Kangxi’s mind was unsettled. Bathing did not relieve the heat in his body, and after seeing the dudou that Cao Yue had accidentally left behind in the bath chamber, the fire in his heart became even harder to calm.
So Kangxi hastily washed off his body, and before even drying himself off, he threw on his underrobe and came out in a hurry.
It was just that wishes were beautiful, while reality was very harsh. After Kangxi came out, the beauty he saw had pale lips and a weak face as she curled up on the bed, utterly unlike the alluring scene he had imagined in his mind.
That bit of disappointment flashed by in an instant. Kangxi took three steps in two and sat down beside the bed, using the back of his hand to touch Cao Yue’s slightly cool cheek: “What’s wrong? Why does your face look so bad?”
As he spoke, Kangxi was about to order someone to summon the imperial physician.
Cao Yue hurriedly gave a soft cry and stopped him.
Kangxi suppressed the heat in his heart and looked at Cao Yue in puzzlement. He saw Cao Yue’s white teeth bite her lower lip, and before long she had bitten out a tooth mark. Her weak voice carried a trace of shy embarrassment, and even her gaze was somewhat evasive: “It’s just a woman’s monthly trouble, it isn’t worth Your Majesty taking it to heart. This concubine will be fine after resting a bit.”
Kangxi was not an ignorant youngster. Seeing Cao Yue say this, he immediately understood. It was just that he had had so many women, and had never yet encountered one who happened to come to it on the very night he favored her. For a moment, he did not know what reaction he should have.
If it had been someone else, perhaps he would have turned and left on the spot. But it happened to be Zhaopin, cold and reclusive in temperament and hard to deal with. Kangxi always felt that if he just left like this, then all the many things he had done today, using both kindness and威 pressure to make Zhaopin change her attitude toward him, would all become wasted effort.
Although Cao Yue was a woman, she had at least once commanded the harem with the emperor Liu Bang alive, so how could she not understand an emperor’s thinking? Fundamentally, all people who become emperors share the same faults, suspicion and arrogance.
She only needed to think a little, and she could roughly guess a few of Kangxi’s thoughts.
The warm room fell silent for a moment. Cao Yue hesitated as she tugged at the corner of Kangxi’s underrobe, and said uncertainly, “Your Majesty, this concubine is unwell today. I’m afraid I can’t receive you.”
The movement of Kangxi’s fingers, which had been rubbing together continuously, came to a stop. Following the flow, he stood up and kindly tucked the quilt around Cao Yue. If one ignored the redness at the corner of Kangxi’s eye, his attitude could even be called exceedingly gentle: “Very well, since I’m here, you probably won’t be able to rest peacefully either. Then I won’t disturb you.”
After saying that, Kangxi thought about it again and said a few more words of concern and comfort. He stopped Cao Yue from getting up to see him out, and only then strode out, putting on his cloak and returning to the east courtyard.
Once Kangxi left, An Ning, who had been playing dumb on the side, let out a long, hard breath. She could not help but complain to Cao Yue, “The emperor’s aura is way too strong. This is clearly our place, but when the emperor comes, we instead feel uneasy.”
Cao Yue leaned against the headboard, stroking the hand warmer under the brocade quilt, and smiled. “Under all Heaven, all land belongs to the king. This is the benefit brought by status and power.”
So, as a woman, she could not blame herself for only being able to climb upward by serving the emperor.
It was just a pity that she had been reborn at the wrong time. If she had been born into the great flourishing Tang, she might not have been able to become a female emperor like Wu Zetian, but copying the path Lü Hou had walked might perhaps still have been possible.
Cao Yue felt a little regretful, then quickly lifted her spirits again. After all, being able to start over in one lifetime was already lucky; people had to learn contentment.
Not long after, An Ping came in carrying red sugar ginger water she had personally boiled, and fed Cao Yue spoonful by spoonful until she had finished drinking it, and only then did her worry lessen a little.
Cao Yue used a handkerchief to wipe the corner of her lips, and instructed An Ning, “Go to the bath chamber and put away the clothes I left behind just now.”
That dudou had been deliberately told to An Ning to leave behind when she came out. As for what reaction the emperor had when he went in, she did not know, but it was unlikely to have had little effect.
In her previous life, after serving Liu Bang for many years, she could tell what kind of reaction a man had when he was moved even with her eyes closed. The emperor’s tense body and red-rimmed eyes just now were enough to explain everything.
An Ning hurriedly agreed and went quickly with her head lowered to tidy up the clothes in the bath chamber.
