Chapter 16: A Little Fondness

Chapter 16 A Little Fondness

When Fang Yu woke up, the Emperor was already gone again. The Emperor had to rise early every day to go to the Qianqing Palace to hear officials' reports in person. Being an emperor was not an easy job. She was only suited to be an imperial favorite, but when would she be promoted to the rank of consort?

She noticed that two unfamiliar faces were now among the attendants serving her. She asked Cai Lian where Cai Fu and Cai Rong had gone. Previously, whenever she came to the Qianqing Palace, four maids—Cai Lian, Cai He, Cai Fu, and Cai Rong—would serve her in the morning. But this morning, she only saw Cai Lian and Cai He.

"Cai Fu and Cai Rong... were reassigned to another palace."

Cai Lian seemed unprepared for the question. She stammered, her expression uneasy, her eyes filled with fear and sorrow. Clearly, she dared not say more.

For palace maids, serving before the Emperor was a good position. Many servants tried to suck up to the servants of the Qianqing Palace, and even the masters were no exception. Why would they be reassigned to another palace for no reason? Fang Yu asked where they had been reassigned to, but Cai Lian could not answer.

"My lady, please... don’t ask anymore."

Cai Lian was unwilling to say more and did not dare to. The most important thing when serving before the Emperor was to keep one’s mouth shut. Fang Yu did not press her further.

After leaving the Qianqing Palace, Fang Yu took the sedan chair from the Imperial Household Department to return to the Yonghe Palace. On the way, she encountered Tongjia Shi, who was also riding in a sedan chair. Tongjia Shi had not yet been conferred a higher rank. Normally, only concubines of the rank of pin or above were allowed to travel by sedan chair within the palace. However, Tongjia Shi was the Emperor’s cousin. If she wanted to ride in a sedan chair, the servants did not dare to refuse.

"Attendant Wuya, you don’t expect me to make way for you, do you?" Tongjia Shi said arrogantly, tilting her chin slightly.

"Of course not. Attendants, make way for Lady Tongjia."

The servants from the Imperial Household Department moved the sedan chair to the side of the wall to let Tongjia Shi and her entourage pass. As they passed, Fang Yu heard Tongjia Shi let out a contemptuous sniff in her direction.

Fang Yu paid it no mind. After returning to the Yonghe Palace, she continued to think about the matter of Cai Fu and Cai Rong. She asked Pan Liu to find a way to dig up some information if anything had happened recently in the Qianqing Palace.

It took Pan Liu two days to gather a bit of information. Around New Year's, a group of servants in the Qianqing Palace had been executed, reportedly on the Emperor’s orders. However, no one could find out what offense those servants had committed.

Fang Yu thought to herself that this had happened around New Year's, yet she had not heard even a whisper about it. It seemed to have swept under the rug, without causing a ripple in the palace. Why would the Emperor execute the servants who attended to him?

She tried to recall what had happened around New Year's. Suddenly, she remembered that she had been punished by the Grand Empress Dowager to learn palace rules for over 10 days. At the time, the Grand Empress Dowager had accused her of seducing the Emperor into indulging in bedroom matters, disregarding his health. But such matters were private. How did the Grand Empress Dowager know? Unless she had spies in the Qianqing Palace, and someone had reported it to her.

Although the Emperor respected the Grand Empress Dowager, he was no longer the young emperor who had to obey others. As a ruler, he would never want his every move monitored and controlled.

The servants executed by the Emperor might have leaked his whereabouts and words and actions to others. The Emperor had directly ordered their execution, which was why Cai Lian had been hesitant to speak, and the subject was taboo.

After figuring this out, Fang Yu broke into a cold sweat. In the feudal and strictly hierarchical Qing Dynasty, human life was cheap, and the lives of servants were as insignificant as ants. To serve the emperor was to tread alongside a tiger. From now on, she would have to be more cautious in her words and actions.

Over the next 3 months, Fang Yu was occasionally summoned by the Emperor. When the Emperor had free time during the day, he would call her to his study to teach her calligraphy.

