Shen Yanshui froze. “This concubine went to Qiyun Pavilion to see Younger Sister Xu. She came down with a high fever last night, and I couldn’t rest easy, so I asked a physician to go and take a look…” She stopped short before she could finish.
Once it dawned on her, her face turned sheepish, and her smile took on a guilty edge.
“Your Highness…” She leaned in and peered up at him, tugging lightly at his sleeve. “This concubine knows she was wrong. I won’t dare do it again.”
Cui Yu lowered his eyes to the hand tugging at his sleeve, reached out a finger… and pried his sleeve back out of her grip. He said nothing.
Shen Yanshui: “……”
Uh-oh. She kind of wanted to laugh.
She quickly held it in and put on a perfectly solemn face. “Your Highness need not worry. This concubine knows what she’s doing. Today, when I visited Younger Sister Xu, we spoke through a curtain, and the physician was inside treating her. I sat in the outer room the whole time and never even set foot in the inner chamber…”
Cui Yu listened, then finally set down the book in his hand and raised his eyes to her.
His gaze settled on her face. His voice was still mild, yet carried a trace of heaviness. “If you were worried about Miss Xu the Second, you could simply have sent a couple more physicians to examine her. Why go in person? Or are you… a better healer than the physicians?”
Was that Miss Xu the Second really so important? Important enough to risk catching the illness herself just to visit in person?
Shen Yanshui: “……” It was the first time she’d heard the Crown Prince be passive-aggressive, and it was rather refreshing, actually.
Still, hearing his words, she felt a little touched.
After all, since they didn’t know she had an ability, it was only natural for him to worry about her.
She put on her most docile face and nodded again and again. “Your Highness is right. It was my fault. If there’s a next time, Your Highness may punish me however you like.”
Anyway, the attitude when admitting fault had to be enthusiastic. As for whether she’d actually change… hah, we’ll judge each situation as it comes.
But seeing him utterly unmoved, Shen Yanshui simply reached out, pressed her hand against his shoulder, pushed him back onto the couch, lifted a leg, and straddled him.
Cui Yu hurriedly caught her by the waist, his tone shifting. “A-Yan, don’t be reckless!”
Shen Yanshui paused, gazing at him with a look of bashful innocence. “Your Highness, what are you thinking?” As she spoke, she lay down on top of him, wrapped her arms around his waist, buried her head in the crook of his neck, and nuzzled him.
Her voice was soft and coquettish, with a little lilting tail of sweetness. “This concubine truly knows her fault. I’ll never dare again. Please don’t be angry, Your Highness~” As she spoke, she patted his chest lightly with her hand.
Cui Yu let out a breath. He looked down at her fluffy head, the faint, fresh scent of grass and herbs about her filling his nose, and after being nuzzled and coaxed like that, whatever anger he’d had was gone. BlackLotusNovel
He sighed inwardly.
But he still said nothing, only letting her hold him.
A-Yan was always glib and honey-tongued, the sort to climb the pole the moment you gave her an inch. If he let it go too easily, she’d probably grow even more lawless from now on.
Seeing that he still wasn’t speaking, Shen Yanshui wasn’t bothered. She kept hugging and nuzzling him, then suddenly lifted her head and kissed his pale, thin lips, her eyes bright. “Your Highness, how about this concubine tells you a riddle joke?”
Cui Yu: “……”
He instantly thought of that last riddle, “If the fungus bids the orange die, the orange has no choice but to die” (TN: a pun on “If the lord bids the minister die, the minister has no choice but to die”). He no longer cared about keeping his cold face up. He couldn’t help lightly patting her backside and said in a low voice, “Don’t be so willful from now on.”
Shen Yanshui nodded quickly, then tilted up her smiling face, pouted, and leaned in to kiss him several times in a row. “Mm-hm-hm, this concubine will remember!”
Hearing the laughing and teasing inside, Zheng Yuande, Dongyi, Chunping and the others attending outside all let out a breath of relief.
Only Nanny Wang, hearing the commotion within, smiled, seemingly not at all surprised.
If she hadn’t understood her mistress’s temperament, and seen the Crown Prince’s attitude toward her, she wouldn’t have dared bring up such a thing in front of the Crown Prince, a subject so easily touching her mistress’s taboos.
For the next few days, Shen Yanshui stayed dutifully in Chengxin Hall and went nowhere.
She was afraid that the moment she stepped out, she’d run into another big piece of juicy gossip. One was already more than enough; any more and she’d get indigestion. She didn’t ask how the Crown Prince planned to handle it either. Since she hadn’t heard any news about it these past two days, she set the matter aside for the time being.
Chengxin Hall was not small, and the scenery front and back was lovely. It was enough to keep her entertained for now.
These two days she invited Liangyuan Zhang to stroll around with her. She fished at the little lake in Chengxin Hall and fed everything she caught to a very cute big orange cat that sat obediently waiting for its meal. Liangyuan Zhang sat nearby painting: some pictures of her fishing, some of her feeding the cat, and some of the cat pouncing on butterflies beside them. She was having a wonderful, carefree time as well.
