Ah, so not only was she a mute girl, she was deaf as well!
Yin Cheng felt like smacking his own forehead.
Just how desperate had his mother been, to bring the girl here without even bothering to check something this basic? Did that mean his situation back then really had been too urgent to delay any further?
But the physicians had examined him and found nothing out of the ordinary. Even he himself hadn’t noticed any difference in his body compared to before.
Since the girl had already been brought here, whatever needed to be settled afterward was probably already done, sending her back now likely wasn’t an option. But keeping a girl like this by his side, once they returned to the palace, sooner or later she’d end up dead.
She had, after all, saved his life in a manner of speaking. He couldn’t just stand by and watch her lose hers down the line.
Such a small girl, not even grown yet, what could she really understand? Maybe her family needed money, maybe some elder had been greedy for wealth and glory, and simply cast her aside without a second thought. But what fault was that of hers? To be sent to someone like him, who didn’t even know if he’d see tomorrow, let alone today.
Never mind. Rather than worrying about her future, better to get through today first. Surviving one more day meant, at the very least, keeping the little girl safe for one more day too.
His empty stomach, after a few hastily stuffed bites, was finally somewhat satisfied. Any more than that, and Yin Cheng had already lost his earlier appetite.
“Xiaohai, clear this away.” He set down his chopsticks, done eating.
Yin Cheng looked up, only now noticing what the little girl had been doing off to the side while his mind had been wandering. Looking now, she was staring intently at the dishes in front of him.
Hungry? She must be hungry.
“Xiaohai, wait, take these dishes I haven’t touched and bring them to her. And while you’re at it, find her a room to stay in.” That would do for now.
Xiaohai had actually been about to urge the Eleventh Prince to eat a few more bites, he’d only just woken up, after all, and needed to build his strength back up. But hearing his master’s words, he hesitated before speaking up anyway.
“Young Master, she was, after all, brought here by the consort—” Xiaohai paused and glanced at Yin Cheng, “—brought here to counter your bad luck through marriage. Giving her a separate room might not sit well.” Especially if the consort found out, his own skin might not survive it.
So he’d rather risk offending the young master than leave the matter unsaid.
Xiaohai was the personal eunuch assigned to the Eleventh Prince Yin Cheng after his move to the Eastern Five Houses, this time, when the young master had come out for his inoculation, Xiaohai alone had come with him. As for what this girl had been brought here to do, he could guess well enough.
“Then where’s she supposed to sleep? Am I meant to give up half my bed to her?” Yin Cheng wasn’t angry, exactly, he just thought it wasn’t quite proper.
“That would never do, Young Master.” Xiaohai shook his head at once. “Just being able to set up bedding here in your room is already more good fortune than she deserves.” He glanced down at the empty spot of floor in front of the bed.
The meaning was clear enough, the girl was to make a floor bed at the foot of his bed.
“Fine, fine. Just take her down to eat already, she’s staring at the food so pitifully.” Yin Cheng laughed and waved Xiaohai off.
“Rest assured, Young Master, I’ll see that she’s fed well.” A girl of good fortune, this one, the moment she’d arrived, the young master had woken right up.
For the rest of the day, Zhao Xiaojin didn’t return to the little monk’s room. After finishing her meal in a daze, she was led off to help with chores.
The tasks weren’t hard, pouring tea, fetching water, and fanning.
Still, doing them properly wasn’t so easy either. The tea couldn’t be poured too full, nor too shallow. The water temperature had to be just right, not too hot, not too cold.
By the time she made it back into the little monk’s room, the sun had already set.
By now, Zhao Xiaojin had changed into another set of clothes, still red, but more fitted this time. On her head were now two delicate red hair ornaments shaped like the character for “blessing.” Her long, neat braid had been redone as well, with a red charm shaped like the character for “longevity” hanging from its end.
Oh, and there was something new around her neck too. A collar, made of gold, also densely engraved with the characters for “blessing” and “longevity” over and over.
All dressed up like this, she looked even more the part of a little bride brought in to chase away bad fortune.
