In any case, here at the temporary palace, on days ending in five, Yao Huang and the other princesses and secondary consorts were supposed to go pay their respects to Empress Zhou.
After breakfast, Yao Huang left the house with Aji.
It had become a custom for the sisters-in-law to go pay their respects together. The exact time of departure was unwittingly determined by Yao Huang, mainly because Chen Ying was willing to wait for her, and Zheng Yuanzhen didn't want to bicker with Yao Huang over such trivial matters. However, apart from sleeping in the morning after they first arrived at the temporary palace, Yao Huang never delayed on the days she was supposed to pay her respects, and Prince Hui wouldn't mess around on such days either.
As soon as Princess Hui went out, the young eunuchs at Qinghui Hall and Songfeng Hall who were responsible for keeping an eye out immediately went to report to their respective masters.
Yao Huang waited for a short while before Zheng Yuanzhen came out, elegantly dressed in a white short jacket and a green long skirt.
Since her younger brother-in-law had just been scolded and their father-in-law the Emperor might still be angry, Yao Huang also dressed plainly today. She wore a light yellow short jacket and a green skirt that was much lighter than Zheng Yuanzhen's. The combination was fresh and suited the vitality expected of someone her age.
When they met, Zheng Yuanzhen remained noble and dignified, showing no signs of anything unusual.
Yao Huang didn't stare at her either; it was best to just have a tacit understanding of such matters. Staring for too long would be impolite.
After a simple greeting, the two walked forward side by side. As they neared Qinghui Hall, Chen Ying and the two secondary consorts also came out with their three children.
Yao Huang noticed that the two secondary consorts looked normal and smiled naturally, while Chen Ying barely dared to look at Zheng Yuanzhen. It was clear that whatever Prince Hui had told Yao Huang, Prince Kang had also told Chen Ying. The only difference was the moods of the two brothers.
When they arrived at the Western Palace, Consort Xian, Consort Rou, Princess Fucheng, as well as the First and Second Princesses, who lived nearby, had all arrived.
Some things couldn't be said, and some things couldn't be avoided. As the legitimate mother, Empress Zhou asked Zheng Yuanzhen with concern, "How are Prince Qing's injuries?"
Zheng Yuanzhen lowered her eyes and said, "It's nothing serious anymore. You don't need to worry, Imperial Mother."
Empress Zhou then looked at Consort Rou, whose eyes were red, and said, "A mother worries when her son travels a thousand miles, and Prince Qing has returned with injuries. You and the Princess should go see him later. I've already asked the Emperor on your behalf, and he didn't say we aren't allowed to visit Prince Qing."
Consort Rou and Princess Fucheng both expressed their gratitude to Empress Zhou.
Paying respects was simple. To avoid the awkwardness of Chen Ying and Yao Huang walking back to the Eastern Quarters with Consort Rou and the others, Empress Zhou asked Consort Xian and the younger generation to accompany her to enjoy the scenery in the temporary palace.
Anxious to see her son, Consort Rou walked quickly. Princess Fucheng and her daughter fell two steps behind, and she questioned her daughter with her eyes.
Zheng Yuanzhen avoided her mother's gaze.
When she went to pay her respects to Consort Rou and her mother yesterday morning, she didn't say anything in front of Consort Rou. But when she was alone with her mother, Zheng Yuanzhen cried out of grievance. Prince Qing was scolded because of his own incompetence in handling the task; why should he take his anger out on her? Before they got married, every time they met, Prince Qing would eagerly flatter and please her. Now, less than a year into their marriage, Prince Qing was actually giving her attitude?
She felt wronged, but her mother actually said she was too impatient and should have cared about Prince Qing's injuries first, waiting for his pride to recover before asking about the details of the bandit suppression. Her mother also told her to act as if nothing unpleasant had happened yesterday when she went back, and to show care for Prince Qing again.
Zheng Yuanzhen didn't listen and still slept alone in the backyard last night.
Princess Fucheng guessed it as soon as she saw her daughter's stubborn expression, and advised in a low voice, "Since you hope for him to do well, you should respect him as if he already has that status in advance. Otherwise, the Noble Consort is a cautionary tale for you."
