Zheng Yuande: …… Doesn't the Crown Princess pay any attention to the recent court affairs at all?
The corners of his mouth twitched a few times as he listened to the Crown Princess chatting and laughing with the Crown Prince as if no one else was around.
The atmosphere had been perfectly pleasant just a moment ago, but the Crown Princess had truly, of her own accord, poured oil straight onto the fire for His Highness.
The General of Agile Cavalry, the Crown Prince's young maternal uncle, had been back in the capital for three months, and during that time, those idle, overfed civil officials would seize any chance they got to submit a memorial accusing him of some offense.
That would have been bad enough on its own.
A few days prior, it was the old man from the Privy Council who had first rudely bumped into the General of Agile Cavalry, then even made outrageous, disrespectful remarks about the General, which led the General to beat him.
But the end result was that the General was impeached by the civil officials and imperial censors, and in the end, His Majesty reprimanded and admonished him, even stripping the General of his post as the military governor of Zhenguo Army!
The Crown Prince had stood up to speak in the General's defense, and for that, he had been reprimanded by His Majesty twice in the past few days.
Right now, the Crown Prince probably could not bear to hear anything about the divide between civil and military officials.
But in the Great Yong Dynasty, the tradition of valuing civil officials over military officials had long been so deeply rooted that it had become second nature to everyone in the court and the commonalty, even ordinary civilians.
If civil and military officials happened to cross paths on the road, even a military officer of higher rank would have to make way for a civil official who was one or two grades lower than them. This had already become an established unwritten rule.
But the Crown Prince and the General of Agile Cavalry were only five years apart in age, and the two had shared a deep, close bond since childhood.
When the Crown Princess heard that the Crown Prince was planning to go to Lady Shen's courtyard, she froze for a split second, and a twinge of jealousy rose unconsciously in her heart.
Yet she still smiled with dignified grace and said, "Your Highness, Lady Shen does not understand proper etiquette as well as the several talented ladies who come from scholarly families. I am afraid she might end up offending you..."
The Crown Prince suddenly cut in, "Does not understand proper etiquette?" His tone was slightly heavy, the thin, sharp corners of his eyes drooped slightly, and his dark, pitch-black eyes revealed no emotion at all.
The Crown Princess was slightly stunned, and before she could react, she saw that he had already stood up, said that there were still matters to attend to in the front hall, and left.
His expression looked no different from his usual one.
It made her unable to help but wonder... if that glance he had given her just now had only been her imagination.
She rose to curtsy, "I see Your Highness off, Your Highness."
Matron Zhou, who was standing at her side waiting for the others to leave, then whispered, "Your Highness, this old servant has heard that the entire front court has been in an uproar over the recent incident where the General of Agile Cavalry beat a court official in the street. The Crown Prince is likely in a bad mood because of this matter."
The Crown Princess knitted her brows in dissatisfaction. "Military generals with high merit that overshadow the sovereign are bound to make His Majesty, the Emperor, wary. His Highness's uncle is so undisciplined, does not know how to behave low-key, and keeps causing trouble for His Highness everywhere. Why doesn't the old Duke Fengguo and the old matriarch of the Fengguo Manor discipline him..."
Matron Zhou sighed and said, "The old Duke Fengguo now only has the Duke Fengguo, who is disabled in both legs, and this youngest son, who is in good health. He was born when the old Duke was already advanced in age, so it is only natural that he is too reluctant to discipline him strictly.
"This old servant thinks... perhaps it is because the General of Agile Cavalry has not yet taken a wife and started a family, that he remains so unstable in his actions at his age."
The Crown Princess pursed her lips, frowned and thought for a moment, then said, "What Matron said makes sense. I should speak to the Empress later, and ask her to persuade His Highness's uncle to get married as soon as possible."
But as a younger generation, arranging a marriage for an elder would, after all, look rather inappropriate.
She would have to send a message to her own mother, and let her mother find an opportunity to bring it up to the Empress.
Seeing that she still looked deeply troubled, Matron Zhou comforted her, "Your Highness, there is no need to worry. You already have the little imperial grandson under your protection. No matter which courtyard the Crown Prince visits, no matter which person in the rear palace gains His favor, no one's favor can ever shake your position. We only need to sit back and watch the drama unfold with peace of mind."
The Crown Princess knitted her brows, her heart still filled with displeasure, but as the Crown Princess, His Highness currently only had one son and one daughter under his knees, and the imperial descendants were far too few. She could not monopolize the Crown Prince all to herself...
