Chapter 109: Contest
After Jiang Yu and Fang Mingda left, a figure hidden in the shadows emerged, pretending to gather firewood before returning.
Zhao Bai, having met with the Azure Cloud Cavalry member, lifted the tent flap and entered again. Addressing Wen Yu, who was removing her hair ornaments before the dressing mirror, he said: "Just as you predicted, the Chen Kingdom is still keeping secrets from us. But that Jiang fellow and that fatso Fang have tight lips—we still haven't managed to uncover what exactly they're hiding."
Wen Yu removed her earrings and placed them in the jewelry box. "Keep watching. The more afraid they are of me knowing something, the more it becomes their weakness."
Zhao Bai nodded and withdrew, leaving Wen Yu alone in the tent.
The bronze mirror reflected a figure draped in fine silks, with lotus-petal jade features resembling a celestial being. Yet the coldness emanating from her brows and eyes instantly reminded one of the frigid moon hanging high over the Tianshan Mountains, deterring any presumptuous thoughts.
She removed the final accessory from her person—a carp wood carving hanging from her waist sash. Instead of placing it with the other ornaments on the dressing table, she tucked it beneath her pillow. With practiced ease, she spread her ink-black hair across the pillow and lay down, her expression showing no trace of longing or sorrow—as if this were merely a habit etched into her bones.
Outside the grand tent, silence prevailed. Occasionally, Azure Cloud Cavalry patrols passed by, deliberately lightening their footsteps. A single candle left burning in the tent corner illuminated stacks of documents requiring Wen Yu's review before being sent back within the passes.
—
Five days later, the bridal procession arrived at the Chen Kingdom's royal capital. The Chen Kingdom sent envoys to receive them at the city gates, temporarily settling Wen Yu's entourage at the capital's guesthouse. After two days of rest, the wedding would take place on the auspicious date selected by the Imperial Astronomers.
Zhao Bai handled affairs meticulously. Upon entering the city, he had the Azure Guard gather intelligence under various pretexts. Tong Que, being straightforward, remained stationed at the guesthouse with his men, securing Wen Yu's quarters like an iron barrel. Any items sent by the Chen Kingdom would be taken over by the Azure Guard at the entrance to Wen Yu's temporary courtyard. Whether Wen Yu ultimately used these delivered items was naturally unknown to the guesthouse servants.
The next day, the Chen royal palace sent an instructing matron, claiming to be dispatched by Empress Dowager Jiang to teach Wen Yu the palace etiquette. This was purportedly to prepare her, as a new bride, to understand how to serve the Empress Dowager and King Chen, and manage the six imperial departments.
While framed as etiquette instruction, it also carried undertones of asserting authority and delivering warnings.
When Zhao Bai reported this to Wen Yu, she was reviewing court intelligence collected by the Azure Cloud Cavalry, her expression calm with only a faint trace of mockery at her lips: "Empress Dowager Jiang wishes to remind me that we're in the Chen Kingdom now, not Liang territory. Even though they concealed many things during the initial alliance negotiations, I must now comply with Chen's ways."
Zhao Bai's face showed anger: "The Chen Kingdom goes too far in bullying us! This servant will decline on your behalf!"
Wen Yu nodded, her clear, profound eyes still showing no trace of anger: "Approved. Inform them that I've endured a long journey, suffered shock from the attack, and am now bedridden with illness—unable to receive instruction in the Chen royal palace's etiquette."
Empress Dowager Jiang wanted to lightly gloss over the Western Mausoleum Army's ambush while forcing Wen Yu to acknowledge reality and lower her head. But Wen Yu deliberately brought the matter back into the open.The instructing matron, having been denied entry without even catching a glimpse of Wen Yu, remained remarkably composed. She made no mention of Wen Yu’s recent assault or the shock it had caused, instead stating that she had failed to carry out Empress Dowager Jiang’s decree and could not return to the royal palace to report her mission. She would need to stay at the courier station temporarily and wait until Wen Yu had recovered sufficiently before instructing her in etiquette.
Tong Que, aware that the matron was feigning ignorance and deliberately avoiding the topic of the attack, was furious. Wen Yu, however, was not particularly surprised. As a seasoned attendant of Empress Dowager Jiang, the matron was bound to possess considerable shrewdness.
