Listening to the young crown prince’s tone of inquiry, Da Fu felt a jolt of shock in his heart. The reason His Majesty had come to the Eastern Palace so late at night was precisely because he had heard from the secret guards that the young crown prince had brought a candidate from the Mingxiu Palace back to the Eastern Palace.
It was not to say that it was improper for imperial concubines to visit the Eastern Palace, but one had to consider the circumstances.
First of all, running over here in the middle of the night—even if the young crown prince was only six years old—what would it look like to the outside world to bring back a candidate from the Emperor’s harem?
Secondly, the harem had been without a master for many years, and it was only in June of this year that several noble ladies had entered. No one knew what His Majesty was thinking. Even Da Fu, who considered himself His Majesty’s confidant and could understand what His Majesty wanted with just a single glance, could not see through it this time.
Judging from past situations, His Majesty was clearly unwilling to add women to the harem.
Let alone an Empress, even the Empress Dowager had passed away before His Majesty ascended the throne. There wasn’t much to take care of in the harem, so Da Fu, as the Head Eunuch, was responsible for managing the minor eunuchs and palace maids.
In fact, because there were no imperial concubines in the harem, the staff was greatly reduced. Although his title as Head Eunuch sounded grand, he didn’t actually have many people under his command.
Every year, court officials advised him to hold a grand selection for the harem, and every year, His Majesty refused to listen.
If one were to speak of His Majesty’s temper, it was obstinate to the core. The young crown prince took after his father in this regard, being exceptionally stubborn as well.
Advising the Emperor to bring women into the harem every year had become like a routine matter. It was the same this year—the court ministers urged His Majesty to conduct a grand selection. Originally, Da Fu thought His Majesty would do as he had done before and order him to burn all those memorials requesting the selection.
Unexpectedly, this time His Majesty remained silent for quite a while, then actually picked up a brush, wrote down several names, tossed the paper to him, and bade him inform the families of the named individuals to send their daughters into the palace.
Da Fu had been caught completely off guard at the time, almost losing his composure.
In his memory, it was likely due to the young crown prince’s birth mother—the late Crown Princess who had died early—that His Majesty had always deeply detested women, which was why he had never added anyone to the harem after ascending the throne.
Fortunately, he had the young crown prince, so although the court officials urged him, they were not overly anxious. It was just that having an empty harem was always a bit strange, so they would present memorial suggestions from time to time.
His Majesty had never paid them any mind.
Now this turn of events left even Da Fu bewildered.
Could it be that His Majesty had come around?
Da Fu only remembered that at that time, he had boldly looked up at His Majesty. His Majesty’s entire face had been shadowed in the dark, making it impossible to see his expression clearly. Yet somehow, it gave Da Fu an unsettling feeling that something was amiss.
He felt as though the His Majesty at that moment was not quite His Majesty.
Not long after, His Majesty suddenly asked for the list back, scrutinizing it carefully. Just as Da Fu thought His Majesty had regretted his decision and changed his mind about the selection, His Majesty simply gave instructions to proceed according to what was said before.
To this day, Da Fu had not figured out what move His Majesty was playing.
He summoned those noble ladies into the palace, yet he did not call them to serve in his bed chamber, instead leaving them all grouped together. Seeing that there was no hope of serving the Emperor, those women did not fight amongst themselves; instead, they got along quite happily when gathered together.
Noticing a sharp gaze sweeping over, Da Fu snapped back to his senses, only then realizing that at some point, the young crown prince had walked up to His Majesty’s side, and both father and son were turning their heads to look at him with identical movements.
Perhaps because the young crown prince was small, he hadn’t learned His Majesty’s cold and formidable gaze, looking at him merely with a bewildered expression.
He had actually zoned out.
“This old servant deserves death! May Your Majesty grant forgiveness,” Da Fu hurriedly stepped forward and said.
Pei Lin did not speak, nor did he punish Da Fu. He simply withdrew his gaze, lifted his foot, and stepped into the room.
Inside the room, a moist water vapor could be felt, carrying the scent of the scented balm used during bathing.
No, that wasn’t right.
There was another faint, elusive fragrance in the air.
Pei Lin stood inside the room, his peripheral vision sweeping toward the young crown prince, Pei Yun. He was still wearing the clothes he had worn today, so the person who had bathed was clearly not him.
He also smelled another scent mingled within it, one that felt somewhat familiar, like a person’s natural body fragrance. Smelling this fragrance brought a familiar wave of tingling numbness surging up from the soles of his feet.
Pei Lin’s brows furrowed, and his palm slowly clenched into a fist.
This scent was something others could not fabricate.
However, what if? There were too many strange occurrences in the world; how could he know whether this was his illusion, or something done intentionally?
His fist slowly unclasped. Just as he was about to sit down, he noticed a towel tossed aside. It looked wet, clearly used by someone here just moments ago.
The scent seemed to emanate from that towel. Pei Lin even felt an impulse to pick up the towel and smell it, but in the end, he did not move, his eyes merely fixed on that piece of cloth.
Following his peripheral vision, Da Fu also noticed the towel. He gave a look to the palace servants attending the Crown Prince, signaling them to clean it up immediately.
At the same time, he marvelled in his heart: that candidate truly possessed formidable means! Not only had she coaxed the young crown prince, but she had even taken a bath in the Eastern Palace.
Could it be that she knew His Majesty would come here and had specifically waited for him?
On second thought, it felt wrong. If that were the case, why was there no sign of that candidate now?
Where was she?
