Chapter 103
Cui Lanyin said, “Uncle, you don’t like going out, so don’t force yourself. We already have children—there’s no need to bother with all those empty formalities. Since you finally have some free time, you should spend it meditating.”
“There’s a lantern competition on the Wuyang River. Yongjia invited me to go watch it.” Afraid the Emperor might misunderstand, she quickly explained, “We won’t go onto the pleasure boats. We’ll watch from a private room at Yunlai Restaurant, with Chiyun and Chiyue accompanying us. Uncle, you can rest assured.”
The Emperor did not react as she expected. Instead, he looked at her with a smile. “Yinyin, do you not want me to accompany you? Or do you think I would be in the way?”
Cui Lanyin gazed at him in exasperation. “You’re doing it again. Can’t we each enjoy ourselves? Why force yourself?”
“I’m not forcing myself. I should occasionally go out and observe the lives of the people. I can’t simply talk about affairs of state from what I read on paper.”
Since the Emperor had put it that way, Cui Lanyin could hardly refuse. “Then I’ll tell Yongjia not to wait for me. She can go on her own.”
“Mm.” The Emperor said, “After we stroll around the streets, we’ll have a late-night meal at Yunlai Restaurant. Once we’ve finished watching the lantern competition, we’ll come back.”
That did sound pleasant enough, but Cui Lanyin still wasn’t entirely convinced. “Uncle, are you sure? You can’t decide to turn back halfway through.”
The Emperor smiled. “Don’t worry. We’ll go back after you’ve had your fill of watching those show-off scholars scratch their heads and those courtesans display their charms.”
The Emperor had seen right through her, so Cui Lanyin did not bother pretending otherwise. “As expected of my uncle. Even without stepping outside, you know everything that’s happening in the world. You’re even fully informed about what’s going on along the Wuyang River.”
Since they were going to Yunlai Restaurant anyway, Cui Lanyin said, “Why don’t we invite Yongjia as well? It feels rather rude to break my promise and go without her, leaving her by herself.”
The Emperor scrutinized her from head to toe. Although she had done nothing wrong, Cui Lanyin began to feel uneasy under his gaze. “Uncle, why are you looking at me like that?”
“It seems you’ve always regarded me as your uncle.”
“You are my uncle.” Cui Lanyin found his question baffling.
“I don’t want anyone else tagging along,” the Emperor said. He lifted the small table from the couch, took a bolster, and arranged it before pulling her down beside him. “Go to sleep.”
Cui Lanyin felt rather disappointed that Princess Yongjia could not come along.
Since the Emperor had her firmly in his arms and she could not get up, she could only stay on the luohan couch and take an afternoon nap with him.
Having changed locations, she could not fall asleep right away.
Cui Lanyin increasingly felt that the Emperor was more fickle than a woman. He had changed his mind several times over something as simple as an afternoon nap.
When she had first learned she was pregnant, the Emperor had gone to Tanyue Residence and accompanied her to nap in the inner chamber. After their wedding, when she moved to Yanhua Residence, the Emperor had said he would leave early so as not to disturb her, and had begun napping on the luohan couch instead.
Now he did not even bother to come up with an excuse. He had simply pulled her down to sleep with him.
Compared with New Year’s Eve and the first day of the new year, Cui Lanyin liked the Lantern Festival more.
From New Year’s Eve through the eighth day of the first lunar month, whether in the palace or in ordinary households, there were endless tedious obligations. People had to worship their ancestors, hold clan banquets, visit relatives, and take turns hosting feasts for friends and family. There was hardly a single idle day.
The Lantern Festival was different. After the whole family finished dinner, brothers and sisters could go out together to stroll through the streets. If they stayed out late, they could even have a late-night meal outside. It was arguably the happiest and most carefree day of the year.
The Emperor had never-ending ancestral rites to perform throughout the first month. At midnight on the fourteenth day, he rose again and went to the Hall of Ancestral Worship to offer a Five-Grain Lantern.
At dawn, the Court of State Ceremonial Affairs set up the shrines to Heaven and Earth on the steps of Yanhua Palace and burned Lantern Festival offerings. Amid the smoke and scorching heat, Cui Lanyin could no longer sleep and rose unusually early.
Qi An and Leping led people in distributing tangyuan to all the palaces.
The Emperor, however, disliked them. Although a bowl had been placed beside him, he refused to eat even one.
Cui Lanyin had no choice but to scoop one up and hold it to his lips. “Eat!”
The Emperor opened his mouth and swallowed it, forcing it down before muttering, “I should issue an edict forbidding tangyuan during the Lantern Festival.”
