Shuan Erquan hung his head low, clutching the thing in his hands tightly, and followed behind the eunuch leading the way, hurrying back to the Imperial Workshop outside Longzong Gate.
He was already well past his expected return time, and he’d surely catch a beating from his master once he got back. There was no helping it, these days, he was the one who caught the beatings most often at the “Beat-the-Dimwits Department.” Sharp-minded as he was, his craft skills were still just beginning, he was still an unqualified apprentice. If his master’s craftsmanship weren’t so good, he wouldn’t have made it into the Workshop at all.
Shuan Erquan’s master was a dark-faced, middle-aged man who’d been recruited into the Workshop for his exceptional pottery skills. Recently, he’d earned even more standing in the Workshop after figuring out the enamel technique the missionaries had brought over.
But being held in high regard was one thing, the apprentice he’d taken in on a moment’s soft-heartedness had no business getting carried away. In the palace, rules were rules, and any errand outside had a fixed time limit. Come back late, and it counted as a failed task.
“Greetings, Master Quan.”
“Master Quan, you’ve worked hard.” At the gate, craftsmen passing by all respectfully greeted the dark-faced man as “Master Quan.”
But this Master Quan had eyes only for the direction of Longzong Gate, waiting anxiously for his disobedient apprentice to hurry out.
This wasn’t Shuan Erquan’s first time running an errand within the palace, but he’d never gone into the inner court before. If he offended some noble person inside, not even several heads would be enough to pay for it.
This time, being sent to the Eleventh Prince’s residence at the Eastern Five Houses was meant to be good practice. The Eleventh Prince was one of the rare palace masters who never caused trouble, simply verifying the room’s furnishings should have gone smoothly and quickly.
Fortunately, in the distance, his hopelessly foolish apprentice finally appeared.
Before Shuan Erquan could even call out “Master,” Master Quan had already smacked him on the back of the head.
“Growing that head of yours but no sense to go with it, you’re already half past your reporting time, and you still want to keep dawdling?!” Master Quan grabbed Shuan Erquan by the ear and hauled him inside.
“Master, Master, gentler please, this apprentice only has this one ear left. If you pull it off, no one’s going to be around to listen to your nagging.” Shuan Erquan stood on his toes to make it easier on his master’s grip, all while running his mouth.
“Enough nonsense. Speak up, why are you late?” Once they’d reached a quieter spot, his master dropped the act.
“Master, you were the one who said the errand at the Eleventh Prince’s place would be easy.” Shuan Erquan dropped his earlier playful tone, and quietly relayed what the Eleventh Prince had instructed. “Do you think, can we actually make this thing?” He was referring to the glass at the center of the lamp.
According to what the young master had described, they’d need to remove the color from crystal, and in the end produce something thin and clear as a sheet. Supposedly, if you tapped it with a finger, it would ring out with a crisp, clear sound.
“Whether it can be made or not, we’ll only know by trying. Leave the drawing with me, and go take your punishment.” With the real business out of the way, Master Quan’s face darkened again.
“All right, all right, no need to rush me, I already know.” Shuan Erquan composed his expression and trotted off to receive his punishment.
Once Yin Cheng had handed the matter over to the people at the Imperial Household Department, all that remained was to wait for the results. He didn’t expect, though, that the very next day his father would return from Changchun Garden and send word wanting to see him.
Looking at the errand eunuchs from the Palace of Heavenly Purity in front of him, and the two-man palanquin waiting behind them, he realized he’d been given absolutely no time to prepare.
He’d heard word that his father would be returning to the palace soon, but hadn’t known exactly which day. And already, while still on the road, his father was thinking of him, his son who so rarely showed his face?
Yin Cheng didn’t believe it for a second.
“Eleventh Prince, please board the palanquin. By the time we arrive, His Majesty should nearly be through the palace gate himself.” Coming from the Palace of Heavenly Purity, even a mere errand eunuch carried himself with a straight, unbending posture, offering the proper greeting to the prince, then proceeding exactly as instructed, with not the slightest hesitation.
