Duo Fu pushed the door open and stepped in to offer a bow.
“Your Highness, Eunuch Xu has arrived.”
“Have him wait in the front hall.”
“Understood.”
The Prince of Chen’s estate had been bestowed upon Tan Taisi during the reign of Emperor Longxi.
This residence had been meticulously crafted by the most renowned artisans of the capital at the time.
Every single step revealed a new scenery, making it exceptionally picturesque.
When Tan Taisi lifted the curtain at the back and walked into the front hall,
he happened to see Xu Jinli staring intently at the relief carvings on a pillar.
“Is Eunuch Xu interested in this pillar?”
“This servant pays respects to the Prince of Chen.”
Hearing the voice, Xu Jinli quickly turned around and bowed to Tan Taisi.
“Rise. Since Eunuch Xu has made a special trip here, does the Emperor have some instructions?”
“Reporting to Your Highness, the Kingdom of Donglai recently offered a tribute of shimmering brocade. His Majesty thought of you and the Princess Consort, and specifically instructed this servant to deliver a portion of it.”
With that, Xu Jinli waved his hand, and the trailing line of young eunuchs behind him stepped forward to present their burdens.
Aside from the shimmering brocade, there were various other bolts of fabric and jewelry.
Duo Fu and the estate servants stepped forward to receive them.
Tan Taisi cast an indifferent glance at the items sent by the Emperor.
“This subject thanks His Majesty for the reward.”
Many eunuchs who had come from the palace stood within the room. Seeing that Tan Taisi did not even bother to stand up to receive the imperial grace, each of them looked deeply astonished.
Rumor had it that the Prince of Chen relied on his immense contributions to act arrogantly and held the imperial authority in contempt.
It seemed those claims held a kernel of truth after all.
Xu Jinli’s expression remained unchanged, a faint smile hanging across his pale, perpetually uncanny face.
He bowed slightly toward Tan Taisi.
“If this servant may be so bold, Your Highness, how is it that we do not see the Princess Consort?”
Ordinary servants would never dare pose such a question in front of Tan Taisi.
Tan Taisi glanced at him indifferently and waved for the servants to serve tea.
However, he had no intention of offering any to Xu Jinli and his entourage.
Only after taking a leisurely sip of his tea did he speak: “The Princess Consort is taking his afternoon nap at this hour. What is this? Does Eunuch Xu intend to make my Princess Consort get up and grant you an audience?”
“Your Highness jests, this servant is terrified.”
Xu Jinli hurriedly dropped to his knees.
“It is simply that the Grand Empress Dowager has items to bestow upon the Princess Consort, which is why this servant dared to ask out of turn. Please forgive me, Your Highness.”
With that, he knocked his head against the floor and remained kneeling.
Tan Taisi gazed down at the man kneeling on the ground.
“Since it is from the Empress Dowager, handing it to me is the same thing.”
“Yes.”
Xu Jinli scrambled back up and handed an exquisite wooden box to Duo Fu.
“Your Highness, the Grand Empress Dowager also said that she hopes you and the Princess Consort will find time to gather in the palace.”
“Go tell the Empress Dowager that this king is aware of it.”
Having said that, Tan Taisi let out a peculiar chuckle.
“Eunuch Xu is truly dedicated to your duties. As the Emperor’s primary personal eunuch, you still frequently run errands for the Empress Dowager.”
In the imperial palace, betraying one’s master for personal gain was the ultimate taboo. For Tan Taisi to drop such a loaded insinuation, had it been anyone else, would have left them terrified, or at the very least ridden with a guilty conscience.
Yet Xu Jinli maintained his smile, his demeanor entirely ordinary.
“Your Highness jests. As a servant, one merely acts at the behest of their masters. This servant must now return to the palace to report, so I will take my leave.”
Tan Taisi narrowed his eyes. “Safe journey, Eunuch.”
Outside the doors, daylight was gradually fading.
In the dead of winter, night always fell much earlier.
Duo Fu inspected the items sent from the palace, and only after confirming everything was in order did he send them to the storehouse to be logged and cataloged.
Staring at the wooden box in Tan Taisi’s hands, Duo Fu stepped forward to ask, “Your Highness, should the items given by the Grand Empress Dowager to the Princess Consort be logged as well?”
“There is no need. I will personally take them to the Princess Consort later.”
