Chapter 263: Inner Palace Affairs (1)

Chapter 263: Inner Palace Affairs (1)

After leaving Le Wuya's residence, Xiang Zhi walked in a daze for a long while.

The warm night breeze brushed past his sleeves, yet it could not dispel the stifling knot in his chest.

He looked up at the moon.

That bright orb hung high in the heavens, its clear light cold and distant, not sparing him so much as a single drop of pity.

Not only that—it insisted on shining down into the gutters.

No, not merely shining upon them; it seemed to throw itself willingly into the mud, as if bewitched and out of its senses.

Was he to bend down and fish it out, to snatch it back?

Or perhaps...

...

The next day, Xiang Zhi presented his name card and requested an audience at the palace.

By regulation, a grown prince was not supposed to be overly close with his birth mother.

But Consort Xi was an exception.

For one, her family background was truly unremarkable, and the Xi clan's younger members, kept in check by the Seventh Prince's open and covert pressure, all kept their heads down and focused solely on commerce, with no ambition whatsoever to set foot in the court.

With such a harmless family on his mother's side, why bother making a fuss?

For another...

Xiang Zheng was obsessed with power and had little interest in women; he had always been indifferent to the women of the harem.

But Consort Xi was stunningly beautiful.

Back when officials from across the realm presented beauties to the capital, the Emperor showed no interest in the plump and slender beauties in the flower of their youth, caring only about comparing and selecting them by family background.

Only when Xi Ying stepped into the hall did the Emperor's gaze linger on her three times, and he finally circled her name in his own hand to bring her into the palace.

She was the only one selected that year from a commoner family.

So many years had passed since, and Xiang Zheng had long since dug up every detail of her background.

She had no ambition and no cunning; after all these years, only her beauty had not faded.

For such a simple, naive consort whose heart was filled with nothing but her children, Xiang Zheng was happy to turn a blind eye and show her some leniency and favor.

...

When Xiang Zhi found Xi Ying in Jiahe Palace, she was rummaging through her private storeroom.

Seeing him arrive, she immediately held up two objects, the smile lines at the corners of her eyes just as lovely as ever: "Come, come—which one is better?"

Xiang Zhi took an ice-cold towel from a maid's hands and dabbed the light sweat from his forehead: "Mother's preparing a gift?"

"Look at this vase—see how exquisite the carved lotus pattern is? And this relic—"

She paused for a moment: "...Er, which eminent monk did it come from...? Ah, never mind, I can't remember. But look how golden it is—doesn't it look like a lotus? Wouldn't it make a pretty tassel pendant!"

"...For whom?"

"Imperial Consort Zhuang, of course. Her birthday's coming up soon."

Xiang Zhi tossed the towel back onto the silver tray: "The vase is fine, but skip the relic. That lady practices Daoism. What are you thinking, sending her a piece of Buddhist bone?"

"Oh? Is that so?" Xi Ying hesitated. "Well, wouldn't that be perfect? I send her a bone, and she can smash it to let off some steam?"

Xiang Zhi: "..."

Seeing Xiang Zhi firmly shake his head, Xi Ying had no choice but to reluctantly put down the brilliantly colored relic and turn her attention to the vase instead: "It's a bit plain, though."

"It is plain."

Xiang Zhi's taste had been cultivated by Xi Ying since he was a child, and on this point, mother and son saw eye to eye: "...But it doesn't matter. That lady—whether you send her a handkerchief with a torn stitch or a mountain of gold, she wouldn't even bat an eye."

Xi Ying thought for a moment, as if stirred by some distant memory, and nodded with deep agreement: "True enough."

With that, she set both items down and went back to eagerly searching for other nice things.

Xiang Zhi was very annoyed: "You're still picking! Your son wants some watermelon!"

"Oh, go eat it—I've already cut it up for you." Xi Ying glanced up at him. "The hall is cool enough; why do you have to keep me company? Go on, go on!"

Xiang Zhi said reluctantly, "I have something to ask you!"

That one sentence brought Xi Ying back into the hall.

The moment he stepped into the bright room and saw the plate of golden, exquisitely crafted little pastries set on the table, a vein twitched on Xiang Zhi's forehead.

Xi Ying warmly pulled him to the table, with a hint of coaxing in her voice: "Your favorite little pastries—Mother specially ordered them from the kitchen!"

Xiang Zhi: "..."

His face instantly darkened.

Though Xi Ying didn't understand why, she was quite good at reading people's faces, and asked cautiously, "What's wrong?"

