Chapter 8: She Ran Headlong Into a Dead End
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Cheng Yu was not upset and said, “There is a dessert at the New Year palace banquet that the Empress Dowager favors. Recently, the imperial physician has advised her to eat less. May I ask, Your Highness, shall we replace it?”
Wen Changying replied, “Replace it, then.”
“But the Empress Dowager loves it and insists on having it.”
Wen Changying said, “Then don’t replace it.”
“I thought so too and instructed the imperial chefs to use less sugar.”
Cheng Yu smiled, “If that’s the case, then the yam and lily dish that Your Highness favors cannot be served either.”
“The Empress Dowager forbids sweets, but why should I not be allowed to eat them?”
Wen Changying’s patience wore thin; her deep black eyes fixed intently on Cheng Yu.
Cheng Yu looked fearful and knelt hastily.
“Your Highness, please calm your anger. I fear that if the Empress Dowager sees your dessert, she may feel unfairly treated and disregard the physician’s advice…”
Under Wen Changying’s burning gaze, Cheng Yu added, “I think it would be best to keep only one dessert.”
Wen Changying understood what she meant.
She smiled, “You want me to sacrifice a little and yield to the Empress Dowager?”
“And what does Xie Genghe think?”
Cheng Yu respectfully said, “His Highness naturally hopes for harmony during the New Year, with respect for the wise and the elders.”
It was such a trivial matter.
One dessert, and yet there was concern about others’ displeasure.
In the past, Wen Changying might have endured it.
At worst, she would return to the palace and enjoy it behind closed doors.
But in this moment, she truly did not want to wrong herself.
“I insist on eating it.” Wen Changying reached out and pinched Cheng Yu’s chin, forcing her to meet her gaze.
“If Xie Genghe wants more peace, he can extend my house arrest until after the New Year. Those palace banquets are all schemes and deceit; just listening to them annoys me.”
“But you, put away your scheming. Focus your thoughts on Xie Genghe; that’s better than wasting them on me.”
Shock flashed quickly across Cheng Yu’s eyes.
But soon, she resumed her respectful demeanor.
“Your Highness, I dare not.”
Wen Changying saw through her false front and curled her lips in a sneer.
“You better not.”
Cheng Yu no longer needed to ask anything.
She hurriedly lifted her robes and left.
Outside, the guards thought the Crown Princess had once again been troubled.
Wen Changying rubbed her hands in disgust, washing them until red before finally releasing the pent-up frustration in her heart.
She, the Crown Princess, was truly a failure.
She could not even have a favored dessert at a banquet.
Wen Changying gave a self-disdainful smile.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Magpie gathering the cut branches from the courtyard, holding a vase.
She took a deep breath and stood, moving forward.
“Let’s arrange them together.”
The pruned branches were not without value.
After trimming and arranging, they could still be pleasing to the eye.
…
Cheng Yu hurried all the way to the study.
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“Your Highness,” she looked troubled, “The Empress Dowager said there is no need to invite Her Highness to the palace banquet.”
Xie Genghe’s eyes suddenly turned cold.
“Because of the Empress Dowager’s dessert?”
He had already sent Cheng Yu to deliver the message, and after the banquet, he was to personally bring it to the Favor Hall. Was she still dissatisfied?
“Her Highness does not want to wrong herself and spoke disrespectfully of the Empress Dowager…”
Cheng Yu bit her lip.
Xie Genghe’s tone softened suddenly, “The Empress Dowager has been worried about the New Year recently; she doesn’t need to know such trivial matters. Do you understand, Lady Cheng?”
“I understand.”
Xie Genghe noticed the pinch marks on Cheng Yu’s chin and pursed his lips.
“What was Her Highness doing when you left?”
“Your Highness was climbing a tree to cut branches, causing a commotion with the palace maids.”
Truly not a trace of the Crown Princess’s usual dignity.
Xie Genghe closed his eyes briefly.
“I’m sorry to trouble you today. Take this imperial token and choose a reward from the private treasury.”
Cheng Yu concealed her delight. “Thank you, Your Highness.”
At Favor Hall.
After finishing the pruning, Wen Changying began practicing calligraphy as usual.
She forced herself to copy line by line.
