Chapter 72

Chapter 72

On August 5th, after breakfast, Yao Huang escorted Prince Hui out of the house, leaving the packing of the two courtyards to Qing Ai, A Ji, and others.

Palace guards disguised as caravan escorts were already waiting on the street. There were still four carriages, drawing neighbors who either gathered to watch or observed from their doorways.

Yao Huang accompanied Prince Hui for the last time along the riverbank, just like their first outing upon arriving in the town. When they encountered neighbors who greeted them, Yao Huang exchanged pleasantries while Prince Hui sat quietly. However, there was a difference now—Prince Hui's complexion was as smooth as jade, no longer as pale as before, and his demeanor was serene, no longer lifeless.

Everyone was busy. Yao Huang had also brought Jinbao along. The little one would sometimes scamper ahead and then run to the riverbank to sniff around, only to look up and realize his owners had moved on, then quickly catch up.

Ahead was the easternmost stone bridge. Yao Huang planned to cross it, take a slow detour, and then return, after which they could board the carriage.

To their surprise, Jinbao dashed to the tree by the bridge again. As both Yao Huang and Prince Hui looked over, he lifted a hind leg to relieve himself.

Zhao Sui: "..."

Yao Huang looked down and saw the familiar expression of speechlessness on Prince Hui's face, and she burst into laughter: "Has Second Master never witnessed such an uncouth act before?"

Zhao Sui glanced at the teasing smile in the princess's eyes and looked away.

Yao Huang murmured into his ear: "What's the big deal? I've even seen seven or eight-year-old boys pull down their pants in the street."

In such an intimate posture, halfway through the princess's words, Zhao Sui thought she was about to say she had seen his, and a silent fire ignited in his chest. But after hearing the rest of her sentence, the fire quickly extinguished, not spreading to his face or ears.

"Avoid improper speech," Zhao Sui softly reminded after a long pause.

Yao Huang: "It's just the two of us. Why is Second Master so formal?"

Zhao Sui remained silent.

Yao Huang probed: "Does Second Master truly dislike when I speak this way? Then I'll make sure to watch my mouth from now on and never spout nonsense in front of Second Master again."

Zhao Sui didn't respond, but he knew that, as they say, old habits die hard. The princess was a free-spirited person, and she would likely continue to say such things. He would probably grow accustomed to it.

As they passed the house where Jinbao had been given to them, the two siblings were outside. Yao Huang glanced at Jinbao and said to them: "We're moving away. Let Jinbao go inside to bid farewell to its mother."

Ordinary families, valuing their resources, usually kept only one dog for protection, or at most an old dog and a puppy. If Jinbao stayed, he would only be given to someone else, so Yao Huang and Prince Hui had decided to take Jinbao back to the palace with them.

Jinbao still remembered his old home and followed the siblings inside. After a brief play with the big dog, he darted out on his own, as if worried that if he stayed too long, his new owners would leave without him.

After about 45 minutes, Yao Huang took one last look at the locked gate of the east courtyard, picked up Jinbao, and boarded a carriage with A Ji.

Fortune favored them, and the return journey was as smooth as the trip there. Despite some unavoidable hiccups, seeing Prince Hui calmly navigating the bustling streets in his wheelchair made Yao Huang dismiss these troubles as trivial.

On August 7th, approaching noon, Prince Hui's four carriages finally passed through the capital's southern gate. After traveling a long distance, the four carriages drove into the threshold-free Prince Hui's mansion.

Yao Huang alighted from the carriage, lifted the inquisitive Jinbao, and set him down with a smile: "Look, this is your real home. Go and explore your new home."

Jinbao ran around the screen wall and curiously and cautiously peered into the second courtyard.

Yao Huang walked over to Prince Hui's wheelchair.

Zhao Sui instructed Fei Quan: "Qing Ai, come with me to Ming'an Hall. You go and tidy up the Bamboo Courtyard."

Fei Quan left to carry out the order.

The guards had returned earlier to relay the message, and the bathing area in Ming'an Hall was already warmed. Chef Kong, after nearly two months of inactivity, was bustling in Ming'an Hall's kitchen, preparing to serve the prince and princess a feast upon their arrival.

Compared to the humble courtyard in Lingshan Town, Ming'an Hall was much more comfortable. The three maids, Lark, Chun Yan, and Qiu Chan, warmly and eagerly escorted the princess into the bathhouse in the west wing, serving tea, fanning, and helping her change clothes. There was no need for A Ji, who was also tired from the journey, to both unpack and fetch water.

Not long after, Yao Huang was comfortably soaking in her large tub.

Lark and the other two maids had just finished helping the Consort wipe her body and wash her hair, their foreheads sweating from the busyness. Now they stood in a row in front of the tub, gazing intently at their Consort whom they hadn't seen for a long time.

Yao Huang: "...We'll see each other every day from now on, why are you all looking at me like this?"

Chun Yan smiled: "Without the Consort, we maids have been idle all day, almost bored out of our minds."

The palace had strict rules; when the masters were away, the servants couldn't roam freely. The three of them could only shuttle between the maid's quarters and the backyard of Ming'an Hall, except for the end of each month when they could go out for a stroll. It was much less comfortable than when the Consort was around.

Yao Huang: "Then A Ji would envy you. She has been cooking and doing laundry outdoors, and also taking care of my new dog."

The three maids looked at each other, none dared to make a playful comment like "next time leave A Ji in the palace to rest and take us out to suffer."

Yao Huang asked them to sit on the stools and asked: "In these two months, did anyone visit the palace?"

