When Cao Yue woke again, it was already the morning of the next day.
Cao Yue rubbed at her swollen forehead. She did not feel refreshed and clear-headed just because she had slept through the night. Instead, she felt somewhat listless.
Turning her head, she watched An Ning busily have people prepare washing things, clothes, and jewelry, and Cao Yue asked her hoarsely, “How did I come back yesterday?”
She still remembered that yesterday, she had fallen asleep in the carriage on the way back to the residence.
When An Ning heard Cao Yue ask, she hesitated for a moment before saying, “It was… it was His Majesty who carried you in.”
At that time, the carriage had stopped. Cao Yin saw that after Kangxi got off the carriage, Cao Yue still had not moved, and worried that something might be wrong with Cao Yue, so he did not avoid anyone and directly lifted the carriage curtain, only to see Cao Yue asleep from exhaustion. So he planned to have someone call over two strong old women to carry her in.
Who knew that just after Cao Yin finished giving the servant boy his orders, he would watch as Kangxi strode onto the carriage and pulled Cao Yue into his arms.
After An Ning carefully finished telling her about what happened yesterday, Cao Yue’s rubbing at her forehead paused. A dark glint flashed through her hazy beautiful eyes. “I see. Was there any gossip in the residence today?”
This was Cao family property, after all, but there were many mouths and many eyes. The Cao family servants might not say much, but one could not rule out the possibility that the people by the emperor’s side had not been discussing it.
However, thinking of Liang Jiugong’s sharpness, whom she had only come into contact with two or three times yesterday, Cao Yue knew her worry was somewhat unnecessary. The person who could sit firmly in the position of first eunuch by the emperor’s side was no pushover.
As expected, An Ning shook her head and said, “No. Liang Jiugong by the emperor’s side warned everyone there at the time.”
Cao Yue felt disappointed for a moment. She had missed another chance.
After asking out of habit, Cao Yue had just finished washing and changing clothes when someone from Madam Sun’s courtyard arrived right on time.
The person who came was the most trusted nanny by Madam Sun, surnamed Hua. Cao Yue respectfully called her Mama Hua.
Led by a little maid, Mama Hua entered the inner room, curtsied respectfully, and her attitude was not lacking in closeness. Seeing that Cao Yue had already stood up from in front of the bronze mirror, she smiled and said, “Has the young lady finished dressing?”
Cao Yue nodded slightly, took two steps forward, and helped Mama Hua up. “Yes. Mama, why did you come at this time? I was just about to eat breakfast and go pay my respects to Mother.”
Cao Yue was Madam Sun’s youngest daughter. In ordinary days, Madam Sun looked at Cao Yue as if she were her eyeball, careful and protective.
The daughters of other official households all moved out of their mothers’ courtyards and lived on their own as soon as they turned six. But Madam Sun, unwilling to part with her then, insisted on keeping Cao Yue until she was eight, only then allowing Cao Yue to move to the West Courtyard, which had been tidied up for eight years.
And because the West Courtyard was separated from the North Courtyard where Madam Sun lived by an artificial lake in between, the distance was somewhat far, so Madam Sun was afraid that Cao Yue would go hungry for the sake of paying her respects, and therefore Cao Yue’s daily morning greeting time was set after breakfast.
Feeling the tender and soft touch on the back of her rough hand, Mama Hua smiled kindly. “What a coincidence, then. The young lady lived at the estate for quite some time, and Madam Sun has been missing the young lady terribly. Not long ago, she rose early this morning and instructed this servant to come invite the young lady to the North Courtyard to have a meal with Madam Sun.”
Cao Yue’s eyes flickered, and she felt somewhat guilty in her heart. She hurriedly said, “It is my fault. Don’t let Mother wait too long. Let’s go over now.”
What happened at the estate was something she had hidden from her mother. At this point, her mother asking Mama Hua to call her over must have been because she had heard about what happened last night.
An Ning supported Cao Yue as she walked along the gravel path beside the artificial lake. Along the way, she kept thinking about how to comfort Madam Sun when she saw her later, but she failed to notice that someone had been sitting in the pavilion at the center of the artificial lake since early morning.
