When one was happy, one would usually be in high spirits. People had started to notice that for the past few days, Fifth Prince, Nangong Ye, had been in an unusually chirpy mood.
In the beginning, everyone had assumed that Fifth Highness’ cheerful demeanor was due to the Emperor finally allowing him to participate in politics. They had thought to themselves that the Fifth Prince was not as nonchalant and uninterested in worldly affairs as he had appeared to be.
Only those close to Nangong Ye knew this was not the real reason for his excellent mood.
Ever since her younger son snatched away the pair of jadeite bracelets from her, the Empress became privy to the fact that someone had caught her younger son’s eyes. Watching Nangong Ye’s bubbly appearance, the amused Empress found that her younger son could also become so adorably silly. When she conversed with Nangong Xuan, she would teased as she casually asked her elder son if he knew which family’s young lady his younger brother had set his sights on.
However, Nangong Xuan had no interest in talking about his good younger brother lately, let alone about Nangong Ye and Yan Yi Ming in the same sentence. He nonchalantly claimed that he did not know before changing the subject. The astute Empress immediately noticed Nangong Xuan’s indifferent attitude.
Her two sons had always had a close-knitted relationship. Since young, they knew the importance of brotherhood, especially when one was part of the imperial family. Therefore, there had been extremely rare occurrences of arguments and conflicts between them over the years, let alone complete disregard for each other like today. The Empress was puzzled by the sudden change in attitude but chose not to question further.
A few days later, even if the Empress was not a very observant person, she would have found it apparent that both Nangong Xuan and Nangong Ye were avoiding topics about each other. The Empress was worried that there might be a rift between her two sons. Since Nangong Xuan was not as close to her as Nangong Ye because he was crowned as the Crown Prince when he was younger, he grew up away from her side. Hence, she decided to find a suitable time to ask Nangong Ye about what had happened.
Unfortunately, the opportunity never came as in the following days, the Emperor started allowing Nangong Ye to participate in political affairs. The Empress’s fretting heart was finally settled when she learned that it was the Crown Prince who suggested to the Emperor to allow Nangong Ye to be more involved in political matters.
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The Empress could not bring herself to vocalize such things, but the feeling of a younger brother-in-law taking a fancy to his sister-in-law was very…
No matter how the Empress looked at this, it still felt very weird. Although it was true that Yan Yi Ming had not married the Crown Prince, for the past two years, she had viewed Yan Yi Ming as the most prospective Crown Princess candidate. With slight uneasiness, the Empress asked Nangong Ye, “Ye’er, when have you started harboring such intentions?”
In the end, Nangong Ye and Nangong Xuan were her biological sons. Even if she had a good impression of Yan Yi Ming previously, the Empress’s first reaction was to suspect that Yan Yi Ming had done something to cause her younger son to be so enamored with her.
“This is a little embarrassing to admit,” Nangong Ye gave a faint smile as he shyly continued, “In fact, I couldn’t help but like Ah Ming when I first met her. But back then, she only had eyes for Elder Brother, so I knew that there was no hope for me and thus, never mentioned it before.”
Upon hearing this, the Empress, who was filled with trepidation, hurriedly asked, “Then why are you alright with bringing this up now?”
Nangong Ye cast a questioning look at his Mother Empress, “Elder Brother is about to marry Young Lady Jian from the Prime Minister’s residence and there is no relationship between Ah Ming and Elder Brother anymore. So why can’t I like her?”
Only then did the Empress belatedly react to his words. It turned out that Nangong Ye already knew that Nangong Xuan had his eyes on Jian Yu’er!
Yan Yi Ming did love Nangong Xuan, but when she accidentally found out that Nangong Xuan’s heart was set on Jian Yu’er, she became heartbroken. As a result, her younger son finally found an opportunity which resulted in this current situation.
After sorting through this messy cause-and-effect situation, even the Empress was rendered speechless.
But regardless of everything being said, the Empress did not want Nangong Ye to be with Yan Yi Ming.
Noticing that Nangong Ye was sinking deeper and deeper into this pit, the Empress solemnly voiced out her thoughts, “Ye’er, regarding this relationship, Mother Empress will never agree to this.”
The smile on Nangong Ye’s face immediately vanished, “Why not?”
“Everyone in the Imperial Capital knows that Yan Yi Ming likes your Elder Brother. If she successfully marries into the Eastern Palace, Yan Yi Ming will become the Crown Princess Consort whom everyone respects and admires. If she isn’t able to marry into the Eastern Palace, her reputation will be ruined and everyone would outcast her. Ye’er, you must remember your identity. Mother Empress will never allow you to marry someone like -”
“Mother Empress!” Nangong Ye suddenly bellowed. Even if he knew that he was acting disrespectfully, he still did not wish to hear his Mother Empress speak such demeaning words about Yan Yi Ming…
The Empress was stunned for she had never witnessed Ye’er become so infuriated before.