An Ping set the bowl on the small table, took the handkerchief Cao Yue had dirtied, and said with her lips pressed together, “Miss, if the emperor doesn’t stay here to spend the night today, and then returns to the east courtyard to favor someone else, wouldn’t that be slapping your face?”
The women by the emperor’s side had never been few. Back then, Liu Bang favored her like that, but did he not still favor other people?
So Cao Yue simply did not care about this. However, when it came to her own face, she did care.
“What the emperor wants to do, and whom he wants to favor, is not something I can put in my two cents about. As for whether the emperor really favored some palace maid, that is her good fortune. As long as the matter doesn’t get out, and doesn’t make me lose face, that’s enough.”
Cao Yue arranged a strand of dark hair in front of her chest, her expression faint. “Tell people to keep a closer watch. There are some things that don’t need caring about, but one must not not know.”
As the art of war says, know yourself and know your enemy, and you can fight a hundred battles without defeat.
Kangxi returned to the east courtyard. Along the way, the bone-chilling wind had not diminished his desire in the slightest, and so the moment he returned, he picked up the cold tea on the desk.
Liang Jiugong watched with dread: “Your Majesty, drinking cold tea in the dead of winter hurts the body. May this servant change it for a cup of hot tea for you?”
Kangxi ignored him and drained the cold tea in one go. Brown droplets hung from Kangxi’s lips, and under the candlelight they reflected a faint glimmer.
At this scene, if Liang Jiugong still did not know the reason, then he was blind.
Indeed. The emperor had gone enthusiastically to the west courtyard today, thinking he could hold the beauty in his arms, who knew that just before the last step through the door, Zhaopin suddenly came to her monthly period. The emperor had a ball of evil fire in his body that he could not vent, so he could only drink cold tea to bring the fire down.
Thinking of this, Liang Jiugong carefully probed, “Your Majesty, shall this servant call a palace maid in to attend you?”
Although the emperor had not brought any consorts on this tour, he had still brought a few palace maids for bed service without status or rank. Not to mention those women presented by local officials along the way, whom the emperor had favored only once and then forgotten.
Whenever Liang Jiugong had made such a suggestion in the past, Kangxi had almost always nodded and allowed it. After all, he was the emperor, and there was no reason for him to wrong himself in matters concerning women.
But for some reason today, what Kangxi first thought of in his mind was not how to relieve his desire, but that if this matter were to let Zhaopin know, Zhaopin would probably be unhappy.
The moment he realized his own thought, Kangxi’s face suddenly turned sullen. His right hand clenched tightly into a fist. He always felt that tonight he was somewhat unlike himself. When had he ever considered other people’s feelings while favoring someone?
Zhaopin…
Kangxi closed his eyes. “Call one in.”
“Yes.”
Liang Jiugong answered and was about to go pick someone, but before he even stepped over the threshold, the emperor suddenly called him back and added an instruction: “Don’t let this get out, especially don’t let Zhaopin know.”
When Liang Jiugong heard this, his eyes widened, but he did not say anything. He obediently went to do the errand.
However, this place was the Cao family manor. Even if the ones serving in the east courtyard were all palace people, the daily kitchen purchases still had to be handled by the Cao family’s servants. It was perfectly normal to hear a bit of gossip during the supply runs.
Therefore, Liang Jiugong tried every possible way to cover it up, and even specially chose an honest palace maid to go in and attend. In the end, however, he still failed to keep it from Cao Yue, who had deliberately sent people to inquire about the news.
Cao Yue stroked the embroidery on the hand warmer cover, her emotions not rising or falling at all: “Prepare a bit. In a while, go to the north courtyard to pay respects to Mother.”
Yesterday she had received the imperial edict, and because the emperor was there, even though she had heard that her mother was unwell, she could not spare the time to go pay her respects and ask after her. Today she absolutely could not miss it.
An Ning hesitated a little. “Miss, your identity is different now. If you go to the north courtyard again to pay respects to the old madam, people may talk about it.”
With yesterday’s imperial edict, even though there had not yet been a conferral ceremony, Cao Yue was already the imperial family’s properly acknowledged consort, a master.
Since she was a master, why would a master need to go pay respects to a servant?
After An Ning reminded her, Cao Yue then remembered that in the rules taught by the teaching mama a few days ago, there really was this one.
After a moment of silence, Cao Yue did not insist on going to the north courtyard, but instead changed her words: “Then have Mother come over. It’s cold, remember to tell Mammy Hua to prepare a warm sedan chair.”
