Yin Cheng, now officially “the one who’d gotten a wife and forgotten his own mother”, had barely stepped out for a moment before running straight into his secondary consort’s approaching group.
Dressed in bright red, supported by Ajiu, she already carried herself with an unmistakable air of proper standing. Red suited his secondary consort remarkably well. Of course, going strictly by the rules, this wouldn’t have been allowed at all, a secondary consort had no business wearing red.
Across from him, seeing the little monk appear, Zhao Xiaojin felt the breath she’d been holding finally ease a little.
“Is it just inside there?” she asked, deliberately lowering her voice so that no one but the little monk in front of her and Ajiu beside her could possibly hear.
“Mm. Once we go in, whatever Mother asks, just answer honestly. If you genuinely don’t know something, just shake your head.” Yin Cheng lowered his own voice to instruct her as well.
Among the palace consorts, his mother was actually one of the more reasonable ones, she wasn’t the type to casually make life difficult for people. Besides, this was the very bride she’d personally had someone go find to counter his bad luck, and her title as secondary consort had already been formally settled. With his brothers there too, there’d likely be at least some courtesy extended for their sake.
Zhao Xiaojin nodded, only a small motion, but the bells on her head still rang out in a clear, crisp chime regardless.
She followed behind the little monk, as they entered, someone stood specially posted by the door. That person’s gaze made her uncomfortable, and Zhao Xiaojin quickened her steps just slightly to slip past his continued staring.
“Mother, this is your son’s secondary consort.” Up ahead, the little monk spoke a line in Manchu, followed immediately by one in Mandarin that she could understand.
“Xiaojin greets Consort Yi, may Consort Yi enjoy peace and good fortune.” Hearing this, Zhao Xiaojin knew it was her turn to offer her greeting.
She held her handkerchief and gave it a light flick up over her right shoulder, her body already bending into a curtsy. With her eyes lowered, she could only see the small patch of ground directly in front of her, missing entirely how everyone else was reacting in that moment.
Consort Yi recalled what Li Rongjing had told her before, something about the girl coming from the south, said to be fine-looking.
Pah!
Looking at the girl who’d walked in behind her son, from the south, indeed, with a height like that, she could hold her own even against girls from the north. Her son, standing right in front of her, was visibly a full head shorter.
And that wasn’t even accounting for the raised-sole shoes, even in flat shoes, this girl would still be plenty tall.
Consort Yi shot both her sons a sharp glare first, warning them to rein it in and stop grinning like fools.
Right, though, how old was this girl again? Oh, Li Rongjing had said ten. But was she really ten? That farm woman from the manor had run off entirely, so where would this “niece” have even come from in the first place? Although His Majesty had already had it investigated, there still hadn’t been any results yet.
“Peace and good fortune? Such a sweet little mouth on you, rise.” Consort Yi broke into a radiant smile. “Although it was Li Rongjing, acting on my orders, who brought you here for the Eleventh Prince, this is our first meeting after all, so I’ll still ask you a few questions.”
Consort Yi had Yin Cheng take a seat first, then turned her attention back to Zhao Xiaojin, still standing in the middle of the room.
This unexpected secondary consort really was quite fine-looking. Dressed head to toe in proper crimson red, if not for her humble status, she’d easily outshine even the properly recognized primary consorts. Tsk, tsk, such fair, delicate skin, such a youthful glow, Consort Yi almost felt a pang of envy herself.
And then there was that new hairstyle of hers, that flower tucked in, positioned just right. And those blessing-and-longevity ornaments she’d sent over earlier, worn without looking the least bit gaudy either.
“So your name is Xiaojin, how old are you this year? Where are your parents from, and what do they do?” Consort Yi asked the kind of questions any ordinary household might ask.
This question, though, wasn’t so easy for Zhao Xiaojin to answer. After all, she hadn’t even told the little monk himself yet.
“What, does she need to ask the Eleventh Prince even for this?” Consort Yi noticed Zhao Xiaojin glance over at Yin Cheng, and found it a little hard to make sense of.
“Mother, my secondary consort has only just begun learning the capital dialect. If you speak too quickly, she has trouble keeping up.” Yin Cheng rose and offered the excuse, then repeated his mother’s question over again for her.
