Due to the indisposition of the Crown Princess, the full moon banquet was not widely celebrated. Invitations were merely given to some close acquaintances and several princes while the rest of the officials were sent away after deliveries of their gifts.
When the Ninth Princess and her party arrived, the banquet had yet to begin and the Crown Princess was receiving people from her maiden family in the inner room. Ignoring the impediments of the court ladies, the Ninth Princess led Yu Xiang into the room while Yu Miao Qi was left alone outside the hall.
The Crown Princess' voice sounded very weak, evidently the news circulating about her serious illness was not an empty rumor. What she actually said was not heard, yet her mother began sobbing and choked, "Then it's up to you, we can't owe those two children ..."
As the Ninth Princess bounced her way in, the two people hurriedly wiped their tears then greeted her with a smile. Being more discreet, Yu Xiang had long ordered both Tao Hong and Liu Lu to push her wheelchair to the outer room and waited quietly.
"Sister-in-law, today is a rejoiceful day. Why are you crying?" Leaning forward, the Ninth Princess stared at her reddened eyes.
Dodging those stares, the Crown Princess turned her face away but was followed in wake by the Ninth Princess and both sister-in-laws played the pursue/dodge game for a while until their faces gradually revealed some contentment. Seeing that, the Crown Princess' mother felt more at ease and got up to take her leave. Once she was out of the room door, she smiled and stepped forward for a chat when she caught sight of Yu Xiang.
Hearing the sweet voice of Yu Xiang, the Crown Princess promptly called out, "Xiang'er is here too? Come in quickly." These two little girls are deeply loved by her, one brings her joy while the other is her lucky star.
After a few simple pleasantries, the Crown Princess sent someone to serve some pastries. Seeing her little sister-in-law immersed in eating, she looked at Yu Xiang and asked in a soft voice, "Is Xiang'er acquainted with the three younger sisters of Bengong[1]? What do you think of their temperament? Bengong is afraid this body of mine is not up to par anymore and eventually thinks of finding a route of retreat for my twins."
Her condition is getting worse each day. Not only her legs are too sore to move, her lower abdomen keeps discharging malodorous fluids and if this prolongs, she will die of excessive bleeding. However, her twins are still young and will be the thorns in the eyes of other imperial grandchildren of the princes. Making sure her twins grow up safely is the anxiety she can't get rid of. Presumably before the childbirth, she received the dragon and phoenix divination drawing lot from Yu Xiang hence she has an inexplicable dependence on this spiritually-temperament little girl, otherwise she would not have said such private and personal matters.
That's right. As the hearsay from outside, she intends to choose one of her three younger sisters to be the Crown Princess' successor and has already notified both the Emperor and the Empress, who have given their tacit consent considering the safety of the imperial grandchildren and to maintain the power balance of the Empress Dowager's maiden family.
Yu Xiang does not leave the manor very often but due to the connection from managing the manor's household and her elder brother's wide network of information, she knows all the noble ladies in the Capital like the back of her hand. In the presence of the Crown Princess, she however, cannot comment on her younger sisters. If she gives good words, it will be flattering but bad words will be defamation. She thought about it briefly then without mincing her words, she blurted, "I am not familiar with them and unable to say what's good or bad, but I do know there's selfishness in people and hopes can't be entrusted to others."
"But Bengong's health probably won't last for more than half a year." The Crown Princess smiled bitterly as she rolled up her sleeves to show her emaciated arms like withered branches. After the childbirth, the imperial physician had obviously said there was no serious problem but who would have expected, she would be dying after just a month. Heavens has bestowed her a pair of children but is taking half of her life away which is really fair, hence she has no complaints but merely wishes to arrange everything for her children before she dies.
"Divine Doctor Pu..." Yu Xiang knitted her brows.
The Crown Princess' smile became more miserable and sad, "Bengong had used up the opportunity for treatment at eight when Bengong got infected with smallpox while the imperial physicians were also at their wits' end."
