Yao Huang couldn't figure it out. She just felt bad that the group was exhausted from the journey and had to rush to tidy up the new residence, which was why she told Qingai to prepare only one bathing barrel in the backyard. In broad daylight, how did she manage to stir up Prince Hui's wicked desires?
He had already washed up and was sitting cleanly on the couch. Did he expect her to wash herself under the gaze of those eyes?
Yao Huang couldn't do it. Leaning against the door and lowering her head, she reasoned, "Second Master values rules and etiquette the most, so why are you teasing me like this? Although I act a bit willfully sometimes, I am still a modest and honorable girl. Even if you are a prince, I am not willing to listen to you on this matter."
Zhao Sui looked at his princess consort, who looked and sounded aggrieved, and asked, "Since you are so shy, why did you suggest bathing together?"
If she hadn't said that herself, Zhao Sui absolutely would not have stayed in the backyard.
Yao Huang quickly blushed bright red. "Bathing together was just to save Qingai and Feiquan some trouble. I had it all figured out; when we actually started washing, I would blindfold you."
Scrubbing and washing were such indecent movements. She didn't want to watch the prince scrub, nor did she want the prince to watch her scrub.
Zhao Sui said, "Come here."
Yao Huang glanced at him and slowly walked to the edge of the couch.
Zhao Sui grasped her wrist. "Get on."
Yao Huang was confused. "Do what?"
Prince Hui only increased the strength of his grip on her wrist.
The prince's prestige enveloped her in this silence and persistence. Yao Huang didn't dare to disobey or ask further. She kicked off her embroidered shoes and knelt beside him, her wrist still in his grasp. Before she could sit steadily, Prince Hui suddenly pressed her shoulders, pushing her down onto the couch, forcing her to face the direction of the bathing barrel.
Yao Huang's heart pounded. Why was he in such a rush?
"Yesterday was the tenth. We were camping and I couldn't accompany you. Just now you mentioned bathing together, so I thought you wanted to make up for it."
Yao Huang felt terribly wronged. "I really wasn't thinking about that!"
Zhao Sui said, "Too late."
Yao Huang understood. Because of a misunderstanding, Prince Hui's fire had been stoked by her. He had been burning alone in the room for quite a while; how could it be extinguished just like that?
"Then wait a moment, let me go behind the screen and wipe myself off first."
"No need."
Yao Huang bit her lip, thinking that she had washed in the tent last night and had been sitting in the carriage all morning, so she really hadn't sweated much.
"Let's be quick this time, lest the servants get suspicious," Zhao Sui said in a low voice, looking at the nervous appearance of his princess consort who had closed her eyes and blushed in preparation.
Yao Huang buried her face deeper into his left arm, which he had stretched out to serve as her pillow, and gave a barely audible murmur of agreement.
With one hand, Zhao Sui bunched up her bodice into a ball and had her bite down on it.
A'ji was still tidying up in the east room. The bed was already made, but the princess consort had brought too many dresses. She had to hang them in the wardrobe one by one; folding them in the trunks would easily leave creases.
Being busy made her lose track of time. She vaguely felt that the princess consort hadn't been in there for long, perhaps about a quarter of an hour, when some noise came from the west room.
Now she was the only maid serving in the backyard. A'ji hurriedly put the long skirt she had just unfolded back into the trunk and rushed outside.
Lifting the curtain of the east room and stepping out with one foot, A'ji froze, staring blankly at the prince, who was wheeling himself out of the west room.
Zhao Sui's gaze only swept past the hem of her skirt before he expressionlessly ordered, "Call Qingai over."
Coming back to her senses, A'ji quickly went to the front yard to pass on the message.
By the time A'ji hurried back with Qingai, Prince Hui had already wheeled himself out of the main room's door and was sunbathing under the sun.
Qingai hurriedly pushed the prince to the front yard.
The wheelchair disappeared ahead of the veranda, and the backyard returned to silence. A'ji arrived at the door of the west room. Just as she was about to speak, she suddenly heard the splashing sound of someone stepping into or out of a bathing barrel.
A'ji tried calling out, "Madam, do you need me to come in and help?"
