# Chapter 7: Cold Shouldering
Zhang Zhou helped Wei Yang down from the carriage. The servant girls of the prince's mansion had already come out to greet them, kneeling in unison. Zhang Zhou waved them aside and was about to lead Wei Yang inside when a voice called out from behind: "Queen sister, wait for me!"
The two turned around and saw Qu Tian bouncing over. Lady Qu followed behind with a smile, also heading toward the mansion. When she saw the two of them, she deep-bowed in greeting.
Zhang Zhou said to Qu Tian with a smile: "Why didn't you greet me? Only recognize the Queen sister?"
Qu Tian wrinkled her nose and said playfully: "Who asked you to say random things? Saying you'd betroth me to Lu Tong, making everyone tease me whenever they see me!"
Jian Hui lightly scolded: "Qu Tian, don't be disrespectful to His Majesty!"
Zhang Zhou smiled magnanimously: "Auntie needn't stand on ceremony."
Wei Yang took Qu Tian's hand and asked: "What's wrong, don't you like Prime Minister Lu?"
Qu Tian stomped her foot: "Who likes that bookish little brat! So讨厌！Don't ask about this!" Everyone laughed.
Peng Hong had already come out to greet them. Though dressed in simple casual clothes, he still carried an imposing air. Behind him followed Princess Xiuyi, her figure slightly fuller, an oval face, warm and approachable, dressed in rose-colored floral silk garments that made her appear even more prosperous.
Xiuyi greeted Wei Yang and said with a smile: "I'm truly sorry. I just got back and didn't have time to go to Rongxi Garden to pay my respects to Your Majesty the Queen. Yet you've come here first! Others will say I'm ignorant of proper etiquette."
Wei Yang didn't know how to respond, thinking: This princess's words are indeed formidable.
Zhang Zhou came to her rescue: "Sister, saying this will only make Wei Yang uncomfortable."
"Aiya!" Xiuyi's charming eyes curved as she sized up Zhang Zhou: "When have you become so considerate?" She then pressed close and wrapped her arm around Wei Yang's waist, her face full of delight: "I'm not good with words, don't be angry with me. Aiya, I've been 'sister this' and 'sister that' the whole time—Your Majesty the Queen won't take offense, will you?"
Wei Yang quickly said: "Of course not! From now on I'll call you Sister Xiuyi just like Zhang Zhou does, and you can call me Wei Yang."
Xiuyi nodded repeatedly, her face bright with joy, then glanced at Zhang Zhou: "Zhang Zhou, your bride is so lovable! You lucked out for several lifetimes, you rascal. If you ever bully her, I won't let you off!"
Zhang Zhou smiled: "Sister speaks truly."
Peng Hong said: "How can you still call him 'rascal' after all these years? Don't you think it's time to change your tone?"
Xiuyi gave a charming smile: "Tonight, everyone stays for dinner!" With that, she warmly took Wei Yang's hand and led them into the inner courtyard, then asked: "Auntie, where's your son?"
Jian Hui's face showed embarrassment: "Still the same."
Xiuyi harrumphed: "I told you—anyone who hangs around that scoundrel Zhongshan is sure to pick up bad habits! Qu Xue is also a headache; instead of learning the good, he learns the bad, and worse—he learns Zhongshan's stubborn foolishness! I think the National Uncle should lock him up at home for a few months to let him come to his senses."
Jian Hui nodded in agreement. Xiuyi continued: "Zhang Zhou, Zhongshan and Mancheng are both quite old now. Find a couple of capable women to keep them in check, before they go gallivanting around all day. Those two are the most libertine of all the pleasure quarters in Yuanliao City!"
Zhang Zhou replied indifferently: "Sister speaks truly."
Xiuyi gave him a cold glance: "That sounds nice when you agree, doesn't it!" She patted Qu Tian's hand: "Lucky for her that Lu Tong didn't run with that crowd, wasn't she?"
Qu Tian blushed and spat: "What does that have to do with me?"
Jian Hui burst out laughing: "Who in Yuanliao City can match your skill? Managing a prince so well?"