Yu Xiang became silent. Right at this moment, a court lady led Old Madam into the room with a pot of coral and tree-like vermilion thing in her hand. After Old Madam greeted the Crown Princess, she placed the object on the bedside and said with a smile, "This is an exorcism tree, a plant from Nanyang (South Seas) that is said able to dispel sickness and make people well. But no one has ever managed to grow it in Nanyang, so it's just a folktale. Xiang'er found a packet of seeds and only this plant survived even after sowing all of them. Not only does it look good but it smells nice too, so I'm presenting this to the Crown Princess niang-niang[2], hoping you can get well soon."
The vermilion plant exudes bursts of sweet fragrance that refreshes the mind and soul. The dully aching temples of the Crown Princess instantly calmed down a lot. Smiling, she thanked Old Madam. As she was disinclined to let the two little girls get sick, she ordered Song Momo to take them outside to play with other noble ladies.
They did not go to the crowded back garden after leaving the room, instead, they followed the narrow path to a secluded quiet pavilion and prepared to have some private conversations. As soon as they sat down, they heard footsteps coming their way gradually. Turning their heads to look, they met with a pair of long narrow eyes.
The Ninth Princess' cheeks unexpectedly turned red and at a loss for words. The visitor was also very surprised as excitement was revealed in his eyes which was quickly repressed and prepared to leave after bowing to them.
"You ~ you don't leave!" Scuffling to stand up, the Ninth Princess shouted anxiously.
The person was also reluctant to leave and hearing that, he immediately stopped and a thin smile slowly drew out from the corners of his mouth.
Yu Xiang frowned slightly, "Why does Princess ask him to stay? This is the inner courtyard and he is a trespassing foreign man. Can he assume the blame if he bumps into any of the distinguished people?" Once the words faltered, she looked at the handsome young man and sternly berated, "The Princess is too magnanimous to bother with you, why have you not scram away yet!"
Pursing his lips, Shen Yuan Qi pointed to a courtyard door not far away and said, "Report to the Princess, that's the front courtyard after passing through this side door." Pointing to a small building behind the pavilion which is hidden amidst layers of greenery, he bent and kowtowed, "And that's the Crown Prince's study which is about 500 meters away from here, so this is already the boundary of the front courtyard. This humble official did not expect the Princess and Miss Yu resting here, so please forgive for my interruption."
How could Yu Xiang remember the layout of the Crown Prince's residence as she has only been here a few times, so she glanced towards the Ninth Princess with questioning eyes.
The heart and eyes of the Ninth Princess were now filled with the young man's handsome face, his gentle refined smile and his low-deep voice. Her cheeks were blushing red while her brain was befuddled at this moment, so how could she still receive her question, but merely smile fatuously.
When the Ninth Princess was six years old, she had cried and ran to the Hall of Golden Chimes[1] to find her Emperor Father. She was a master of rampage even in the Imperial Palace, so who would dare to stop her in the Crown Prince residence? Seeing that the visitors were the Ninth Princess and Miss Yu, the page boy guarding the door hurriedly dodged away seemingly not seeing them which had caused this misunderstanding.
Realizing that and seeing the top scholar was still bending awaiting punishment, Yu Xiang felt a little embarrassed and after a moment of silence, she covered her mouth and smiled, "Lord Shen, please get up quickly. We were playing with Lord Shen just now, so please don't blame us."
Truly a dead duck with a tough beak[2]. Shen Yuan Qi almost laughed out loud and hung his head to suppress for a short while before replying he does not dare.
She was clearly worried that the guards would seize him for trespassing into the inner courtyard yet pretended to be vicious and reprimanded him so that he would leave and escape. This sort of temperament is delicately cute. Thinking as such, his mood became exuberant and his usual sombre eyes appeared extremely bright at this moment.
Regaining her senses again, the Ninth Princess waved her chubby hand and shouted, "Lord Shen, come here. I'll treat you to some chestnuts. It's the sugary roasted chestnuts made with a secret concoction by the chef of the imperial kitchen and it's delicious." She took out several large round glossy chestnuts from her purse as she said so.