Before she knew it, it was the third day of the fifth month in the fourteenth year of Kangxi’s reign, the anniversary of Empress Renxiao’s death. The Emperor left the palace directly for the Jingling Mausoleum, and court was suspended for 3 days. He stayed at the mausoleum for 3 days before returning.

Although the young prince Yin Reng had reached his first birthday, since his birthday fell on the anniversary of Empress Renxiao’s death, the Emperor did not hold a celebration for him.

After returning from the Jingling Mausoleum, the Emperor fell ill. Fang Yu did not know how serious his illness was. She was not yet qualified to visit the Emperor at the Qianqing Palace and only heard from others that the Emperor had caught a cold at the mausoleum. Some said he had fallen ill from grief, missing Empress Renxiao.

Half a month later, Fang Yu was summoned again. She was the first consort to be summoned after the Emperor’s recovery. She dressed very plainly, wearing a pale blue Manchurian gown. She remembered that at the Mid-Autumn Palace banquet the previous year, when the anniversary of Empress Renxiao’s death was not yet 3 months past, one consort had worn flamboyant colors. When the Emperor saw her, he had her executed on the spot. Fang Yu did not dare to dress too ostentatiously.

After bathing and performing purification rituals, Fang Yu sat on the bed waiting for the Emperor to arrive. Fortunately, she did not have to wait long. The Emperor soon arrived. She carefully observed his expression, trying to gauge his mood.

"What’s gotten into you lately? It’s like you’ve become a different person."

Kangxi had noticed that Wuya Shi had become more timid over the past few months, not as bold as before, her eyes now fearful and hesitant.

Fang Yu sulked. What did he mean, a different person? She was just afraid of saying the wrong thing. She had come to realize that the man before her held power over her life and death. One wrong word that displeased him could lead to her execution. She might not even live long enough to give birth to Yin Zhen.

"What are you holding in your hand?" Kangxi noticed that Wuya Shi was hiding something in her hand. He sat on the edge of the bed and asked.

Fang Yu quickly took out the peace charm she had embroidered and pressed it into the Emperor’s hand. "Your Majesty, you were ill recently. I was worried about you but couldn’t see you, so I embroidered a peace charm for you."

Kangxi took the peace charm and examined it carefully. He had never seen Wuya Shi’s embroidery before and had not expected it to be so... unsightly. He couldn’t help but ask, "What did you learn at home as a woman?"

"Your Majesty, do you think it’s ugly? I worked hard on it for days. If you don’t like it, just give it back to me."

Fang Yu knew her embroidery was poor, but it was a token of her sincerity. How could he be so dismissive? She tried to take the peace charm back, but the Emperor did not let go.

"There’s no taking back a gift once it’s given," Kangxi said, clutching the peace charm and not letting her retrieve it.

"Your Majesty, you said it was ugly. Since you don’t like it, what’s wrong with me taking it back?" Fang Yu grumbled softly. She held out her 10 fingers. "Your Majesty, look. I have several needle pricks on my fingers from embroidering this."

Seeing that Wuya Shi had returned to her usual coquettish self, Kangxi lowered his gaze to her hands. Her 10 fingers were slender and fair, clearly unused to labor. She must have been pampered growing up in the Wuya family. He didn’t see any needle pricks, but he took her hand and kissed it.

Fang Yu was stunned. She had not expected the Emperor to do such a thing. She stared at him blankly. In her eyes, the Emperor was not a particularly handsome or good-looking man. He had an ordinary appearance. She had always fantasized that her boyfriend would be a drop-dead gorgeous man. But after being inexplicably transported through time, the Emperor had become her first man.

The Emperor was truly good to her. In her presence, he was a gentle and generous man. The cruel and cold-blooded side of an emperor had never been shown to her. Just now, the way he kissed her fingers was so tender it made her heart skip a beat, racing.

She had thought she would never fall for him, but after spending more than half a year together, with so many intimate moments and so much physical closeness, she knew she had developed a bit of a crush on him.