When you were just a cousin, you could act spoiled and throw tantrums with your prince cousin or crown prince cousin. But once your cousin becomes the Emperor, revered and feared by ministers all day long, and flattered and fawned over by other consorts and beauties, if the cousin is still unruly and willful at this time, even if the Emperor cousin can indulge her for a while, he won't indulge her for a lifetime.
Zheng Yuanzhen was startled. Noble Consort Du used to be so favored in the early years, but now she wasn't even able to come along to the Northern Garden, right?
Her expression changing several times, Zheng Yuanzhen nodded to her mother.
At Songfeng Hall, Prince Qing had drowned his sorrows in alcohol last night and got dead drunk. He was still lying in bed right now. Anyway, his Imperial Father had told him to reflect on his mistakes behind closed doors. People outside didn't know what he was doing inside, and his close attendants wouldn't be foolish enough to blab outside.
"Your Highness, wake up quickly! Her Ladyship and the Princess have come to see you!"
One attendant went to open the windows to air out the smell of alcohol, while another attendant anxiously called out as he wiped Prince Qing's face with a towel.
Prince Qing wasn't afraid of his own mother, but he still had some awe for his imposing aunt and mother-in-law, the Princess. After all, he still needed the Princess to put in a good word for him in front of his Imperial Father. In such matters, the Princess's words were more effective than his mother's.
Enduring a headache, he sat up and cooperated with the attendants to quickly put on his clothes. He took a gulp of tea, gargled, spat it into a porcelain spittoon held by an attendant, and strode outside, finally meeting the three of them at the door of the main hall.
Consort Rou rushed over first, pulling her son's injured arm and asking about his wounds.
While comforting his mother, Prince Qing looked at Princess Fucheng. His peripheral vision swept over Zheng Yuanzhen standing nearby, feeling a bit worried that Zheng Yuanzhen had complained about him to the Princess.
But the look Princess Fucheng gave him held only the same concern as Consort Rou's: "Are you really all healed? Yuanzhen told us it's nothing serious, but don't let it be that you taught her to say that to coax us."
Prince Qing looked at Zheng Yuanzhen, who turned her face away. Rather than being angry, she looked more like she was harboring resentment for having to help him deal with the elders after being scolded by him.
The four of them moved to the inner room to talk.
Consort Rou personally examined her son's knife wound. Seeing with her own eyes that the wound had indeed scabbed over and left a long white scar, Consort Rou's heart still ached so much that tears kept falling. Princess Fucheng also wiped the corners of her eyes and asked Prince Qing about the danger at that time.
The more dangerous it was, the more it could prove Prince Qing's bravery in counter-killing the bandit leader. Prince Qing was willing to talk about this, and he also emphasized the thorough preparations he had made in arranging cavalry support.
"If there hadn't been a traitor around Feng Gui, my tactics that night would have clearly been flawless."
Consort Rou nodded. "Yes, who could have expected the bandit leader to be so bold as to dare hide beside the Prefect of Tanzhou."
Zheng Yuanzhen exchanged a glance with her mother. Both of them also felt that Prince Qing had lost due to luck. Marching and fighting required knowing oneself and the enemy, but there was also the saying that speed is precious in war. The longer Prince Qing prepared in Tanzhou, the more likely the news would leak and be known by the bandits. By then, even the scheme to lure the snake out of its hole would fail. Once the mountain bandits hid deep in a place surrounded by mountains and water, the six thousand troops sent to catch them would have to scatter. If it dragged on for too long, he would still be charged with incompetence.
Princess Fucheng voiced her guess: "It must be Consort Xian who blew pillow talk into the Emperor's ear, making an issue out of the lives of the over nine hundred bandit soldiers. That woman is the best at feigning righteousness."
Prince Qing's face darkened.
Consort Rou said, "Your maternal grandfather said that since things have come to this, you should sincerely repent. What the Emperor wants is your attitude of knowing your mistakes and being able to correct them, not sophistry."
