Who is More Beautiful?

Pei Rusong was shocked, Pei Rusong trembled, Pei Rusong could not believe it.

"Your Highness?!"

His tone ended on a despairing note. Wen Chan realized she had made a slip of the tongue and inadvertently hit Eldest Young Mistress Pei's sore spot. She feigned nonchalance and tried to gloss it over, "...No, I didn't mean it like that. Can you not take the bait so easily?"

The Little White Flower's resentment was about to materialize into a thousand tentacles and wrap around her a hundred times from head to toe. "You have her in your heart! Not only have you secretly compared us in your mind, but you also think she's the most beautiful!"

As Wen Chan was rapidly calculating how to resolve the situation, a palace attendant happened to arrive from the Emperor's side with rewards. They were mostly local specialty foods and trinkets, but among them was a splendidly magnificent necklace woven from gold threads, pearls, and jade. The palace attendant even presented it like a treasure, saying that His Majesty had specially selected this piece of jewelry for the Princess. Wen Chan's smile stiffened. Not daring to look at Pei Rusong's expression, she said calmly, "I see. Thank you for telling me. My apologies for troubling the eunuch to make a trip so late at night. Cheng Xuan, see him out for me."

Cheng Xuan led the beaming palace attendant to the side hall to receive a reward. Xianyun and Feixing came in to put away the gifts. Xianyun, holding the box and thinking about what was just said, asked, "Your Highness, will you be wearing this necklace tomorrow?"

Wen Chan: "..."

Truly, she had to bring up the one thing she shouldn't. The Little White Flower's face was about to turn green with anger. He turned his head away resentfully, "Hmph!"

Xianyun and Feixing didn't dare to speak, exchanging glances for a long while before both turning to Wen Chan: What happened?

Wen Chan gave a nonchalant, dry cough. "It's nothing. I annoyed him."

Realization dawned on both of them simultaneously, mixed with a hint of eagerness to watch the drama unfold. After all, to most people around the Princess, Pei Rusong was neither arrogant nor short-tempered. He was magnanimous, calm, and dignified—basically a perfect and proper Prince Consort. For the Princess to be able to provoke such an 'honest man' was a skill in itself.

"Take the things and put them away." Wen Chan gave the order steadily, under their gazes. "I won't wear the necklace tomorrow. It's too elaborate. Let's switch to the white jade set instead; it will go well with the winter snowscape."

This was just pure, unadulterated nonsense. The entire mountain was covered in green pines and cypresses without a shadow of snow in sight. Who knew which hallowed snow Her Highness the Princess was trying to match? Xianyun and Feixing suppressed their laughter and replied "Yes," quickly packing up and withdrawing. Pei Rusong's expression softened slightly, but he quickly tensed his face again when Wen Chan turned to look at him.

In truth, according to the discipline he had received since childhood, a man's appearance was not that important. He shouldn't be overly concerned with it, let alone compete over a trivial issue like "who is more beautiful." But Wen Chan clearly liked his face, so Pei Rusong was happy to use it to entice Her Highness the Princess. He also wanted to use this as a pretext to divert her attention, so she would stop being distressed about the Emperor taking a new consort. However, there was a limit to being unreasonable. Wen Chan had already made a concession, and he planned to make up with her after she coaxed him one more time.

"Still angry?" Wen Chan said faintly. "If you hold a grudge over something so small, what will you do in the future? You could probably skip all three meals a day and be full from anger alone."

Pei Rusong: ?

Wait, she wasn't going to coax him even one more time? Was she impatient already?

As if she hadn't seen his spectacular expression, Wen Chan continued on her own, "After all, I'm bound to compare anyone I see with you. Although beauty is in the eye of the beholder, some beauty is beyond doubt. I probably can't change this habit. If you can't accept it, there's nothing to be done. Just bear with it."

Pei Rusong: "..."

The tips of his ears turned so red they felt like they were about to burn. He hardly knew where to look. Finally, as if very troubled, he lowered his head with a wry smile, "Your Highness is far too skilled at praising by first criticizing..."

Wen Chan reached out and pinched his ear, as if grabbing a small animal by the scruff of its neck, and said with a sly smile, "Isn't this nice? We don't need a hand warmer."

Pei Rusong: "..."

The next day, the Prince Consort was once again handsome and elegant, his eyes bright with spirit, looking dazzlingly happy. The Princess, however, remained as unmovable as a mountain. When Xianyun was doing her hair, she merely smiled at the table full of white jade bracelets, pearl necklaces, and crystal hairpins, not saying much.

Wen Chan calculated the time and figured the Emperor would not be seeing anyone this morning, so she went to Qinghui Pavilion first. When the Emperor was at the Temporary Palace, he did not hold court sessions, only summoning his ministers for discussions. He also ordered the Three Departments to send people to be on duty in shifts. When Wen Chan arrived at the pavilion, the Palace Secretariat, Yuan Shuye, was also there. He hurried over to greet her. Wen Chan exchanged pleasantries, "You attended the banquet last night and are on duty again today. Minister Yuan, you've worked hard. There's no need for such ceremony."