Xiuyi gave Peng Hong a look that was half smile, half something else: "You think he's well-managed? He's faking! Actually, he's cut from the same cloth as those little scoundrels. Just look at his silly son to know he didn't inherit any good stock!"
Peng Hong laughed: "Look at how many good people you've managed to disparage in just a few sentences? In the end, you even insulted your own son."
Just then a sturdy-looking boy came running out of the room—it was Peng Hong's son Peng Kai. He pounced directly onto Xiuyi and shouted: "Ma, I'm starving!"
Xiuyi held him close, smiling broadly yet saying: "Starving like a ghost reincarnated? You eat all day long and still hungry?" She then pulled him over to Wei Yang and said: "He's been demanding to see Zhang Zhou's bride all the time. She's right here now—quick, greet Her Majesty the Queen."
Wei Yang saw this child blinking with big eyes, his little mouth puffy and round—absolutely adorable. She happily bent down and teased with a smile: "Oh my, little Peng Kai, call me auntie!"
The child said in a little-adult manner: "What a beautiful bride! Zhang Zhou, you lucky brat!" With that, he reached out and hugged Wei Yang.
Everyone burst into laughter. Peng Hong smiled and said: "That unfilial rascal."
Zhang Zhou picked up Peng Kai, his face full of tenderness: "Don't you go clinging to her."
Little Peng Kai pinched Zhang Zhou's face, pouting and kicking his legs: "So stingy! So stingy! Eh? Where's Zhongshan?"
Qu Tian sulkily said: "He's probably off drinking at the flower houses again!"
Little Peng Kai scratched his head, his childish face full of innocence: "Why didn't he take me?"
Another round of laughter from everyone.
Shen Kang arrived with Yuan Ning and Shen Mu. When Shen Mu saw Qu Tian, she immediately went over and started chattering with her—now covering her mouth to laugh, now making dramatic exclamations of "aiya ya."
Wei Yang entered the main room's inner chamber with Xiuyi, Yuan Ning, and Jian Hui to see Xiuyi's little daughter Peng Yue. The baby girl was chubby, her little mouth slightly open, sleeping soundly with squinted eyes.
Peng Kai puckered his lips and said: "This kid is really ugly."
Xiuyi poked his head, whispering and cursing with a laugh: "Die you! Get out and play. If you wake my sister, I'll skin you alive!" Peng Kai stormed out with puffed cheeks.
Xiuyi seemed to recall something, sighing: "If Xingguang were still alive, she'd be about Peng Yue's age."
Yuan Ning also sighed, full of deep regret and pity: "Princess Jinyin truly has a bitter fate. I heard King Deng is lewd and depraved, with a violent temper. What a pity and tragedy that the world's greatest beauty was married off to him!"
Wei Yang fell silent, her heart churning like a storm—she felt that everyone was blaming her for swooping in and separating Princess Jinyin from Zhang Zhou.
"Enough of this." Xiuyi's eyes suddenly reddened: "Let's not speak of sad things." She took Wei Yang's hand and asked: "Have you been to visit Mandu?"
Wei Yang nodded: "Yes... a few times."
Xiuyi smiled, but her eyes grew redder: "Alas, there's barely anyone who dares enter Zhongbi Manor. You're good for visiting him. That child is truly pitiful—both those brothers are pitiful. Every time I go, I end up crying in secret."
Wei Yang felt surprised but didn't dare ask more, so she just nodded.
In the upper room of Yaoyuan Pavilion, incense curled through the air. Under the dim crimson candlelight, within the sensually red gauze curtains of the bed, a man and woman in their amorous dalliance laughed endlessly. The famous Yuanliao City courtesan Su Mi'er cooed in her delicate voice: "General Xia, you've been gone for so long—surely you've forgotten Su Mi'er?"
Mancheng laughed: "Didn't I just come?"
"Tch!" Su Mi'er pouted: "When you come to Yaoyuan Pavilion, do you specifically request Su Mi'er? That young General Qu always says: 'Get me Cuiyan. What? There's a guest? Doesn't matter who it is, get them out!' And you? 'Get me Xinli. What? There's a guest? Then find Baiying. What? There's a guest? How about Liuping? What? She's also got a guest?' Only then do you say 'What about Su Mi'er?'"
