Mo Jingqi. Since the willow imperial concubine had a cold personality, Mo Jingqi wanted to test Ye Li, so naturally he would send Cloud Consort over.

  Yunfei was taken aback for a moment, turning her head to look at Ye Li sitting on the other side. Most women have some animosity towards those who are more outstanding than themselves. Previously, Yunfei was not particularly favored and had never seen the Empress of Ding before. However, in recent days, she had heard people mention many things about the Empress of Ding. The Yun family was originally loyal to the Emperor, and now that the Emperor had abandoned the Ye family and turned to support the Yun family, he also showed great favor to Yunfei. Although Yunfei did not have the audacity to provoke the Empress and Consort Liu, ordinary people looked down on her somewhat. Therefore, she paid more attention to Ye Li, who seemed to be feared by the Emperor. She had thought that she would see a woman as stately and noble as the Empress or as high and proud as Consort Liu, but when Yunfei turned around, she saw the woman sitting on the right side of the Empress wearing a pale green silver-embroidered dress with dark hair casually tied up and two pearl hairpins. Compared to the other women present, who were all dressed in fine clothes and adorned with beautiful makeup, Ye Li seemed more gentle and casual. It was hard to associate her with the woman in the rumors who led 2,000 black cloud riders to guard the border city. It was even harder to imagine that the Emperor seemed to be very fond of this Empress, Yunfei had also seen Su Zuihuadan before, and Ye Li was beautiful, but compared to Su Zuihuadan's peerless beauty, she seemed to be slightly inferior.

  "Is this the King's consort? Your Majesty, can I sit with the King's consort? I have long admired the King's consort's demeanor and would like to have a good chat with her." Suppressing the puzzlement in her heart, Yunfei smiled brightly and radiantly, making it impossible for anyone to refuse. The Empress looked at her and said lightly, "Very well, you can sit below the King's consort along with Wang Zhaorong."

  Yun Fei's eyes flickered slightly, but her face still showed a happy expression as she nodded and pulled Wang Zhaorong to sit down beside Ye Li. Although sitting below Ye Li made her feel unhappy in her heart, she also knew that the Empress would not give up her seat for her. Or rather, even if the Empress really did get up to offer her seat, she might not dare to actually take it.

  The gathering of noblewomen was nothing out of the ordinary, only today many people were carrying some other concerns. When almost everyone had arrived, the Empress personally led the crowd to the Imperial Flower Garden to admire the flowers. The Imperial Flower Garden was indeed a hundred flowers competing in beauty, and although it was already early summer, the scenery was not inferior to that of spring. The noblewomen sat together in threes and twos, chatting and admiring the flowers, while Ye Li and a few others with high status naturally followed behind the Empress. After walking around the garden, the Empress led the crowd to a pavilion in the Imperial Flower Garden and sat down, then asked with a smile: "The Crown Princess rarely enters the palace, what do you think of the scenery here?" Ye Li smiled and replied: "It's naturally rich and elegant, like a paradise." The Empress glanced at her and said: "You're also speaking in clichés, 'rich and elegant' is true, but 'like a paradise'... which paradise would be like this?" Her tone was slightly dull with some annoyance and boredom, shaking her head and laughing: "I'd say it's better to just go with the flow. The scenery here is exquisite, but these people gathering in clusters, it's really dizzying. I've been to the Ding Wang Fu before, I suppose it must be to your liking?"

  The Dingguo Wangfu was very large, but it was arranged in a very comfortable and elegant manner, which made Ye Li very fond of it. Princess Zhaoyang also nodded in agreement and smiled: "The Empress Dowager said that when I was young, I often loved to stay at the Dingguo Wangfu and couldn't bear to come back every time."

  "Your Majesty and the princess are overpraising, the Ding Wang Fu has always been a family of military generals, so it can't be avoided that they are a bit rough. The king and I also don't like noisy things, we just want to live in peace."