She had also sent Dongyi to ask after Younger Sister Xu. After taking the physician’s medicine and resting quietly for a few days, the high fever had gone down. She was only still a little weak now, and a few more days of recuperation would set her right.
Only then did Shen Yanshui’s heart settle.
Every day when Cui Yu came back from council meetings, he would see her in the courtyard sunning herself with Liangyuan Zhang, eating and drinking, teasing the cat and the bird under the veranda, fishing, whispering in each other’s ears about who knew what… looking utterly, impossibly at leisure.
She certainly knew how to have fun. One Miss Xu the Second had left, and now she had a Liangyuan Zhang at her side…
That afternoon, after Cui Yu finished the state affairs at hand, he raised his eyes and looked out the window.
Outside the window, Shen Yanshui was, for once, sitting quietly in a reclining chair, doing needlework, and doing it with total concentration, very earnestly.
Mm… she had finally remembered the naughty outfit she still owed the Crown Prince, and once she remembered, she couldn’t stop her mind from running away with it.
This strap would tie the wrists, this strap would blindfold the eyes… and then, the fabric for the belt had to be slippery, absolutely made so that one light tug would undo it… The slits on both sides of the robe were too low, no good. Mm… make them go all the way up to the hip, right at the perfect spot, to show off His Highness’s long, powerful legs… hehehe~
Oh, right, His Highness’s thighs are cold and pale. If she tied a chain strung with carnelian and silver-and-jade beads right here… As Shen Yanshui thought of the picture in her head, her hands began to shake…
“A-Yan.”
Shen Yanshui turned at the voice, a faint layer of rouge-red still on her face. Seeing him looking at her, she instantly put on a bright, innocent smile. “Your Highness? What is it?”
He glanced at what she held in her hands, which was clearly a man’s style… hair ribbon?
He calmly withdrew his gaze and said in an even voice, “Would you like to go out for a walk?”
Shen Yanshui’s eyes lit up. “Your Highness has free time this afternoon?”
Cui Yu looked at her sparkling eyes and nodded.
Standing to one side, Zheng Yuande: “……” If he remembered correctly, the Crown Prince had clearly agreed this very morning to go horse racing with General Qi in the afternoon…
Seeing him nod, Shen Yanshui’s face instantly broke into a huge smile.
“That’s wonderful!” She excitedly hugged his arm. “Your Highness, how about we have a barbecue this afternoon?”
Cui Yu raised a brow. “Barbecue? Do you mean grilled meat?”
Shen Yanshui nodded eagerly. “This concubine has wanted it for ages. But besides meat, we’ll need some vegetables. I saw lots of wild greens in some places around the outskirts of the retreat palace before. Why don’t we go pick them ourselves?”
Wild greens picked by your own hands taste extra fragrant.
Besides, since coming to the retreat palace, she still hadn’t gone out alone with the Crown Prince.
Cui Yu watched her eager, delighted expression, the corner of his lips curving slightly, and nodded. “Fine.”
Shen Yanshui beamed. “Please wait a moment, Your Highness. This concubine will go change clothes.”
What she was wearing was casual wear too, but the fabric was fine and the embroidery intricate. If she really went digging up wild greens, it would probably snag in no time.
What a waste that would be.
Cui Yu watched her retreating back, and a trace of amusement rose in his eyes.
A little later, Shen Yanshui came out of the inner room.
Cui Yu looked up and was startled.
She was wearing a jade-green palace maid’s uniform.
The ornaments in her hair had all been removed, and only a pale-green ribbon was tied and hung down her back. She looked crisp and fresh, with a bamboo basket in her hand.
Seeing him looking at her, Shen Yanshui said with a smile, “Your Highness, shall we go?”
The clothes were Chunping’s. They were about the same size, except the chest area was… a little tight.
Cui Yu looked away and nodded, his expression mild. “Let’s go.”
Shen Yanshui hurried to follow.
The two left Chengxin Hall and walked along a flagstone path. · Black Lotus Novel Translation Site — BLACK LOTUS NOVEL
To dig wild greens, they had to go to the outskirts of the retreat palace.
They passed through a maple grove, then rounded a stand of rocks… After walking about two or three ke (TN: around 30–45 minutes), the view suddenly opened up.
It was a sunlit gentle slope, the grass lush and green, scattered with a few wildflowers. At the foot of the slope ran a stream, its water babbling, clear all the way to the bottom.
Shen Yanshui’s eyes lit up. “Your Highness, there are wild greens over there.”
Cui Yu followed where she pointed. It was a swath of green, all of it looking about the same.
His expression didn’t change. He said a mild “Mm.”
Shen Yanshui had already crouched down and started picking with great enthusiasm.
