The second imperial daughter, Zhao Mingyue, was actually thirty-three years old, but thanks to her adept self-care, she looked much younger than her years. Born to Emperor Zhao and Imperial Noble Consort Zhang—who held power in the inner palace rivaling that of the Empress—she held a position of prestige. Furthermore, since the Zhao Kingdom had precedents of daughters inheriting the throne, if any of the imperial heirs proved capable of challenging Zhao Mingyang, it was this Princess Mingyue.
"Big Brother, Sixth Brother!" Zhao Mingyue was a brisk, decisive person. Having stepped out of her carriage, she skipped the pleasantries and offered only a nod and a lukewarm greeting to the two who had spoken.
"I hear the Second Sister is with child again? Which one is this?" Zhao Mingyang did not treat Zhao Mingyue with the same warmth he showed Jing Yu; he asked with a bland expression.
"This one in my belly is the fourth. It has barely been three months, not yet time to show," Zhao Mingyue replied with a stiff tone. "I am not as lucky as you, Big Brother; children are something one has to bear oneself."
"Second Sister should consider her strength. With another mouth to feed in your estate, it is inevitable that daily expenses might tighten. If you encounter any difficulties, send someone to the Eastern Palace to drop a word. As a brother, I can certainly provide some support," Zhao Mingyang said, a faint smile still lingering on his face.
Seeing his big brother and second sister trade these back-handed barbs, Jing Yu, despite being underage, had to step in to smooth things over: "Big Brother, Second Sister, perhaps we should enter the hall before we continue."
As they entered the Supreme Harmony Hall, the interior was already fully prepared. The seats for the imperial heirs were not particularly prominent, save for those of the Crown Prince. However, since it was still early before the banquet began, Jing Yu and the others did not intend to sit dutifully in their assigned places just yet. Instead, they spotted a stout man with thick eyebrows and large eyes sitting upright in his seat, his robes pressed perfectly flat, not a single loose hair on his head.
"What did I say?" Jing Yu smiled, glancing around. "Fourth Brother is definitely sitting over there!"
Seeing the group enter the hall, the thick-browed man stood up from his seat without haste. He walked over, came to a stop, and cupped his hands in a salute toward the three imperial heirs: "Your Highness, Second Sister, Sixth Brother... Mingcheng offers his greetings."
Zhao Mingyang waved his hand with a hint of helplessness: "Fourth Brother, you really are..."
This man was Zhao Mingcheng, the fourth son of Emperor Zhao, aged twenty-seven. His birth mother, Consort Yu, only held the rank of consort. Among all the imperial heirs, aside from Jing Yu who was at the bottom, this fourth prince possessed the second-weakest maternal support. Among the princes and princesses, he was the most pedantic, rigid, and old-fashioned—almost the complete opposite of Emperor Zhao’s current personality—and thus, he was not held in high favor.
Perhaps because they were both marginal figures among the imperial heirs, they shared a sense of mutual sympathy. Zhao Mingcheng and Jing Yu actually had a decent relationship; despite the gap of a full thirteen years, they had always played together.
However, Zhao Mingcheng had since established his own estate outside the palace and was rarely seen. With this rare opportunity to meet, they did not feel a sense of estrangement. Whenever Zhao Mingcheng was with his sixth younger brother, his rigid, pedantic air often softened.
"Sixth Brother, how did you do on your political essays and military strategies this year?"
"Fourth Brother, must you poke at the sore spot?"
After they chatted for a while longer, two more carriages stopped at the palace entrance.
"It is the Third Imperial Sister and the Seventh Brother," Jing Yu said, his eyesight excellent as he spotted the arrivals from afar.
"How can you be sure it isn't the Fifth Brother?" Crown Prince Zhao Mingyang asked with a smile.
"Is there any time when the Fifth Brother is not the last to arrive?" Jing Yu scoffed.
