For this outing, Wei Xianfei had left only a single female official behind to keep watch over Lingbo Palace and had brought all the others along with her. She had also brought more than a dozen palace maids to attend to her daily needs.

The sky darkened gradually. Palace lanterns were lit throughout the various bedchambers of the retreat, flooding the interiors with a brightness clear as daylight.

Ling Jingshu and Xinyun together led the palace maids in cleaning the bedchambers and settling the luggage, and it was not until the early hours of the evening that things finally calmed. By the end of a full day’s work, she was so exhausted her hands and feet had gone soft, without even the energy to speak. The moment her head touched the pillow, she fell asleep.

She slept the entire night without a dream, deeply and sweetly.

The following morning, at the first pale light of dawn, Ling Jingshu rose as she always did.

Young bones, in the end, recover their strength — after a night of rest, every trace of the previous day’s exhaustion had vanished without a trace, and she was once again full of energy and spirit.

When Wei Xianfei saw Ling Jingshu, she could not help but laugh with a sigh: “This Consort sat in a carriage all day yesterday and rested through the night and still feels rather fatigued. Just look at you — so bright and full of life. This Consort truly cannot but accept that age is catching up with her.”

For a woman, the most beautiful span of her years lasted only so long. In the blink of an eye, she had already passed thirty. Among the consorts of the palace she was still considered young — yet standing before Ling Jingshu, fresh and lovely as a blooming flower, she found herself suddenly aware of the years gradually slipping away.

Ling Jingshu could not help but smile: “My Lady’s beauty is like the finest flowers, and her bearing is ethereal and refined — you look at most like a woman in the fullness of her twentieth year. How could you appear aged?”

Flattering words are universally beloved.

Wei Xianfei’s brow smoothed and her lips curved upward: “You are still the one who knows best how to speak and bring a smile to someone’s heart.”

Xinyun chimed in cheerfully from nearby: “Ever since Jingshu arrived, the person My Lady favors most is her. This servant has waited upon My Lady for so many years and still cannot compare to Jingshu. This truly is — old friends forgotten, only the new face welcomed.”

Wei Xianfei laughed outright: “When have I ever stopped cherishing you! Just a short while ago I gave you a pair of solid gold bracelets — each one a full three liang in weight. Now you come here playing up to me with sweet words — I will not soften my heart and reward you again. Whatever fine things there may be, I will save them for the well-behaved and obedient one.”

The well-behaved and obedient one — that was naturally Ling Jingshu.

Ling Jingshu pursed her lips, her eyes full of quiet laughter.

Serving at Wei Xianfei’s side kept her busy enough, yet it was fulfilling and genuinely pleasant. Wei Xianfei was gentle in her manner toward everyone and never put on airs. Toward Ling Jingshu she was especially generous and warm. And all of that — beyond the bond that had existed between them from before — was also, in no small part, because of Wei Yan.

This was something Xinyun understood without it needing to be said. The few words she had spoken were in good-natured jest.

……

After the morning meal, Wei Xianfei brought Xinyun and Ling Jingshu along to pay their respects to the Emperor.

In the palace, Ling Jingshu could still manage to keep herself out of the way and avoid Zichen Hall. But here at the imperial retreat, Wei Xianfei had brought far fewer attendants with her, and it was truly untenable for Ling Jingshu — her personal female official — not to accompany her.

When they arrived outside the Emperor’s bedchamber, they happened to encounter several other young consorts who had also come to pay their respects.

The consorts sat together and exchanged words with careful, pointed maneuvers.

On such occasions, it was not Ling Jingshu’s place to speak. All she needed to do was stand quietly behind Wei Xianfei.

Ling Jingshu kept her eyes lowered and held her tongue. Yet that slender silhouette clothed in pale green, and those flawless features of exquisite beauty, were not easy to ignore.

Zhang Zhaoyi’s gaze swept briefly over Ling Jingshu’s fair and lovely face, and she delivered her words with a smile edged like a hidden blade: “Consort Xianfei is gifted with beauty that overturns nations — even the female officials at her side are remarkably lovely to behold. Let alone His Majesty — even this Consort looks on and finds the sight pleasing to the eye.”

