In the evening, when Xiao Yun returned, Wang Qingyao recounted the events in the East Palace.
Xiao Yun was quite indignant, "She dared to disrespect you? Truly, I must go to the Emperor and lodge a complaint..."
As he spoke, he made to rush out.
Wang Qingyao laughed heartily and hugged his waist to stop him.
"Forget it, forget it. We magnanimous people don't stoop to their level. We won't bother with her."
Xiao Yun immediately halted, tilting his head up proudly, "Hmph, my wife is truly magnanimous."
They squeezed together and sat on the divan. Xiao Yun said, "This is no solution. She's merely the Crown Princess now and she's already openly showing you disdain. If she becomes Empress later, what then! You'll be wronged every day?"
Xiao Yun absolutely could not let his wife suffer daily grievances.
Wang Qingyao hooked her arms around his neck and blew gently, "So this depends on you. If you are powerful enough, no one will dare to wrong me."
Xiao Yun fell into thought.
Wang Qingyao originally thought the matter was over, but the next day Xiao Yun requested an audience with the Emperor, claiming he missed him and wished to pay his respects.
The Emperor was in good spirits and playfully chided, "This little rascal," before granting the request.
When Xiao Yun went to Ninghui Hall, he specifically observed that Shunfeng was not attending the Emperor, and he had no idea where the Emperor had sent him.
He had actually come to complain. After some aimless pleasantries about the Emperor's health, he got straight to the point.
"Your Majesty, let me tell you, the Crown Princess hosted a banquet in the East Palace yesterday. My Ding'an Princess Consort also attended, but the Crown Princess gave her no pleasantries, not even a word. Oh, my wife has never suffered such indignation since marrying me! Truly, does the Crown Princess blame my wife for the death of Consort Wei? It was bad enough when she slandered my wife for stealing a hairpin last time. This time, she's not resorting to schemes and tricks, but directly showing her displeasure. My wife is, after all, the Ding'an Princess Consort..."
Xiao Yun was adept at lodging complaints.
Before he knew his true parentage, he often acted spoiled and complained to the Emperor. Now that he knew the Emperor was his biological father, the sense of intimacy deepened. It was only natural for a father to support his son.
The Emperor was also quite surprised, "That can't be right? The Ding'an Princess Consort was specifically invited into the palace by the Crown Princess with my imperial decree."
"Ah," Xiao Yun feigned surprise, "Did the Crown Princess do all that just to deliberately embarrass my wife? For a dignified Crown Princess, her magnanimity is too narrow..."
He muttered the last sentence.
The Emperor also frowned. Indeed, he strongly disliked such petty behavior.
Wei Yu was the Crown Princess. If Wang Qingyao had done something wrong, she could have used her status as Crown Princess to punish or suppress her, rather than resorting to such unsavory and underhanded tactics.
The Emperor himself detested such petty tricks the most, and he immediately developed a dislike for Wei Yu.
"She is young, after all, and cannot bear the heavy responsibility of Crown Princess," the Emperor remarked.
The Crown Prince and Crown Princess were both young. They shouldn't have established a crown prince so early.
However, Consort Wei's three sons had lost two, forcing the Emperor to establish a successor sooner rather than later, to quell any thoughts from others.
In fact, his most favored was the Second Prince, Prince Rong.
This child was benevolent. He might not be suited to conquer a kingdom, but he was sufficient to defend one.
It was a pity, though. A disaster had not only crippled Prince Rong's legs but also rendered him infertile.
The Emperor still felt a pang of pain in his heart whenever he thought of it.
That day, the Emperor sent someone to the Ding'an Prince's manor to bestow rewards upon the Ding'an Princess Consort. He didn't state the reason for the rewards, but his words implied that the Ding'an Princess Consort had suffered grievances.
The Ding'an Princess Consort had been to the East Palace just yesterday. The noble ladies at the banquet were all aware of what had transpired.
These grievances were undoubtedly inflicted by the Crown Princess.
As a result, the Emperor bestowed rewards the very next day to support her, which was clearly a slap in the face to the Crown Princess.
It also brought shame upon the Crown Prince.
In the East Palace, the Crown Princess heard the news and, in her anger, smashed several teacups.
When the Crown Prince returned, he gave her no pleasantries either.
"...Either do something decisive and kill her. What's the use of these petty maneuvers? Will she suffer even half a bit of harm!"
Wei Yu never expected Xiao Yun to be so shameless as to go to the Emperor to complain about such a trivial matter.
Even more outrageous was that the Emperor would slap her face over such a minor issue!
Who was the Emperor's son and daughter-in-law, after all!
Wei Yu felt wronged and, with red eyes, whispered softly, "I didn't do anything, and Father Emperor is too biased!"
"You dare to blame Father Emperor?" the Crown Prince exclaimed, his anger rising, "You are the Crown Princess now. Your every word and action represents the East Palace, represents me, the Crown Prince. It wasn't easy for us to reach this point. Don't forget, Father Emperor has more than one son!"
The Seventh Prince's birth mother, Consort Chen, was subtly showing signs of rising, not to mention the Eldest Prince.
That was a sword hanging over the Crown Prince's head, which could fall at any moment.
Wei Yu harbored deep hatred for Wang Qingyao, but she dared not say anything further to the Crown Prince.
The Crown Prince left with a parting remark, "Reflect on yourself properly."
He went to Concubine Pan's chambers.
Wei Yu was so angry she almost twisted her handkerchief to shreds.
Just yesterday, everyone had been flattering her, saying the Crown Prince favored her and only visited her chambers. Before those words had even cooled, the Crown Prince went to another woman's chambers.
This was truly a slap in her face.
One, two, everyone was coming to slap her face!
Why?!