Chapter 44.1: Regretful

“The only person I have ever truly loved and lost is Li Rong.”

Li Rong and the Empress looked at one another, refusing to yield to the other person. After a while, the Empress decided to take a step back. After all, since Li Rong had said so, if she still insisted on forcing Li Rong to retreat, Li Rong would lose face, and things would get ugly from here.

In any case, the person Li Chuan was supposed to choose had already been decided, so it didn’t matter if Li Rong took part in it as well.

As a result, the Empress smiled and only said: “You really are stubborn. Well, quickly give Princess Ping Le an incense burner.”

“Thank you, Mother Empress.” Li Rong smiled and saluted.

Before long, incense burners and commonly used spices were brought up one by one on trays and presented before every lady.

Most ladies from aristocratic families could distinguish between scents, but if they actually had to make incense themselves, it cannot be said to be something every young lady knows. But being able to distinguish between scents was already considered a foundational skill, so there were people who began to concoct a mixture that was at least similar to some of their everyday fragrant sachets and put it into the incense burner.

Li Rong couldn’t be considered an expert in the art, but Pei Wenxuan was once an expert in making incense and had given her a few fragrant sachets he made himself. She followed the step-by-step recipe Pei Wenxuan had given her in the past, slowly mixing the ingredients in while simultaneously paying attention to the situation around her.

Everyone had their heads bowed, taking the time to pick out and smell the spices at hand, especially Shangguan Ya and a lady of the Xiao clan that Consort Rou had personally recommended, Xiao Wei. They were both clearly experts in the art with their graceful movements and skillfulness, an absolutely beautiful sight to behold.

But Qin Zhenzhen, who was sitting behind Shangguan Ya, didn’t seem to know what she was doing. She kept her head down and reached for the ingredients beside her, as if trying her best to blend in with the crowd and find something to keep herself busy.

Li Rong mused over the thoughts of each person and party involved as she picked out her ingredients.

Consort Rou had chosen her niece, and her Mother Empress wanted to support Shangguan Ya, but Emperor Li Ming didn’t really care if the Crown Prince married Consort Rou’s niece or someone else as long as they didn’t come from a noble clan like Shangguan Ya or Su Rongwen.

Consort Rou’s schemes have always been at a higher level than her mother’s. It was impossible for her to not guess that the Empress had secretly given the Crown Prince instructions to choose the incense prepared by Shangguan Ya in advance, therefore making the Crown Prince choose Shangguan Ya’s incense.

As a result, Consort Rou must have made her own arrangements.

Li Rong inspected the incense burner in front of her. These incense burners were all exactly the same. There was a light yellow silk ribbon on the bottom as well as a slip of paper with each lady’s name written on it. After a while, the palace attendants will take the incense burners back on trays over to Li Chuan, Li Chuan will try out the incense and pick the winners, then pull out the names from the bottom and send them back.

If she was Consort Rou, she would definitely arrange for someone to intercept Shangguan Ya’s incense in the process and exchange her incense with Xiao Wei’s.

When Li Chuan chooses Shangguan Ya’s incense, it would be equivalent to choosing Xiao Wei’s incense.

Once Li Rong mused over the thoughts of the people in the audience, she remained calm and collected and as she prepared the incense, she appeared to remember something and wrote it down on paper.

Before long, time was almost up, and the Empress announced that the attendants would collect the incense burners one by one and bring them to the main palace hall.

The scene suddenly became chaotic for a bit, then everyone expressed their relief. Li Rong looked up and glanced over at Xiao Wei. She saw the smile on Xiao Wei’s face as if victory was in her hands, then Li Rong looked over at Shangguan sitting across from her.

The attendant who was collecting the incense burners had almost reached Shangguan Ya. Shangguan Ya placed the lid onto her incense burner and lifted it up. Then, it appeared as if she had dropped something as she turned and looked back at Qin Zhenzhen and asked: “Second Miss Qin, can you help me with something?”

Qin Zhenzhen looked up and saw Shangguan Ya smiling at her, rather apologetic as she said: “My fragrant sachet fell over there where you are. Can I trouble Second Miss Qin to pick it up for me?”

Qin Zhenzhen didn’t say much and went to pick up Shangguan Ya’s fragrant sachet, leaning over to pick it up. Shangguan Ya quickly exchanged the two incense burners, then turned around and put Qin Zhenzhen’s incense burner on her own tray and handed it over to the attendant who had just walked over.

Shangguan Ya moved extremely fast. By the time Qin Zhenzhen turned around, the attendant had already left with the incense burner.

Qin Zhenzhen gave her back the fragrant sachet she had dropped, and Shangguan Ya nodded and said: “Thank you.”

