“Third Brother will also lull me to sleep…”
With so many eyes and ears around, if someone with ill intentions noticed, they might think the Hesheri family had some grievance against the Emperor and the Empress Dowager.
Imperial power was just that unreasonable.
At the thought, Talu too felt a surge of sorrow and indignation.
She cautiously glanced toward Tongjia Clan’s seat—indeed, she had also dried her eyes and returned to her usual composure.
“Be careful, Princess.”
Anning steadied herself on Talu’s hand and took her seat. Above her sat some young girls of similar age whom she did not recognize, so she could only offer them a friendly smile by way of greeting. It was only after Talu introduced them one by one that she understood the ranking of the princesses and young ladies in the palace.
Including Anning, there were no more than five at this table.
Talu lowered her voice, “Since His Majesty ascended the throne, he has had only six princesses, and five of them have died young. The only one still alive and well is the Second Imperial Daughter born to Concubine Yang, whom the palace calls the Eldest Princess.”
Anning was startled and quickly covered her small mouth.
“The others seated beside you are merely young ladies—they are the Emperor’s adopted daughters.” Talu’s voice dropped to the barest whisper, her head half-lowered. “The one seated second is the Second Young Lady of Prince Jian’s household. The third is the Second Young Lady of Prince Chengze’s household. The fourth—the one right next to you—is the Second Young Lady of Prince An’s household.”
“Because they are raised by the Emperor, the palace folk are willing to address them as princesses to their faces, but in truth they do not hold the status of princess.”
“The first is raised under the Empress’s care, while the other two are in the Imperial Noble Consort’s Chengqian Palace.”
“Why are they all Second Young Ladies?” Anning asked, puzzled.
Talu pressed her lips together and leaned closer to Anning. “Princess, the Emperor took them in for two reasons. First, because so many princesses in the palace have perished—the Empress Dowager believes His Majesty may simply lack the fortune for daughters. There is a folk saying about ‘bringing a child to lead one’s own child,’ meaning that if you raise another’s child, you will be able to bear your own… Second, to raise daughters of the imperial clan to marry on behalf of the royal family.”
“And so, the girls sent into the palace are all second daughters—they are unwilling to send their eldest daughters in.” After all, eldest daughters and legitimate daughters were raised with great effort and resources; how could they be casually given over for others’ use?
Anning was stunned, her head throbbing with a dull ache. She could not tell whether it was anger or sadness, but what followed was fear. “Then what about me?”
No—she was not really the Emperor’s adopted daughter, was she?
If one had to say, she was raised under the Empress Dowager’s care, with no connection to the inner palace.
Talu froze for a moment. “You… you…”
How was she to explain this?
Remembering what the lady of the household had instructed her, she said with an awkward smile, “You are here to be a playmate for the princes. Did you not already know that?”
“Oh, right.” Anning suddenly remembered, quietly patting her chest. “You scared me into forgetting.”
—”What are you muttering about over there? Tell me too, won’t you?”
A nimble, curious voice slipped in from beside her.
It was the daughter of Prince An. Anning still remembered her. She looked about the same age as the Third Prince, dressed in a rose-colored Manchu gown, her small face slightly flushed.
None of the young girls wore makeup, as they were still children, and the Hall of Supreme Harmony was warm, so Anning’s cheeks were also rosy.
“Nothing. You’re very pretty.” Anning had a sweet tongue, and whatever she said sounded utterly sincere. “You look like something out of a painting. My mother says daughters resemble their mothers—I wonder what the princess’s mother looks like.”
The other girl covered her mouth and giggled softly. “You really know how to talk.”
“You’re the Hesheri Princess, aren’t you? My name is Wuyun.”
“I’m Ningyin.”
With the first two breaking the ice, the other two young ladies set aside their reserve and introduced themselves one after another—one was called Suwan, and the other Salin.
Suwan gestured toward the head of the table. “The Empress is very beautiful too. Look.”