The Emperor had already canceled the grand Lantern Festival banquet a few days earlier. If he also forbade people from eating tangyuan, they might as well stop celebrating the Lantern Festival altogether.
After returning to the Western Hall, the Emperor ordered Qian He to arrange for tangyuan to be sent to every government office at noon, making sure that every person received a bowl.
The officials all assumed that because the Emperor had canceled the grand banquet, he was using this frugal gesture to celebrate the Lantern Festival together with his ministers.
Only Cui Lanyin knew that the Emperor resented tangyuan so deeply that, since he had suffered, everyone else had to suffer too.
Because Emperor Xuanning had only recently passed away, the palace did not erect a lantern mountain this year, nor did it hold the customary lantern viewing at the Gate of Heavenly Blessing. The palace seemed much quieter than the streets outside.
When Cui Lanyin woke from her nap, the Emperor had already gone to the Western Hall. She rose and went to Funing Palace.
Empress Dowager Xu, Consort Dowager Shu, and Dowager Concubine Wan were accompanying Grand Empress Dowager Chen in conversation.
After moving to Yanhua Palace, Cui Lanyin had to manage the palace affairs as well as oversee the Commercial Tax Administration, so she could no longer spend every day accompanying Grand Empress Dowager Chen as she had before.
The other three women did not say a word about it. Instead, they began going to Funing Palace both morning and afternoon. In the mornings, they accompanied Grand Empress Dowager Chen in playing cards; in the afternoons, they kept her company, chatting with her and teasing her parrot. Grand Empress Dowager Chen was hardly ever left alone.
When she saw Cui Lanyin enter, Consort Dowager Shu helped her onto the kang. “It’s warmer here.” She then peeled a honey tangerine and handed it to her. “Have something sweet first.”
Aunt Gao covered her mouth and laughed. “Your Highness, don’t take my job away from me!”
Cui Lanyin was deeply grateful that the three women came to keep Grand Empress Dowager Chen company like this.
She had allowed Princess Yongjia to enter and leave the palace freely, without having to request an audience in advance as she had before.
Consort Dowager Shu was worried about Li Yijin, who was due to give birth. Two days earlier, Cui Lanyin had ordered Li Yijin to enter the palace to await her delivery and had instructed Imperial Physician Cao to oversee the birth. Li Yijin had been brought into the palace the previous day, and ever since then, Consort Dowager Shu had been praising Cui Lanyin to everyone she met.
Cui Lanyin glanced at Empress Dowager Xu. It was easy enough to show her gratitude to Consort Dowager Shu and Dowager Concubine Wan, but Empress Dowager Xu had neither children nor relatives left in the capital. Her entire family had been exiled to the northern frontier, leaving Cui Lanyin with no obvious way to express her goodwill.
Yet of the three women, Empress Dowager Xu had helped her the most, and Cui Lanyin very much wanted to do something for her.
Perhaps she could find an opportunity to ask the Emperor what sort of situation the Xu family was in.
Even if she could arrange for Empress Dowager Xu to resume contact with her relatives exiled in the north, that alone would surely make her happy.
Looking through the window, Cui Lanyin saw Qi An enter the courtyard. Judging by the time, the work at Fengyi Palace must have been finished.
When Qi An came in, he first reported another matter. “Word has been spread from the western side that Li Yixin intends to go to Guizhen Temple to cultivate herself as a Daoist nun. I thought they might be plotting some mischief, so I sent people to investigate. It turns out the report is true. They’ve already packed up the things Li Yixin will need, and they were carrying them out when I came over. It seems she won’t even return home first and will move directly into Guizhen Temple.”
As a member of the Li family, Consort Dowager Shu understood them better than anyone. She was the first to reject the idea. “Our Jinjie’er might truly be able to see through worldly matters and become a Daoist nun, but Li Yixin certainly can’t. What are they trying to arrange this time?”
Grand Empress Dowager Chen said, “The Li family has always regarded Li Yixin as a rare treasure, but she is of no use to the Emperor. She has lived in the palace for so long without gaining anything. If she leaves the palace without any pretext, she will lose face. By claiming that she has seen through the world and wishes to become a Daoist nun, she can at least save some dignity. After staying there for a while, she can return home and marry. It won’t delay her.”
Consort Dowager Shu nodded in agreement. “Now that Grand Empress Dowager has put it that way, I understand. Clearly, I still have a great deal to learn about reading situations. I’m startled by the slightest matter.”
There were still clothes she had worn before at Tanyue Residence. After seeing Empress Dowager Xu and the other two women off, Cui Lanyin went to Tanyue Residence to change into the clothes she would wear that evening.