“This is purslane.” She pinched a plump wild plant and turned to smile at Cui Yu. “It clears heat, drains dampness, cools the blood and detoxifies. Blanched and dressed cold, or grilled, it’s delicious either way. The texture is crisp with a slight tang. It really whets the appetite.”
Cui Yu looked down at the wild plant in her hand and said nothing.
Shen Yanshui pointed at another plant. “This is lamb’s quarters…”
She picked as she talked, her movements very practiced.
After picking for a while, she looked up at Cui Yu. Seeing him still standing there, straight-backed and nobly poised, she couldn’t help smiling.
“Your Highness,” she stood and walked over, took his hand, and pulled him toward the patch of wild greens. “Would you like to try picking some too?”
Pulled down into a crouch, Cui Yu looked at the grass before him, at a loss where to begin.
Shen Yanshui pointed at a clump of purslane in front of them. “Your Highness, pick this one. Pinch off the tender tips.”
Cui Yu glanced at her, reached out, pinched a tender tip off the clump of purslane, and dropped it into the basket she carried.
Shen Yanshui praised him. “Your Highness is amazing. Just like that.”
His expression mild, Cui Yu kept picking.
Seeing that he was starting to look like he knew what he was doing, she couldn’t wait to move ahead.
“Your Highness, keep picking. This concubine will go look up ahead,” she said, pointing to the shade of the trees not far off. “I think there may be mushrooms over there.”
A few days ago there had been a light rain, and it had cleared up these last two days. After rain was exactly when mushrooms popped up.
Cui Yu looked up and saw that she was already crouched in the shade, calling out in delight, “There really are mushrooms!”
The corner of his lips curved slightly. He withdrew his gaze and went on picking the greens before him.
After picking a few stalks, he frowned slightly, looked at the plant in his hand, then at the one beside it that looked much the same, and fell into thought.
A moment later, he confidently plucked that plant as well and dropped it into the basket Zheng Yuande was holding.
Zheng Yuande: “???” He couldn’t help glancing back and forth. Well… the Crown Prince is wise and mighty, how could he possibly misjudge some mere wild greens?
He held the basket even more carefully. This was no ordinary wild greens, it was wild greens picked by the Crown Prince’s own hands!
By the time Shen Yanshui had swept that patch nearly clean of mushrooms, she stood up, thoroughly satisfied, and headed back with a basket full of them in her arms.
“Your Highness!” she called from afar, her face turned up in a smile. “This concubine picked so many mushrooms!”
Cui Yu looked up at her. Seeing the dazzling smile on her face, warmth rose in his eyes too.
Shen Yanshui ran over, and from a distance, seeing the basket by his side, she couldn’t help letting out a “Wow.” “Your Highness picked this many?!”
Zheng Yuande proudly lifted his fleshy double chin. Their Highness was just this amazing!
But when Shen Yanshui came closer and looked, the smile on her face stiffened slightly.
In that heap of green, there were barely a few stalks of wild greens. Weeds… a whole basketful.
Shen Yanshui: “……”
She raised her eyes to the Crown Prince and saw him looking at her with amusement in his eyes…
Shen Yanshui instantly swallowed what she’d meant to say and thought: His Highness is of imperial blood. How would he know what’s a wild green and what isn’t? That he came out with her and picked these with his own hands was already no small thing.
How could she discourage the Crown Prince?
So she plastered on a huge smile and heaped on mindless praise. “Your Highness is amazing, you picked so many! With these, tonight’s grilled meat is sure to be extra fragrant. These were all picked by Your Highness’s own hands, after all.”
Cui Yu looked at her, his expression mild, though the corner of his lips curved slightly. · BLACK LOTUS NOVEL Novel Site | BLACK LOTUS NOVEL
Standing to one side, Chunping kept her head down and didn’t dare make a sound.
Seeing that the hour was about right, Shen Yanshui started back.
They had only gone halfway when footsteps suddenly sounded from ahead, along with a hearty voice: “Crown Prince!”
Shen Yanshui looked up and saw a tall, sturdy man striding toward them.
He wore a black martial outfit embroidered with silver patterns. He was tall, with broad shoulders and long legs, wheat-toned skin, and deep, handsome features, with a carefree, untamed air about his brows and eyes, and he actually bore two or three parts of a resemblance to the Crown Prince.
But compared with the Crown Prince’s refined, noble elegance, this man had a good deal more roughness and boldness.
The man strode up close and cupped his fist toward Cui Yu. “This subject greets the Crown Prince.”
Then, without waiting for Cui Yu to speak, he straightened. “You little rascal! You clearly agreed this morning to go horse racing this afternoon. I waited at the martial training ground for a good half-shichen (TN: about one hour) and didn’t see so much as your shadow!” He said it all in one breath, in a tone that was very familiar. “Who’d have thought you’d be here. What are you doing here?”
Cui Yu: “……” He’d forgotten to send word to his Little Uncle…
And Zheng Yuande, that servant, hadn’t thought of it either!
