A tense atmosphere pervaded the painted boat.
Everyone's face was taut, foreboding an impending storm.
Song Yinghuai knew.
Regardless of whether he admitted it or not tonight, Song Chengyuan's words had already taken root in everyone's hearts.
The matter of the Prince of Yan having no heir would soon spread through the court like the wind.
Although there had been precedents in previous dynasties of adopting a prince to inherit the throne, those were all desperate measures taken by emperors after they had been on the throne for many years.
No one dared to place their bets on an unknown person during a prince's struggle for the crown.
In the eerily quiet cabin.
A sense of guilt welled up in Caiyu's heart like a torrent, overwhelming and inescapable.
She had made a mistake.
She shouldn't have underestimated Song Chengyuan's madness.
She shouldn't have tried to get close to Song Chengyuan and caused Song Yinghuai not only to lose face but also to lose his greatest bargaining chip in the struggle for the crown.
Caiyu bit her lower lip until it turned pale. Before Song Yinghuai could say anything, she suddenly spoke up coldly:
"I'm not willing to be just the prince's concubine! I want to be the only woman in the prince's heart and the mistress of the Prince of Yan's Mansion..."
Her bright eyes swept over Lü Baiwei and Xu Buyue. "Whether it's the Princess of Yan or his true love, in my eyes, nothing is more important than the prince's love. So, the prince respected me and promised to keep my most precious thing until our wedding day."
Lü Baiwei glared at Caiyu angrily.
How dare she have such delusions of grandeur about being the mistress!
Xu Buyue, however, had a glint in her eye, as if she had discovered a new world.
Caiyu continued, "The prince is a man of integrity and virtue. He is not like you. When you see a maid you like in your own home, you force yourself on her. In your eyes, maids are just objects that can be used and discarded at will. But the prince is different. He practiced Buddhism for seven years and has great love in his heart. In his eyes, all living beings are equal, without any distinction of high or low, noble or humble. So, he is a true gentleman. But in your dirty minds, the prince's respect for women has turned into such a filthy conjecture that he is impotent. I think your heads are full of filth, which is why you think so meanly of others!"
As Caiyu finished speaking, Sheng Jiangli looked over from afar.
His amorous eyes were deep and filled with indescribable complexity.
Sister Shu'er...
For Song Yinghuai, she had used the identity of a maid to scold all the officials present in the capital.
Did she know that by offending these villains, she had also become a target of their hatred?
Didn't Caiyu know?
Of course, she did.
But she couldn't just sit back and watch Song Yinghuai be humiliated.
Perhaps her defense of Song Yinghuai at this moment couldn't completely dispel people's doubts, but it was better late than never.
It was better for people to speculate about a fact than to have a definite conclusion with no chance of reversal.
Song Yinghuai's lowered eyes gradually softened.
All his jealousy, anger, and embarrassment from tonight had vanished in Caiyu's protective scolding.
Hiss...
This girl was so fierce that she had scolded all the powerful and noble people present in the capital.
Everyone's faces had turned pale with anger.
"Such a lowly maid! How dare you insult us, the officials of the court, and say that our heads are full of filth?"
"Bold! Don't think that just because the Prince of Yan favors you, you can be so presumptuous. Your Highness! If you don't give us an explanation for this girl today, we will submit a memorial to the emperor tomorrow and charge her with slander!"
"Yes! We must have an explanation!"
"Give us an explanation!"
"Explanation?" A sneer escaped from Song Yinghuai's throat. "What kind of explanation do you want? Hmm?"
His gaze swept over everyone one by one.
Whenever his gaze landed on someone, that person would shiver involuntarily and lower their head.
"Life and death are trivial matters, but losing one's virtue is a serious one."
"Is it that I'm too pedantic or that you're too open-minded?"
"Is it wrong for me to respect women and I need to give you an explanation, or is it because Caiyu told the truth and offended you that she needs to give an explanation?"
