Yinreng’s skill at painting went without saying. Although Yu Mu had been somewhat distracted, he still managed to portray her beautifully. The woman in the painting possessed not only Yu Mu’s own delicate beauty, but also an air of softness and vulnerability.
Anyone who saw it would immediately feel a strong urge to protect her. Even Yu Mu had never realized that she could possess this kind of beauty. She had to admit that looking at the painting made her very happy, and even her gloomy mood lifted considerably.
But some things simply couldn’t be avoided. Sure enough, Yinreng began urging her to write something.
Heaven and earth could bear witness—she really didn’t know how!
But Yinreng didn’t care whether she truly knew how or not. The information he had received said that she did, so naturally, he expected her to write.
Holding the painting, Yu Mu desperately searched through her entire mind, hoping inspiration would suddenly strike.
As it turned out, the heavens were still rather kind to her. She successfully dug out from her memories several poems that the original owner of this body had composed while studying.
They might not have been perfect, but they were more than enough to solve her immediate crisis.
She hurriedly picked up the brush and began writing down what she had just remembered. The moment Yu Mu put brush to paper, Yinreng also stood up and came over to watch.
It was obvious that her movements were rather rusty at first, but as time passed, her writing gradually became smoother and more natural.
From Yinreng’s perspective, the poem wasn’t particularly good. At best, it could be considered neat and properly structured. However, when he thought about how she was a woman who usually studied household management and needlework, he felt that possessing this level of literary ability was already quite impressive.
“Sure enough, Mumu is a talented little lady. There’s still room for improvement, though. I noticed that you were rather rusty when you first started writing. It seems you’ve grown out of practice lately. Never mind. From now on, I’ll study with you.”
Yu Mu had only just breathed a sigh of relief, thinking she had successfully muddled her way through and planning never to touch a writing brush again.
Then she was suddenly informed that they would be studying together in the future.
It was like a bolt from the blue.
“Your Highness, how could this concubine possibly study together with you? Wouldn’t I only drag down Your Highness’s level of learning? Besides, no matter how hard I study, I certainly won’t be able to learn as well as Your Highness. If I study beside you, wouldn’t that only crush my enthusiasm?”
“How about this instead? From now on, this concubine will study by herself in the small study. If I encounter anything I don’t understand, I’ll come and ask Your Highness for guidance. When that happens, you mustn’t dislike me for being stupid.”
At first, Yinreng had been rather displeased when Yu Mu rejected his offer. How dare she fail to appreciate his kindness?
But after hearing the rest of her explanation, he quickly understood.
This little woman was probably shy. She was afraid he would laugh at her.
Fine, then. He would be magnanimous and indulge this little wish of hers.
Perhaps because they had only just gotten married, Yinreng’s tolerance toward Yu Mu was unprecedentedly high. Of course, the main reason was that, among all the women he currently had, Yu Mu’s appearance suited his tastes the most. That was why he was willing to spend time talking with her and sharing his thoughts.
Otherwise, he would have long since flicked his sleeves and walked away.
“My lord, you’ve been painting all afternoon. You must be tired. This concubine usually enjoys drinking tea. Why don’t I brew some for you to taste?”
Let’s drink tea. Please, just stop talking about studying.
“Very well. Then I’ll taste the tea you brew today.”
The moment Yinreng agreed, Yu Mu hurriedly ordered the servants to bring over the tea utensils, afraid that he might suddenly change his mind and start pestering her to write poetry again.
Yu Mu’s tea-making skills were actually quite good. Back when she lived in the modern world, one of her favorite things to do had been brewing tea. Her movements flowed smoothly and naturally, like drifting clouds and running water. Regardless of how the tea tasted, simply watching her prepare it was already a pleasure.
In truth, the tea Yu Mu brewed was also quite good.
Perhaps her skills couldn’t compare with the palace maids specially trained to prepare tea for the emperor, but among the women of Yuqing Palace, she was definitely one of the best.
“My lord, what do you think of the tea?”
Yinreng genuinely thought it was quite good. However, when he saw the smug little expression on her face, he suddenly didn’t want to praise her.