He shot him a glance in an instant.
Zheng Yuande’s fleshy face immediately crumpled. “It was this servant’s fault. This servant forgot such an important matter. This servant deserves a beating! Please forgive me, Your Highness, General Qi.”
It wasn’t as if he’d known how long His Highness would spend picking wild greens with Liangyuan Shen! What if His Highness had only meant to keep her company for a little while before going to find General Qi?
Qi Mingchuan saw his miserable expression and waved a hand. He was about to speak when he spotted the heap of green stuff bundled in the basket, and his face went puzzled.
“Why on earth did you pick these weeds? Taking them back to feed the horses?”
Shen Yanshui: “……!”
Before she could stop him, this General Qi had already rattled it all off in one go.
Shen Yanshui instinctively looked at the Crown Prince, and just then the Crown Prince happened to glance over. Meeting his brooding gaze, she instantly turned her head away and looked at the sky, then at the ground, anywhere but at him.
Ah, what a blue sky, what a… grounded ground…
Zheng Yuande’s eyes went wide. “???”
“……” Cui Yu’s expression was mild, his composure unruffled. “Little Uncle, why are you here?” He glanced around. This place was clearly not close to where his Little Uncle was staying, but it was fairly close to the Marquis of Xuanyi’s residence.
Qi Mingchuan: “……I was just wandering around, is that not allowed? Who told you to stand me up?”
Seeing his guilty look, Cui Yu narrowed his eyes.
Listening to the two of them talk, Shen Yanshui took the chance to curtsy. “This concubine greets General Qi.”
Only then did Qi Mingchuan’s gaze land on her. This palace maid was as pretty as a flower, and of course he’d noticed her long ago. He had simply assumed she was some little palace maid serving his nephew. Now, it seemed…
He withdrew his gaze, looked at Cui Yu, and raised a brow.
Cui Yu’s expression was unchanged. “Little Uncle, this is Liangyuan Shen.”
He turned his head to Shen Yanshui. “A-Yan, this is my Little Uncle. You may simply call him Little Uncle.”
Qi Mingchuan, seeing him tell this Liangyuan Shen to call him Little Uncle, was inwardly surprised.
But, so this was the Liangyuan Shen who’d sent their family both grapes and peaches?
Though he’d been confined to his residence lately, he hadn’t missed a single piece of news from his Crown Prince nephew’s Eastern Palace, and he knew this Liangyuan Shen was very much favored by his Crown Prince nephew.
Qi Mingchuan straightened his expression. “No need for formalities, Liangyuan.”
But he managed not even three seconds of seriousness. He turned to Cui Yu, grinning with a teasing look. “You rascal, so the reason you didn’t come to our appointment is that you were out keeping a beauty company?”
As he spoke, his gaze fell on the basket in Shen Yanshui’s hand, then on the heap in Zheng Yuande’s arms, and he suddenly burst into laughter.
The laughter was hearty, and he didn’t spare the Crown Prince an ounce of face.
“Hahahahaha!” He doubled over laughing. “You took the liangyuan out to pick wild greens, didn’t you? How come the liangyuan picked proper food, while you came back with a whole bag of weeds? Who were you planning to feed those to?”
“……” Shen Yanshui pressed her lips together hard, her face turning faintly red from holding it in.
Especially with someone else right there, mocking without the slightest restraint and laughing so shamelessly, she felt she was suffering terribly trying to hold on.
Watching his Little Uncle laugh more and more outrageously, Cui Yu’s ears slowly reddened. “Little Uncle!” He couldn’t help lifting a foot to kick him.
Qi Mingchuan had been ready for it and dodged with a flick of his body, with practiced ease.
“Ah!” After dodging, he laughed even harder. “You little brat, embarrassed into anger? Hahahaha!”
Shen Yanshui really couldn’t hold it in any longer and burst out laughing with a “pfft.”
Cui Yu silently turned his head to look at her.
Shen Yanshui hurriedly shut her mouth, though her eyes curved into crescents.
Shut up, stupid mouth, stop laughing!
Watching her struggle to hold in her laughter, a flicker of helplessness crossed Cui Yu’s eyes, and he felt a touch of embarrassment too…
Qi Mingchuan looked from one to the other and laughed even more wildly.
Shen Yanshui coughed lightly and hurriedly changed the subject.
She looked at Qi Mingchuan and smiled graciously. “I’ve long heard of General Qi’s great reputation, and meeting you today, it is well deserved. This concubine was just about to go back and have a barbecue with His Highness. If Little Uncle doesn’t mind, would you care to join us?” black lotus Novel Translation Site — BLACK LOTUS NOVEL
Qi Mingchuan raised a brow.
He looked at Cui Yu, a teasing gleam in his eyes.
Cui Yu took a deep breath and looked at him. “Little Uncle, if you have nothing else on, come along.”
