Chapter 52: When Trouble Hits

Chapter 52: When Trouble Hits

Qingyang Palace.

The chief eunuch Ru Jiang personally escorted Liu Zhongshi and Liu Shangyi from Fengyi Palace to the palace gate. Liu Shangyi is a female official in charge of ceremonies and daily affairs under one of the six internal bureaus, the Shangyi Bureau.

After sending them off, Ru Jiang turned around and just reached the central courtyard when he noticed various consorts, imperial concubines, and palace servants peering towards the main hall. Suddenly, a series of loud clanging sounds emanated from the main hall, giving Ru Jiang a throbbing headache and a profound sense of weariness.

Ever since Chu Cairen entered the palace, Qingyang Palace had never been at peace.

This Chu Cairen seemed less like a support for Consort Li and more like a burden.

"Please return to your respective pavilions," Ru Jiang gestured politely to several consorts and concubines with a smile. In the palace, usually only those above the rank of ninth consort are addressed as 'Your Majesty'. His respectful address to these lower-ranked concubines was more of a courtesy but left no room for refusal.

Although he didn't hold an official rank, he was the most trusted person by Consort Li and managed the entire Qingyang Palace on her behalf.

Ru Jiang quickly directed a few eunuchs to disperse the crowd near the main hall and sent away the attending servants, then personally guarded outside the hall without entering.

"You smash it. Once everything is broken and there's nothing left to use, you can go and get them yourself. I certainly won't go to the Eunuch Bureau to fetch things for you, nor are you allowed to use my name to obtain items."

Inside the main hall, Chu Cairen, upon hearing her sister's words, hesitated only momentarily with the raised agate dish, then let it crash onto the golden brick floor, defiantly retorting, "I'll fetch them myself then. I don't believe they would dare not give them to me."

"Of course, they will give, but what are the allowances, treatment, and standards for a Cairen? I won’t elaborate. Just look at Li Cairen who lives in this palace. If you don’t listen to me and continue this recklessness, the next time the Empress sends someone, it won't just be a reprimand."

Compared to Chu Cairen's uncontainable anger, Consort Li's voice remained chillingly calm, "I told you when you entered the palace, this is not the Princess's residence. I warned you not to act rashly..."

"Can Sister stop being so sarcastically critical?"

Chu Cairen, her chest heaving with fury, interrupted Consort Li's lecture angrily, "I just haven't had the opportunity yet. If Sister were willing to support me, would I be in this situation, unable to make a name for myself?"

"How have I not supported you?"

Consort Li's brows slightly furrowed, "Every time the Emperor came, didn't I call you to stand by? But in the end, if he doesn’t choose you, what can I do? Can I just send him to your bed...?"

As she spoke, Consort Li's usually impassive face seemed to crack, showing shock and disbelief. For the first time, her tone changed, becoming more severe, "Sister is bold; I don’t have such courage."

"Is Sister really timid, or just unwilling?" mocked Chu Cairen, her words laced with sarcasm.

"What are you saying? If I were unwilling, I wouldn't have agreed when the Emperor asked me at the beginning."

"Sister didn’t say she agreed. She only said she would listen to the Emperor. It's the Emperor’s wish that I stay, not Sister’s."

"You..."

Consort Li was rarely so angered. She always felt that her sister had become more acerbic since entering the palace, not the way she used to be, "From now on, stay within Qingyang Palace if there’s no need to go out. Also, later have Ru Jiang accompany you to Fuhua Palace to apologize to Zhu Meiren for the nonsense you spoke there yesterday."

Chu Cairen's face showed resistance, "I won’t go. Why should I?"

"Why should you?" Consort Li looked coldly at her sister, "It’s because the Empress sent a female official to scold you for your excessive gossip and lack of quiet virtue. If that's not enough, then Xing En coming to tell me to discipline you should suffice."

"I know Sister has always been smart, standing out since childhood. But as I always say, this is the palace, where there’s no shortage of clever people or those seeking to stand out." Consort Li understood her sister's dissatisfaction. When she first entered the palace, some even said she’d be the next Consort Li.

However, upon entering the palace, she was ignored by the Emperor, never even serving in his chambers.

Princess Chongyang, who visited the palace several times, complained about her sister's ineffectiveness, deeming her efforts wasted.

