Even though Zi-ning thought the chance encounter at the calligraphy shop had passed her by, it seemed that the crown prince refused to let things go that easily. The next morning, an attendant from the palace showed up at the front door of the Han manor, much to everyone's surprise. Minister Han had left the house early in the morning to attend court, so the old madam was the one who had to receive the visitor. When he arrived, all the other female members of the family happened to be present at the old lady's quarters for the daily morning greetings, including Zi-ning and Meiyan.
"Lady Sun," the attendant bowed respectfully to the matriarch, "pardon for my intrusion so early in the morning."
"Not at all," the old lady said, unable to disguise the surprise in her eyes. "How might we be able to assist today? Is something the matter in the palace?" All the other female members of the family had their eyes peeled on the man, waiting with bated breath for his response.
The attendant held out a small parcel in his hands, wrapped in white silk brocade that shimmered under illumination of the sun's rays coming in through the open windows. "The crown prince sent me here to deliver this to the young mistress of your household," he said politely.
A soft clink disrupted the silence and everyone turned to look at Meiyan, who had dropped the cover of her teacup in shock.
Beside her, Zi-ning pursed her lips tightly together.
The attendant looked at Meiyan, then shifted his gaze towards Zi-ning. Smiling, he turned back towards the old madam. "The second young mistress," he clarified.
Suddenly, everyone's attention fell upon Zi-ning. The smile that had been spreading across Meiyan's pink lips froze, fading away into an expression of disbelief.
Old Madam Sun was also surprised by the attendant's words, though she disguised it quickly with a polite nod of the head. Looking at Zi-ning, she said, "Zi-ning, it appears as if the prince has sent you something. You should thank him for it."
Zi-ning quickly stood up, curtseying respectfully to the attendant. "Thank you very much for your trouble. Please convey my thanks to the crown prince," she said quietly. Shujin hurried forward and took the package from the attendant's hands before retreating back to where her young mistress was.
The attendant smiled, looking pleased at Zi-ning's respectful attitude. Many young ladies from noble backgrounds had proud and arrogant attitudes, treating servants like him as nobodies. It was rare that a young lady would address him in such a polite manner.
"The prince also asked me to convey a message," he said, addressing Zi-ning directly. "His Highness said that there are more calligraphy books in the palace library and that you are welcome to borrow them if you should ever feel like it. Also, that the brush works best with ink from the kingdom of Shon but they don't sell that in the capital, so he's included a stick of that in the parcel. The king of Shon sends some of it over to the palace every year."
The kingdom of Shon, like the kingdom of Wei, shared a common border with Duan, and the three kept a check on each other's power, striking a delicate balance between them. To keep the peace, the kings would often send envoys to each other's capitals to exchange valuable local produce and goods as tokens of friendship.
"The crown prince is too kind. I am most grateful for his generosity," Zi-ning replied.
The attendant smiled, exchanging a few more pleasantries with the old madam before he left the Han manor, indicating that he would convey their thanks back to the prince. When he was gone, a buzz immediately started going around the room. Zi-ning could sense the jealous stares coming from both Meiyan and Meisi, while most of the others present just seemed shocked at the prince's actions.
"Zi-ning, what is this brush that the attendant was speaking of?" Her grandmother was the first to address her directly, her experienced ears having immediately picked out the crux of the matter. "Did you meet the prince somewhere?"
Zi-ning nodded, replying honestly, "I was at the calligraphy shop yesterday picking up some supplies when the crown prince appeared. He recommended a brush to me and insisted that I take it. He did also mention that there were some rare calligraphy books kept in the palace library."
The matriarch chuckled to herself, looking pleased with what she was hearing. "That is a wonderful coincidence! The prince is very generous, to have not only given you a brush but to also have sent these books over. Make sure you look after them well and remember to thank the prince in person if you ever see him again in future."
"Yes, Grandmother," Zi-ning replied.
She could feel the anger emanating from beside her and out of the corners of her eyes she could see Meiyan clenching her fists so tightly that the whites of her knuckles had begun to show.
"Zi-ning, darling, why did you not mention any of this yesterday?" Lady Min asked.
From the stiff smile on her stepmother's face, Zi-ning could tell that the woman was trying extremely hard to control her displeasure. Being a recipient of so many gifts from the crown prince was a great honour, and it spoke volumes of the impression the prince had of Zi-ning. Lady Min would no doubt believe that such an honour should rightfully have gone to her daughter Meiyan instead.
"I didn't think it was worth mentioning," Zi-ning replied coolly, picking up her teacup and taking a sip of tea. "After all, our meeting was only brief. I didn't think the prince would really send the books over."
She knew that her calm response would make Lady Min seethe even more. Any other girl would have leapt up with excitement if they bumped into the crown prince on the street, but here she was behaving as if it was an incident hardly worth mentioning.
Zi-ning watched her stepmother's reaction carefully, amused at how the lady was still keeping a forced smile on her face even though she was already fuming inside. Let's see how long you can keep up this act for, she thought to herself, raising her teacup to her lips once more.
"Zi-ning, can I take a look at the books?" Meisi asked, leaning forward in her seat. As the daughter of a concubine she would never have the good fortune of entering the palace to meet the princes, but being able to touch the same books that the princes touched was good enough for her. She kept looking back at the parcel in Shujin's hands, unable to disguise the envy and longing in her eyes.
Zi-ning finished her tea and set the teacup down on the table, standing up from her seat. If it weren't for the crown prince's gifts, Meisi would hardly have bothered speaking to her so nicely. Smiling at her younger sister, she said, "The books come from the royal library so they are extremely precious. It wouldn't be good if they were damaged in any way while they are here in our manor. If you really want to see them I suppose you could come to my quarters and I could show them to you briefly, but it's probably best you don't touch anything. Just in case." Bidding her grandmother and other ladies of the house goodbye, she promptly left the room with Shujin trailing along behind her, hugging the precious parcel carefully to her chest.
"Look at her, since when did she get so arrogant!" Meisi grumbled, folding her arms indignantly across her chest. "What's so great about getting something from the prince?"
"You're only saying that because you'll never get something from any prince," Meiyan replied coldly. She got up stiffly and said her goodbyes as well, disappearing from Lady Song's quarters.
Meisi rolled her eyes. "Hypocrite," she muttered under her breath. "If you're jealous then just admit it instead of pretending like it doesn't matter. I'll never get anything from the prince? Well you didn't get anything either."