The girls were all of similar age. Though Anning was the youngest at just four, she loved to talk, chattering away without any shyness, and before long she had become fast friends with all of them.
Only the Eldest Princess, seated at the very front, glanced over at them a few times but remained silent throughout, not joining in their idle chatter.
Seeing this, Salin lowered her voice and said a few words, then fell silent as well.
Before long, no one was speaking.
The atmosphere returned to the quiet it had been at the start.
Anning was confused. She craned her neck to look, then could only close her mouth as well.
Dishes were brought out one after another. Apart from the stewed mutton kept warm over a low flame, everything else had already turned lukewarm by the time it reached them.
Talu ladled out a bowl of mutton soup. “Drink two bowls at most, Princess. This dish is heating.”
Anning took a couple of sips—the warmth was comforting—and picked at the scallions floating on the surface.
The Emperor did not speak much, and the occasion was peaceful enough. Everyone ate their own food while a dance was performed in the center of the hall—altogether quite agreeable.
When the dance ended, the opera troupe filed into the hall one after another.
Anning quickly perked up.
Just then, a startled cry rose from the lower left side of the banquet. The Emperor looked displeased from his seat above. “What is all this commotion?”
“Your Majesty, Concubine Tang has fainted.”
Being the New Year’s banquet, many furrowed their brows in displeasure at the news, finding it inauspicious. Fortunately, the banquet was a grand affair, and the Imperial Medical Institute had several physicians waiting in the side hall, so it was no great trouble.
Anning ate, drank, and watched the opera, and when it finally ended, she hurriedly brought Talu to report to the Empress Dowager, and was granted permission to meet with the Tongjia Clan.
Gu Wenxing turned left and right, leading the two through the crowd in the darkness.
Before the pavilion, Tongjia’s figure gradually emerged before them.
“Mother!!” Anning broke free from Talu’s hand and rushed over in a flurry.
“My child!” Tongjia crouched down, holding back tears, and kept stroking her daughter’s little face. “You’ve suffered… but how is it you’ve gained weight?”
“…Mother!” Anning wrapped her arms around her neck, pouting with grievance. “Where did I gain weight?”
“This little face has puffed up like a dough ball.” Tongjia laughed through her tears. “I was worried you weren’t eating or sleeping well, but you little ungrateful thing.” She pinched Anning’s cheek hard.
“I was also worrying about you so much that I couldn’t eat or sleep well.” Anning said with complete confidence. “I secretly cried several times at night.”
“What are you worrying about me for? Just worry about yourself.” Tongjia couldn’t help but smile, dabbing the tears from the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief.
“Worrying that Mother misses me so much it hurts—what should I do about that?”
“You clever little imp. No one else is like you.”
Tongjia touched her daughter’s face, having both laughed and cried, and her expression turned somewhat more serious. “How does the Third Prince treat you?”
Though this question was directed at Anning, she looked at Talu.
At the mention of the Third Prince, Anning had much to say. “Third Brother treats me well!”
“Even though he doesn’t talk much and doesn’t smile much, he’s very gentle, and he even lulls me to sleep.” She twisted her little body and touched the hairpin in her hair, proudly showing it to Tongjia. “Third Brother gave me this.”
Talu also nodded.
Tongjia was somewhat relieved, a layer of warm tears welling in her eyes. “Then do you like him? Are you willing to be with him?”
Anning thought for a moment, then nodded firmly. “I’m willing.”
“Then that’s good… that’s good.” Tongjia let out a complete sigh of relief.
Her daughter’s likes and dislikes were written all over her face, extremely difficult to conceal, and she was not good at lying.
This life was so long—being confined within the Forbidden City was already terrible enough, but if she had no affection at all for her own husband, then how was she supposed to endure this lifetime?
“Have you met Consort Tong yet?”
“No.”
Anning said, “Consort Tong doesn’t like to go out and about, but Third Brother goes to pay his respects to her very early every morning.”
Tongjia probed, “How is the relationship between Consort Tong and the Third Prince? Has he ever told you?”
