“Did they say what happened?”
Luo Xun sat up straight, his voice still cool and distant.
But on closer listening, there was a hoarseness threaded through it.
“They say Third Young Master Pei used Your Highness’s and Her Majesty the Empress’s names to start a fight with someone at a gambling house. He dragged commoners into it, and apparently it caused quite a commotion.”
Duke Kang’s Residence was the Pei Empress’s family home.
They were also the Crown Prince’s maternal relatives and staunch supporters.
But…
Kan’er drew a shallow breath, thinking in a daze.
This had never happened in her previous life.
“I see.”
Luo Xun replied, then lowered his head to look at the woman in his arms.
Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes languid and alluring.
A fine sheen of moisture clung to her long, curled lashes. Her tender lips, swollen from his kisses, looked all the fuller and more vivid. Beneath the loose collar of her robe, her skin glimmered with a soft, rosy sheen. She was utterly, seductively disheveled.
He brushed a strand of hair from Kan’er’s cheek.
“I have something to attend to. I’m leaving.”
Emperor Yuanlong had summoned the Crown Prince, so Kan’er certainly wasn’t going to cling to him now and make a scene.
But given her current status and circumstances, she couldn’t very well act too composed in front of the Crown Prince.
“Will I… get to see Your Highness again?” Kan’er asked softly.
Luo Xun had never been good at comforting people.
He had never tried to comfort anyone, either.
Even faced with the little palace maid’s eyes, still brimming with desire, he felt nothing in particular.
But perhaps because they had just been so intimate, and because her answer and reactions had been unusually pleasing to him, Luo Xun patiently gave a small nod.
“Mm.”
The red mark on her right cheek stood out all the more against her flushed skin. He touched it lightly with his fingertip.
“I’ll have someone bring you some medicine later.”
The abrupt change of subject left Kan’er momentarily confused.
To Luo Xun, that look meant she hadn’t realized she had a mark on her cheek, which made his assumption all the more convincing.
He said nothing more.
He had always been ascetic by nature.
Apart from those inexplicable dreams over the past three nights, he had never felt desire for anyone. And now, after just a few words, the restlessness in his body had already subsided.
He patted Kan’er’s hand to signal that she should get up.
Hai Shun led people in to help the Crown Prince straighten his appearance, while two young palace maids came to tidy Kan’er up.
Once they were done, Kan’er escorted the man to the door.
Luo Xun turned his head and glanced at her.
Summer had begun, but the nights were still somewhat chilly.
Kan’er was wearing clothes meant for the height of summer. The night breeze pressed her plain, light robe against her full, graceful figure, lending her a somewhat frail air as well.
Luo Xun frowned slightly and looked at Hai Shun.
The latter caught on at once and asked with an ingratiating smile, as though making a casual suggestion, “Shall I have someone escort Miss Kan’er back?”
The Crown Prince’s face remained expressionless. “Mm.”
“Thank you, Your Highness. I’ll trouble Chief Steward Hai.”
Kan’er curtsied impeccably in thanks.
Luo Xun glanced at her casually.
After the little palace maid finished her curtsy, she sneaked a look up at him. The moment he looked back, she lowered her eyes as though startled.
Yet, for some reason, after her dark lashes fluttered, she slowly raised them again. Her beautiful eyes held no feigned tenderness, only a trace of shyness and reverence.
Luo Xun said nothing. He looked away, clasped his hands behind his back, and left.
After leaving Jiarong Hall, Luo Xun learned from the eunuch Emperor Yuanlong had sent to summon him what exactly had happened with Third Young Master Pei.
He realized that one of his good imperial brothers had set a trap for his third maternal cousin again.
A faint, icy curve touched Luo Xun’s lips.
Then he remembered something. “And?”
“Someone outside heard the noise,” Hai Shun reported in a low voice, bending at the waist. “They said it sounded like a slap, but they couldn’t tell exactly what happened. Nanny Pang was the only one serving inside.”
Luo Xun’s expression didn’t change. His gaze was dark and unreadable.
After a long while, he said, “Have a courtyard prepared tomorrow.”
So he was giving her a rank already?
Hai Shun answered with an impassive face, but couldn’t help marveling inwardly at the little palace maid’s good fortune.
After all, she had been brought in to take the Crown Princess’s place in serving the Crown Prince. Under the circumstances, she couldn’t really be considered his concubine.
She wouldn’t be given a formal title until after she bore a child.
But now, before she had even served him, she was already to receive a rank.
Tsk, tsk.
As he was thinking this, the Crown Prince’s cool voice sounded again from ahead. “Zhaoxun[1]A titled consort of the Crown Prince; in this dynasty the rank is below Chenghui and above Fengyi. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3735910_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3735910_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });. Have someone deliver the oral decree before lunch tomorrow.”
“…Zhaoxun?”
Hai Shun froze.
Dajing’s Eastern Palace followed the consort system of the ancient Tang dynasty.