Chun Yan and Qiu Chan both looked at Lark.

Lark said: "On the fifteenth of June, Consort Du sent someone to invite the Consort to the palace. Upon learning that the Prince and Consort had gone out to escape the heat, she called me to the palace for questioning."

Hearing this, Yao Huang called Chun Yan and Qiu Chan to leave temporarily.

Once they left, Lark knelt on the ground with a thud, nervously saying: "Consort, please understand. The Consort asked me about the specifics of your relationship with the Prince, and also about the punishment of Thrush. Thrush's punishment was her own fault, I didn't conceal anything, but I didn't disclose anything that broke the palace rules to the Consort. Please believe me."

Yao Huang: "Stand up and speak; don't kneel unless I tell you to."

Lark stood up, still anxious.

Yao Huang looked at her for a while and said: "I believe you, but if the Consort got nothing from you, how could she drop it?" Lark's eyes reddened.

Yao Huang frowned: "Tell me, how did she discipline you."

Lark looked at her arm, tears in her eyes: "The Consort had someone pinch me several times."

Slaps would leave marks, but pinching the arms, waist, or legs would only cause bruises that could be covered by clothes, without compromising Consort Du's dignity.

Yao Huang was quite familiar with Consort Du's temper and pitied her: "Probably not just a few times, but dozens, right?"

The maid she sent out wouldn't obey her, how could Consort Du easily quell her anger.

Lark wiped her eyes, showing a relieved expression: "Consort, don't feel sorry for me. After this, I've become a traitor in Consort Du's eyes. I've been punished as I should, and Consort Du won't trouble me anymore."

This was the end of her past master-servant relationship with Consort Du. Yao Huang wasn't there at the time to protect Lark, and it wasn't worth causing a scene afterwards, as there was no evidence left, and Consort Du had the advantage of being an elder.

She said to Lark: "You can rest assured, as long as you are loyal to me, even if she troubles you again, she will have to go through me first."

Lark smiled through her tears. She had known since the Consort dealt with Thrush that the Consort was not a pushover, so she believed the Consort could protect her.

After the bath, with her hair still wet, Yao Huang went to the front yard with her hair loose.

In the main hall, Prince Hui had changed into a jade-green satin summer robe, wearing a white jade hairpin, and sitting on the red sandalwood wheelchair for home use, exuding royal elegance.

Noticing his gaze first fell on her loose wet hair, Yao Huang felt inexplicably nervous. Would he criticize her for improper demeanor?

Her nervousness showed in her eyes, and her steps slowed down, even though she had just turned around as freely as she was in the town.

Zhao Sui lowered his eyes, picked up a green grape the size of a longan from the fruit plate in front of him, intending to dispel the Consort's worries with this homely action. But the moment he picked up the green grape, he suddenly remembered the absurd things he and the Consort had done under the grapevine in broad daylight.

His movement paused slightly, and Zhao Sui calmly put the grape into his mouth as if nothing had happened.

Yao Huang’s attention was indeed diverted as she looked at the two plates of grapes on the table, one green and one purple, and exclaimed in surprise, "Are these grapes grown in our own garden?"

Zhao Sui replied, "They’re just starting to ripen these days. Chef Kong picked two bunches."

Yao Huang had already taken her seat to his lower right, picked a purple grape, and put it in her mouth. It was sweet and sour, better than any she’d ever had. She then remembered that when Guo Shu, the steward of Prince Hui’s estate, brought people to transplant the grapevines, he mentioned that these two vines were moved from the imperial estate in the suburbs, which specifically supplied fruits and vegetables to the palace.

Royal children might not have the world’s best looks or talents, but what they eat, wear, and use are essentially the best in the world.

These grapes would be perfect if they were seedless.

When there were only two small round seeds left in her mouth, Yao Huang glanced at Prince Hui, assumed the graceful posture of a noble lady, as she’d learned in the palace, first unfolded a silk handkerchief to cover half of her face, then gently spat the grape seeds into the empty plate beside her, specifically used for seeds.

Zhao Sui: "..."

If the princess hadn’t been sneaking glances at him while spitting out the seeds, her posture would have been more graceful.

Seizing the moment the princess looked down, Prince Hui raised his hand to catch the grape seeds from his mouth and placed them on another empty plate.

Yao Huang put down her handkerchief, noticed the seeds on Prince Hui's side, and exclaimed in surprise, "When did Prince Hui spit them out?"

What she really wanted to know was how he’d done it. She still wanted to see how the dignified and noble Prince Hui would manage it!

Zhao Sui did not answer, picked up a purple grape, and with his hand that had held a brush and wielded a sword, awkwardly but meticulously peeled and deseeded it, then placed the flesh in the fruit plate in front of the princess.

Yao Huang was about to pick it up with her hand, but seeing the grape juice flowing from the flesh to the plate, she smiled and said to Prince Hui, who was about to peel a second grape, "Prince Hui, your hand is already stained with juice, why not just feed it to me? That way, I won’t have to wipe my hands again."

Zhao Sui: "..."

After a moment, he picked up the flesh that had been split in two but still attached on one side due to seed removal and placed it into the princess's open red lips.

Yao Huang ate seven or eight grapes in a row, and feeling hungry, when Prince Hui fed her another grape flesh, she accepted the grape while holding down Prince Hui's wrist.

Zhao Sui met the princess's gaze, and then, the princess leaned forward, with good intentions, though a bit clumsily, to clean the grape juice from his fingertips.

Prince Hui closed his eyes, hearing the princess say with conviction, "I can’t let Prince Hui serve me without returning the favor."