Seeing him so ready to let Liangyuan Shen call the shots, Qi Mingchuan was suddenly very interested. He grinned. “Then I won’t stand on ceremony.”
Back at Chengxin Hall, Shen Yanshui changed into a casual narrow-sleeved blouse and skirt and had Chunping go invite Eunuch Lin.
When Eunuch Lin learned that his mistress was finally going to have a barbecue, he perked up at once.
Even before coming to the retreat palace, his mistress had instructed him on everything needed for a barbecue. The grilling racks, the silver-thread charcoal, the bamboo skewers, and those few ground seasonings had all been packed into sealed jars and brought along.
He’d had them ready all these days, waiting for the day his mistress felt the urge so he could serve at a moment’s notice, and now they were finally going to be put to use.
He quickly led Shouzhong, Shouyi, and several nimble-handed young eunuchs and servants to set up the racks and light the charcoal in the courtyard, wash the vegetables and slice the meat. In no more than two ke (TN: around 30 minutes), everything was arranged.
Besides the wild mountain bamboo shoots and mushrooms his mistress had brought back, he’d even carefully sorted through the whole basket of “wild greens” the Crown Prince had picked, selected a few leaves that were edible, washed them, skewered them, and presented them together.
Shen Yanshui had also specially instructed that the wild greens the Crown Prince had picked with his own hands be skewered and marked. Then she thought of Liangyuan Zhang.
Liangyuan Zhang was actually a little introverted and rather cautious. With General Qi there, even though General Qi was the Crown Prince’s uncle, she probably wouldn’t come.
Still, she ought to ask.
So she had Dongyi go invite her.
Before long, Dongyi came back, followed by a maid in green, Huixin, who served at Liangyuan Zhang’s side.
Huixin stepped forward and curtsied. “Greetings, Liangyuan Shen. My mistress says thank you for the kind invitation, but she’s a little tired today and won’t come to disturb you. She says she’ll come herself another day to apologize.”
Shen Yanshui heard this and nodded with a smile. “Tell her to rest well. Next time it’ll just be me, Elder Sister Zhang and Younger Sister Xu, and we’ll have another meal all to ourselves. We’ve got plenty of time at the retreat palace. The days are long.”
Seeing that Liangyuan Shen wasn’t angry, Huixin finally relaxed, and a genuine smile appeared on her face. “Yes, this servant will be sure to pass it on to my mistress. Thank you for your consideration, Liangyuan.”
With that, she respectfully withdrew.
Once outside Chengxin Hall, Huixin walked with a light step, but she couldn’t help thinking that the Crown Prince had chosen her mistress to come to the retreat palace, yet since arriving, he had stayed every day with Liangyuan Shen.
The Crown Prince had never so much as asked after her mistress, much less come to visit her courtyard.
If Liangyuan Shen hadn’t taken the initiative these past few days to invite her mistress out to play, the retreat palace servants, who were the quickest to read people’s faces, might already have started trampling the low and flattering the high.
Thinking of this, Huixin couldn’t help sighing.
……
Eunuch Lin’s craftsmanship was truly something. From that heap of weeds he had actually picked out several leaves of edible wild greens and strung them into three skewers.
Shen Yanshui pointed at the three skewers and said with a smile to Chunping, “Bring them over quickly. I’ll grill them myself in a bit.”
Chunping, holding back a laugh, nodded and obeyed.
When Cui Yu and Qi Mingchuan came over from the study, they saw that she’d already started grilling herself. She had a grilling rack in front of her, while the eunuchs grilled on another, larger rack off to the side.
Shen Yanshui sat on a stool, picking up a few mushroom skewers and a few lamb skewers, laying them on the rack and brushing on a layer of oil, and they sizzled.
Qi Mingchuan couldn’t help being surprised. “This… you can grill mushrooms?”
Hearing his voice, Shen Yanshui looked up and smiled at him. “Little Uncle doesn’t know, but grilled mushrooms are incredibly savory. I like pairing meat with vegetables. Your Highness and Little Uncle should try some later and see if you like it.”
As she spoke, she picked up the wild greens already skewered, along with a few vegetables the retreat palace had on hand, and laid them on the rack too, her movements very practiced.
Cui Yu watched her bustling about, warmth rising in his eyes, and sat down beside her too, picking up a few pieces of meat to grill.
Across from them, Qi Mingchuan: “……” Why did his teeth suddenly ache?
He plopped down across from the two of them. His own grilling skills were nothing to sneer at. Black Lotus novel Novel Translation Site | BlackLotusNovel
Before long, a rich aroma drifted from the grill.
The fragrance was entirely different from ordinary grilled meat. Beyond the charred aroma of fat, there was a hard-to-place spiciness that bored straight into the nose.
After grilling a little longer, the skewers dripped and sizzled, and the vegetables were done to perfection. Only then did Shen Yanshui portion the finished food onto plates and bring them over herself.
Qi Mingchuan sat up straighter. This smell… really was different from ordinary grilled meat.