Mancheng smiled apologetically: "Are you angry?"
"How dare I be angry?" Su Mi'er twisted her slender waist in Mancheng's arms, turning her smooth fair back to him, pretending to be furious: "Hmph! General Xia has seen beauties as numerous as the cattle and horses—why would he spare the time for me?"
"Don't be angry. Next time I'll change the order—'Get me Su Mi'er. What? There's a guest? Then find Xinli. What? There's a guest? Then...'" Mancheng said, his hands roaming and tickling her body.
Su Mi'er giggled so hard her shoulders shook—whether moved by his words or tickled by him, one couldn't tell.
Mancheng seized the opportunity to press his lips to hers in a frantic kiss.
Su Mi'er said in a breathy voice: "General Xia! If you just speak the word, who would dare compete with you? From now on, just say: 'Get me Su Mi'er. What? There's a guest? Doesn't matter who it is, get them out!'"
"If some gentle and considerate guest gets driven away by me, wouldn't you be even angrier about my boorishness?"
Su Mi'er traced her delicate fingers over Mancheng's incomparably handsome face, her smile blooming like a flower: "No matter which man it is, compared to you, they all become boors." With that, she lay against his chest and softly said: "I just wonder whose heart you'll eventually be enchanted by—that person would truly be the happiest in this world..."
Mancheng breathed in her sweet fragrance, nearly intoxicated, yet a trace of bitter smile formed at the corner of his mouth.
That most fortunate person, however, doesn't know the fortune she has.
Ying Shan brought in some pastries, then bowed and withdrew.
Wei Yang said: "Zhang Zhou, try this—it's made with blue apricots from Zhongbi Manor. The maid's skill is really wonderful. I told her..."
Before she finished, she saw Zhang Zhou's face darken.
Wei Yang lowered her voice and carefully asked: "What's wrong with you? I only went to Zhongbi Manor to visit Mandu."
"Nothing. Don't overthink it."
This again—keeping things bottled up, making that face for whose benefit? Wei Yang was deeply unhappy, but remembering how considerate Zhang Zhou had been to her these past few days, she forced down her anger and continued: "I think that Lanxing girl is very skilled with her hands. I like her very much. In a couple of days, I'd like to ask General Xia to give her to me."
"Wei Yang!" Zhang Zhou's expression changed, cutting her off: "Who is Lanxing? How can you just say you want her?"
Wei Yang froze, then *smack* she slammed the spoon onto the table, shouting: "Isn't she just a servant girl? 'Who is she'? If I want her, would General Xia refuse? I shouldn't have told you at all!"
Zhang Zhou gave her a cold stare and uttered: "Who do you think you are?"
Wei Yang stared in shock: From childhood until now, this was the first time she'd ever heard someone speak to her with such contempt. Who am I? I am the eldest princess of Yu Kingdom, I am the Queen of Yuanliao who speaks and it is done!
Zhang Zhou realized he'd misspoken, his expression softening slightly, about to say something when Wei Yang could no longer contain herself and shouted: "Who am I? I already knew I mean nothing to you! You look down on me! Zhang Zhou, don't think I don't know—I've known about you and that Princess Jinyin for a long time!"
Zhang Zhou exploded in inexplicable anger: "Who told you that?"
"Who needs to be told?" Wei Yang shouted: "Everyone in the city knows how good you were to that woman!" She swept the bowls and plates off the table with a crash: "I'm not as beautiful as her! You look down on me, but she was already married—does she deserve to be Queen of Yuanliao?"
These words seemed to pierce Zhang Zhou's heart. He immediately slammed the table and stood up, bellowing: "You shut your mouth!"
For the first time in her life being shouted at, Wei Yang trembled with rage. She stood up and stared at Zhang Zhou, pointing toward the door: "Get out."
Zhang Zhou cast her a despondent glance and walked out without hesitation.
Wei Yang felt dizzy, collapsing onto the chair, tears streaming down her face.