Her floral hairpin script looked nothing like the original—her brush strokes were sharp, piercing through the paper.
Magpie looked worried. “Your Highness, haven’t you not practiced this fine script for a long time?”
Wen Changying seemed not to hear.
Until the wolf hair brush spilled ink and stained the entire sheet.
Her hand trembled, and she came back to herself.
“I just want to see where the difference lies between this delicate script and my wild, unruly one—with just one word apart.”
Wen Changying pressed her lips and washed her hands again.
She stopped practicing calligraphy and began doing embroidery.
Magpie brought her meal and saw the blood on Wen Changying’s fingers staining the entire piece of embroidery.
She quickly put it down and hurried to take it away.
“Your Highness!”
Magpie’s voice grew heavier, a hint of nasal congestion, “Please don’t punish yourself.”
She took a handkerchief and gently wiped the blood from Wen Changying’s hands.
“You intended to divorce His Highness, didn’t you? Why force yourself to learn these things? You are… done with it, aren’t you?”
Wen Changying’s hands began to tremble.
She quietly stared at the bloodied fingertips, murmuring, “I just feel that when I do these things, some of the inner frustration can be released.”
And it also brings a strange kind of relief.
Magpie was moved to tears, heart aching.
She had said before, the lady’s suffering was greater than hers.
Now it had accumulated to a breaking point.
“Magpie,” Wen Changying lifted her hand to wipe away Magpie’s tears, “I am fine.”
But letting go always takes a process.
She had to hit the wall and endure the pain for a while.
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Even the greatest immortals could not avoid this.
…
Imprisoned in the Eastern Palace, Wen Changying was cut off from news.
She hoped that Duan Tingbai would do his best to negotiate for her brother.
She counted the days, wishing the New Year would pass quickly.
Unconsciously, more than ten days had passed.
Cheng Yu came with people to deliver the palace attire for the New Year.
“Your Highness, His Highness has prepared a new garment for you. Please cooperate and attend the New Year palace banquet the day after tomorrow.”
Wen Changying glanced at the new garment, her pupils suddenly contracting sharply.
She picked up a fox-tail cloak and said coldly, “Since when did the palace start using fox fur?”
Cheng Yu’s smile did not waver. “His Highness recently went hunting and acquired it. I was fortunate to get a new cloak as well.”
If she had not spoken, Wen Changying might not have noticed.
Looking closely, the cloak Cheng Yu wore and the fox-tail cloak sent to her came from the same fox.
Moreover, the fox fur collar on Cheng Yu’s cloak was far more precious than the fox tail on hers!
Wen Changying steadied herself and stared at Cheng Yu for a long time.
“He imprisoned me in the Eastern Palace but took you hunting?”
“I do not know his intentions,” Cheng Yu said cautiously. “Does Your Highness dislike this cloak? Or is my cloak exceeding regulations?”
After calming down, Wen Changying said coldly, “Take it off.”
“Fox fur is forbidden in the Eastern Palace.”
Cheng Yu suddenly stepped back two paces, evading Wen Changying’s reaching hand.
“Your Highness, I do not know what mistake I have made. There is no palace rule forbidding fox fur products. You…”
Wen Changying’s outstretched hand suddenly stopped.
“There is no such rule?”
It turned out that Xie Genghe had been deceiving her even in such trivial matters.
Before she was six, she grew up in the northern frontier.
There were many foxes there, especially snow foxes.
When she was young, she and Aye even raised one.
Foxes were spiritual; once, when her father was gravely injured, the fox saved the Wen family army.
Since then, there was a legend in the north—where the snow fox leads the army, victory is assured.
No one was allowed to harm the fox spirits.
Later, when she and Aye were kept in the capital by the Emperor, she spoke of this to Xie Genghe.
Knowing that many nobles in the capital used fox fur products, she pleaded for a long time.
Xie Genghe promised to write it into the palace rules, at least forbidding fox fur items in the Eastern Palace.
So as not to offend her taboo.
But it turned out that this palace rule never existed—it was all deception!
Xie Genghe himself broke this taboo and presented the fox fur before her.
“Heh...” Wen Changying chuckled softly twice.
Then her gaze sharpened suddenly.
She grabbed the cloak and the fox-tail cloak and threw them directly into the snow outside!