Chapter 41

Chapter 41

Yao Huang had finished washing up some time ago, but His Highness Prince Hui was still dawdling in the front yard, probably reading again.

While he hadn’t come yet, Yao Huang lay on the arhat bed by the window, thinking about the cushion situation.

Did her efforts to make and deliver the cushion make her seem like a princess trying to win her prince’s favor?

Yao Huang had no such intention whatsoever. If the prince hadn’t mentioned it, she wouldn’t have even considered it.

While pushing the prince back, Yao Huang had wondered if he wanted to be intimate with her, using the cushion as an excuse, but she quickly dismissed this suspicion. After all, he was the prince; if he wanted to sleep with his princess, he wouldn’t need an excuse. Whenever he came, Yao Huang had to serve him well, even if he insisted on three or four rounds each night. Unless she was seriously hurt, Yao Huang wouldn’t dare to disobey, at most, she might try to negotiate with him to reduce the frequency.

After much thought, Yao Huang felt that His Highness Prince Hui, having grown up in the palace, might have been influenced by Emperor Yongchang and his concubines, seeing a man staying in his wife’s or concubine’s room as a sign of his affection, forgetting that now it was just the two of them in the entire Prince Hui’s residence. He had even given her the ivory mat. With this ivory mat, Yao Huang could confidently say that the prince didn’t favor her, A Ji would point at her nose and tell her not to be so ungrateful!

Forget it, the prince’s thoughts must be different from those of ordinary people. If the prince came, it was out of kindness to take care of her dignity, Yao Huang should be pleased.

After waiting another fifteen minutes, Prince Hui finally arrived.

Yao Huang greeted him at the hall door, then pushed him into the inner chamber and into the canopy bed.

As soon as Prince Hui got into bed, he ordered, “Turn off the lights.”

If it had been the first few nights after Yao Huang had married, she would have found this quite normal, but after the intimacy on the arhat bed and the wheelchair, Prince Hui’s cold tone now sounded more like he was sulking with her: I kindly wanted to give you dignity, yet you worried I wouldn’t let you sleep, so now I’ll prove to you that I’m not the lustful person you suspect!

Yao Huang stood still, carefully observing Prince Hui’s expression.

Prince Hui seemed not to notice her standing there, just pulled up the blanket and lay down, only glancing at her after settling.

Yao Huang was now wearing a set of silk undergarments, not afraid of him looking, but Prince Hui’s calm gaze was quite intimidating. Yao Huang gave in, obediently turning off all the lights, leaving only one by the bathroom door.

Once in bed, taking advantage of the darkness, Yao Huang directly lay on top of Prince Hui, her face pressed against his chest, her left hand playing with his right arm hanging by the side: “Your Highness seemed a bit unhappy just now?”

Zhao Sui closed his eyes: “Did I?”

Yao Huang: “Yes, Your Highness barely looked at me, it wasn’t like this last time you came.”

Zhao Sui: “…I didn’t want you to misunderstand.”

Yao Huang: “Misunderstand what?”

Zhao Sui remained silent, after a while, he held her restless wrist, saying, “Since there’s no misunderstanding, let’s sleep early.”

Yao Huang bit the edge of his undergarment collar: “I didn’t misunderstand Your Highness, but Your Highness has a misunderstanding about me. If this isn’t clarified, I can’t sleep peacefully.”

She was biting up the collar inch by inch, first her teeth lightly touching Prince Hui’s chest, then biting the white silk collar edge. When she released her teeth and moved up, the bitten silk collar edge fell back onto Prince Hui, slightly warm and moist, eventually forming a line extending to Prince Hui’s collarbone.

Zhao Sui tried hard not to tighten his grip on her wrist, waiting until she stopped her mischief before asking, “What misunderstanding do I have?”

Yao Huang first freed her wrist, turned away from his chest, but her shoulder and back still pressed tightly against his left arm, whispering, “Your Highness has a poor memory, you said in the garden that you misunderstood me not wanting you to come.”

Zhao Sui opened his eyes, facing the bed canopy, saying, “At that time you hesitated, can’t blame me for overthinking.”

Yao Huang: “But I explained, it’s not that I didn’t want you to come, but I was afraid you would…”

She didn’t continue, but the lingering tone was suggestive.

Zhao Sui: “…I also said, tonight I won’t touch you.”

Yao Huang: “I only said I was afraid of that, not that I was afraid of you touching me. Once or twice, when have I ever refused Your Highness? The past few nights were all sticky, tonight you come and want to turn off the lights, clearly you’re throwing a tantrum with me.”

After complaining, Yao Huang moved away and lay down on the inner side of the bed.

Zhao Sui was speechless.

Merely saying he wasn’t angry might not be enough to convince her, so Zhao Sui had to move over, pull her into his arms, and then touch her face.

Yao Huang didn’t have any tears for him to wipe, so she simply grabbed his hand and pretended to be angry by biting his index finger.

She was waiting for Prince Hui to comfort her, but this bite unexpectedly provoked the prince’s fierceness.

Her body stiffened, and Yao Huang instinctively pulled away from Prince Hui's hand. The next moment, that hand gripped her shoulder and turned her around.

.

The next morning, Yao Huang got up relatively early, feeling refreshed. Prince Hui didn’t join her for breakfast, but Yao Huang didn’t mind.

After breakfast, Yao Huang sat on the beauty couch in the corridor, weaving a cushion for Prince Hui's study chair. She had initially planned to chat with her four maids, but Nanny Liu actually came.

Familiar with her, Yao Huang stayed seated and smiled, asking, "Why have you come?"