Sure enough, just as Jing Yu predicted, a beautiful, delicate woman in palace attire approached with a graceful gait. This was the third imperial daughter of the Zhao Kingdom, Zhao Mingyu, aged twenty-eight. Born to the late Empress Dowager Zhaoyi, she was the biological younger sister of Crown Prince Zhao Mingyang.
Compared to the heroic and spirited Second Princess Zhao Mingyue, the features of Zhao Mingyu appeared much softer. However, Jing Yu knew that while his third sister looked gentle, her schemes and methods were top-tier among the imperial heirs. It was only because she had such a close relationship with his eldest brother, Zhao Mingyang, and was dedicated to assisting the Eastern Palace that she remained behind the scenes and was often overlooked by others.
Following behind Zhao Mingyu was a young boy who looked quite small. This boy was the youngest of Emperor Zhao's seven imperial heirs, the seventh prince, Zhao Mingfu, now only eight years old. His biological mother was Imperial Noble Consort Tan, who had been most favored in recent years. Her influence in the inner palace had almost rivaled that of Imperial Noble Consort Zhang, making her the third, or perhaps second, most powerful person in the harem.
Seeing this seventh brother, who was six years his junior, Jing Yu could not help but take a few extra glances.
It was no wonder Jing Yu noticed him. Ever since he obtained the Zhiming Treasure Mirror, he had used a non-mana-consuming Immortal Technique to test the Fate-Grid of almost everyone in the palace.
He had originally assumed that Emperor Zhao, being the ruler of the kingdom, would have a Fate-Grid. To his surprise, not only the Emperor, but all the concubines and imperial heirs lacked one.
This situation changed after the birth of Zhao Mingfu.
In the vast imperial palace, apart from himself, only his seventh brother, Zhao Mingfu, possessed a Mortal Grade Fate-Grid: [Intellectually Gifted].
Because using the treasure mirror to view a Fate-Grid also triggered it, Zhao Mingfu had been sharp and studious since childhood. Although he was only six, his progress in his studies was already equivalent to someone over ten years old, forming a stark contrast to Jing Yu, that wooden-headed block who received a 'C' grade in political essays and military strategies every year.
Jing Yu was not Xuanqingzi; he did not have an Immortal Registry to check the specific effects of a Fate-Grid, but he could generally guess from the name that this Fate-Grid likely inspired wisdom. However, Mortal Grade Fate-Grids generally provided negligible boosts; he estimated it to be a beggar version of Yún Xuáncè’s Spirit Grade [Linglong Wise Heart].
Yet, this did not mean Zhao Mingfu’s wisdom was necessarily inferior to Yún Xuáncè’s. After all, the wisdom inspired by a Fate-Grid was merely a multiplicative effect. If a fool awakened a [Linglong Wise Heart] Fate-Grid, even with the boost, their intelligence would at most be elevated to being slightly less clumsy than an average person; they could never instantly become one of the world's leading sages.
Therefore, for Fate-Grids of this additive nature, the outcome also depended on one's foundation.
"Sixth Brother!" Zhao Mingfu greeted Jing Yu with a grin. The only imperial heirs still living within the palace were the underage Jing Yu and Zhao Mingfu; they met frequently and maintained a very friendly surface relationship.
Jing Yu, however, knew that this little brat was precocious, like his mother Imperial Noble Consort Tan, and was full of devious tricks. Not wanting to get too entangled with him, he only nodded faintly at the greeting and turned back to chatting with Zhao Mingcheng.
Now, six of the seven imperial heirs had arrived; only the twenty-year-old Fifth Prince, Zhao Minglou, the only son of the current Empress, had yet to enter the hall.
It was not just Jing Yu; every imperial heir present knew perfectly well that Zhao Minglou was most likely accompanying the Empress by the Emperor’s side, waiting for the birthday banquet to begin so that they could arrive together. After all, the Empress had only this one son. Even though Crown Prince Mingyang’s position in the Eastern Palace could be considered as stable as Mount Tai, the Empress would likely still fight for the sake of the Fifth Prince.