Her coaxing tone left Shen Yuan Qi dumbfounded. If it was in the past, he would have long apologized and left. But Yu Xiang is also present now hence he becomes extremely reluctant to leave. While his mind is still struggling, his feet have stepped into the pavilion and when he realized it, he has already taken his seat.
The Ninth Princess was delighted without measure and handed him a golden chestnut after personally peeling it.
Shen Yuan Qi accepted it after thanking her promptly.
Speaking of shamelessness, Yu Xiang is no better than Yu Miao Qi as she has long shaken off her embarrassment and asked with a grin, "His Royal Highness Crown Prince and several princes are in the front hall, why are you here instead of currying favor over there?"
Feeling a slight stir in his heart, Shen Yuan Qi stated plainly, "Miss Yu most probably have already heard I am originally a house slave of the Xue family, not a gentry heir. With such an origin, I should not stain the eyes of the nobles instead more comfortable hiding here."
"So the rumor outside is actually true." Seeing the light suddenly, Yu Xiang nodded her head.
Looking at him hiding here alone, the Ninth Princess somehow felt very sad and the rim of her eyes gradually reddened.
Catching sight of her expression from the corner of her eyes, Yu Xiang was rather flabbergasted as she said, "Lord Shen didn't even feel anything, why are you feeling sad? During the reign of the Ancestor Emperor, General Zhenguo, Lord Fang was a royal coachman, the prestigious Canghai Envoy was a eunuch while Lord Lin, the prime minister during the reign of High Ancestor Emperor had once been a tortoise slave[3]..."
In one breath, she listed out seven to eight illustrious official positions whose eminent person was of humble origins and joked, "When it comes to the top ten most inspirational officials of our Great Han Dynasty, Lord Shen still can't be ranked as he needs to have a more tragic life."
The Ninth Princess' eyes are not red anymore and her heart does not feel so sad hearing that.
Restraining the rising laughter from his heart, Shen Yuan Qi has to pursed his lips hard. This little girl's method of comforting people is always so unique.
Yu Xiang grabbed a chestnut from the Ninth Princess and tossed it into her mouth then smilingly said, "Everyone is saying that the humble origins of Lord Shen are too low to be of great use, but they don't know that humble origins also have the benefits of being humble. Which of the people who can attend the banquet at the Crown Prince residence today are not big shots? Like Top Scholar Shen, such a petty official, I'm afraid you can't even touch the door frame not to mention attending the banquet. Able to gain the good graces of His Highness Crown Prince and the Emperor, the official path of Lord Shen will be very smooth."
Shen Yuan Qi smiled but said nothing. Inwardly, he kept sighing; she is indeed his Shen Yuan Qi's younger sister, whose insight is much higher than that of Yu Miao Qi's. Yu Miao Qi thought that spreading out his origin would ruin his official career yet how would one know that the Emperor attaches such importance to him precisely because of his unfortunate background. Now all the nobles in the Capital are avoiding him like snakes and scorpions while those who once considered forming a marriage alliance with the Xue family have also ceased their contact This is their intention to isolate him.
In such a way, won't the Emperor be more at ease to use the standalone official with no background and foundation like him? The Crown Prince who has always of one mind with the Emperor will naturally give him preferential treatment too. Right now he seems to be down on his luck, but in reality, his future will be smooth every step of the way. In the end, he even has to thank Yu Miao Qi in turn.
Listening to these words, the Ninth Princess felt thoroughly relieved and stammered to make conversation with this top scholar.
[1] 金銮殿 (Jīnluándiàn) - a popular name for the Emperor's audience hall where the Emperor ascended the throne and held grand ceremonies.
[2] 死鸭子嘴硬 (Sǐ yāzi zuǐyìng) - metaphor for a stubborn person/a person who doesn't admit their own mistakes.
[3] 龟奴 (Guī nú) - a ridicule namesake for man who do chores in a brothel. When prostitutes with small feet are called to accompany guests, they can only ask the male workers to carry these prostitutes to the room like a tortoise carrying a stone tablet and these male workers are called "tortoise slaves".