The two arrived neither too early nor too late—the other two Shuren were already present.
As soon as they entered, the four exchanged equal greetings and each took their seats.
The seating arrangement carried its own significance. When four people held equal status, seniority determined the order.
Since the left was traditionally the position of honor, Rongyu sat in the first row on the left, while Consort Gao took the first row on the right.
When it came to the second row, there was actually some contention. Consorts Jin and Su had entered the household at the same time, so in theory neither outranked the other. But Consort Jin was undeniably more favored than Consort Su, and she unceremoniously claimed the left seat. Consort Su dared not contest it and sat resentfully on the right.
By all rights, they should have simply waited quietly for the mistress of the house to appear. But after a brief spell of silence, Consort Jin grew restless and sought to assert herself, speaking up first: “I heard that Sister Gao rested at Sister Fuca’s Rongmuzhai last night. Could it be that your heart was troubled, and you went to confide in Sister Fuca?”
Troubled at heart? That could only mean dissatisfaction with the newly arrived Prince’s Consort. Consort Gao immediately flared up and retorted, “Sister Jin certainly has plenty of leisure time, having investigated the affairs of the inner courtyard so thoroughly. No wonder His Highness favors that glib little tongue of yours.”
This was a jab at Consort Jin for meddling in others’ business and overstepping her bounds. Consort Jin could not resist firing back, but Rongyu cut her off.
“Enough. Consort Jin, have a few more sips of tea and mind the affairs of your Qiuxi Garden.” She said this with a smile directed at Consort Jin, then cast a brief glance at Consort Su as well. Both women lowered their heads and took sips of their tea.
Strangely enough, although Consort Gao was usually the more domineering one, the women of the inner courtyard actually held greater fear of Consort Fuca—even though Consort Fuca always wore a smile on her face.
Each of the four harbored their own thoughts, and none spoke again.
By the time the Prince’s Consort emerged, the tea on the table had already been refilled twice.
“We pay our respects to the Prince’s Consort.” On first meeting, concubines were required to perform the full kneeling obeisance to the legal wife. Although the concubines had entered the household first, the missed tea ceremony had to be made up today. In order of their entry into the household, each presented tea to the Prince’s Consort in turn, received their rewards, and returned to their seats.
Rongyu carefully observed the person seated at the head of the room. The Prince’s Consort was dressed with propriety, but she was still young in years and could not quite carry the deep purple robes. All told, she was only fifteen this year.
“Today is my first meeting with all my sisters, and there will surely be more sisters in the future. I hope we can all get along well and soon bear children for His Highness.”
“We humbly heed the Prince’s Consort’s instruction.” The four rose again to perform the salute.
“There’s no need for such formality, sisters. You need not come to the main courtyard every day to pay your respects—once every five days will suffice.” The Prince’s Consort set her teacup down on the table and signaled the end of the audience. “Now then, you sisters must be tired. I won’t keep you any longer.”
“We take our leave.” Another round of rising and saluting, and they filed out of the main courtyard in order, each heading toward her own residence.
After they had gone, the Prince’s Consort returned to the inner chamber and began handling affairs. During the morning audience, the household stewards had handed over all the miscellaneous matters. Though the inner courtyard was not large, there was no shortage of trivial tasks.
“Master, do rest a while—it’s time to take your medicine.” Bai Qin, her dowry maidservant, brought over a bowl of medicine.
The Prince’s Consort took it and drank it down in one go, then ate several candied fruits to suppress the bitterness in her mouth. Fearing it would diminish the medicine’s potency, she spat out the chewed candied fruits rather than swallow them.
“Master, medicine is three parts poison. You’re still young—why put yourself through this?” Seeing her mistress’s suffering, Bai Qin could not help but advise against it.
“No, there’s no time. I must conceive His Highness’s eldest legitimate son. It’s not just the women of the inner courtyard watching now—even those above are paying attention.”
“But the four Shuren have served His Highness for quite some time already, and Consort Fuca in particular has been with him for over two years without conceiving. Master, you really should take care of your own health.” Bai Qin could not stop herself from urging, for her mother had been the Prince’s Consort’s wet nurse, and she herself had been by her mistress’s side since childhood. It pained her to see this.
