On the morning of the twelfth of the ninth month, well before the sky had even begun to lighten, Wang Xiaohai woke Yin Cheng up.
“Keep it quiet, the secondary consort still needs to sleep.”
Although his secondary consort was notoriously hard to wake once asleep, today wasn’t just the Five Houses stirring, the whole inner palace, front and back, would soon be in an uproar. Because today, his father would be returning from Changchun Garden with the Empress Dowager and the entire grand procession.
Once they arrived, everyone in the palace was expected to kneel in welcome. Back when he’d been confined to his bed, Yin Cheng had never needed to attend such things. But now, looking so much healthier, there was clearly no getting out of it this time. Fortunately, his secondary consort didn’t need to go, she could simply wake up as usual and wait to see whether her mother-in-law wished to receive her.
In fact, the procession wouldn’t even leave Changchun Garden until after breakfast, and by the time it reached the palace, it would already be well past noon, there was no real need to be up and ready this early. But since everyone else was already in motion, having the Northern Five Houses show no sign of activity at all would make it look like he, the Eleventh Prince, was showing his father disrespect.
When Zhao Xiaojin woke and didn’t see the little monk anywhere, she asked Ajiu and learned he’d already gotten ready and gone to the front long before.
“Then I’ll just carry on as usual.” She thought about it and decided there was nothing in particular she needed to do.
The potato sprouts wouldn’t be ready to harvest for at least another month. And there’d been no word yet from the Imperial Workshop, no telling whether the glass had actually been produced.
“All right.” Ajiu agreed, though she was especially careful while doing Zhao Xiaojin’s hair this time. Every hairpin ornament, every flower tucked into the secondary consort’s hair, had to be absolutely without flaw.
Although His Majesty hadn’t explicitly said he wished to see the secondary consort, there was always the chance he might, especially given the promising progress at the Imperial Workshop lately. And even if His Majesty didn’t summon her directly, there was still a real possibility she’d need to make an appearance before Consort Yi.
So there could be no carelessness whatsoever in what she wore, or how her hair was styled.
Without the little monk around, Zhao Xiaojin found the day quite pleasant, actually.
Because, for once, she didn’t have to spend time studying Manchu. The little monk meant well enough with his teaching, but honestly, his method left something to be desired. Not to brag, but Zhao Xiaojin had attended a bilingual school since childhood, Mandarin and English were both everyday languages for her, and beyond that, she’d also been learning Spanish from scratch.
Both starting from zero, and yet within a single week of learning Spanish, she’d already been able to manage simple greetings. Manchu, though, the little monk kept repeating the same handful of phrases over and over, and she still hadn’t managed to remember them.
Surely it wasn’t her fault, those phrases were simply too long, he really should start with single characters first.
Without having to wrestle with a few sentences of Manchu, and in good spirits, Zhao Xiaojin found her drawing going particularly smoothly today. The rotating groove pattern on the glass cup lid, the part meant to twist together with the cup body, which had given her trouble before, she finally managed to sketch out properly.
Earlier, Ajiu had come up with the idea of finding some blocks of wood and having them carved, according to Zhao Xiaojin’s instructions, into the shape of the cup so she’d have something to look at while drawing. Now that the drawing was finished, the wooden cup and lid could already be twisted together, opening and closing smoothly.
“Ajiu, you’re really skilled with your hands.” Zhao Xiaojin watched as she took a small knife and made a few cuts into the flat, round piece of wood, separating away the excess bit in the middle to form the shape of a lid.
“It’s only because the secondary consort’s idea was so good.” Ajiu kept working without pause, still carving that groove pattern into the inside of the wooden lid.
If the secondary consort hadn’t praised her skill just now, she’d almost forgotten she even had this talent. Skills learned in early childhood, left unused for years, tend to grow rusty.
“You’re pretty amazing too, though.” Zhao Xiaojin had started to feel like everyone around the little monk was some kind of hidden gem.
Take Wang Xiaohai, for instance, she’d been startled by him at first, but he was clearly the type people described as sharp-tongued but soft-hearted. Anything that was good for the little monk, he’d agree to without hesitation. Of course, the moment it wasn’t, his attitude flipped completely.
And then there was Ajiu, right in front of her, supposedly sent to serve her, but Zhao Xiaojin felt this was frankly a waste of her talents. She styled hair beautifully, carved wood skillfully, could write gorgeous calligraphy with a brush, and packed things away quickly and neatly. Every drawing and piece of writing Zhao Xiaojin produced, Ajiu kept perfectly organized.