  Yunfei sat beside Yelü, curiously saying: "I heard the Emperor say that the King's wife was in Yongzhou and had once guarded Yonglin to assist the general in resisting the rebellion of the Li Wang army, thus ensuring the safety of Shuixue Pass. Can you tell us about what happened back then? It turns out that the Queen also possessed martial arts skills, no wonder last year she could intimidate the Western Hill Princess with just one arrow." Yelü smiled lightly and said: "Yunfei is joking. It was simply the King worrying about my safety and learning a few rough moves. The ones who guarded Yonglin were the border generals, not me." Wang Zhao Rong smiled and said: "The Queen is too modest, I also heard the Emperor mention it before. The Emperor even said that if it weren't for the Queen's efforts, Shuixue Pass would have fallen long ago. The Queen has indeed made great contributions to the Great Chu Empire. Unfortunately, we are confined to the deep palace and cannot contribute like the Queen does, what a lifelong regret."

  "Huh? Does Wang Zhaorong also want to make contributions to Great Chu? Why don't I go ask the Emperor to send you to the border to make contributions to Great Chu instead? Wang Zhaorong is so loyal to Great Chu, the Emperor will definitely be delighted." A clear and melodious voice came from outside the pavilion, and everyone turned around to see Chang Le Gongzhu wearing a pink dress, blinking her bright eyes and smiling at Wang Zhaorong.

  Wang Zhaorong forced a smile and said, "The princess is joking, I... don't have the strength to tie up a chicken..." Even if she was favored and her family was heavily used, Wang Zhaorong still did not dare to provoke this Princess Chang Le. Princess Chang Le was the only daughter of the Empress and the only legitimate child of the entire Great Chu imperial family. Mo Jingqi, although he did not dote on the Empress, also respected her greatly, and even more so for this simple and lovely princess. If Princess Chang Le really ran to the Imperial Study and spoke nonsense, it would be troublesome.

  Princess Chang Le rolled her eyes and looked at her with disdain, saying: "Then why are you still talking nonsense? I thought you were too ashamed to ask Father Emperor himself. As it happens, King Ding is also in the imperial study, so I'll go help you beg Father Emperor, maybe he'll agree because of your loyalty."

  "Long happiness, rest and get naughty." The empress looked at the unseemly behavior of Princess Changle and frowned in displeasure. Princess Changle made a cute face and stepped into the pavilion to pay her respects, "Daughter greets Mother Empress, has seen Ding Wangfei and the two ladies." Princess Zhaoyang stretched out her hand to pull over Princess Changle and smiled, "It's been a long time since we last met, little princess is growing up to be a big girl." Ye Li smiled and nodded, it had only been a year since they last met, but Princess Changle indeed looked much taller than when she saw her outside the Jade Flower Palace. At least she didn't look like she would climb into the bushes anymore. Princess Changle obviously still remembered Ye Li, leaned against Princess Zhaoyang's chest and winked at her, Ye Li was slightly startled and returned a shallow smile.

  Yunfei looked at the playful Chang Le Gongzhu in Zhao Yang Gongzhu's arms and smiled: "Your Highness, we were just thinking of hearing Wangfei talk about her experiences leading troops to battle in the border city. Doesn't Your Highness want to hear?"

  Princess Changle's eyes rolled, and her smile was bright. "This princess is a virtuous lady, of course I wouldn't go snooping into other people's private affairs. Only those wicked women who spend their days plotting against others would exhaust themselves to pry into others' secrets. Cloud Consort, don't you agree?" Cloud Consort's gentle smile stiffened, and she forced a laugh, saying: "Of course the princess is a virtuous lady."

  Princess Chang Le lightly hummed and turned her head to Empress Dowager, saying: "Mother, can I invite Princess Dingwang and my cousin to play?"

  The queen smiled and said, "It depends on whether the king's consort has time to play with you. You're not young anymore, always asking people to play with you, what do you want?" Princess Chang Le smiled and said, "I like King's Consort Ding." The queen turned her head and smiled at Ye Li, "This girl doesn't understand things, King's Consort is laughing at her." Ye Li smiled and said, "How could that be? The princess is kind and gentle, it's my honor to let the princess like me. Where would you like to invite me to play?"

  Princess Changle happily left the arms of Princess Zhaoyang, holding one hand with Ye Li and dragging Huatian Xiang with the other, "You come with me." Ye Li's hands were quick and agile, but Huatian Xiang was dragged by Princess Changle to run stumblingly. The empress ordered someone to follow them from behind, watching over them helplessly.

