Because of Prince Duan's appearance, Madam Jiang's demands for Gu Youning were never brought up again, and Gu Youning narrowly escaped disaster.
But Prince Duan's words—"What a coincidence indeed"—kept echoing in her ears. Though casually spoken, those few words left her ears ringing.
She kept feeling there was something more behind his words, yet also thought she was overthinking it.
Left with no choice, she could only suppress these speculations and force herself to ignore them.
Fortunately, because of the willow-woven goods, the Consort Dowager specially sent word that she would be richly rewarded later.
Though the Sun family held a respectable position in the prince's residence and hardly lacked for anything, Gu Youning was naturally delighted to hear of the reward.
When she finally followed Concubine Zhou out, the concubine looked her over with a smile and suddenly said, "You have decent looks, but more importantly, you're proper and dutiful."
Earlier, the Old Consort Dowager had taken a liking to her, and Madam Jiang had intended to promote her, yet she hadn't scrambled to climb upward. This gave Concubine Zhou considerable appreciation for Gu Youning.
Gu Youning hastily replied, "You flatter me, Concubine. For those of us in service, there's no such thing as good or bad looks—we all have the appearance of servants. As for being proper and dutiful, that is simply what a maidservant ought to be."
Concubine Zhou was quite pleased and said with a smile, "I always say your mother-in-law has poor judgment, yet who knew she'd pick such a good daughter-in-law. Our Consort Dowager favors people like you best. Work hard, and your future prospects will be great."
Gu Youning hurriedly thanked her.
As they were talking, they saw a colorful group approaching—it was Concubine Chen and Concubine Meng.
Concubine Meng had been the former Princess Consort's dowry maid. After the Princess Consort married into the family, her health was frail, and she passed away within two years. This dowry maid had continued managing the affairs of the Princess Consort's quarters. Later, when the old prince fell gravely ill, the Old Consort Dowager made the decision to place this dowry maid in Prince Duan's quarters as well.
As for Concubine Chen, she had been bestowed from the palace—a chamber attendant arranged for this imperial grandson by the Empress Dowager.
Concubine Meng had an oblong face and ordinary looks, but Concubine Chen was strikingly beautiful. In her hair was a gilded kingfisher-feather hairpin, and two fresh seasonal flowers were pinned askew at her temples. A wisp of soft hair, stirred by the breeze, gently brushed against her cheek, making her look all the fairer and more lovely.
At this moment, Concubine Chen's face was full of displeasure. "Sister Zhou, I can understand it for me and Sister Meng—we came later, after all, and hardly count for anything. But you, Sister Zhou, are at the Old Consort Dowager's side. How dare she steal your limelight!"
She was beautiful, and unlike Concubine Zhou and Concubine Meng, who came from maidservant backgrounds, she had come from the palace and was always arrogant, looking down even on Madam Jiang, who was the secondary consort.
Concubine Zhou was taken aback. "What happened now?"
Concubine Chen then began complaining about Madam Jiang. It turned out that today, since they were out and about, all the ladies had come along. According to the usual arrangement, it should have been her turn to attend to the prince.
But Madam Jiang had argued some logic or other—that since they were away from home, as the secondary consort, if she didn't attend to him up close, people would laugh at them. So it was Madam Jiang who attended to him in the end.
Concubine Chen said resentfully, "Why should she? She always steals the limelight in everything. If we're being honest, though she's the secondary consort, I came from the Empress Dowager's side, and you are at the Consort Dowager's side—we were both placed here by our elders to serve His Highness. Shouldn't she defer to us in all matters?"
At these words, Concubine Meng's expression beside her turned somewhat uneasy.
Among the four women of the inner household, one had an imperial title, one had the Old Consort Dowager, one had the Empress Dowager—and she? She was merely a maid of a deceased princess consort.
Concubine Zhou, however, was quite calm about it, and instead went about comforting and consoling Concubine Chen.
Concubine Chen gritted her teeth and said helplessly, "Now that His Highness's mourning period is nearly over—"
She stopped halfway, but everyone understood.
When the old prince had passed away, Prince Duan had made a vow to observe three years of mourning for his father.
Though the rites of Great Zhao placed the utmost importance on filial piety, ordinary officials observing a parent's death were bound for only a single year—no marriage, no feasting or entertainment, no celebrations within that year.
Prince Duan, in the depths of his grief, had insisted on three full years. The Old Consort Dowager and the Emperor had gently tried to dissuade him, but considering his sincere and profound filial devotion, they had no choice but to let him be.