Was she hiding somewhere?
Da Fu’s eyes darted around in a sly sweep, but he didn’t see anyone at all, nor did it look like anyone was hiding.
Thinking back to the young crown prince’s appearance just now, he instantly understood—the person had likely already left.
Could she have known His Majesty was coming and intentionally played hard to get?
There were only His Majesty and the Crown Prince in the imperial palace, so naturally there were no harem power struggles. Although there were rumors in the outside world that His Majesty was a tyrant, Da Fu, as his personal eunuch, knew better than anyone what kind of temperament His Majesty possessed.
Those were purely wild rumors! Claims of tyrannical conduct were simply ruining His Majesty’s wise and mighty image. It was nothing more than executing a few corrupt officials—especially those who harmed the common people, bullied men and women, or forced virtuous women into prostitution—and selecting a few particularly arrogant ones to be sliced alive in public as a warning.
Da Fu knew how those evil men acted. In his view, being sliced alive was too light a punishment; dying ten or eight times could not compensate for the sin those people had committed.
How could His Majesty, being so wise and decisive, become a tyrant?
It was fortunate that there was no one in His Majesty’s harem; otherwise, there would be yet another rumor of him being licentious and unbridled. It was also fortunate that there was a young crown prince; otherwise, the rumors might have sounded even worse.
Thinking of how those fools viewed His Majesty, Da Fu pressed down the corners of his mouth, a wave of sadness surging in his heart, his eyes growing red.
If it were not for His Majesty’s competence, the lives of the common people would not be as good as they were now. Those people didn’t know a thing!
If anyone dared to speak ill of His Majesty in front of him, Da Fu would have slapped them long ago.
Sitting there, Pei Lin frowned and glanced at Da Fu, knowing full well what he was thinking. Although he wanted to kick him, he ultimately held back.
He seemed somewhat weary, an unsuppressible fatigue lingering between his brows as he leaned his head on his hand and looked at the young crown prince.
“Yun’er, come closer.”
The young crown prince dragged his feet and shuffled forward two steps, looking somewhat reluctant.
Pei Lin, however, began testing him on his studies.
The young crown prince felt that his Imperial Father was even more terrifying than his Grand Tutor.
When he couldn’t recite his lessons, the Grand Tutor would also strike his palm with a ferule; though it hurt at the moment, he felt better shortly after.
His Imperial Father never hit or scolded him, yet ever since he could remember, he inexplicably felt that his Imperial Father was terrifying. He seemed never to have seen his Imperial Father smile; he always wore a stern expression, colder than the midwinter frost.
The young crown prince did not dare to look up. Hesitating mid-recitation, he lifted his head and stole a sneaky glance at his Imperial Father.
His Imperial Father seemed tired, resting his forehead on his hand with his eyes closed, leaning back in his seat to rest.
The young crown prince stopped reciting and boldly looked up at his Imperial Father’s face. Off to the side, Da Fu observed for a moment as well. Seeing that Pei Lin seemed truly asleep, he gathered his courage to step forward and draped a cloak over Pei Lin.
Just as it touched his shoulders, Pei Lin opened his eyes.
“Your Majesty!” Da Fu called out hastily, adding, “If Your Majesty is tired, please return to rest.”
Pei Lin glanced at the young crown prince, then stood up.
“Yun’er, rest early.”
“Yes, Father.”
Watching Pei Lin leave, the young crown prince stood in place, looking wistfully for a moment, before turning around reluctantly to wash up.
If Father hadn’t suddenly come over, he would have caught up with Mother just now. Thinking of Mother, the young crown prince couldn’t help but smile. Fearing he might be noticed, he quickly covered his mouth, but even so, he couldn’t conceal the smile on his face.
Mother was indeed just like in his dreams, except the clothes Mother wore in his dreams were a bit strange.
After washing up, the young crown prince changed into his sleepwear and lay on the bed. He tugged at his nightgown for a moment before lying down happily.
He wasn’t going to tell Father! It must be because Father was too strict that Mother was scared to return.
Pei Lin had originally been quite sleepy. Some matters had arisen recently, and he had stayed up late to handle them; the deployment of troops and personnel from various factions all required his personal attention. Counting it up, he had not rested for two days.
Just now, while listening to Pei Yun recite his lessons, he had unconsciously fallen asleep.
As he walked out of the Eastern Palace, a gentle breeze blew past, feeling quite cool in the summer night, clearing his head a bit.
Fingering the gold thread on his robe, Pei Lin’s brows furrowed tightly. “Who is that woman?”
Although he didn’t mention her by name, who was Da Fu? He was the Head Eunuch of the Imperial Presence and His Majesty’s confidant.
Upon hearing this, he immediately knew His Majesty was asking about the candidate who had coaxed the Crown Prince.
The Crown Prince was young, and although he was inside the imperial palace with attendants by his side, His Majesty still dispatched secret guards to keep an eye on him, fearing something might happen to his only offspring.
Today, when the secret guard reported back that the Crown Prince was walking very closely with a candidate, His Majesty had already been deeply displeased.
He had already sent people to make inquiries at that time.
“Replying to Your Majesty, that woman is Shen Lian’s eldest daughter, the Vice Minister of Court of Imperial Sacrifices.”
“Shen Lian?” Pei Lin’s brows knitted slightly.
“Shen? Is that candidate’s surname Shen?”
In his mind, he quickly matched the title of Vice Minister of Court of Imperial Sacrifices to the person, but he said nothing further, only frowning deeply.