  Princess Changle pulled the two of them around in the Imperial Garden, dodging this way and that until they finally stopped behind a fake mountain in the northwest corner. She looked back to make sure none of the palace servants had followed before frowning and complaining softly, "These people are really annoying, following us everywhere."

  Ye Li smiled and said, "They are also because of the empress's and emperor's orders. If they can't find you, they might be punished." Chang Le Gong Zhu waved her hand and said, "Don't worry, my mother is a kind person, she won't randomly punish palace people. However, those people are very annoying, they like to tell my father the emperor and other concubines what I say. This princess dislikes them. You all follow me."

  Princess Changle climbed up the artificial hill with a smile all over her face, turning her head to say to the two of them: "It's very big here, they won't be able to find us if we climb up."

  Ye Li looked around and saw that the artificial hill group was indeed quite large. If one didn't search carefully, they might not be able to find it. But..."Princess, what are we going up there for?"

  Princess Changle turned her head to look at her, touched the pearl-studded bun on her head and said: "Ding Wang Shu said that there was a bad woman who made you unhappy, and asked me to find a place to hide you. He will come to pick you up later. Hmm...and didn't your cousin want to talk to you about something?

  Ye Li couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time, hiding her away? She dared to bet that Mo Xiu Yao would never say something like this to Princess Chang Le. Turning her head to look at Hua Tian Xiang, who was equally surprised, Hua Tian Xiang also looked at Princess Chang Le. Princess Chang Le let out a light hum, turned her head and continued climbing up, "Who am I? Father wants to marry Sister Xiang to the Northern Rong. I asked the nanny about the Northern Rong, it's a very bad place, people are rough and savage, cold and there's no good food. I went to beg Duke Ding, but Duke Ding said that this matter is decided by Duchess Ding, so now we can talk about it. Come on up."

  The two of them had no choice but to follow her up. On the waist of the artificial hill, there was indeed a place where people could hide, and judging from the quietness, it was clear that someone must have been here often. Sitting on the artificial hill, Ye Li smiled and said: "So, Your Highness wants me not to let Tian Xiang marry into the Northern Rong?"

  Princess Chang Le gazed at her intently, "Will you agree?"

  Yelü Rong smiled and said, "What's in it for me if I agree?"

  The Princess Changle thought for a moment, "I can give you all my treasures, I have many treasures. They were all given to me by the Emperor, and the Empress said they are very valuable. Can I?"

  "Long happiness..." Huatian Xiang's eyes were slightly red, and she didn't want to marry into the Northern Rong either. However, whether it was her or her parents, grandparents, they all knew that although the Emperor said that the Queen of Ding had full authority, if he really wanted her to go for a diplomatic marriage, even Lian'er would be powerless. It's just that they wanted to give the Ding Wang Fu a bad reputation for offending the Hua Fu, so neither her grandparents nor she herself had planned to talk to Lian'er from the start, it was just making things difficult for her for no reason.

  "Why doesn't the princess want Tianxiang to be her match?"

  Princess Chang Le bit her lip and looked at the two of them, hesitating for a moment before continuing in a somewhat hesitant tone: "The Empress Dowager said... only princesses can be married off. But since we don't have a suitable princess right now, that's why they want to choose someone else to marry off instead. The Empress Dowager says these are all imperial family matters, I... this princess is still young, otherwise this princess would go and get married off herself... Xiang Xiang's older sister has left, and her maternal grandmother and uncle will be heartbroken. Her aunt even cried in front of the Empress Dowager......" Princess Chang Le spoke in a disjointed manner, but both of them understood clearly. Princess Chang Le thought that Tian Xiang was going to suffer on her behalf by being married off, which is why she was so anxious and came to beg Ye Li. Finally finishing speaking, Princess Chang Le looked at her hopefully, "Ding Wangfei, can you please not let my older sister get married off?"

  Ye Li smiled faintly and nodded: "I can, I promise you."

  Digression

  Finally on vacation, going out to play and update a bit... Princess Chang Le is so cute... If I arrange a tragic experience for her, will anyone pity me?