Su Muyao thought of herself as an insignificant figure in the palace, unaware that quite a few people were thinking of her at that moment.
“Are you saying that the Emperor punished Chang Wen’er for Guaerjia’s sake?”
In Cining Palace, the Empress Dowager looked at Nanny Yan, who had been by her side for many years, with a rather surprised expression.
Nanny Yan corrected her: “It was just a verbal reprimand, ordering Noble Lady Chang to return and reflect on her mistakes behind closed doors. It can hardly be considered a punishment.”
After a pause, she added: “Although Consort Yi Taichang was present, the Emperor did not even glance at her. It seems a bit far-fetched to say it was for her sake.”
The Empress Dowager said nothing more, sighed, and leaned back on the soft couch. Nanny Yan quickly placed a pillow behind her and made a gesture. A maid in the room immediately stepped forward, knelt down, and began gently tapping the Empress Dowager’s legs with a beauty mallet.
The Empress Dowager half-reclined, gazing blankly at a painting titled “Autumn Wind Hunting Scene” hanging on the wall nearby.
This painting was a special gift sent to her for the Mid-Autumn Festival in the eighth month of the fifty-sixth year of Kangxi’s reign. Her fourteenth son had commissioned a court painter to create it while accompanying the late emperor on an autumn hunt, and it was delivered to her from the Mulan hunting grounds over a great distance.
The skill of the court painter was beyond question—every blade of grass and tree was vividly depicted. However, because she often took it out of its case to admire it and later ordered it hung directly on her bedroom wall, the edges of the paper had gradually yellowed, and the colors in the painting had faded slightly.
Yet this did not diminish her affection for the painting in the slightest.
In this hunting scene, her fourteenth son was clad in armor, heroic and spirited, positioned ahead of all the other princes. Astride a galloping chestnut steed, he charged down a hillside.
At the same time, he drew his purple sandalwood dragon-tongue bow into a full moon shape, aiming at a swiftly running white-spotted sika deer in the distant woods.
To this day, she could still vividly recall the turbulent emotions she felt upon receiving this painting.
In ancient times, there was the saying of “chasing the deer to inquire about the tripod.” Her fourteenth son had sent her this painting, and she naturally understood the deeper meaning behind it.
Her fourteenth son had grown up and now harbored the ambition to contend for the throne.
As his birth mother, she was duty-bound to lend him a helping hand.
After the late emperor returned from the Mulan autumn hunt, he fell seriously ill. While attending to his illness, she risked violating the rule that “the harem must not interfere in politics” and pleaded with the late emperor to appoint the Fourteenth Prince, Yinti, as crown prince. The late emperor showed no displeasure but merely said calmly, “Rest assured.”
For this single phrase, “rest assured,” her fourteenth son went off to battle, striving desperately to achieve glorious military feats to prove himself to the late emperor and the court ministers.
In autumn, soldiers fell crossing trenches; in October, generals did not return from burning the wilderness.
Yet midway, her other son—cold, stern, reclusive, and obsessed with seeking immortality and enlightenment—seized the opportunity instead.
How could she ever be reconciled to this?
Thinking of the past, tears glistened in the Empress Dowager’s eyes. She waved her hand, dismissing the others in the room, then took Nanny Yan’s hand and pleaded, “Jingling is remote and desolate. I truly cannot rest easy. I ask for nothing else now—only that my fourteenth son returns safely to the capital so we mother and son can be reunited. Tell me, is there any other way?”
Nanny Yan also felt sorrowful and replied with difficulty, “This… I’m afraid it would require the Emperor’s consent…”
“The Emperor?”
The Empress Dowager sneered, "You know the Fourth Prince as well. For power, he would stop at nothing, even seizing the throne from his own younger brother. How could he easily allow the Fourteenth Prince to return and shake his empire?"
Nanny Yan’s expression changed, and she quickly cautioned, "Your Majesty, please be careful with your words."
Pointing outside, she whispered, "Be wary of eavesdroppers."
The Empress Dowager snorted coldly and said no more.
At this moment, Yongzheng remained unaware that he had once again been criticized by his own birth mother. Of course, even if he knew, he was already accustomed to it.
He was currently having dinner in the Bifang Pavilion, where Chang Wen'er resided, within the side hall of Zhongcui Palace.
After the morning's incident, Chang Wen'er was filled with resentment and frustration. Upon returning to her quarters, she vented her anger by striking palace attendants and smashing objects, only calming down slightly afterward.
Then, she began to worry, fearing that the Emperor would grow tired of her and never summon her again.
Compared to the other consorts in the palace, she held the lowest rank and was originally a palace maid from the bondservant class. Her only reliance was the Emperor’s slight favor toward her.
And this slight favor was entirely because she had been appointed as the "trial marriage lady" for the Emperor by the late Empress Dowager.
But the late Empress Dowager had long since passed away, and who could say what would happen in the future?
Anxious and uneasy, Chang Wen'er pondered what method she could use to make the Emperor "reconsider his feelings" toward her.
The evaluation of "frivolous, impatient, foolish, and reckless" weighed heavily on her, filling her with fear.
Lost in her thoughts, an edict suddenly arrived from outside, announcing that the Emperor would dine at her residence that evening. The messenger was none other than Chief Eunuch Su Peisheng.
Chang Wen'er almost thought she had misheard. After Su Peisheng left, she widened her eyes in disbelief and asked her maid beside her:
"His Majesty is coming here tonight?"
Caiyue, bearing a palm print on her face, forced a smile and said, "You heard correctly. How could it be false when Eunuch Su personally delivered the edict?"
Chang Wen'er’s eyes lit up, and she let out a long sigh of relief. "I knew it. His Majesty still thinks of me."