While helping Wen Yu sort through the piles of reports on the table, Tong Que couldn’t help but voice her worries, “What if Chen Kingdom insists on dragging this out with us?”
Wen Yu had already pieced together the undercurrents of power struggles within Chen Kingdom’s royal court from the intelligence gathered by the Azure Guard. She continued reading the latest dispatch from the Azure Guard and replied indifferently, “Then let them drag it out. The first to grow impatient will not be our Great Liang.”
Tong Que only half-understood her meaning. Zhao Bai, who had just entered with freshly brewed tea, explained, “It is Chen Kingdom that needs to legitimize their military campaign by completing the marriage alliance with the princess.”
Hearing this, Tong Que grew even angrier, pressing down forcefully on a stack of letters as she said, “That Empress Dowager Jiang seems determined to break the princess’s spirit. I fear they won’t stop here.”
As if her words had summoned trouble, two days later, the instructing matron returned to inquire about Wen Yu’s health.
Tong Que again used Wen Yu’s poor health as an excuse to turn her away, but this time the matron insisted on seeing Wen Yu. Eventually, emboldened by the dozen or so palace maids and servants she had brought, she attempted to force her way into Wen Yu’s quarters, compelling Tong Que and the Azure Guard to draw their swords and drive her back temporarily.
Yet the matron was sharp-tongued. Seeing that force had failed, she seized upon Tong Que’s act of drawing swords to press her advantage aggressively, determined to accuse her of disrespect toward Chen Kingdom’s royal court.
Amid the clamor of the arguing crowd, the inner courtyard gate swung open. Zhao Bai, clad in black armor and a white robe with civil-military sleeves, stepped out with a stern expression and demanded, “The princess is recuperating here. Who dares to cause such a disturbance?”
The instructing matron knew Zhao Bai was feigning ignorance. With a strained smile, she said, “I am here by the Empress Dowager’s decree to instruct Princess Han Yang in the etiquette of the royal palace. The princess has traveled a long way and is unwell. The Empress Dowager, in her benevolence, naturally understands and allows the princess to recuperate. However, I have been at this courier station for two days without even a glimpse of the princess. Today, when I sought an audience, these insolent maids drew their swords on me. The Central Plains and Liang are known for their emphasis on rites and music—could it be that these maids have grown so bold as to act so disrespectfully, overriding the princess while she is unwell? I am deeply concerned for the princess’s safety and must see her today!”
Zhao Bai cast a cold glance at her and replied, “Our princess was assaulted and frightened on her way to the royal capital. Fearing further incidents, she ordered the martial maids to stand guard with weapons drawn. We hope your kingdom will understand.”
Once again confronted with this excuse, the matron’s expression darkened. Drawing on decades of experience navigating the palace’s intrigues, she barely managed to control her expression and said, “The princess’s prolonged illness has worried the Empress Dowager greatly. If I could see the princess, I could reassure Her Majesty upon my return to the palace.”
Zhao Bai stood her ground. “The physician has advised that our princess needs quiet rest. Given the Empress Dowager’s benevolence, she would surely not insist that our princess receive guests while unwell. Don’t you agree, Matron?”The instructing matron locked eyes with Zhao Bai, not even forcing a faint smile anymore. The two engaged in a silent standoff for several breaths, Zhao Bai's gaze remaining pitch-black and sharply cold throughout, pressing down until the matron could only barely twitch the corner of her mouth and leave behind the words, "The young lady speaks rightly," before turning away with her retinue of palace maids.
After the matron had walked a short distance, Zhao Bai suddenly called out to stop her: "Trouble the matron to convey a message to Her Majesty the Empress Dowager. In our Great Liang, the rites and music now established by our princess are the true rites and music."
The expression on the instructing matron's face at that moment could no longer be described as merely unpleasant. Without leaving another word, she directly slunk away in disgrace.
Tong Que felt they had thoroughly vented their pent-up anger today, snorting heavily at the retreating backs of the matron and her group.
Zhao Bai glanced at her and said, "Continue guarding the outer courtyard. Do not allow anyone to enter."