An Ning let out a breath of relief. “Yes, this servant will go to the north courtyard right away.”
When the old madam, Madame Sun, heard An Ning’s purpose, she did not even wait for the warm sedan chair to be readied and immediately wanted to go out. It was only after An Ning repeated Cao Yue’s words once more that Sun’s anxiety was finally calmed.
By the time she saw Cao Yue, it was already two ke. Sun had originally wanted, as before, to go up and take Cao Yue’s hand to ask after her health, but the moment she was about to move her feet, Sun suddenly thought of Cao Yue’s present identity and, despite Cao Yue’s obstruction, forced herself to kneel and pay respects: “This old servant has seen Zhaopin Niangniang.”
Just one “this old servant,” one “Zhaopin Niangniang,” made Cao Yue’s heart feel as though it were being pricked by needles, with pain spreading densely across it.
Even in her previous life, when she met her own parents as a favored consort and received their bows, she had never felt this way.
Cao Yue’s nose turned sour, and tears poured down in streams. She followed and knelt before Sun, crying as she choked out, “Mother, don’t be like this. Your daughter cannot bear it.”
Sun said stubbornly, “There is a difference between ruler and subject. This is what you should bear.”
Seeing this, Mammy Hua quietly sighed. She turned and dismissed the maids serving in the room, then had people stand guard outside the door, and only then stepped forward to persuade them.
Another stick of incense later, after the two of them had stopped crying, Cao Yue only then remembered the purpose for which she had invited Sun over. She hurriedly looked Sun up and down, left and right, inside and out several times: “Daughter heard that Mother has not been well. Have you seen a doctor?”
Sun felt especially comforted in her heart, and patted Cao Yue’s hand. “Yue’er, rest assured, Mother is fine.”
Yesterday’s physical discomfort was, first, to show the emperor, and second, merely an excuse not to see Cao Yin.
Cao Yue was half believing and half doubting. “Really? You are not allowed to fool your daughter.”
“Of course it’s true.” Sun gave Cao Yue a reproachful look, then changed the subject. “All right, stop only caring about Mother. Mother has something to ask you instead.”
She paused, and Sun carefully looked around, then lowered her voice and asked, “Why didn’t the emperor stay yesterday?”
Her daughter becoming a consort was already a settled fact. Sun could not change it, so she could only choose to accept it, and within her power do her best to help her daughter win the emperor’s heart.
Speaking of this kind of matter with her own mother, Cao Yue was always somewhat embarrassed. She pressed her lips together and said softly, “Daughter’s monthlies came, so…”
When Sun heard this, suspicion rose in her eyes. “I remember your monthlies are not these few days. How could it be such a coincidence?”
Meeting Sun’s gaze, Cao Yue lowered her head guiltily. “Daughter used medicine…”
Sun immediately could not hold back and slapped Cao Yue on the shoulder with one hand: “You foolish thing, don’t you know a woman’s body is especially delicate? How can those fierce, wolfish medicines be taken carelessly? What if you damage your body and it becomes difficult to conceive? What will you do then?”
If a consort could not bear children, how difficult would life in the harem be? She had seen that with her own eyes.
The more Sun spoke, the more anxious she became. If the timing had not been wrong, she would have wanted to summon a doctor right this very moment to examine Cao Yue.
Cao Yue could not refute it, nor could she bear to refute Sun’s words. She listened sincerely as Sun lectured her, until Sun grew tired from speaking, and only then did Cao Yue comfort Sun and say she knew what she was doing.
Sun knew this daughter of hers had a strong will of her own, so after letting out one sigh, she simply skipped over the topic and then carefully told Cao Yue about the dirty affairs in the palace and the temperaments and taboos of several masters in the palace who needed flattering and currying favor.
Among them were the Grand Empress Dowager, the Empress Dowager, as well as matters among the great clans such as the Tongjia clan, the Hesheli clan, and the Niohuru clan.
These matters were especially tedious. By the time Sun’s account came to a pause, more than an hour had already passed.
Sun drank a sip of the floral tea Cao Yue handed her to moisten her throat, and said sincerely, “Yue’er, you must remember this. In Mother’s heart, the Cao family is important, but you are even more important, so once you enter the palace, you must first protect yourself. As for the rest, it would of course be good if you can add the finishing touch to the Cao family, but if you cannot, there is no need to force it.”
Cao Yue was deeply touched in her heart, and looked at Sun firmly. “Mother, rest assured, daughter knows what she is doing.”