Shen Yanshui first placed the three marked skewers of wild greens in the most prominent spot and said with a beaming smile, “These three skewers are the wild greens His Highness picked with his own hands. This concubine had them specially selected and skewered. One each for us, let’s try them.”
Cui Yu: “……”
Qi Mingchuan was stunned at first, then burst out laughing. “Wild greens picked by the Crown Prince’s own hands, I can’t miss those.” He picked up a skewer and took a bite. The smile on his face froze slightly. He looked down at the green stuff in his hand, chewed a couple more times, and nodded. “Mm… it actually tastes not bad?”
Shen Yanshui picked up a skewer too, took a bite, and her eyes curved into crescents. “The wild greens His Highness picked are naturally delicious.”
Qi Mingchuan glanced at her, then at his Crown Prince nephew, who had clearly been sweet-talked into a good mood. Tsk!
Cui Yu’s expression was calm as he picked up the last skewer and tasted it.
The flavor… mm, it really was good. The seasoning was rich and pungent, covering most of the wild greens’ raw, grassy bitterness, and eating it had a distinctive charm.
Seeing that he’d eaten it, Shen Yanshui smiled even more happily and quickly passed over the finished lamb skewers. “Your Highness, try this one!”
Cui Yu took the skewer and bit into it, and his brows lifted slightly.
The meat was grilled just right, crisp outside and tender inside, the fat’s fragrance bursting in his mouth, followed by that rich spiciness, intertwining with the aroma of the meat. It was very good, and indeed a little different from the usual grilled meat.
Qi Mingchuan picked up a skewer of grilled meat too and took a big bite, chewed a couple of times, and couldn’t help asking, “What’s in this? Ordinary grilled meat doesn’t have this flavor.”
Shen Yanshui smiled and pointed at a small porcelain jar beside her. “It’s this. This concubine calls it cumin.”
Qi Mingchuan leaned over to look at the grayish-brown powder in the jar and sniffed it.
“Cumin?” He repeated the unfamiliar name. “Never heard of it.”
Cui Yu glanced at her and said mildly, “Is this what you mentioned before, made from ground Anxi cumin seeds?”
Shen Yanshui nodded with a smile. “Your Highness has a good memory. That’s the one.”
Qi Mingchuan was astonished. “Anxi cumin seeds ground into powder can be made into a seasoning?”
He knew of Anxi cumin. He’d heard that some of the small kingdoms in the Western Regions often used it for bathing, for sacrifices, for stewing meat and so on. He’d eaten it once… anyway, his impression was that it didn’t taste great, and in the Central Plains it was generally used for… medicine?
Shen Yanshui said with a smile, “This concubine also just heard that foreign merchants use it in their food, so I was curious and gave it a try. I didn’t expect it to taste this good.”
Qi Mingchuan nodded, figuring it was probably a matter of skill. How could the cooking skills of small Western Regions kingdoms compare with those of their Great Yong?
While the three of them grilled and talked, once they’d eaten most of it, Cui Yu suddenly thought of something and began speaking of the hunt three days from now.
Shen Yanshui instantly turned to look at him, her eyes bright. “A hunt? Can the women watch too?”
Cui Yu nodded. “Yes. Every year a high platform is set up so the women can watch.”
A hunt was not like the autumn imperial hunt with its martial displays, shows of strength, and assessments. It was really just the imperial family, the clan, and the noble houses’ sons accompanying His Majesty for a pleasure outing to relax, so of course the women could watch from the side.
Shen Yanshui’s eyes lit up instantly. “Will Your Highness take part too?” She had only heard the story of the Crown Prince hunting a bear alone in his teens, but never seen it with her own eyes… In fact… she didn’t think she’d ever seen the Crown Prince do anything martial at all?
Cui Yu looked at the expectation in her eyes, and the smile in his own faded slightly as he lowered his gaze. “Not necessarily.”
Because what Father Emperor wanted was only a steady, gentle, obedient, docile “benevolent heir” who did not esteem martial valor… In the depths of his dark eyes, unseen by anyone, a trace of mockery surfaced.
Beside him, the smile on Qi Mingchuan’s face had also dimmed a little.
Shen Yanshui suddenly realized something too. After all, when the Crown Prince had, at fourteen, hunted a bear alone, not only had he received no praise from Emperor Pingkang, he’d been scolded for it…
Old geezer!
His Highness had only been fourteen then. A child that outstanding, and instead of praising him, or at least keeping quiet, he actually had the nerve to scold him. Pah!
The more she thought about it, the angrier she got.
She’d known about all this even before entering the Eastern Palace, but back then the Crown Prince had been nothing more to her than a symbol of the heir apparent. She’d been somewhat surprised and admiring, and thought the Emperor a bit baffling… but that was all.
Now, thinking about it, she felt a strange, indescribable ache in her heart.
