The night wind was silent, the dew heavy in the deep hours. The hexagonal palace lanterns of carved red sandalwood hanging from the corridor eaves spun gently in the cold breeze.
Several young palace maids emerged from the main hall carrying brass basins and face cloths. When they caught sight of the emperor rushing toward the main hall in nothing but a dark silk nightgown, his collar not even properly fastened, they blushed and lowered their heads, silently stepping aside to make way.
The emperor was known to be perpetually composed and level-headed—no matter how thorny the political matter before him in court, he handled it with unshakable calm. Yet here he was, thrown into such visible haste and discomposure simply because his noble consort was slightly unwell.
The maids stole glances at the dashing emperor's hurried figure disappearing into the main hall, their hearts filled with envy.
Xie Chongyuan noticed the faint traces of blood in the water basins carried out by the maids, and his heart sank. He quickened his pace, striding swiftly through the covered walkway and into the brightly lit main hall.
His little lady was soft and delicate, and terribly pampered at that. On ordinary days, a mere accidental bump would leave her limpid almond eyes red with tears, her lips pursed in pain, sulking miserably for half a day. Now that blood was involved, he could only imagine how badly she must be hurt—and how much she must be suffering at this very moment.
He parted the white jade and crystal bead curtain and stepped into the inner chamber. Rounding the sandalwood six-panel screen embroidered with hibiscus, he saw his little lady sitting on the daybed, wrapped in a brocade quilt patterned with clustered flowers. Her pale, bloodless little face was scrunched up as she grimly drank from a bowl of medicinal broth.
Seeing his usually lively and spirited little lady now so weak and listless, her face ashen and lips white, as if a single gust of wind could blow her away, a fine, dense ache spread through Xie Chongyuan's heart.
He strode forward quickly, concern in his voice. "Huahua, what's the matter?"
"It's late, Your Majesty. Why haven't you retired for the night?" Ming Hua set down her ginger soup and asked in a weak voice when she saw Xie Chongyuan enter.
Xie Chongyuan's eyes carefully swept over his little lady from head to toe, but since she was bundled entirely in the brocade quilt, he could only see her pale little face. The worry and anxiety in his expression deepened.
"I hadn't yet gone to sleep at this hour anyway. When I heard the commotion from the main hall and learned that Huahua was unwell, I came over."
"Where does Huahua feel discomfort? Have you injured yourself somewhere? Your complexion is so pale—why didn't you send someone to the Imperial Medical Bureau to summon a physician?"
A faint blush suddenly crept across Ming Hua's bloodless pale face. She lowered her feathery lashes, her gaze evasive.
"Huahua's body is not seriously unwell—merely a common minor ailment. It visits faithfully for a few days each month. I didn't expect it would disturb Your Majesty's rest."
Xie Chongyuan watched his little lady's crescent-shaped dark brows knit tightly together, as if she were enduring pain. Fine beads of sweat dotted her fair forehead, and the stray hairs at her temples were damp with perspiration. He had no idea how long she had been suffering.
He sat down beside the daybed, picked up a cloth from nearby, and gently dabbed the sweat from her forehead. His voice unconsciously softened further.
"Huahua need not stand on ceremony with me. If you're in discomfort, don't speak. I've already sent someone to the Imperial Medical Bureau to summon a physician—they should arrive shortly."
Hearing this, Ming Hua weakly declined. "Qingyun has already brewed the medicinal decoction Huahua takes when this comes on. Once Huahua finishes drinking it, I'll endure through tonight, and I'll be better by tomorrow."
"It's late, Your Majesty. Please don't go to the trouble of summoning a physician. Huahua's body truly is fine. Your Majesty is burdened with state affairs and must rise early for the morning court—please return and rest. There's no need to worry about Huahua."
But no sooner had she spoken than a dull, twisting pain seized her lower abdomen. She clutched her belly, cold sweat breaking out all over her body. Her head spun dizzily, and she felt nauseous yet unable to vomit.
Then, suddenly, her vision went dark. Her body swayed unsteadily, and she bit her pink lips tightly, two clear streams of tears sliding down her cheeks from the misery.
Seeing his little lady's small frame swaying and nearly fainting, Xie Chongyuan swiftly gathered her into his arms.
His phoenix eyes blazed with severity as he snapped at Qingyun and Nuanxue, who stood waiting nearby. "What exactly is wrong with the Noble Consort?"
"When I came over just now, I saw that the water and cloths the palace maids carried out were stained with blood. How have you been attending to her? If the Noble Consort is injured or suffering a relapse of an old ailment, why have you not summoned a physician?"
In all their time in the palace, Qingyun and Nuanxue had never before witnessed the emperor's thunderous wrath. His gaze and bearing were exactly as the rumors described—moody and merciless—as if at any moment he might order them both put to death.
