(A note about the earlier passages concerning Xiao Qing’s mother: she originally had no name and was only referred to as Madam Xiao. Later, I changed her name to Shen Lanyue because I believe women should have names rather than appearing with their husbands’ surnames from the moment they enter the story. I have changed every instance of Madam Xiao to Shen Lanyue, but if I missed any, please point them out, dear readers.)
“I am fine, so there’s no need for an imperial physician!” How could she possibly let an imperial physician take her pulse? Ignoring the pain in her flesh, she hurriedly stood up to stop him. “His Majesty, I have been traveling for days, and there is only a little discomfort between my legs. It is nothing serious.”
“You just said you were a grown man. I’ve never seen a grown man become unable to walk after riding for a few days. Take off your trousers and let me have a look.”
At once, Xiao Qing gripped her sash and refused loudly, “No need! Thank you, Your Majesty, but there’s no need!”
He had only said it on impulse, but when he saw how strongly she reacted, Zhao Xuanye deliberately decided to tease him. “What is it? You’re not a young lady, are you? What’s wrong with letting me take a look?”
As he spoke, he reached for her sash.
“Your Majesty, you mustn’t!” Xiao Qing clutched her clothes tightly and knelt down. “There is swelling between my legs, and I have not bathed for several days. I fear I might offend Your Majesty’s eyes.”
“If your leg is uncomfortable, why are you kneeling? Go back early. You need not attend court tomorrow. You’re tired as well, so rest at home for two days before coming back.” Zhao Xuanye reached out and helped him up, then ordered Su Mingde, “Go prepare a soft sedan chair and send Lord Xiao back to the residence.”
Xiao Qing unobtrusively let out a sigh of relief and cupped her hands. “Thank you, Your Majesty. I am fine; I will recover after one night.”
Seeing his rigidly proper manner, Zhao Xuanye laughed. “There is no need for you to keep thanking me. We grew up together. In my eyes, you are my younger brother.”
“I am deeply afraid I am unworthy.” As he spoke, he tried to kneel again.
Zhao Xuanye shook his head helplessly. “You were so adorable as a child, with your delicate, doll-like features. You talked constantly and loved being close to me. Why have you become more and more rigid and obsessed with etiquette now?”
Xiao Qing secretly groaned inwardly. As she grew older, her female body had become increasingly apparent. She did not dare grow close to anyone, terrified that someone might discover her secret. “I…”
“That’s enough. Go back.” Zhao Xuanye cut him off, unwilling to listen to any more of his polite formalities.
Xiao Qing could not wait to leave. Perhaps it was because they had not seen each other for too long, but she felt that His Majesty was acting strangely. She simply could not say what was strange about him.
She had not yet reached the palace gates when Su Mingde caught up with her. “Lord Xiao, please wait!”
Xiao Qing lifted the curtain of the soft sedan chair. “Eunuch Su, does His Majesty have any further instructions?”
Su Mingde took out a white jade porcelain bottle and handed it to her. “His Majesty ordered this servant to give you this medicinal balm. It is an excellent remedy for reducing swelling and relieving pain.”
Xiao Qing raised her hand to accept it, her pale pink fingertips resting against the porcelain bottle. The words “fingers like scallion roots” immediately appeared in Su Mingde’s mind. Lord Xiao was exquisite in every way—though he was a little too thin. If he were a woman, one could only imagine how breathtakingly beautiful he would be.
“Thank you for making the trip, Eunuch Su. Please thank His Majesty on my behalf as well.”
Xiao Qing toyed with the porcelain bottle in her hand. The strange feeling in her heart grew stronger. Her injury was in a private place. Was His Majesty’s concern crossing the line a little? She truly could not understand it, so she stopped thinking about it. It was probably because she had been away for too long.
In truth, she was not the only one feeling unsettled. Xiao Qing had left, but the rosy-red mole at the back of her neck continued to sway through Zhao Xuanye’s mind. He threw down his brush and cursed under his breath, “Have I gone mad?”
……
Marquis Rongchang’s Residence.
“Nanny, why hasn’t Qing’er come back yet?”
“The Young Master has already returned. He is in Master’s study.” A nanny over forty respectfully answered the woman seated in the principal wife’s place.
The woman’s black hair was piled like clouds, with gold, kingfisher-feather, and jade ornaments tucked into it, accentuating her noble bearing. She was thirty-five that year, yet her well-kept face showed not the slightest trace of age. Only her sharp eyes revealed the hardships she had endured through half a lifetime.
