Suddenly discovering that the sword was pointed directly at her, Zhenzhen’s mind went completely blank, and in her shock, she made no move to dodge. Fortunately, just as Yinqi’s sword was about to touch her chest, a wine cup was hurled from his opposite seat, striking Yinqi’s blade. With a clashing sound, Yinqi’s grip was jarred, and the sword fell from his hand, dropping to the ground along with the wine cup. Yin Rui immediately leaped up, rushed over to seize the sword, then turned to look toward where the cup had come from, seeing that the one who had thrown it was Zhao Ai, who was now frowning and staring at Yinqi.
The sharp, metallic shattering sound of sword and cup suddenly tore through the peaceful scene in the hall. Witnessing this, the Crown Prince stood up in amazement, and Wang Muze, the Assistant Palace Administrator and Eastern Palace Supervisor standing beside the Crown Prince, immediately called loudly for the palace guards to protect the Crown Prince.
Seeing that the sword had been seized by Yin Rui, Yinqi grabbed the wine pitcher from his table and violently smashed it against the pillar behind him, gripping the half of the pottery with its sharp edges and swinging it again toward Zhenzhen. Zhenzhen quickly turned and ran toward the exit. Without seeing clearly what was in front of her, after running a few steps, she collided head-first into someone’s chest. Looking up, she saw it was Zhao Ai, who had thrown the wine cup and rushed over.
Zhao Ai pulled Zhenzhen around behind himself, then stepped forward to meet Yinqi. In that instant, Yinqi’s broken wine pitcher was already striking toward them. Zhao Ai protected Zhenzhen as he dodged sideways, but Yinqi’s hand swept down diagonally, and the sharp pottery fragment cut through Zhao Ai’s left sleeve.
Seeing blood seeping from his arm, Zhao Ai instinctively covered the wound with his right hand. Yinqi paused for a moment, but quickly raised the wine pitcher again, about to swing it at Zhao Ai once more.
Without time to think, Zhenzhen pulled out the jade hairpin from her hair, stepped out from behind Zhao Ai, and instead protected Zhao Ai behind her, gripping the hairpin with its sharp point facing outward and shouting at Yinqi: “Stop!”
This jade hairpin that Yinqi had given her was actually rarely used by her; only today had she pinned it in her hair. Rather than intending to prevent Yinqi from harming her, she had chosen this relatively respectable ornament for entering the palace, never expecting that it would finally be used as Yinqi had predicted.
Hearing her voice, Yinqi froze, looking at the hairpin point Zhenzhen aimed at him. His eyelashes trembled, his gaze instantly dimmed with extreme sorrow, and his hand holding the wine pitcher aloft began to lower. Zhao Ai immediately raised his hand to grip Yinqi’s wrist, forcibly snatching away the broken wine pitcher with lightning speed.
Yin Rui rushed to his elder brother’s side, extending his arms to restrain him, while several palace officials, at Wang Muze’s signal, hurried over to surround the Yin brothers.
Seeing that Yinqi had been subdued, the Crown Prince breathed a sigh of relief and ordered the imperial physician attending him to quickly treat and bandage Zhao Ai’s wound. Hearing this, Feng Xian rushed to Zhao Ai’s side, first looking at his wound with anxious concern, then softly asking him to sit down. Zhao Ai walked back to Zhenzhen, gave her a reassuring smile to calm her shock, then slowly withdrew to return to his seat and accept the physician’s examination and bandaging of his wound.
Shortly after, the Lady of Chen, who had been sitting with the Crown Princess in the small hall reserved for female relatives, arrived upon hearing the news. With a face full of panic, she prostrated herself before the Crown Prince, repeatedly apologizing on her son’s behalf, then turned to bow to Zhao Ai, begging them to consider Yinqi’s illness and deal with him leniently.
The Crown Prince had resumed his seat and regained his usual peaceful expression. After silently observing Yinqi, Zhenzhen, and Zhao Ai for a moment, he spoke gently to the Lady of Chen: “We are aware of the eldest son’s illness. He is troubled by heart disease and unclear in mind. His injury to Second Brother was not his intention, and I believe Second Brother will not blame him. It is also my oversight—I did not inquire carefully about his recent condition from you, Madam, before rashly inviting him. The food and drink at the banquet may have again gone against his wishes, thus causing these incidents. I will explain this to His Majesty later, and I believe His Majesty will not punish him either.”