Having grown accustomed these past days to the emperor's gentle, tender treatment of their mistress, they had assumed the rumors about him were merely exaggerated.
Now they understood: it was only in front of their mistress that the emperor set aside the capricious, ruthless side of him that legend spoke of.
Qingyun and Nuanxue had never witnessed such a scene before. Startled, they immediately dropped to their knees, so frightened that both were rendered speechless.
Ming Hua lay in the emperor's embrace, breathing in the faint scent of ambergris from his robes as her dizzy mind gradually regained its clarity.
She raised her hand to Xie Chongyuan's chest, gently tugging at his slightly loosened lapels, and explained in a shy, weak voice.
"Please, Your Majesty, do not scold them. Huahua is merely suffering from the usual abdominal pain that comes with her monthly cycle."
"This has happened before as well. I simply drank some ginger soup and endured it for a day, and it passed. Even the medical officers prescribed the same remedy, which is why I didn't have them summon the imperial physician."
As she finished speaking, a faint blush crept onto Ming Hua's pale little face, and she instinctively buried her head in embarrassment.
The collar of Xie Chongyuan's night robe had already been slightly open to begin with, and after her tug, it was now fully exposed.
When Ming Hua realized her face was pressed directly against his firm chest, she felt she ought to have simply fainted on the spot. Her pale cheeks flushed hotly all the way to the tips of her ears.
Normally, her monthly cycle should not have come for another four or five days, but for some reason, it had arrived early this month, and with such unbearable pain. To make matters worse, Xie Chongyuan had walked in on her like this—it was simply mortifying.
After hearing his young wife's explanation, a faint trace of red flashed across Xie Chongyuan's stern features as he gestured for the kneeling Qingyun and Nuanxue to rise.
He knew these two palace maids were not only her dowry attendants but also as close to her as sisters. She treated them exceptionally well on ordinary days, and out of respect for her, he would not truly punish them.
Xie Chongyuan cleared his throat, and with a coaxing tone, raised his hand to gently pat the young wife in his arms on the back, his voice soft.
"Still, we must have the imperial physician come take a look. Just now, Huahua was about to faint from the pain. How can Huahua be so careless with her own body?"
Recalling his young wife's earlier words, Xie Chongyuan picked up the bowl of ginger soup from the low table and scooped up a spoonful, bringing it to her lips. "This ginger soup will help Huahua feel more comfortable, won't it?"
When he had entered, she had indeed been holding this very concoction and drinking it.
Ming Hua nodded her little head. She was in too much pain to have the strength to refuse. Her rosy lips parted slightly as she lay curled up in Xie Chongyuan's arms like a little kitten, letting him feed her spoonful by spoonful.
Imperial Physician Li was the physician who attended exclusively to the emperor. By regulation, to prevent outsiders from learning of the emperor's health condition, he was not permitted to treat others—he could hardly even meet with outsiders on ordinary days.
When Li Shun'an came bearing the emperor's decree, summoning him to Yilan Hall to attend to the newly ennobled noble consort, he was inwardly astonished, wondering if the decree had been delivered to the wrong person.
But when he arrived at Yilan Hall and saw the emperor—normally capricious in temperament, ruthless and merciless—holding a young woman in his arms with tender affection and feeding her medicine, he was so shocked that his jaw nearly dropped for a moment.
If even the emperor would stoop so low as to personally attend to this noble consort, then surely this imperial physician reserved for the emperor alone could also serve her. He quickly stepped forward to pay his respects.
"Your servant pays respects to Your Majesty."
Xie Chongyuan had just finished feeding his young wife the ginger soup. He set down the white porcelain bowl and urged, "Rise. Come quickly and attend to the noble consort."
"Thank you, Your Majesty," Imperial Physician Li said as he hurriedly rose. Keeping his head lowered and not daring to look around, he picked up his medical case and stepped forward to begin taking Ming Hua's pulse.
He stroked his grizzled goatee in thought for a moment before bowing to report: "The noble consort appears to have consumed an excess of cold-natured foods in recent days, causing cold energy to accumulate within her body and leaving her constitution weakened. Tonight, she suddenly consumed a large quantity of warming, nourishing tonics, which hastened her monthly cycle ahead of schedule—hence the unbearable abdominal pain."
"Menstrual pain is a common ailment among women. If the noble consort drinks more warm brown sugar and ginger soup, it may provide some relief. With a little endurance, after tonight or by tomorrow, it should pass."
The young wife's face remained deathly pale and bloodless, utterly lifeless. Her usually lively and charming eyes were red-rimmed as she lay pitifully in his arms, shedding clear tears and whimpering softly about how much it hurt.
Xie Chongyuan heard her cries, and his heart felt as though someone were clutching it and kneading it in their hands. His expression darkened, unable to suppress the irritation rising within him, and he barked harshly: "Useless! I summoned you here in the dead of night—was it to hear you tell me the noble consort should simply endure it?"