Below the Crown Princess were two Liangdi, six Liangyuan[2]A Crown Prince’s consort rank below Liangdi and above Chenghui in the hierarchy described here. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3735910_1_2').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3735910_1_2', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });, ten Chenghui[3]A Crown Prince’s consort rank below Liangyuan and above Zhaoxun in this household hierarchy. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3735910_1_3').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3735910_1_3', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });, sixteen Zhaoxun, and twenty-four Fengyi[4]The lowest of the five named Crown Prince consort grades listed in this dynasty’s hierarchy. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3735910_1_4').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3735910_1_4', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });.
In other words, the Crown Prince could have fifty-eight concubines in all.
But the Crown Prince had been cold since childhood.
In his early years, he had also gone through an incident caused by conflict in the imperial harem.
It had left him with an unspeakable affliction.
After that, his temperament had grown even more detached.
The only three women in the Eastern Palace’s rear quarters now had all been bestowed on him by the Empress Dowager during her lifetime, after a selection.
In Hai Shun’s opinion, the little palace maid hadn’t even served the Crown Prince yet, and she came from a low-ranking servant’s family.
A ninth-rank Fengyi would already make her a mistress of sorts—an excellent position for her.
Yet His Highness had gone straight to the seventh-rank Zhaoxun.
Luo Xun glanced at him. “Is there a problem?”
Hai Shun hurriedly shook his head.
It wasn’t his place to decide whether the Crown Prince’s choice was a problem or not. He simply hadn’t expected His Highness to give the little palace maid the rank of Zhaoxun right off the bat.
But thinking about it, their Crown Princess was always concerned with appearances. In public, she could be impeccable in every regard, constantly displaying her dignity and virtue.
In private, though, she was always up to little schemes.
Like this incident.
She had been the one to start it, and her excuse had been perfectly respectable. His Highness had finally agreed, and she had seemed delighted.
So why not just send the girl over?
Instead, right when the Crown Prince was about to take her, she slapped her. Who knew why she had done it?
What did she take His Highness for?
No wonder His Highness wanted to raise the little palace maid’s rank.
Anyone would be angry after being treated with such contempt.
.
Kan’er returned to her quarters.
She had just stepped inside and lit the lamp when someone knocked at the door.
She opened it to find a palace maid she didn’t recognize.
“Are you Kan’er?” the maid asked hesitantly, a flicker of admiration crossing her eyes.
“I am. And you are…?”
“I’m from Yuanchun Palace.”
The maid took a small, round-bellied porcelain jar from her sleeve.
“Eunuch Hai asked me to bring this to you.”
Yuanchun Palace was in the Eastern Palace’s third courtyard, where the Crown Prince lived. A covered passageway and a courtyard separated it from Jiarong Hall.
“Thank you, Sister.”
Kan’er accepted the jar with a faint smile.
The maid was dazzled by her smile. When she came to her senses, she blushed and said, “You’re welcome, you’re welcome. Get some rest.”
Then she turned and left.
Kan’er shut the door, went behind the curtain in the corner to wash her face, then sat down at the simple dressing table and picked up the little jar.
It was made of blue-white porcelain, clear and lustrous, with a smooth, fine texture. Cloud patterns adorned its sides, lending it an elegant look.
When she opened the lid, a faint medicinal scent drifted out. Inside was a pale pink, translucent ointment, clear and glossy in texture.
Kan’er dabbed some on her fingertip and rubbed it behind her ear.
A cool sensation spread through her at once.
After waiting a while without feeling any discomfort, she looked in the mirror and carefully applied some to the two marks on her face.
Once she had finished, Kan’er looked at her reflection.
Her lips were red and full, as though the man’s presence still lingered on them.
She ran a fingertip over them, unable to name what she felt.
On this night in her previous life, he hadn’t kissed her once from beginning to end. Even when he had made her cry, he had shown her no tenderness.
Who would have thought that in this life…
Kan’er’s feelings were tangled, and she was a little embarrassed, too.
He had been so rough and so urgent that even now, she could still feel him in her mouth and taste his faint fragrance.
Her lips tingled.
Too embarrassed to dwell on it, Kan’er turned away and climbed into bed. Then she stared up at the canopy and touched her abdomen.
On this night in her previous life, she had served the Crown Prince. It hadn’t been long before Yao-ge’er came along. This time, something inexplicable had happened instead. Would the child she conceived afterward still be Yao-ge’er?
Early the next morning, in the bedroom at Jiarong Hall.
With the palace servants attending her, Crown Princess Zheng Mingzhi washed her face and rinsed her mouth. As though something had occurred to her, she suddenly smiled.
“How did she react last night?”
Nanny Pang was selecting several outfits for her mistress to wear. Hearing the question, she understood that the Crown Princess meant that little hussy.
She hesitated. “That little hussy…”
Zheng Mingzhi’s smile faded. “Speak.”
Nanny Pang had no choice but to say, “My lady, the people below reported that… that His Highness had someone escort her back last night.”
A chill settled fully over Zheng Mingzhi’s eyes. The palace maids attending her dressing immediately dropped to their knees.
“Bring her to me.”
Nanny Pang tried to placate her. “Please calm down first…”
Smack!
Zheng Mingzhi seized the hairpin from the dressing table and flung it to the floor.
“I said bring that wretched maid here!”
References[+]