Oh, and there was also the newly-arrived Le’a, a man of few words. Tall and broad-shouldered, he stood without the constant slight stoop Wang Xiaohai always carried. Whenever needed, one call and he’d appear instantly.
Of course, Zhao Xiaojin hadn’t actually put that to the test yet. But she remembered when they’d been summoned to the First and Second Houses earlier, hadn’t he gone off to investigate the situation too? He and Wang Xiaohai had left together, and yet he’d come back far sooner, with information every bit as accurate.
Right now, with Wang Xiaohai off accompanying the little monk to the front, Le’a stood guard by the door.
She glanced at him briefly out of the corner of her eye, this man really didn’t fit the mold of what the little monk called a “servant” at all. What he did look like, exactly, she couldn’t quite say yet.
Zhao Xiaojin quickly looked away, not noticing that Le’a, over by the door, had glanced back toward her as well, and exchanged a brief look with Ajiu in passing.
By the time she’d finished all her tasks for the morning, Zhao Xiaojin looked up again, still no sign of the little monk anywhere.
“Ajiu, is the ceremony out front still not finished?” So much time had passed already, the sun was already directly overhead outside. She wondered if he’d found any shade to rest in.
“Reporting to the secondary consort, it’s still early, His Majesty’s procession is probably only just reaching the palace gate around now.” The sounds of the crowd calling out long-life blessings outside weren’t very loud yet.
“I hope they’re all standing somewhere shaded, or what if someone faints from the heat?” Zhao Xiaojin felt a bit worried.
Wasn’t it already autumn? Why was the sun still beating down so fiercely!
Zhao Xiaojin’s hope, unfortunately, wasn’t going to be realized. As the oldest prince currently remaining in the palace, Yin Cheng was leading a string of younger brothers, standing out on the open ground outside the Gate of Heavenly Purity. The moment they heard word that His Majesty had arrived, they all knelt down together, respectfully welcoming their father.
After the long welcoming ceremony finally concluded, there was still the matter of greeting the older brothers who’d followed behind. Then, with the arrival of the Empress Dowager’s carriage, all the princes together first escorted her respectfully into Ci’ren Palace, before watching the various palace consorts head off to their own respective quarters.
By the time everyone had dispersed, Yin Cheng was thoroughly exhausted.
“Young Master, Eunuch Li from Her Ladyship’s palace is waiting for you up ahead.” Li Rongjing, head eunuch of Yikun Palace, hadn’t yet left.
“This servant greets the Eleventh Prince, may the Eleventh Prince live ten thousand years.” Because of the whole inoculation affair, Li Rongjing hadn’t seen the consort’s youngest son in quite some time, and now looked him over rather carefully.
Although he looked somewhat tired, understandable, given today’s exertions, beyond that, he’d clearly put on some flesh, and there was even a healthy touch of color in his face now.
“Eleventh Prince, this welcome ceremony must have worn you out. Her Ladyship has already prepared a meal, and the Fifth and Ninth Princes will be there too. It’s been quite a while since Her Ladyship last saw you, she’s been thinking of you constantly, and now that you can finally meet, she’d like to see you as soon as possible.”
“Very well, let’s go see Mother, and Fifth and Ninth Brothers.” Yin Cheng nodded, he did feel rather dazed at this point. Going from here to Yikun Palace was much closer than heading back to the Northern Five Houses, so he might as well rest there at his mother’s first.
At Yikun Palace, Consort Yi, having arrived slightly earlier, had already freshened up and changed into a more comfortable set of blue everyday robes.
Now in her early thirties, having risen from palace maid to consort-in-waiting, and now to her current rank of Consort Yi, she hadn’t gotten here relying solely on her bright, striking looks, nor purely on having borne three sons in a row. In her younger years, both her looks and her sons had naturally served her well, but at her current age, with her eldest son Yin Qi due to marry next year, what she needed to secure now was more than just her own standing.
Yin Qi had been raised by the Empress Dowager from childhood, and had fallen quite behind in his studies as a result, unable to match his older brothers, and unable to catch up with the younger brothers closer to his own age either. His future, most likely, would top out at the rank of a mere prince of the second degree.
Yin Tang had been raised at Yanxi Palace, and had grown fairly close to the Eighth and Tenth Princes, who’d been raised alongside him under Consort Hui. For now, at least, he hadn’t fallen behind in either scholarship or martial arts, though it remained to be seen how things would develop further.
