Chapter 264 - A Misunderstanding

Seeing that her husband had a clue, Song Yixiao asked in a hurry, “What?”

“All of you go out now.” Jian Xubai waved the servants away and leaned forward slightly to get close to his wife. Then he asked in a low voice, “Do you remember that Wuying made a scene on her birthday in the twelfth lunar month last year and next day my sister Roumei asked you to accompany her and took Wuying to loosen up in the Zhanchun Venue?”

“Yes, of course I remember. But what does it have to do with the sisters from the Su Family?” Song Yixiao asked in surprise.

“Not only you, but Xuepei and his sister, Prince of Zhao and Su Shaoge, Princess Yushan and Miss Jiang as well as Aunt Daiguo and her people also went there that time, right?” Jian Xubai narrowed his eyes and added, “Then Princess Consort of Wei mocked at Miss Jiang in public, and Prince of Wei didn’t say anything. You and Xuepei helped Miss Jiang out of the predicament, so you offended Aunt Daiguo as a result.”

Song Yixiao pondered for a moment and still thought that it had nothing to do with the sisters from the Su Family. When she was about to remind him, Jian Xubai continued, “Roumei knows well about Aunt Daiguo, so she told you and Wuying to hide in the Yaohua Venue that night. Unexpectedly, Wuying had a cold and was in imminent danger, but Doctor Han intentionally broke his leg, and Cousin Zifu was unwell. The only person who had medical skills in the Zhanchun Venue was Su Shaoge, yet he was detained in the Ruyi Venue by Aunt Daiguo. Then you were worried about Wuying, so you went to the Ruyi Venue in person to ask him.”

“That’s right.” Song Yixiao was confused. “However, you and Aunt Yun arrived in time. Since we had a dedicated doctor, who was a woman, we didn’t need to trouble Master Shaoge.”

“I remember that when I entered the Ruyi Venue and found you, a servant there just served tea to you.” Jian Xubai sneered. “You didn’t drink that cup of tea then, right?”

Song Yixiao heard that and turned pale. “Of course, I didn’t drink it. After all, I asked Aunt Daiguo for a doctor urgently then. If there was drug or something else in the tea and I drank it, how would I ask Master Shaoge to treat Wuying?”

“I know that you are smart.” Jian Xubai praised his wife, yet there was no relief in his eyes. He said coldly, “If I guess right, perhaps it might not be something to make you sleep in the tea. It must be something that will prevent you from getting pregnant.”

Seeing that his wife was shocked, he hurriedly reached out his arm to hug her and patted her to comfort her. Then he continued, “In fact, after you came back from the Zhanchun Venue, Aunt Daiguo and Princess Consort of Wei didn’t mention the matter that you stood up for Miss Jiang, and I felt confused because it was not like what they would do.”

Song Yixiao grabbed his arm and her face was ghastly pale for a long time. Then she gritted her teeth. “So Aunt Daiguo purposely ordered the guards in the Ruyi Venue not to report because she wanted to lure me to ask her in person. Then she would find a chance to harm me?”

“Probably!” Coldness flashed in Jian Xubai’s eyes, and he said in a deep voice, “It’s my fault. After we got married, I just roughly told you about the elders’ character, so you don’t know that Aunt Daiguo is always vicious. Do you know why His Majesty killed all his half-brothers and half-sisters except my uncle Dedicated Prince of Yi after he took the throne? In fact, according to His Majesty’s plan, he just wanted to kill Noble Consort Shentu and Madame Zhenyuan and the people related to them, but Aunt Daiguo urged him, and he thought that he couldn’t live long then and was afraid that his middle-aged half-siblings would harm the crown prince, so he got hard-hearted.”

There were more than forty sons and daughters of the late emperor who were alive when Emperor Xianjia ascended the throne.

There were so many princes and princesses. No matter how favored and ambitious Noble Consort Shentu and Madame Zhenyuan were, they couldn’t win over all of them. Moreover, as the grandchildren of the first emperor, the founder of the dynasty, many princes and princess married into powerful families. If they didn’t want to get involved, the favored concubines might be unable to force them.

