Bai Mei Lien was sewing a handkerchief when Ruolan came in. Ruolan saw after she walked a few steps forward that it was embroidered with a pair of mandarin ducks paddling on a lotus pond, clearly a gift for wang ye.
When Bai Mei Lien saw Ruolan, she was not surprised and immediately smiled. These past few days, wang fei's people were taking very good care of her, making sure that she didn't lack for anything. Bai Mei Lien knew, it was because wang fei greatly cared for Zhao Cheng's unborn child.
She also discarded her previous thoughts of wang fei not being a simple person. It was easy to see, for the princess consort to treat a concubine like her so well even when the master of the house was absent, wang fei had a good heart. So Bai Mei Lien didn't raise her guard up towards Song Jia and her maidservants at all, welcoming them happily every time they visited instead.
"Ruolan guniang [1], what brings you to my courtyard today?" She touched the slight bump in her belly as she spoke.
Ruolan bowed before lifting her eyes up. Bai Mei Lien's hair was styled into a yuanbao, set off with a jewelled hairpin that Ruolan recognized as the one given to her by wang fei. Because of her pregnancy, she looked even more radiant and beautiful.
"Bai shufei, wang fei instructed this humble servant to tell you to make a perfumed sachet for wang ye."
Ruolan's voice was subdued. She remembered their carefree days back in the xiangfu when eldest miss hadn't yet married and nearly burst into tears. Why couldn't their eldest miss stay happy and innocent, ah? Seeing as how His Highness had a heart of stone whenever it came to their eldest miss' matters, it would have been better if eldest miss had married a lowly official instead.
Bai Mei Lien's mood further lightened up at Ruolan's words. "Is wang ye doing well at the border?"
Her happiness at being pregnant was only stained by her worry that Zhao Cheng might hurt himself while fighting the northern barbarians. She whispered to their unborn child every night, saying words of reassurances that his father would be alright. The first trimester of pregnancy was the time when the fetus was still very unstable, so it was a delicate period for Bai Mei Lien.
"Wang ye is fine. Bai shufei, please do not worry. He would certainly do all he can to return soon."
Ruolan pasted a smile that she didn't really feel, and after bowing once more, she hastily left the room. Once she was outside, she used her hand to wipe away the tears that escaped.
If a mere maidservant like her was already feeling wretched like this, then as a matter of course, the direct victim should feel even more so. Thinking back to the always smiling face of wang fei back in the zhengfang, Ruolan's heart began to hurt.
Since wang fei was putting on a strong front, then she, as her personal maidservant, should not be so weak-willed. Ruolan lifted her chin, and curving her lips into a smile that banished the gloomy mood from earlier beyond the nine heavens, she walked with firm steps back to the zhengfang.
...
Just as the year ushered the Chongyang festival that celebrated the day when the two Yang numbers meet, Hongwu Emperor's sickness began to take a turn for the worse. It was supposed to be a special day for people to pay their respects to the elderly, and Song Jia had thoughts of going into the imperial palace to pay respects to her mother and father-in-law before going to the xiangfu to visit her parents.
But the imperial physicians in the palace prohibited anyone to take a step forward beyond the Xuanwu gate [2], afraid that any disturbance would cause Hongwu Emperor's health to deteriorate even faster.
Supposedly, as a wang fei that was part of the Imperial Family, she was to attend a minor banquet every three days, and a major banquet every five days. But because of the Emperor's sickness, she was spared from this troublesome ritual. Even after her marriage to Zhao Cheng, she didn't manage to give her greetings to the Emperor and Empress because His Majesty was having an unusually high fever that day.
Those who had high ambitions were disappointed by this piece of news since it meant less time to cater for His Majesty's favor, while as for Song Jia...does it need to be said? Heh heh, that old cow in the palace should just croak, and let the third prince sit on the dragon throne! The sooner Zhao Cheng became the next monarch, the sooner Song Jia could leave.
Towards Hongwu emperor, Song Jia didn't really have any good feelings. During the beginning of his rule, he didn't send send generals into the frontier but sisters and daughters, flattering the vanity of barbarians and opting instead for a marriage alliance. If this move hadn't created a series of tragedies that made a particularly beautiful daughter of a high-ranked official throw herself into the dark waters in the banks of the Amoor, Hongwu Emperor would have certainly followed the footsteps of many weak emperors in Rome, and have the common people rebel against him.
Song Jia didn't need to go to the palace, so she went to visit her parents instead, bringing Ruolan and Minglan with her. Song Jia had already asked permission from Zhao Cheng, as he frequently sent letters to her these days. Since it was her duty, she also sent back several letters in reply. She also updated him about Bai Mei Lien's condition, but towards this certain topic, he still hadn't given her a proper response. If Song Jia didn't know any better, she would have thought that he was evading it.
[1] means an unmarried lady
[2] Northern entrance to the Emperor's palace
A/N: Hk, my busy schedule is such a pain (っ- ‸ – ς)