Chapter 67
It was not until the sun was high in the sky the next day that Cui Lanyin finally woke.
During that time, Empress Dowager Chen noticed that she had not come over and, thinking her headache had returned, sent Aunt Xia to check on her. When Aunt Xia saw the forehead bands and sachets that had been sewn overnight in the basket beside the luohan couch, she assumed Cui Lanyin had simply exhausted herself with needlework. Without asking any questions, she instructed Aiye and the others not to wake her, then quietly left.
Once Aunt Xia had gone, Aiye and Sangzhi all breathed a sigh of relief. Neither of them was good at making up explanations, and they had been terribly afraid that one poorly chosen word would tip Aunt Xia off.
The emperor had spent the night sleeping at Tanyue Residence. Even Aiye and Sangzhi, slow as they could be, had realized that something was wrong.
The emperor actually had feelings for their mistress. What were they supposed to do? If Empress Dowager Chen found out, would she still be so fond of Miss?
Miss had said that the imperial family of the current dynasty had never arranged a marriage between relatives of the wrong generation. When the time came, the court officials would surely oppose it unanimously. What, then, would become of Miss?
Though Empress Dowager Chen had neither son nor daughter, she held the title of legal mother. No matter how unwilling Emperor Xuanning might be, he could not afford to slight her openly. If the emperor intended to continue this vague, improper relationship, wouldn’t Miss be the one to suffer in the end?
The moment Cui Lanyin woke, she was met by their two deeply worried faces. Understanding everything at once, she said, “The money from the pastry shop and restaurant can’t just sit there doing nothing. When the time comes, I’ll take you two out to travel around. We’ll have all the fun we want. Who would still think about marrying and living under someone else’s rules?”
Aiye and Sangzhi exchanged a glance before asking cautiously, “Will we be able to leave the palace someday, Miss?”
After sleeping, with the emperor no longer before her eyes, Cui Lanyin’s mind had cleared. The more she thought about it, the more she felt that once a man sat upon the imperial throne, there was no way he could remain unchanged. The emperor would be no exception.
There was no need to look too far ahead. Once the twenty-seven-day mourning period ended and the emperor formally ascended the throne, the court officials would begin submitting memorials urging him to choose consorts.
And among all those beauties, what if there was one who understood him especially well and could soothe his mind even better than she could?
Cui Lanyin nodded firmly. “At most a year. Then we’ll be able to leave the palace.”
Only then did Aiye and Sangzhi feel somewhat relieved.
Cui Lanyin caught sight of the white magnolia hairpin beside her pillow and asked, “When did you undo my hair? I didn’t feel a thing.”
Aiye and Sangzhi looked at each other blankly. “Didn’t you undo it yourself, Miss? When we came in this morning and saw you sleeping soundly, we stayed outside and kept watch.”
Then it must have been the emperor. The tips of Cui Lanyin’s ears grew warm. She touched them casually to cover her embarrassment. “Look at me. I must still be muddled from sleep.”
Aiye and Sangzhi did not suspect a thing. They told her about Aunt Xia’s visit, and Cui Lanyin hurriedly washed, changed clothes, and took the finished forehead bands and sachets with Bu Yu to the front residence.
The more Aiye and Sangzhi accompanied her outside, the more they realized that neither of them was suited to moving about in public. From then on, they took care of the household tasks while Bu Yu was the one who accompanied Cui Lanyin out. The three of them divided the work clearly and got along harmoniously.
When she reached the entrance to Empress Dowager Chen’s residence in the front palace, Cui Lanyin took several deep breaths and adjusted her expression before stepping inside.
The moment she entered the western side room, Empress Dowager Chen pulled her into a hug. “Silly child, why are you so earnest? You mustn’t stay up late making needlework for us again.”
Since no one had thought of anything else, Cui Lanyin was finally able to speak naturally.
She decided that she would definitely make things clear to the emperor that night. He could come and chat for a while, but he could not sleep here again.
Yet that evening, the emperor did not come at all.
