Zhang Bao followed the Crown Prince out of Chenghua Hall, watching as His Highness paused briefly once again before the Crown Princess's Hall before striding resolutely toward the Front Hall without looking back.
Zhang Bao hurried to keep up, his mind working faster than his feet. He thought to himself, His Highness must truly be somewhat disappointed in the Crown Princess this time.
Upon returning to the Front Hall, the Crown Prince sat at his desk practicing calligraphy while Zhang Bao went to handle the two tasks His Highness had just assigned.
He retrieved the arm-thick ginseng root from the storeroom and handed it directly to Feng Cheng, instructing him to deliver it to the Crown Princess immediately.
As for the one hundred taels each of gold and silver bean leaves and five hundred strings of cash, he summoned his apprentice Tian Xi and instructed him: "Tomorrow, take a few capable people with you to Chenghua Hall and deliver these to Mistress Zhuang. Be respectful when you speak to her. Tell her this is from His Highness for her to use as rewards—it won't be recorded in the official registers, so it definitely won't attract anyone's attention."
Tian Xi's eyes flickered with understanding. "You think Mistress Zhuang might…"
Zhang Bao nodded. This mistress was likely about to receive good fortune.
…
Zhuang Yunlan knew nothing of what had transpired in the Front Hall. She was preparing to pay her respects to the Crown Princess.
According to the regulations of the Jing Dynasty's inner palace, while the principal consorts of each palace were required to pay daily respects to the Empress, the remaining concubines only needed to do so once every five days. The Eastern Palace's rear courtyard followed this same rule in emulation of the main palace.
The remaining five concubines gathered in the main hall to pay their respects to the Crown Princess. Aside from the Crown Prince's Zhaoyi, Shen Shi—who, along with Consort Chu and the Crown Princess, belonged to the original group that entered the palace—the Crown Prince's Cairen, Talent Song, and the Crown Prince's Xuanshi, Attendant Xiang and Attendant Pu, had all entered the palace in the same selection as Zhuang Yunlan.
Zhuang Yunlan and Attendant Xiang resided with Consort Chu in the western Chenghua Hall, while Talent Song and Attendant Pu lived with Shen Shi in the eastern Zhaohua Hall.
After performing the formal greetings, the Crown Princess invited them to sit and drink tea.
Due to her pregnancy, she wore no cosmetics, her complexion still bearing a sickly pallor.
The Crown Princess's pregnancy had been difficult. Though only four months along, she had previously fallen ill and had been overworked, leaving her quite frail. Her pregnant belly was already noticeably visible.
Nevertheless, the Crown Princess forced herself to sit upright in the seat of honor and converse with the Eastern Palace concubines.
The Crown Prince's Zhaoyi sat with perfect posture in the lower left seat, her expression showing no discernible difference from when the Crown Prince's Jieyu had been present. Only when the Crown Princess asked whether everyone had enough charcoal for heating did she lower her head almost imperceptibly, pressing her lips together.
The Crown Prince's Jieyu had been sensitive to cold. This winter would clearly be difficult to endure.
No one was foolish enough to mention Consort Chu at this moment.
None present were fools. If they hadn't understood the Emperor's intention in directly punishing Consort Chu earlier, then after the Crown Prince was urgently recalled to the palace because of this, returned from Qianqing Palace to the Eastern Palace, and subsequently sent news of delivering tonics to the Crown Princess, everyone understood: the inner palace's regard for the Crown Princess was truly extraordinary.
Zhuang Yunlan had previously only speculated that during the Jing Dynasty Crown Prince's wedding selection, aside from the principal wife, the two selected consorts wouldn't be granted overly low ranks—historically they had been appointed as Crown Prince Cifei or Crown Prince Pin.
Yet during the selection in the twentieth year of Xuancheng's reign, although Shen Shi and Consort Chu had been selected, they were only appointed as Crown Prince's Zhaoyi and Crown Prince's Jieyu.
When their cohort was learning etiquette at Qionghua Palace, some had secretly speculated whether the consorts selected that year lacked sufficient qualifications, leading the inner palace to deem them unworthy of higher positions.