Li Rongjing hurried back to Changchun Garden as fast as he could, eager to deliver the good news of the Eleventh Prince’s awakening to Consort Yi.
“Your Ladyship, the Eleventh Prince has been blessed by heaven’s favor, he’s not only woken, he’s able to eat and drink besides. Xiaohai sent word that the young master is in fine spirits. The physicians also said that with a bit more rest, the young master will be able to return to the palace.”
His face broke into a smile, the joy on it plain for anyone to see.
“Is that really true?” Consort Yi, who had spent all this time worrying over her youngest son, was on her feet before her brow could even relax.
“Speak clearly. Did my son wake on his own, or was it only after that girl you brought back went in that he woke?”
“Your Ladyship, Xiaohai said the young master woke not long after the girl went in.” Li Rongjing spoke the plain truth, thinking himself remarkably lucky.
The one and only girl he’d managed to bring back had, by sheer coincidence, caused the young master to wake. So long as the young master went on to recover fully, and this girl didn’t go around committing murder and arson, a lifetime of wealth and glory was hers for the taking, no question about it. And by extension, he, Li Rongjing, stood to gain something out of it too.
“Good, that’s good, truly heaven has watched over us and let my son wake.” Consort Yi murmured a prayer, some light finally returning to her face. “Now tell me, where does this girl come from? The people you sent earlier didn’t explain it clearly.”
Since the girl was proving useful to her son, her background needed to be properly verified, to avoid giving anyone grounds for complaint later.
“Reporting to Your Ladyship, the girl’s name is Jinzi. She’s the niece of a farming family at a manor outside the city, come from the south to visit relatives, the family surname is Zhao.” Li Rongjing relayed what he’d learned first.
“Your Ladyship, you should have seen her, the girl is only just ten years old, and already quite fine-looking. Although she’s from a Han family, she looks like she’s been carefully raised, not one who’s done rough labor.”
As for whether she’d studied books, learned characters, or understood etiquette, he hadn’t had time to find out yet. But that hardly mattered, what she didn’t know could be taught, and what she did know could always be refined further.
“From the south, and fine-looking too?” Consort Yi murmured softly, something thoughtful crossing her mind at the mention of the south.
These past few years, the number of Han women in the palace had steadily grown, especially those from the south, every one of them delicate and fragile, quite unlike the banner ladies. His Majesty had a taste for novelty, granting a Changzai title here, a Daying title there, spreading his favor thin.
Now that her son Yin Cheng had one like that at his side too, was it a blessing, or a misfortune?
For a moment, she couldn’t decide.
“Well, I know how to repay a kindness when I see one. Since she’s done me a good turn, I’ll remember it. Now that the girl’s already here, there’s no point being vague about her status either. She’s still so young, calling her a gege or a concubine wouldn’t sound right. Let’s just name her secondary consort directly.”
And with that, Consort Yi settled Zhao Xiaojin’s status.
A secondary consort, after all, wasn’t like a primary consort or a side consort, who required formal investiture by the Ministry of Rites and could be entered into the imperial genealogy. It merely sounded a bit more formal than a gege or a concubine, in reality, her standing was about on par with a bedchamber attendant.
Back at the pox-avoidance quarters, none of them had any idea yet of Consort Yi’s decision.
Night had fallen, it was time to rest.
Xiaohai had already had bedding laid out on the empty patch of floor in front of the Eleventh Prince’s bed, with Zhao Xiaojin standing off to the side, watching.
“Miss Jinzi, forgive the inconvenience, please rest here for now. If the young master wakes in the night, just call out, and I’ll be right nearby.”
Naturally, Xiaohai wasn’t entirely at ease leaving a strange ten-year-old girl to watch over the young master through the night, normally, that job would have been his alone. But recalling Steward Li’s instructions, he didn’t dare take any chances. Just like that morning, when leaving the girl alone with the young master had somehow led to him waking up.
He himself had no such fortune, not being female, and so had to step aside for now.
“I know Miss Jinzi doesn’t care to talk much, if you need anything, just knock on the door.”