When he still had not appeared by the third day, Cui Lanyin concluded that he must have been so exhausted that night that he had fallen asleep without realizing it. She had simply been thinking too suspiciously.
The emperor had so many affairs of state to deal with. It was impossible for him to come to her place often.
Counting from the day he had entered the palace on the twentieth of the eighth month to the day he had come to Tanyue Residence, more than ten days had passed. Given the emperor’s patience, she reckoned it would take about that long before he became unbearably tired again.
Cui Lanyin relaxed.
On the fourth day, when she returned to Tanyue Residence from the front palace, she did not dress as carefully as she had the previous two days. After bathing, she changed into a familiar, slightly worn lotus-colored short jacket with narrow sleeves and loose trousers in blue. She loosely tied up her hair, picked up a book of strange tales, and reclined against the luohan couch to read.
When she heard the door open and raised her head, the emperor had already stepped inside. He reached out, took the book from her, and glanced at it.
“Not afraid anymore?”
“Uncle, you… you…” Cui Lanyin tried to climb down from the couch to find an outer robe.
She had only shifted to the edge when the emperor sat down beside her and leaned against her shoulder, his tone listless. “I haven’t slept for two days again. Do I look several years older?”
Seeing the same irritable exhaustion on his face as that day, Cui Lanyin knew he had come only because he was utterly worn out. How could she bring herself to send him away?
“Going without sleep like this all the time isn’t a solution.”
“I can only do this during the mourning period. Once it’s over, I’ll move somewhere else.” The emperor turned his face and inhaled the fragrance in her hair. “The scent on your head helps calm me, too.”
Aiye and the others were still there. Cui Lanyin shrank away uneasily.
The emperor simply waved his hand. “All of you, leave.”
Aiye and Sangzhi had already thought it through over the past two days. Who could stop the emperor from doing what he wanted? All they could hope for was that this year would pass quickly.
The two of them pulled Yushan outside and told Bu Yu to wait in the corridor.
Inside the room, the emperor swept his eyes over the couch and the small table. “You finished the sachets. Why didn’t you have someone send one to me?”
“What sachet?” Cui Lanyin realized what he meant. “Those were for the empress dowager and the others.”
“The others?” The emperor’s memory never missed even the slightest clue. He immediately connected the pieces. “The ones Uncle Qian and the others are wearing were made by you, too?”
His tone was mild, so Cui Lanyin did not think much of it. “Other than the ones I made for the Dragon Boat Festival, the rest were sewn by Aiye, the other palace maids who know needlework, and the others. I only put two or three stitches on top to show that they were from me. It doesn’t really count as my making them.”
“You made them for the Dragon Boat Festival. Why didn’t I get one?”
“Doesn’t Uncle never wear sachets?” Cui Lanyin still had not noticed anything amiss.
“If you make one, I’ll wear it.”
The thought of the emperor receiving court officials while wearing a clumsily made sachet by her filled Cui Lanyin with embarrassment.
“Better not. The one I made really isn’t suitable for wearing outside. Uncle Qian and the others all replaced theirs with ones where I only stitched a few lines. Should I make one like that for you?”
The emperor merely looked at her.
“I’ll make one for you.”
“One will do.” His demands were remarkably modest.
Cui Lanyin felt a little guilty instead. “I’ll make you two.”
“Use the simplest method. Two will be enough to last the year.”
He even found changing into house shoes troublesome. After wearing a sachet for two days, the novelty would surely wear off. Cui Lanyin thought two were already more than necessary, but she agreed casually. “All right.”
Since she had failed to give him one during the Dragon Boat Festival and he looked so exhausted, Cui Lanyin could not bring herself to tell him to leave when he lay down again.
Having learned from the previous time, she knew Qinglin would wake the emperor when it was time for him to go. She stayed with him until the beginning of the double hour of the Pig, then went into the inner room. After tossing and turning anxiously for a while, she fell asleep.
In a daze, she heard the faint sounds of movement. Cui Lanyin woke to find that someone outside was calling the emperor up to leave.
She had no intention of getting up. Just as she was about to turn over and go back to sleep, she heard footsteps approaching the inner room.