Princess Fucheng added, "That's right. If Consort Xian picks on you for having too many casualties, just write about how much you pity the wrongful deaths of those prefectural troops, and write about your sorrow upon seeing the corpses of the prefectural troops strewn everywhere after killing the bandit leader."
Prince Qing's literary talent was quite good, and upon hearing this, he immediately gained confidence.
After the two elders left, Prince Qing grabbed Zheng Yuanzhen's wrist and led her back to the inner chamber. Embracing her, he said, "I was wrong the day before yesterday. I took the anger of my imperial father wronging me out on you. Cousin, you can punish me however you like, just don't be angry anymore, alright?"
Since he apologized first, Zheng Yuanzhen felt much better. "Alright, it's also my fault for being too anxious. I was only thinking about how to help you break out of this situation, and I even forgot to care about your injuries."
Prince Qing's knife wound had long stopped hurting. With Zheng Yuanzhen speaking so softly and gently, it actually stirred up the desire he had been suppressing all along. He picked her up and went to the bed.
.
Yao Huang had been thinking about it all day. By dusk, when Prince Hui returned, there was still no sign of her monthly courses.
Prince Hui looked at her calmly, but Yao Huang could not stay calm. For some inexplicable reason, she subconsciously lowered her head.
In Zhao Sui's eyes, his princess consort had slightly red cheeks, and the corners of her lips were slightly raised, looking as if she wanted to smile but didn't know if she should.
Prince Hui, who was exceptionally good at reading people's expressions, actually could not see through what his princess consort was thinking at this moment.
Zhao Sui also didn't feel it was right to ask. He was afraid the princess consort would think he was too eager to hear the good news, or that she was laughing at him for bringing it upon himself because her monthly courses had arrived and he had missed the opportunity last night.
The husband and wife each had their own thoughts and both avoided the topic of her monthly courses. It wasn't until night fell and the two lay on the bed again that the silence broke.
At this time, Yao Huang leaned into Prince Hui's embrace and whispered, "It's strange. My monthly courses actually haven't come today, and my waist isn't sore, nor is my chest swollen or anything."
Prince Hui, who clearly hadn't been thinking about that, suddenly felt tight and hot from a single sentence from his princess consort: "..."
Exhaling slowly, Zhao Sui said, "Let's wait and see. If it still hasn't come by the end of the month, then you are probably pregnant. At that time, we will invite an imperial physician over to check your pulse."
Yao Huang was so surprised that she propped herself up halfway, resting her chin in her hand, and asked, "Did Your Highness really think about pregnancy? How do you know more about this than I do?"
Zhao Sui had the princess consort lie down properly first before saying, "I read about it in medical books when I was young. It said that if a woman is pregnant, a slippery pulse can be detected about a month after her last monthly courses end. If we wait another ten days or so, the pulse will be more accurate."
If they were at the Prince's Manor, they could immediately have the two doctors in the manor come over to check the princess consort's pulse. But this was the traveling palace; his imperial father had brought over half of the Imperial Hospital on this trip, so it was inappropriate for the accompanying princes and ministers to bring their own doctors.
If the couple called for an imperial physician now, the news would definitely reach the ears of his imperial father and mother. Zhao Sui didn't want his parents inquiring about it before the couple even had a definite answer.
Yao Huang understood. She slipped her fingers between Prince Hui's fingers: "If I really am pregnant, will Your Highness be happy?"
Zhao Sui held his princess consort's hand in return and remained silent for a moment before saying, "I will be happy, but I am just afraid it will be hard on you."
When Noble Consort Du was pregnant, his imperial father would accompany her to the Imperial Garden to relax. If his princess consort was pregnant and wanted to go out to relax, she would still have to push him in his wheelchair.
Yao Huang couldn't see Prince Hui's face clearly, but Prince Hui's grip on her hand suddenly tightened, and the next moment, he relaxed his strength.
Yao Huang couldn't figure out what Prince Hui was thinking in those short moments. She just rested her head on his shoulder and smiled, "Having a child is like farming, right? There will definitely be hard times. But Your Highness is so handsome, and I am so beautiful, so our child's appearance will definitely not be bad. I even like the First Prince's nephews and nieces, so I will like my own child even more. A few months of hardship is worth it."
