Hidden under the quilt, Yao Huang had only moved gently a few times when Prince Hui grabbed her shoulders and turned her around.
Like a constable apprehending a criminal, his left arm crossed under her neck to pin her shoulder while his right hand clamped down on her leg like a vice.
Just as Yao Huang thought this man had gone mad with desire and was about to act recklessly, the familiar earth-shaking sensation had already begun.
Yao Huang was stunned for a moment before asking in confusion, “Where did you learn this method, Your Highness?”
The female physician hadn’t taught her this, nor had she seen it in any storybook.
Zhao Sui didn’t want to answer, yet didn’t want her to guess wildly either. He said simply, “The wedding night.”
Yao Huang tried hard to remember. She recalled that at the very beginning, Prince Hui had tried repeatedly without finding the proper method. In the confusion, he thought he had succeeded—fortunately she had reminded him, avoiding a round of wasted effort.
Who would have thought it could actually work this way?
This was much more convenient than tiring out her hands. Yao Huang praised him with relief, “Your Highness is still the clever one. I—”
The large hand pinning her shoulder suddenly covered her mouth.
Yao Huang blinked and smiled, knowing that the rule-abiding Prince Hui couldn’t stand her speaking of such matters.
The incident was sudden, and there was no cloth prepared nearby. Prince Hui directly grabbed the Princess Consort’s pants lying beside them to use.
Yao Huang had been obediently facing away from him the whole time, silently adjusting her silk undergarment. Hearing Prince Hui finish tidying up, Yao Huang turned her head to look and only then discovered that Prince Hui’s inner garments were neat and tidy—what had been balled up and tossed at the foot of the bed were her silk pants.
Yao Huang grabbed hold of the person about to move to the wheelchair and complained, “Why always use my clothes? Why don’t you use your own?”
Zhao Sui, with his back to the Princess Consort, replied in his usual steady voice, “I still need to return to the front courtyard.”
Yao Huang protested, “But these are my favorite pants! Second Master ruined them—you have to compensate me with a new pair.”
Zhao Sui said, “Fine. After returning to the capital, I’ll have the embroidery room—”
Yao Huang interrupted, “Silk bestowed by the palace, needles and thread used by the embroidery ladies—from start to finish you haven’t contributed a single bit of effort or thought. How can you have the nerve to say that’s your compensation to me?”
Zhao Sui asked, “Then what should I do?”
Yao Huang laughed. She propped herself up to kneel behind him and leaned on his shoulder. “I’ve already made inquiries. The town has market days every sixth, sixteenth, and twenty-sixth. Not only do the town shops put out more goods, but local merchants and vendors from nearby villages also come to set up stalls selling various items. There are often mountain delicacies and wild game. Today happens to be the sixteenth—will you accompany me to browse? I want something you personally pick out for me.”
Zhao Sui had read about markets in books. Market, market—it meant both that merchants and vendors of all sizes would gather there, and that common folk from near and far would swarm in.
Zhao Sui didn’t want to join in such commotion. But even without the matter of the pants, he had previously promised the Princess Consort he would accompany her out during their stay in Spirit Mountain Town.
Looking at the two jade-white arms draped across his waist, Zhao Sui asked, “If I hadn’t touched you this morning, how did you plan to broach the subject?”
Yao Huang looked at his profile. “Broach what subject? The market?”
Zhao Sui tacitly confirmed.
Yao Huang laughed. “I’d broach it however I’d broach it! You touching me is one thing, you promising to accompany me out is another matter entirely. Ah, has Second Master forgotten? The written agreement in black and white was written by your own hand. Don’t think about going back on it, and don’t expect that every time we go out in the future I’ll have to serve you first. Dream on!”
Having said this, she lowered her head to bite his shoulder. “Like a wolf—six nights a month is already exhausting enough for me.”
Zhao Sui said, “Lie down properly. I’ll call Fei Quan in.”
Yao Huang immediately lay down and pulled the quilt over herself, watching Prince Hui brace himself to sit in the wheelchair, then reach back to arrange the hanging bed curtains.
After arranging them, instead of immediately ringing the bell, he gripped the large wheels of the rattan chair with both hands.
Yao Huang asked, “Aren’t you calling Fei Quan?”
Zhao Sui looked straight ahead. “There’s only one layer of curtain here. I’ll move farther from the bed before calling him.”
He truly was a particular prince. Yao Huang’s eyes flickered as she said, “Let go.”