Otherwise, the voices from outside calling her jealous would be enough to drown her out.
Worse still, she had to maintain the demeanor of a virtuous, magnanimous Crown Princess to build an even better reputation for herself.
She could only force the unwillingness in her heart down by telling herself that even when the Crown Prince went to other people's courtyards, he would still keep his usual cold, distant manner, and would never treat anyone with any special favor.
*
The clouds merged like a jade disc, the sunlight faded away, and the night sky was dotted with tiny stars.
Zheng Yuande saw that the time was just about right, so he stepped forward softly and whispered, "Your Highness, it is almost time to light the palace lanterns. Which courtyard does Your Highness plan to stay for the night tonight?"
Although the Crown Prince had said in front of the Crown Princess earlier that he was going to Lady Shen's place, he still asked one more cautious question, not daring to make the decision on his own.
Cui Yu frowned slightly, closed the book he was holding, stood up, brushed the dust off his sleeves, and said in a deep, solemn voice, "Let's go."
"Understood, Your Highness." Zheng Yuande quickly lifted the palace lantern and led the way ahead.
*
"Master, here are the golden crispy chicken, peach blossom pastries, and donkey-hide gelatin silver ear milk drink you asked for." Chunping took the food box from Quanshou, quickly walked around the folding screen, and entered the eastern warm pavilion.
Shen Yanshui had long been sitting at the round table waiting eagerly. Now, seeing Chunping walk in, her pair of peach blossom eyes sparkled, almost glowing as they fixed on the food box in her hand.
"Hurry up and set them all out." She had never expected that the diet kitchen in the Eastern Palace could make such delicious food, far better than the food she had eaten in the Xiuzhen Palace back then, and even better than the food the chefs in her father's marquis manor made.
Now that she had tasted such wonderful food, how could she ever go back to the old way?
At Shenshi, around 4 p.m., she had eaten a wonderful late meal, including spicy shrimp and jade thick soup, crispy deep-fried pork, and wine-steamed lamb slices, which had made her feel so happy she almost floated off the ground.
With cooking skills like this, she could stay in the Eastern Palace for a hundred years without ever wanting to leave!
The only drawback was that it cost a little more silver, but other than that, it was absolutely perfect.
It was almost the time of Xu, a little after 8 p.m., the perfect hour for a midnight snack.
In the west side hall opposite, Lady Liu, who had dressed up elaborately and was sitting restlessly, heard the movement from across the courtyard and could not help asking, Yinping, what is going on outside? Could it be that the Crown Prince has arrived?
Deep down, she knew very well that the Crown Prince would most likely not visit her place today, but what if he did?
A tiny sliver of hope lingered in her heart, so much so that she could barely bring herself to take a few bites of her dinner.
Yinping knew very well that if the Crown Prince had arrived, the noise would not be what they had just heard, but she still obeyed her mistress's order to go outside and take a look. She then came back to report, "Mistress, according to Yinye, the people in the courtyard opposite just sent someone to the diet kitchen to fetch a midnight snack, and it has just been brought in."
Lady Liu could not believe her ears. "A midnight snack?"
"How can she even have an appetite for a midnight snack at this hour?" As she spoke, she curled her lip slightly, thinking to herself that as expected, someone from a military family would have no proper manners and be completely unrefined.
Did she know full well that His Highness would not visit her place tonight? So she had just given up on herself and stopped caring about appearances?
She quickly pushed those thoughts aside, but still could not resist urging her servants to send someone to keep watch outside the courtyard.
*
The moment the Crown Prince stepped onto the corridor in front of the back cover house, the hearts of all the mistresses in every courtyard and room in the rear palace instantly lifted.
Among all of them, Lady Zhang and Lady Wu were the most nervous.
Everyone knew that the Crown Prince was always extremely strict with etiquette and abided by the rules. Logically speaking, his first night after arriving at the rear palace should have been spent in Lady Zhang's courtyard.
Lady Wu, Wu Chenghui, had always been proud of her own beauty, and today, after receiving praise from the Crown Princess, she was at the height of her elation and arrogance, with no intention of thinking otherwise. When she learned that the Crown Prince was heading in the direction of her courtyard, she was instantly filled with both surprise and smug delight. She hurriedly leaned over her dressing mirror to check if there was anything amiss with her face and attire, all the while urging her servants, "Come, let us go wait for the Crown Prince at the courtyard gate."
"Understood!" The servants waiting on her were also rarely excited. If their mistress won the Crown Prince's favor tonight, they would gain a fair amount of prestige moving about the Eastern Palace from then on.