Today, Kangxi had changed into a dragon robe that displayed his imperial status. He sat solemnly in the chair in the lakeside pavilion, with many charcoal braziers around him for warmth. The large group of officials standing respectfully in front of him in official robes were all local officials of Jiangning, who, hearing that the emperor had arrived, came over early in the morning to pay respects and report on their duties.
One of the officials was chattering on and on, constantly flattering Kangxi to no end.
At first, Kangxi could still put on an act and listen to a few sentences. But when he inadvertently caught sight of Cao Yue’s figure, his mind was no longer on that. Instead, he unconsciously followed Cao Yue with his eyes.
The artificial lake was large. Cao Yue kept her head slightly lowered as she circled one third of the lake. She did not look back even once until she entered the gate of the North Courtyard.
Kangxi pressed his thin lips together. His bony fingers suddenly tapped the tabletop twice. When the official saw this, he thought he had said something wrong, and instantly shut his mouth, not daring to speak again.
And when Cao Yue entered the North Courtyard, she lifted the head she had been keeping lowered, raised a smile, and stepped into the main room.
Madam Sun had already been waiting at the round table for the meal. Seeing that the person had arrived, she gave the maid an eye signal, and the maids hurriedly prepared breakfast.
After Cao Yue paid her respects, Madam Sun pulled her to sit beside her. Just as Cao Yue opened her mouth, wanting to say something, Madam Sun raised a hand to stop her. “Eat first. Whatever you have to say, let’s, mother and daughter, talk after breakfast.”
Madam Sun’s appearance as if nothing had happened made Cao Yue’s heart sink. It felt as if a ball of cotton were stuck in her throat, unable to go up or down, and she felt terribly uncomfortable.
After silently and oppressively finishing this breakfast, Madam Sun dismissed the servants, instructed Mama Hua to stand guard outside the door, and took Cao Yue into the inner room.
As soon as they entered, Madam Sun raised her hand and swept the box resting at the edge of the dressing table to the floor, and shouted, “Kneel down.”
The wooden box rolled two circles on the thick wool carpet before finally stopping in front of Cao Yue.
Cao Yue was silent for a moment. Without the slightest hesitation, she lifted her skirt and knelt down.
This appearance made Madam Sun even more upset. Even the hand she was pointing at Cao Yue was trembling slightly. “I told you long ago that you may decide your own marriage. I won’t force you, but there is one place, the imperial inner palace, that you cannot go to. Yet you are good, grown up now, your wings have hardened, and you even learned to hide things from me with your father and elder brother?”
When she gave birth to Cao Yue back then, she was already old, and because she delivered prematurely at seven months, Cao Yue had been weak from birth. It was only after these years of careful conditioning that she had become much better.
Because of this, she had always treasured Cao Yue as if she were the apple of her eye. Only later, when Cao Yue slowly grew up and revealed an extraordinary appearance, out of love for her daughter, she never thought of sacrificing her daughter to win wealth and honor for the Cao family.
She only hoped that her daughter could wear her wedding dress upright and proper, marry in a grand ten-mile red bridal procession, and be a proper principal wife.
How could such a simple wish be so hard?
The more Madam Sun thought about it, the more she felt sorrow rising from her heart. For a moment, she actually could not control her emotions, and tears slid from the corners of her wrinkled eyes.
Cao Yue was horrified and cried out in panic, “Mother…”
In her previous life, she had been born into a famous family. Her parents, on one occasion, happened to meet Liu Bang and bluntly concluded that Liu Bang would achieve great things in the future, so they disregarded her wishes and betrothed her to Liu Bang, who at that time had already taken Empress Lü as his principal wife, as a concubine.
In their hearts, she was their daughter, and also a tool they used to seek wealth and honor.
In this life, being human once again, her heart, which she had intended to seal away, actually felt long-lost warmth from Madam Sun.
Cao Yue could feel Madam Sun’s wholehearted love for her daughter, but for the obsession in her own heart and her ridiculous pride, she could only hurt the heart of the mother who loved her most.
Before Cao Yue could say anything else, Madam Sun had already calmed herself down. She dabbed at the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief and advised, “Yue’er, Mother knows you are the most obedient. Just listen to Mother this once. Give it up, all right?”
That imperial palace was not a good place. Everyone in the palace, and even a single stone, could eat people. Back then, for the sake of the Cao family, she had no choice but to enter the palace and become the emperor’s wet nurse, and she had endured in the palace for many years before finally making it. How could she be willing to let her daughter walk the same road she had once walked?
