The Crown Prince was obviously very satisfied with the new trick by the rockery at the secluded pool. That night, after Yao Huang finished her bath and returned to the inner chamber, she found the Crown Prince sitting by the window reading a book. She assumed he just really liked the book, not thinking of anything else at all.
"How long is Your Highness going to read?" Yao Huang asked casually.
Zhao Sui glanced at her, placed the book on the table, and said, "Push me over."
Meaning, it was time to sleep now.
Yao Huang still didn't think too much of it, only glancing in wonder at the three-wheeled red sandalwood wheelchair the Crown Prince was sitting in. Ever since he got the self-propelled wheelchair with large golden wheels, he hadn't asked Yao Huang to help push him while in the inner chamber for a very long time.
Wonder aside, Yao Huang smiled, walked over, and skillfully pushed the Crown Prince toward the canopy bed.
Between the outer corridor of the canopy bed and the bed itself was a spacious floor area, and to the left of this floor area was Yao Huang's dressing table.
The wheelchair entered the floor area. A couple more rolls and it would reach the bed board inside. However, the Crown Prince suddenly pressed down on the thin wheels on both sides and, with his back to the Crown Princess, said, "Go put out the lights."
Yao Huang felt that the Crown Prince was acting a bit strange tonight.
But she still went to put out the lights. After walking a full circle, the room plunged into darkness. When Yao Huang returned to the canopy bed, she found the Crown Prince and his wheelchair blocking the middle of the floor area sideways. If Yao Huang wanted to get to the bed, she would either have to detour in front of him or squeeze past behind the wheelchair.
Yao Huang didn't go anywhere. She asked in confusion, "What is Your Highness doing?"
The Crown Prince didn't speak. His left hand grabbed the Crown Princess's wrist, pulling her into his arms to hold her. After the Crown Princess was seated properly, he pushed the wheelchair forward, approaching Yao Huang's dressing table two steps away.
Yao Huang was still confused when the Crown Prince lowered his head and kissed the side of her neck, tracing all the way to her lips.
Yao Huang was quickly kissed into a daze by the Crown Prince. It wasn't until the Crown Prince used his noble and elegant voice to tell her to lock the wheelchair in place first that Yao Huang finally understood what this entire string of strange behavior from the Crown Prince was all about.
She lingered in the Crown Prince's arms without moving, protesting in a low voice, "That tires the legs too much."
In fact, it felt similar to when she knelt on the bed with her back to the Crown Prince. The difference was that she was kneeling back then, whereas by the rockery or the dressing table, she had to stand with bent knees. Even if she could support herself with her hands on the rock wall or the tabletop, she would still be terribly sore afterward.
Zhao Sui first helped the Crown Princess rub her knees, then continued to kiss her.
Yao Huang was too familiar with the Crown Prince's various silences. Like right now, remaining silent while refusing to let her go meant he still wanted her to cooperate.
And Yao Huang always couldn't help but soften her heart toward her crippled husband. Thinking about the many tricks the scholars and burly men in the storybooks could choose from, her disabled husband already had far fewer pleasures because of his legs. It was rare for him to stumble upon a new one by mistake, and it was still fresh. How could Yao Huang bear to refuse?
Yao Huang left the Crown Prince's embrace and went around to the back to secure the wheelchair. However, before she obediently leaned against the dressing table to cooperate with the Crown Prince, Yao Huang first gently bit his ear, reminding him, "Your Highness is getting worse and worse."
Since he already bore the accusation, Zhao Sui acted "badly" twice in a row on his Crown Princess.
Adding it all up, it took more than an hour. Yao Huang was either collapsing in the Crown Prince's arms or confined between the wheelchair and the dressing table, with nowhere to escape even if she wanted to.
Crying and scolding aside, Yao Huang only felt incredibly satisfied.
She liked Prince Hui who could paint beautifully, she liked Prince Hui who was like a noble gentleman during the day, she liked the even more formidable Crown Prince that Prince Hui had become, and she also liked this increasingly wicked Crown Prince.
Who doesn't like novelty? She wished he would be even worse.
.
Zhao Sui was currently burdened with two tasks: one was the research and testing of the heavy gunpowder formula at the armory, and the other was the renovation and repair of the Eastern Palace. The former could not be rushed, and as for the latter, because the auspicious day for the investiture ceremony of the Crown Prince and Crown Princess had been set, and the Eastern Palace was generally well-maintained, the craftsmen had been busy for a month. The most tiring and dirtiest physical work of repairing and converting the courtyards into gardens was basically done. What needed to be done in July was to move in the newly made furniture, porcelain, and other items, transplant the rockeries and lake stones needed in the garden, and conveniently air out the smell of the newly applied paint on the beams, pillars, doors, and windows.