Indeed, he had only scolded her in the morning but couldn’t bear to stay angry for long.
Though it was still chilly in early spring, the Bifang Pavilion was as warm as a sunny day. Incense smoke curled from the censer, filling the air with a subtle fragrance.
Yongzheng allowed the palace attendants to serve him dishes, seemingly oblivious to the woman beside him, dressed in a delicate lotus-colored gown with floral patterns, her waist slender, her eyebrows finely drawn, and her lips painted, looking exceptionally charming.
"Your Majesty~"
Chang Wen'er cooed shyly, as if complaining about the man’s neglect, yet her tone carried boundless affection.
Yongzheng set down his chopsticks, lifted his head casually, his eyes deep and unfathomable, and gazed at her calmly. "What is it?"
Chang Wen'er felt a pang of nervousness under his gaze. She pursed her lips and cautiously probed, "Is Your Majesty still angry with this concubine?"
"What do you think?"
He tossed the question back to her.
Chang Wen'er truly couldn’t decipher Yongzheng’s meaning. Under the table, she twisted her handkerchief incessantly, lightly biting her lip. With a hint of pique, she said in a pitiful tone, "If Your Majesty finds this concubine lacking, I will surely correct myself. Tomorrow—tomorrow, I will go to that obscure Yi Taichangzai to apologize in person. What does Your Majesty think?"
Yongzheng raised an eyebrow slightly. "That won’t be necessary."
Chang Wen'er’s mind stirred, seizing the opportunity. "Then… what does Your Majesty suggest?"
Yongzheng lightly tapped the armrest of his chair, his gaze fixed intently on Chang Wen'er's changing expressions as he slowly said, "In the past, you were fearless of everything under heaven, but today when I see you, it seems you have some fear of that Taichangzai…"
Chang Wen'er's eyes flickered slightly. She coughed to cover her reaction and replied evasively, "What does Your Majesty mean by that?"
The matter of Guaerjia threatening her with "spying on the emperor's movements" was something she absolutely could not bring up before the emperor.
Not getting the answer he wanted, Yongzheng felt that familiar irritation rising again. He countered, "So, you're saying you're not afraid of her?"
If she wasn't afraid, why had she been so frightened by Guaerjia's words?
Did she take him for a fool?
Chang Wen'er forced a smile and said, "Your Majesty is truly mistaken. This concubine holds only reverence for the late emperor's consorts; fear is absolutely out of the question."
Yongzheng had come to Chang Wen'er's place specifically to resolve the doubts from the morning, but he hadn't expected her to deliberately conceal the truth. No matter how he tried to draw her out with formulaic words, she remained unreadable.
Instead, it made him seem… somewhat presumptuous.
Yongzheng lost his appetite for dinner. After sitting for only a short while, he left Bifang Pavilion.
Once aboard the imperial palanquin, Su Peisheng cautiously asked, "Your Majesty, shall we return to Yangxin Hall?"
Yongzheng was about to say yes, but the words changed at the last moment. "I don't feel like returning just yet. Let's take a turn along the palace paths."
This was an unprecedented first.
Since ascending the throne, Yongzheng had been overwhelmed with affairs—handling state matters in the front court, summoning various ministers, or holing up in Yangxin Hall to review memorials. He hadn't even had time to stroll through Yuhuayuan, let alone wander aimlessly along the palace paths.
Su Peisheng was bewildered. The emperor hadn't specified a destination, nor had he said how long they should wander.
This… meant letting the imperial palanquin roam aimlessly through the palace…
It seemed that was all they could do.
Yongzheng closed his eyes, idly toying with a string of jade beads. After an indeterminate length of time, he suddenly raised a hand, and the palanquin came to an abrupt halt.
Su Peisheng leaned closer and said, "Your Majesty…"
Yongzheng asked, "Have the pear blossoms in Yuhuayuan bloomed yet?"
The emperor was probably bored from sitting and wanted to descend and visit Yhuayuan.
Since it was still early, there was no harm in it.
Su Peisheng smiled and replied, "You'll have to wait a while longer for that. It's only early February now; pear blossoms won't bloom until mid-February at the earliest. However, the snow plum blossoms at Huifeng Pavilion are in full bloom, and beneath the covered walkway, there's a row of narcissus flowers presented by foreign envoys—moist and white as jade, truly beautiful. The imperial harem consorts have been visiting often these past few days to admire them. Would you like to take a look as well?"
Yongzheng shook his head. "No, there's the scent of pear blossoms."
Having just rested with his eyes closed, his sense of smell had become particularly acute. Other floral scents were one thing, but when he was still a prince, leisurely residing in the Old Summer Palace, there had been a Pear Fragrance Garden where his advisor, Mr. Wu Sidao, who often discussed state affairs with him, had lived.
Every spring, pear blossoms would bloom like snow, one after another. When the wind blew, that delicate, pleasant fragrance would fill the entire Old Summer Palace, bringing peace and tranquility.
He was all too familiar with the scent of pear blossoms.
Su Peisheng sniffed the air and indeed, in the gentle breeze, caught a faint, dewy fragrance—so subtle that one might easily miss it if not paying close attention.
"It is the scent of pear blossoms."
Su Peisheng chimed in agreeably, "Your Majesty's nose is truly sharp. Perhaps one of the consorts is drinking pear blossom tea or using pear blossom ointment?"
After all, how could pear blossoms bloom in this season?
He was afraid the Emperor would be displeased upon discovering the truth later, so he decided to give a preemptive warning.
Yongzheng didn’t mind and calmly ordered, “Let’s go and take a look.”
The imperial carriage slowly moved, this time heading in the direction of Qianxi Sisuo.