You reap what you sow. What Prince Hui sowed in her was an imperial grandson or granddaughter.
Not to mention how much she and Prince Hui would cherish their own flesh and blood, just speaking of the benefits this child would bring her: with an imperial grandchild, that old dragon Emperor Yongchang wouldn't entertain the thought of replacing his second son's princess consort just because of trivial matters like her eating, drinking, and playing around.
.
On the twenty-third of June, Emperor Yongchang received the first memorial of repentance sent by Prince Qing after he had been confined behind closed doors for ten days.
The memorial did not mention a single word about his refusal to listen to advice or his stealing of others' credit. Instead, it was a lengthy and eloquent essay expressing regret for his greed for merit and rash advancement, and profound grief for the nearly a thousand manor soldiers who fell on the banks of the Xiang River. He still strictly concealed the deaths of the twenty-two personal guards who sacrificed themselves to protect him, as if his imperial father wouldn't know if he didn't say anything. Or perhaps Prince Qing simply didn't count the loss of his personal guards as part of the imperial court's losses in the bandit suppression, and therefore felt there was no need to report it.
Emperor Yongchang laughed as he read it, and with his red brush, he wrote a single word on it: "Hmm."
After dinner, several guards and palace servants came over to report some novelties of the day that might be worth the Emperor's attention.
"Reporting to Your Majesty, after his shift ended, the Prince returned directly to Yunshan Hall. After dinner, he and the Princess Consort strolled through the gardens of the traveling palace for half an hour."
Emperor Yongchang raised an eyebrow in surprise. Why hadn't his second daughter-in-law taken his second son out to play recently? Could it be that she was still intimidated by the fit of anger he had thrown at his third son?
At dusk the next day, Emperor Yongchang hosted a banquet on the grass by the North Lake, featuring a whole roasted sheep over a bonfire!
When the roasted leg of lamb, golden brown and dripping with oil, was brought over, it was still sizzling. Yao Huang watched eagerly as the palace servants tore the meat for her, placed it on a plate, and handed it to her. If she were in front of her own family in Changshou Alley, Yao Huang would have definitely just grabbed it with her hands.
Emperor Yongchang sat on the other side and cast a casual glance over. Seeing his second daughter-in-law eating with such relish, he felt relieved.
However, over the next few days, although the second daughter-in-law would still take the princesses to tour the lake and play Chuiwan, laughing and joking as usual, she did not accompany the second son to ride horses anymore. They just wandered around inside the traveling palace.
Emperor Yongchang pondered secretly: Could it be that his second daughter-in-law, just like his eldest son back in the day, found his second son's personality too dull and was unwilling to take him out to play anymore?
Emperor Yongchang could understand his daughter-in-law, but his heart ached more for his second son. Out of this heartache, Emperor Yongchang made the decision to call his eldest and second sons to accompany him horseback riding on their rest day. Since the second son was willing to ride horses with his wife, he surely wouldn't be unwilling to accompany his imperial father, right?
"We shall depart early tomorrow morning at the hour of Chen. How does that sound?"
Prince Kang respectfully agreed. Prince Hui exchanged a glance with his imperial father and also agreed.
Emperor Yongchang noticed that his second son seemed a little reluctant, and he immediately felt uneasy again. Perhaps his second son just found it troublesome?
At dawn the next day, Emperor Yongchang was awakened by a loud clap of thunder. Not long after, raindrops began to patter heavily against the window.
Emperor Yongchang: "..."
Naturally, they couldn't ride horses on a rainy day. Emperor Yongchang sent someone early to pass a message to his two sons, telling them to rest on their own.
The young eunuch who went to deliver the message to Prince Hui happened to run into an imperial physician rushing over with an umbrella. So, he followed the imperial physician inside, and then followed him back out. The imperial physician, who had received a silver reward, changed to a leisurely stroll, but the young eunuch broke into a run, happily rushing back to Emperor Yongchang: "Your Majesty, Princess Consort Hui is expecting!"
Emperor Yongchang: "..."