She herself returned to the inner courtyard, removed her boots, and ascended to the second floor wearing only silk socks. Pushing the door open, she saw Wen Yu behind a draped gauze curtain, dressed in plain brocade robes, her loose black hair reaching her knees, holding a bamboo scroll as she read by the light. Hearing the sound, she calmly asked, "Have they left?"
Zhao Bai lowered her eyes at the doorway and replied, "They've left."
Wen Yu put away the finished bamboo scroll, her expression indifferent, as if she hadn't taken Empress Dowager Jiang's provocation to heart at all: "Have the Azure Guard continue investigating. Uncover the backgrounds of all officials in King Chen's royal court, compile them into records, and bring them to me. Also thoroughly investigate how many external wars have been fought in the past ten years, which minor states or tribes were engaged, and how many troops were deployed."
After Zhao Bai accepted the order and withdrew, Wen Yu looked through the curtain at the brightly sunlit window outside.
Empress Dowager Jiang wanted to use the same tactics she employed against imperial consorts to assert authority over her and force her submission.
She would tear a bloody piece of flesh from the Jiang Family to give Empress Dowager Jiang her answer.
This marriage alliance was essentially a game—outwardly united against external threats, but inwardly consuming each other, seeing who would emerge the final victor.
She would not become Empress Dowager Jiang's good daughter-in-law, and Empress Dowager Jiang need not pretend to be a good mother-in-law either.
What lay before them had always been only the clearly demarcated interests of the political arena. If Empress Dowager Jiang failed to understand that rivalries between political opponents should be conducted in court, Wen Yu thought she might have overestimated this adversary.
That very afternoon after the instructing matron returned to the palace, she arrived at the courier station once more with Empress Dowager Jiang's decree, though this time accompanied by a royal physician.
When Tong Que and the Azure Guard stopped them outside the courtyard just as they had that morning, the instructing matron showed no trace of anger this time, only offering a thin, insincere smile as she said, "Her Majesty the Empress Dowager heard the princess has been bedridden ill for many days and specifically ordered this old servant to bring the royal physician to examine Her Highness."
This time Tong Que didn't dare to dismiss them on her own authority. After sending someone to seek Wen Yu's instructions, she reluctantly allowed them to enter the courtyard.
When the instructing matron led the physician and a bustling crowd of palace maids into the courtyard, her expression was quite haughty. But when she caught sight of Wen Yu in the main hall, the breath caught in her chest and nearly choked her with fury.
She had previously suspected Wen Yu was feigning illness, but the person separated only by a gauze curtain, reclining on a soft couch reading—who could see any semblance of sickness in her?
If claiming illness, why not even bother to pretend?For how many years had she served by Empress Dowager Jiang's side? Even the most favored consorts of the late king in the past never dared to openly humiliate Empress Dowager Jiang like this.
A mere girl from Liang territory, already stripped of her maternal clan's protection—did she truly intend to turn the Chen Kingdom upside down?
The instructing matron's face shifted between green and pale, unable to utter a single word for a long while.
Seeing this situation, the imperial physician also felt at a loss, momentarily uncertain whether he should proceed to take Wen Yu's pulse. As he hesitated, Wen Yu, who was nonchalantly flipping through a book behind the gauze curtain as if no one else was present, spoke up: "I heard the Empress Dowager dispatched an imperial physician to examine me. I've been feeling fatigued and lethargic, often suffering from physical weakness and shortness of breath. I'll trouble you to diagnose my condition."
Observing the snow-white wrist extended from behind the gauze curtain, cold sweat beaded incessantly on the physician's forehead. How could he not recognize this as a power struggle between the two leading women of King Chen's royal palace?
By rights, he only needed to carry out Empress Dowager Jiang's orders. Yet since stepping into this posthouse, he had felt an invisible pressure washing over him in layers. In Wen Yu's presence, even breathing became somewhat difficult.
Their party had brought numerous guards from the royal palace, but after those tall maids in the courtyard silently closed in, a palpable sense of lethal intent seemed to permeate the posthouse.
Unwilling to lose his life here, the physician's hand trembled uncontrollably while taking Wen Yu's pulse, several beads of cold sweat the size of beans rolling down from his temples.
Wen Yu naturally noticed the physician's trembling. Her expression remained placid, her gaze never lifting from the book pages as she inquired in a tone too gentle to detect any sharpness: "How is my condition?"
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