The scorching heat of June was overwhelming, with waves of hot air rising from the ground. On the rural path leading to the capital, a horse-drawn carriage moved slowly forward. The carriage bore the emblem of the “Duke of Weiguo’s Mansion,” painted in grand emerald and vermilion lacquer, looking solemn and majestic. However, four imperial palace guards surrounded it front and back, as if they were escorting or detaining someone.
Inside the carriage, on a bamboo mat-covered couch, Song Jianing rested her head against the left corner of the carriage wall. She was sleeping soundly with her eyes slightly closed. Her plump, white tofu-like cheeks swayed gently with the movement of the carriage, rippling with an alluring and charming charm.
Nanny Li sat beside her, watching. For some reason, she suddenly recalled what happened two days ago. When she had gone to the main room to deliver a message and lifted the door curtain, she was shocked to see the heir had somehow arrived and was holding her young mistress in his arms. In that brief glance, her young mistress’s round, rosy, chubby little face looked just like it did now — no, it was shaking even more violently, accompanied by soft, whimpering cries.
Even after two days, every time Nanny Li remembered that scene, her face would flush and her heart would race. Just as a surge of heat rose in her chest, a bird’s cry suddenly came from outside the window. Nanny Li glanced over and saw a black-winged magpie flapping its wings and flying away. A magpie at the door was usually a good omen, but after a moment of daze, Nanny Li’s brows furrowed deeper and deeper.
Song Jianing was extremely beautiful. Everyone in the capital knew that the heir had a delicate little concubine whom he had doted on for seven full years without fading. Now, with the wedding between Princess Duanhui and the heir approaching, Princess Duanhui had deliberately summoned Song Jianing into the palace while the heir was away from the capital. It was clearly a trap — a Hongmen Banquet. Unfortunately, this mistress whom she had served for seven years had no scheming mind at all. She only thought about eating, drinking, playing, and teasing cats and dogs every day. Look at her — a great disaster was about to strike, yet she could still sleep so peacefully!
“Miss, wake up. We are about to enter the city,” Nanny Li said softly while using a handkerchief to wipe the drool from the corner of Song Jianing’s mouth.
Song Jianing woke up. She covered her rosy, pouty lips with her small hand and yawned. The beauty who had just woken up had watery, clear, and pure eyes.
“Miss, once we enter the palace later, if the princess asks you anything, answer whatever you can. If you don’t know how to reply or if it’s difficult to say, you don’t have to force yourself. Just play dumb and muddle through it. Whatever you do, do not anger the princess,” Nanny Li instructed once again as the carriage passed through the city gate and drew closer to the imperial palace.
Song Jianing nodded obediently.
Nanny Li always said she was foolish, but after experiencing so many things, how could Song Jianing really be stupid? She was simply giving up on herself, living a muddled life of eating and waiting for death. Her mother was the daughter of a wealthy merchant in the capital, and her father was a handsome scholar who had passed the imperial examinations. In her childhood, Song Jianing had lived a comfortable, delicate life as a little lady from a respectable family, never worrying about food or clothing. It was only after her parents passed away one after another that she, with her alluring face and no one to rely on, was sent by her uncle to become a concubine for the newly appointed county magistrate, Liang Shao.
It was better to be the wife of a poor man than the concubine of a rich one. The Song family was, after all, from a scholarly background. Even though their fortunes had declined, how could her uncle and aunt, simply because they disliked how seductive she looked, casually send her away like that? With red-rimmed eyes, Song Jianing was carried into the county office. When she saw the elegant, refined, and gentle-as-jade Liang Shao, her resentment quietly faded by three parts. Liang Shao was a jinshi (imperial graduate). He had left his wife at home to care for his elderly mother and had come alone to take up his post. He treated Song Jianing extremely well. The two of them lived in perfect harmony, enjoying romantic days filled with music, poetry, flowers, and snow. Their relationship was as sweet as glue.
After a year of sweetness, Guo Xiao suddenly appeared before her.