The Crown Prince's family would move into the Eastern Palace before the investiture ceremony. The Imperial Astronomy Bureau had selected a few auspicious dates. After Zhao Sui discussed it with the Crown Princess and his royal father, they settled on the twenty-eighth of July.
Once the moving date was set, when the couple strolled through the gardens again, looking at the familiar scenery they had enjoyed together for three years, reluctance grew in their hearts.
Passing by the bamboo forest, Yao Huang glanced at the bamboo courtyard inside, then blew a breath at the top of the Crown Prince's head. "We're about to move away, and I still haven't been inside Your Highness's golden house here. I wonder if there's a beautiful bamboo demon hidden inside."
Zhao Sui: "..."
Lying in the stroller being pushed backwards by his royal father, Yun'er saw his mother bend over and thought she was teasing him, happily kicking his two little legs.
Seeing this, Yao Huang continued to blow air at the top of the Crown Prince's head, and Yun'er continued to laugh.
The little guy was so cute that Yao Huang instantly forgot the teasing words she had just said.
Zhao Sui remembered, though. While getting a massage in the front yard of Ming'an Hall, he had Qingai pass a message to Eunuch Cao.
.
On the nineteenth of July, Zhao Sui returned to the estate relatively early. After bathing and changing into casual clothes, he played with Yun'er for a while, then invited the Crown Princess to stroll in the garden.
"We're not bringing Yun'er this time."
Hearing this, Yao Huang looked at the Crown Prince sitting in his wheelchair. It was a pity that the Crown Prince's face was as elegant and handsome as usual. Yao Huang couldn't judge from his expression whether he harbored any wicked thoughts. After all, the estate's rear garden was too big, and there were plenty of hidden places. Once the Crown Prince had a bad idea, he could just park the wheelchair anywhere and start.
This was the Crown Prince's formidable aspect. With just one simple sentence, he made his Crown Princess a little nervous, a little shy, and even a little expectant.
With her back to the Crown Prince, Yao Huang called the wet nurse and had her take Yun'er away.
Only the couple was left in the room. Yao Huang glanced at the Crown Prince and asked with a slightly blushing face, "Are we just going like this, or should we bring something?"
If they really did it, being careful wouldn't wrinkle her dress, but one or two handkerchiefs wouldn't be enough. Last time they messed around at the rockery by the lake pavilion, she was only spared a messy appearance because there was a whole pool of water right next to them.
Zhao Sui: "...No need."
Yao Huang: "...I meant food."
Stinky Crown Prince, bad Crown Prince! Why emphasize not bringing Yun'er for a simple garden stroll, making her misunderstand!
When she pushed the Crown Prince out, Yao Huang walked even faster than usual.
Entering the rear garden, Zhao Sui pointed to the east, and Yao Huang pushed him along the eastern stone-paved path.
Ahead was the bamboo forest. Zhao Sui said, "Let's go take a look at the bamboo courtyard."
Yao Huang: "What's there to see? No one has lived there for two years, and the lighting inside is dim. If Your Highness isn't afraid of the bamboo demon you're raising, I am. Maybe it's currently hating me for abducting Your Highness."
Zhao Sui: "...I'm taking you inside to look. I had people clean it up in advance."
Yao Huang: "..."
Neither of the couple spoke; only the wheelchair turned into the small path of the bamboo forest.
The bamboo courtyard was empty. Yao Huang saw that the door was ajar and simply pushed the wheelchair forward. The Crown Prince naturally reached out and pushed the door open.
The setting sun only illuminated half of the window of the western wing; the rest of the small courtyard was bathed in shadows.
It was too quiet. Even with the Crown Prince by her side, Yao Huang still felt a bit apprehensive. As if knowing why she was pushing the wheelchair so slowly, the Crown Prince looked back and promised, "There are no bamboo demons."
Male or female, old or young, fierce or kind—none at all.
The Crown Princess huffed at him, "I'm not afraid of that."
Passing by a stone table in the courtyard, which surprisingly held a small potted bowl lotus, the couple arrived at the door of the main hall to the due north. As usual, the Crown Prince pushed the door open.
Yao Huang looked inside curiously, only to find it completely empty. Apart from the neat and orderly stone-flagged floor, there was nothing else. Wall lamps were mounted on the left and right walls, and the two rows of soft candlelight dispelled the gloom brought by the surrounding bamboo forest.
