Though it was already early summer in the fifth month, the sun was not yet at its harshest.
Ming Hua paddled her own small awning boat across the little pond, carefully selecting tender green lotus seedpods until she had filled a small bamboo basket, which she handed to Nuanxue.
The young lady's face was full of satisfaction as she smiled, her voice sweet as she instructed, "Hurry and take this to the small kitchen. Have them make a bowl of longan, lotus seed, and lily soup. I'll personally deliver it to His Majesty at Zichen Palace in a little while."
"Yes, Your Grace. Lotus seeds picked by your own hands—when His Majesty learns of this thoughtful gesture, I fear he won't bear to eat them!"
Nuanxue finished with a mischievous grin and, before her mistress could flare up in embarrassment and anger, snatched up the bamboo basket and scurried away in a flash.
"You cheeky, sharp-tongued girl—how annoying!" Ming Hua's little face was flushed red, whether from the heat or from shyness, and she stamped her small feet in frustration as she watched the sly Nuanxue's retreating figure.
Her cheeks burning, she bit her soft pink lips and twisted the embroidered handkerchief in her hands. Her heart began to waver with hesitation, and suddenly she felt less inclined to go to Zichen Palace to see Xie Chongyuan.
Such initiative made it seem as though she had been missing him all these days, when in truth, she had merely grown unaccustomed to dining alone every day…
But Xie Chongyuan had been so good to her these past days—how could she not show some gratitude in return?
She was going to see him only to express her thanks, and besides, these fresh lotus seeds wouldn't be the same in two days' time! If he missed out on them, what a pity that would be!
The young lady wrestled with herself for a moment, then seemed to quickly find a reason to convince herself. She happily returned to the main hall to change out of the palace robes whose sleeves had gotten bits of grass and mud on them from picking the lotus seedpods.
Ming Hua changed into a newly made gown of lustrous silk in pale green with silver-thread embroidery of narcissus flowers. She had Qingyun style her hair into an elegant coiled serpent bun, adorned with a pair of jade lotus hairpins that swayed as she moved. Her overall appearance was gentle, refined, and charmingly playful.
The setting sun hung in the sky, cicadas chirped in waves—it was already late afternoon.
Ming Hua reckoned that Xie Chongyuan should be done receiving ministers by now, so she brought the longan, lotus seed, and lily soup prepared by the small kitchen and headed toward his Zichen Palace.
Yilan Hall was not far from Zichen Palace—only half of Taiye Lake separated the two palaces. Exiting the main gate of Yilan Hall, one followed the willow-shaded cobblestone palace path along the edge of Taiye Lake eastward, then passed through a small flower garden before reaching the side gate of Zichen Palace.
Summer had now arrived, and the sun grew stronger with each passing day.
Ming Hua usually preferred to laze about in the main hall, nibbling on pastries and sweet drinks, reading storybooks, occasionally painting or playing the qin to cultivate her temperament. She didn't much care for going out.
Moreover, she was a young lady who took great care of her beauty and appearance, extremely attentive to skincare, and most afraid of getting tanned. During the blazing summer days, she rarely ventured outside.
The gardens of Yilan Hall were also beautifully constructed—small bridges over flowing water, pavilions and towers, and every flower and tree in the garden was a rare variety difficult to cultivate.
Having entered the palace only a month ago, she was still enchanted by the novelty of Yilan Hall. These past days she had been pondering how to redecorate it according to her own tastes, and so she hadn't felt bored taking refuge from the heat there.
The Empress Dowager doted on her and didn't require her to pay respects at Yanfu Palace every morning and evening. In the month since entering the palace, aside from going to Yanfu Palace every few days to chat with the Empress Dowager, she had barely set foot outside Yilan Hall.
Knowing the distance wasn't far, Ming Hua didn't use the consort's palanquin today. She still felt somewhat unaccustomed to her status as a noble consort and disliked having a crowd of people carrying and trailing after her—it made her deeply uncomfortable. She brought only Qingyun and Nuanxue along on foot.
Along the way, tree shadows swayed gently, cicadas chirped in waves, and green willows lined the cobblestone path by Taiye Lake.
Ming Hua found the scenery so beautiful that she slowed her pace, carefully admiring the views along the lake's edge.
Qingyun fanned her mistress as she walked beside her, smiling. "I already sent someone ahead to Zichen Palace to ask Eunuch Li. No ministers are coming to discuss affairs with His Majesty this afternoon, so Your Grace will certainly be able to see His Majesty."
Nuanxue chimed in with a grin, "His Majesty dotes on Your Grace so much. These past days, perhaps His Majesty has been just like Your Grace, hoping you would take the initiative to visit him at Zichen Palace."