“The reason they haven’t conceived is that His Highness has been waiting for me to bear his eldest legitimate son. All the women of the inner courtyard, including the several serving in the front courtyard, have been drinking Contraceptive Decoction. Now that I’ve entered the household—setting aside the front courtyard for the moment—the Contraceptive Decoction for the Shuren of the inner courtyard will certainly be stopped. Given how favored Consort Fuca and Consort Gao are, who knows which of them might fall pregnant any day now.”
“But Master, I think Consort Fuca’s looks can’t compare to Consort Jin’s. How is it that Consort Fuca has won more of His Highness’s favor?”
“Setting aside the fact that Consort Fuca was His Highness’s first woman, I don’t think Consort Fuca is inferior to Consort Jin at all. The more you look at her, the more comfortable she becomes, and she carries an imposing air about her. You just watch—she’s someone to reckon with.”
“Then Master, why did you treat them so gently today? What if it makes them bold…”
“Enough. Who taught you to speak recklessly about your superiors behind their backs?” The Prince’s Consort’s tone turned sharp in an instant.
Bai Qin hastily knelt down, insisting she knew she was wrong.
“Go call Bai Qi in to attend to me first, then kneel here for one shichen. Consider it a mercy that I’m not making you do it outside.” The Prince’s Consort did not look at her again, turning her attention back to the household affairs.
Bai Qin did not dare to say more. She went to the pantry to summon Bai Qi inside, then knelt in the corner. Bai Qi entered without saying much and silently attended to the Prince’s Consort’s side.
Unlike the Shuren, the Prince’s Consort was not assigned maids by the Imperial Household Department—she could have four personal attendants, brought from outside the palace and registered in the records.
The four were named after the four arts—qin, qi, shu, hua—namely Bai Qin, Bai Qi, Bai Shu, and Bai Hua.
Among them, Qin, Qi, and Shu had served at her side from the earliest days: Bai Qin was lively and stayed close to the Prince’s Consort; Bai Qi spoke far less but excelled in attentiveness, managing the Consort’s clothing and jewelry; Bai Shu was the youngest and handled communication and messages between the various courtyards.
Bai Hua was more special. She was exceptionally beautiful, and her voice was especially melodious. She was a helper prepared by the Qingyang family for their young mistress—should the Fourth Prince’s Consort become with child, this young lady Bai Hua would likely become yet another Shuren in the Fourth Prince’s household.
As the new principal wife had just entered the household, the Fourth Prince naturally stayed in the main courtyard for the first three nights. Perhaps to emphasize the main courtyard’s special status, the Fourth Prince actually slept there for five consecutive nights before returning to the front courtyard.
The other women of the household could not catch sight of their lord’s figure. Though jealous at heart, they understood the distinction of rank and dared not overstep.
Consort Gao had nothing to do all day and practically lived at Rongmuzhai. The two of them often discussed the Prince’s Consort, but only in the dead of night when the servants had been dismissed.
During the day, they ate and drank as usual. The slight difference was that Rongyu deliberately began building up Consort Gao’s health. Rongyu’s method of building health was to get people moving—things like kicking a shuttlecock, trimming flower branches, and taking walks.
On the first day, Consort Gao could barely keep up with Rongyu’s routine. By the second day, she could no longer hold on and begged for mercy: “Do stop dragging me through all this exertion—I truly cannot move anymore.”
“No, get up and keep going. Rest only when you truly cannot move.” Rongyu would not let her collapse onto the Guifei chair. With a slight tug, she pulled the woman up and whispered in her ear: “We should stop taking the medicine.”
Consort Gao understood, and in an instant her spirit seemed to return. A moment’s thought made clear why Rongyu had been dragging her around jumping and bouncing all day. Everyone knew that a woman in good health was more likely to be with child, and if the mother was healthy, the child would be healthier too.
Consort Gao no longer resisted and followed Rongyu with great enthusiasm.
The commotion at Rongmuzhai naturally could not be hidden from the main courtyard or the front courtyard. The Prince’s Consort said nothing, but when the Fourth Prince heard of it, he found a day to stay overnight at Rongmuzhai.
Staying overnight naturally meant sharing a meal. In the sixth month, lotus leaves were just in season, and many lotus flowers had bloomed. Upon receiving word that the Fourth Prince would stay at Rongmuzhai, Rongyu sent someone to the small kitchen to request lotus leaf cakes and lotus flower congee.
The small kitchen also knew that the Fourth Prince was staying at Rongmuzhai, and the moment they saw the eunuch attending Consort Fuca arrive, they snapped to full alert—but what were lotus leaf cakes and lotus flower congee?