“Reporting to Your Ladyship, I’m nine this year. I should be from the Jiangzhe region, but I’m not sure exactly what my parents do.” This answer had been carefully worked out by the little monk beforehand. Any further questions would simply be redirected to his father.
“Should be?” How could she not even know for certain where she herself was from? Nine years old, surely her family would have told her these things by now?
Although Consort Yi harbored her own doubts, she didn’t press the matter further. In this palace, there were certain things some people could only ever tell the plain truth about, otherwise, if the truth came out later, the consequences would be far too severe to bear.
Nine? So the secondary consort wasn’t even ten yet. Well, that made sense too, the “ten years old” had only ever come from what Li Rongjing had heard offhand from that farm woman, he’d apparently forgotten to confirm it directly himself.
From that point on, Consort Yi’s questions grew noticeably less enthusiastic. What should have been a simple enough conversation, filtered through her son’s relay, wasn’t likely to reveal anything new anyway. Did she really think Consort Yi didn’t know what the two of them were up to? Sure enough, Yin Tang had been right all along, Yin Cheng really had gotten himself a wife and forgotten his own mother.
Though, to be fair, a secondary consort, even carrying the word “consort” in her title, hardly counted as a proper wife at all, even the clothes she wore today were only permitted as a special allowance, given the festive occasion. A year from now, once her son was fully recovered, this red would no longer be hers to wear.
By the looks of things, finding a proper primary consort for Yin Cheng was something worth keeping in mind going forward. The selection of maidens in the thirty-seventh year was only two years off, she could start scouting candidates now. If none proved suitable, there’d still be time to wait for the selection in the fortieth year.
“All right, that’s enough questions from me. Bring out the food.” Consort Yi waved a hand, said something in Manchu, and had Zhao Xiaojin take a seat as well.
Once the meal was finished and everyone had left, Consort Yi finally turned to the attendant beside her.
“Zhang Qiyong, tell me everything that’s been happening in the palace lately.” She’d heard the Eastern Five Houses had been quite lively these past few days.
The Fifth Prince, Yin Qi, lived at the Second House of the Western Five Houses, so once they passed through Yikun Gate, he parted ways with the Ninth Prince Yin Tang and Yin Cheng. By rights, Yin Tang lived at the Fourth House of the Eastern Five Houses, on the same route as Yin Cheng.
“Eleventh Brother, Ninth Brother has something fun for you too, I’ll have it sent over once we’re back at the Fourth House.” The Ninth Prince apparently didn’t intend to head back just yet. He waited until the Fifth Prince had passed through Chongxi Gate on the other side of Yikun Palace, then hurried off in that direction himself without so much as looking back.
“Ninth Brother’s probably off to find Eighth and Tenth Brother. Let’s head back.” Because of his years of illness, Yin Cheng wasn’t especially close with any of his brothers, including his own full brothers, the Fifth and Ninth Princes. It was only these past few years, living together with Yin Xiang at the Five Houses, that he’d developed any real closeness with anyone at all.
Perhaps because everyone had just returned from Changchun Garden and was tired, there were hardly any people walking along the palace paths.
“What’s that place over there?” Once outside, Zhao Xiaojin felt considerably more relaxed, and pointed at the large gate off to the right.
“That’s Kunning Palace, where the Empress used to reside.” Since there was currently no Empress in the palace, it had been locked up.
“So that’s Kunning Palace.” Although Zhao Xiaojin was curious about the famously renowned Kunning Palace, she didn’t feel any particular urge to ask further. After all, the thing that had stuck most vividly in her memory about that name was some old nursemaid who apparently liked sticking people with needles.
Back at the Northern Five Houses, Yin Xiang’s servants were busy moving furniture back and forth.
“Eleventh Prince, you’re back. This servant kowtows to the Eleventh Prince, may the Eleventh Prince live ten thousand years.” A servant called Hongmu dropped to his knees the instant he spotted him, kowtowing solidly to Yin Cheng.
“Rise. Is the Thirteenth Prince here?”