As for her youngest son, Yin Cheng, he’d been quite clever as a toddler just learning to speak, but unfortunately, his health simply hadn’t held up. Raised at Yonghe Palace, he’d remained sickly and frail the whole time, never quite recovering. Consort De had, if anything, used the opportunity to secure a few extra visits from His Majesty along the way.
Now, his health finally seemed to have greatly improved, but as for his studies, he was even further behind than Yin Qi.
“Your Ladyship, the three princes have arrived.”
“Send them all in.” Consort Yi looked up toward the doorway.
“Your sons Yin Qi, Yin Tang, and Yin Cheng pay their respects to Mother, may Mother be well.” All three sons lined up together, and Consort Yi, watching them pay their respects before her, couldn’t help but break into a smile.
“Rise, all of you, rise.” She waved them up repeatedly, urging the servants nearby to hurry and help all three sons to their feet.
“Yin Cheng, dear, I’ve already had my fill of seeing your Fifth and Ninth Brothers at Changchun Garden. I called you all here today because I wanted to see you especially. My Yin Cheng, you’ve finally recovered fully.” As she spoke, Consort Yi rose to move closer, wanting a better look at her youngest son.
“It’s this son’s fault for making Mother worry so.” Yin Cheng rose and stepped closer on his own. “Your son has been doing much better lately.”
“Yes, yes, you certainly look much healthier. Mother has already asked the physicians who examine you, and they all say you’re recovering well, recovering well. But no matter how good the reports sound, nothing beats seeing it with my own eyes. What do you both think, isn’t that right?” Consort Yi turned to ask the two sons seated on either side.
Both the Fifth Prince Yin Qi and the Ninth Prince Yin Tang agreed readily, and only then did Consort Yi turn her attention back to Yin Cheng.
“Tell Mother the truth, is that secondary consort really that effective?” She’d only ever approached the whole matter with a “try anything, even a dead-end remedy” attitude, she’d never expected her son to actually recover this thoroughly. And now, other people were starting to grow restless about it too.
“Mother, whether it’s effective or not isn’t for your son to say. All your son knows is that ever since my secondary consort arrived, I haven’t had a single episode.” The one bit of discomfort he had experienced had been thoroughly cured after Wang Xiaohai had carried his secondary consort onto the bed.
“Well said, well said. When it comes to matters like this, better to believe it than not.” Consort Yi nodded. “Since we’re all gathered here, have your secondary consort come by so we can all see her, Mother could use a bit of that good fortune too.”
Yin Cheng had known all along there was no avoiding sending his secondary consort here eventually. Fortunately, she should already be properly dressed and ready by now.
“Then let’s send Wang Xiaohai to fetch her.” He shot Wang Xiaohai a look.
By the time Wang Xiaohai reached the Northern Five Houses, Zhao Xiaojin had just finished two pieces of pastry and was sipping tea to wash down the richness.
“What, I have to go see Consort Yi?” The little monk’s mother, that is?
“Reporting to the secondary consort, that’s correct. The Young Master’s own brothers, the Fifth and Ninth Princes, are there as well.”
With Ajiu’s support, Zhao Xiaojin crossed through Qianying Gate, passed by Zhongcui Palace, then went through the east and west gates of the Imperial Garden into the area of the Western Six Palaces. After a long stretch of palace pathways, she passed through the right gate of Guangsheng and arrived at the grounds of Yikun Palace.
“Your Ladyship, the Eleventh Prince’s secondary consort has arrived.” At the gate, someone had already gone inside to relay the news.
Outside Yikun Gate, Zhao Xiaojin took a couple of deep breaths, then stepped through the gate.
Ajiu’s grip was steady, and by now Zhao Xiaojin could walk quite gracefully even in her raised-sole shoes. Combined with her dance training, her posture and bearing had never really been an issue. In other words, anyone hoping to find fault with her on that front would find nothing to work with.
That was exactly what the little monk himself had told her.
“Mother, since this is my secondary consort’s first visit, your son will step out first and go over some etiquette with her.” Yin Cheng stepped back, and amid the puzzled looks from Consort Yi and his two brothers, withdrew from the room.
“Well, isn’t that something, what do you even call that?” Consort Yi paused mid-sentence, taken aback.
“Mother, that’s what they call ‘once he’s got a wife, he forgets his own mother.'” The Ninth Prince Yin Tang chimed in immediately.