Yao Huang, who had just sat down in the bathing barrel, glanced at the door and said in a hoarse voice, "No need, go about your work."
A'ji only felt that Madam's voice was trembling. She had a vague guess, but felt the timing didn't match up at all, so she simply shook her head and went back to her chores.
When A'ji finally finished organizing the wardrobe, the princess consort also emerged from the west room. She had changed into a fine cotton blouse and skirt. Her half-wet long hair hung loose, and her jade-white cheeks bore the characteristic flush of someone who had just bathed. Like a newly bloomed peony that had drunk its fill of rainwater, every petal looked tender enough to drip dew.
Even A'ji, who had looked at her for over a decade, was mesmerized. "Miss, you are so beautiful. With your looks, you were born to be a royal consort!"
The concubines in the palace were royal consorts, and the princess consort in the prince's mansion was also a royal consort.
Yao Huang looked at her A'ji with the gaze one reserves for a silly girl. Princes and princess consorts might be noble, but when it came down to it, they were just ordinary men and women. In their vulgar moments, they were no different from the peasants and wild men in storybooks—it was merely a matter of talking more or less, being coarse or refined.
Seeing that tea had already been set out on the tea table in the northern part of the main room, Yao Huang walked over, poured herself a cup, and drank three cups in a row, finally soothing her throat. Biting the bodice had only muffled the sounds she made, but her throat hadn't rested for a moment. That damned Prince Hui! He acted less than human when in a rush, yet the moment he put his clothes back on, he reverted to his gloomy, unworldly self!
"Is the prince in the front yard?"
"Yes, he left right after washing."
Yao Huang both hated how well this man could pretend to be a proper, rule-abiding prince, and was glad he played the part so well. As long as one of them went to the front early on, the servants in both courtyards wouldn't suspect that the prince and princess consort had done such an absurd thing in broad daylight.
Thinking that she still needed to rest after the meal, she told A'ji to go to the west courtyard to help Madam Gao. Yao Huang then walked straight to the front yard with her hair still down.
Doctor Liao, Zhang Yue, Wang Dong, and even Qingai had all gone to the west courtyard to unpack their rooms and luggage. Only Feiquan was waiting in the shade of the veranda.
Seeing the princess consort looking languid and charming with her hair down, Feiquan promptly lowered his head.
Yao Huang said, "You go unpack too. I'm here with Second Master."
Feiquan agreed, but before leaving, he whispered a reminder: "Madam, unless necessary, Second Master does not like Qingai and me entering his bathroom or washroom. It is best if you do not enter those two places either. Second Master's temper can be unpredictable. If you happen to catch him when he's unhappy, Madam..."
Yao Huang swept her gaze over the west room in the front yard and the washroom partitioned inside the east room. She guessed that there were probably some special items added inside to accommodate the prince. Otherwise, if it were exactly the same as the backyard, what would the prince have to hide?
Perhaps this was exactly why the prince insisted on living in a separate courtyard from her even after arriving here.
"Understood."
Yao Huang agreed readily. Anyway, she had her own place to bathe and relieve herself. There was no need for her to barge into the prince's two private areas.
Feiquan left. Yao Huang walked to the door of the main room and saw Prince Hui sitting in a rattan wheelchair facing north, reading a book. In front of him was a long table with a chair at each end, similar to the layout of the front yard of Ming'an Hall.
Yao Huang didn't look at him directly. She sat on the left side of the long table, took a fresh, crisp peach from the fruit platter that Doctor Liao had bought in town, took a bite to taste it, and then said, "I sent A'ji to the west courtyard. Once the food is ready, it will be brought over. Second Master, please wait a moment."
"Mhm."
Yao Huang glanced at the cover of the book in his hands. Surprisingly, it was still the same Buddhist scripture he had been reading on the journey.
Yao Huang looked again at his back leaning against the wheelchair. After sitting for the entire journey, he could still rock like that—he was really something!
Prince Hui suddenly put down his Buddhist scripture, looked at her thick, long hair, and asked, "Why haven't you tied it up?"
Yao Huang replied, "I took a nap right after eating. In ordinary households, there aren't that many rules. On the way into town, I even saw a girl sitting at her doorway, drying her hair in the sun while chatting with someone."