But just moments after stepping out, before Lady Wu could even reach the gate, the maid who had been brimming with excitement earlier came hurrying back with a pale, troubled look on her face. Facing her mistress, who was already dressed in ornate, lavish attire, the maid spoke carefully, stammering a little, "Mistress... the Crown Prince has entered... the adjacent Lotus Heart Courtyard."
The bright smile that had been on Lady Wu's face instantly vanished, her expression darkening completely.
*
Shen Yanshui was just savoring a mouthful of sweet, rich donkey-hide gelatin and silver fungus milk beverage when she heard the commotion outside the courtyard. When Chunping came rushing in almost tripping over her own feet to report that the Crown Prince had already arrived at the courtyard entrance, and with the sound of successive greetings of respect rising from every other courtyard, Shen Yanshui nearly choked on her sip of milk.
There was no time to tidy things up. She took a deep breath and hurried to the gate, where she could faintly make out the tall, broad-shouldered, long-legged figure of a man walking toward her at an unhurried pace, surrounded by eunuchs standing bowed on both sides. She did not even have time to lift her head to get a clear look at the newcomer's face before she hurriedly curtsied in greeting.
"This humble wife Shen greets the Crown Prince. May Your Highness enjoy peace and good health." She was uncharacteristically a little nervous.
Her entire attention was fixed on the person standing only two steps away from her. By the glow of the candlelight spilling out from the room, she could even make out the patterns on the dark black leather belt at his waist, as well as the shimmering silver threads woven into his purple robe that caught the light.
Wait, what was the Crown Prince doing here? Hadn't everyone said the Crown Prince was the most strict observer of rules? Why had he come to her courtyard of all places?
Zheng Yuande could not help but think that this Lady Shen really was a free, unconstrained spirit! Not only had she not been waiting at the gate early to welcome the Crown Prince as others did, she had only hurried out to offer her greeting right as His Highness was about to step through the door.
Zheng Yuande glanced at her, and it was obvious she had not even finished dressing properly.
By all proper etiquette, even on days when the Crown Prince was not expected to visit, one should still dress neatly and wait for news of His Highness's arrangements, only extinguishing their lamps to rest once they had confirmed he would not be coming. That was the standard custom in the Eastern Palace.
Cui Yu lowered his eyes and glanced at her.
Shen Yanshui was wearing a narrow-sleeve blouse of pale lotus root pink plain silk, over which she had draped a half-sleeve gown in the color of sky-blue water. Her hair was styled in a tassel bun, tied only with a sky-blue ribbon, all other ornaments having been taken off long ago. She did not wear the heavy, elaborate makeup and lavish jewelry that the other ladies had put on.
She was as fresh as a lotus rising from clear water, unadorned and uncarved, her natural beauty shining through.
"Rise."
Shen Yanshui had kept her head bowed in the greeting posture, and at the sound of his clear, steady voice, she caught a glimpse from the corner of her eye of him lifting his feet and walking past her into the room, the hem of his purple robe brushing lightly against the edge of her skirt.
She still had no idea why the Crown Prince had decided to visit her courtyard tonight, but since he was already here, after the initial shock of being caught completely off guard, she had calmed down a little.
She watched him lift the corner of his robe and settle down on the couch, and that was when she finally got a clear look at his face. Her eyes lit up instantly.
He was as handsome as a jade carving, his features as fine as a painting, his demeanor gentle and refined yet carrying an innate noble majesty. He was even more striking than she had imagined.
Cui Yu suddenly lifted his gaze to look at her. Their eyes met, and Shen Yanshui blinked those naturally charming, bright peach blossom eyes of hers, stepping forward two steps with a sincere smile as she softly explained, "Your Highness has arrived at just the right moment. The chefs in the Changqing Palace's kitchen make such delicious food, so this humble one prepared a little late-night snack. Would Your Highness care to share it with me?"
She spoke with a warm smile, saying what was meant to be a polite opening to ease the tension, her heart a little nervous, and a little regretful that she had only taken a few bites of the snack on the table.
Cui Yu turned his gaze to the several plates of food on the table, then noticed the way she had glanced at those dishes no less than several times in just a short moment, her little look of undisguised reluctance and craving.
He had not had any appetite to speak of at first, but seeing that obvious, endearing look on her face, he suddenly nodded in agreement.
Shen Yanshui had only meant to make conversation, to offer a gentle, respectful remark, and never expected him to actually say yes.