Yuan Shuye was also a genuine old fox. Hearing the tone of her voice, he knew the Princess had thoughts about last night's banquet. He said with a chuckle, "Thank you for your consideration, Your Highness. Your Highness, please take the seat of honor. There is no urgent official business today, so this old subject dares to take advantage of Your Highness's presence to steal a moment of leisure."

Wen Chan nodded with a smile, and the two of them amicably took their seats in the duty room.

Yuan Shuye was skilled at fathoming people's intentions and was thorough in his speech and actions. He was capable and had finesse. Unlike the straightforward and remonstrative Yang Tingying, he was the type of minister the Emperor favored most. Dealing with such a person was very comfortable if you were on his side. Wen Chan currently had no direct conflict with him and could still enjoy his considerateness. "I passed by Qingyun Tower yesterday and happened to hear someone playing the flute. It was melodious and moving, so beautiful it could stop the clouds. It's rare to find such a skilled musician in the Imperial Music Academy."

Yuan Shuye smiled and complimented her, "Your Highness indeed has sharp hearing. Last night, the Prefect of Pingjing, Xu Zhaoyun, sent people to the Temporary Palace with tributes, including a troupe of entertainers for amusement. Among them was a pair of siblings, the Prefect's adopted children. The older brother is named Xu Wei; he was the one Your Highness heard playing the flute. His younger sister's courtesy name is Yingluo. She is skilled in singing and dancing and astonished everyone with her performance last night. His Majesty was very appreciative."

"Oh? Why adopted children?" Wen Chan asked with great interest. "Then who are their biological parents?"

Yuan Shuye gave an apologetic smile. "Your Highness has stumped this subordinate. That detail wasn't mentioned yesterday. However, since they were carefully selected and adopted by Prefect Xu, I imagine there shouldn't be any issues."

"What Minister Yuan says is reasonable." Wen Chan did not refute him and said thoughtfully, "This Prefect Xu is quite a clever character. He's made a brilliant move. If nothing goes wrong, his position should be moved to Zhaojing. It seems the court will soon have another 'Imperial Father-in-law'."

For Yuan Shuye, a supporter of the Prince of Yue, having one Su Lizhen was annoying enough. Another Xu Zhaoyun would only give him a bigger headache. Wen Chan's words contained a hint of instigation, but they also served as a reminder to him: he couldn't let Xu Zhaoyun enter the court so smoothly. If the Xu Clan's woman were to win favor and bear a son in the future, it was not guaranteed that Xu Zhaoyun wouldn't become a stumbling block for them.

Yuan Shuye knew Wen Chan wanted to use him as a pawn, but for the moment, he couldn't discern her leanings. He didn't know which prince she supported, or if she intended to take matters into her own hands. Judging from her previous performance in Jiayun Palace, she didn't seem to be on the Crown Prince's side. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Yuan Shuye didn't mind doing her a favor. After all, with a precedent already set, who was to say that Princess Chiming wouldn't become the next Grand Princess Chengyang?

"Your Highness is thoughtful and farsighted, but Xu Zhaoyun is only an adoptive father, after all. He is still a long way from being an 'Imperial Father-in-law'." Yuan Shuye flattered her flawlessly. "Besides, other than the Duke of Zhao who guards Jiangdu, who in this dynasty is worthy of the title 'Imperial Father-in-law'?"

The Duke of Zhao, Chu Xuandu, was Empress Chu's father and Wen Chan's maternal grandfather. Now stationed in Jiangnan, both Yuan Shuye and Su Lizhen were a notch below the old man. He was the true pillar of the imperial court.

Wen Chan smiled subtly, demurely accepting the flattery. Yuan Shuye had not made his stance clear and wanted to gloss over the matter, but Wen Chan didn't give him the chance. She mentioned casually, as if unintentionally, "This Prefect Xu has a meticulous mind, yet his actions are somewhat unexpected. We are only a two-day journey from Pingjing, and His Majesty will not be staying here for long. Since these are the Prefect's own people, whom he has carefully arranged, it wouldn't have been too late for them to perform after we reached Pingjing. Why were they sent over in such a hurry?"

If the earlier probing had been within Yuan Shuye's expectations, this question stumped him completely.

Judging from the situation at last night's banquet, the Xu siblings had indeed been taught according to palace etiquette. Clearly, Xu Zhaoyun had premeditated this for a long time. But just as the Princess said, after enduring for the past ten years, why panic at the final debut? It looked like a spur-of-the-moment decision. Who had disrupted his plan?

The two exchanged a look, each understanding the other tacitly. Yuan Shuye said, "Thank you for your guidance, Your Highness. This subordinate will send someone to investigate secretly and get to the bottom of this matter as soon as possible."

"It was just idle chat, hardly worthy of Minister Yuan's 'thanks'." Wen Chan picked up her teacup and said unhurriedly, "There's no harm in being cautious. Since these are people who will serve before the Emperor in the future, having a clean background is of the utmost importance. Minister Yuan has His Majesty's interests at heart and spares no effort. I should be the one thanking you."