As for the concubines and Madam Jiang, they had all entered the household while the old prince was still ill. At that time, Prince Duan was attending his father's sickbed and had no mind to bother with them; they had simply been settled into the household according to protocol.
Once the old prince died, Prince Duan entered mourning, making it even more impossible for him to touch any of them in the slightest.
So the so-called "attending him at night" these days truly meant just that—attending him at night, with not the slightest other implication.
And so everyone endured. Endured, and endured, for nothing!
Nearly two years had passed, and now everyone secretly hoped: when the prince's mourning period ended, who would claim first place? Who would seize the advantage?
To seize that advantage meant the chance of being the first to conceive—of bearing the eldest son.
Legitimate or not, born of a concubine or not, if the child carried the word "eldest," one would have both face and standing, and never a worry for the rest of one's life.
At this thought, everyone pressed their lips together and lowered their heads, each lost in her own calculations.
Gu Youning listened quietly from the side. Of course she could hear the concubines' thoughts and knew they were all itching for their chance.
In this respect, she felt all the more the restraining power of the mourning period—no matter how eager they were, none dared act recklessly while it lasted, and Prince Duan himself had strictly observed the rites of filial piety.
And yet she had somehow, inexplicably, done something scandalous with him…
Gu Youning couldn't help but shudder.
She had inexplicably ruined Prince Duan's mourning observance, violated a taboo. If anyone ever learned of it, she would surely not survive.
She thought again of the way Prince Duan had looked at her—unfamiliar and cold, without any other meaning, as if looking at an ordinary servant.
She could only comfort herself: he surely did not wish to speak of it either; he must want to forget it entirely. After all, a lifetime of untarnished reputation could not be ruined over the wife of a household slave.
In this state of anxiety, she followed Concubine Zhou onto the carriage. Concubine Zhou was quite warm and affable toward her, speaking as if she regarded her as a trusted confidante, even asking about how Sun Feng'an fared in his service before the prince.
Gu Youning vaguely understood that the woman was trying to win her over, but she dared not promise anything, so she could only play the fool. By the time she finally got through this duty and returned to the residence, she was aching and weak all over, wanting nothing more than to flee the place at once.
Just then, Sun Feng'an arrived.
He came rushing up excitedly. "I heard the news—that you made an impression before Her Ladyship the Consort Dowager. But I was on duty and couldn't get away—"
He stopped abruptly mid-sentence. He saw that his wife's face was deathly pale, her expression weary with exhaustion.
He hurried to steady her by the shoulders. "What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell somewhere?"
Gu Youning had endured so much for so long that she felt utterly drained. Now, seeing the concern on the man's face before her, she couldn't help but feel wronged.
Sun Feng'an saw that her eyes had actually grown moist, and his heart ached terribly. He awkwardly fumbled to comfort her, saying, "If anyone has upset you, tell me who it was, and I'll think of a way to get back at them for you."
Hearing these words, Gu Youning's heart softened.
No matter what, this was her own husband.
She nearly burst into tears but fought hard to hold them back. "If one day I wrong you, will you hate me?"
Sun Feng'an asked, "What on earth is the matter? Why say such silly things out of nowhere?"
Gu Youning turned her face away and said hoarsely, "It's nothing. I'm just too tired."
Hearing this, Sun Feng'an finally relaxed a little. "That's good. You scared me just now—I thought something had happened."
Gu Youning listened, almost wanting to ask—if something had happened, what would you do about it? But Sun Feng'an had already begun asking about her time before the Old Consort Dowager. Gu Youning paused for a moment, then told him, from beginning to end, about how she had made up the story about the little hen.
Sun Feng'an had never imagined such a thing was possible. He said gleefully, "You've caught the Consort Dowager's favor—that's a good thing, a very good thing!"
Gu Youning was silent for a while before saying quietly, "Mm."
Seeing that she still had little spirit, Sun Feng'an coaxed her, "If your mother knew, she'd be delighted. And Yueqiu would be happy for you too."
After a good while of this, Gu Youning's mood finally improved. Just as the couple was talking, they heard a little maid calling from outside. It turned out that after returning from the tomb shrine, all those who had accompanied the party were to receive rewards. The Consort Dowager had specifically instructed that Gu Youning be rewarded generously, and since festive gifts had just arrived from the palace, some were to be bestowed upon her.
Sun Feng'an was naturally overjoyed, and Gu Youning, hearing this, felt somewhat reassured as well.
