With all the kissing and hugging, Zhao Sui was feeling quite tormented by the princess in his arms.
Yao Huang was also suffering. Her self-control was not as strong as Prince Hui's, but she was too shy to say it out loud. Resting her forehead against the prince's shoulder, she quietly shifted, hoping to push him to the edge so he would make the first move.
To Zhao Sui, it felt as if his princess had handed him a fistful of fireworks. Both husband and wife wanted to see the fireworks burst into brilliant flames, but while his young princess could afford to be impulsive and willful, he could not indulge her.
If there was even the slightest chance of harming her or the baby, Zhao Sui absolutely would not do it.
"Alright, stop fussing," Zhao Sui said. Holding the princess with one arm, he reached over with his other hand to support her, stopping her from continuing to wreak havoc on his body.
Although she spoke boldly, the princess considered herself quite thin-skinned. Flustered and embarrassed, she lifted her head and bit down on Prince Hui's earlobe.
Zhao Sui actually hoped she would bite harder, preferably enough that the pain would make him forget the little teasing movements she had just used to deliberately torture him.
After biting him, Yao Huang dropped a fierce threat by the prince's ear, "If you have the guts, don't touch me even after I've given birth, Your Highness."
With a hmph, Yao Huang pushed away the arm Prince Hui had wrapped around her. Blushing, she got off the couch and went into the inner chamber alone.
Only when the curtain of the inner chamber fell did Zhao Sui look down at his right hand. His palm felt slightly cool; that was...
A quarter of an hour later, Prince Hui tied up his completely dried hair, sat in his three-wheeled wheelchair, and pushed himself out of the room.
The senior maids waiting outside hesitated upon seeing this. However, watching the prince's hands skillfully maneuvering the thin wooden wheels, they simply did not have the courage to suggest going to the front to call Qingai or Eunuch Feiquan to come and take over.
Zhao Sui arrived at the front courtyard on his own, ignoring the surprise in Qingai and Feiquan's eyes, and went straight into the inner room.
He had set up two rows of handrails in the front courtyard's inner room.
Filled with pent-up fire, Prince Hui hoisted himself onto the handrails. He persisted until sweat rained down and his arms had absolutely no strength left, before finally making his way along the rails to the bed inside and collapsing onto his back.
Even though he was so exhausted, as his princess's flushed cheeks and her hesitant, inviting gaze surfaced in his mind, that ball of fire unexpectedly flared up again.
After nightfall, despite the fact that his princess had ignored him for most of the day, Prince Hui still embraced her from behind.
Yao Huang pretended not to understand. She deliberately parted her previously closed legs and thrust her right knee forward.
Zhao Sui was speechless.
After a moment of silence, he pulled his princess's right leg back.
Just as Yao Huang was about to struggle against his grip, Prince Hui whispered in her ear, "Stop fussing."
Yao Huang replied, "Your Highness only cares about yourself."
Prince Hui closed his eyes and said, "Wait until after you give birth, and I will care for you all night long."
Yao Huang was speechless.
After resting at home for a day, Prince Hui went to the palace to work on the first day of the tenth lunar month.
Yao Huang slept in. Not long after she woke up and had breakfast, her mother, who had received her message the day before, eagerly rushed over in the mule cart they had purchased just last year. Because Prince Hui had gifted Yao Lin a fine steed, the mule Yao Lin used to ride was perfectly repurposed to pull the cart.
Luo Jinhua had given birth to two children herself, and both pregnancies had gone smoothly without hindering her daily life much, so she didn't have too many worries about her daughter's pregnancy. Upon getting out of the carriage and seeing that her daughter's complexion was just as good as before, and that she was accompanied by Nanny Jin, whom Empress Zhou had arranged, Luo Jinhua was purely overjoyed.
Mother and daughter went inside to talk first.
Upon learning that her royal son-in-law had no intention of taking in concubines, and that the Emperor and Empress in the palace had never interfered in the young couple's private affairs, Luo Jinhua sighed emotionally, "My Yaoyao is truly blessed."
Yao Huang replied, "I earned that myself. It's because I'm likable that the Prince, the Emperor, and the Empress are all good to me."
As for Noble Consort Du, who was not good to her, that was Noble Consort Du's problem.
Luo Jinhua couldn't stop smiling. "Yes, yes, yes, you are the most amazing. Not only did you earn a lifetime of blessings for yourself, but you also earned a share for your silly brother, allowing him to actually marry a noble lady from a Duke's estate."
