Even after they walked out of the palace gate, Li Wanming still couldn't help but look back frequently.
"Stop looking. If you keep looking like this, your neck will break," said Princess Chengping in a soft voice, with a hint of teasing in her tone.
Li Wanming sighed, and the worry between her eyebrows remained.
"Before Xiao Zhu entered the palace, I advised her that the palace was full of crises, and every step in the future would be like walking on the edge of a knife. But she still insisted on entering. Now... sigh..."
Princess Chengping gave her a sidelong glance. "I said, why are you sometimes smart and sometimes stupid? When you sent Qing Lan to find me yesterday, I thought you were a woman with plans and knew how to plan ahead. But today, after seeing a few tears from Su Xiaozhu, you've become muddle - headed again?"
"Auntie..."
Li Wanming was stunned, and her eyes were full of confusion. Apparently, she didn't understand the meaning behind her words.
Seeing her expression, Princess Chengping frowned slightly, creating a crescent - like crease, and patiently asked, "Let me ask you, why did Su Xiaozhu enter the palace?"
"Because... because the Empress Dowager wanted to make Lü Songyuan a concubine in the palace, but the Emperor disagreed. So he also said that he would choose a woman he liked..." Li Wanming answered in a low voice, but there was obvious hesitation in her voice.
Princess Chengping nodded slightly and then asked, "Then looking at her clothes today, do you think the Emperor treats her well?"
"Clothes?" Li Wanming was taken aback for a moment and then replied, "The clothes she was wearing seemed to be made of brocade... That should be considered good... But, but something's not right! If the Emperor really treated her well, how could he let Lü Songyuan bully her like this?"
Princess Chengping's cold eyes swept across, and she wished she could poke Li Wanming awake on the forehead with her finger.
"Yes! You also said that since she is a pawn the Emperor uses to deal with the Lü family, and the Emperor specially summoned her into the palace and dotes on her to some extent, how could he let Lü Songyuan bully her?"
Ah...
Li Wanming suddenly stopped walking. She felt that she seemed to have indeed overlooked something.
"You're still here stupidly worrying about others? She's much smarter than you!"
Princess Chengping scolded in frustration, "Do you think Su Xiaozhu knelt down for Lü Songyuan? She's not that stupid! She knelt down for the Emperor to see! After this act of feigning self - injury, I'm afraid the Emperor will feel heart - broken for a long time."
Li Wanming blushed. She also felt that she was indeed a bit stupid sometimes. She didn't even see through such a simple scheme and had stupidly wanted to help Su Xiaozhu up.
"Since auntie saw through it long ago..." she said with a blushing face, biting her lips and muttering, "then why did auntie help her just now?"
Princess Chengping said coldly, "I don't like Lü Songyuan's overbearing manner. Can't I just simply want to teach her a lesson?"
"Uh... It's not that you can't..."
Li Wanming scratched her chin and walked up to her awkwardly. She whispered, "Actually, auntie also feels sorry for her, right? Even though the act of feigning self - injury is a clever scheme, one still has to suffer first."
Su Xiaozhu was indeed smart, but she was too weak. Whether in terms of family background or temperament, she couldn't compete with Lü Songyuan.
The act of feigning self - injury was less of a scheme and more of a desperate move out of helplessness.
Princess Chengping sneered, "It's better to have a scheme than to be at a loss! Inside this grand palace, it's a battlefield for concubines. Over the years, how many women have struggled to survive in there? She's not the only one."
It was almost noon at this time. The sun had risen above the roof - ridge ornaments of the palaces, making the grand palaces look even more majestic, vast, and resplendent. The red walls and golden tiles were like mythical beasts crouching there, and the thousands of rays of the sun were all tinged with a purple aura.
However, under the towering eaves, in the shaded areas, there were rows of black tiles, looking like an air - tight and huge prison. Even the colorful ribbons and precious ornaments in the palace seemed to turn into struggling remnants of rouge.
Princess Chengping looked back for a moment and said, "Stop worrying about her. That girl Su Xiaozhu is very intelligent. I think she's stronger than Lü Songyuan. In this deep palace, it's really hard to say who will be the final winner."
There was a green - curtained carriage waiting outside the palace. Princess Chengping walked slowly. The luxurious brocade palace dress on her slowly slid over the thick stone threshold of the palace city gate as she walked. The gold - thread embroidery reflected fragmented light under the sun.
Li Wanming shook her head and still looked dejected. "I'm not worried about her. I can never catch up with someone who can be so ruthless as to use such an act of feigning self - injury. I just wonder... Is she really happy living in this palace?"
Hearing this, Princess Chengping stopped in her tracks. Her eyes suddenly turned cold, as sharp as a blade. "Get rid of your indecisiveness for me!"
"If, even now, your mind is still filled with such muddled thoughts about happiness and unhappiness, then I advise you to divorce Jingnan as soon as possible! The Ningwang Mansion is not suitable for you. Sooner or later, it will swallow you up, leaving not even your bones."
Seeing that she was angry, Li Wanming quickly put on a smiling face. "Auntie, don't be angry. I have no one to talk to around me now. I only dare to say such things in front of you..."
Princess Chengping looked at her slightly haggard face. Her chin was pointed, her eye sockets were slightly sunken, and even her usually bright and clear big eyes were covered with a hazy mist, as if she had lost half of her soul. Her heart softened, and her tone became gentle again.
"I know that on your wedding night, you sent Jingnan to war. Alone in this huge mansion, you must have felt isolated and full of panic."
"Moreover, my second elder brother is not an easy person to deal with. I'm afraid he has given you a hard time these two days..."
She reached out and gently tucked the loose hair beside Li Wanming's ear behind it.
"But you have to understand that your father is a fourth - rank general, and your mother is a female general of the Yuanjia Water Village. From the day you entered the capital, you have been involved in this treacherous court situation."
"Even if there was no such thing as choosing a husband from among the newly - passed scholars, even if there was no Jingnan, do you think you could escape? Look at your two elder sisters. Which one of them isn't struggling to survive in a deep courtyard?"
Li Wanming's eyes flickered slightly, and her lips moved. "Auntie..."
"If you don't want to be bullied, you have to take your fate into your own hands!"
"If you only think about escaping, thinking that you can live a peaceful and secluded life away from the world... That's just a pipe dream! In the end, you will only become the fish on someone else's chopping block, and even your dying struggle will be extremely pitiful and embarrassing!"
Princess Chengping's words became more and more forceful, but her hands became gentler.
She gently stroked Li Wanming's cheek and wiped away the tears from the corner of her eye. "Wanming, you're very smart, but you're not ruthless enough. Neither to yourself nor to others. This is your advantage and also your weakness."
"Take that Concubine Su, Su Xiaozhu, for example. She understands much better than you."
"She knows that her family background is weak and that she has no support other than the Emperor's favor. She simply has no chance of competing with Lü Songyuan. So she might as well show her weakness and turn her weakness into a weapon, trying her best to keep the Emperor's favor for a longer time."
"The situation in the court changes in an instant. As long as she preserves her strength and bides her time, who knows if she won't wait for the day when the clouds disperse and the moon shines through?"