That night, just as Cui Yu finished washing up and got into bed, Shen Yanshui rolled into his arms, wrapped her arms around his lean waist, and laid her cheek against his chest, listening to his steady heartbeat. She raised her eyes to look at the eyes gazing down at her, earnest, carrying a faint hope for the future.
“Your Highness, after this concubine has given birth, next year when we come here again, will you go riding and hunting with me? I’ve never learned archery. Will Your Highness teach me then, please?”
Well… she’d never shot an arrow, but she had fired guns, and every shot was a headshot. Shen Yanshui: every word of this is true, without a single lie mixed in.
Hearing her voice, faintly tinged with tenderness and pity, Cui Yu was momentarily stunned, then lowered his eyelids, his thick, long lashes casting a shadow over his eyes.
The hand around her shoulder tightened slightly. His throat felt tight, and his voice was slightly hoarse. “Good.”
When had Shen Yanshui ever seen the Crown Prince look so pitiable? Her heart started cursing Emperor Pingkang all over again!
She hurriedly stroked his back. “Your Highness mustn’t look down on this concubine then…”
Listening to her softly murmuring about their future, his eyes held a smile as he listened quietly, occasionally responding in a rather low voice, and each time he did, he could see A-Yan’s eyes full of tender pity and heartache as she looked at him…
Three days later, the hunt arrived as scheduled.
That day the heavens smiled on them. The sky was washed clean and cloudless, and the morning breeze carried the fresh scent of grass and trees from the mountain forests, leaving everyone refreshed.
The hunting grounds north of the retreat palace had long been set up. It was a vast stretch of land where mountain forest met plains, with layered green peaks in the distance, broad meadows close by, and a clear stream winding out of the mountains, splitting the entire ground in two.
Just after the Hour of Chen (TN: around 7–9 AM), banners already fluttered along the edge of the hunting grounds, and horns and drums sounded together.
The men gathered at the starting point on the east side of the grounds. The Emperor wore a bright-yellow riding-and-archery outfit with a golden crown holding up his hair and an imperial longbow at his waist. Though he was over fifty, his bearing was still quite upright, his face even ruddy, and on horseback he had something of the heroic air of his youth.
The princes, imperial clansmen, and civil and military officials lined up on both sides, hundreds of fine horses neighing and pawing the ground, a spectacular sight.
Emperor Pingkang looked around, in high spirits. He took the long arrow handed over by the eunuch beside him, nocked it, drew the bow, and aimed at an elk a hundred paces away.
The whole field held its breath.
The arrow tore through the air—
It missed.
The elk, startled by the sound, leaped away. The arrow grazed past its body and lodged in a tree trunk behind it, humming.
Emperor Pingkang’s expression darkened abruptly.
“His Majesty’s marksmanship is superb!” The Commander of the Imperial Guards was the first to speak loudly. “That shot was so powerful that even if the elk dodged it, the wind of the arrow would have wounded it!”
“Exactly, exactly,” the Minister of Revenue hurried to chime in. “This minister saw that the elk was already stumbling as it ran. It must have been badly hurt.”
For a while, flattery rose here and there.
Emperor Pingkang’s expression gradually eased. He put away the bow and laughed at himself. “Enough, there’s no need for you to cover for me. I’m simply getting old and my eyes aren’t what they were. A few years ago, that shot wouldn’t have let it get away.”
Everyone hurriedly offered another round of “His Majesty is in the prime of life.”
Emperor Pingkang waved a hand and turned his gaze to the Crown Prince at his side.
Cui Yu wore a dark-blue riding outfit, his bearing upright, his expression calm.
Emperor Pingkang looked at him, a complicated emotion flickering in his eyes before quickly vanishing, and said with a smile, “The Crown Prince is young, and his riding and archery have always been good. Later you must show us a fine display.”
Cui Yu’s expression did not change as he said respectfully, “This son has neglected martial skills these past few years and is far from Father Emperor’s valor in his youth. This son’s meager skills would not dare embarrass themselves before Father Emperor.”
The smile on Emperor Pingkang’s face grew more genuine. He nodded. “The Crown Prince need not belittle himself. You are the heir apparent and should win the realm through benevolence and virtue, with no need to esteem martial valor. A ruler need only love the people with benevolence and discern treachery with clarity. As for riding and archery, they are merely the icing on the cake.”
Cui Yu bowed his head. “This son will remember Father Emperor’s teaching.”
The Emperor nodded in satisfaction and swept his gaze over the crowd.
The few old ministers maintained their usual expressions, nodding again and again in agreement. Qi Mingchuan’s face didn’t change, only the hand holding his reins tightened.
The Emperor soon withdrew his gaze and looked back at the hunting grounds. “In today’s hunt, gentlemen, do not hold back. Show what you can do. I’ll be right here watching, and whoever takes first place will be richly rewarded!”
At these words, the atmosphere in the field instantly grew fervent. The princes, clansmen, and generals answered in unison, their voices shaking the mountain forest.