"I keep no useless people by my side. If you cannot relieve the noble consort's pain tonight, then you need not remain in the Imperial Medical Bureau!"
Hearing this, Imperial Physician Li inwardly despaired. People of this era all considered women's monthly cycles to be unclean, and there were few medical texts that addressed how to treat menstrual pain.
In this world, which woman did not simply endure her way through menstrual cramps?
But with the emperor in such a rage, he did not dare risk death by voicing these thoughts aloud. To protect his position and his life, he could only rack his brains for a solution.
His mind rapidly reviewed the medical texts and classics he had read in his lifetime, and finally, steeling himself, he reported, "Your servant recalls having once read a pharmacopoeia concerning women's ailments."
"It records a set of acupoint massage techniques that may alleviate the Consort's current menstrual pain. If Your Majesty permits, I shall write out the techniques and acupoints, and the Consort may give them a try."
Xie Chongyuan gently patted the back of the young lady in his arms, who was biting her pink lips and enduring her abdominal pain with great effort, soothing her. His expression darkened as he said coldly, "Then go and do it at once!"
Imperial Physician Li, seeing the emperor's growing impatience, hurriedly went to the desk and quickly wrote out the techniques and acupoints, presenting them with nervousness, saying, "If Your Majesty follows these techniques to massage the Consort's abdomen, it should relieve her current abdominal pain."
Xie Chongyuan had originally wanted to massage the young lady himself, but after taking the paper from Imperial Physician Li, he saw that the acupoints written on it were all located below the waist and abdomen.
Thinking of how thin-skinned the young lady was, he had no choice but to order Imperial Physician Li to wait behind the folding screen, had the young lady lie down properly on the couch, and had Qingyun, who stood nearby, come forward to massage according to the techniques on the paper.
But after the time it takes to brew a cup of tea had passed, Ming Hua felt that the pain in her lower abdomen had not been alleviated. Xie Chongyuan was still sitting by the couch watching her. She was both in pain and too embarrassed to speak, feeling utterly wronged.
"Has Huahua not felt any better?" Xie Chongyuan held the young lady's ice-cold hands in his own.
Ming Hua pouted her lips and shook her head with a pitiful, aggrieved look.
Xie Chongyuan's expression immediately changed. His phoenix eyes narrowed slightly as he coldly stared at Imperial Physician Li behind the screen and questioned in a frosty tone, "This method of yours—could it be that you made it up to protect your official position and deceive me?"
Imperial Physician Li was so frightened that he immediately knelt down and said in panic, "Your Majesty, please see clearly—how would this humble servant dare?"
To save his own life, his mind raced. Seeing Qingyun standing nearby with a worried and pained expression, he hastily added, "Perhaps this female official's strength is too weak, and the massage pressure is too light. Please, female official, use more force and try again."
"Huahua, please forgive my rudeness," Xie Chongyuan said upon hearing this. At this point, he could no longer care about such formalities, feeling that only by doing it himself could he be at ease.
He raised his hand to signal Qingyun to withdraw, then sat himself by the young lady's couch and pressed on her slender waist and abdomen according to the acupoints and techniques on the diagram.
After Xie Chongyuan's warm, rough palm had massaged for a while, Ming Hua noticed that the persistent dull pain in her lower abdomen had greatly improved, and her tightly furrowed brows relaxed as well.
Seeing that the method was effective, that the young lady no longer cried out in pain, and that some color had returned to her small face, Xie Chongyuan finally relaxed his expression and dismissed Imperial Physician Li.
The night was deep and dark, and the candle on the desk had burned down to half its length.
Ming Hua gradually no longer felt the dull pain in her lower abdomen. She looked up at Xie Chongyuan, who was massaging her lower abdomen with a serious expression, and felt somewhat shy.
"Huahua feels much better now. Your Majesty has been massaging for so long—your hands must be tired. The night is already deep, so Your Majesty should return and rest soon."
Xie Chongyuan, recalling how frightening the young lady's complexion had been just moments ago, said without room for argument, "I am not tired. Tonight I will stay here with Huahua, and only leave once Huahua has fallen asleep comfortably. If Huahua's body is in such discomfort, even if I returned, I would hardly be able to sleep in peace."
Xie Chongyuan also knew that if he did not go to sleep soon, he would likely delay the morning court assembly the next day.
But looking at the young lady looking so weak and pained, he did not know why, but his heart simply could not let go, and his feet could not move an inch.
Ming Hua's attempts to persuade him failed. Feeling that pair of rough, powerful palms massaging her waist and abdomen with alternating pressure, she was so embarrassed that her small face burned hot, as if it were about to catch fire.
In the end, she could only pull over the brocade quilt beside her and cover her flushed face, which seemed about to steam.
Playing dead.