As Zhao Sui released his grip and turned his head, he saw the Princess Consort extend one leg from the covers. Her snow-white right foot pressed against the back of the wheelchair, and in the next moment the wheelchair rolled forward. The Princess Consort’s mischievous smile flashed through his field of vision.
The Princess Consort had used considerable force with that kick, but because she had pushed at an angle, the wheelchair also rolled along a diagonal line, finally stopping several steps away with Prince Hui in the wheelchair facing sideways toward the east chamber door.
Zhao Sui closed his eyes. Only after a moment did he ring the bell.
For market day, there was no need to go too early. Yao Huang only came to the front courtyard to fetch Prince Hui at mid-morning.
After all, it was summer. Though the Spirit Mountain area was cooler than the capital, once the sun rose high it was still somewhat hot.
Prince Hui had practiced martial arts since childhood and was a prince who had gone to battle at eighteen. He had experienced wind, sun, rain, and frost—he wouldn’t take such sunshine to heart. But looking at the Princess Consort in her light green long dress, fresh as a peony bud just beginning to open a few petals in a flower garden, looking at the Princess Consort’s fair neck that reflected light faintly under the sunshine, he finally reminded her, “Hold up a parasol.”
Yao Huang said in shock, “Second Master is paler than a ghost—no, paler than me. Are you still afraid of getting tanned?”
Prince Hui, who was paler than a ghost, said, “For your own use.”
Yao Huang replied, “I’m even less afraid. When I was little I often played outside—I’m naturally this fair, can’t help it.”
Zhao Sui fell silent.
Handing him the purse filled with broken silver and copper coins to hold, Yao Huang pushed the wheelchair out alone.
This time they were heading west. Just as they passed the west residence where Physician Liao and others lived, a mother and daughter emerged from Scholar He’s household ahead—it was Madam Zhu and her daughter He Wenqi.
Having introduced themselves before, they saved much small talk when meeting again. Madam Zhu glanced at the handsome scholar in the wheelchair and asked Yao Huang with a smile, “Are you also going to the market?”
Yao Huang replied, “Yes! I’ve never seen such excitement before. Does Auntie know which stalls at the market have good things for sale?”
Madam Zhu closed her door and walked to Yao Huang’s side with her daughter, chatting as they walked. “You’re from the county seat—you probably won’t think much of the things here. Perhaps only the freshest mountain goods and wild game are worth buying to try. Oh, and the north and south ends of the main street sell mountain goods, grains and vegetables, livestock and game, farm tools, bamboo baskets, and firewood—things that aren’t easy to carry. Jewelry, spices, handkerchiefs, fabric scraps, and food—all these small stalls are set up right on the main street, looking clean and orderly.”
Yao Huang smiled. “Please don’t say such things, Auntie. Since we’ve moved to the town, we’re under the same conditions as everyone else. What you value, we value too.”
Madam Zhu secretly assessed the young scholar’s wife’s cloth clothing and simple hair ornaments, feeling quite pleased. So what if she’s beautiful? So what if her husband is also a scholar? Her old scholar husband at least could teach at the private school, while a disabled scholar could only depend on his former family resources and his uncle and aunt’s support to get by.
Just then, a woman in a blue dress ahead stopped at the stone bridge and called out loudly to them, “All going to the market? What are you planning to buy?”
Madam Zhu looked at Yao Huang.
Yao Huang spoke first. “We’ll just look around casually and buy whatever we like.”
Only then did Madam Zhu say, “My Wenbin and several classmates arranged to climb the mountain and enjoy the distant view—the last outing before the spring examinations. I’m buying him two bolts of fabric to make new clothes so he’ll look spirited when he goes.”
These words were full of showing off. The woman in the blue dress cooperatively expressed envy. “You’re so fortunate! You’re a scholar’s wife yourself, and your son is about to pass the imperial examination and become an official. Before long you’ll transform into an official’s wife—don’t forget us old neighbors!”
Madam Zhu waved her hands repeatedly. “Nothing of the sort! Wenbin only counts as someone in our town. Next year when thousands of provincial graduates from all over enter the capital, he’ll be lost in the crowd and count as nothing. I wouldn’t dare speak such big words.”
Yao Huang slowed her pace. Madam Zhu guessed that the young couple felt bitter and, since she also found the wheelchair moved too slowly, took the opportunity to quicken her steps, walking ahead with her daughter and that woman in the blue dress.
