Chapter 45: Play

Yu Yuanzheng turned around and saw a young girl running toward her from behind.

The young girl was dragging a little boy along with her.

The little boy was running with clear reluctance.

The newcomers were none of other than Yue Yuying from the Marquis of Ning'an's estate and her younger brother, Yue Zhengxing.

Everyone came to a halt to wait for the two of them.

The brother and sister approached them, both panting slightly.

"Greetings to the Princess of Rong, greetings to the Princess of Jing, greetings to the Heir of Jing..." Yue Yuying greeted everyone one by one.

The little boy behind her, however, kept his head down and remained silent. He still deeply resented the fact that his elder sister had given him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation when she saved him. Moreover, he harbored a grudge against Yu Yuanzheng, who had suggested the method in the first place.

"Yuying, did you come here with your mother?" asked the Second Madam, Miao Luoying.

Yue Yuying suddenly blushed.

This was her future proper mother-in-law. In her excitement upon catching sight of Yu Yuanzheng, she had completely forgotten that her future mother-in-law and future great-mother-in-law were also present.

"Yes."

At that moment, the Dowager Marchioness of Ning'an and the current Marchioness also walked over.

Mutual greetings were exchanged.

"Mother, I wish to go inside with Yuanzheng," Yue Yuying pleaded.

Ever since the two of them worked together to save her younger brother that day, they had quickly become close friends in a short span of time.

In truth, it was mainly because Yue Yuying took a particular liking to Yu Yuanzheng and desperately wanted to grow closer to her.

"Go ahead if you wish," the Marchioness naturally raised no objections.

Watching how affectionate the two of them were, Yu Zhaoyang bit her lower lip hard in anger.

She wondered how Yue Yuying expected to get along with the two elder madams and the second madam once she crossed the threshold into their family.

What a clueless and foolish woman.

"If you want to go, go by yourself, don't drag me along," the little boy protested, pouting as he tried to wrench his hand free from his sister's grip.

It was evident that the brother and sister shared a very close bond.

The twelve-year-old lad was almost as tall as his sister, though one could tell at a glance that he was still just an overgrown boy.

"Why won't you hurry up and greet Sister Yuanzheng properly?" Yue Yuying pushed her brother forward toward Yu Yuanzheng.

Instead, the rascal seized the opportunity to bolt.

The Marquis's estate had issued a strict gag order regarding Yu Yuanzheng saving his life within the manor; after all, having his sister perform mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on him was hardly beneficial to his reputation.

Consequently, the incident had not spread.

"Let us be on our way," the Princess of Jing took the lead.

Yue Yuying lingered close beside Yu Yuanzheng as they entered the imperial palace through the western side gate.

Cao Jingxuan also got along quite well with Yue Yuying.

The three of them chatted all the way, resembling old friends who had been separated for a long time and were suddenly reunited, with endless words to share.

Actually, it was mostly Yue Yuying and Cao Jingxuan doing the talking, while Yu Yuanzheng played the role of an appreciative audience.

***

The Second Dowager frowned deeply as she watched the three girls chattering away obliviously.

She sincerely hoped her future granddaughter-in-law would not grow too close to Yu Yuanzheng.

Yet, she lacked any justifiable reason to stop them.

After all, the marriage had not even been officially finalized yet.

Along the way, Yue Yuying and Cao Jingxuan continuously pointed out and explained the layout and architecture of the imperial palace to Yu Yuanzheng.

They even went so far as to recount the historical anecdotes behind certain trees.

Whenever they crossed paths with anyone along the path, the two girls would introduce them to her as well.

Yu Yuanzheng listened with utmost attentiveness.

Indeed, these were all things she needed to learn; otherwise, she would fail to recognize anyone upon stepping outside in the future, rendering her utterly unworthy of being the wife of the Rong Prince's eldest son.

Meanwhile, Yu Zhaoyang followed closely behind, listening intently to the trio's conversation.

Although she was a legitimate daughter of a marquis's peerage, her status naturally could not compare to that of the legitimate daughters of marquesses and princes.

Among the nobility, aside from the imperial family, the highest status belonged to the dukes—Qin Yuanyan, for instance, hailed from the Duke of Wei's estate.

Next came the marquesses, followed by the earls.

Therefore, a marquis's estate would rarely lower its status to befriend an earl's family; rather, it was usually the earl's family that sought ways to ingratiate themselves with the marquesses.

Thus, when Yu Zhaoyang was still unmarried, forming friendships with young ladies from marquis households had proved exceedingly difficult.

Had it not been for her engagement to the Prince's estate, she would never have caught Yue Yuying's eye, let alone Cao Jingxuan's.

As for how Yu Zhaoyang managed to secure this match, Yu Yuanzheng suspected it was the Emperor's deliberate doing, as His Majesty likely wished to prevent the Prince's estate from acquiring in-laws of excessively high status.

After all, the Prince's consort was already a daughter of a duke's estate.

Inside the imperial palace, colorful lanterns were hung everywhere, having been prepared well in advance for the Dragon Boat Festival.

The female guests entered the inner palace to pay their respects to the Empress Dowager and the Empress first.

The group arrived at the Palace of Nourished Harmony, where the Empress Dowager resided.

To their surprise, the Empress was also present there.

From Cao Jingxuan's earlier remarks, Yu Yuanzheng had learned that the Empress was not the primary consort, but a secondary empress who had been elevated.

