Because Emperor Taihe had already issued an imperial edict bestowing marriage, with one about to remarry and the other to wed for a second time, and since rumors said that Princess Minhe was utterly enamored with her fiancé, Qin Jingzhou and Ling Jing simply decided to go out for a date. Since this remarriage would be of their own choosing, it seemed better for the two to meet and discuss the wedding together, so as not to trouble their families.
That day, in the waterside pavilion of Princess Minhe’s country residence, after lowering the wind-blocking and heat-retaining curtains, the two of them warmed themselves by the fire, admired the snow, drank wine, ate skewers, and discussed their business.
They first reviewed the plot: they realized that Lady Yang was not someone with love on the brain. Her goal was to have both a successful career and romance, but if she could only choose one, she’d rather have a career than love. Furthermore, she didn’t seek trouble, wasn’t reckless, was low-key, pragmatic, talented, and broad-minded—a rare, reliable career-oriented Transmigrator.
And for the male lead to marry Lady Yang was extremely difficult. From their wedding until five years before he succeeded the throne, he had always loved, trusted, and been devoted to Lady Yang.
Of course, Lady Yang’s own conduct lived up to the male lead’s affection.
Qin Jingzhou and Ling Jing’s mission was to stop the male lead from ascending the throne in a way that made sense, and after some analysis, they realized that if they could naturally cause the male lead to lose this ultimate virtuous helper in the female lead, his path to succession would become much harder.
Ling Jing finished a pair of chicken wings. “Let’s first try to prevent Prince Jin and Lady Yang from breaking up. Prince Jin is a true romantic—he’s willing to promise Lady Yang to be with her for a lifetime, and this time he’ll probably achieve it… In the plot, before he formally married Lady Yang, he dismissed all his concubines, even his cousin—the niece of Consort De. After marrying Lady Yang, he stayed loyal, living with her until Prince Chu secretly made his move and removed his older brother, who was also his rival in love.”
Qin Jingzhou placed a squid on the grill. Soon smoke curled upward and a delicious aroma wafted over. “Prince Jin only petitioned for a consort’s title for Lady Yang. This shows that Lady Yang didn’t reveal her family background to him.”
In fact, Lady Yang was the posthumous child of Emperor Taihe’s study companion. Her father died saving the former Crown Prince (now Emperor Taihe) during a secret mission.
During the reign of the previous emperor, Lady Yang’s father was posthumously honored as a Marquis. Hearing he had no sons, the emperor decreed that his widow could choose an adopted son from among their clan, who, when grown, could inherit the title.
On the day the imperial edict and Yang’s father’s coffin were delivered to the Yang family, her grandparents and other relatives conspired to force her mother to her death, even though she was pregnant at the time.
If not for Lady Yang’s mother’s quick thinking—realizing something was wrong and seeking help from her childhood friend—she would have ended up “spilling blood three feet” before her husband’s coffin, losing both herself and her unborn child.
Yang Shi's mother fled. The Yang family originally planned to use this as an excuse to accuse her of “eloping,” but were stopped by the officials who escorted the imperial decree and coffin.
On that official’s suggestion, the Yang family chose a woman who resembled Yang Shi’s mother to pose as the marquis’ widow. The official promised to conceal the truth for the Yang family in exchange for half the land awarded to Yang’s father.
And yes, that audacious official was none other than Consort De’s younger brother.
Consort De’s younger brother was also among Emperor Taihe’s study companions, but no matter how hard he tried, he never earned as much imperial favor as Lady Yang's father.
He was happy to help the Yang family cut off their bloodline and actively protected them for one reason, which was spelled out plainly in the story: envy. He was jealous of Lady Yang's father.
When Consort De found out what her brother had done, no matter how many times her mother entered the palace to beg on her knees, she wouldn’t plead for this doomed brother even once—for having deceived the emperor with no remorse, she hadn’t lost her mind and didn’t want to die!
However, Consort De’s sharp understanding did not mean her family was as clear-headed.
Consort De’s mother, sister-in-law, nephew, and niece all came to hate her, and years later, when they saw Prince Chu’s assassins pursue Prince Jin relentlessly, they chose to let him die—they saw it as just retribution.
But just three months later, they were all forced to drink poisoned wine in prison. Consort De’s nephew, wiping blood from his nose and mouth, wrote the word “regret” three times on the table.
In short, this entire self-righteous family perished together in prison.
Back to the main point, Lady Yang held in her hands key evidence proving her identity, and as for a living witness… she looked almost exactly like her father.
Ling Jing took the edge-crisped squid from Qin Jingzhou. “As long as the Emperor sees Lady Yang, we don’t have to do anything else.” After finishing the squid, she added, “Before eating this skewer, I was thinking Lady Yang should make her appearance at the wedding, but now… earlier is better.”
Qin Jingzhou started grilling another squid, as well as some venison. “Thank you.”
Ling Jing leaned on Qin Jingzhou’s shoulder and smiled smugly. “Don’t mention it!”
The next day, full and content, Ling Jing went to the palace to “tattle” to her big brother.
Emperor Taihe was reviewing memorials. When his younger sister sat beside him, he put down his red brush. “You don’t come without a reason. So, what are you here for?”
