The day seemed to pass especially quickly. Shen Yanshui spent the entire day watching Chunping and the others bustle about, preparing what she would wear for the following day.
The next morning was the fifth day of the fifth month, the Dragon Boat Festival. Dawn was breaking, and the eastern sky was just beginning to brighten.
With several people attending to her, Shen Yanshui took a bath infused with fragrant orchid herbs. According to Chunping, it could dispel toxins and ward off disasters, ensuring that everything went smoothly and safely for her that day.
Once she had finished getting ready, she also ate a little breakfast to settle her stomach.
Quanfu, waiting outside, softly reminded her, “Mistress, it is almost time.”
***
Shen Yanshui brought Chunping with her that day. Chunping was steadier in her dealings and inspired greater confidence. When the mistress and maid arrived at Xiefang Hall, they saw that Lady Zhang had already arrived.
Shen Yanshui gave a slight curtsy and exchanged greetings with her. The two were not familiar with each other, and since Lady Zhang showed no intention of speaking, Shen Yanshui was perfectly content to sit quietly.
Palace attendants brought them tea, fruit, and pastries. Seeing something she had never eaten before, Shen Yanshui picked one up and took a bite.
It was quite tasty.
After eating two small fruits, she felt a little thirsty and calmly drank half a cup of tea.
She had eaten very little at breakfast. Chunping and the others had refused to let her eat more, saying that if she ate too much, she might embarrass herself in front of the nobles, which would hardly be worth the cost.
Shen Yanshui had thought they made sense, so she had endured it after putting just a little food in her stomach.
But in this short while, her stomach had already begun to rebel.
She thought it over. She had no idea what the proceedings would be later. What if she grew so hungry that her stomach rumbled loudly in front of Her Majesty the Empress or the other honored guests? Would that not be even more embarrassing?
After silently agreeing with herself, Shen Yanshui smoothly picked up another small fruit and continued eating, slowly and delicately.
Her actions drew sidelong glances from the maids of Xiefang Hall.
Lady Zhang, who had been observing her in secret, lightly furrowed her willow-shaped brows. A faint trace of disapproval appeared on her face.
Shen Yanshui was extremely perceptive. Noticing that Lady Zhang kept glancing at her from time to time, she finally finished an entire plate of small fruits. Then she took a sip of tea, lightly dabbed at the corners of her mouth, and said with a gentle smile, “Sister Zhang, that dress of yours today really brings out your complexion.”
Lady Zhang was wearing a pomegranate-red jacket trimmed with pearls and a three-panel pleated skirt. A peony-and-pearl coronet adorned her head, along with a gold hairpin decorated with curling vines and dangling pearls. Compared with her usual fresh and delicate style, her appearance today was several shades more vivid and striking.
Hearing the compliment, which seemed entirely sincere, Lady Zhang paused for a moment. Then, somewhat self-consciously, she pressed her lips together and looked Shen Yanshui over once more.
A trace of envy rose in her heart, though her face remained courteous as she replied, “You are too kind, Sister Shen. You are the truly beautiful one.”
It was already May, and the weather grew hotter with each passing day. Shen Yanshui had deliberately chosen a light, misty-blue, chest-high ruqun for the occasion. Only the ties at her chest were a water-red shade. The combination of blue and red looked cool without seeming too plain.
Aside from a light lotus coronet made of pink cornelian, she wore only two translucent white jade hairpins in her coiffure. Around her wrist was a bracelet of pink-and-green tourmaline beads adorned with jade and other ornaments, while a matching misty-blue-and-pale-pink ribbon decorated her hair.
She looked like a touch of rouge blooming amid the misty green mountains after rain—an image of effortless beauty, as though both heavy makeup and a light touch suited her equally well. It was impossible not to be drawn to her.
The two women exchanged a few polite remarks. Before long, the Crown Princess emerged in full ceremonial dress.
They hurriedly rose and paid their respects.
The Crown Princess wore the distinctive purple robes of her rank and a seven-tailed phoenix crown. After looking at them both, her gaze settled on Shen Yanshui, and she said with a smile in her eyes, “There is no need for such formality. Rise. We must not keep His Highness waiting.”
After Shen Yanshui rose, she followed quietly behind the other two according to protocol, her heart filled with anticipation for the festivities at Jinming Lake.