But after entering the Eastern Palace, Zhuang Yunlan discovered this was completely untrue.
At the very least, Shen Shi, the Zhaoyi of the Crown Prince, is a great beauty both inside and out, absolutely worthy of the praise "a model among refined ladies." It’s no wonder Consort Chu became her staunch fan.
In contrast, the Crown Princess.
It’s not that the Crown Princess is lacking—such a pure and kind-hearted mistress would undoubtedly be praised as a virtuous woman in an ordinary household. But as the Crown Princess, she seems a bit unable to hold her ground.
Moreover, although the Crown Princess is a beauty who would undoubtedly be considered campus queen material in modern times, the Jing Dynasty’s selection system for concubines eliminated considerations of family background, focusing solely on appearance and character. As a result, those selected were either top-tier actresses from the era of coal tycoons or legendary beauties from the last century’s Hong Kong pageants. An ordinary campus queen naturally doesn’t stand out as much.
Thus, the reason the Crown Princess became the Crown Princess must lie in something the inner palace particularly valued.
But what that reason is has little to do with Zhuang Yunlan. She is now just a retiree; as long as she doesn’t make mistakes, harm this Crown Princess favored by the inner palace, or lose her retirement privileges, she’ll be fine.
The other concubines also kept their heads down, sipping tea quietly. Even the usually coquettish and playful Pu Xuanshi was unusually subdued in front of the Crown Princess today.
After exchanging a few more words, the Crown Princess dismissed the gathering.
Zhuang Yunlan and Song Cairen walked side by side behind the Zhaoyi of the Crown Prince as they exited. Just as they reached the hall’s entrance, the Zhaoyi was stopped by the Crown Princess’s attendants, who said Her Highness had a few private words to share with her.
Zhuang Yunlan and Song Cairen continued walking with their heads lowered until they left the main hall. Only then did they look up and exchange a glance.
Like Shen Shi and Consort Chu, they had coincidentally been assigned to the same courtyard during the selection and had done everything together since.
However, after entering the Eastern Palace, each had their own principal consort. Unless they arranged to meet outside the halls, they had to pay respects to the other’s principal consort before meeting. Both Zhuang Yunlan and Song Cairen dreaded this formality, so their interactions had become less frequent.
“We’ll probably have to wait for the Zhaoyi. I’ll come find you to chat another day,” Song Cairen whispered to Zhuang Yunlan after a moment’s thought.
Since the Crown Prince’s Jieyu had been sent to the Inner Anle Hall, there was no longer any need to pay respects to a principal consort. Song Miaorong would find it much more convenient to visit Chenghua Hall in the future.
Zhuang Yunlan also missed the times she and Song Miaorong had spent together. After making plans with her, she headed back with Xiang Xuanshi.
In the Western Side Hall, Furong had already brought back the warmed milk from the tea room. A wire rack was placed over the brazier, covered with plump, evenly-sized chestnuts gently swaying as the flames licked at them. In the hottest part of the fire, a few chestnuts had already split open in cross-shaped cuts, revealing their golden-yellow flesh.
Zhuang Yunlan’s eyes lit up. After finishing the milk, she warmed herself by the fire and ate chestnuts.
By the time Tian Xi arrived, the Western Side Hall was enveloped in a sweet, fragrant aroma.
“Greetings to Mistress Zhuang,” Tian Xi said cheerfully, offering a clever salute, his face beaming with joy. “His Highness has sent this servant to deliver something to you.”
Several young palace personnel behind him hurried forward with trays, presenting five hundred neatly stacked Zumo coins and a pouch filled with round, adorable gold and silver bean leaves.
Zhuang Yunlan’s eyes brightened even more. The boss was quite considerate, knowing to give her overtime pay and not taking an employee’s snacks for nothing.
Tian Xi added even more cheerfully, “His Highness also said he’ll come to see you once he finishes his duties today.”
Zhuang Yunlan: …Has she not retired yet?