"If His Majesty learns that Your Grace has come, even if ministers were scheduled to arrive for discussions, His Majesty would surely see Your Grace first. If you don't believe me, shall I make a wager with you?"
"You two wicked-tongued girls! I've spoiled you beyond all bounds! You're always teasing me like this! In broad daylight, with no restraint on your tongues—just wait, I'll teach you both a proper lesson!"
Ming Hua had already felt deeply embarrassed and shy about taking the initiative to visit Xie Chongyuan at Zichen Palace. Now, with the two of them teasing her further, she went straight from embarrassment to indignation and began tickling them both.
"Your Grace, spare us! We admit our mistake! Please don't get all flustered and angry…" Nuanxue quickly laughed and begged for mercy.
The three servants immediately began laughing and playing by the edge of Taiye Pool, the silver bell-like laughter of the young ladies ringing out in waves.
At that moment, not far away, a vicious curse filled with malice, accompanied by the cracking sound of a whip cutting through the air and a series of frightened, pained whimpers, came drifting over—sounding both terrifying and miserable.
"Wait, let's stop playing for a moment."
"Listen carefully," Ming Hua shushed them, gesturing for the two to stop and listen. "Is someone crying up ahead? And someone cursing?"
Qingyun and Nuanxue immediately fell silent, pricking up their ears to listen for a while. Then they both looked at Ming Hua and nodded, their faces filled with surprise as they said, "We hear it too. This is the palace—who would dare be so brazen?"
"Let's go see what's happening," Ming Hua said, her small face turning solemn as another vicious curse and a bout of frightened, pained whimpering reached her ears. She immediately hurried forward.
Ming Hua rounded the flower garden that blocked the view and spotted, not far away, in the twin pavilion of the viewing corridor, a woman dressed in resplendent attire—an elaborate purple palace gown, adorned with jade and gold trinkets.
The woman was cursing with filthy language while lashing a leather whip at a woman in a blue dress who was kneeling on the ground.
The woman in the purple palace gown seemed extremely furious, swinging the whip harder and harder with each strike, utterly arrogant and domineering. The woman in blue kneeling on the ground had already been beaten to the point she could barely stay upright, the fabric on her back torn open.
As Ming Hua drew closer and looked more carefully, she realized that the woman in the purple palace gown was actually someone she knew—it was none other than Xie Zhi, the legitimate daughter of the late Emperor and Empress Dowager Lu, with whom Ming Hua had never gotten along.
Ming Hua had known this Third Princess since childhood and was well acquainted with her arrogant, domineering, and contemptuous temperament.
The late Emperor had no sons, and he had doted excessively on Xie Zhi, his legitimate princess. Xie Zhi, in turn, relied on being the late Emperor's most favored legitimate daughter to act arrogantly and look down on everyone.
She never regarded anyone other than Empress Dowager Lu and the late Emperor with any respect, always ordering people around imperiously. If any palace attendant made the slightest mistake, she would beat and curse them at will, and it was common for her to secretly beat people to death.
She also loved being the center of attention and demanded that everyone praise her as the best at everything. The noble ladies of the capital's great families, eager to curry favor with imperial power, mostly flattered and fawned over her, licking her boots, and in poetry gatherings and elegant competitions, they would go against their consciences to let her win first place.
Ming Hua, however, utterly despised Xie Zhi's bullying and domineering ways. She had never taken Xie Zhi seriously and never bought into her act.
Xie Zhi, in turn, had always hated that Ming Hua dared to disregard her as a legitimate princess, but she feared the power of the Duke of Guogong's household and never dared to do anything about it. Every time she saw Ming Hua, she could only seize opportunities to sneer and mock her a few words.
But every time, Ming Hua would refuse to back down, giving not an ounce of face to this legitimate princess, and would ruthlessly mock her twice as hard in return, never suffering a loss, infuriating Xie Zhi to no end.
All the noble ladies of the capital knew that Xie Zhi and Ming Hua were sworn enemies.
Ming Hua looked at the woman in blue on the ground, bleeding profusely and trembling unsteadily, and assumed Xie Zhi was once again beating one of her own palace maids.
She stepped forward, thinking about asking what offense the maid had committed to warrant such a beating, and wondering what excuse she could use to lessen the maid's suffering or rescue her altogether.
After all, this was ultimately Xie Zhi's maid. Though Ming Hua couldn't stand to watch, if persuasion failed, she truly couldn't easily snatch the person away directly.
But who would have thought—the little palace maid shielding the woman in blue caught sight of her and immediately rushed over as if seeing a savior, weeping miserably as she begged: "Noble Consort! Please, Noble Consort, save our Ninth Princess!"
Hearing the little maid say it was the Ninth Princess, Ming Hua looked again in disbelief at the woman in blue kneeling and sprawled on the ground. Only then did she recognize that this was actually the Ninth Princess, Xie Chan, who often followed beside Xie Zhi and was treated like a servant by her.