Every year, the Jinming Lake gathering was a grand occasion celebrated throughout Shengjing, from the imperial court to the common streets. The lake would be filled not only with imperial relatives, aristocrats, and high officials, but also with ordinary people from the city. The two groups were separated only by Jinming Lake itself.
The most eagerly anticipated and widely discussed event was the dragon boat race. Its teams included various imperial guard units organized by the royal household, as well as teams selected from among the common people. The winning team would be granted an audience with the Emperor and Empress. If the Emperor took a liking to them, rising to prominence overnight was not unheard of.
There had been people who leaped from commoner status to official rank, ordinary imperial guardsmen who rose several levels at once, and competitors who won the favor of the Emperor and Empress and received generous rewards. Such things had all happened before. As a result, the Jinming Lake gathering had grown livelier with every passing year.
Shen Yanshui was lost in anticipation when she suddenly came back to herself and realized that they had already reached the front of Changqing Hall.
The Crown Prince stood there in a deep crimson official robe, a leather belt fastened around his waist and a jade crown atop his head. His figure was straight, his waist slender and legs long. His expression was composed and tranquil, yet the aura surrounding him made it impossible for anyone to overstep their bounds.
As Shen Yanshui bowed with the others to offer their greetings, she could not help stealing a few more glances at him.
Unexpectedly, their eyes met the next moment.
Shen Yanshui: “…”
She had been caught staring.
She blinked, then obediently pretended that she had done nothing at all.
Cui Yu swept his gaze over her. His eyes lingered briefly on the jade hairpins in her hair and the pink-and-green tourmaline bracelet half-hidden around her wrist. A faint smile glimmered in his eyes before he said in his calm voice, “Let us go.”
The Crown Princess led everyone to their feet.
Perhaps because she was worried that they were attending such an occasion for the first time and might make some mistake, bringing disgrace upon the Eastern Palace—or upon her as Crown Princess—the previous afternoon she had sent a matron to Lotusheart Court and Bamboo Fragrance Residence to explain the rules to them.
Thus, Shen Yanshui had a general understanding of the day’s arrangements.
After leaving the Eastern Palace, they would pass through the archery pavilion outside it and cross Jingyun Gate before accompanying the Crown Princess to Kunning Palace to pay their respects to Her Majesty the Empress, just like the families of civil and military officials and the wives of court nobles.
When the appointed time drew near, they would accompany Her Majesty the Empress to Donghua Gate.
The Crown Prince would part ways with them first, going to the Hall of Governmental Affairs to pay his respects to the Emperor. He would then proceed with the Emperor and the civil and military officials to Xuande Gate.
The Divine Martial Imperial Guards would clear the way. The imperial procession would leave through Xuande Gate, cross the main thoroughfare, pass through the inner and outer districts of Shengjing’s imperial city, and finally depart the outer city through Shuntian Gate, leading everyone to the imperial gardens at Jinming Lake.
When the Crown Prince left with his attendants, everyone once again bade him farewell. Shen Yanshui was among them.
Before departing, Cui Yu glanced sideways at her slightly bowed figure. His eyes grew solemn for a moment, but in the end he said nothing.
He hoped she would not disappoint him…
Shen Yanshui, of course, had no idea what he was thinking. She only remembered to follow properly behind the Crown Princess along the way, keeping her eyes lowered and her expression composed. She did not look at anything she ought not to see and spoke whenever she could avoid it, lest she invite trouble upon herself.
Yet when they went before Her Majesty the Empress, she still took advantage of the motion of her formal bow to steal a swift look at the person seated at the head of the hall.
She wore a phoenix crown and a crimson imperial empress’s robe embroidered with dark phoenix patterns. Her bearing was dignified and noble, her expression solemn and composed, and her eyes held a sharpness that made her seem imposing at first glance.
Her face was somewhat thin. Though faint lines had appeared at the corners of her eyes, they did nothing to diminish her overall presence. It was still clear that she was a stunningly beautiful woman.
Shen Yanshui had seen the Empress once before during the selection, but there had been many people present, and she had been standing toward the back of the crowd, quite a distance away. At the time, her goal had been to win Consort Liang’s favor—ideally, to enter the Fifth Prince’s residence—so she had paid little attention to the Empress, who had appeared only briefly.
It was still early, and there was no one else in Kunning Palace yet. After the Crown Princess led the two women forward to pay their respects, the Empress lowered her eyes and swept a glance over the two people behind the Crown Princess. Her voice was fairly gentle.