Guo Xiao was the heir of the Duke of Weiguo’s Mansion in the capital. He had been ordered to handle affairs in Huzhou. Liang Shao had some distant family ties with the Duke’s Mansion. When he learned that Guo Xiao would pass through the prefectural city, he personally went to meet him. Guo Xiao gave him face and accepted the invitation to visit the county office. Liang Shao asked Song Jianing to come out and pay her respects. Song Jianing felt happy in her heart, thinking that her husband valued her. She never imagined that Guo Xiao would covet her beauty. Even less did she expect that, after the two cousins drank heartily all night, the next morning, after she took a sip of tea poured by Liang Shao, when she opened her eyes again, she was already inside Guo Xiao’s carriage!
It turned out that Liang Shao had traded her for a single promise from Guo Xiao: “I will definitely support and promote you in the future.”
It turned out that the year of love and affection between her and Liang Shao meant nothing at all.
Song Jianing’s heart was completely broken. When Guo Xiao saw her resisting, he did not force her. After returning to the capital, he arranged for her to stay at his estate. He patiently explained to her the ways of the world, accompanied her on outings to enjoy mountains and rivers, and waited until she could finally be amused by the maids again. Only then did Guo Xiao take her for himself.
That night, Song Jianing finally understood the difference between a man who practiced martial arts and a weak scholar. She also shed the very last tear for Liang Shao.
For Song Jianing, forgetting Liang Shao was not that difficult. In terms of family background and ability, Guo Xiao was the heir of the Duke of Weiguo’s Mansion and a talented general highly praised by the Emperor — he was thousands of miles ahead of Liang Shao. In terms of appearance and bearing, Guo Xiao had sword-like eyebrows, starry eyes, and a strong, robust physique. If Liang Shao was a fine stallion, then Guo Xiao was a majestic qilin. Even when sleeping together at night, Guo Xiao made her feel far more comfortable than Liang Shao ever had.
To put it shamelessly: once she felt comfortable and satisfied, who would still keep thinking about the person who had made her miserable? After all, she was just a concubine.
Song Jianing forgot Liang Shao. However, even though outsiders saw that Guo Xiao had doted on her alone for seven whole years — which was deep and loyal enough — she never developed any real feelings for him again. Because she understood very clearly: no matter how good Guo Xiao was to her, in his eyes, she was nothing more than a beautiful concubine, a woman he had taken a fancy to and could snatch away to possess. With this kind of status, Song Jianing no longer held any expectations. She simply lived happily by herself at the estate, calmly waiting for the day when her beauty would fade and his love would cool.
Since she held no expectations, when Guo Xiao told her that he was going to marry Princess Duanhui, Song Jianing was only slightly surprised before she sincerely offered her congratulations. Guo Xiao probably did not believe her. He remained silent for a long time and said many things to her — that Princess Duanhui was his own cousin and he had to give her proper dignity, that he would visit the estate less often in the future, but he would never forget her.
How could Song Jianing dare to fight for favor with a princess? She repeatedly assured him that she would behave obediently and dutifully, and even said that if it was inconvenient for him, he did not need to come to the estate at all. In the end, Guo Xiao left with a dark face. Before departing the capital, he sneaked into her room like a thief and roughly tormented her for a long while without saying a word.
Afterward, Song Jianing lay limp on the bed, feeling extremely wronged. Did he actually want her to feel jealous?
What a strange and unpredictable man.
While she was lost in wild thoughts, the carriage came to a stop.
After getting off the carriage, Song Jianing wanted to secretly take a look at the imperial palace, but she found herself standing between two tall, high walls. The view on both sides was completely blocked, leaving only a narrow passage that led to an unknown destination. Sunlight could not reach inside, making the place look gloomy and eerie. Song Jianing felt very disappointed. She followed Nanny Li behind a very serious-looking female official, turning left and right through many twists and turns. When they finally reached the legendary Imperial Garden, she was warned to keep her head bowed and not look around.
Song Jianing did not dare to look around anymore.
Two quarters of an hour later, she was brought to a cool pavilion beside a lake. The lake was covered with lush green lotus leaves, and clusters of pink lotus flowers stood gracefully upright.
Well, the reason Princess Duanhui had summoned her into the palace was to admire the lotuses.