“Mm. For someone your age, it’s passable.”
“What do you mean, ‘passable’? My lord clearly thinks it’s good, don’t you? My lord is a real man—you’re not allowed to lie!”
Yu Mu had originally been feeling very pleased with herself, only to have her tea dismissed as merely average. She immediately leaned closer, tugged at Yinreng’s sleeve, and coquettishly demanded that he say it again properly.
Yinreng hadn’t expected this woman to act spoiled with him over a single cup of tea.
Of course, he enjoyed it immensely.
“All right, all right. I misspoke just now. Mumu’s tea-making skills are indeed extraordinary. You deserve a reward.”
Yu Mu’s eyes immediately lit up at the mention of a reward.
By now, she had realized that keeping the Crown Prince happy came with plenty of benefits. Even if she lost his favor someday, she would still need money, wouldn’t she?
“Come closer.”
Hearing Yinreng’s words, Yu Mu quickly leaned toward him.
“I’ll reward you by letting you accompany me properly tonight. How does that sound?”
In an instant, Yu Mu’s face turned bright red.
What kind of reward was that?!
“My lord!”
She managed to call those two words in several different tones.
Seeing Yu Mu become shy, Yinreng was visibly delighted. He repeatedly leaned close to her ear and whispered things to her, causing the blush on Yu Mu’s face to remain for the rest of the afternoon.
At this moment, where was the dignified and gentlemanly Crown Prince everyone knew?
He was practically no different from a lecherous rogue on the street teasing a respectable young woman.
And just like that, their first full day together in Yuqing Palace passed amid mutual flirting.
That night, unsurprisingly, Yinreng stayed overnight at Qingzhi Courtyard.
By the time Yu Mu woke the next morning, Yinreng was already gone.
All that remained was Yu Mu, rubbing her aching waist.
The two of them had stayed up far too late the previous night. Yu Mu vaguely remembered Yinreng getting up that morning, but she had been far too exhausted to rise.
Fortunately, Yinreng hadn’t intended to wake her.
On the contrary, seeing her in such a state had filled him with a great sense of accomplishment.
After all, it was proof of his ability.
That afternoon, Yu Mu was resting when He Zhong suddenly arrived carrying rewards from the Crown Prince.
“Greetings, Secondary Consort. Early this morning, His Highness the Crown Prince personally opened the storeroom and selected several items for this servant to bring to you. His Highness said that you would certainly like them.”
As he spoke, he motioned for the young eunuchs behind him to step forward.
Three items rested on the trays in their hands: a bracelet made of fine mutton-fat white jade, a gilded hairpin, and a headdress inlaid with gemstones.
Yesterday, Yinreng had said he would reward her, but Yu Mu had assumed he was only joking. She hadn’t expected him to actually send her gifts today.
All three items were beautiful, and she liked them very much. A smile unconsciously appeared on her face.
“Please trouble yourself to tell the Crown Prince that I like them very much. Thank His Highness for the gifts on my behalf. Lüxiu, see Eunuch He out.”
Seeing the joy on Yu Mu’s face, He Zhong already knew what he should report when he returned. Hearing her words, he naturally took his leave.
As Lüxiu escorted He Zhong out, she discreetly slipped a small pouch into his hand.
This could be considered an unspoken rule of the inner courtyard.
He Zhong accepted the pouch and felt it with his fingers. Inside seemed to be a small bag of objects shaped like melon seeds.
He immediately understood.
Secondary Consort Li was quite generous.
Although he would never deliberately make trouble for any woman favored by the Crown Prince, receiving a little gift still made him quite happy.
For the next several days, Yinreng followed the same routine. He would rise early to exercise, review his lessons, and then go to Qingzhi Courtyard to spend time with Yu Mu.
They played the qin, chatted, and played chess together.
Their days passed pleasantly.
In the past, Yinreng had never been particularly indulgent when it came to physical desires. Although he had women in his inner courtyard, his main focus had always been his studies. He would only visit the inner courtyard when his academic schedule was less demanding.
Yet after spending these past few days idling around with Yu Mu in Qingzhi Courtyard, he unexpectedly found the experience rather enjoyable.