Though her family background was unremarkable, she had given birth to a pair of twins—specifically a dragon-and-phoenix pair—who were currently only eight years old.

The Emperor doted heavily upon these two children, which was the very reason he had conferred upon her the title of Empress.

However, with several adult princes standing ahead in line, it was practically impossible for the Empress's son to be named crown prince.

Consequently, the Empress behaved very contentedly and securely anchored her position as the mistress of the inner palace, while no one bothered to contend with her for it.

Qin Yuanyan led her two daughters-in-law, while Lin Shiyun stepped forward with her two children to pay their respects.

The Empress Dowager beamed with delight the moment she laid eyes on her own biological grandchildren.

"Yuanyan, it has been quite a while since you last came into the palace to pay your respects to me. How is Ziqi doing these days?" Catching sight of Qin Yuanyan, a trace of sympathy welled up within the Empress Dowager, her tone suffused with maternal tenderness.

She even instructed her attendants to arrange a seat for Qin Yuanyan right beside her.

"Replying to Your Imperial Dowager, he remains much the same as before," Qin Yuanyan replied, the smile on her face dimming by a fraction.

"Alas, you should ask Prince Rong to petition the Emperor to issue an imperial decree summoning all the most renowned physicians in the realm to the capital to examine Ziqi."

***

"Your Imperial Dowager, the Prince would never consent to that. It would cause far too great a stir, and Ziqi could not bear such a spectacle. We have been making private inquiries all along. The moment we learn of a truly skilled physician, we will certainly invite them to examine Ziqi."

"Let us hope there is a healer capable of curing Ziqi," the Empress Dowager said, gently patting the back of Qin Yuanyan's hand in comfort.

"Is this Ziqi's wife?" The Empress Dowager shifted her gaze toward Yu Yuanzheng.

Upon hearing her own name, Yu Yuanzheng immediately stepped forward two paces and offered another formal bow.

"She has a very kind and gentle countenance. Take good care of Ziqi, and the Prince's estate will not treat you unfairly in the future." The Empress Dowager slipped a bracelet off her wrist and placed it directly into Yu Yuanzheng's hand. "Take this."

"Thank you, Your Imperial Dowager." Yu Yuanzheng felt somewhat flattered and overwhelmed by the unexpected favor; no one else had received a gift, yet she alone had.

Successive groups of noble matrons arrived to pay homage to the Empress Dowager and the Empress.

The young maidens and newlywed young wives soon grew restless sitting still.

"All you young ones run along and play. I have prepared numerous games out in the gardens, so do not stand on ceremony. When the time comes, I shall send someone to summon you for the banquet." Seeing that the crowd had swelled to the point where the grand hall could barely accommodate them all, the Empress had no choice but to dismiss them to amuse themselves.

Granted permission by the Empress, the young ladies paired off in twos and threes and trooped out of the Empress Dowager's Palace of Nourished Harmony.

"Sister-in-law Yuanzheng, come, let's go shoot the powder-dumpling targets! It's tremendously fun. Let's see who can hit the most—we can have a competition, and we can eat them afterward, too!" Cao Jingxuan had warmed up to Yu Yuanzheng in no time at all.

"But I don't know how to shoot," Yu Yuanzheng admitted. She had never played such a game before, and the original owner of her body certainly hadn't either, having never set foot inside the imperial palace.

Had it not been for her marriage to the eldest young master of the Rong Prince's estate, she would never have had the chance to enter the palace in her lifetime.

"It doesn't matter, I will teach you." Yue Yuying grabbed her hand and pulled her off in a certain direction.

The young maidens were all roughly of the same age, making it ideal for them to play together.

Upon reaching a small, secluded garden, they indeed found that several palace maids had already prepared the equipment.

Two other young ladies were already trying their hand at the archery.

Seeing their group arrive, the two girls promptly stopped and greeted them with curtsies.

"We are all just here to play today, no need for formal courtesies. Let us simply form a queue and take turns," said Cao Jingxuan. As the Princess Lingxuan of the Jing Prince's estate, her status was second only to an imperial princess, so ordinary aristocratic daughters invariably yielded to her.

Cao Jingxuan took the first turn to try her hand. She loosed an arrow, but missed the target entirely.

A look of utter dismay crossed her face.

"Sister-in-law Yuanzheng, would you like to give it a try? I'll teach you." Cao Jingxuan genuinely liked Yu Yuanzheng's personality—she wasn't overly boisterous, yet neither was she stiff or dull, and her speech always carried a hint of a smile.

Despite her humble background prior to marriage, she was now the eldest daughter-in-law of the Rong Prince's estate, completely transforming her status.

Furthermore, Brother Ziqi and her own elder brother shared an exceptionally close friendship. Naturally, she felt compelled to look after this sister-in-law of hers.

"Very well then," Yu Yuanzheng yielded to the young girl's enthusiasm; she might as well experience her youth for once.

"Raise your hand higher, hold the bow level, and keep your eyes fixed on the powder dumpling ahead. If the wind blows the dumpling off course..."

Before Cao Jingxuan could even finish her sentence, the tiny arrow had already flown straight out of Yu Yuanzheng's hand.

"Oh, my heavens."

Cao Jingxuan and Yue Yuying stared in absolute disbelief at the soaring arrow.