Song Yinghuai's words left everyone fuming but too afraid to say anything.
No matter what Caiyu said, they didn't dare to make a hasty judgment.
The Crown Prince's words couldn't have come out of thin air, could they?
However, Caiyu was so confident that they couldn't be sure that the Prince of Yan was really... This was a great scandal in the royal family!
Song Chengyuan's face kept changing, and he seethed with anger in his heart.
He had planned to expose Song Yinghuai's scandal tonight and win over the neutral factions in the court to his side in one go.
But he didn't expect to be refuted by Caiyu, who didn't care about her own reputation.
The neutral factions were still on the fence, hesitant.
He had raised a good spy!
She was sharp-tongued and quick-witted.
It was a pity that she had a rebellious heart.
This feast of the Hongmen ended in an unpleasant way.
After everyone got off the boat, they left with complicated feelings.
As soon as Song Yinghuai and Caiyu got off the boat, Song Chengyuan's persistent voice came from behind:
"Fourth brother."
Here he comes again.
How unwilling Song Chengyuan was.
Song Yinghuai paused, tightened his grip on Caiyu's shoulder, and then said, "Go and wait for me over there."
Caiyu looked up and refused to leave. "Your Highness."
Sheng Jiangli finally stepped forward, raised his eyebrows, and said, "Sister Caiyu, you came with me. At least give me some face and get in my carriage first."
He snatched Caiyu from Song Yinghuai's hand. "It's windy by the river. I'll take her to the carriage to wait for you. You deal with your own business first and don't involve her anymore."
Sheng Jiangli pulled Caiyu away more forcefully and roughly than usual.
Caiyu was quickly pushed into the carriage. Just as she angrily turned her head, a shadow loomed over her.
Sheng Jiangli's tall figure trapped her in a small corner of the carriage.
The narrow and cramped space made Caiyu startled. She pressed against his leaning chest. "Brother A Li!"
Sheng Jiangli took her hand away and hugged her tightly regardless. His eyes were red, and his voice trembled:
"You and him... You're still... How could you...?"
He didn't know how to express his emotions for a moment.
His heart was surging.
His thoughts were in a turmoil.
He was a mixture of joy and sorrow.
"Sister Shu'er, what exactly is your relationship with him?" Sheng Jiangli hugged her tightly in his arms. "I thought there was something between you two."
He had thought that Lan Jinshu had already become Song Yinghuai's woman.
But the cinnabar mole on Caiyu's arm tonight had shocked him too much.
Caiyu was still a virgin!
Did that mean that Caiyu still had feelings for him in her heart?
Did he still have a chance?
"Let go of me!" Caiyu was almost suffocated by Sheng Jiangli's strong embrace. She pounded his back with both hands and struggled. "I'm going to be strangled to death!"
Only then did Sheng Jiangli realize what he was doing. He quickly let go and looked at the woman gasping for breath in the corner with a beaming smile.
Caiyu took several deep breaths and then glared at him fiercely. "What does it matter to you what my relationship with him is?"
"Do you men really care so much about a woman's... that?"
She had been spoiled by Lan Yuanyi, her eldest brother, eldest sister, and second sister since she was a child. She had a wild personality and had grown up in a military camp. So, she didn't have as strong a concept of a woman's obedience and chastity as ordinary women.
She even disliked men using a woman's chastity as a topic of conversation.
Sheng Jiangli had grown up with her since childhood. Although he had been away for nine years, he still knew Caiyu's personality well.
Seeing her angry look, he immediately denied it. "I didn't mean that... I'm happy because I'm thinking that maybe my chances have increased?"
"Humph!" Caiyu continued to shrink into the corner and looked at him warily. "No, I only think of you as my brother."
Sheng Jiangli was immersed in joy and didn't feel hurt by Caiyu's rejection at all. He said cheerfully:
"Brother is fine. I don't mind. Maybe there will be a chance for me to become your lover!"