"You only get one special meal order per month, and you use it on me?" Xiang Zhi's cheeks flushed with anger. "You're trying to buy my silence with food because you're afraid I'll get mad if you ask about him!"

Xi Ying tried to deflect: "Oh, child, you're thinking too much..."

Xiang Zhi scowled: "Then I won't say anything about him!"

Xi Ying: "..."

She was quiet for a long moment, then smiled sweetly and leaned in.

"Go on, eat." Xi Ying picked up a piece with her handkerchief and held it to his lips, coaxing, "It'd be a waste to throw it away."

Xiang Zhi sulkily took a bite and swallowed it.

His mother was always like this.

Her mood was remarkably steady—she never blamed heaven or other people, and was even a bit carefree to the point of being thoughtless.

Even that time she miscarried, and woke up to learn that the baby had already been taken away by the imperial physician, she just sat there in a daze and shed a few tears, murmuring, "I never even got to see its face—how could it leave so soon? Why was it in such a hurry?"

Later, when she heard that Xiang Zhi had been dragged away by the Emperor and had a mark burned into his ear, she dragged her sick body over to take care of him while he burned with fever, and even brought out her glittering jewelry box, waving it in front of Xiang Zhi: "Little Seven, which one do you like? Mother will make you a big earring... What about that red one?"

At that thought, Xiang Zhi softened a little and turned his eyes away. "It's too sweet."

Xi Ying immediately smiled, revealing a row of beautiful teeth. "Next time, I'll tell them to use less sugar."

She couldn't hold it in and got straight to the point. "So, tell your mother properly, how is Xiaoliu doing?"

Xiang Zhi hesitated for a moment, then coaxed himself into a better mood, and proceeded to tell his mother everything about "Xiang Zhijie's cleverness that offended the Emperor."

He had already found out about these matters long ago.

He was merely pretending not to know, using it as an excuse to go see Le Wuya.

"Oh dear..." Xi Ying let out a long sigh, looking troubled. "I don't understand."

Soon, her eyes lit up. "But isn't the Ministry of Works less busy? Can he sleep more?"

Xiang Zhi rolled his eyes. "Could he be overworked? No matter how capable a prince is, can he be better than those ministers who earned their positions through fierce competition? When he was in the Ministry of Revenue, he didn't personally calculate the accounts!"

Xi Ying looked puzzled. "...He didn't?"

But she quickly moved past her doubt. "Well, as long as he's not reprimanded or fined, it's not a bad thing. I'll go pick out a gift for Imperial Consort Zhuang instead."

"Can't the pure vase work?"

"It's too plain."

"I told you, even if you give her something nice, she won't appreciate it!"

Xi Ying lowered her eyes, putting on a fierce expression, and said darkly, "Imperial Consort Zhuang doesn't know how to cherish children, so I'll deliberately give her something nice, just to let her know that I'm always watching her from behind."

Xiang Zhi said angrily, "What can you do by watching her? What can you do to her?"

Xi Ying blinked. "...Nothing."

But she remained optimistic. "But she'll feel guilty at least."

"You've been like this since I was little!" Xiang Zhi suddenly raised his voice. "You always think the Little Stutterer is being mistreated in her palace. His clothes are a bit plain, his food a bit simple—how bad can things be in the palace?! The imperial genealogy clearly records that Imperial Consort Zhuang is his birth mother. Why do you bother with him? You act like he's suffered some great injustice!"

Xi Ying was taken aback. "Isn't this a great injustice?"

Sensing that Xiang Zhi's mood was turning sour again, Xi Ying quickly tried to smooth things over. "You don't understand, clothes and food are minor matters. Imperial Consort Zhuang just doesn't like him. When he was little, she nearly let him die—"

Xiang Zhi frowned. "What's this? How come I don't know about this?"

Xi Ying realized she had slipped up and pressed her lips into a thin line.

Xiang Zhi steeled himself.

"Mother—" He rested his forehead on her shoulder, dragging out his tone in a coquettish manner. "You're keeping something from me!"

Xi Ying was jostled until her hair bun was crooked, but she was unusually serious, waving her hands repeatedly. "No, no, this is a secret, I can't tell you!"

Xiang Zhi's eyes flickered, knowing his mother's peculiar nature.

If it were an ordinary matter, she'd give in right away if he pestered her.

But if she was determined to keep her mouth shut, then even if he rolled around on the ground, it wouldn't do any good.

He had no choice but to back off sulkily. "Then tell me about Fifth Brother."

