“If we don’t clear this up, I won’t be able to sleep soundly…”
Yao Huang had finished bathing quite a while ago, yet Prince Hui still lingered in the front courtyard without coming over—probably reading again?
While he hadn’t arrived yet, Yao Huang lay on the daybed by the window pondering this cushion matter.
Could it be that her bustling about making cushions and then running to the bamboo courtyard to deliver them really did seem like a princess trying to curry favor with her prince consort?
Yao Huang hadn’t meant it that way at all. If the prince hadn’t brought it up, she wouldn’t have even thought in that direction.
On the way back pushing the prince, Yao Huang had briefly suspected whether he wanted to be intimate with her and was using the cushion as an excuse, but she dismissed this suspicion as soon as it arose. He was a prince, after all—if he truly wanted to sleep with his own princess consort, why would he need an excuse? As long as he came, Yao Huang would have to properly attend to him. Even if he decreed they must do it three or four times every night, as long as she wasn’t seriously injured, Yao Huang wouldn’t dare refuse. At most, she could try negotiating with him to do it a bit less.
Thinking it over, Yao Huang concluded that Prince Hui had probably grown up in the palace, absorbing through constant exposure how Emperor Yongchang interacted with his consorts and concubines. Thus, he viewed a man staying overnight in his wives’ or concubines’ rooms as evidence of his favor toward them, forgetting that currently in the entire Prince Hui’s mansion there were only the two of them as husband and wife. He had even given her the ivory mat. Just based on this ivory mat alone, if Yao Huang dared claim the prince didn’t favor her, A’Ji would dare point at her nose and lecture her about how one mustn’t be so unconscionably ungrateful!
Forget it—princes and common folk naturally think differently. If the prince wanted to come, it was out of kind consideration for her dignity. Yao Huang should be happy about it.
After waiting another quarter hour or so, Prince Hui finally arrived.
Yao Huang received him at the entrance to the main hall, then pushed him into the inner chamber and around into the canopy bed area.
As soon as Prince Hui settled onto the bed, he instructed: “Extinguish the lamps.”
If this had been during the first few nights after Yao Huang married over, she would have found Prince Hui’s words perfectly normal. But after those two passionate encounters on the daybed and wheelchair, his cool, distant tone now requesting the lamps be extinguished sounded more like he was sulking with her: I kindly wanted to give you dignity, yet you worried I wouldn’t let you sleep. Well, now I’ll prove to you that I’m not the sort of lustful person you suspected!
Yao Huang stood without moving, carefully observing Prince Hui’s expression.
Prince Hui acted as if he didn’t notice her standing there dumbfounded. He simply pulled back the covers and lay down on his own. Only after settling in did he glance over at her.
Yao Huang’s current outfit was a set of silk underclothes, so she wasn’t afraid of his gaze. But Prince Hui’s calm, emotionless look carried tremendous intimidation. Yao Huang yielded, obediently going to extinguish all the lamps large and small, leaving only the one by the bathroom door.
Once on the bed, emboldened by the darkness, Yao Huang climbed directly onto Prince Hui, pressing her face against his chest while her left hand found his right arm hanging at his side and traced back and forth: “Why does the prince seem somewhat unhappy just now?”
Zhao Sui closed his eyes: “Do I?”
Yao Huang: “Yes! The prince barely looked at me. Last time you came over, it wasn’t like this.”
Zhao Sui: “…I didn’t want you to misunderstand.”
Yao Huang: “Misunderstand what?”
Zhao Sui fell silent. After a moment, he grasped her restless wrist and said: “Since there’s no misunderstanding, let’s sleep early.”
Yao Huang bit at the edge of his undergarment collar: “I haven’t misunderstood the prince, but the prince harbors a misunderstanding about me. If we don’t clear this up, I won’t be able to sleep soundly.”
She bit along that collar edge inch by inch upward—first her teeth lightly touched Prince Hui’s chest, then she bit up the white silk collar. When she released and moved upward, the just-bitten white silk collar would fall back against Prince Hui, slightly warm and slightly damp. Eventually this formed a continuous line extending to Prince Hui’s collarbone.
