Qingai and Feiquan went to pack up their things, and Yao Huang pushed the Prince of Hui back to Ming'an Hall.
Yao Huang's dress had been splashed with lake water and had brushed against the escaping fish. A faint fishy smell could be detected. She decided to take her daily bath before dinner.
Zhao Sui asked her to push the wheelchair to the daybed by the window in the inner chamber.
The daybed was the same height as the canopy bed. It was covered with a woven reed cooling mat, and in the middle sat a small red sandalwood table that came as a set with the daybed. A book lay face down on it.
Yao Huang had been too focused on pushing the wheelchair. Seeing the Prince of Hui looking at the small table, she finally reacted, snatching up the book and hiding it behind her back in embarrassment.
"What book is that?" Zhao Sui asked.
Yao Huang stood opposite him with her hands behind her back and answered honestly, "A storybook bought from a bookstore, the kind not fit for refined tastes. Will Your Highness be resting here? Then I'll go to the west room to bathe first. Shall I have the maids serve you tea in a moment?"
"I'm not thirsty. Give me the book," Zhao Sui replied.
Yao Huang blushed. "It's for commoners. Your Highness shouldn't read it. I'll go to the study and get you a classic text instead."
Zhao Sui said no more, only holding out his hand to her.
He was a prince after all, with an imposing aura. Yao Huang hadn't yet figured out her husband's temper and feared he might actually get angry if she disobeyed. She had no choice but to obediently hand the book over, muttering awkwardly, "I just picked a new storybook at random. Who would have thought it contained some indecent things? I always skip over those parts when I encounter them. Please don't misunderstand, Your Highness."
The storybooks in the bookstore were divided into several categories. Some were suitable for all ages, while others were placed in a specific section. The bookstore didn't put up a sign to explicitly warn customers, but whenever an unmarried girl walked over, the shop assistants would drop a hint. Over time, among the female customers, only slightly older married women would go there to choose books.
Yao Huang abided by the bookstore's rules, but she had secretly flipped through the storybooks her mother brought home. She knew that they contained rather detailed descriptions of intimacy between men and women. At that time, Yao Huang wasn't interested in such things; once her curiosity was satisfied, she stopped reading them.
Now, she went out wearing the hairstyle of a newlywed, and having tasted the pleasures of married life, she had confidently picked out a few of those books that day.
Zhao Sui commented indifferently, "Storybooks originate from the common folk. They are widely circulated because their content is easy to understand and full of bizarre twists and turns. It's normal for them to have some vulgar language."
Yao Huang was speechless for a moment. "...Never mind. Your Highness will know once you read it."
She went to the wardrobe to fetch a set of clothes, closed the door behind her, and went to the west inner room to wait for the bathwater.
Outside, maids were going in and out. Without the prince's summons, no one dared to approach the east inner room. Zhao Sui moved to the side of the daybed with his back to the setting sun and began to flip through the pages one by one in the quiet room.
As a prince who had been accustomed since his youth to reading until midnight and waking up at cockcrow the next day to continue studying or practicing martial arts, the books Zhao Sui had read could almost fill three large rooms. However, not a single one of them was a folk storybook.
The content was easy to grasp, so he read rapidly, taking in ten lines at a glance. By the time the older female servants from the water room carried water into the west room, Zhao Sui had already read more than half. The protagonist of the storybook, Pan Xuniang, had already changed lovers three times. With each lover, there were two or three intimate scenes in the bedroom, in the courtyard, and even out in the wild. The men included a farming peasant, a blacksmith, and a county yamen constable, each possessing his own kind of vigorous prowess.
Knowing what the prince was reading, Yao Huang took her bath with great unease and haste, thinking that if she finished early and went back quickly, perhaps the prince wouldn't have reached the first indecent scene yet!
Hurriedly changing into her clothes, Yao Huang walked out with her long hair draped over her shoulders, wrung out so it was no longer dripping.
Bailing chased after her. "Princess Consort, you should comb your hair first!"
Yao Huang turned back, snatched the comb from Bailing's hand, and continued rushing toward the east room. She absolutely couldn't let Bailing attend to her, otherwise it would be too late by the time her hair was combed!
