Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The celebratory banquet, where the emperor and his officials feasted, bestowed rewards, and exchanged toasts, was destined to stretch on for a long time. After finishing her meal and watching a dance, Qingyang’s large eyes grew increasingly heavy with sleep.

Emperor Xingwu glanced at his drowsy younger daughter, then at his eldest daughter, Yongkang, who, despite the sudden arrangement of her marriage, remained poised and dignified, though she had ceased eating. He subtly signaled to the chief eunuch, He Yuanjing.

He Yuanjing approached the princesses’ table with light steps and respectfully announced, "His Majesty has said that if Your Highnesses are weary, you may depart early with this servant."

Yongkang indeed had no desire to linger. Taking her sister’s hand, she rose, and the two sisters curtsied to their Father Emperor before exiting through the rear eastern door of Taiji Hall, just as they had entered.

Once outside the hall, the boisterous shouts of men, the strains of music, and the heavy scent of wine all faded. As Yongkang’s heart swirled with complex emotions, Qingyang, overcome with sleepiness, leaned against her wet nurse’s shoulder, murmuring with closed eyes, "Big Sister, I want to go back to sleep."

Yongkang smiled and gently stroked her sister’s head, intentionally allowing Qingyang and her attendants to walk ahead while she and her palace maid lagged a few steps behind.

Only when a comfortable distance had formed between them did Yongkang’s upward-curving lips finally settle.

Her gaze fell upon her sister’s head, nestled against the wet nurse, and waves of envy washed over her. Her sister was born into nobility and security, cherished by their Father Emperor, doted on by Consort Li, and pampered by her own elder brother. As for Yongkang herself, her mother had passed away early, her Father Emperor had been distant for years, she felt a barrier with her adoptive mother, the Noble Consort, daring not to act spoiled, and she had to vigilantly watch over her younger brother to protect him from schemes…

The palace maid, Jinshu, observing her mistress’s troubled expression, whispered, "His Majesty is truly… not to have discussed such an important matter with the Princess beforehand."

Yongkang shot her a sidelong glance. "Is Father Emperor someone you can criticize?"

Jinshu bit her lip and lowered her head. "This servant would not dare. I merely feel for you, Princess."

Yongkang scoffed. "There’s nothing to feel sorry about. I was bound to marry sooner or later. The Fu family are founding meritorious officials; it is not a slight to me."

This kingdom now belonged to her Father Emperor. Only when her Father Emperor’s rule was stable could she securely remain a noble Princess. Moreover, her Father Emperor would likely pass the throne to her brother. With her marriage alliance with the Fu family, her brother would gain another powerful ally.

.

Qingyang had always been accustomed to afternoon naps. Having played joyfully in the morning, she slept especially soundly in the afternoon, and today was no exception.

Around 3:30 PM, Qingyang awoke. Her wet nurse entered with a palace maid, softly coaxing the child as they helped the young Princess wash her face and change clothes.

Once dressed, Qingyang habitually headed to the main hall to find her Mother.

Her wet nurse smiled and said, "His Majesty drank too much at the noon banquet and summoned Her Ladyship to attend to him. Let us accompany the Princess to the imperial garden to play first. Her Ladyship will return soon."

Qingyang then recalled the morning’s events, welcoming her Father Emperor back to the palace. Since her Mother was with her Father Emperor, Qingyang also wished to go there.

The wet nurse quickly calculated in her mind: Her Ladyship had only left half an hour ago. His Majesty was vigorous and mighty and had been separated from Her Ladyship for over a year. At this moment, the emperor and consort were likely still… occupied. It would be utterly inappropriate to let the young Princess go and cause a disturbance.

"The Third Prince has no studies today. Why don’t you go play with the Third Prince? Once His Majesty finishes his afternoon rest, he will surely send for Your Highnesses to come to Qianyuan Palace."

On one side were her possibly still-sleeping Father Emperor and Mother, on the other was her rarely free Third Brother. Qingyang quickly made her choice.

Relieved, the wet nurse smilingly accompanied the young Princess to the East Palace.