It would have been fine if they were all the same, but Zhu Meiren of Fuhua Palace was too conspicuous. Feeling inferior in beauty and hence envious, Chu Cairen’s confidence was also shaken.

Consort Chu Li advised, “A-Lin, please, as your elder sister, I’m asking you to be patient. You’ve not been in the palace long. Many who entered through last year’s selection or even four years ago, including beauties presented by princes and princesses, haven’t even seen the Emperor’s face, or only from a distance. Those who gain favor are always few.”

“I, Chu Lin, will be one of the few,” Chu Cai Ren stubbornly insisted, looking down on her sister’s lack of ambition, wasting her beauty and not taking Chu Li’s words seriously.

But her sister asking her to apologize at Fuhua Palace?

Her narrow, fox-like eyes slightly squinted, curving into an attractive arch.

This was a good excuse to visit Fuhua Palace. She always loved luxury, and Fuhua Palace, newly built in recent years, was more opulent than any other palace, no wonder the once-favored Zhu Yan disdained Qingyang Palace.

Thinking this, she lost interest in Qingyang Palace.

She didn’t care for it.

——

On a summer afternoon, the sun was scorching hot.

Not a breeze in the air, the heat was so intense that it made people lethargic, not even wanting to move. Inside the Ruyi Pavilion, Zhu Yan, watching her son play a word game, was surprised to hear that Shen Cai Ren had come to visit, wondering if she had heard wrong.

Going out in this heat, wasn’t she afraid of heatstroke?

“What does she want?” Zhu Yan asked.

Qiu Hong hastily reported, "She said it’s to thank Your Majesty for the gardenias sent yesterday. She personally cooked lotus root silk with lotus powder and lotus seed osmanthus cake, and has brought them for Your Majesty and the Fourth Prince to taste."

"She also said that if Your Majesty is too busy to meet her, it's alright, but she insists that you accept the food as a token of her small gesture," Qiuhong conveyed.

Zhu Yan, upon hearing this, felt no need for thanks and even slightly regretted the order she had given to the Department of Gardens. Considering the distance between Minghua Palace and Fuhua Palace was at least a quarter of an hour's journey each way, and in such harsh sunlight, heatstroke was a risk, "Please invite her to the main hall to sit."

"As you wish," Qiuhong acknowledged and went to carry out the order.

Zhang Ji, who had been playing the word puzzle, came over and leaned on Zhu Yan's knee, "Mother, are you going to meet Lady Shen?"

Zhu Yan looked down at her son in surprise, "Tian Tian, do you want to see her?"

Zhang Ji nodded, "Lady Shen's cooking is delicious. I've eaten her food when I was with father. She used to send food often, but then she stopped, and I haven't had it since."

"It's not that she stopped sending them, but the Qianyuan Palace no longer accepted them."

The Emperor, always chasing novelty, quickly loses interest once it fades, discarding things like an old toy.

Zhu Yan agreed but requested her son to finish his word game before visiting later.

Shen Cairen's culinary skills were indeed renowned. Even for Zhu Yan, seeing it for the first time, the sight of the chilled lotus root silk and osmanthus cakes, with their full array of color, fragrance, and taste, especially the translucent lotus seed osmanthus cakes with a hint of osmanthus aroma, was impressive.

"...The lotus powder is extracted from the lotus roots themselves, offering a fresh taste. The osmanthus was picked and dried last year when I entered the palace, from a tree in Minghua Palace in full bloom, specifically saved for making pastries."

Zhu Yan watched Shen Cairen, her eyebrows dancing with joy as she talked about food. Her round eyes turned into crescents when she laughed, truly a chef wasted in the role of a concubine. Recalling that only daughters of officials of fifth rank or higher could participate in the selection to enter the palace, she asked, "Your cooking skills are impressive, who taught you?"

"I learned from my mother," Shen Cairen replied. "My ancestors were imperial chefs, but after our family's decline, my mother became a concubine to my father. She told me about the delicious food in the palace and the skilled royal chefs, which is why I entered the palace." As she spoke, she leaned closer to Zhu Yan and whispered a thank you.

Zhu Yan was puzzled by her words.

Shen Cairen, smiling, added, "I hadn't seen the Emperor for a long time, but after visiting you yesterday, he summoned me last night. So, thank you." Despite her numerous visits to the Empress, it was her trip to Fuhua Palace that led to her audience with the Emperor.