The emperor walked in without the slightest attempt at concealment.
Their eyes met. The emperor remained perfectly natural as he came over and sat down at the edge of the bed. Cui Lanyin had no choice but to sit up, clutching the quilt around herself.
“Did you sleep well, Uncle?”
“I still want to sleep.” The emperor could barely keep his eyes open. “Give me a little reward, and I’ll leave.”
“What benefit? I never agreed to anything.” Cui Lanyin was about to pull the quilt over her head.
The Emperor’s hand shot out and caught hers. A trace of distress crossed his face. “I’m not lying to you. Without something to look forward to, I really can’t keep working.”
Seeing that she was still unmoved, the Emperor gave up waiting for her agreement and pointed to his own cheek. “Just stamp it here.”
Seeing that he clearly intended to drag things out if she refused, Cui Lanyin suppressed her embarrassment and quickly leaned over to plant a light kiss on his cheek.
“Like a dragonfly skimming the water,” the Emperor muttered, but he did not pester her. He smoothed back the hair that had fallen loose around her face, then turned and left the inner chamber. A short while later, she heard the outer door close, and then everything fell silent.
After that, the Emperor sometimes came several nights in a row, and sometimes stayed away for a day. Every day before leaving, he would enter the inner chamber to ask for his “reward,” but he was content as long as she perfunctorily pressed a kiss to his cheek.
If she pretended to be asleep and refused to get up, he would come over and plant a few kisses on her forehead and face. He never made any other intimate advances.
This was far better than Cui Lanyin had imagined. Gradually, she let down her guard and grew used to the Emperor coming to her rooms to catch up on sleep.
On the evening of the twelfth day, the Emperor came over. When he was ready to sleep, he said to her, “Go out of the palace tomorrow and stay away for two days. Come back after he has left.”
Cui Lanyin calculated the dates. On the fourteenth, Emperor Xuanning’s coffin would depart for the imperial mausoleum in Yancheng.
A canal ran directly from Yingcheng to Yancheng, so Emperor Xuanning’s coffin would be transported by water. The Emperor and all the officials would see it off at the dock at East Water Pass.
Beginning on the thirteenth and continuing through the morning of the fourteenth, members of the imperial clan, civil and military officials, and their wives would all come to the palace for the final rites. There would not be a moment of peace in the palace.
Most importantly, when they saw the coffin out of the palace on the morning of the fourteenth, the sounds of mourning, ritual music, bells, and drums would likely be enough to shake the heavens and earth.
Cui Lanyin immediately understood that the Emperor was worried the commotion would frighten her.
“I’m not afraid. I went through it when my grandmother passed away.”
The Emperor stroked her head. “It’s enough for me to see him off. I don’t want to put you through it as well.”
“I won’t be going to the front anyway. How could that count as seeing him off?”
“Even so, I don’t want you to.” The Emperor remained firm. “I still regret frightening you that night.”
This time, Cui Lanyin did not argue. Although she had been far away and had not seen things clearly on the night Emperor Xuanning died, she had still been terrified.
When Lady Tan passed away, she had not been afraid at all. Before the coffin was sealed, she had even sat beside Lady Tan and kept her company.
But when it came to Emperor Xuanning, she had been utterly frightened. On her way back to Funing Palace, she had not dared look back even once. For several nights afterward, she had been afraid to sleep alone and had called Aiye or Sangzhi to stay with her.
She had never expected that, amid the chaos of that night, the Emperor had noticed her fear—and that he was still thinking of letting her avoid it.
The realization warmed her like a cup of fine tea, leaving a faint sweetness in its wake. Without thinking, she leaned into his arms. “Then I’ll leave tomorrow.”
Remembering how much he liked the food Cui Sheng cooked, she added, “Can I take food into the palace? My father learned to make steamed buns filled with tofu skin after the ones at Tianfu Temple. His are even better than the temple’s. My uncle hasn’t tried them yet.”
“Bring plenty.”
“Mm. I’ll bring some for the Empress Dowager as well.”