“There is no need for such ceremony. Rise. Give the Crown Princess a seat.”
After respectfully thanking her, the Crown Princess sat down below the Empress.
Shen Yanshui rose according to protocol and obediently stood behind the Crown Princess. At this distance, she was actually quite close to the Empress—no more than two meters away.
Shen Yanshui keenly noticed that the Empress’s breathing seemed slightly irregular. There was also the faint scent of bitter Chinese medicine clinging to her.
Come to think of it, now that she was closer, Shen Yanshui realized that the Crown Princess also carried a faint medicinal smell.
It was mostly concealed by the fragrance of her rouge and the incense clinging to her clothes, making it difficult for ordinary people to detect.
She had heard that Her Majesty the Empress had been in poor health over the past year. Having overworked herself, she had been taking medicine to recuperate.
The Crown Princess came to pay her respects to the Empress almost every day, so it was only natural that some of the medicinal scent had rubbed off on her.
The moment Shen Yanshui stood up, the Empress’s gaze settled on her face.
So this was Shen, the Lady Shen who had recently become quite favored by Yu, the Empress thought.
It was no wonder Yu had made exceptions for this woman and repeatedly bestowed rewards upon her with such a face.
She glanced at Matron Zhao beside her. Matron Zhao nodded, confirming her guess.
But the Empress said nothing more. She understood her child, and she trusted him.
She knew her son would not lose his head over a little feminine beauty. Thus, she treated the two women equally, asking them only a couple of questions. Seeing how Shen Yanshui kept her eyes lowered and answered with docility, the Empress smiled.
“Very good. You are both obedient and sensible. I hope you will bear more children for the Crown Prince and help continue the imperial line.”
As she spoke, she bestowed a bracelet upon each of Lady Zhang and Shen Yanshui.
Both women blushed shyly, lowered their heads, and murmured their assent.
Shen Yanshui forced her face to redden and pretended to be bashful, sighing inwardly.
Fortunately, she still had some acting skills.
It seemed that the matter of the Crown Prince’s heirs was a deep concern of Her Majesty the Empress. Matron Zhao, who had delivered the Empress’s verbal reward the last time, had said the same thing.
There was something wrong with the Crown Prince’s body.
Although nothing appeared amiss on the surface—in fact, once he took off his clothes, he was even more robust than ordinary men—and his natural endowment in certain areas was quite impressive, there was still… Ahem.
Actually, the first time, he had not lasted very long.
But perhaps because of her wood-element ability, whenever they engaged in intimate nighttime activities, not only did her ability grow stronger, but she also unknowingly regulated and repaired his body. It seemed that the Crown Prince grew stronger each time.
She had gone from being calm and perfectly in control the first time to later being unable to do anything but scramble away—only to find that she could not even crawl away.
Even now, she had not figured out what was behind it all. But since it was not a bad thing, she could not be bothered to investigate further.
As for bearing children… she was not at all fixated on becoming pregnant.
She would simply let nature take its course.
Lady Zhang noticed that the bracelet the Empress had given her was a rare, flawless red agate bangle, one that matched her outfit beautifully.
The one given to Lady Shen, however, was merely an ordinary green jade bracelet. Though it also suited her attire, it was clearly inferior to the red agate bangle in terms of rarity and value.
Lady Zhang could not help feeling even more pleased.
Compared with Lady Shen, this meant that the Empress favored her more.
Shen Yanshui’s peach-blossom eyes curved into a smile, and she sincerely said, “Thank you for the reward, Your Majesty the Empress.” As she spoke, she slipped the bracelet onto her left wrist.
She did not care what the Empress had given anyone else. All she knew was that Her Majesty the Empress was truly a wonderful person. The last time, she had given Shen Yanshui a great many things, and now, merely by coming to pay her respects, she had received another nice bracelet.
Naturally, she was delighted.
The Empress and Nanny Fan fell silent for a moment when they saw how plainly her joy showed on her face, making it clear at a glance that she was not a scheming person.
“Thank you for the reward, Your Majesty the Empress.”
Although Lady Zhang was nervous in the Empress’s presence, she behaved with grace and composure. She did not wish to appear petty or provincial, and managed to maintain her poise.
The Empress watched the two women with a smile, while the Crown Princess also began to speak.
It was only after the two of them started talking that Shen Yanshui sensed something was off.