But in Song Jianing’s opinion, this pond in the imperial palace was really too small. It was far inferior to the vast Taihu Lake in Suzhou. Thinking back to the huge lakes she had seen as a child, while Princess Duanhui could only live inside these high walls and face such a small pond every day, Song Jianing actually felt a little sorry for her.
“You are the Song woman? Raise your head.”
A lazy and contemptuous voice came from inside the pavilion. Song Jianing nervously lifted her head and saw a gorgeously dressed woman in a bright red gauze skirt sitting beside a stone table in the pavilion. She wore jeweled hairpins and jade ornaments. Two palace maids stood behind her, fanning her to keep her cool. She looked dignified and noble.
“How dare you stare at the princess!” one of the palace maids scolded sharply.
Song Jianing was startled. She quickly lowered her head again until her forehead touched the ground, no longer feeling the heat of the floor.
As she lowered her head, Princess Duanhui stared at her in a daze. In her eyes, Song Jianing’s plump little face was still clearly visible. Women of this dynasty prized slenderness as beauty. The late Emperor’s consorts had starved themselves, hating to eat three meals a day just to maintain a tiny waist that could be held with one hand. Princess Duanhui had long heard that her cousin had a particularly favored little concubine. She had expected Song to be beautiful, but she never imagined that Song Jianing would be such a plump and voluptuous beauty.
She was indeed chubby and even seemed to have a double chin. Yet even so, Princess Duanhui could not bring herself to call Song Jianing ugly. Honestly speaking, Song Jianing was more beautiful than any woman she had ever seen — her beauty carried the seductive, fox-spirit charm of a vixen. No wonder she had managed to steal away her childhood sweetheart cousin!
Jealousy surged in her heart. Princess Duanhui coldly glanced at Song Jianing and said to the palace maid beside her, “I am tired. I will take a short nap. Do not let anyone disturb me.”
The palace maids answered in unison.
Princess Duanhui moved gracefully, leaned back against the beauty couch, and really closed her eyes.
Outside the pavilion, on the steps below, Song Jianing maintained her kneeling position with her forehead touching the ground. Under the scorching sun, it took less than a quarter of an hour for her to be drenched in sweat. Her arms kept trembling uncontrollably. She felt miserable and wronged, but the other party was a princess. If the princess did not give permission, she would not dare to move. What awaited her would be a beating with planks, or even worse — the King of Hell’s summons.
Song Jianing endured the suffering bitterly.
When sweat kept dripping down her face, her knees had gone numb from pain, and her body could barely hold on any longer, Song Jianing suddenly felt that she no longer wanted to live. Tears mixed with sweat fell together. Did she want to be Guo Xiao’s concubine? Did she want to stand in the princess’s way? She did not, but this was her fate. What could she do about it? She had been clinging to life because she feared death, but now life was worse than death. Why should she continue living?
Just as the thought of ending her life grew wildly like weeds, and Song Jianing was about to crawl up and throw herself into that small, pathetic pond to drown herself and end it all quickly, someone suddenly ran out from the pavilion with hurried footsteps. Several people knelt down on both sides with loud thuds and respectfully kowtowed, “This servant pays respects to the Emperor.”
The Emperor?
Song Jianing wanted to see what the most noble man in the world looked like. She suddenly remembered the female official’s warning not to look around. She was about to lower her head again when she thought: she was already prepared to die, so why should she care about rules anymore? If she could see the Son of Heaven with her own eyes before dying, then her life would not have been lived in vain!
With that thought, Song Jianing threw caution to the wind. She turned her head to look back, but because she had been kneeling for too long, her arms and knees had gone weak. Her head tilted, and her whole body followed, collapsing into a side-lying position!
The sudden change caught everyone off guard. The new Emperor, who was about to pass by, instinctively looked down at the ground.
Song Jianing had been kneeling for a long time, and her clothes were completely soaked with sweat. Now lying on her side, her cheeks were flushed, her eyes were filled with tears, her hairpins were disheveled, and damp strands of hair stuck to her cheeks. She looked exactly like a delicate woman who had just been tenderly loved and tormented. The new Emperor had ascended the throne at twenty-seven. He had not yet married, and for the past three years he had been observing mourning for the late Emperor. Although he was already thirty, he had never touched a woman. Seeing Song Jianing like this, he rare paused for a moment.