Zhao Sui said, "It's fine if only Feiquan and Qingai see you, but if Doctor Liao, Zhang Yue, or the others come over, you still need to pay attention to your appearance."
Yao Huang held up a peach she had taken two bites out of, looked at him, and snorted, "Yes, Mr. Scholar."
In a small town, the title of a scholar could already bring many conveniences. Since Prince Hui wanted to pretend to be a scholar, having such a title would better explain why his uncle, Doctor Liao, and his family were so deferential to their disabled nephew, and how this disabled nephew managed to marry such a beautiful wife as Yao Huang, who never even had to do any heavy chores.
Prince Hui had thought of everything; he had actually procured a flawlessly forged scholar's certificate for himself.
After she finished the peach, Aji and Madam Gao brought over lunch: two meat dishes, one vegetable dish, and a soup. The fish soup was made from a live fish Doctor Liao had bought in town that morning. Lingshan Town was nestled between mountains and rivers, boasting plenty of wild game, which at least guaranteed delicious meals three times a day.
After the meal, Qingai came to attend to the prince again. Yao Huang returned to the backyard alone to take a nap. Sleeping in a tent was ultimately not as comfortable as a large bed. Coupled with the exhaustion from the journey and their intimate indulgence before the meal, Yao Huang ended up sleeping until late afternoon. Lingshan Town was indeed a wonderful place to escape the summer heat. Wisps of gentle breeze drifted through the open windows, causing the curtains draped around the canopy bed to flutter up and down.
Quietly enjoying a moment of leisure, Yao Huang sat up. Sure enough, her waist was no longer sore, her legs weren't weak, and she felt full of energy.
"Aji?"
"I'm here!"
Before going to sleep, Yao Huang had told Aji to rest on the couch in the west room. It seemed Aji had also slept soundly and shaken off the fatigue of the journey.
While helping the princess wash her face, Aji mentioned what she had found out from Doctor Liao: "The house right next to us on the east belongs to a scholar. It's just the couple and their son and daughter. All their relatives live in the village, and they rarely visit except during holidays. It's very quiet and shouldn't disturb the Second Master's rest."
"The head of the household next to the west courtyard is a sixty-year-old squire. His family owns over a hundred acres of land. He married two wives over time and had three sons in total, all of whom are now married with children of their own. Altogether, they have seven grandsons and one granddaughter. The family is incredibly prosperous and lively. They are also very enthusiastic; they came over to visit this afternoon, and Madam Gao and I entertained them for a while."
Yao Huang smiled, "No wonder Doctor Liao arranged for the Second Master and me to stay in the east courtyard. Otherwise, if the children started making a racket, Qingai and Feiquan would be constantly on edge."
Aji replied, "It's not too bad. Six of the seven grandsons are in school. They are gone all day and only come back for lunch at noon, so they'd only be noisy in the evening at most."
Having gathered enough information, Yao Huang went to the front courtyard alone. From now on, aside from bringing water in the morning and evening, Aji could just stay in the west courtyard.
In the front courtyard, Prince Hui was still sitting facing south, reading a book, looking much the same as he did at noon.
Yao Huang asked casually, "How long did Your Highness sleep this afternoon?"
Zhao Sui replied, "An hour." Yao Huang secretly admired him and asked, "Have you been reading ever since you woke up?"
Zhao Sui tacitly agreed. In reality, he had let Doctor Liao give him a massage for half an hour, walked back and forth while leaning on the railing of the west room for an hour, and spent the rest of the time either reading or resting. It had been quite a fulfilling afternoon.
Yao Huang looked at the tightly shut main gate opposite the screen wall and said longingly, "The river is right outside the gate, and the weather has cooled down nicely. Shall we go for a walk by the river after dinner?"
Zhao Sui lowered his eyes and said, "You can take Aji with you."
Yao Huang gazed at him eagerly, "I've been strolling around with Aji for over ten years. Right now, I just want the Second Master to keep me company."
In Zhao Sui's field of vision were his legs, which he couldn't move even a fraction of an inch, and the armrests of his wheelchair on either side.
"I have said before, I prefer quiet. There is no need to bring this up again."