Head Chef Wang Yu, fearing that the lower staff might relay the instructions inaccurately, personally went to Rongmuzhai to seek an audience with Consort Fuca and ask about the lotus leaf cakes and lotus flower congee.
“Just use the same method you normally use for flatbreads, but add some juice squeezed from lotus leaves to the dough. When shaping them, form them into small bowl shapes and put some prepared side dishes inside.” Rongyu did not make things difficult and simply told Wang Yu the food she had in mind. “The lotus flower congee is even simpler: cook rice porridge, and when it is nearly done, wash lotus leaves and lotus petals, cover the porridge with them, and simmer over low heat until the leaves turn pale green.”
Wang Yu’s mind worked quickly as he strove to memorize Rongyu’s words. Finally, he made sure to confirm: “Shuren, I am not certain whether the lotus leaves and lotus flowers are edible. I fear that if I serve them directly to His Highness, it might…”
“Rest assured—if I dare tell you, it is naturally edible. If you do not believe me, you may go ask the imperial physician to verify.” Rongyu could certainly be confident. When the imperial physician had come to take her Peace Pulse a few days earlier, Rongyu had already confirmed it.
“Shuren jests—this servant naturally trusts Shuren. I shall go prepare it at once.” With that, he performed a quick salute and withdrew.
That evening, the Fourth Prince naturally enjoyed the delicacies Wang Yu had painstakingly devised. Finding them novel, he ate several lotus leaf cakes in a row and also had two bowls of the lotus flower congee. Rongyu was not far behind.
The result was naturally that both of them ate too much, so they did not hurry back to the inner chamber. Dismissing the servants, they took a stroll within Rongmuzhai.
When they were alone in private, Rongyu and the Fourth Prince were quite at ease with each other. While walking, Rongyu liked to hold the Fourth Prince’s arm, slipping her small hand into his large one, their bodies close together. In such an intimate atmosphere, their conversation became all the more affectionate.
The Fourth Prince looked at Rongyu with especially tender eyes, and his tone carried a hint of doting affection: “Arong, what made you think of these dishes again?”
“Isn’t it because a few days ago, when I went for a walk in the back garden with Qingwen, I noticed that the lotus flowers in the pond had all bloomed. Qingwen saw the full splendor of the garden, but I was curious whether the lotus leaves and flowers could be eaten. So I took the opportunity when the imperial physician came to check the Peace Pulse a few days ago to ask about it. After receiving a positive answer, I dared to have the small kitchen prepare it. I never expected it to taste this good.”
“You, you really are something—everything you see, you have to ponder whether it can be eaten. So what do you plan to eat next?”
“Naturally, it will be the lotus seeds in a while. Once the lotus seeds are ready, I’ll research some new delicacies for you to taste, my lord. Also, there’s that pomegranate tree in Qingwen’s courtyard—in a few more months, it will be time for it to bear fruit, and the flavor will surely be excellent.”
“The two of you get along quite well. I’ve heard that you’ve been dragging Qingwen around the courtyard to play shuttlecock lately, not stopping until you’re both drenched in sweat.” Here it comes, here it comes—the main event had finally arrived.
Rongyu had long known this question would come, since nothing that happened in the courtyard could ever be hidden from the Fourth Prince. She answered frankly: “Isn’t it because I thought that if I trained my body well, I could give you a beautiful little daughter, my lord? And Qingwen has always been frail—this is also to help her health improve. After all, medicine is three parts poison; one can’t rely solely on taking medicine to nourish the body. She needs to move around more herself.”
“In that case, I think we’ve digested our food well enough. Shouldn’t we be going to make that little daughter now?” The Fourth Prince leaned down and whispered into Rongyu’s ear.
Rongyu’s face flushed red in an instant. Fortunately, it was already dark, and he probably couldn’t see it too clearly. Only then did she dare to press her entire body against the Fourth Prince, speaking in a coquettish voice: “My lord, I can’t walk anymore. Would you be so kind as to carry me the rest of the way?”
Knowing that intimacy between man and woman cannot be separated from an amorous atmosphere—and moreover, the Fourth Prince adored this charming side of Rongyu that no outsider ever got to see—with just the two of them present, he reached his hand directly under her knees, lifted her up with ease, and strode quickly toward the inner chamber.
A moment of spring night is worth a thousand pieces of gold—that was probably the poem Li Xiang knew best.