Zhao Sui exercised extreme restraint to avoid gripping her wrist tighter. Only after she stopped her mischief did he ask: “What misunderstanding do I have?”
Yao Huang first freed her wrist, then turned away from his chest with her back to him, though her shoulder and back remained pressed tightly against his left arm. She said quietly: “The prince has such a poor memory. You said it yourself in the garden—you misunderstood that I didn’t want you to come.”
Zhao Sui opened his eyes and addressed the bed canopy: “You hesitated then. You can’t blame me for overthinking.”
Yao Huang: “But I explained! I didn’t not want you to come. I was afraid you’d again…”
She didn’t continue, but the drawn-out trailing sound set imaginations running wild.
Zhao Sui: “…I also said I wouldn’t touch you tonight.”
Yao Huang: “I only said I was afraid you’d do that. I never said I was afraid you’d touch me. Once or twice—when have I ever refused the prince? The past few nights were all sweet and intimate, but tonight you come and immediately want to extinguish the lamps. Clearly you’re sulking with me.”
After complaining, Yao Huang completely pulled away, lying alone at the inner edge of the bed.
Zhao Sui: “…”
Just saying he wasn’t angry probably wouldn’t convince her. Zhao Sui could only move over, pull her into his embrace, and reach to touch her face.
Yao Huang had no tears for him to find, so she simply grabbed his hand and pretended to be quite angry by biting his index finger.
She had been waiting here for Prince Hui to coax her, never expecting this one bite would directly provoke the prince’s fierce nature.
Her body stiffened. Yao Huang instinctively released Prince Hui’s hand. The next moment, that hand gripped her shoulder and turned her around.
The next day, Yao Huang rose fairly early, refreshed and energetic. Prince Hui didn’t take breakfast on this side, but Yao Huang didn’t mind.
After the meal, Yao Huang sat on the lounge chair in the covered corridor making study chair cushions for Prince Hui. She had originally planned to call over the four senior maids for conversation, but Nanny Liu actually came.
Having grown familiar with each other, Yao Huang remained seated and asked with a smile: “Why have you come?”
Eunuch Cao and Nanny Liu were old retainers who had watched Prince Hui grow up. Yao Huang had always used respectful forms of address with both of them.
Nanny Liu smiled: “By the prince’s command, to keep the princess consort company in conversation.”
Yao Huang: “…”
Nanny Liu winked at her.
Yao Huang then dismissed the four girls including A’Ji and invited Nanny Liu to sit on the lounge chair beside her.
Nanny Liu, worried about interfering with the princess consort’s cushion-making, sat on the small stool A’Ji had left nearby and said softly: “The day before yesterday, Fei Quan conveyed the prince’s message saying the princess consort wanted to familiarize herself with the situations in Prince Kang’s and Prince Qing’s households. This old servant originally knew some things, and yesterday had someone go out to make further inquiries. Only after understanding it fairly thoroughly did I come to report to the princess consort.”
Yao Huang completely stopped the work in her hands.
The prince must have noticed her disdain for his knowing nothing about nothing, which was why he made such arrangements.
But thinking carefully—when Prince Kang’s consort died of illness, the prince was far away at the border. What could he know? As for Prince Kang’s feelings toward his former consort, how could he as a younger uncle living in a separate residence know such things?
The better the prince was, the worse Yao Huang seemed for leaving under false pretenses. While feeling ashamed on one hand, on the other she felt fortunate that last night, because she didn’t want to quarrel with the prince, she had seduced him into thoroughly satisfying himself once.
Suppressing the various thoughts in her mind, Yao Huang looked at Nanny Liu with anticipation: “Please tell me everything you know.”
Nanny Liu indeed proved more suitable for conversation than Prince Hui. She actually started from Prince Kang’s childhood, when he still lived in the imperial palace. This inevitably brought up Consort Liu, including how Consort Liu raised Prince Kang, and how highly regarded Prince Kang was by the emperor and empress in those early years when he was still the only imperial prince.
“Prince Kang was twenty years old when he was enfeoffed and established his mansion, and that same year his primary consort and two secondary consorts were selected.”
