Everyone plans for themselves

  Zhang saw her expression and knew she had misunderstood, so he hastily explained: "The empress allowed you to enter the palace, not to be the emperor's concubine, but to marry the crown prince."

  The former crown princess had given her a visiting card, and in the conversation, intentionally or unintentionally mentioned that the crown prince was interested in Yuan Yi and wanted to take her as his concubine, probing her attitude. Although she wondered how the crown prince could have taken a liking to her daughter, she thought it was just to weigh the balance of power at court and didn't think much of it.

  It was just her daughter who was the eldest daughter, and even the princess could do it. Zhang naturally hoped that Yuanyi would become the mistress of a noble family in the future, rather than being relegated to a subordinate position and being bullied by others.

  Although she was unhappy in her heart, she still did enough on the surface. She spoke bluntly that she couldn't make decisions and had to return to the mansion to discuss with the old master. Now she had to be grateful that she didn't say anything definite at first. Now she just needed to hand over a note to the crown princess to explain her attitude, and Yuan Yi's problem could be easily solved.

  Upon hearing Zhang's plan, Yuan Yi felt as if her heart had turned to dust. What difference was there between this and being a concubine? The same desolate palace walls, the same inability to marry him. She grasped Zhang's sleeve, pleading: "Mother, is there really no other way? I don't want to enter the palace."

  "It's impossible." Zhang Shi firmly refused, no longer looking at her tear-filled eyes, and said harshly: "You should give up your little thoughts, and prepare well to marry into the Crown Prince's mansion."

  That person's icy voice still echoes in her ears, the ruthless back figure is still vivid in her eyes, Yuan Yi's heart is like a knife cut, more than a decade of infatuation, ultimately can't compare to a concubine born daughter.

  "You're not worthy of being compared to her." One sentence shattered all her infatuation.

  "Mother, I promise you I will enter the palace."

  In this life, Zhu Yuanyi just let Zhang Zhongxi see that the original intention was a white-bodied lady, how could she compare to the crown prince's side concubine.

  Having convinced her own daughter, Zhang Shi no longer had any scruples and immediately sent a letter to the Crown Prince's consort, expressing her intention and hinting that Zhu Changren intended to let Yuan Yi enter the palace as his concubine. If the Crown Prince liked Yuan Yi, he would take action first.

  As expected, Prince Wei Tai did not disappoint Zhang's family. On the second day after she sent out the invitation, he personally visited Zhu Changren and proposed to take Yuan Yi as his concubine.

  For the unexpected development, Zhu Changren was both surprised and angry, wondering if Zhang's trick was behind it. However, the crown prince was still waiting for his response. As a member of the Crown Prince Party who had offended him once before, Zhu Changren naturally did not dare to refuse and could only grit his teeth and agree.

  It's unclear how the news got out, but the entire household soon knew that Yuanyi was about to become the Crown Prince's secondary consort. Yuanya, who had not yet reached adulthood, suddenly became the focus of speculation.

  Mrs. Sun had been bedridden for some time, and no matter how many doctors were invited, there was no improvement. Yuan Hua attended to her personally and discovered Zhang's movements from some clues. She was angry in her heart, but she was limited by her low status and lack of conclusive evidence, so she could only let Zhang go unpunished, watching with tears as her aunt grew weaker day by day.

  In recent days, the news from the palace had been reported to her by her personal maidservants. Although she didn't go out, she was well-informed about the developments. When she learned that Yuanyi was going to become the crown prince's consort, her face turned gloomy and she forcibly broke off the fingernails on her hand.

  With an expressionless face, Yuan Hua let the maid bandage her wound. She lowered her head and sniffed, but it was full of medicinal smell. She then said to her personal maid, "Lingyue, help me bathe and change my clothes. Later, I will go see Father."