The Third Prince resided in Chengming Palace, located behind the First Prince’s Chongyuan Palace. When Qingyang ran in, Qin Ren was practicing calligraphy in his study.

"Is this the assignment from your tutor?" Qingyang leaned close to her brother; her chin just cleared the desk, allowing her to see the lines of black characters on the rice paper.

Qin Ren sighed. "I’ve finished my assignments. I had nothing to do, so I thought I’d practice more before Father Emperor inspects my work."

Among the three brothers, he was the only one who couldn’t achieve the top grade. It was truly embarrassing.

Qingyang looked around and asked, "Where’s Zhang Su?"

Qin Ren: "The Duke of Wei followed Father Emperor to the southern border to fight. He’s been away for over a year too. This time, Mother specially gave him three days off to reunite with his family. He’ll return to the palace on the evening of the tenth."

Qingyang thought of the Duke of Wei’s handsome face and said longingly, "I want to go play at Zhang Su’s house too."

Qin Ren: "...You want to go everywhere, don’t you?"

Qingyang: "Don’t you want to go, Third Brother?"

Qin Ren fell silent. The palace was only so big; of course, he wanted to go outside the palace too. Although he had gone out in the morning, he had only waited at the city gate for half a day—that didn’t count!

Because of his sister’s arrival, Qin Ren stopped practicing calligraphy and took her to relax in the shade of a tree in the courtyard.

A maid from the small kitchen brought over freshly sliced melon. Qin Ren, worried that his sister might dirty her hands or clothes with the juice, used a silver fork to feed the melon slices to her.

Qingyang opened her mouth to accept them. After eating, she said, "I want to hear another story from Third Brother."

Qin Ren’s longing for Zhang Su immediately surged to its peak.

In Qianyuan Palace, Consort Li was on the verge of tears, feeling like rootless duckweed, subject to Emperor Xingwu's pushing and swaying.

Finally, when Emperor Xingwu was willing to carry her to bathe, this true dragon (referring to the emperor, symbolizing his virility) regained his energy upon entering the water, nearly costing Consort Li her life.

"If it weren’t for the family banquet tonight, I could have kept you company until dawn," Emperor Xingwu said, holding the delicate beauty who was still panting in his arms, his tone full of lingering desire.

Consort Li lacked the strength to speak. Her body, submerged in water, trembled uncontrollably, and panic flashed in her eyes, fearing that Emperor Xingwu might truly indulge in such recklessness.

Fortunately, Emperor Xingwu’s words were more boastful than serious. Having ridden hard and hosted a banquet earlier in the day, and having expended considerable energy just now, he was also tired by this point. After changing into his inner garments, Emperor Xingwu held Consort Li and lay down in bed, contentedly saying, "Alright, rest with me for a while."

Consort Li: "Your Majesty, please sleep. Lin'er must be awake by now. I need to go check on her."

Emperor Xingwu: "The wet nurse will find a way to comfort her. You should rest quickly so you have energy for the family banquet."

Consort Li didn’t dare: "It’s almost evening. Noble Consort Sister, the children, and his uncle, Prince Yong’s family will arrive soon. If I leave with you, wouldn’t it be obvious to them..."

Emperor Xingwu might not care what the Noble Consort or his brother thought—after all, since he brought Consort Li back, everyone around him had seen his true fondness for her beauty. But the children were growing up, especially his eldest daughter, Yongkang, who had mocked him just before noon.

Emperor Xingwu finally withdrew his arm from around Consort Li’s waist.

Consort Li eagerly left the dragon bed and hurried behind the screen to put on the dress she had worn when she arrived.

Emperor Xingwu watched intently and suddenly laughed: "Just now you said you had no strength left, but now you’re fine. You were clearly lying to me."

Consort Li, her legs shaking as she pulled on her white silk trousers: "..."

After fixing her hair, Consort Li fled as if escaping. Not finding her daughter in Xianfu Palace, she went to Chengming Palace.

"Mother!" Qingyang joyfully threw herself at her mother, clinging to her as if they had been separated for days.