“No.” Anning was puzzled. “Why does Mother ask about this?”
Tongjia and Consort Tong only shared a similar surname—Tong. Unfortunately, the Tong family belonged to the Han Army Banner. That she was favored by the Emperor and gave birth to the Third Prince was only the Emperor’s way of balancing the forces between the Empress Dowager’s Khorchin faction and the court.
At present, the Emperor had only three sons: the First Prince Fuquan, the Third Prince Xuanye, and the Fifth Prince Changning. The First Prince was mediocre in talent and not a threat. The Third Prince naturally had the Empress Dowager’s faction behind him. The Fifth Prince’s birth mother was the concubine Lady Chen, who also had no standing.
If in the future, Consort Tong were to be elevated from the Han Army Banner to the Manchu Army Banner, adding ‘Jia’ to the end of her surname was a common honor.
At that time, there would be two Tongjia families. Although the two families were completely unrelated Manchu clans, they shared the same surname, so the relationship could be made close… being able to establish contact early would not be a bad thing.
However, Tongjia would not tell her daughter any of this.
“Just asking casually. If you don’t know, then you don’t know.” Tongjia instructed, “In the palace, don’t go prying into anything. Follow your tutors every day, and in your spare time, play more with the Third Prince. Don’t concern yourself with anything else, understand?”
Anning curled the corner of her mouth. “It’s not like I can only play with Third Brother. All the other young ladies follow the lead of the Eldest Princess. Just now, the Eldest Princess only glanced at them, and they didn’t dare speak anymore.”
Tongjia’s expression drooped slightly, and she sighed. “They are pitiful too. They have no choice in the matter. It’s not that they deliberately refuse to play with you.”
Anning remembered what Talu had told her, and couldn’t help but put away her displeasure, nervously twisting her fingers. “I shouldn’t have said that about them… Can I go find them to play?”
Tongjia thought for a moment. “Go back and ask the Third Prince.”
“Why not ask the Empress Dowager? What the Empress Dowager says is what counts.” Anning said, “Third Brother has to listen to the Empress Dowager on many things.”
Tongjia’s expression turned grave. “My good daughter, you and the Empress Dowager may not get along well forever.” One only had to look at how the Empress Dowager treated the Imperial Noble Consort to see that clearly. “The Empress Dowager treats you well because she wants our Hesheri clan, because she wants the power behind your grandfather.”
If the Third Prince could laugh last, the Hesheri clan would inevitably clash with the Empress Dowager’s Khorchin faction. The Empress Dowager hated exclusive favor the most—she did not want the Emperor to have a preference for any one woman.
Anning suddenly raised her voice: “No wonder! I knew it!”
Tongjia covered her daughter’s mouth, looking around left and right. “Keep your voice down.”
Gu Wenxing was standing guard not far away, pacing back and forth from time to time, confirming that no one was nearby eavesdropping.
Anning hastily told her about the dead parrot.
Tongjia Clan was not surprised, only saying, “You must stay alert in the palace. Keep the words Talu usually says to you in mind. You cannot be as carefree and thoughtless as you are at home—keep your wits about you in all matters.”
Anning simply nodded, like a chick pecking at rice, though it was unclear whether she had truly taken it to heart.
The mother and daughter chatted for a while longer, until Anning suddenly remembered something. “Oh, right, Mother, could you send my treasure box from my room into the palace tomorrow?”
“Those are all precious items you’ve accumulated over the years—aren’t you reluctant to even play with them yourself?” Tongjia Clan found it amusing. “Now that you’ve been away from home for a while, you’re thinking of them?”
“I want to pick one to give to Third Brother.” Anning touched the hairpin in her hair. “The New Year’s gift that Prince Xin of Duolu gave Third Brother was exchanged by him for this hairpin to give to me. I haven’t prepared any New Year’s gift either, so wouldn’t Third Brother be short two gifts?”
Tongjia Clan poked her forehead. “You really do know how to care for others.”
Author’s note:
Here it comes.