Pushing open the door to the inner chamber, Yao Huang looked toward the window and saw the prince sitting with his back to her, facing out the window. Diagonally outside the window stood an osmanthus tree bathed in the setting sun.
Yao Huang then looked at the small table. The storybook was lying there peacefully.
At this moment, the prince looked toward the door, his gaze noticeably lingering on her loose hair for a few moments.
Yao Huang feigned calmness. "The maids comb too slowly. I was afraid of making Your Highness wait, so I decided to come over here to comb it. It's the perfect spot to catch the evening sun."
Zhao Sui turned back around.
Yao Huang sat opposite him. The warm golden sunset made her cheeks feel hot. She grasped a handful of hair and combed it slowly, while lifting her chin toward the storybook and asking, "Did Your Highness finish reading it so quickly?"
Zhao Sui replied, "No, I only read the beginning, up to the part where Li Dashi dies of illness in prison."
Yao Huang asked, "Then why did Your Highness stop reading?" The exciting parts were all later on. Once Li Dashi died, Pan Xuniang became a widow, and the robust farmer who was her childhood sweetheart came looking for her.
Zhao Sui said, "I was wondering if such miscarriages of justice truly exist among the common folk."
Yao Huang was speechless.
A prince was indeed a prince. Even when reading a storybook, he worried about the common people. Unlike her, who only read the indecent parts!
Grabbing the storybook and stuffing it under the cooling mat, Yao Huang comforted him, "Your Highness, do not worry. Storybooks are all made up by the authors. His Majesty the Emperor is wise and martial, and the imperial court's administration is clear and just. At the very least, the people around the capital are living well. I haven't heard of any miscarriages of justice anywhere."
Zhao Sui nodded, his gaze falling on her other shoulder, which was being dampened by her long hair.
Seeing this, Yao Huang leaned back against the bed enclosure and tilted her head slightly backward. Aside from the hair she held in her hand, the rest hung down, no longer touching her clothes.
However, in doing so, her fair neck was completely exposed to Zhao Sui. Her front-opening ru blouse was bound by the waist of her chest-high skirt, concealing the spring scenery within, but it could hardly hide the shape of the snowy mounds underneath.
There were only the two of them in the room, and they could only look at each other. Yao Huang immediately noticed the shift in the prince's gaze. Her face burning, she softly chided, "Where is Your Highness looking?"
The usually lifeless prince didn't even change his expression as he pointed to the right side of her collar and said, "It seems to be wet there."
Yao Huang touched it; it was just dampened by her hair. "It's nothing. It will dry in a moment."
When she looked up, she found that the prince had already turned his gaze to the osmanthus tree outside the window.
Still feeling a bit awkward, Yao Huang moved the small table aside and sat in front of him with her back to him. "Your Highness, please help me comb it. This way, my hair can catch more of the sun."
Zhao Sui didn't answer but took the jade comb from her hand.
Her cascading long hair was as black as satin, reflecting a faint layer of golden light in the setting sun. The subtle scent of osmanthus filled Zhao Sui's nose. It seemed she had finally found a fragrance to her liking among the floral waters prepared by the princely estate.
Yao Huang watched the shadows the two of them cast on the yellow rosewood floor. The prince's head didn't move an inch; he must have been looking at her hair the whole time, behaving himself properly.
Suddenly, that shadow raised its left hand and pressed down on her shoulder.
Her eyes and shoulder felt the touch at the same time. Yao Huang didn't know what was happening, but a shiver ran through her.
Zhao Sui: "Are you nervous?"
Yao Huang felt a rush of heat on her face. How could she not be nervous? They were sitting so close, and while bathing, her mind had kept replaying those shameful scenes from the books she read.
Zhao Sui: "Are you still thinking about what happened that night, afraid that I might stay over tonight?"
Yao Huang hadn't been thinking about that at all. She denied it, saying, "No, I... This is the first time in my life I've been served by a prince. Of course I'm nervous."
Zhao Sui: "I haven't forgotten what I promised you. It's just that since I'm already here tonight, if I leave right after eating, the servants might think you did something wrong and that I'm giving you the cold shoulder."
Yao Huang nodded in agreement.
