Eldest Princess Wen Cheng looked towards her husband and noticed that the Great General too was also full of surprise and confusion. This matter had come about so suddenly that it had completely caught the couple off guard.
Eldest Princess Wen Cheng took a deep breath and forced a smile, saying, "Could it be that Your Majesty has been overworking recently, leading to some hallucinations?"
This was almost a blatant challenge to the Emperor! No matter what, Eldest Princess Wen Cheng could not simply watch her daughter fall into the trap that was the Eastern Palace.
The Emperor immediately glared at his own sister, "I am not yet so senile! Moreover, the Empress has had the same dream these past days. Could it be that the Empress too is hallucinating from overexertion?"
It was only because of this one sister that the Emperor would let it pass so lightly. Had it been someone else, questioning His Majesty would constitute a grave disrespect.
Seeing the Emperor's determined expression, the hearts of Eldest Princess Wen Cheng and the Great General turned cold.
As the Emperor looked at them, Eldest Princess Wen Cheng managed a forced smile to avoid any improper behavior, and said, "Then may I know what plans Your Majesty has in mind?"
Now it was the Emperor's turn to hesitate.
He looked at his own sister, his expression unusually apologetic. Little did he know, this look caused even more panic in the hearts of the princess and her husband, fearing that there might be some complications in this matter.
The Emperor rarely felt this embarrassed. He looked at his sister, "Wen Cheng, I have a matter I haven't discussed with you. Regardless, as an Imperial Princess, you must understand that whatever decision I make, it is for the good of the Imperial Family."
Eldest Princess Wen Cheng's heart grew even more tangled in panic. "Imperial Brother, what exactly is the matter?" In her urgency, she even reverted to the term of address they used years ago.
"The residence in the Empress and my dreams is not the Secluded Bamboo Court where your legitimate daughter, Ah Zhen, lives, but a place called Begonia Court. I have made my decision, on the eighth of next month, the Crown Prince will welcome your concubine-born daughter into the mansion with the ritual due to a concubine."
The Emperor deeply felt this decision was somewhat unfair to Eldest Princess Wen Cheng and the Great General, as he knew about the Crown Prince's engagement to Princess Lang Hua Jiang Lingzhen. Now, though, he was arranging for the Crown Prince to marry her concubine-born sister. Such an occurrence of sisters serving one husband was unprecedented in the Tianqi Dynasty, and besides, doing so would also dishonor Jiang Lingzhen. This meant that the engagement between Jiang Lingzhen and the Crown Prince must be canceled.
At this, Eldest Princess Wen Cheng had frozen, thinking the Emperor's news was too much for her to accept, unaware that it was not discomfort she felt, but joy.
Indeed, it was divine mercy!
Eldest Princess Wen Cheng was both shocked and overjoyed, never expecting that one moment she had been anxious about her daughter's fate, and the next, she received this wonderful news that even resolved the problematic engagement that had troubled her for some days!
Coming back to her senses, she then heard the Emperor continue, "...I know this is unfair to Ah Zhen. She has grown up under my watch, I cherish her deeply, and had always hoped she could marry into our Imperial Family. Alas, this time, it is our Imperial Family who has done her wrong. I will issue a decree tomorrow to appoint Ah Zhen as Princess Qingyang, and the Qingyang Commandery near your Wen Cheng fief will be granted to her as her own."
Eldest Princess Wen Cheng was stunned by this grand gift. Granting a fief? Ordinary Commandery Princesses were not eligible for their own fief, and even for princesses, it depended on the level of favor they received.
Eldest Princess Wen Cheng, as the legitimate daughter of the late Emperor and a sister of the current Emperor, held such high honor that she had her own fiefdom. She had never expected that the Imperial Family's compensation would be so generous this time!
A Commandery Princess with her own fief was indeed more prestigious than an ordinary Imperial Princess!