“Yes, yes, he’s here. The Thirteenth Prince went to pay respects to Consort Zhangjia at Yongshou Palace, and just got back.” Hongmu, delighted to see the Eleventh Prince walking around on his own now, added, “The Thirteenth Prince said the moment you were back, he wanted to be called right away.”
“No need for that, I already heard you all talking.” Yin Xiang stepped out from the rear courtyard.
He was a prince about the same age as the little monk, fairly ordinary-looking, but with a warm smile that made him seem instantly likable.
“Eleventh Brother, I’ve finally seen you with my own eyes.” He walked over quickly, stopping in front of the little monk to look him over. “Back at Changchun Garden, I heard people say you’d fully recovered, but without seeing it myself, I kept worrying it was all just a dream. Now, I can finally believe it isn’t. Eleventh Brother, this is wonderful.”
“Being how I am now, it really is good, and it’s thanks to you saving my life back then.” Without Yin Xiang, there would have been no Yin Cheng standing here today.
“That was years ago, Eleventh Brother, no need to bring it up again. So, is this your secondary consort?” Yin Xiang let the past drop, and turned his attention to the person standing beside him.
“Yes, this is her.” Yin Cheng nodded. “Secondary consort, this is the Thirteenth Prince, Yin Xiang.”
“Thirteenth Prince.” Hearing them finally speaking Mandarin, Zhao Xiaojin understood, and offered the Thirteenth Prince a proper greeting.
“No, no, that won’t do, it should be me greeting you, Sister-in-law. Sister-in-law, Thirteen pays his respects to you here.” The Thirteenth Prince Yin Xiang stepped aside to avoid Zhao Xiaojin’s greeting, and instead offered her a formal bow of his own.
“Come now, no need for either of you to keep deferring to each other. We live so close by, seeing each other every day whether we like it or not, no need to stand on ceremony.” Yin Cheng laughed.
“Then Thirteen won’t stand on ceremony any longer. Eleventh Brother, you’ve been on your feet for most of the day now, go rest, please. I won’t keep you any longer.”
“All right. You’ve had a long day too, go get some rest yourself.”
They exchanged a few more words before finally parting ways.
Zhao Xiaojin watched how the little monk interacted with the various princes along the way, and noticed he seemed closer to this Thirteenth Prince than to the others. But wasn’t he full brothers with the Fifth and Ninth Princes, sharing the same mother?
“What, does it seem strange to you?” Yin Cheng, naturally, had picked up on his secondary consort’s confusion.
“Why is that, though?”
“Because all of us princes get sent off to be raised by other consorts right after our first month.” Yin Cheng leaned back against the couch, explaining slowly.
“Setting aside the Eldest Prince and the Crown Prince, one was raised outside the palace, the other personally tutored by Father himself. The Third Prince was raised at Jingren Palace under Consort An. The Fourth Prince was raised by Noble Consort Tong of Chengqian Palace at the time, who’s now our late Empress. Fifth Brother was raised by the Empress Dowager herself. The Sixth Prince went to Consort Jing at Yongshou Palace.”
He took a sip of tea, wetting his lips, then continued.
“The Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Princes were all raised by Consort Hui at Yanxi Palace. The Tenth Prince grew up in his own mother’s palace. I was raised by Consort De at Yonghe Palace. The Twelfth Prince was taken in by Lady Sumalagu. The Thirteenth Prince was also raised at Yonghe Palace under Consort De. The Fourteenth Prince went back to his own mother’s palace. Once we all turned six, we each moved to our current residences. As it stands now, the Fifteenth Prince is still at Consort De’s palace, and the Sixteenth might end up adopted out to another branch of the family, for now, he’s still with his own mother.”
So, essentially, the princes were all separated from their birth mothers before they were even old enough to understand anything, spending their years until age six with whichever foster mother raised them instead. As for himself, he’d been fortunate enough to end up with Yin Xiang, close in age, giving him someone to talk to now and then, at least.
“That sounds like such a hassle, birth mothers, foster mothers, all mixed up together. With this many sons, the emperor really should just set up a little daycare center, it’d make everything so much simpler.” Zhao Xiaojin, thoroughly lost in the details by this point, said it without much thought.