Zhao Sui: "But don't worry. If you are unwilling, I won't force you."
Yao Huang looked down at her hands and said with a blushing face, "What are you talking about, Your Highness? How could I be unwilling?"
Even if she were truly unwilling, she wouldn't be foolish enough to admit it. Besides, she really was willing; at least the first time, she hadn't felt the slightest bit of reluctance.
Zhao Sui continued to comb her hair.
Once her hair was dry, Yao Huang wanted to call Bailing in to help pin it up, but Zhao Sui said, "Don't go to the trouble. Just have the kitchen send the meal to the back courtyard."
In the kitchen, Master Kong, who had rushed over upon hearing the news, scrambled to stew a three-pound grass carp for the prince and princess consort. This provoked a round of nagging from Madam Gao: "We agreed that you would take care of the Bamboo Courtyard and I would handle Ming'an Hall. Why are you stealing my work again!"
Master Kong stared at the sizzling fish in the wok and said with a beaming smile, "I'm doing this for your own good. If His Highness doesn't like your fish, will you be able to sleep soundly tonight?"
Madam Gao: "Perhaps His Highness is just too used to your cooking and wanted to come over to the princess consort's side to try something fresh."
Master Kong: "..."
He thought of the meat skewers he had specially grilled for the prince last night. His Highness was so heartless; he hadn't taken a single bite, completely unwilling to even try them!
Yao Huang, however, was full of praise for tonight's braised fish. The cooks in the prince's estate were truly skilled. Not only was the fish cooked to a tender perfection and the sauce delicious, but even the small bones had been removed beforehand, leaving only the main spine to support the fish's body.
"Your Highness, eat some more. We caught this ourselves, after all," Yao Huang urged as she ate. After she coaxed him twice, Zhao Sui voluntarily picked up his chopsticks.
A plump, active princess consort and a prince who, despite his crippled legs, still possessed a strong upper body, temporarily set aside the other dishes to focus their efforts on the fish. Surprisingly, they managed to polish off every piece of meat that could be picked up with chopsticks.
When a young maid carried the plate, now containing only fish bones, back to the kitchen, Master Kong's eyes turned red, and he almost shed a tear. "See? His Highness just loves my cooking!"
Madam Gao said leisurely, "Maybe the princess consort ate it all by herself. She has a good appetite; she often clears the plates of the dishes I make."
Master Kong: "..."
The thoroughly stuffed princess consort slowly walked in circles around the back courtyard to digest her food. The prince was wheeled back to the front courtyard by Qingai. He read a book for half an hour, had Doctor Liao massage his legs for another half an hour, and finally spent nearly half an hour bathing and cleansing himself.
By the time Qingai wheeled the prince back to the back courtyard, the sky had already grown dark.
Yao Huang came out to greet him with her hair down. Now that she was familiar with them, she was becoming more and more relaxed in front of Qingai and Feiquan.
Qingai, however, didn't dare look too closely. He lowered his head and took his leave.
Upon entering the inner chamber, Zhao Sui cast a glance at the arhat bed by the window and pointed at it.
Yao Huang didn't understand. "What do you mean, Your Highness?"
Zhao Sui: "Over here. We won't have to worry about getting the mattress wet."
Yao Huang: "..."
Her body felt as if it were on fire. Yao Huang was just glad that the man couldn't see her face. It took her a good while before she finally managed to say, "It's too narrow. Besides, it's not hot enough yet to sleep on a bamboo cooling mat."
Whether it was narrow or cool aside, the arhat bed was too close to the window. It wasn't a proper place for a husband and wife to sleep. Moreover, if a night-watch maid was bold enough to peek through the crack in the inner chamber's door, she wouldn't be able to see the canopy bed deeper inside, but she would have a clear view of the arhat bed.
Yao Huang knew A'ji and the others weren't that kind of people, but what if? Especially since A'ji had always been worried about her being bullied by the prince, she might actually want to peek and see exactly what was going on.
At that thought, Yao Huang directly pushed him toward the canopy bed and braced herself as she said, "I had someone sew some cloth towels. We can lay one down and keep another nearby. That will be enough."
Prince Hui, unable to move his legs, could only remain silent.