“Then hurry to the kitchen and see whether Qing’er’s favorite dishes are ready. He hasn’t been home for six months, and who knows how much hardship he has suffered.”
Xiao Qing had been raised under Nanny Li’s watch, and Nanny Li was heartbroken for her as well. But seeing her mistress’s reddened eyes, she comforted her, “The Young Master has been clever since he was little. Look, hasn’t he returned safely? He even completed his official duties so beautifully that Old Master praised him without end. He said that with the Young Master in the Marquis’s Residence, the household could remain prosperous for a hundred years.”
“That goes without saying. Qing’er is the finest child in the world.”
“Madam, everyone at Yiyun Courtyard is saying that the Eldest Young Master has made something of himself through his studies, and that our Marquis’s Residence may produce another top scholar.”
She lifted her teacup and took a small sip. “She is counting on her son to make something of himself and surpass Qing’er, so that the Marquis will elevate her to the position of principal wife. She has coveted my place as mistress of the household for more than ten years. The eldest is pitiful, too. He has not even taken the examinations yet, and his mother is already putting so much pressure on him. I wonder whether he can bear it.”
“Madam, don’t pity him. His mother covets the position of principal wife. Do you think he doesn’t covet becoming the legitimate son and inheriting the Marquis’s Residence?”
Shen Lanyue sneered. “As if he deserves it! This is not merely a mother boasting about her own child—two of him would not equal my Qing’er. It is just a pity…”
At this, Shen Lanyue’s eyes dimmed. She placed her hand over Nanny Li’s, then raised her head. Moisture had already gathered in her eyes as she said quietly, “Nanny Li, do you think I made the wrong choice? If I had not passed her off as the legitimate son back then, Qing’er would now be the legitimate eldest daughter of the Marquis’s Residence. With her beauty and talent, what an extraordinary woman she would have been.”
“She could have lived like an ordinary young lady. She would have had a husband who loved her and adorable children.”
“Madam, if Qing’er had not been a boy, you and Qing’er would both have lost your lives.” Nanny Li’s voice was sorrowful. She had grown up alongside her mistress, and ever since Madam had married into the Marquis’s Residence, the hardships she had endured could not be recounted even in three full days and nights.
Before the Marquis married Madam, he already had someone he loved. The only reason he had married Madam was for her dowry.
Even if profit meant he could not live in marital harmony with Madam, he should at least have treated her well and shown her the respect due between husband and wife. Yet less than three months after she entered the household, the Marquis’s Residence welcomed his beloved younger female cousin through its gates.
Because of her husband’s coldness, the favored concubine’s schemes, and her mother-in-law’s relentless torment, it took Madam three years after entering the household to conceive.
Yet at that very time, her natal family was framed by others and held accountable by His Majesty, and they were thrown into prison. They barely escaped with their lives.
Madam knelt before the Marquis and begged him for help, but he actually used the opportunity to demand that she ask to become a concubine before he would lend a hand.
He wanted to elevate the woman he loved to the position of principal wife, yet he was unwilling to earn a reputation for being heartless and ungrateful.
It was only because the previous Marquis intervened that this absurdity never came to pass.
But even the previous Marquis had merely said that Madam was carrying a child and that the matter could be discussed after the child was born. They knew how highly the previous Marquis valued a legitimate son. If Madam gave birth to a daughter, not even Heaven could protect her.
If she truly became a concubine, she would drag every girl in her natal family down with her. When that time came, she would have no choice but to prove her resolve through death.
Driven by circumstances and unwilling to send away her own child to be raised elsewhere, she had no choice but to make a female phoenix pass for a male one.
“Mother!”
Hearing Xiao Qing’s voice, Shen Lanyue hurriedly wiped away her tears. “My child, you have finally come home.”
Xiao Qing knelt and bowed. “Your son pays his respects to Mother. We have not seen each other for several months. Are you well?”
“The floor is cold. Get up.” Shen Lanyue hurriedly reached out to help her. “Mother is perfectly well. It is only you…”
“Your son is well too.” Seeing the redness at the corners of her eyes, Xiao Qing asked, “Mother, were you crying?”
Shen Lanyue turned her head away, unwilling to let her know. “Nothing of the sort.”
Xiao Qing sighed. “I heard everything you and Nanny were just saying.”
“I think you did the right thing. You spared your son a great deal of suffering.”