There was also a door on the north side, and its panels were surprisingly open, allowing a little of the sunset's glow from the backyard to filter in.
Zhao Sui explained, "We don't entertain guests here, so there aren't many furnishings."
He first led the Crown Princess to the bedroom in the eastern room.
The bedroom was very spacious. There was a heated kang on the north side, a washstand by the east wall, a wardrobe standing in the southeast corner, and a flower stand under the south window. The west wall had nothing at all. Except for the fact that the materials of these few simple furnishings were better than those used in the old Yao family residence in Changshou Alley, at first glance, this bedroom looked even more shabby and simple than that of an ordinary minor official's home.
A quilt was laid out on the western end of the heated kang, and a low red sandalwood table was placed on the eastern end.
Zhao Sui said, "I spend most of my time reading in the study, so I don't need too many tables and chairs here."
Yao Huang immediately pushed the Crown Prince to the study in the western room.
The study looked much more normal, but aside from two large bookcases covering the walls, a desk, and a flower stand, it was actually quite empty as well.
The more Yao Huang looked, the stranger she found it. "If it's just like this, why didn't Your Highness invite me in to sit for a while before?"
Her royal husband was never one to be intentionally discourteous.
Zhao Sui was silent for a moment before saying, "I don't like being disturbed. Before I had a wheelchair I could push myself, I installed two rows of connecting handrails across the three rooms. The handrails allowed me to move around here entirely on my own."
Merely talking about it would probably be hard for the Crown Princess to imagine, so Zhao Sui asked her to push him to the backyard, where the handrails were still in place.
Looking at the two rows of hardwood handrails that circled the entire backyard, Yao Huang finally understood what the Crown Prince meant, and she also understood why he had such a thick layer of calluses on his palms.
But, if his legs couldn't move, how did the Crown Prince walk?
There was an entrance to the handrails on both the left and right sides of the back door. Zhao Sui turned his wheelchair to the right entrance, gripped the handrails with both hands, and hoisted himself up.
The handrails were built according to his height. When Zhao Sui propped himself up like this, the position of his hands was similar to the height at which his hands would naturally hang if he were standing normally. Therefore, at this moment, Yao Huang, who was still standing behind the wheelchair, saw the back of the Crown Prince as if he were standing normally.
Yao Huang had seen the Crown Prince's heroic posture on horseback, and she had seen him lying in bed where his leg disability was equally unnoticeable, but this was the first time she had ever seen his tall, straight figure while standing like this.
The Crown Prince's drooping cuffs hid the tense muscles of his arms and wrists; only his ten fingers gripping the handrails and the back of his hands revealed that he was actually standing purely by arm strength.
Yao Huang slowly walked around to the front of the Crown Prince. Looking at him from outside the handrail on one side, she realized she could only see up to his neck.
It turned out the Crown Prince was even taller than her brother.
Yao Huang suddenly didn't dare to look further up. She was afraid of seeing the Crown Prince's face flushed and undignified from exerting too much force with his arms, and she was afraid the Crown Prince wouldn't want her to see him like this.
Zhao Sui was very familiar with his own arm strength. He knew that supporting himself for this short while wouldn't cause him to lose his composure, otherwise he would never have stood up in front of the Crown Princess.
Since the Crown Princess didn't dare to look at him, Zhao Sui silently looked at her, who was a head shorter than him. The girl he usually had to look up to was actually...
"How do you move?" the Crown Princess suddenly asked curiously.
Zhao Sui remained silent.
He had no intention of showing her how he moved, or rather, he didn't want the Crown Princess to see any ungraceful side of him.
The Crown Prince sat back down in his wheelchair.
Only then did Yao Huang look over.
Zhao Sui avoided her gaze.
Yao Huang told him to face her and not move. Then, she ran to the handrails on the other side and, imitating the Crown Prince, pushed down with both hands to hoist herself up between the bars, her feet leaving the ground.
Zhao Sui could hear her movements. Looking straight ahead, he reminded her, "Be careful not to fall."
Yao Huang felt fine just holding herself still, but once she tried to move forward, she dropped to the ground after only a few attempts.
When no further sounds came from behind him for a long while, Zhao Sui slowly turned his wheelchair around, only to see the Crown Princess bending down to duck out from under the handrails. She ran all the way to the base of the north wall in the backyard in one breath. With her back to him and her head tilted up, she called out from a distance, "The bamboo over here is quite beautiful!"
Her voice carried a smile, but it also held a slight tremble.