Yao Huang did not dare steal the credit from her brother. "That was the blessing my brother earned himself. If he hadn't gone to fight for the red fox, the Emperor wouldn't have granted him a marriage."
Luo Jinhua took out the imperial marriage edict she had tucked in her bosom, still feeling as if she were dreaming, and asked her daughter to explain the whole story to her.
Yao Huang didn't mention Emperor Yongchang's underlying warning to Prince Kang and the two young masters of the Duke of Zhenguo's estate disguised as praise for her brother. She only speculated that the Emperor hoped Prince Kang and Prince Hui would become closer through marriage, which was enough to let her mother prepare for her brother and sister-in-law's wedding with peace of mind.
Luo Jinhua felt a deep sense of reassurance from her daughter. She couldn't meet the noble figures in the palace, but her daughter was a clever one. If her daughter said everything was fine, then everything was truly fine!
Yao Huang asked, "Brother said he would invite the second young master of the Li family to a banquet when he returned to the capital. Did he?"
Luo Jinhua answered, "He did. Not only the second young master, but the heir apparent went as well. They ordered a table of good food, which terrified your brother so much that he couldn't even drink in peace. He quietly negotiated with the waiter to owe the bill and send the silver over the next day. As a result, the waiter told him that the heir apparent had paid the silver as soon as he arrived. Your brother was so moved that he drank with the two young masters until the first watch of the night, and they even had to bring him home. It was truly embarrassing. Fortunately, both young masters are quite amiable and didn't seem to look down on our family."
Yao Huang was speechless.
After chatting about this, Luo Jinhua began to praise Emperor Yongchang again. Because it was a marriage bestowed by Emperor Yongchang, the Ministry of Rites sent officials to handle matters like matching the couples' birthdates and exchanging betrothal documents. The Yao family and the Duke of Zhenguo's estate only needed to cooperate. Of course, the future wedding banquets hosted by each family would be organized by themselves; the Ministry of Rites would only oversee the wedding ceremony.
Yao Huang asked, "The betrothal gifts..."
After all, the bride was a noble lady from the Duke of Zhenguo's estate. The Yao family's betrothal gifts couldn't be too shabby, right?
Luo Jinhua said, "You don't need to worry about this. Our family has over six hundred taels of silver. I've already thought it through. I'm preparing two hundred taels for the bride price and three hundred taels for the betrothal gifts. The remaining hundred or so taels, plus your father and brother's upcoming salaries, will be kept to host the banquet. If there's any leftover, we'll save it. After the wedding, we'll rent out the house in Changshou Alley. Your father and brother will continue to earn their salaries. Although we can't guarantee your sister-in-law a life of ultimate luxury, she'll still be able to afford meat and fish."
Yao Huang asked in surprise, "Over six hundred taels?"
Luo Jinhua sighed, "When you visited home in the first lunar month, the Prince was afraid we would overspend, so he gave us two hundred taels. From the one thousand taels the Emperor rewarded for your wedding banquet, there was nearly two hundred taels left over. Your brother hunted the red fox and brought home seventy taels. Add that to our previous savings and the salaries your father and brother have been collecting..."
Benefiting from her daughter and son-in-law, Luo Jinhua had thought she could live the life of a wealthy lady for the rest of her days. She hadn't expected a high-born daughter-in-law to fall from the sky, requiring her to empty all their current savings for the betrothal gifts and wedding banquet.
She couldn't let her daughter-in-law suffer any grievances, so Luo Jinhua would give whatever she could, but she didn't plan to pretend to be richer than she was, nor would she ask her daughter to fork over more silver to subsidize the family.
As for her daughter-in-law's dowry, she could spend it however she wished; neither Luo Jinhua nor her husband would covet it.
The wedding date for Yao Lin and Li Fuwei was ultimately set for May of the following year.
However, on the eighth day of the tenth lunar month, Yao Huang and Prince Hui attended a wedding banquet: the banquet for Prince Qing's estate welcoming a secondary consort.
It was originally scheduled for September, but because Prince Qing was in the Northern Park at the time, it was postponed to an auspicious day in October.
A prince's secondary consort held a much higher status than an ordinary concubine. The Ministry of Rites managed the wedding ceremony. However, a concubine was still a concubine. With two secondary consorts entering the household at the same time, there was no custom of female guests going to the bridal chamber to witness the ceremony.