So although Emperor Xianjia lived a miserable life when he was a teenager, he didn’t bear a grudge against every half-sibling.

This emperor was cruel to his half-siblings, and Grand Princess Daiguo’s contributions couldn’t go unnoticed.

“At that time, Aunt Daiguo suggested killing Dedicated Prince of Yi, too, but Grandma, the Empress Dowager cared about Dowager Consort An and stopped him in person. His Majesty gave Dedicated Prince of Yi the title of Chief Rector of the Clan and obviously didn’t plan to make things difficult for him. Instead, he even tried to promote this half-brother, yet Dedicated Prince of Yi was still scared and stayed at home for twenty years, as he didn’t dare to make any mistake!”

All people thought that Dedicated Prince of Yi was named “Quail” because he feared Emperor Xianjia, but nobody knew that what he really feared was Grand Princess Daiguo.

Song Yixiao was shocked while listening and asked in confusion, “Since not all of the late emperor’s offspring offended His Majesty and Aunt Daiguo, why did she do that?”

After all, that year, Emperor Xianjia not only slaughtered his half-siblings but also wiped them out, and he didn’t let go of their offspring, followers and even the families related to them by marriage.

It made sense if the one who caused the sanguinary slaughter was Emperor Xianjia because he finally had his day gradually after suffering. After all, as the late emperor’s legitimate son, he should be the heir to the throne smoothly, while two favored concubines of his father caused trouble to him frequently and he had escaped from death for many times, suffering from humiliation. After he finally took the throne, he wanted to vent his anger, which was understandable, but what injustice did Grand Princess Daiguo suffer from?

She was a princess in the Intermediate Palace. Even though soon after she was born, the Empress Dowager fell into disfavor, she had sisters and brothers. As the youngest child, she was under the least pressure and gained the most love. After she came of age, she fell in love with Ji Weiguan at first sight, and they loved each other till now.

Even Noble Consort Shentu and Madame Zhenyuan who fought against the Empress Dowager and Emperor Xianjia just paid attention to the mother and son. Even if they would aim at Emperor Xianjia’s sisters, they would consider the elder Grand Princess Jinguo and Luguo first.

When they finally realized the threat from Grand Princess Daiguo, she had won the support of Marquis Fuyang’s family.

Technically, this grand princess had never suffered hardships.

Song Yixiao couldn’t understand why Grand Princess Jinguo was so vicious and couldn’t accept so many siblings, her father’s children and hundreds of nephews and nieces, not including those who were not related to her by blood.

“Why did she do that?” Hearing his wife’s question, Jian Xubai sneered. “Look, what has Aunt Daiguo done now? Is it difficult to understand why she urged His Majesty that year? After all, the empress is from a powerful family, but even Princess Changxing wasn’t born then, let alone Prince of Zhao.”

“Do you mean…” Song Yixiao realized something and was so shocked that she almost got up. “She wanted to act as regent?”

In the early years after Emperor Xianjia took the throne, even he thought that he might not live long, and most of the people around him must have thought so.

So when Emperor Xianjia considered worriedly how the young crown prince could keep the throne if he died then, wouldn’t the others such as Grand Princess Daiguo think about this problem?

Of course, Grand Princess Daiguo didn’t consider how to help her nephew keep the throne after her brother died but… Emperor Xianjia had only one son then, the crown prince, who was just four or five years old, and his mother Cui was from an ordinary family, while Empress Su didn’t have a child. Under the situation, as Emperor Xianjia’s younger sister, Grand Princess Daiguo was favored and trusted by him, and her husband’s family, Marquis Fuyang was powerful at the imperial court.

If Emperor Xianjia would entrust his son to somebody before he died, Grand Princess Daiguo and her husband would be the first choice.