Seeing that her son wasn't pressing the issue, Xi Ying let out a huge sigh of relief, and her tone became lighter. "What about the Fifth Prince?"

Xiang Zhi carefully asked on behalf of Le Wuya, "Fifth Brother's primary wife is the daughter of a fourth-rank official, but the Secondary Consort he married is the daughter of Minister of Personnel Pu Xie. Isn't that letting a concubine lord it over the wife?"

"Yes, yes! Exactly!"

Xi Ying suddenly became animated and spoke at length. "The Fifth Princess Consort, she's been through a lot! Back then, when the Emperor saw the Fifth Prince getting close to that eunuch named Zuo Ruyi, he suspected he was... you know... into that sort of thing! Sister Hu—oh, your Consort Hu—knew the Emperor hated that most, and she panicked so much she broke out in blisters. The Hu family offered up Sister Hu's niece, saying she and the Fifth Prince were cousins, and that they'd actually been secretly sweet on each other for ages, hoping to dispel the Emperor's suspicions."

"So the Fifth Princess Consort married the Fifth Prince, but before that, they had only met two or three times."

"As the Fifth Prince gradually gained the Emperor's favor and became highly sought after, of course others wanted a piece of him. Minister Pu gave his concubine-born daughter in marriage to him as a Secondary Consort. Oh, I've seen that girl, I can never remember her name, I just call her Little Pu. Little Pu was spoiled rotten at home and is stuck-up; the Fifth Princess Consort, with her gentle nature, she's too soft to rein her in."

"The two were pregnant around the same time. The primary wife gave birth to a daughter, and Little Pu gave birth to a son. That really stirred the pot—people gossiped even more. The Fifth Princess Consort is also a pitiful child. Last time she came to the palace, she was nothing but skin and bones. Sister Hu felt sorry for her niece, clutched her hand and wiped her eyes. I secretly told the Fifth Princess Consort to take care of herself, eat well, drink well. Now, it's only a matter of time before you pass away and she can be promoted to primary wife. We can't let them have the satisfaction..."

"The Fifth Prince is also at fault. He's no good at running the household. He married one, and that wasn't enough—he had to go and marry another. The other Secondary Consort is a woman sent as tribute from Goryeo, very beautiful, but her Chinese isn't good, and she's always squabbling with Little Pu..."

While Xi Ying chattered away about the Fifth Prince's household drama, Xiang Zhi sank into thought.

How exactly did Imperial Consort Zhuang nearly let the little mute die?

...

Meanwhile, Le Wuya tossed and turned all night, unable to sleep.

The next day, while working on cases, his mind elsewhere, he cleared over thirty backlogged cases in one sitting. The Right Assistant Censor-in-Chief, Xu Yingrui, was stunned. After reviewing the files, he rushed over and kept asking how Le Wuya could be so fast and accurate, only then did Le Wuya snap out of it.

...He'd been so distracted he'd forgotten to play dumb.

He forced himself to calm down.

But even now, there was still no letter or word from Xiang Zhijie.

What was Little Six thinking?

But Le Wuya was never one to beat himself up.

If the mountain won't come to Muhammad, Muhammad goes to the mountain.

...

In the dead of night, Le Wuya crept up to the base of a wall at the Sixth Prince's mansion.

According to the floor plan of the mansion he'd gotten his hands on, behind this wall was a bamboo grove, rarely visited—perfect for sneaking in.

He put the wall-climbing skills he'd honed since childhood to use and scrambled up the wall in no time.

At that moment, a hazy moon hung high and a thin mist blanketed the area.

Le Wuya sat on the wall, scanned the area for a moment, and was about to pick a bamboo to shimmy down, when he suddenly heard strange noises from the dense bamboo grove below.

Le Wuya's face tightened.

He tried to duck, but it was too late.

A startled voice broke the silence of the night: "You!..."

The rest of the sentence was cut off as someone in the bamboo grove clamped a hand over the speaker's mouth.

Upon seeing who the two secretly rendezvousing in the bamboo grove were, Le Wuya arched an eyebrow, braced one foot on the wall's top, let the other hang, and looked down with a smile, saying, "Ah, have I come at an inconvenient time?"

Zhi Jie looked up at Le Wuya, his eyes sparkling with a captivating light.

The dream he had fantasized about countless times had actually come true.

The teacher who loved climbing walls the most had truly come to scale his courtyard wall.

In contrast, in the night, Pei Mingqi, whose mouth was covered, wore an expression that was nothing short of spectacular.

—What the heck was he doing at Zhi Jie's place this late?