“His Majesty greatly valued his eldest son’s marriage and personally designated the legitimate daughter of Duke Zhenguo as Prince Kang’s primary consort. The two secondary consorts were chosen together by Consort Xian and Empress Zhou.”
“The princess consort should already have discerned—in terms of scholarly learning and martial skills, Prince Kang is slightly inferior compared to our prince. However, Prince Kang is diligent and upright. After marriage, he worked early and late serving His Majesty, maintaining harmonious relations with his consort and secondary consorts without any rumors of household discord. Unfortunately, the former consort suffered greatly giving birth to the young heir apparent and remained weak and sickly afterward. She eventually succumbed to a lingering illness following a bout of wind-cold. Alas…”
Yao Huang understood—Prince Kang was not a lustful man. In his household, besides the three consorts selected for him by his elders, there were no chamber servants. The three women from noble families had also never caused any scandals fighting for favor. After Chen Ying married in, her circumstances wouldn’t be particularly difficult.
Nanny Liu: “If Miss Chen were this old servant’s mistress, I would advise her to wholeheartedly serve the prince well. The young heir apparent has by his side the dowry nanny and maids that Duke Zhenguo’s wife originally arranged for the former consort. Daily care doesn’t require Miss Chen to worry overmuch—she need only show proper concern and care when appropriate. As for the two secondary consorts, Miss Chen holds the superior position. If they’re compatible, she can talk with them more. If not, she need only maintain surface harmony without competing or showing jealousy.”
Yao Huang smiled: “Nanny and I thought alike. For someone with my and Miss Chen’s backgrounds to become princess consorts is already great fortune. Following our princes with good food and drink, we needn’t worry too much about other matters.”
Nanny Liu smiled broadly: “In this old servant’s view, the princess consort is even more blessed than Miss Chen. Our prince appears cold but actually knows far better than Prince Kang how to cherish someone.”
Facing this witness Nanny Liu, Yao Huang gradually reddened.
Nanny Liu then told her about Prince Qing and Consort Shen, which inevitably involved Princess Imperial Fucheng: “Speaking of this, there was a period of rumors in the palace saying the princess imperial intended to arrange a match between our prince and her beloved daughter. When the princess consort entered the palace, did you hear anything about this?”
Yao Huang replied tactfully: “The second princess did mention it briefly.”
Nanny Liu’s expression showed displeasure. She first enumerated all the various ways Consort Du and the second princess had been harsh toward their own prince, then said: “At that time, our prince enjoyed the emperor’s greatest favor. That the princess imperial had such intentions was only natural. The princess consort need only remember one thing—our prince never had any romantic involvement whatsoever with Miss Zheng. Normally, aside from palace banquets, they simply never saw each other. This prince of ours—when not reading, practicing martial arts, or working, he stays shut up in his own courtyard or mansion. Forget outside young ladies—even at the prince’s side, only Fei Quan and Qing Ai attend him closely.”
Thinking of Prince Hui’s nighttime passion toward herself, Yao Huang had long ago guessed he had no interest in Zheng Yuanzhen. Moreover, a young lady who wanted to form a marriage alliance when he was riding high but changed to pursue an alliance with another after he became crippled—how lowly would Prince Hui have to be to continue pining for her? If he truly pined, it would only be with resentment and hatred.
Just listening to Nanny Liu narrate about various imperial relatives and nobles, Yao Huang effortlessly completed the study chair cushion in her hands.
After airing it all afternoon, Chun Yan skillfully sewed on the coarse cloth and silk covering.
Yao Huang inspected it from all angles, called over A’Ji, and had A’Ji deliver it to the bamboo courtyard, lest she herself run over there only to have Prince Hui again regard it as seeking favor.
At the bamboo courtyard, when Fei Quan saw A’Ji, he asked disappointedly: “Why didn’t the princess consort come?”
A’Ji countered: “Must the princess consort come personally? Then what use are we maids?”
Fei Quan: “…”
Stinking A’Ji—she had no idea about the difficulties they had serving the prince!
Holding the bare cushion, Fei Quan apprehensively went to see the prince.
He thought the prince would be disappointed, but unexpectedly, the prince cooperated quite well in trying the new cushion. At dinner time, his appetite was just as good as this morning and noon.