From their words, it seemed that the relationship between them was not quite as “a mother and daughter-in-law filled with affection” as the rumors claimed.
Before she could think about it any further, Kunning Palace began to grow lively, both inside and out.
The Eastern Palace was neither especially near nor especially far from Kunning Palace, but the Crown Princess had deliberately come early. Quite a few high-ranking consorts from the inner palace would be attending the gathering at Jinming Pool later, and some were practically her elders. Naturally, she could not have those senior women wait for her, a junior.
By now, consorts from the eastern and western palaces who were qualified to attend the gathering at Jinming Pool had begun arriving at Kunning Palace to pay their respects. Noble ladies from outside the imperial family also entered the palace with their younger relatives. The sounds of greetings, kneeling, and formal salutations rang out without pause.
Shen Yanshui remained standing properly behind the Crown Princess, serving as a quiet backdrop while secretly taking in the dazzling procession and pricking up her ears to listen.
Before long, the main hall of Kunning Palace had become bustling with activity. Those seated in the main hall rather than being directed to the side hall or reception room were either imperial relatives and aristocrats or ladies of particularly noble status.
During this time, Shen Yanshui also saw her elder half-sister, Lady Shen, enter behind Noble Consort Lan.
She only glanced at her once. Seeing that the woman looked radiant and beautiful, Shen Yanshui did not pay her any further attention.
She was merely an inconspicuous nobody in the hall. No one would bother noticing a low-ranking concubine of the Eastern Palace, and Shen Yanshui was perfectly happy to remain unnoticed.
She simply kept her head lowered and her ears perked up, listening to the people around her exchange pleasantries with bright smiles while engaging in all sorts of subtle verbal duels.
At first, she found it rather interesting. Some of their words twisted through several layers of implication; unless one thought carefully, it was impossible to figure out what they were really saying.
But after listening for too long, her head began to buzz, and unseen by anyone else, her eyes practically spun with little coils of smoke.
Being one of the people at the very top was no easy task. If this was how life went every day, she wondered how many brain cells would die.
Would it shorten one’s life?
Just as she was beginning to feel bored and wondering when they would finally set out for Jinming Pool, a soft, melodious voice rang out with a smile.
“The woman standing behind the Crown Princess must be Lady Shen of the Crown Prince’s Eastern Palace, mustn’t she? Lady Shen and Lady Shen of this palace are sisters from the same family. From now on, the two of you should be closer. You’re blood relatives, after all—surely you mustn’t grow distant.”
The main hall, which had been filled with laughter and conversation, fell silent at once.
Shen Yanshui raised her eyes and saw the woman seated to the Empress’s lower right—that was to say, directly opposite the Crown Princess.
She was a stunning beauty, with her hair swept into a high coiffure, thick sideburns framing her face, and phoenix eyes beneath willow-shaped brows. Smiling brightly, she was looking straight at Shen Yanshui.
If the beauty’s words had not carried such a sharp barb, Shen Yanshui would have liked listening to that gentle, faintly seductive voice.
The moment Noble Consort Lan finished speaking, Shen Yanshui noticed quite a few covert glances falling upon her.
Everyone with eyes knew that Noble Consort Lan and the Empress were at odds. What was more, most of those present were shrewd and experienced, so no one dared speak rashly.
Over the past six months, Noble Consort Lan’s son, the Fourth Prince, had repeatedly earned the Emperor’s praise. Not long ago, he had even received an appointment in the imperial court and been allowed to participate in state affairs. No one dared offend Noble Consort Lan without careful consideration.
Shen Yanshui lowered her head and inclined herself slightly. With an unchanged expression, she replied gently, “When my sister and I were at home, we were naturally bound by ties of blood. But now that we have both entered the palace, I am merely a lowly lady of the Eastern Palace. I ought to observe the rules of the imperial family first and distinguish rank and order. I would not dare overstep my place.”
Back home, she and this legitimate elder sister had never been close, nor had they shared much affection. Her elder sister had even looked down on her for being lazy, fond of good food and amusements, and unwilling to do anything “proper.”
Closer? Closer to what?
If not for this legitimate elder sister of hers, she might well have had her marriage arranged by now. A whole host of good days ahead of her had been ruined by a single letter from her sister.
If Shen Yanshui had not been so easygoing and able to take things in stride, she might have wanted to kill her elder sister by now.