He carefully scrutinized the wooden box in his grasp. He had only gone to pay his respects at Qifeng Pavilion with Rong Xun yesterday.
And now they were already being impatiently summoned back into the palace?
Tan Taisi let out a cold laugh, reaching out to flick open the small lock on the wooden box.
Rows of small cyan porcelain bottles were neatly arranged inside.
He randomly pulled one out, popped the stopper, and took a look.
It turned out to be top-grade lubricating ointment.
Tan Taisi was intimately familiar with this kind of ointment. There were quite a few male concubines kept within the palace walls.
Whenever they attended to their master’s bedchamber duties, this sort of ointment was an absolute necessity.
To think that the Grand Empress Dowager would send such an item.
Clack.
Tan Taisi violently slammed the wooden box shut.
“Duo Fu, what is the Princess Consort doing right now?”
“Reporting to Your Highness, the Princess Consort is feeling much better and is currently having his evening meal.”
If he was eating, then it seemed there were no major issues with his health.
Carrying the wooden box, Tan Taisi rose and walked toward the back courtyard.
“Since that is the case, I shall go check on the Princess Consort and personally deliver this item to him.”
In the southern courtyard, Rong Xun felt his stomach rumbling as soon as he woke up.
He was right in the middle of his second bowl of rice when, from afar, he heard the estate servants outside bowing and greeting Tan Taisi.
Wenxi and Rong Xun exchanged glances.
They scrambled into a flustered flurry of tidying up.
Wenxi rolled up his sleeves and frantically wiped the grease from his mouth, then took a large step back to stand in respectful attendance behind Rong Xun.
Rong Xun pulled his outer robe around himself and sat up on the bed, taking his seat by the dining table with proper posture.
As the footsteps drew closer and closer, Rong Xun clicked his tongue in quiet annoyance.
Why did he have to show up now, of all times, right in the middle of dinner?
Was this not a deliberate attempt to ruin his meal?
Catching sight of a flicker of purple robes appearing past the screen, Rong Xun stood up to bow.
“Your Highness.”
“Sit.”
Tan Taisi spoke, seating himself on the daybed first.
He gave a brief appraisal of the dishes on the table before shifting his gaze to Rong Xun.
“How is the Princess Consort feeling?”
“Ah, thank you for your concern, Your Highness. This subject is mostly recovered.”
Rong Xun sat down opposite Tan Taisi. He hadn’t actually finished eating yet, but with Tan Taisi sitting right across from him, any appetite he had left vanished completely.
Still, it wouldn’t do to leave the guest hanging, so Rong Xun dryly forced out a question.
“Has Your Highness eaten?”
“For the Princess Consort to care whether I have eaten, judging by your posture, you clearly had no intention of dining with me.”
Nonsense. Of course I was just exchanging empty pleasantries.
A raging fire burned in Rong Xun’s chest, while his face maintained a polished, polite smile.
“What is Your Highness saying? Wasn’t this subject unwell, and afraid of passing the illness onto Your Highness by sharing a table? If Your Highness hasn’t eaten yet, I can have Wenxi fetch some more dishes.”
“No need. I appreciate the Princess Consort’s kind intentions. I will skip dinner. I came here solely to deliver something to the Princess Consort.”
As he spoke, Tan Taisi slid the wooden box across to Rong Xun.
“This was specifically brought out from the palace for you by the Empress Dowager.”
“This, specifically for me?”
Rong Xun took it with a flattered expression. If his memory served him correctly, when he and Tan Taisi went to pay their respects at the palace yesterday, the Grand Empress Dowager had already gifted them a mountain of items.
Barely a day had passed, and she was sending more?
Rong Xun scratched his head, feeling quite embarrassed.
Tan Taisi caught the flash of delight that crossed Rong Xun’s face and raised an eyebrow. “Not going to open it and take a look?”
“Opening it now.”
Rong Xun flipped the wooden box open immediately.
What met his eyes were several plump little porcelain bottles lined up in neat rows.
The glaze on the bottles was fresh and elegant. Based purely on appearances alone, Rong Xun found them quite pleasing.
“What are these?”
He picked one up and uncorked it, revealing a flawless, snow-white ointment inside.
Rong Xun scooped out a tiny dollop with his finger.
The ointment melted quickly against his skin, warm yet not overly greasy, accompanied by an indistinct, faint fragrance.
Could this be some sort of ancient skincare product?
