Quick Transmigration: Survive to the End

On the day of her arrival at the palace, Yin Yin dressed in a brocade robe and wore exquisite hairpins and ornaments. She then boarded the carriage to the palace with the old lady.

There were many people entering the palace today, so the carriages naturally had to stop every few steps.

The old lady and Yin Yin were not close. She gave her a few instructions, telling her to remember the rules after entering the palace, to listen more, observe more, and speak less. Then she just sat in the carriage, looking at each other in silence.

About an hour later, the Zhan family's carriage finally stopped at the palace gate.

The two got out of the car and met up with Old Master Zhan and Zhan Zheng, who got out of another car. Led by a palace attendant, they walked into the palace and walked for a while before arriving at the Linde Hall, where the palace banquet was held.

Upon entering the hall, Zhan Zheng went to talk to someone, Old Master Zhan also went to chat with his old friend, while Yin Yin followed Old Madam Zhan to sit down in her usual spot.

As soon as they settled down, someone came over and said, "Sister Zhan is here. I noticed you hadn't arrived for a long time and I thought you weren't coming this year."

"The Emperor's grace is boundless, how could I not come?" The old lady put on a friendly smile, but her demeanor was not particularly warm.

Yinyin glanced at her curiously, not recognizing the old lady as her, but she recognized the young woman beside her at another banquet. If they were from the same family, she must be from the Yang family of Guozhou.

“Sister Zhan is right, how could we fail to live up to the Emperor’s grace?” The old lady looked at Yin Yin. “I heard that neither of Sister Zhan’s two granddaughters are with her. And who is this?”

“She is my eldest daughter-in-law’s goddaughter and also my granddaughter,” Old Madam Zhan paused, “Yinyin, come and pay your respects to Old Madam Yang.”

Yin Yin went to pay her respects as instructed, and her every move was impeccable, leaving no room for criticism.

Madam Yang smiled and nodded: "Sister Zhan has a good granddaughter."

Only then did Madam Zhan praise Miss Yang with satisfaction.

The two maintained a relatively harmonious relationship, though they kept in touch.

After they had exchanged some gifts, Madam Yang said, "Yinyin is still young, but Sister Zhan's daughter Shu'er is of marriageable age. Is she betrothed yet?"

Madam Zhan's smile remained unchanged: "Shu'er's maternal grandmother loves her granddaughter the most and intends to keep her by her side. She wrote back some time ago saying that she already has plans."

"Then congratulations, Sister Zhan. The Feng family and the Zhan family are a perfect match, and Shu'er has her maternal grandmother to protect her. Their future will surely be harmonious," Old Madam Yang said, seemingly having genuinely praised her before. Then she changed the subject, "Unlike my child, who was favored by Consort Shu when she entered the palace. She was told to be by Consort Shu's side and serve her at all times."

Madam Zhan feigned surprise: "Since Consort Shu has given birth to the seventh prince and made such a promise, the Yang family is about to produce another noble person."

Madam Yang smiled proudly: "When this child has a special day, I will definitely send a separate invitation to Sister Zhan to come and have a feast."

“Then I’ll wait and see,” said Madam Zhan, glancing at the princes ahead with a worried expression. “However, the Sixth Prince is not yet engaged, but the Seventh Prince is already engaged? Although he has received Consort Shu’s words, the imperial decree has not yet been issued.”

The smile on Madam Yang's face faded for a moment, then quickly turned into a look of disdain: "The Sixth Prince... how can he compare to the noble birth of the Seventh Prince and Consort Shu?"

“Sister Yang, be careful what you say,” said Madam Zhan with an air of righteousness. “This is the palace.”

Madam Yang clearly took these words to heart and hurriedly led her granddaughter elsewhere.

Madam Zhan lost her will to speak and sat down in her seat.

Yinyin could clearly sense that her mood seemed to have turned sour. Without even thinking too much, Yinyin could easily label Old Madam Yang as someone who didn't get along with Old Madam Zhan.

Don't be fooled by their smiling faces and seemingly close relationship; look at the surnames they use to address each other—they're all their husbands' surnames. If they were truly intimate, wouldn't they use their husbands' surnames instead of their maiden names? And their words—each one is designed to pierce a sore spot.

When Madam Yang spoke, she assumed that Madam Zhan wasn't coming, and that her two granddaughters were not coming.

The news of Zhan Shu'er falling into the water and staying at her maternal grandparents' house, as well as Zhan Hui'er's marriage to a widower, had spread throughout their circle. Since she was interested in the Zhan family, how could she not know? Now, she brought it up specifically and showed off her granddaughter's good marriage. This comparison completely put Old Madam Zhan far behind.

Although Madam Zhan mentioned that Consort Shu's verbal promises were unreliable and that the Sixth and Seventh Princes followed the proper order of seniority, Consort Shu, as a favored concubine, must have the ability to fulfill her promises if she could make them openly and honestly. At this moment, Madam Yang realized she had spoken out of turn and left, but the marriage was most likely to go through, which made Madam Zhan quite uneasy.

Yinyin mentally extracted the key points from their conversation, but showed no sign of it on her face.

However, Yin Yin thought somewhat inappropriately that the Sixth Prince was actually in such a low position in the eyes of others.

She thought about it carefully. Because the plot revolves around the protagonist Zhan Zheng, the drama didn't focus much on the Sixth Prince in the early stages. It only mentioned that he was born to a palace servant, disliked by the emperor, but well-protected by the crown prince. Although he didn't like studying literature, he was quite skilled in martial arts.

After the old emperor passed away and the crown prince ascended the throne, he was sent out to lead troops into battle, where he became comrades with Zhan Zheng. However, perhaps due to injuries sustained on the battlefield, he returned victorious and married, but had no children. Although he later became a prince who assisted in governing, he was trusted by several generations of emperors.

Perhaps because of these reasons, and because the few times she met the Sixth Prince, it was always with the Crown Prince or the Tenth Princess, and no one dared to speak ill of the Sixth Prince, Yin Yin didn't realize for a moment that it was still early and the Sixth Prince wasn't the prince she would become later.

To be honest, if it weren't for the significant difference in their social status, he would have been a really good marriage prospect. He was away fighting wars for many years when he was young, and he held great power until his death in his old age. He was still Zhan Zheng's political enemy.

Yin Yin was lost in thought for a moment and didn't even notice Zhan Zheng returning from talking to someone.

"What are you thinking about?" Zhan Zheng asked softly. "Why don't you go play for a while?"

Although Linde Hall is the venue for palace banquets, the Emperor, Empress, and Crown Prince were not present at the moment, making it a good opportunity for everyone to exchange pleasantries. Zhan Zheng, for example, had already spoken to several people, and Old Master Zhan had also been greeted by many others.

As for Madam Zhan, this was truly the first time Yin Yin had ever seen such a composed and dignified lady.

Yinyin gave a look to Old Madam Zhan sitting in front of her. Since the old lady hadn't given any instructions, it was inappropriate for a junior like herself to leave without permission.

Zhan Zheng understood what she meant: "The Tenth Princess was just asking about you, and I see that the Princess Consort of Xunyang has also arrived."

This time, without them saying anything, Old Madam Zhan took the initiative to speak: "I'm old and don't like to walk around. Yinyin, go find your friends to play with. Remember to come back before the banquet starts."

Yinyin responded and then left her side.

She really wanted to tell Zhan Zheng what had just happened, but the Linde Hall was full of people, so it wasn't the right place to talk. She could only suppress her thoughts for the time being and say, "Brother, I have something to tell you when we get back."

"Don't forget to bring out your rosewood paperweight!"