“All right, all right, Xiaohai, you’ve said that about five times already, my ears are practically calloused from it. Just get out already.” Yin Cheng, still sitting up in bed hugging his blanket, shooed him off.
A little girl, both deaf and mute, dragged into such an unfamiliar place, and put to work all day besides. He’d heard she’d spent half the day learning to pour tea and fetch water, and hadn’t understood a thing at first, only managing it after someone walked her through it hand by hand.
Yin Cheng didn’t actually expect her to serve him. Letting her stay in the same room at night was simply to see whether he’d manage to make it through tonight.
“Yes, yes, Young Master, Xiaohai will take his leave now.” Feeling rather put-upon, Xiaohai bid farewell to the Eleventh Prince Yin Cheng, and made a point of walking past Zhao Xiaojin, shooting her a meaningful, warning look.
Unfortunately, seeing him approach, Zhao Xiaojin stepped back and made way for him, missing the look entirely.
Seeing this, Xiaohai gave a heavy snort before finally leading the others out.
The door closed, and suddenly the room held only Yin Cheng and Zhao Xiaojin.
Yin Cheng watched Zhao Xiaojin, her head lowered, seemingly lost in thought staring at the bedding on the floor.
Earlier, when he’d first heard her name was Jinzi, “gold”, he’d laughed. Actually, it was a fine name, a girl like gold, the kind who looked like she’d been raised on fine food and silk clothes from birth.
Sent here to him, of all people, what a waste.
This girl Jinzi had changed into a new outfit, embroidered all over with the characters for “blessing” and “longevity,” and even the ornaments on her head and around her neck were bright red and gleaming gold with the same characters. His mother really must have wanted to dress the little girl up as some kind of blessing-and-longevity doll, to shower extra fortune and years onto him.
“Don’t just stand there. Put out the candle on that stand and go to sleep.” Yin Cheng looked away and called out to Zhao Xiaojin.
Seeing her glance over, he tilted his head toward the candlestand and made a blowing motion, then pointed at the bedding, gesturing that she could sleep now.
This simple gesture, Zhao Xiaojin understood. She nodded and walked over to the candlestand, and with a candle about as thick as her arm in front of her, blew hard.
The flame flickered, but stayed lit.
Not enough force?
Zhao Xiaojin stepped back, took a deep breath, puffed out her cheeks, and blew again, it took three tries before the candle finally went out.
Once the candle was out, the room went completely dark.
Zhao Xiaojin carefully made her way to the bedding, lifted the blanket, and sat down on top of it. Before lying down, she hesitated a moment, then reached up and took off her outer garment anyway. The buttons weren’t easy to undo, it took her a while to lay the outer robe flat on top of the blanket.
Once she’d lain all the way down, though it wasn’t as comfortable as her bed back home, it was still far better than being locked in that empty little room with nothing at all.
Zhao Xiaojin lay there with her eyes open, listening to the sound of the little monk settling down on the bed not far away.
Outside the window, night had fully fallen, nothing visible at all. The nights here were very quiet, no voices, no sound of cars.
Slowly her eyes drifted shut, her breathing gradually softened, and she began slipping into sleep.
Yin Cheng, having lain in bed for so long already, had slept more than enough, and so didn’t drop off as quickly at night.
After Jinzi had puffed her cheeks out to blow out the candle, he’d listened to the careful sound of her footsteps moving, the rustle of the blanket being lifted, and then more soft shuffling sounds, probably her undressing.
She didn’t seem to have any ill intentions at all. Once she lay down, her breathing turned slow and light, she was probably asleep by now.
He himself, though, having just been through another return from the brink, kept turning the reasons for it over and over in his mind. It felt like a blade hanging over his head, nothing about it sat easy with him.
This time, had he really come back for good? Was he really not going to slip away again?
If it were true, did the marriage really work to counter his bad luck? And if it did, then he—
“…Let go, let go of me! Let. Go. Of. Me!” In the room, a faint struggling voice suddenly rang out, growing steadily louder.