As a former public figure, Rong Xun had always placed a high value on skincare.
This gift from the Grand Empress Dowager turned out to be quite useful after all.
He flashed a smile at Tan Taisi.
“Many thanks, Your Highness. This subject will make good use of it.”
“You plan to use this?”
Tan Taisi’s brows arched upward, a strange new glint flashing in his eyes.
“Yes.”
Since the Grand Empress Dowager had specifically bestowed it upon him, of course he should make good use of it.
“Your Highness, is there a problem?”
“No problem.”
Tan Taisi suddenly smiled at Rong Xun.
“Then the Princess Consort must be sure to make good use of it, and not let down the Empress Dowager’s kind intentions.”
“Understood.”
Why did that smile look so eerie?
Rong Xun suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.
He had a lingering suspicion that Tan Taisi’s smile was harboring malicious intent.
“Alright, continue your meal. I have matters to attend to, so I will not keep the Princess Consort company.”
“Safe travels, Your Highness.”
Once Tan Taisi departed, Rong Xun pried the wooden box open again and showed it to Wenxi.
“Wenxi, come take a look. Do you recognize this stuff?”
Wenxi stared at it for a long waking moment, his brow furrowing deeper and deeper.
“This, this servant has no idea what this is either.”
Rong Xun chuckled. “Never mind, just take it away and store it.”
He had almost forgotten. Wenxi had grown up with him in the farming estate.
How much could a servant boy possibly know about palace goods?
Regardless, since it was a gift from the Grand Empress Dowager, it had to be something good.
Using it to moisturize his skin or something similar shouldn’t count as wasting it, right?
Wenxi packed the wooden box away. Seeing that no one else was around, the master and servant dropped all formalities and sat face-to-face to finish their meal.
Over the next few days, Rong Xun rarely caught a glimpse of Tan Taisi.
Aside from meal times, Tan Taisi never set foot in the southern courtyard again, not even stopping by for the night.
Which actually suited Rong Xun’s wishes just fine, saving him from living in constant anxiety.
Still, he was technically Tan Taisi’s Princess Consort.
For a newlywed husband to refuse to sleep in his consort’s quarters was difficult to excuse under any standard.
Within a few days, rumors began circulating quietly behind the scenes within the estate that Rong Xun had fallen out of favor.
It was the peak of winter now, and Rong Xun stared blankly out the window at the thick blanket of snow covering the grounds.
Once spring arrived, he would start calculating the value of the dowry he had wrung out of Lady Chen.
Among those assets were restaurants, farming estates, and a textile shop that had been signed over to his name.
When the time came, he could decide whether to continue running the textile shop or pivot to some other business venture.
Life was still long. He wasn’t about to waste his youth rotting away in the Prince’s estate.
“Your Highness, I have brought the pastries.”
Wenxi systematically unpacked several exquisite plates of pastries from the food box and placed them on the table.
“It is starting to snow again outside. The mustard greens Your Highness planted have all frozen to death.”
“Let them freeze then. I will just plant more when spring comes.”
Rong Xun sat cross-legged beside the small table, reaching out to grab a pastry, when he looked up and noticed Wenxi drooping his head in dejection.
“What is with that gloomy look? Are you mourning the mustard greens?”
“No, it is just…”
Remembering the things he had overheard in the kitchen earlier, Wenxi grew even more indignant.
“Your Highness, you have no idea what those servants outside are saying about you.”
“Oh? What are they saying?”
This osmanthus cake tasted rather pleasant, sweet without being cloying.
Rong Xun swallowed one piece and immediately picked up another, munching away as he listened to Wenxi.
“Your Highness, you really do not know. The servants in the estate are actually going around saying that you failed to win the Prince’s favor, that you cannot bear children, and that you cannot manage a household, calling you nothing more than a pretty face.”
The more Wenxi talked, the angrier he became. When he glanced at Rong Xun, he discovered to his utter shock that Rong Xun was happily devouring his pastries.
“Young Master.”
Wenxi couldn’t help but blurt out, “Are you not even angry?”
“Why should I be angry? What they said is basically the truth.”
It wasn’t as though Rong Xun hadn’t heard such gossip before, but he had always possessed a thick skin.
He let it go in one ear and out the other, never taking it to heart.
Looking at Wenxi, however, the poor boy was clearly the one getting worked up into a rage.