The Lady of Chen thanked him tearfully, repeatedly praising the benevolence of His Majesty and the Crown Prince.
The Crown Prince turned to regard Zhenzhen. In the moment of meeting his gaze, Zhenzhen sensed the kindness he showed her and immediately realized that he remembered her.
The Crown Prince withdrew his gaze and spoke again to the Lady of Chen: “If I remember correctly, the young lady whom the eldest son attacked today is originally from the Royal Kitchen.”
The Lady of Chen nodded: “Yes. This Wu Zhenzhen is a Royal Kitchen official dispatched from Cifu Palace to the Prince’s residence.”
The Crown Prince continued: “The eldest son has a gentle nature and is easily disturbed by unfamiliar people and things. For his peace of mind, he truly should not have unfamiliar people attending him closely or serving his meals. Previously, the Eastern Palace made this mistake once, and I blame myself for my negligence in not conveying this matter to Cifu Palace.”
The Lady of Chen understood inwardly that the Crown Prince was referring to the previous incident when the palace servant bestowed by the Eastern Palace was killed by Yinqi in error. Cold sweat broke out, and she lowered her head in shame: “It is my fault for not teaching my son properly, failing to live up to the Crown Prince’s kindness…”
“Madam has cared for the eldest son devotedly for many years. Everyone in the palace knows of this and praises Madam’s maternal love. What fault could Madam have?” the Crown Prince consoled warmly, then advised: “It’s just that the eldest son’s condition is not yet stable. For his meals and personal care, it would be better to select those who have served in the Prince’s residence for many years to attend him patiently, and not let strangers approach him and provoke his heart ailment again. Therefore…” He indicated Zhenzhen and suggested to the Lady of Chen: “This palace servant—could Madam perhaps allow her to return to the Royal Kitchen? The Prince’s residence surely does not lack this one person’s service. If she remains in the residence, she might again provoke the eldest son’s anger in the future, which would instead go against Cifu Palace’s original good intentions.”
The Lady of Chen repeatedly agreed, not daring to retain Zhenzhen, stating directly that she was willing to let her return to the Royal Kitchen. The Crown Prince nodded and instructed Wang Muze to report to the current emperor about what had occurred in the Eastern Palace, specifically mentioning that if His Majesty did not object, he should request an order be transmitted to the Palace Administration and Royal Kitchen to bring Wu Zhenzhen back to the palace.
Prince Yanping had not attended the banquet that day due to a cold, but upon hearing this shocking news, he disregarded his illness and quickly entered the palace. Removing his court robes and black boots, he waited for punishment on a straw mat before Funing Hall, prostrating himself and declaring his willingness to bear responsibility for his son’s crimes.
After examining Zhao Ai’s injury, the Emperor’s response was similar to the Crown Prince’s, saying that Yinqi’s actions were caused by his heart disease and could not be judged by normal standards. Fortunately, Zhao Ai’s arm injury was not severe, so the Prince need not be punished on his son’s behalf. However, he requested strict supervision of Yinqi and restriction of his movements to prevent him from harming others again.
The Emperor then granted the Crown Prince’s request, agreeing to bring Zhenzhen back. The Palace Administration and Royal Kitchen, upon receiving the message, immediately arranged for Zhenzhen’s return to the palace. Under the Crown Prince’s authorization, the Imperial City Bureau assigned special personnel to escort Zhenzhen back to Prince Yanping’s residence to collect her personal belongings, then bring her back to the palace.
Zhenzhen packed her belongings in the residence, and as she was about to leave, she looked back at Yinqi’s quarters. Thinking of his past kindness toward her, she couldn’t help feeling melancholy. She then pulled out the jade hairpin Yinqi had given her and came to Yinqi’s bedchamber, which was now heavily guarded by palace servants. She requested to see Yinqi’s wet nurse, Madam Luo, asking her to return the hairpin to Yinqi, saying she would never use it again and should not take such a precious item with her.
Madam Luo took the hairpin to see Yinqi, then came out shortly after and called to Zhenzhen, who was about to leave, handing her a wooden box. “This is from the Young Master for you. Inside are those salts you both tasted together in the past.”