Eunuch Cao and Nanny Liu were old servants who had watched Prince Hui grow up, so Yao Huang always used respectful terms for them.

Nanny Liu smiled, "By the prince’s order, to keep the princess company."

Yao Huang: "..."

Nanny Liu gave her a knowing wink.

Yao Huang then sent A Ji and the others away, inviting Nanny Liu to sit on the beauty couch beside her.

Nanny Liu, not wanting to disturb the princess’s weaving, sat on the small stool A Ji had left beside her, and said softly, "The day before yesterday, Fei Quan relayed the prince’s message, saying the princess wanted to familiarize herself with the situations in Prince Kang and Prince Qing's mansions. I originally knew some, and yesterday I sent someone out to inquire further. After gathering enough information, I came to report to the princess."

Yao Huang completely stopped her hands.

The prince must have noticed her frustration with his lack of knowledge, hence this arrangement.

But thinking carefully, when the Kang princess passed away, the prince was far at the border; what could he know? As for Prince Kang's relationship with his former princess, how could a younger brother living separately know?

The kinder the prince was, the worse Yao Huang felt for making an excuse to leave. Yao Huang felt ashamed but was also relieved that last night, because she didn’t want to quarrel with the prince, she had seduced him into thoroughly enjoying himself.

Pushing aside the thoughts in her mind, Yao Huang looked expectantly at Nanny Liu, "Please tell me everything you know."

Nanny Liu was indeed a better conversationalist than Prince Hui. She began with Prince Kang’s childhood, when he still lived in the palace, inevitably mentioning Virtuous Consort Liu, including how she raised Prince Kang, and how much he was valued by the emperor and empress when he was the only prince.

"Prince Kang was enfeoffed and established his mansion at twenty, the same year he was to select a princess and two consorts."

"The emperor placed great importance on his eldest son’s marriage, personally appointing the daughter of the Duke of Zhen as Prince Kang's principal wife, while the two consorts were chosen by Virtuous Consort Liu and the empress together."

"The princess must have noticed that in terms of scholarship and martial arts, Prince Kang is slightly inferior to our prince, but Prince Kang is diligent and upright. After marriage, he worked hard for the emperor from dawn to dusk, getting along well with his princess and consorts, with no rumors of domestic strife. Unfortunately, the former princess had a difficult childbirth with the little prince, and since then she was always in poor health, eventually succumbing to a lingering illness from a cold, alas..."

Yao Huang understood, Prince Kang was not a man driven by lust; apart from the three consorts chosen by his elders, there were no concubines in his mansion. The three noblewomen also avoided any scandals of jealousy. After Chen Ying married over, her situation was not difficult.

Nanny Liu: "If Miss Chen were under my care, I would advise her to devote herself to serving the prince. The little prince has the nanny and maids arranged by the Duchess of Zhen for the former princess, so Miss Chen need not worry too much about his daily life. She should take care when it’s time to care, and as for the two consorts, Miss Chen is superior. If they get along, she can talk more with them; if not, she only needs to maintain superficial harmony, without contention or jealousy."

Yao Huang smiled, "Nanny and I think alike. For women like Miss Chen and me, being able to become princesses is already a great fortune. Enjoying the luxuries with the princes, we shouldn’t worry too much about other matters."

Nanny Liu smiled, "In my view, the princess is more fortunate than Miss Chen. Our prince might appear cold, but he’s far more affectionate than Prince Kang."

Facing Nanny Liu as a witness, Yao Huang gradually blushed.

Nanny Liu then told her about Prince Qing and Gentle Consort Shen, which also involved Grand Princess Fucheng: "Speaking of this, there was once a rumor in the palace that the grand princess intended to match our prince with her beloved daughter. Did the princess hear of this when you entered the palace?"

Yao Huang said tactfully, "The Second Princess did mention it once."

Nanny Liu showed displeasure, first listing the various harsh treatments Noble Consort Du and the Second Princess had towards their prince, then said, "At that time, our prince was the emperor's favorite, so it was natural for the princess to have such intentions. Your Highness only needs to keep one thing in mind: our prince has never had any personal relationship with Miss Zheng. Apart from palace banquets, they rarely saw each other. When he's not studying, practicing martial arts, or on duty, our prince stays in his own courtyard or the residence. Let alone women from outside, even within the prince's close circle, only Fei Quan and Qing Ai have been serving him closely."

Yao Huang, recalling Prince Hui's affection for her at night, had already guessed he had no interest in Zheng Yuanzhen. Moreover, a girl who wanted to marry into the family when he was at his peak but changed her mind to marry someone else after he lost his leg—how desperate would Prince Hui have to be to still care about her? If he were to think about her, it would only be with resentment and hatred.

Just listening to Nanny Liu talk about the various royal relatives, Yao Huang quickly finished weaving the cushion for the study chair.

After sunning it all afternoon, Chun Yan skillfully sewed on the coarse cloth and silk cover.

Yao Huang turned it around for inspection, called A Ji, and asked her to take it to the Bamboo Courtyard, so she wouldn't have to go there herself and risk being seen by Prince Hui as trying to curry favor.

At the Bamboo Courtyard, Fei Quan saw A Ji and asked disappointedly, "Why didn't Your Highness come herself?"

A Ji retorted, "Does Your Highness have to come personally? What are we maids for then?"

Fei Quan: "..."

Stupid A Ji, she has no idea how hard it is for us to serve the prince!

Carrying the bare cushion, Fei Quan nervously went to see the prince.

He thought the prince would be disappointed, but unexpectedly, the prince cooperatively tried the new cushion and had a good appetite at dinner, just like this morning and noon.