Madam Sun’s eyes, which had usually been muddled, were now filled with pleading. Looking at them, Cao Yue almost could not stop herself from agreeing on the spot. In the end, reason still won over emotion. She hardened her heart and said, “Mother, it’s already too late. Didn’t you already know?”
A woman who had been carried by the emperor was already branded with the emperor’s mark.
Madam Sun shook her head violently. On the hair at her temples, half black and half white, the step摇 swayed back and forth with her movements. “It’s not too late, not at all. As long as you nod, even if I have to throw away the dignity I have maintained before the emperor all these years, I will still beg him for mercy for you.”
Hearing this, Cao Yue felt even more guilty. A tear fell from the corner of her eye.
After a good long while, she gathered her courage and lifted her head, meeting Madam Sun’s hopeful gaze directly. The words she said, however, could stab Madam Sun’s heart until it bled. “Mother, I was willing.”
If she had not been willing, then even if her father and elder brother had persuaded her over and over again, she would not have agreed.
That single sentence of willingness instantly extinguished the hope in Madam Sun’s eyes. She staggered back two steps and fell onto the bed, weakly closing her eyes and not looking at Cao Yue. “Then, Mother understands.”
She knew her own daughter best. If Cao Yue could say she was willing, that meant there was no longer any room for change in this matter. Even if she had some standing before the emperor, she could not force the emperor to agree that he would not take Yue’er as a consort.
Cao Yue crawled forward on her knees, lay against Madam Sun’s knees, and raised a face like an immortal beauty to promise Madam Sun, “Mother, making you sad is your daughter’s unfilialness. But please believe your daughter. In the days ahead, your daughter will definitely live very well. Definitely.”
She would not repeat the mistakes of her previous life. Only by being heartless and not trusting an emperor’s words could one last long.
Madam Sun reached out and touched Cao Yue’s face, her expression dazed. “I hope so.”
Because she was worried about Cao Yue, Madam Sun had hardly slept at all the previous night. In the morning, her emotions had swung too greatly again, and all her energy had drained away. Her body was already unable to bear it. Fortunately, the women of the Cao family did not need to go before the emperor to pay respects, so Cao Yue served Madam Sun to sleep, then looked at herself in the bronze mirror.
Seeing that her eyes were slightly red, she nodded to herself.
That gaze on the way here had been completely unhidden. How could she possibly not notice it, she had only been pretending not to know. She hoped that when she went out, she could still meet him.
Perhaps Heaven really favored her, or perhaps since being reborn, her luck had always been very good. Just as Cao Yue came out of the North Courtyard and stepped onto the gravel path beside the artificial lake, a group led by the emperor had just reached the fork in the gravel path. Looking at their direction, it seemed they were heading back to the East Courtyard.
Cao Yue stopped. After silently paying her respects, she stepped back to make way for Kangxi. Who knew that Kangxi would stand still in place and personally speak up to call her to rise. “Miss Cao, there is no need to be so formal.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”
Cao Yue straightened up, and as if in a sulk, she still kept her head lowered and did not look at Kangxi.
As one who ruled as emperor, he had long been used to everyone being obedient wherever he went. Suddenly encountering someone who did not take the usual path, Kangxi’s interest naturally rose. Besides, after yesterday’s matter of carrying Cao Yue off the carriage, Kangxi had long since treated Cao Yue as his own woman. Right now, only the matter of official status was missing.
Therefore, under these many reasons, Kangxi spoke quite freely and joked, “Why is Miss Cao keeping her head lowered? Could it be that you find my face hideous?”
Anyone with a bit of sense would know that Kangxi was in a good mood at the moment, and should cooperate. Yet Cao Yue went against the grain. She slightly raised her head, and there seemed to be a trace of anger at the corner of her pink lips. “Of course not. Your Majesty is the true Son of Heaven, and your dragon might is in full force. This servant is afraid in my heart, so I naturally do not dare look directly at Your Majesty’s Dragon Face.”
Being directly pushed back like that, Kangxi froze for a moment. Before he could think through what to say, his gaze, which had been carefully examining Cao Yue, fell on her slightly red eyes.
“You cried?”