When they were far away, Yao Huang looked down at Prince Hui. Seeing his handsome face calm and composed, Yao Huang smiled. “I almost forgot—you’re not really a scholar, so how could you be jealous that he passed the provincial examination?”
Zhao Sui looked at the flowing water under the bridge. There was an old weeping willow on the bank. The branches on the roadside had been trimmed, while those on the water side hung straight into the water, swaying gently with the waves.
Yao Huang watched Madam Zhu’s back radiating joy and said quietly, “See? Although the neighbors around us were all very enthusiastic when we first arrived, each actually has their own little calculations. Some people are genuinely good, but others are secretly comparing themselves to us. Who knows—some might even be jealous that I’m fortunate to have married a handsome husband and don’t need to work.”
“It’s not just here. In our Longevity Lane, and even in Grandfather’s town, there are such people. Truth be told, I’m also such a person. But at most I feel smug in my heart about what my family has or envy what others have—I would never flaunt or be sour in front of others.”
Zhao Sui asked, “Envy what?”
Yao Huang replied, “Oh, so many things! I envy that my father’s superior has a higher rank, which makes my mother have to praise his wife with kind words even though she doesn’t like her. I envy that people have money and can wear jewelry my mother can’t bear to buy. Oh wait, I can’t talk about this—it sounds like I’m asking you to seek an official position for my father. Please don’t pull strings for my father, Second Master. Neither my father nor I are that kind of person, and we don’t want people pointing fingers at our backs.”
Zhao Sui said, “I won’t abuse my position for personal gain either.”
Yao Huang felt relieved.
Zhao Sui asked, “In what matters have you yourself envied others?”
Yao Huang thought for a moment. “Quite a lot too. For instance, before marriage I’d walk down the street envying other young ladies who dressed better, envying those who were thin and didn’t get mocked, and envying those who had elegant names or nicknames that sounded good no matter how they were called!”
Zhao Sui said, “Yao Huang is the foremost among peonies—it’s also an elegant name.”
Yao Huang protested, “Fine! Second Master only explains away my name but says absolutely nothing about being thin. Do you also think I’m really fat?”
Zhao Sui deflected, “Have you envied anyone since marriage?”
Yao Huang still thought for a while before answering. “At first I envied other couples who could eat and live together, while Second Master left me alone to the side. Later I didn’t envy them anymore—you understand why yourself.”
Prince Hui, who had just been explicitly disdained by the Princess Consort this morning, fell silent.
They reached the main street. The road that could barely accommodate two carriages side by side now had two tightly packed rows of vendors and stalls on both sides, taking up half the roadway. Now even a single carriage couldn’t pass easily.
The moment the couple appeared at the intersection, several nearby vendors simultaneously looked over. Never mind wheelchairs or handsomeness or beauty—the vendors’ eyes held only desire for business. “Young lady, come look! The most fashionable jewelry from the capital this year—we can buy it right here without traveling far!”
“Rouge, rouge! The capital’s most fashionable rouge, twenty wen per box, two boxes for thirty-five!”
Coming out to browse was all about the excitement. Yao Huang first pushed Prince Hui to a jewelry stall.
The vendor had spread a large piece of coarse cloth on the ground, covered with various hairpins, ornaments, and earrings that looked good at first glance but upon closer inspection used cheap materials and lacked fine workmanship.
Yao Huang crouched down, one hand steadying the wheelchair while the other picked through the items. Whenever she found something nice, she would pick it up and ask Prince Hui, “How about this one?”
Prince Hui shook his head three times in a row, feeling that such crude items were unworthy of his Princess Consort.
Seeing the beautiful young lady losing interest, the vendor grew anxious and jokingly scolded the man in the wheelchair. “The young lady likes it so much, yet you keep shaking your head—what does that mean? Do you really think it’s no good, or are you just unwilling to buy it for the young lady?”
Zhao Sui remained silent.
Yao Huang played along with the vendor, holding up a palm-sized pink peony silk flower and saying pitifully, “I like this one. Can we buy it, please?”
Some people had gathered around, all curious whether this handsome husband was really so stingy.
Zhao Sui had no choice but to take out his purse to settle the account.
Yao Huang beamed with delight. Still in her single-knee crouch, she turned to press against his chest. “Husband is so good! Help me put it on.”
Prince Hui held the silk flower the Princess Consort had thrust at him. From the corner of his eye, everyone was watching them with smiles.