Chapter 430 — Betrothal

Empress Yi was herself vexed by this very matter.

With Song Yan's brilliance before her eyes, she found no one else quite satisfactory.

Hearing the Emperor say so, she sighed to herself in secret.

It seemed she would have to pick the tallest among the dwarfs.

"Tomorrow I shall have the Court of the Imperial Clan and the Ministry of Rites submit their lists," the Empress said, her tone rather helpless.

The Emperor grew somewhat smug. "The Third Consort told me that Song Cen is inclined to have his second son wed a princess. What do you think?"

As for the marriages of the several princesses, Empress Yi had long since made up her mind—especially concerning Jingyi's.

At these words her brows knit tightly. "The earlier match with Yantang came to nothing. Few know of it, but there were traces enough to follow. And now he comes sniffing after the Song family's second son... Are our daughters so hard to marry off? I fear we shall be laughed at."

The Emperor thought it over carefully and did indeed find it rather galling.

He waved his hand in irritation. "Then let the matter drop! Put more thought into Jingyi and Jingfu, and settle them early."

The Empress smiled and assented. She and the Emperor discussed the two princesses' marriages a while longer before she left the Palace of Heavenly Purity.

By then Princess Ninghuai had already left the palace, and Empress Yi had not taken the matter to heart. But when she and the Emperor went that evening to pay their respects to the Empress Dowager, the Empress Dowager greeted them with great cheer, and said to the Emperor with a smile, "Some days ago, Consort Miao was unwell, and I permitted her nephew's wife to come and visit her. Only then did I learn that both her grandnieces have come of age and reached the years for marriage. The sixth girl among them is uncommonly pretty—the very image of Consort Miao in her youth—and I took a fancy to play matchmaker for her. What do you think of the second son of the Song family of the Yingzhenguo Estate?" As she spoke, she glanced toward the Empress.

Both the Empress and the Emperor were taken aback.

The Emperor, for his part, cursed Song Cen roundly in his heart.

Do you take the imperial house for a vegetable garden gate, to come and go as you please?

One moment he sends Shi Chonglan to sound us out about marrying his second son to a princess; the next he runs to the Empress Dowager to curry favor. What the devil does he want? Does he take me for a fool, to be gulled however he likes?

Without a moment's thought, the Emperor said, "No! Song Cen's second son is unsuitable."

The Empress Dowager's face fell at once.

It was precisely because he was unsuitable that she wished to betroth Consort Miao's grandniece to the Song family's second son. Were he suitable, why would she bother?

"What do you mean by that?" Having endured for decades before the late Emperor, and having at last seen her son take the throne, the Empress Dowager had no mind to endure any longer; her temper had grown more and more fiery with the years, and she flared up on the spot. "No wonder I cannot even grant a marriage!"

Only then did the Emperor recall the rift between the Empress Dowager and Consort Miao, and realize he had misspoken. Yet for the moment he could not bring himself to admit to the Empress Dowager that Song Cen wished his second son to wed a princess—and that he himself had nearly agreed to it moments before. He could only put her off with Empress Yi's words: "Earlier we thought to have Song Yantang wed Furong, but Song Cen quietly went and made a betrothal for his son. The man clearly has a mind of his own. I say we leave their family's affairs alone."

If word got out that Consort Miao's grandniece was to marry into the Song family, and Song Cen, none too pleased, betrothed his second son to some other noble house instead—now that would be a fine joke!

The more the Empress Dowager thought of it, the more amusing it seemed, and her resolve to bestow a marriage between the Miao girl and Song Han only hardened.

"I shall summon Song Cen to the palace and tell him myself. I refuse to believe he would defy even my word," the Empress Dowager decided with finality. "So it is settled. Tomorrow I shall have Song Cen brought into the palace."

The Emperor was sick with rage.

Empress Yi, however, sensed that something was amiss.

She reflected that when she had come to pay her respects that morning, the Empress Dowager had said nothing of the sort. How was it that after Princess Ninghuai paid a visit to the palace, the Empress Dowager had conceived such a scheme?

Could this matter have something to do with Princess Ninghuai?

She shot the Emperor a look, and once they had left the Palace of Compassion and Tranquility, she said in a low voice, "The Empress Dowager has never been able to abide Consort Miao. Why would she suddenly think to bestow a marriage on a Miao girl?"

The Emperor had been too blinded by fury in the side hall to think clearly; now that he had calmed down, he too found it odd. But he could not be bothered with such petty tricks among women. He instructed Empress Yi, "Just look into what actually happened."

Empress Yi accepted the charge, and upon returning to her palace sent word to inquire what Princess Ninghuai had said when she had audience with the Empress Dowager.

Very soon she learned the purpose of Princess Ninghuai's visit—and learned as well of the matter concerning Song Han.

Empress Yi's face flushed with anger, and with a "crack" she snapped the round silk fan in her hand in two.

The palace maids fell to their knees in fright.

The great hall was silent; a pin could be heard to drop.

It was several deep breaths before Empress Yi recovered herself. She ordered Princess Ninghuai summoned to the palace.

Since Princess Ninghuai had dared to play matchmaker before the Empress Dowager, she had of course long since reckoned the consequences.

When Empress Yi questioned her, she was not nervous at heart, yet she put on a look of horror and said, "How has the tale been twisted into such a shape?" She told Empress Yi how Song Yan had a cousin who was the very image of Lady Jiang, and who had come to the capital in her widowhood to seek refuge with the Song family. "Because that Jiang Yan and Song Han share the same birthday, we joked that perhaps Lady Jiang had borne twins all those years ago—that the Duke of Zhenguo, disdaining a daughter, had kept the son and given the girl to the Jiang family to raise. Who would have thought it would be spread about in such an ugly fashion?" She spoke with a face full of remorse. "Had I known, I would never have told the tale to Consort Shi as a jest. Now it has been spread abroad like this—whatever shall we do?" She added, "The Yingzhenguo Estate has but a thin line of heirs. Had Lady Jiang truly borne twins, then whether a dragon-and-phoenix pair, so prized by all, or even two daughters, there is no reason on earth she would have given one away to be raised by another. Such a plain truth is clear at a glance—how could anyone believe it?"

Empress Yi was half convinced and half doubtful. "Then one day bring that Jiang Yan into the palace and let me have a look at her."

Princess Ninghuai assented respectfully, then began to complain that the people of the capital nowadays observed no taboo at all in their speech.

Empress Yi, however, was too shaken by the news that Song Han might be a bastard to listen to Princess Ninghuai's prattle, and at the first opportunity she raised her teacup to signal the visit was over.

Princess Ninghuai withdrew from the Palace of Earthly Tranquility in some embarrassment.

The Empress then went to the Palace of Heavenly Purity and told the Emperor all that had passed.

The Emperor was dumbstruck, and only after a long while said, "Could it be mere rumor? Song Cen may be a fool, but even he could not do a thing so muddled of bloodlines and so perverse of right and wrong!"