“Mother Empress, don’t you find your words to be too ruthless? Others may say that Ah Ming is not good and I wouldn’t care. But why is Mother Empress also say such things about her? Ah Ming’s ruined reputation… Why doesn’t Mother Empress ponder on how her reputation was ruined in the first place?”
The Empress stared straight at Nangong Ye and slowly enunciated, “No one forced her.”
“Why is Mother Empress trying to twist the truth? If it weren’t for Mother Empress secretly meeting with Ah Ming and giving her some semblance of hope. If it weren’t for Elder Brother who never outrightly rejected her and constantly strung her along only to suddenly announce his intention to marry Jian Yu’er in the end… Who does he think he is and what rights does he have!?”
These words had been weighing heavily on Nangong Ye’s heart for a long time, and he never thought he would voice them out loud. But now, seeing how easily Mother Empress shifted all the blame onto Yan Yi Ming, it became too much for him to bear.
“This matter shouldn’t be borne by Ah Ming alone. Ah Ming is at fault, but Mother Empress and Elder Brother are not completely faultless either.”
Kunning Palace fell into silence as no one dared to utter a word. The Empressed studied her younger son. She had never seen him so enraged before. She wanted to refute but found that there were no words to say.
Three years have passed since Yan Yi Ming’s hair-pinning ceremony. Three years ago, it was indeed she who held Yan Yi Ming’s hands and hinted that it would be great if this child married into the Eastern Palace. Even the Emperor and Duke Ding’s manor had shared the same sentiments.
However, no one expected that this delay would last for three years.
Even so, how could she have the heart to let Nangong Ye be gossiped about by others? More importantly, how could she allow her younger son to marry a woman whose heart was filled with another?
The Empress softened her stance and comforted Nangong Ye, “Indeed, Bengong1Bengong <本宫>, was the way the Empress and high-rank consorts formally addressed themselves. It is an honorific with the meaning of ‘I’ or ‘me’, directly translated to ‘This Palace’. and your Elder Brother have wronged her. If it’s possible, Mother Empress would also like to make it up to her, but it shouldn’t be through you. Listen to Mother Empress’s words, you’ve liked her for so long, so how can you not know her feelings for your Elder Brother? Can you guarantee that she no longer holds feelings for him even if she’s with you? If one day you two truly end up together, how should she face you? How should she face your Elder Brother?”
Nangong Ye fell silent, clearly affected by the Empress’s words. The Empress breathed a sigh of relief and softened her tone further as she continued, “Ye’er, I’m your mother. No matter what, I’m doing this for your own good and will never harm you. You treat her wholeheartedly. But what about her? Ye’er, you need to consider this properly, is she truly worth it?…”
“She’s worth it.” Nangong Ye raised his head and looked directly at his Mother Empress as he replied resolutely.
All the other things that the Empress wanted to say got stuck in her throat.
“Mother Empress, I understand your good intentions. But this son has yearned for too long, and… I really like her, so much.”
When he begged her to look back at him, how could Nangong Ye not know that this path would not be easy to tread on? Yet, this was a rare opportunity that he finally managed to seize, to be able to spend his days with her, smiling and laughing together.
Having experienced it, how could he be willing to let go of it now?
Nangong Ye gazed steadily at his stunned Mother Empress as he said, “Actually, Mother Empress can look at this from another angle. In the beginning, Mother Empress set your sights on Ah Ming because she was the di granddaughter of Duke Ding. Now that Crown Prince Brother decided to marry Young Lady Jian, Duke Ding Manor would never allow Ah Ming to become his imperial concubine. It would be a waste to lose Duke Ding’s backing just because of a failed engagement. I’ve also heard that previously, Third Royal Brother had also been eyeing Ah Ming because of her backing. Wouldn’t it be a pity to allow him to pick up this advantage? So why not allow this son to take over the role and marry Ah Ming instead?”
“… How can Mother Empress allow you to suffer such a wrong?”
“Son doesn’t feel wronged,” Nangong Ye quickly countered. A faint smile appeared on his youthful face, “Mother Empress, as long as I can marry Ah Ming, this son doesn’t care about what other people would think. This son just knows that Ah Ming is really good, and I really like her.”
He’s such a good guy 👏👏👏 love how he defends his girl!