Ming Hua rarely paid attention to Xie Chan. At banquets and poetry gatherings, she was always with her head lowered, meekly trailing behind Xie Zhi, which was why Ming Hua hadn't recognized her immediately.
She had heard that Xie Chan's birth mother was originally a palace maid in Empress Dowager Lu's service, and it was only after the late Emperor, in a drunken state, spent a night with her that she gave birth to Xie Chan and was finally granted the rank of Talented Lady.
Upon hearing this, Ming Hua's delicate brows furrowed, and she immediately stepped forward to stop it: "Xie Zhi, you stop right now!"
"Never mind that the Ninth Princess is your own sister—even setting that aside, you are both princesses. How can you whip her like this?"
"Even if she had committed a grave offense, His Majesty and the Empress Dowager are still here in this palace. It's not your place to mete out private punishment here!"
"Ming Hua?" Xie Zhi's face flickered with surprise at seeing Ming Hua approach, then she lowered the whip she had raised, and sneered with disdain: "No, wait—I should address you properly now as Noble Consort."
"But I am disciplining my own little sister here. The Noble Consort would do well to mind her own business."
Ming Hua looked coldly at Xie Zhi, and replied with a chilly smile: "And what if I insist on meddling?"
Xie Zhi let out a derisive laugh, then said with amusement, "You don't actually think that just because you're the only consort by His Majesty's side right now, you have the final say in this harem, do you?"
"I heard you've been in the palace for a month now and haven't even shared the imperial bed once. These days, inside and outside the palace, who doesn't know that you're nothing more than a vase His Majesty brought in to balance the court and put on display?"
"Today I'm busy disciplining this little wretch, so I can't be bothered to mock you. If you don't want to make a fool of yourself, then scram to the side and be your vase!"
The young palace maid beside Xie Chan, afraid that Ming Hua would leave, hurriedly clung to Ming Hua's leg and begged, "Please, Noble Consort, save our princess! If she's beaten any longer, our princess will die!"
Lately, the emperor had not set foot in Yilan Hall for many days. Ming Hua had indeed heard words like those Xie Zhi had just spoken, but she herself knew best how the emperor treated her. Such words had never weighed on her mind, nor did she deign to argue against them.
She gestured to Qingyun beside her to help Xie Chan up from the ground, her expression calm and unhurried as she smiled brightly at Xie Zhi.
"Though this harem isn't under my command right now, it will never be under yours either, a princess of the former dynasty—to abuse your authority and mete out private punishment here!"
"Today you've abused your authority with private punishment in this palace, slandered His Majesty with your words, and insulted me to my face. If I were to report today's events to His Majesty or the Empress Dowager, I wonder if you, Third Princess, would still be able to hold your head so high?"
"But since I'm busy saving lives today, and you've spoken viciously and whipped and berated the Ninth Princess, who is a princess just like you, I believe that once His Majesty and the Empress Dowager learn of this, they will surely convict you!"
"So I'll spare myself the trouble of adding two more charges against you. If you don't want to make a fool of yourself, then you'd better scram first!"
With that, Ming Hua turned to attend to Xie Chan, who had been helped up and was already on the verge of fainting. She instructed worriedly, "Take her back to Yilan Hall first, and summon an imperial physician to examine her."
Xie Zhi watched Ming Hua's delicate, lovely face, so smug and triumphant, and gnashed her teeth in fury.
She had hated Ming Hua for a long time.
No noble daughter in the capital dared to disregard her—only Ming Hua always went against her. She had long wanted to teach this little wretch who dared to be so rude to her a lesson!
The new emperor, to reassure the old ministers of the former court, had always treated her and her mother well. Even the emperor turned a blind eye to her and her mother.
Who did Ming Hua think she was, to dare not take her seriously?
Xie Zhi was so enraged she lost all reason. With that thought, she immediately stepped forward, shoved Ming Hua hard to the ground, then pointed her whip at Ming Hua, spitting out reckless words in her fury.
"The court is now filled with old ministers loyal to my father and mother! Even His Majesty shows my mother three parts of respect! His Majesty has never said a word against me—how dare you casually take away my people?"
As she spoke, Xie Zhi raised her whip to strike Ming Hua.
But just then, an urgent voice thundering with rage came from behind the flower beds—"How dare you!"
Ming Hua had been examining the wounds on Xie Chan's body when, caught off guard, she was shoved hard to the ground by that madwoman Xie Zhi.
She landed sprawled on her back, in an ugly posture, her bottom aching. At the sound of the voice, she looked up and saw Xie Chongyuan rushing toward her in haste.
Wah wah wah…
In such a sorry state, she wished she could crawl into a crack in the ground and hide away…