The horns sounded again, drums rolling like thunder, banners snapping in the wind over the hunting grounds, and the hunt officially began.
Cui Yu rode forward at an unhurried pace and glanced at the Eighth Prince not far off, who was impatiently shouting at the Seventh Prince. His expression cooled slightly. Thinking of the news he’d received yesterday, he followed after them, neither too close nor too far.
On the high platform not far off, Shen Yanshui sat beside the Empress, her eyes fixed intently on the Crown Prince’s figure until it gradually disappeared. Only then did she sip her hot tea slowly.
Her gaze swept idly to one side and landed on He Wan. Seeing how perfectly composed she looked, Shen Yanshui couldn’t help clicking her tongue inwardly. This one had truly swallowed a bear’s heart and a leopard’s gallbladder!
Once this thing came to light, it was foreseeable that things would not end well. She might even get the whole clan wiped out like a match-three game… She didn’t know how this woman could stay so steady.
She was about to look away when she unexpectedly saw that her elder sister was also watching… He Wan?
Shen Ronghua was indeed looking at Noble Consort Lan’s niece, He Wan.
A trace of scorn and pity surfaced in her eyes.
This woman had once flaunted her status in front of her. But now… heh, she was just a grasshopper after autumn, and wouldn’t be hopping about for more than a few hours.
She had learned in a dream that on the first day of the hunt at the retreat palace’s summer visit, the Seventh Prince would be seriously injured in the hunting grounds and trapped for a long time at the bottom of a cliff. Because he received no timely treatment, he nearly lost his life.
Fortunately, in the end, the Marquis of Xuanyi, who was in charge of the hunting grounds’ guard, found him and saved his life. Only… his left leg was left with a permanent, crippling limp.
And yet this was merely the beginning.
At tonight’s victory banquet, the Eighth Prince and He Wan, the Seventh Prince’s not-yet-wed principal consort, would be caught in an illicit affair!
The Eighth Prince having an affair with his future sister-in-law was a disgraceful scandal exposed in front of all the civil and military officials. The Eighth Prince’s reputation would be utterly ruined, the Seventh Prince would lose face completely, and the imperial family would be shamed.
Only, although His Majesty would be furious, in the end the Eighth Prince would be confined, He Wan would be granted death, the He clan would be implicated, and Noble Consort Lan would even be stripped of her title and demoted to Talented Lady He.
But the Seventh Prince gained nothing from it either. A proper prince, and his own fiancée had put horns on him… There was sympathy, yes, but more than that, people looked down on him.
She had thought that would be the end of it, but unexpectedly, two months later when they returned to the capital, Consort Li fell ill and died, and the Seventh Prince did not even see his mother one last time.
If the Empress hadn’t spoken a couple of words, Consort Li would nearly have been casually ordered to be buried in a rush by His Majesty. She had held the rank of consort, and yet she had nearly gone without even the honors due in death.
It chilled her heart all the more, and firmed up what she had resolved in her mind.
Just when everyone was about to forget the matter, half a year later, the Eighth Prince suddenly died of poison!
The Fourth Prince, the Eighth Prince’s full brother, also became unable to perform as a man due to an accident…
By then the Empress had not long passed away, and He, who had by then become Consort He again, learned that of her two sons, one was dead and one crippled, and went utterly mad, hysterically accusing the Seventh Prince.
Though there was no evidence whatsoever, His Majesty nonetheless questioned, rebuked, and vented his anger on the Seventh Prince because of it.
In the end… the Seventh Prince killed his father the Emperor in open court!
Had it not been for the Imperial Guards’ protection, he would nearly have succeeded!
Emperor Pingkang personally cut off the Seventh Prince’s head… According to palace rumor, he even hacked the corpse up beyond recognition to vent his rage…
He had it thrown to the mass burial ground to feed the dogs.
Just thinking of what she’d heard in the dream, she couldn’t help her face going faintly pale. His Majesty was truly too ruthless and harsh…
After a moment, she sipped her tea and pulled her thoughts back.
Yesterday she had found an opportunity to tell the Sixth Prince, half-veiled and half-revealed, what would happen today.
As long as today went the way she’d said, the Sixth Prince would naturally begin to rely on her. A relationship of interests was far more reassuring to her than any romantic feeling.
Shen Yanshui chatted with the Empress, but part of her attention remained on her elder sister. She couldn’t help it. Her elder sister’s expression today was really rather abnormal, and it made her involuntarily look a few more times.
It was like she was deliberately suppressing some hidden anticipation and excitement. Just now, when she’d looked at He Wan, there had been a kind of… pity in it, and also disgust?
This made her start to suspect that perhaps her elder sister also knew something?
She thought again of the Seventh Prince she’d just seen, still the same as ever, still at the Eighth Prince’s side.
She looked once more at her elder sister’s expression, and her heart suddenly skipped a beat. Could something happen at the hunting grounds today…?