It was better left unexplained.

The explanation left Zhu Yan feeling as if she had been struck by lightning.

Staring intently at Shen Cairen, seeing her happiness and gratitude, Zhu Yan intuitively felt that perhaps... perhaps that's what she truly believed.

For a moment, she was at a loss for words.

Shen Cairen offered a bowl of chilled lotus root silk with lotus powder, and Qu Gu, standing beside, stepped forward to take it for Zhu Yan, saying, "Thank you for your kindness, but our mistress cannot eat cold foods."

Zhu Yan snapped back to reality upon hearing that Chu Cairen from Qingyang Palace had come to apologize, kneeling at the main gate.

As Zhu Yan collected her thoughts, Qu Gu hesitantly relayed the morning's events of Chu Cairen being reprimanded by Empress Liu, hesitating because Zhu Yan had previously emphasized not to mention palace affairs unless she inquired.

With such a contrasting scenario, it was no wonder Shen Cairen misunderstood.

The palace's troubles, more often than not, were linked to the Emperor. Zhu Yan vowed to cause chaos in Qianyuan Hall tomorrow; otherwise, she wouldn't bear the name Zhu.

Zhu Yan met with Chu Cairen, along with Chu Cairen's cat.

Those in the know understood she came to apologize; others might think she was there to walk her cat.

Zhu Yan never cared for such formalities, but when Chu Cairen entered the hall and approached to pay respects, Zhu Yan felt uncomfortable.

Zhu Yan, unaccustomed to insincerity, responded indifferently to Su Wanqing's apology for her nonsense the day before: "Alright, I've heard you. You may both leave now." She decided not to keep either of them; Shen Cairen's thought processes were too bizarre for her.

This Chu Cairen, just like Su Wanqing, was someone she preferred to avoid.

"I am sincerely here to apologize. If the beauty does not forgive me, I shall kneel here indefinitely," Chu Cairen said, and then knelt down abruptly.

Such a swift and smooth change in attitude.

It was an eye-opening experience for Zhu Yan; each one of them was a character.

Zhu Yan secretly decided that from now on, she would meet no one in the harem except Qin Zhuzhu. The whole affair was vexing. She turned slightly, intending to leave the main hall to Qu Gu and walk away, but then her son ran in.

"Mother," Zhang Ji called out, then bowed to Shen Cairen and Chu Cairen before his gaze fixated on the Persian cat beside Chu Cairen, unable to look away.

"Does the Fourth Prince like Xianxian?" Chu Cairen asked with a sly, smiling glance. Xianxian was the Persian cat's name.

"I do. May I pet it?"

Seizing the opportunity, Chu Cairen picked up the cat and handed it to Zhang Ji, "Of course, you may."

Zhang Ji joyfully stroked the cat a few times. It was so fluffy and adorable, but unfortunately, his mother disliked cats. He glanced at her surreptitiously.

Zhu Yan's dislike of cats was mainly due to their excessive shedding. At home, her younger sister Zhu Qi had a lion cat, and their house was always covered in cat hair all year round.

"Stop kneeling, get up and sit," Zhu Yan said, disliking people kneeling before her.

Chu Cairen thanked her with a bow before standing up, then nudged the cat towards Zhang Ji, who was overjoyed. While the adults talked, he sneaked a look at the pastries on the table beside his mother and took two to feed the cat.

Chu Cairen was good at conversation.

Even knowing Zhu Yan's disinterest, she managed to engage Shen Cairen in a conversation from cats to food, keeping it lively. She seemed capable of cheering anyone up if she wished, "Seeing how much the Fourth Prince enjoys the company of cats, I'll send Xianxian over to play with him more often, is that alright?"

"Yes, please!" Zhang Ji looked up at his mother with eager, hopeful eyes.

"We'll see," Zhu Yan replied, unmoved even as her son hung his head in disappointment.

It wasn't until the sun began to set that Shen Cairen and Chu Cairen finally stood to take their leave.

Unexpectedly, the Persian cat Xianxian, which had spent the afternoon with the Fourth Prince, Zhang Ji, suddenly started convulsing upon leaving the grand hall and collapsed.

Within moments, it ceased to breathe.