“If Father wishes to see his son, his son naturally wouldn’t dare refuse.” Yin Cheng bowed in the direction of the Palace of Heavenly Purity. “Please wait a moment. I’ve just taken my medicine, allow me to wash up first, so as not to offend Father’s presence.” He turned to head back inside as he spoke.
“Eleventh Prince, please stop there.” The errand eunuch raised a hand to block him. “Rest assured, Eleventh Prince, there will be time to wash up once you reach the Palace of Heavenly Purity.”
Zhao Xiaojin had been standing off to the side through all of this, but the exchange between these men and the little monk had all been in words she couldn’t understand. Just from the tone and manner of their voices alone, though, this person dressed similarly to Wang Xiaohai was clearly far more forceful, the little monk was obviously at a disadvantage.
He was a prince, and yet someone dared to reach out and physically block his path?
Zhao Xiaojin found it hard to watch, taking advantage of the fact that the little monk was shorter than her. She stepped forward and gently pushed down the hand that had blocked him.
Her movement finally drew the attention of everyone from the Palace of Heavenly Purity toward the little girl who’d been standing quietly off to the side the whole time. In fact, everyone already knew who she was, but had simply chosen to ignore her. Just a secondary consort, every one of them present, meanwhile, was formally registered, and several even held official rank.
Quite bold, for a Han girl, to step forward like this at a moment like this.
“Eleventh Prince, when His Majesty asks why we were delayed, I’m afraid we’ll have to speak plainly about it.” The errand eunuch shook off the hand Zhao Xiaojin had lowered. “There are no shortage of etiquette instructresses in the palace, perhaps the Eleventh Prince should have one assigned here as well.”
As he said this, he looked straight at Zhao Xiaojin, the meaning couldn’t have been clearer.
Hearing this, Yin Cheng felt a flash of anger but couldn’t voice it. Fortunately, his secondary consort didn’t understand Manchu, sparing her from hearing a servant say such things right in front of her. But even without understanding the words, she could plainly see the disrespect this servant was showing him, riding on the authority of his father and the Palace of Heavenly Purity.
Even his secondary consort couldn’t stand to watch it.
“When speaking with Father, one naturally speaks the plain truth. As for whether an etiquette instructress is needed, that decision rests with my mother, no need for you to trouble yourself over it.” He had a temper of his own too.
“Stay here. I’m going ahead to see Father. If I’m late coming back, go ahead and eat without waiting for me.” Yin Cheng switched back to Mandarin as he spoke, gesturing to Wang Xiaohai to keep an eye on her.
“Then come back soon.” So he was off to see the emperor, the little monk’s father. That was fine, then, nothing to worry about.
Yin Cheng rode the palanquin to see his father, Wang Xiaohai wasn’t qualified to accompany him this time, so it was just as well he stayed behind.
The palanquin swayed gently along as it moved, and sitting inside it, he found himself seeing things from a higher vantage point than usual, and farther away too.
What Yin Cheng couldn’t understand was why his father, who hadn’t even arrived back at the palace yet, was in such a hurry to see him. Normally, they only ever crossed paths on festivals and holidays, with nothing much to say to each other even then.
His father had many sons, and even more accomplished ones among them, he, a sickly weakling, had no business making a spectacle of himself in front of others.
“Eleventh Prince, we’ve arrived.” They’d come through Rijing Gate, where the palanquin could go no further.
Yin Cheng walked on to Yuehua Gate, directly opposite Rijing Gate, where he took the time to wash up briefly, and then waited for his father to arrive.
Emperor Kangxi entered through the Gate of Heavenly Purity, and soon spotted this son of his waiting outside Yuehua Gate.
Yin Cheng, his eleventh son by order of birth, born to Consort Yi of Yikun Palace in the twenty-fourth year of his reign, now, in the thirty-fifth year, he’d turned twelve.
Yet this twelve-year-old son of his, for the first six years, he’d barely ever laid eyes on him, only ever reading the medical reports submitted by the imperial physicians. By the time the boy had moved to the Eastern Five Houses, if Yin Xiang hadn’t caught wind of something being wrong, whether this son would even still be alive was anyone’s guess.
After finally managing to recover enough this year to be inoculated on his birthday, the inoculation itself had gone smoothly enough, only for the boy to fall into a sleep from which he simply wouldn’t wake.