Not wanting to attract attention, Cui Lanyin wore a jade-colored gown of plain silk padded with cotton, along with a light chestnut-colored cape of plain silk lined with fur.
Since the cape had a hood, Sangzhi was afraid it would mess up her hair, so she simply twisted it into a bun and chose a jade hair ornament shaped like a lotus leaf to pin it in place.
At dusk, the emperor came to Funing Palace and joined Cui Lanyin in dining with Grand Empress Dowager Chen.
When she learned that the two of them planned to leave the palace for an outing, Grand Empress Dowager Chen was very supportive. “Young couples should spend time like this. Don’t live as though you’re already old.” She shooed them away, urging them to leave at once.
Cui Lanyin thought they could simply go out, but the emperor instead pulled her back to Yanhuadian.
Once they reached the rear hall, the emperor asked her, “Aren’t you going to get me ready?”
Cui Lanyin couldn’t understand. Wasn’t he usually too lazy even to change his clothes and shoes after returning? Why had he become so particular just because they were going out?
The emperor was currently dressed in a black brocade robe, the sort commonly worn by wealthy young gentlemen in Yingcheng. She asked in confusion, “Isn’t this what you changed into for going out? What else needs to be done?”
The emperor looked at her. “Didn’t you hear Grand Empress Dowager Chen say I look old-fashioned?”
“What are you reading into now?” Cui Lanyin tugged at him, trying to get him to leave. “She was only telling us not to live like a pair of old people.”
The emperor refused to move. “We’re going to wear matching clothes.”
Cui Lanyin had no choice but to call Buyan and have him find a jade-colored padded silk robe. After the emperor changed into it, he glanced at her hair again.
Cui Lanyin no longer needed him to say anything. She redid his hair herself and placed a jade crown around his topknot.
The emperor was highly skilled in martial arts and usually wore only a single layer even in the depths of winter. Since this padded robe was already quite thick, Cui Lanyin did not prepare a fur-lined cape for him.
In Yingcheng, the liveliest area was the stretch from Central Avenue to the Temple of Confucius. Goods of every kind were gathered there, and shops lined the streets. During the Lantern Festival, the shopkeepers would hang all sorts of lanterns along the roads. Anyone who guessed a lantern riddle correctly could choose a pretty lantern to take home.
There were also dragon and lion dances, stilt walkers, variety performers, and all kinds of spectacles appearing one after another, making it impossible to tear oneself away.
Every year, many young men and women caught one another’s eye there. Even the sons and daughters of prestigious families would take advantage of the occasion to meet potential matches. No one knew how many marriages had been brought about as a result.
This time, the four Lin guards came along as well. Together with Buyan, Buyu, Sangzhi, Aiye, Chiyun, and Chiyue, their party of twelve left the palace in two carriages and with six mounted horses.
The emperor had actually not objected to Sangzhi and Aiye accompanying them. Cui Lanyin didn’t believe for a moment that he had suddenly changed his ways, and she found his thoughts even more impossible to decipher.
Since Chiyun and Chiyue often accompanied her when she went out, they had both disguised themselves to avoid attracting attention. Unless someone was familiar with them, they would generally not be recognized.
Before they even reached Central Avenue, the carriages and horses were already having difficulty moving forward.
As far as the eye could see, the streets were ablaze with lights, and people from every direction were converging on this one place.
They had no choice but to drive the carriages to a less crowded spot at the side of the road and stop there. The party then continued toward Central Avenue on foot.
Cui Lanyin studied the emperor. Fortunately, there was no sign of impatience on his face.
Bailin led the way, while Qinglin and Chilin pushed the crowd aside on either side. Xuanlin brought up the rear. With the emperor keeping an arm around Cui Lanyin, the group was not as cramped as she had imagined, and they followed the flow of people into Central Avenue.
During last year’s Lantern Festival, Cui Lanyin had visited the area with Cui Su and Cui Jian, so she had assumed there would be nothing new for her to see. Yet this time, strolling through the same place hand in hand with the emperor, she felt something different.
When she glanced several times at an exquisite lantern depicting the Eight Immortals hanging outside a shop, the emperor pulled her over and bought it for her. Watching him awkwardly ask the shopkeeper the price, then take the loose silver from Bailin and personally hand it over, Cui Lanyin inexplicably found the emperor rather adorable. Amid the endless stream of people, she discovered a whole new kind of delight.
A child stood nearby holding a skewer of candied hawthorns. Cui Lanyin couldn’t help swallowing. With so many people around, she was too embarrassed to openly say that she wanted the child’s snack, so she tugged at the emperor’s sleeve and called, “Uncle,” while staring fixedly at the child.
The emperor understood at once. “Want one too?”
The second update will be posted before midnight!