Just as she was about to turn around, Shangguan Ya heard Qin Zhenzhen say in a low voice: “You shouldn’t have switched out my incense burner.”

Shangguan Ya didn’t expect Qin Zhenzhen to find out so quickly. She couldn’t help but be stunned, but then she immediately expressed some confusion as if she didn’t know what had happened: “What does Second Miss Qin mean?”

Qin Zhenzhen brought her eyes up to look at her with a pair of bright and clear eyes as if she could see through it all. At this time, the attendant leaned over to collect Qin Zhenzhen’s tray. Qin Zhenzhen turned towards the attendant, about to say something when Shangguan Ya quickly grabbed her wrist and hastily asked: “What kind of incense was in Second Miss Qin’s incense burner just now? What a rather intriguing scent.”

Qin Zhenzhen could only watch the attendant take the incense burner away after being interrupted like this.

Once the attendant left, Shangguan Ya started to let go of her and whispered: “Don’t worry, I’m not doing this to harm you, so please do me the favor.”

Having said that, Shangguan Ya finally let her go and turned back.

Everything happened in just moments, and Li Rong watched it all from afar. Although she couldn’t exactly see what was going on between the two and what they said, she saw how Shangguan Ya quickly handed the incense burner over and Qin Zhenzhen looked like she wanted to say something, Li Rong had some guesses as to what it was.

Shangguan Ya must have been persuaded by Li Rong’s words, but Shangguan Ya didn’t have the ability to persuade the Shangguan family and the Empress, so this was the only thing she could do.

At this time, if Li Chuan randomly chose any girl from a second-class aristocratic family, Li Ming would bestow the marriage decree on the spot. Qin Zhenzhen happened to have a suitable background, and the Qin family was a military family themselves. Although Qin Zhenzhen’s father had passed away, her uncle was still there, and if Li Chuan married Qin Zhenzhen, he could add a few more bargaining chips to expand his military authority.

Shangguan Ya knew that the Empress had paved the road for her, and she gave this road to Qin Zhenzhen. As long as Qin Zhenzhen received the marriage decree today, with Shangguan Ya’s status, she could not be made a Side Consort, so the marriage alliance between the Shangguan family and Li Chuan would fall apart. Moreover, Qin Zhenzhen’s status was much better than Xiao Wei’s, so this decision was indeed the best for everyone.

It was just that Li Rong always worried that Qin Zhenzhen and Li Chuan would go down that dead end road again, so as soon as Shangguan Ya turned around, Li Rong looked down and drank her tea, then she said to Jing Lan beside her: “Go find the Prince Consort, tell him to give this recipe for my incense to the Crown Prince, and tell the Crown Prince to choose my incense.”

Jing Lan heeded and took the ingredients of the incense mixture that Li Rong had just written down without leaving a trace, then she quietly withdrew.

The news spread from person to person all the way to the main palace hall. The attendants brought updates from the Empress as well as the incense burners from the ladies of various aristocratic families. The Emperor heard what the Empress had said and laughed: “Today is the day for you young people to come together for the festivities. Since this is the case, everyone can all choose a winner. This time, the Crown Prince will choose the first-place winner, and all of you can nominate the second and third-place winners, so how about it?”

Everyone present echoed in agreement, and so starting from the highest seat in the palace hall, each incense burner was passed down one by one, then each person wrote down the numbers for their top three choices.

Li Chuan sat upon a high throne with an expression that was indistinguishable from joy or sorrow. Long before he took his seat, he had already received instructions from the Empress and confirmed who would be chosen today. He felt like something was weighing down on his heart because while everyone was in high spirits, he only felt a sense of emptiness and stifling despair that could be put to words.

Just like countless other times in his life, he was only waiting for everything to be decided.

That sense of powerlessness when being controlled by fate came rushing forth, again and again. When he sat upon a high throne and looked down at other people, this absurd contradiction emerged with a clear distinction in his heart and sharper than ever.

When the incense burner came to him, there was also a note from Li Rong. Pei Wenxuan took the note from the attendant. He quickly glanced at it and contemplated it for a moment.

He looked at Li Chuan, who was seated on a higher platform in the hall and thought about it for a moment, then he waited until the attendant handed the incense burner to him to whisper: “Tell His Highness the Crown Prince to choose Princess Ping Le’s white sandalwood incense.”

The attendant’s expression remained the same. Not long after, when the incense burner was being presented to the Crown Prince, that attendant quickly whispered: “Choose Princess Ping Le’s white sandalwood incense.”

Li Chuan’s hand slightly paused for a moment. The attendant straightened up and went onto the next table.

