Underneath A Thousand Skies ✔️

8 Favoring Qie Over Wife (8)

Song Jia looked down at the small face of the little girl that tearfully hugged her as if they were having a life and death parting.

Lips twitching, she patted the girl's head and said, "Fourth sister seems to have grown up a lot."

She remembered this girl from Li Jia's memories as someone who loved to follow her like a little tail everywhere in the xiangfu. Prime Minister Li was very strict in family principles and her mother, the Da furen of the household, ruled the rear court with an iron fist. All the yiniangs knew that they could do as they liked to strive for favor, but scheming to harm the children and fighting against each other would warrant a severe punishment.

Because of this, all the Shu-born children [1] and Di-born children [2] got along well with one another. Even the concubines treated each other like sisters and looked up to Li Jia's mother. It could only be called as unfortunate that her daughter did not follow her example and instead caused a huge ruckus to attack a single concubine.

Finally, with Song Jia's constant cooing, the little girl in her arms stopped sobbing. Her name was Li Jing, which truly suited her. She was just like a small bird.

Escorted by Zhao Cheng, Song Jia entered the estate and walked towards the main hall to pay respects to her family. Her third sister's coming of age ceremony was a small event, and only a few of their closest friends had come.

They passed by the screen wall and entered through a winding corridor. Along the way, there were finely-dressed servants that stood waiting for them. When they spotted Zhao Cheng and Song Jia with Li Jing who was clutching her skirt, they respectfully bowed their heads in unison.

As soon as she went in, Song Jia saw her grandmother sitting high up in the middle, her right hand anxiously grasping the handle of a jade-inlaid cane. Beside her stood Prime Minister Li, his back straight and his expression severe. But when he saw Song Jia gracefully step forward to greet them, his eyes softened.

"Jia'er greets grandmother, father, mother, and three aunts."

An elegant-looking woman in a long muslin skirt with eight pictures of clivias on it approached Song Jia, helping her stand up. She eyed Zhao Cheng's hand which had stopped awkwardly in mid-air and chuckled. Zhao Cheng hurriedly retrieved his hand and clasped it behind his back, the tips of his ears turning red.

"It seems like His Third Highness treats my daughter especially well," Da furen mused, playfully opening her round silk fan and tapping Song Jia's shoulder.

Going with the absorbed memories of how the original host behaved, Song Jia linked her arm with Da furen's and said with a stomped foot, "Mother~"

Da furen pinched her cheek with slight laughter, which carried the faint scent of osmanthus powder. "Now that Jia'er is Zhao Wang Fei, you should properly behave and preserve the dignity of His Highness."

Song Jia pouted. "I've always been well-behaved!"

Prime Minister Li watched as his wife and eldest daughter happily interacted with each other, feeling left out. Thankfully, Matriarch Li also missed this spoiled granddaughter of hers and forcefully rapped her cane twice on the ground.

"When did our household become this lawless? Chatting here and there without even greeting His Third Highness!"

Song Jia inwardly rolled her eyes. She knew that this grandmother of hers was just a paper tiger [3]. Her tone was full of ire, but there was only love in her eyes. Obviously, this old woman was jealous that her granddaughter did not pay attention to her and threw a tantrum.

'Hua-la'! [4]

In an instant, Prime Minister Li and the crowd of women knelt down and bowed their heads to welcome Zhao Cheng, greeting "We greet His Highness the Third Prince!" one after another. Even the maids prostrated as if auditioning for a palace drama.

Amongst all the princes, Zhao Cheng was currently the strongest candidate to inherit the throne. Jingshao Emperor had long been suffering from a severe debilitating illness. Although not many had known that the imperial court physicians reported in hushed tones that His Majesty's strength waned by the day, there were still many conjectures in the capital that it would not be long before His Majesty would choose an heir among the four princes.

Some bold officials even theorized that the decree had already been written; the only thing left for the Emperor to do was to press down the imperial jade seal.

In the long years of battling for the throne, Prime Minister Li was one of Zhao Cheng's strongest supporters. They had been acquaintances for several years and could even be considered as 'friends', but not once did Prime Minister Li show a lack of proper decorum. He always acted according to protocol and minded his lower status. This was not only because he wanted to ingratiate himself with the future Emperor but also because Prime Minister Li inwardly held Zhao Cheng in awe.

Yet to have his own coming of age ceremony, but third imperial prince Zhao Cheng already moved out of the palace with the Emperor's approval and established his own estate. Not only that, but he was also an excellent military strategist with great merits in the battlefield.

When a large army of Xiongnu tribes that had joined forces suddenly invaded the northern border, nearly everyone thought of it as a lost battle because their own military soldiers were outnumbered by a huge margin of five to one. But Zhao Cheng roused their spirits and quickly thought out a desperate and daring plan.

Using their familiarity of the terrain to great effect, Zhao Cheng led a small vanguard force to ambush the large army of the Xiongnu horde while planting his own secret envoys in their midst at the height of the battle. Painting rotten wood to look like jade [5], Zhao Cheng's spies began issuing false orders to the Hu nomads to retreat as reinforcement troops sent by Jingshao Emperor would soon arrive.

Muddled by the constant fighting and then struck by fear, the large nomadic army crumbled into nothing as each soldier ran for their lives. This was because not only is it hard to maintain a large army and control them, it also creates dull soldiers.

Zhao Cheng knew to avoid what is strong, and attack what is weak. Since their number was their greatest advantage, then he must feign disorder to crush the enemy. In that way, victory was achieved.

[1] Children born from concubines
[2] Children born from the official wife
[3] Someone that is fierce and threatening but is actually weaker than it looks
[4] Onomatopoeia for a crashing sound
[5] "Painting rotten wood to look like jade" (雕朽为玉) — literally "carving rotten wood into jade." A metaphor for concealing flaws beneath a false veneer of perfection; outward splendor that hides inner decay.