Consort Li, unsteady on her feet, nearly stumbled backward. She quickly led her daughter to the shade and sat in the vacated cane chair.

Qin Ren, seeing that his mother’s face was flushed from the remaining sun and her lips were somewhat dry, ordered the chief eunuch, Fu An, to bring tea.

Consort Li felt very comforted. Although her third son was a bit slow, he had never lagged behind others in filial piety toward his mother and caring for his sister.

After drinking two bowls of light tea, Consort Li felt much better all over. She lazily leaned back in the cane chair, her gaze sweeping over her children’s faces, as beautiful as a golden boy and jade girl. *This is the way to live a comfortable life,* she thought. *Although Emperor Xingwu can bring me another kind of comfort, too much of it at once is more than I can handle.*

Qingyang took off her shoes and snuggled into her mother’s embrace, asked plaintively: "Mother, why did you sleep with Father Emperor for so long?"

She had missed her mother so much when she woke up and couldn’t find her!

Consort Li: "...Mother didn’t sleep. Your father was drunk and vomited several times. Mother was taking care of him the whole time."

Qingyang, who had vomited at the beginning of spring, frowned and asked, "Is Father sick?"

Consort Li: "No, Father drank too much wine. When one is drunk, it's easy to vomit."

Qingyang felt relieved. After snuggling with her for a while, she remembered a new word she had heard at the palace banquet: "Mother, what kind of official is a son-in-law?"

Consort Li sat up in surprise.

Qin Ren, who had also attended the palace banquet, jumped in to explain to his sister: "A son-in-law isn't an official. Father means to have the second son of the Marquis of Zhennan become the Imperial Son-in-law to Big Sister... Actually, in the past, the title of Imperial Son-in-law was considered a kind of official position, but later it just means the husband of a princess and the emperor's son-in-law."

Qingyang still didn't quite understand.

Qin Ren: "When Big Sister has an Imperial Son-in-law, they become husband and wife. They will live together after marriage, and their children will call them father and mother."

Beside them, Consort Li was still in shock over the news. Had the Emperor really decided on Big Sister's marriage during one meal?

Although Pure Filial Empress was no longer here and Noble Consort was only the adoptive mother to the Eldest Princess and her siblings, what about what Big Sister wants? Didn't the Emperor even bother to ask?

Her daughter's innocent voice piped up: "When Third Brother grows up, will he also have an Imperial Son-in-law?"

Qin Ren laughed: "A princess's husband is called an Imperial Son-in-law, while a prince's wife is called a princess consort."

Qingyang nodded, then suddenly remembered that Big Sister's Imperial Son-in-law wasn't very handsome. She announced loudly: "Mother, I want to choose my own Imperial Son-in-law in the future. Father doesn't pick good ones..."

Consort Li quickly covered her daughter's mouth, her heart racing. She glanced at the palace maids and eunuchs around them—though they had been with her for years, she couldn't be sure they wouldn’t secretly report to the Emperor. She put on a light tone and scolded her daughter: "What do you know? You can’t choose an Imperial Son-in-law or a princess consort just based on looks. They must be good in every way. In any case, your Father’s choices are always the best. Remember that!"

Consort Li stared at her daughter, making it obvious she wouldn’t let go until Qingyang agreed.

Qin Ren added softly: "Actually, the second son of the Fu family is仪表堂堂 (imposing and dignified in appearance), just a bit dark-skinned."

Consort Li breathed a sigh of relief. If Emperor Xingwu dared to choose an ugly one for Yongkang, he might someday do the same for Qingyang.

.

Once she'd regained her composure, Consort Li finally brought the siblings to the main hall of Qianyuan Palace. By then, Noble Consort and her son, the Yongkang siblings, and Prince Yong’s family had all arrived.

After exchanging greetings, Consort Li was about to sit beside Noble Consort when Qingyang noticed her father beckoning her and obediently went over.

Emperor Xingwu lifted his daughter into his arms.

Prince Yong joked: "Indeed, father and daughter share a deep bond. At Dragon Boat Festival, I had to coax Lin'er for a long time before she let me hold her, but with Your Majesty, she isn’t shy at all."