Zhenzhen’s heart was filled with mixed emotions. She temporarily did not take the wooden box, gazing toward Yinqi’s bedchamber. At that moment, bamboo curtains hung under the eaves of the chamber’s corridors, obscuring the doors and windows, but the bottom of the curtains was about two feet from the ground. From the exposed section of robe hem, someone was standing behind the curtains.
Those were the azure green garments Yinqi often wore. Zhenzhen guessed that perhaps he was behind the curtains, watching her departure.
Her eyes immediately heated with emotion. Zhenzhen held her breath and turned her head aside, hiding her tears. She raised her hand to her forehead and knelt, performing a grand bow toward Yinqi’s direction, saying softly: “Thank you, Young Master, for your fulfillment.”
When she raised her head again, she saw the robe hem behind the curtain turn, and that person had already hidden himself within the chamber.
Zhenzhen received Yinqi’s gift from Madam Luo, left the residence gate, and boarded the ox cart to return to the palace with the Imperial City Bureau personnel. Sweet osmanthus fragrance from the flowers and trees planted abundantly on both sides of the imperial avenue occasionally drifted into the cart, bringing her back to awareness from her dazed state. She suddenly realized that in just a few days, it would be the Mid-Autumn Festival.
She alighted from the cart at the palace gate and followed the palace officials’ guidance, walking step by step into the palace. At that time, the slanting rays of flowing clouds were rich in color—it was the hour when the palace gates closed. At the gate supervisor’s command, the guards on both sides closed the gates. Hearing the sound, Zhenzhen looked back and saw the two palace gates slowly coming together. The light streaming in from outside the gate gradually shrank to a single ray, and finally, with the heavy sound of the two walls meeting, even this ray of light disappeared. Zhenzhen’s heart ached, feeling that the faint hope she had buried deep in her heart had also sunk into the abyss with the closing of these palace gates.
Returning to the Royal Kitchen, Director Pei had originally planned to send Zhenzhen to Cifu Palace according to the previous arrangement, but the Empress Dowager seemed dissatisfied with recalling Zhenzhen from Prince Yanping’s residence. She sent word saying that Cifu Palace did not lack palace servants, and it would be better to keep Wu Zhenzhen in the inner palace or Eastern Palace for use by the inner court.
So Director Pei wanted to send Zhenzhen to the Eastern Palace, guessing that since the Crown Prince was willing to risk offending the Empress Dowager to save Zhenzhen, he must regard her with special favor, and it would be appropriate to go with the flow and help fulfill others’ wishes. Unexpectedly, the Eastern Palace replied that they had already accepted palace servants like Yun and others assigned by the Royal Kitchen last time, and now had sufficient personnel for food service, so there was no need to send more palace servants. The Royal Kitchen could arrange Wu Zhenzhen’s placement according to the needs of the various palace chambers.
During the last assignment of palace servants, the ladies of rank had basically each received one or two people. The only one who had not accepted this batch of Royal Kitchen servants was Consort Li, who had said at the time that she had many palace servants in her chambers and enough for her needs, politely declining additional personnel. Director Pei discussed with Qin Sishan, who said: “Last month, a palace servant in Consort Li’s chambers requested to leave the palace due to illness, and His Majesty and the Consort agreed. Now there is indeed a vacancy…”
Director Pei hesitated somewhat: “I know this too, but Wu Zhenzhen was rescued back to the palace by the Crown Prince. If we send her to Consort Li’s chambers, should the Crown Prince learn of this, wouldn’t that be…”
Everyone in the palace knew that the Crown Prince disliked Consort Li. Qin Sishan pondered, then said after a moment: “The Crown Prince is benevolent and extremely reasonable. Now that His Majesty won’t accept this batch of palace servants, and only Consort Li’s chambers lack personnel, if the Royal Kitchen assigns Wu Zhenzhen based on this, the Crown Prince should be able to understand and won’t think too much of it. Besides, his intervention to save her at the banquet was not out of interest in Wu Zhenzhen, but merely from his benevolent nature, unable to bear seeing her harmed by Young Master Yin. He would have saved any palace servant in the same way. The Director need not have concerns about this.”
After much consideration, Director Pei also felt that Qin Sishan’s words made sense, so she reported to Consort Li, again mentioning the matter of assigning a Royal Kitchen servant to the Consort’s chambers. At this time, the ill palace servant in the Consort’s chambers had already left the palace, so Consort Li no longer refused and agreed to have Wu Zhenzhen enter her chambers to serve her meals.