Words of this sort — barbed provocations — Ling Jingshu had lost count of how many she had heard over these past months. She was a mere female official; it was not her place to trade verbal blows with the consorts of the inner palace, and so she simply treated it as the barking of a dog and let it pass unheeded.

Wei Xianfei’s eyes shifted subtly, and she offered a light smile: “Female Official Ling was originally a person of His Majesty’s — it was This Consort who was shameless enough to ask for her to be transferred over. What This Consort values is someone who is conscientious and careful in her work; appearances are not something This Consort has given particular thought to. Zhaoyi has said all of this — This Consort now finds herself quite confused. Could it be that Zhaoyi is suggesting that This Consort has ulterior motives, and that she deliberately sent someone at her side to appear before His Majesty and compete for favor in her stead?”

By the last sentence, her voice had already cooled.

Zhang Zhaoyi’s expression shifted slightly.

Wei Xianfei was by nature gentle and accommodating, and had never been known to make enemies within the palace. People had rather grown accustomed to it and forgotten that she was now the acting holder of the phoenix seal, deeply trusted and relied upon by the Emperor — a Xianfei whose standing carried true weight.

It was precisely relying on that assumption that she had let her words run a little loose. She had not expected Wei Xianfei to turn a cold face on her so swiftly.

“My Lady has misunderstood. This Consort had no such intention whatsoever.” Zhang Zhaoyi’s forehead broke out in a faint cold sweat; she hurriedly arranged her expression into a smile: “This Consort was only making idle conversation just now — My Lady must not take it to heart.”

She then squeezed another smile toward Ling Jingshu: “Female Official Ling surely would not take such a small jest to heart, would she?”

Only then did Ling Jingshu raise her head, and dipped in a small curtsy toward Zhang Zhaoyi: “What Zhaoyi said just now, this servant did not quite catch. Zhaoyi need not trouble herself.”

Wei Xianfei had stood up for her so plainly — she naturally needed to show some backbone herself, lest she fail Wei Xianfei’s goodwill and good intentions.

Hearing Ling Jingshu’s gentle yet pointed reply, Zhang Zhaoyi’s smile grew even more strained. But this was not a place where she could exert her authority, and this breath of grievance — whether she liked it or not — she had no choice but to swallow.

Wei Xianfei watched on with a cool and measured gaze for a moment before finally speaking lightly: “Very well — such minor matters need not be raised again.”

Only then did Zhang Zhaoyi exhale with relief. For the remainder of her visit she was exceptionally well-behaved and restrained, and dared not venture any further provocations.

With Zhang Zhaoyi’s example set before them, the other consorts of even lower standing showed good sense and kept their mouths firmly shut — and things grew considerably quieter for a time.

……

After half an hour’s wait, the Emperor finally emerged from his bedchamber.

Prince Yan had shared the Emperor’s quarters the previous evening and now, naturally, remained at the Emperor’s side. With one hand lightly supporting the Emperor’s arm, he spoke: “Yesterday’s travel was tiring, Your Majesty — please, rest within your chambers today. If the stillness grows wearying, simply summon the musicians to play, and have the singing-and-dancing performers put on a show to lift your spirits. How does that sound?”

That handsomely refined face was filled with warm concern — the very picture of genuine devotion and sincerity.

The Emperor saw it and was moved in spite of himself. With a warm nod he replied: “Very well — this Emperor will follow your suggestion entirely.”

Over these past six months, the Emperor had spent nearly all his time confined to his bed.

Prince Yan had set everything else aside and remained at his side every single day, personally tending to his clothing, meals, and daily needs with his own hands — delegating nothing to servants. Even when taking his medicines, Prince Yan had insisted on personally tasting them first — a display of filial devotion that was genuinely touching.

A person is not made of wood or stone — how could one feel nothing?

What was more, Prince Yan was the youngest son whom he had always favored most, having doted on him somewhat more than the others since he was small. The six months of close daily companionship had only deepened the warmth and closeness between father and son further.

As the Emperor had grown older, he had lost the decisive sharpness and far-sighted clarity of his younger years, and his heart had grown considerably softer than before. Toward this favored young son, he had grown even more gentle and indulgent. Prince Yan’s suggestions, he had almost never refused.

This journey to the imperial retreat, too, had come about at Prince Yan’s recommendation.