Emperor Xingwu enjoyed hearing this and teased his daughter: "Why didn’t you want Uncle to hold you?"

Qingyang glanced at her uncle, then turned away and said: "Uncle scolded me."

Prince Yong: "..."

Emperor Xingwu stopped Consort Li from speaking and let his daughter explain. After hearing what had happened, the Emperor naturally sided with his daughter: "Your uncle just has no patience and a quick temper."

Qin Bing added: "Yes! Last time, Uncle almost kicked me in front of the tutor!"

Prince Yong: "...There were only you and your study companion in the lecture hall, and you still dared to sleep. Shouldn’t you be kicked?"

Emperor Xingwu gave a cool look at his second son.

Qin Bing had already lowered his head. Noble Consort shook her head—having tried and failed to discipline him countless times, she stopped wasting her breath.

Emperor Xingwu thought to himself: Noble Consort is very educated, and the Yan family is a scholarly family. It must be because he wasn’t present when his second son was born, and his younger brother happened to be visiting, that caused the second son to inherit his uncle’s preference for martial arts over scholarly pursuits.

This was a family banquet, so Emperor Xingwu only discussed family matters. That evening, the main topic was the marriage between Princess Yongkang and the Marquis of Zhennan's household.

When Emperor Xingwu was establishing his rule, he relied on these meritorious officials to share his burdens. Now that he occupied the throne, aside from rewarding them with wealth, high positions, and generous salaries, he also needed to alleviate their fears of being cast aside when no longer needed. Marriage arrangements were the simplest and most convenient method—if he became family with them, how could he still move against them?

Only when the meritorious officials felt secure would they continue to serve him loyally, rather than scheming to guard against him and potentially causing further unrest.

By publicly announcing the marriage, Emperor Xingwu made it final. Noble Consort, Prince Yong, and Princess Yong all joined in praising the talents and character of the Marquis of Zhennan and his son. Only Consort Li, knowing her opinion didn't count for much, rarely involved herself in the Qin family’s affairs or matters of state.

Yongkang said, both embarrassed and annoyed: "Alright, it’s not like I said I didn’t want to marry. Father has just returned—we should focus more on caring for him. Father, after being away on campaign for so long, were you injured?"

Emperor Xingwu felt very comforted: "Don’t worry, I’m fine."

Qingyang, after all, was only three years old. Unable to contribute to the adults' conversation, she focused on eating.

As night began to fall, Prince Yong’s family was the first to take their leave, and the family banquet finally came to an end.

Emperor Xingwu, seated in the host’s position and holding his youngest daughter, said: "You all should return early and rest. I’ll stay and play with Lin'er for a while."

Noble Consort and the others bowed and departed. Only Consort Li, whose daughter was kept by the Emperor, had to remain, waiting for the Emperor to finish playing with the child so she could take her daughter back to the Western Palace.

However, Emperor Xingwu played with the little princess until the first watch (late evening). When she began to yawn, he had the wet nurse take her to the side room to rest, then took Consort Li to the bathhouse.

As the water rippled, Consort Li said uneasily: "Your Majesty already favored me this afternoon. Tonight, by both sentiment and reason, you should..."

Emperor Xingwu looked at the beauty in his arms, her hair damp, put his finger to her lips, and asked: "What sentiment or reason could possibly dictate which consort an emperor should or shouldn’t favor?"

With Noble Consort, he could discuss state affairs and the children for a while, but beyond that, he didn’t know what to say, and Noble Consort didn't try to make conversation.

The two of them had grown distant long before he met Consort Li, and after Consort Li appeared, Emperor Xingwu saw no need to force himself. Noble Consort, for her part, seemed quite content with the current arrangement—where he consulted her on official matters during the day and favored Consort Li at night.

So it was: two consorts, one with status and authority over the palace, the other with his exclusive favor at night. The dignified, talented woman disdained to envy the delicate beauty, and the delicate beauty did not take advantage of his favor to provoke the dignified one. The rear palace remained simple and harmonious—a good arrangement.