Prince Duan had seen her and had neither tripped her up nor shown any intent to take her life. Moreover, she had made a good impression before the Consort Dowager. It seemed all her agonizing had been needless worry.
So the couple discussed it and went together to claim the reward. The reward had to be claimed first with a reward token, then redeemed at the prince's estate's steward's office. Once the steward called out each item and handed them over, they saw that among the gifts were one bolt of dark green plain satin, one bolt of moon-white plain gauze, and various small items for a lady's chambers: a sweet-olive hair oil case, four plain silk handkerchiefs, a string of red musk beads, and several packages of pastries and dried fruits.
Sun Feng'an, who had run errands and served at the heels of noble persons, had some experience and knew that the plain gauze was tribute goods only transported from the south this past spring. He couldn't help exclaiming in admiration, "This is fine material!"
Gu Youning touched it. The gauze was so thin it hardly seemed to exist in her hand. One could imagine that if made into a close-fitting undergarment, it would be smooth and comfortable.
As for the pastries, each was neatly packed in a gold-traced lacquer box. They were palace-made for this Qingming Festival: rose crisps, pea-flour cakes, almond cakes, and lotus seed rolls, far more delicate in design than anything sold outside.
Naturally, Gu Youning liked them too, thinking of taking some for her mother to taste.
Her mother was skilled with her hands, and after tasting them, she might well learn to imitate them.
So the two collected their rewards and, carrying and holding everything, headed home together.
Sun Feng'an looked at the plain gauze and grinned from ear to ear. "Just a few days ago, Yu'e was going on about how she'd once seen someone get Plain Cloud Gauze to make inner garments, saying how wonderful it was, and she was green with envy. But such things aren't easily come by—even my father couldn't get any. Who'd have thought you'd receive such a reward."
Hearing this, Gu Youning became displeased. She shot him a glance. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Sun Feng'an sensed Gu Youning's resentment and froze. "What's wrong?"
Gu Youning: "I only just got it, and you've already arranged to give it away?"
Sun Feng'an thought about it and conceded the point, but he still coaxed her with a smile: "It's a whole bolt anyway. Let's have a dress made for her."
A bolt of plain gauze like this could make three or four waist-high ruqun dresses, or two pleated skirts.
Gu Youning kept a straight face: "This was bestowed on me by the Old Consort Dowager. I haven't even had a chance to warm it yet, and you've already found a use for it, using my things to do favors."
Sun Feng'an: "What's yours and mine? Isn't it ours, as a family?"
Gu Youning said, "In my opinion, you needn't play the generous man with this thing. I know Yu'e wants a fine dress, but however much face our Sun family has, we are still household slaves of the prince's residence. Since we're registered as slaves, how could she wear such a dress out in public? She can't very well lift her hem and explain to everyone she meets that the fabric was a gift from the Consort Dowager, can she? The residence is full of gossiping tongues—who has the patience to hear such explanations? They'll only assume that Master Steward Sun wields great power and has secretly lined his pockets with who knows how many benefits—even his own daughter wears top-grade tribute gauze for everyday clothes!"
Sun Feng'an was stunned by this speech, then suddenly saw the light: "You have a point."
Gu Youning had always known Yu'e's way of thinking. If Yu'e wanted something, she would insist on taking half a bolt or even more, never leaving much behind. Naturally, Gu Youning had to nip any such possibility in the bud, starting with Sun Feng'an.
Now that she had persuaded Sun Feng'an, she continued: "But since we've received such a gift, the whole family is happy and should share in the good fortune. In my view, let's cut out some lengths to make underclothes for Mother and for Yu'e. Worn inside, they'll bring comfort to their own bodies while remaining hidden from view—not too conspicuous."
Hearing this, Sun Feng'an immediately showered her with praise—praising her filial piety, praising her generosity.
Gu Youning smiled. Two sets of underclothes wouldn't use much fabric—far more economical than even one dress. This way, she wouldn't incur the mother and daughter's resentment, and she'd save some fabric as well.
Meanwhile, in the hall upstairs nearby, behind a glazed window, Prince Duan stood silently at the window, looking down.
The Prince Duan's residence covered a vast area, with lush flowers and trees and scattered pavilions and towers, among which servants and pages came and went. This scene was all too familiar to him—he had long grown accustomed to it all.
The sight before him now—a pair of ordinary servant husband and wife walking and talking among the flowers and trees—was an image more common than anything.
And yet now, staring fixedly at the woman's vivid, smiling face, thinking of their intimate, domestic manner with each other, he felt an inexplicable bitterness well up in his chest.