When Consort Yi had come to him with her idea of a marriage to counter his bad luck, and he’d seen every physician present shaking their heads in defeat, he’d given his approval.
A month had passed, and the son he’d briefly seen at the start of the year now stood before him looking like an entirely different person. Not only had he grown taller, some flesh had returned to his face as well. Years of medication had left him unable to keep his hair, even his eyebrows too faint in color to make out. Not anymore, though his head was still bare, his brows had started taking on some real shape now.
From a distance, the moment his son caught sight of him, he’d already dropped to his knees on the ground.
“Your son Yin Cheng kowtows to Father. May Father live ten thousand years, ten thousand years, ten thousand ten thousand years.”
“Rise.” Beside him, Liang Jiugong had already stepped forward to personally help him up.
“Thank you, Father.” Yin Cheng also thanked Eunuch Liang for helping him up.
Afterward, he followed his father into the “Office of Internal Affairs,” south of Yuehua Gate.
Yin Cheng had never before been alone with his father at such close quarters, and once granted a seat, he felt more than a little apprehensive.
“These past few days, your mother has kept me updated on your condition. She says your health has greatly improved, that you’re eating more and moving around more.” At the head of the room, the emperor took a sip of tea before starting the conversation.
“Reporting to Father, your son has indeed felt much better these past few days.” Yin Cheng started to rise to answer properly, but the emperor waved him back down with a gesture.
“Good, good.” The emperor felt genuinely reassured hearing this, and took another sip of tea. “Seems your mother really did choose well, finding you that secondary consort.”
Hearing his father bring up his secondary consort, Yin Cheng felt his heart tighten with unease. That servant’s arrogance earlier had been a bit much. Anyone allowed to serve at the Palace of Heavenly Purity had at least that much sense to read the room.
On the way here, he’d wondered, was his father testing him for something? But what could there possibly be worth testing, for a bald little prince like himself?
“Reporting to Father, my secondary consort is young in years, but your son truly has improved day by day ever since her arrival.” He answered cautiously.
“Then are you aware that your secondary consort’s origins remain a mystery? That Li Rongjing’s account is riddled with holes? The farming woman from the manor has already fled, and no one nearby claims to have ever seen your secondary consort, nor does anyone know where this southern relative of hers supposedly came from.” The emperor held his teacup steady, calmly watching his son below him, who had clearly begun to panic.
“Father?” Yin Cheng truly couldn’t sit still anymore.
What did he mean, her origins were a mystery? What did he mean, no one had ever seen his secondary consort? Then where on earth had she come from? Surely there had to be some explanation.
“Liang Jiugong.” The emperor called on the head eunuch of the Palace of Heavenly Purity to explain in detail.
“Yes, Your Majesty.” Liang Jiugong looked toward Yin Cheng. “Eleventh Prince, upon hearing of your improved health, Consort Yi wished to properly thank the family that gave you your secondary consort, while also settling her formal title.”
But when the gift-bearers arrived at the manor, there was no farming woman to be found at all. According to the locals, on the very day Li Rongjing had taken the girl away, that woman had hastily packed up and left. No one knew where she’d gone, nor did anyone know how that little girl had ever appeared in the first place, no one had ever seen her before.
“There’s no need to panic. Go back and carry on as usual, for now.” The emperor delivered this shock to his son without offering much comfort, but did send someone along with him.
If the girl turned out to have no other hidden identity, there was nothing to worry about, she was, after all, just a secondary consort, hardly enough to upend anything significant. But if she did carry some other identity, and had slipped into the palace this way, there was no rush to expose her just yet, better to first watch and see what she was up to.
Yin Cheng returned to the Eastern Five Houses with an ordinary-looking palace maid in tow, someone his father had specifically assigned. Officially, she was there to serve his secondary consort, and her name was Ajiu.
After watching his son leave, the emperor waited a moment before someone with a lowered head entered.
The man wore the uniform of the Imperial Workshop, his face dark from soot.
“Your Majesty, this is the drawing the Eleventh Prince submitted to the Imperial Household Department.” The visitor pulled out from his sleeve the oil lamp drawing Yin Cheng had handed over earlier.