Pei Wenxuan continued to examine the incense that continued to be passed on. It was rather difficult to distinguish between scents, especially in this manner of continuous examination. There will be many people who won’t be able to distinguish between them anymore and lose their sense of smell.

However, Pei Wenxuan had always been an expert in the art of incense. He not only kept searching for the white sandalwood that Li Rong had written about but also thought about what could have happened over with the female guests.

While the incense burners circulated between tables, Shangguan Ya and Xiao Wei’s incense burners were being brought in one after the other, but just before entering the palace hall, two of the attendants quickly exchanged the names underneath the incense burners before passing them along.

After being switched two consecutive times, Qin Zhenzhen’s incense burner had been completely replaced with Xiao Wei’s name on it while Xiao Wei’s incense burner changed to Shangguan Ya’s, and Shangguan Ya’s incense burner was now under Qin Zhenzhen’s name.

The incense burners of these three people were presented in order. Xiao Wei and Shangguan Ya were highly skilled in the art of perfumery, so not long after the incense burners were brought to the main palace hall, Su Ronghua exclaimed: “I wonder who this incense burner number 34 belongs to? It truly deserves to be in today’s top three!”

He had always been unruly, so no one was surprised when he spoke so loudly. Only Su Rongqing, who sat beside him, reminded him: “Eldest Brother, you can just write it down on paper. The finest one will be for His Highness the Crown Prince to decide.”

“There’s no harm in doing so,” Li Chuan heard Su Rongqing chiding Su Ronghua while he was still waiting on more information and feared that others would not be able to pass the word onto him, so he quickly laughed and said: “Everyone can freely express their opinions. It’s always good to have discussions.”

After that was said, Li Rong’s incense burner came.

Li Rong had no such talent for making incense, and the recipe she used was one she copied off of Pei Wenxuan. Pei Wenxuan took a sniff and recognized the scent at once. He could also guess that Li Rong’s hand must have slipped and added a pinch less of agarwood.

Pei Wenxuan had quite a bit of disdain and felt that he had to teach Li Rong how to make proper incense when he got back. Otherwise, that princess would keep copying his recipes, and that would be too shameful.

While he mulled over how to go back and teach Li Rong, he revealed an expression of appreciation. His voice was steady as he laughed and spoke at a volume that Li Chuan could also hear: “This number 41 white sandalwood is quite good. It deserves to be the best.”

When Li Chuan heard this, he looked up at Pei Wenxuan. Pei Wenxuan glanced over at Li Chuan and smiled, giving a small subtle nod.

Li Chuan knew from the bottom of his heart that this was Li Rong’s incense burner. He didn’t know why he suddenly felt a little happier and a little touched as well.

In the end, she was still his older sister, unlike everyone else in the inner palace.

Once Li Rong’s incense burner was passed onto Li Chuan, Li Chuan picked up the incense burner and smelled it a bit, then he pretended to act calm and steady as he wrote down the number on the incense burner.

After the incense burners had all been passed down one after the others, they started adding up the scores.

Since Li Chuan would be choosing the first-place winner, the others only needed to choose the other two winners. Once all the votes had been tallied up, Li Chuan handed over the number he had chosen as the first-place winner, then an attendant brought over the names corresponding to the numbers on the trays and gave them to Li Chuan, so that he could announce them.

Li Ming patiently waited for Li Chuan to announce the top three with a smile. Li Chuan took out a slip of paper and calmly announced: “Third place, Shangguan Ya.”

So Shangguan Ya was third. Li Ming’s smile widened. Li Chuan drew out the second slip of paper: “Second place, Qin Zhenzhen.”

Li Chuan smiled when he saw the name on the last slip of paper. He lifted his head and looked up as if a little excited as he announced: “First place, Li Rong.”

Li Ming was taken aback upon hearing this, then he immediately frowned: “Why did Ping Le take part in it too?”

“Father Emperor,” Li Chuan turned his head and smiled as if he didn’t know what was going: “Although the incense jiejie used to make wasn’t very good, it was quite good this time. Father Emperor must not be blinded by previous impressions.

Li Ming was left speechless after hearing what Li Chuan had to say. He couldn’t say that they had used this occasion to choose concubines for Li Chuan, so it was impossible to let Li Rong participate in Li Chuan’s concubine selection, much less let Li Chuan choose Li Rong.

It was also fortunate that Li Chuan chose Li Rong. Although Li Ming couldn’t make him choose a Crown Princess from a humble family, it was better than choosing Shangguan Ya. Li Ming quickly laughed: “You are right. I shouldn’t have underestimated her. Let the rewards be distributed, tell them to come and receive their reward.”