After all, the Empress Dowager was aged. Even if Emperor Xianjia was in poor health and died before her, how many more years could she insist? While among Emperor Xianjia’s sisters, Grand Princess Jinguo had no interest in the political affairs and didn’t have a good relationship with her first husband, and she planned to get a divorce then; Grand Princess Luguo was still alive then, yet she was sick and couldn’t insist long.

The other three grand princesses had passed away.

Whom could Emperor Xianjia rely on except Grand Princess Daiguo?

Under the situation, perhaps Grand Princess Daiguo had secretly prepared to be her nephew’s regent. The problem was that then Grand Princess Daiguo and her husband were only a few years older than Jian Xubai and his wife now. Even though they had the support of Marquis Fuyang’s family, how would she be not alert to those half-siblings that even Noble Consort Shentu and Madame Zhenyuan couldn’t afford to offend when they were most favored by the late emperor?

So Grand Princess Daiguo acted like a spoiled child and tried hard to persuade Emperor Xianjia. Then she finally made use of the emperor and wiped out all these people.

If the Empress Dowager didn’t stop them, she didn’t even want to let Dedicated Prince of Yi go. She didn’t hate these people but was afraid that after Emperor Xianjia died, she and her husband couldn’t control the whole situation and her half-brothers would seize the chance to usurp the throne.

Then her dream about acting as regent would cast to the winds.

“Nice!” Jian Xubai sneered. “Although they were her half-siblings, they were her father’s children and didn’t bear a grudge against her. But she killed all of them just for a chance to act as regent. So after you stood up for Miss Jiang and embarrassed Princess Consort of Wei in public, how would Aunt Daiguo forget it easily?”

He paused for a while and then added, “However, Aunt Daiguo fears Mother after all, so she doesn’t dare to do anything to you openly or kill you. Of course she would play dirty tricks on you secretly except the two ways.”

When she coped with women, especially Song Yixiao, a woman who wasn’t loved by her parents and married above herself accidentally, she knew what they most feared.

They most worried that they would have no children.

Even if a woman married into a less powerful family, she would be commented when she had no son, let alone Song Yixiao who married above herself.

No matter how much she and Jian Xubai loved each other and how tolerant her mother-in-law was, if she was like Wei Mengying who had a daughter after being married for three years and had no son after ten years, the Empress Dowager and Grand Princess Jinguo would get mad even if Jian Xubai could accept that.

No, the two women wouldn’t wait ten years, and they might go crazy after three years.

Then even if Jian Xubai loved his wife and refused to have a concubine, the elders who expected him to have a son would try every means to find concubines for him.

If Jian Xubai insisted on refusing, these people would vent on Song Yixiao and might cause her “sudden death”, in case that she made Duke of Yan have no heir.

In an ordinary family, a woman who had no children could live depending on her husband’s protection, but what kind of people were Jian Xubai’s elders? Only with the two elders, his maternal grandmother, the Empress Dowager and his mother Grand Princess Jinguo, even if Jian Xubai was an official of the highest rank and the most powerful at the imperial court, he might be unable to protect his wife.

Jian Xubai analyzed carefully, “At that time, Prince of Zhao hadn’t joined hands with Prince of Wei, so Aunt Daiguo did something evil to you in secret and must have hidden it from Su Shaoge. However, maybe she thought that you were drugged. Then the two princes joined hands, and the Ji Family and Su Family were related by marriage, so perhaps Lady Shaoling knew that by accident. The sisters just guessed that it’s difficult for you to get pregnant in your life but heard that you are pregnant, so they thought it was unbelievable.”

Thinking of Su Shaomo’s words “is it true”, Song Yixiao believed that her husband’s guess was penetrating and couldn’t be wrong.

She was so angry that she almost pounded the table and got up. “She…just bullied me beyond the limit.”

“Don’t be mad, in case that it influences your health.” Jian Xubai hurriedly hugged her to comfort her and spoke in a gentle voice, but his eyes were cold. “Just have a rest and keep the baby safe. As for this matter, I will seek justice for you.”