Prince Gong closed his eyes and turned away. After a long while with no movement at all, he hazily began to feel somewhat drowsy when suddenly he sensed a chill on his neck. As he was about to open his eyes, the blanket had already been pulled up higher—he knew that Lady Yang had been crying. After waiting so long without hearing Lady Yang speak, instead came the creak of a door—Lady Yang had opened the door and gone out.
He sat up again, his drowsiness completely chased away. The kindness of a beauty is hardest to bear. Lady Yang had followed him all these years and had never once blushed in anger. In the first few years he had been so cold, as if Lady Yang owed him countless taels of silver, yet Lady Yang remained silent as always, arranging everything for him. Late at night, braving heavy snow in the back courtyard, she had set up an incense altar under the moon to pray for his birthday. She only had his wellbeing in mind and had never once made demands of him. When she gave birth to their legitimate eldest son, she nearly lost her life, yet still held back the midwife from asking whether to save the mother or the child, gritting her teeth to order her wet nurse that even if she died, she must give birth to the child. Bearing this child took half her life, and during her confinement, because he had been injured in the military camp, she stayed by his bedside fully clothed day and night, developing chronic headaches and watering eyes in the wind—ailments that plagued her to this day. All these years, she had never once asked for anything, and now even regarding this matter of life and death, she still didn’t open her mouth to ask.
Prince Gong’s heart felt as if it held a heavy stone. Clenching his fists, he thought over and over again—remembering when he had been driven into a corner by his elder brother with nowhere to turn, remembering when he had nearly lost his life to assassins’ wounds at the military camp in his fief, then thinking of his wife and children. His throat ached, and he coughed up another mouthful of fresh blood.
Lady Yang left the room and went straight to the back courtyard. The nannies and servants had already organized everything quite presentably. The Palace Domestic Service had already arranged and cleaned the rooms in advance. They hadn’t brought much with them, so putting things away wasn’t too difficult.
The wet nurse came forward to tell her: “His Young Highness just finished a bowl of almond and walnut cream and is now asleep.”
The “His Young Highness” she spoke of was Lady Yang and Prince Gong’s legitimate eldest son, now already nine years old. His health had never been very good, and he had been raised as carefully as an eyeball. The sons under the Crown Prince had already been enfeoffed as princes of the commandery, and originally, when they came to the capital this time, their own son should also have requested enfeoffment as heir apparent. But instead, such an incident had occurred. Now their very survival was still uncertain—how could they still think about requesting enfeoffment? She sighed heavily, bowed her head with an inscrutable expression, and ladled herself some chilled grape juice to drink.
After the wet nurse attended to her as she finished, she personally took the bowl and handed it to the blue-clothed maid beside her, then softly stepped forward to ask: “Princess Consort, the matter that Madam Du spoke to you about—have you discussed it with His Highness?”
Elder Du had no way to deal with Prince Gong’s stubbornness, and Chief Clerk Ling’s side had delayed sending out the message, so naturally he had to think of other methods. One way or another, he set his sights on Lady Yang, and early on found an opportunity to deliver the message to her.
The wet nurse was Lady Yang’s trusted confidant and naturally protected her. Originally, upon hearing that they wanted to seek out Crown Princess Lu, she had been outraged, but after hearing what had happened, she almost wished that Prince Gong and Crown Princess Lu still had some old affection—because if there was no old affection, how could Crown Princess Lu possibly let go of Prince Gong, the chief culprit who had nearly killed both her son and husband?
Lady Yang allowed the blue-clothed maid to remove her outer garment and change into a lighter grass-green gauze dress. The round fan in her hand waved intermittently, still maintaining her gentle and soft appearance. After a long pause, she lightly shook her head.
The wet nurse immediately became somewhat flustered: “Princess Consort! Didn’t we agree on the way here? Now is not the time to throw a tantrum. Even if you don’t think of His Highness, think of the Young Highness!”
When Lady Yang raised her head again, a faint smile graced her lips. Looking at the wet nurse, she nodded unhurriedly: “Nanny, rest assured. I understand.”
Having accompanied Prince Gong for so many years, how could she not know his temperament? In the past, she had been able to turn around Prince Gong, that devoted fool whose emotional roots ran deep for Crown Princess Lu—now things were infinitely better than before. Could she still not manage one Prince Gong? The methods of the inner quarters were never limited to crying, making scenes, and threatening suicide. There were plenty of ways to kill without spilling blood. Without a single sound, without a single word of persuasion, she was more effective than thousands upon thousands of nagging words of advice.
Indeed, at dusk, when Young Master Zhou Weiyun had just awakened, Lady Yang was leading him to the front main courtyard to find Prince Gong when she heard that Chief Clerk Ling and Wu Feng were inside, and she was asked to come back later.
She smiled, revealing two dimples, gently bent down to pinch her son’s cheek, and led him to the kitchen to instruct the cook in making soup—all these years, she had personally managed Prince Gong’s food, clothing, shelter, and daily life, never delegating even half a task to others. Her mother had managed her father submissively for her entire life. The couple respected each other like ice yet loved each other deeply, with eyes for no one else. Through osmosis, she had learned all of her mother’s skills—never making scenes, never begging, yet easily obtaining everything in her grasp.
Chief Clerk Ling came out overjoyed with the letter. He first went to see Lady Yang’s wet nurse and gave her the letter to show Lady Yang. He himself couldn’t help but sigh—the Princess Consort was truly no ordinary person.
He had exhausted his eloquence, nearly kneeling to kowtow to Prince Gong, yet hadn’t been able to move him. But the Princess Consort, without a sound, without saying a single word, had made Prince Gong set aside his pride and self-respect. She was truly formidable.
Lady Yang didn’t even open the envelope. She had the wet nurse send it out as it was, telling Chief Clerk Ling to carefully deliver the letter to Madam Du. She herself carried the soup and led Zhou Weiyun inside to care for Prince Gong.
When Madam Du received the letter, she was extraordinarily overjoyed, almost clasping her hands together to recite Buddha’s name. She immediately tidied herself up and went in to see Crown Princess Lu. Her words were the same as before, repeatedly speaking of their youthful affection, of Prince Gong’s difficulties and deep feelings.
Crown Princess Lu didn’t look at that letter either. She only glanced at the five characters “To Lu Caiwei, personally” on the envelope, her eyes not moving at all, and had someone escort Madam Du out as before.
When Nanny Wu was about to cry and wail in persuasion, she closed her eyes and coldly placed the letter on the table, letting out a cold laugh herself.
In her memory, that young man from back then was as faint as a shadow in the wind—with one gust of wind, he had already scattered completely clean, not leaving behind even half a trace.
Nanny Wu felt bitter for her, so worried that tears nearly fell: “What kind of talk is this—how utterly conscienceless! Stabbing someone in the face, then at the end still wanting them to go to the authorities to smooth things over and keep you safe—how can anyone have such a thick face…”
That young man from before didn’t have it, but the current Prince Gong did. Crown Princess Lu stood up and walked to the window, then turned back to instruct Xiangling: “When the Grand Prince returns, have him come see me.”
She clearly had no more interest in continuing this topic. Bringing it up was truly nauseating. Nanny Wu stopped bothering her and swallowed back all the complaints she had been about to voice, responding affirmatively before asking: “Today, shall we still prepare soup as usual and send it to His Highness the Crown Prince?”