Ling Jing got straight to the point. “This time it’s not for myself… well, not entirely for myself.” She didn’t beat around the bush. “Brother, have you seen Prince Jin’s memorial to request a consort?”
Petitions for conferring a consort or a prince heir’s title were not secret.
Emperor Taihe found nothing inappropriate in his sister knowing what was in Prince Jin’s request. “He didn’t request a title for the Er clan. Did your Prince Consort ask you to put in a word for him?”
Ling Jing rolled her eyes. “You really underestimate him, brother. But he did ask me for a favor, though that’s not the point… Let’s not talk about what he asked for. Brother, do you know who this ‘Lady Yang’ in Prince Jin’s memorial is?”
Emperor Taihe couldn’t remember all the women in his own palaces, let alone every bedmate of his sons. But since his sister mentioned it, he was curious. “What do you mean?”
Ling Jing grew serious. “Brother, I happened to meet this ‘Lady Yang’ the day before yesterday. She looks exactly like a certain old acquaintance of yours.” She revealed the answer right away and, with her brother’s permission, used his brush to write the character “Yang” on a white letter paper. “Prince Jin probably doesn’t know about Last Yang’s identity, so he wrote it as ‘Yang’ instead of ‘Yang’.”
The surname Yang was very rare!
With old memories stirred, Emperor Taihe didn’t want to wait a moment longer. He ordered his trusted senior eunuch, “Go to Prince Jin’s residence and bring Lady Yang here.”
This trusted senior eunuch was three years older than Emperor Taihe and had grown up with him, remaining close ever since. Naturally, he had met Lady Yang’s father, and… Lady Yang’s father’s looks and manner remained vivid in his memory.
A little over half an hour later, the senior eunuch returned to report. Although Emperor Taihe had not yet seen Lady Yang himself, the perfectly controlled excitement evident on his eunuch’s face confirmed it—the answer was clear.
Even though Emperor Taihe had mentally prepared himself, when he actually saw Lady Yang, he could not help but be moved. “You look so much like your father.”
The key evidence in Lady Yang’s hands was a family letter written by her father to her mother.
Upon learning that his wife was pregnant, Yang’s father was overjoyed and mentioned in the letter that he had already chosen names for the baby regardless of gender or whether it was a formal or childhood name.
After reading the letter Lady Yang presented, Emperor Taihe confirmed that it was indeed in the handwriting of the study companion who had died saving him.
He distinctly remembered having asked the Yang family whether Lady Yang’s father had any children. Their reply had been direct: no.
With Emperor Taihe’s intelligence, how could he not instantly grasp the reasons for the Yang family and Consort De’s brother’s deception? Acting immediately, he ordered the Imperial Guards to arrest Consort De’s younger brother.
The leader of the Imperial Guards set off at once.
In less than the time it took to drink half a cup of tea, both Consort De and Prince Jin entered the gate of the Qianqing Palace.
Along the way, Consort De’s eyelids were twitching wildly. Standing before Emperor Taihe, only two things remained in her mind: impending disaster, and to meet force with force.
Prince Jin was also surprised to see his beloved sitting beside Princess Minhe, but before he could ask anything, Lady Yang’s self-disclosure shocked him so much he was dumbstruck, then filled with nothing but love for the woman before him.
Consort De was more direct and clearer-headed than her son. “My younger brother… doing such a thing, was he tired of living?”
The reactions of Consort De and Prince Jin did not disappoint Emperor Taihe. Upon investigation, it was certain that neither mother nor son was involved.
Faced with irrefutable evidence, Consort De’s younger brother and the Yang family could not argue. Whether or not they confessed, nothing could change their fate—deceiving the emperor could sometimes be a minor crime, but their situation was one of the most serious, and unforgivable.
Once the criminals were dealt with swiftly, Emperor Taihe summoned Lady Yang again and asked what she wanted to do.
Lady Yang replied without hesitation: “I will obey Your Majesty’s every command.”
In the story she knew, Prince Jin was not the ultimate victor, but his ending was still very good… an honored prince living to a prosperous old age, a blessing most imperial sons could never hope for.
If she thought she could use her background to ask Emperor Taihe for favors, especially to break ties with Prince Jin, she might quickly lose her life—she’d probably catch up in the underworld to Consort De’s brother and the rest of them.
Emperor Taihe was not a fool and would never force his benefactor’s only daughter to become a concubine for his son.
Since Prince Jin was deeply in love with Yang Shi, Emperor Taihe simply issued an official edict and bestowed the marriage.
Prince Jin was ecstatic. He immediately dismissed all his concubines, fulfilling his promise of a lifelong, exclusive love to Yang Shi.
Er Yao had just received her dismissal notice and was still in a daze when Er Xiao, along with all their belongings, escorted her back to Princess Minhe’s mansion. Although the wedding was still half a month away, Qin Jingzhou had already moved into the Princess's Residence with his son Er Xiao and the steward and attendants.
Arriving at the main hall of Princess Minhe’s mansion with her older brother, seeing her father and the Princess sitting at the place of honor, sunlight filtering through the window and casting a halo around them, Er Yao’s eyes widened—she was at a loss for words.
Since her failed plot to harm her own father, each event unfolding so differently from what she remembered had left her overwhelmed. She truly was at her wit’s end.