For once, he wasn’t completely focused on studying.
Nor was he constantly thinking about the assignments his imperial father had given him.
When he was with Yu Mu, he felt relatively relaxed.
Perhaps it was because she was already a Secondary Consort. She knew there was little room for further promotion, so her attitude toward him was more natural, almost as if she were interacting with an ordinary person.
Whatever the reason, Yinreng found himself feeling quite comfortable around her.
Yu Mu, meanwhile, was also thinking about this issue.
Her original plan had simply been to coast along peacefully in the palace. However, over the past few days, she and Yinreng had grown increasingly close. She even felt as though the two of them were becoming something like friends.
This clearly did not align with her original plan.
But she had to admit that she liked the way they interacted.
She had been in relationships before, back in her previous life, but this feeling was different from what she had experienced then.
She knew she wasn’t in love with Yinreng.
But she did like him a little.
Yet she was only one woman among the many he possessed.
Investing genuine feelings in him simply wasn’t worth it.
Before Yu Mu could figure out how she should interact with Yinreng from then on, however, Yinreng suddenly became busy.
In the mornings, he attended lessons in the Upper Study. In the afternoons, he went to the Imperial Study to learn about state affairs from Kangxi. At night, he still had to complete his assignments in his own study.
For several days in a row, he didn’t enter the inner courtyard at all.
That was probably for the best.
It gave Yu Mu plenty of time to think about what path she wanted to take in the future.
At the same time, the women in the inner courtyard could finally breathe a temporary sigh of relief.
During the previous period, the Crown Prince had spent every night at Qingzhi Courtyard. The inner courtyard had long since become saturated with jealousy.
Forget Tang-shi—even Lin-shi had begun to feel dissatisfied.
In the past, the three of them had received roughly the same number of nights with the Crown Prince each month, so no one had been particularly jealous of anyone else.
But ever since Yu Mu entered the household, that balance had been shattered.
Even the fact that she was a Secondary Consort couldn’t stop them from feeling jealous.
Now that the Crown Prince had returned to his previous routine, they could at least comfort themselves with the thought that Yu Mu was newly married. Even if only for the sake of her family background, the Crown Prince would naturally favor her for a while.
But the truth was that Yu Mu had not fallen out of favor as they imagined.
Although Yinreng hadn’t visited Qingzhi Courtyard during this period, whenever he encountered delicious food or something particularly nice, he would remember to send a portion to Qingzhi Courtyard.
The other women in the inner courtyard simply didn’t know about it.
After some time, Yinreng finally caught up on all the lessons he had fallen behind on and returned to his usual routine.
Naturally, he once again had time to visit the inner courtyard.
And the first place he went was, of course, Yu Mu’s Qingzhi Courtyard.
After not seeing her for several days, he discovered that he had actually missed her a little.
Everyone in Qingzhi Courtyard was delighted by the Crown Prince’s arrival.
Their mistress being favored naturally benefited the servants as well. At the very least, when they went out to handle matters, others wouldn’t dare make things difficult for them.
Yu Mu was also very happy to see Yinreng.
Over the past few days, she had thought carefully about everything.
Since she had already entered his inner courtyard, and since she genuinely had a great deal of affection for him, she decided that she might as well try to see whether the two of them could become a truly harmonious couple.
If she didn’t even try, she was afraid she might regret it someday.
And so, when Yinreng arrived at Qingzhi Courtyard this time, he received an extraordinarily warm welcome from the entire courtyard.
He could clearly sense that Yu Mu had become much more enthusiastic toward him.
The most obvious sign was that she kept clinging to him.
Yinreng simply assumed that, because he had been too busy to visit for the past several days, this woman had missed him.
He even inwardly sighed over how irresistible his charm truly was.
Having made up her mind, Yu Mu naturally began paying more attention to Yinreng.
As a result, she noticed that during meals, Yinreng rarely touched dishes that were too bland. Instead, he particularly liked foods with sweet or sour flavors.
She hadn’t expected Yinreng to be just like a young girl and have such a sweet tooth.
Perhaps she could experiment with making some delicious desserts.
Yinreng would probably like them very much.