Before attending the banquet, Yao Huang curiously asked Prince Hui, Since they are entering the household at the same time, whose side will the groom be on tonight?
Zhao Sui: ...I don't know.
Yao Huang: When the First Prince welcomed his secondary consort, didn't Your Highness go to drink at the wedding banquet?
Zhao Sui: I did, but I have never been curious about such things.
Hearing this, Yao Huang softly snorted, Right, Your Highness is a proper gentleman. I am the only one who spends all day having improper thoughts.
Prince Hui could only hold his princess's hand to show that he didn't mind her occasional impropriety.
Upon arriving at Prince Qing's estate, the couple parted ways.
Yao Huang and Chen Ying both sat at the same table as Zheng Yuanzhen, the mistress of Prince Qing's estate.
Yao Huang had thought Zheng Yuanzhen's mood would be ruined by Prince Qing taking in secondary consorts. Unexpectedly, after not seeing her for many days, Zheng Yuanzhen's face was actually a bit plumper than when they were at the North Garden. Her complexion was also quite good, and it wasn't just the result of rouge and powder.
In a flash, Yao Huang thought of Grand Princess Fucheng, as well as Empress Zhou and Noble Consort Du in the palace. These people were born into wealth and nobility, and the men they married were all men of high status. Noble women were accustomed to men having three wives and four concubines from a young age, so was it easier for them to accept when it was their own husband's turn to take a concubine?
If it were the ordinary commoners in Changshou Alley, who were more accustomed to monogamy because of their ordinary family backgrounds, which man would dare to fool around outside? If they did, they would be met with complaints or a severe scolding upon returning home. If it were someone like her own mother, if her father dared to mess around, her mother would grab a stick and beat him up, and then pack her things and return to her maiden home.
After the banquet, when Yao Huang went out to meet up with Prince Hui, she saw the groom, Prince Qing, wearing a bright red wedding robe in the main hall.
Prince Qing was still being forced to drink and was heavily intoxicated, while Prince Hui had no intention of continuing to drink with them and had left early.
After bidding farewell to Chen Ying, Yao Huang accompanied Prince Hui onto the carriage.
Because Prince Hui didn't want her to bend over again, he had Qingai secure the wheelchair before getting out of the carriage.
Are you envious? Yao Huang sat on Prince Hui's lap, hooking her arms around his neck and asking.
Zhao Sui shook his head.
The princess pouted. If you aren't envious, how do you know what I'm asking about?
Zhao Sui: ...We just came out of there. You could only mean that one thing.
The princess blinked. Which thing?
Zhao Sui lowered his eyes. Secondary consorts.
Yao Huang leaned in closer so that Prince Hui, with his lowered eyelashes, could also see her face. She smiled and said, I didn't ask about the secondary consorts. I was asking if Your Highness is envious that the Third Prince gets to be a groom tonight.
Zhao Sui: ...
He pressed his mischievous princess into his embrace, forcing her to be unable to look at him anymore.
The princess, however, squeezed her way up little by little. First, she bit his earlobe, and then she spoke into the hollow of his ear: I don't care if Your Highness is envious or not. I only know that if Your Highness ever becomes like the Third Prince one day, I will never be good to Your Highness again.
Prince Hui then also bit the princess's earlobe. I won't change.
While his two younger brothers were either fooling around in the arms of newly wedded secondary consorts or being tormented by a pregnant princess, Prince Kang, far away in Qingxia County of Liangzhou, had just finished a day of continuous travel and was sitting alone in a guest room of the county office, soaking his feet.
Qingxia County was two thousand miles away from the capital. In order not to delay the inspection and water-testing of the canals, Prince Kang led his guards on horseback, riding fast and traveling nearly two hundred miles a day. They finally arrived yesterday, and then early this morning, Prince Kang had Di Xian take him to inspect the canals.
This was only the first day. The inspections would continue for the next two days.
But seeing with his own eyes the thick and sturdy canals, the vast fields on both sides that were still barren but waiting to be irrigated by diverted water next spring, and the emaciated local commoners who were full of expectations for the coming year, Prince Kang truly felt the lofty aspirations and heroism that Di Xian had displayed when he spoke impassionedly before his imperial father in March. He also understood his imperial father's heart that loved the people when he decisively agreed to allocate funds to build the canals.
Therefore, he would definitely do a good job with this final step of the inspection.