The Emperor noticed a finished sachet in the sewing basket. It was made of plain black silk and embroidered with chestnut-brown ruyi patterns. He picked it up and asked, “Is this mine?”
Cui Lanyin still tried to persuade him. “Could you just keep it in your sleeve pocket instead of wearing it outside?”
The Emperor turned to face her. “Tie it on me.”
Cui Lanyin had no choice but to tie it around his waist. After thinking it over, she decided that no one would dare ask the Emperor who had made his sachet, so she let him have his way.
Early the next morning, Cui Lanyin told Empress Dowager Chen. Qi An prepared a carriage for her, and she left the palace with Chiyun, Chiyue, Aiye, Sangzhi, and Buyu—a party of six in all.
Because everyone had thought that once she entered the palace she would have no chance to return, the entire household of the Cui family’s first branch had been listless these past two days.
When they heard that she was back, they were both surprised and delighted. Everyone who was at home came out to greet her—even Cui Su was there.
Cui Lanyin had assumed that Cui Sheng, Cui Mian, Lady Chang, and Cui Fang had all gone to the palace to mourn. When she asked, she learned that after she entered the palace, Cui Sheng had become so busy that he rarely came home.
It turned out that getting Emperor Xuanning’s coffin onto the ship was no simple task. The coffin consisted of seven layers, and it could not be lifted aboard by manpower alone. They had to build a hoisting device capable of raising it without the slightest wobble or instability.
Everyone in the Ministry of Works who had any expertise in this area had been summoned. The Vice Minister of Works thought Cui Sheng knew a little about everything, so he called him in as well.
Unexpectedly, none of the others proved capable. In the end, Cui Sheng personally led the artisans and built the device.
After the Minister of Works inspected it several times and found no problems, he entrusted Cui Sheng with reviewing the other arrangements as well.
Seeing that Cui Sheng looked more like a frail scholar than a craftsman and fearing that he would wear himself out before the appointed day, the Minister of Works personally gave him permission to return home at night. He only had to report to the East Water Pass dock in the morning to take charge.
“Seeing Father receive such favor, Uncle is getting restless,” Cui Su told Cui Lanyin.
Cui Jian pointed at Cui Su. “That’s not all. My Third Uncle is the same. The eldest uncle and aunt have come to ask several times what official post he’ll receive and whether it’s truly confirmed.”
Cui Lanyin turned to Cui Su. “Did your uncle give you any word?”
Cui Su nodded, then shook his head. “I don’t know if it counts as a definite promise. The Emperor summoned me two days ago and asked whether the Imperial Guards or the Embroidered Uniform Guard would be better. Then he mentioned the post of Commander’s Assistant. It was only three sentences—fourteen characters in total—but Uncle Qian says I’ve been given an enormous honor.”
He had only told Cui Lanyin because she was the one asking. He had returned home the night before, yet had not mentioned it to anyone else until now.
As soon as he finished speaking, even the usually steady Hong Ji was shocked. “Good heavens, Su—this makes you a fifth-rank official already. Even your father-in-law doesn’t outrank you.”
Lady Jiang pressed a hand to her chest. “Heavens above! We’ll have to burn incense for your grandfather and grandmother and tell them about this achievement. If they know of it from the afterlife, they will surely be comforted.”
Cui Jian looked at his elder brother with a face full of admiration. “Third Brother, I knew you could do it.”
Cui Su chuckled. “I’ve already set an example for you. Just wait and see next year.”
Hong Ji then said, “Jian, work harder. If you place first in the county examination next year, and His Majesty grants an additional provincial examination, you’ll be able to take the provincial exam directly in the eighth month.”
Cui Jian nodded firmly. “That’s what I’m thinking too.”
They said it all in earnest, but no one truly took it seriously. Yingcheng was full of talented scholars. Even Tan Shao had failed to place first in the county examination, while Cui Jian had spent most of his time practicing archery and horsemanship, only applying himself to his studies for half a year. How could he possibly do it?
The wedding is coming soon—just wait for it! [Kiss] [Shy]