Song Jianing took the chance to clearly see the Emperor. He wore a plain red dragon robe, tall and straight like a green bamboo standing before her. He looked about the same age as Guo Xiao, with skin as white as jade and clear, quiet features. Guo Xiao was also a cold and stern man, the kind that made people afraid. But the Emperor was different. His coldness was like the layers of mist lingering on the distant mountain peaks after rain — unreachable and impossible to figure out.
Song Jianing suddenly remembered something she had heard three years ago when she went out with Guo Xiao. Some commoners were gossiping that the Emperor had only ascended the throne because he was deeply scheming. On the surface he appeared indifferent to the world, but secretly he had murdered the Crown Prince and his own elder brother from the same mother. Otherwise, how could the throne have fallen to a stuttering imperial prince? So this Emperor was a ruthless, cold-blooded stutterer?
Song Jianing shivered uncontrollably. She quickly knelt properly again, lowering her head very low and revealing a section of her fair, slender, and beautiful neck.
Zhao Heng looked at her for one more glance.
Princess Duanhui, who had just “woken up,” saw this and laughed mockingly, “What? Does Royal Brother also think Song is exceptionally beautiful? It’s rare to find someone who catches Royal Brother’s eye. Why don’t we ask Guo Xiao to send her into the palace? She has already served two men, so she should be used to it and won’t bother with any dramatic suicide for chastity.”
Song Jianing’s face turned as white as paper.
Zhao Heng did not enter the pavilion. He stood beside Song Jianing with his hands behind his back and said indifferently, “Women should avoid jealousy. Know when to stop.”
Zhao Heng had a speech impediment, so his words were short and required the listener to understand carefully. Princess Duanhui had grown up interacting with her royal brothers and naturally understood what her brother meant. He was reminding her that Song was her cousin’s favored concubine. If she went too far, her cousin would definitely settle the score with her when he returned. Princess Duanhui was truly afraid that Guo Xiao would dislike her. She gritted her teeth and pointed at the stone table while speaking to Song Jianing, “Fine. I originally wanted to invite you into the palace to admire the flowers. Since your body is so delicate, you may go back now. These are fresh lychees newly tribute from Lingnan. I grant them to you to taste something new. I hope you will behave properly and know your place in the future.”
She gave a stick first, then a sweet date, so that Song Jianing would not complain to her cousin.
Song Jianing struggled to support herself and kowtowed to express her gratitude.
In the end, she was carried out of the palace on Nanny Li’s back. Once they were in the carriage, Nanny Li helped her sit properly and rubbed her legs with heartache, saying many comforting words.
Song Jianing felt bitter inside. Princess Duanhui was so powerful — would she think of other ways to deal with her in the future?
If only Guo Xiao was willing to let her go. That would be wonderful.
With an uncertain future ahead, Song Jianing glanced at the plate of lychees that Princess Duanhui had granted her and swallowed hard. She had one weakness since childhood — she loved to eat. No matter how sad she was, as long as someone brought her a plate of delicious food, her sorrow could be successfully distracted. Perhaps when she was drugged and sent to Guo Xiao by Liang Shao back then, the reason she did not commit suicide was not only because she felt Liang Shao did not deserve it, but also because the three meals Guo Xiao provided were simply too tempting?
Looking at the plate full of plump, bright red lychees, Song Jianing felt that even her legs hurt less. She picked one up and began peeling it seriously.
Nanny Li saw this and smiled helplessly. Having no scheming mind had its advantages — she never held onto worries for long.
Peeling lychees took time. By the time the carriage left the city, half of the plate was still left. But the road became bumpy again. After another jolt, Nanny Li quietly reminded her, “Eat slowly, be careful not to choke.”
Song Jianing smiled. How could she be that clumsy?
However, the moment she put the freshly peeled large lychee into her mouth, the carriage suddenly jolted violently again. Song Jianing only felt her throat tighten…
Half a month later, a lively piece of gossip spread among the streets of the capital: Princess Duanhui had caused the death of the Duke of Weiguo’s heir’s beloved concubine. The heir was furious and refused to marry her!