Once the Crown Princess had left, Nanny Fan, who served at the Empress’s side, sighed with evident displeasure. “Your Highness, you indulge the Crown Princess too much.”
The Empress slowly opened her eyes at this, brows knitting in regret. “Back then His Majesty said to choose a well-bred young lady from a distinguished family for Yu’er. Master Wenchuan was of noble character and upright household conduct, and I only thought that his granddaughter, raised under his teachings since childhood, would surely be gentle, virtuous, and sensible…”
The Crown Princess’s father, Censor-in-Chief Li Cheng, was himself a man of loyal and upright character, and her mother came from the House of Duke Wenguo. Though the house held no military power, its sons had always entered court through scholarship, which was also of some benefit.
That was why she had been chosen.
“Who would have thought the Crown Princess would turn out to have such a temperament.”
“The Eastern Palace’s line is thin as it is, unstable to begin with, and surrounded by wolves and tigers on all sides. As Crown Princess, instead of thinking to help the Crown Prince secure his position in the Eastern Palace, her eyes are fixed only on that small plot of land that is the back courtyard.”
“If not for her jealousy, the Sun Zhaoxun this palace bestowed would not have miscarried, and the Crown Prince would not have grown distant from her!”
“Yet she still thinks herself the cleverest of all, treating everyone else as fools.” The Empress sneered.
“Your Highness, calm your anger. The Crown Princess does not understand your painstaking intentions — she simply lacks the good fortune to see it.”
The Empress sighed, her tone turning cold. “I hope this time she’ll be smart enough.”
If she dared lay a hand on the Crown Prince’s heir again, she couldn’t blame this palace for what came next.
“Your Highness has bestowed gifts on Chu Liangdi several times now, with words that were both warning and comfort woven together. The Crown Princess should understand by now, I would think.”
Though Nanny Fan said this, in her heart she too held some resentment toward the Crown Princess. If not for the Empress’s soft heart — having tasted the bitterness of being parted from her own flesh and blood, and not wishing to inflict that on another — she could simply have had the little prince brought to Kunning Palace to be raised there, and what of it?
The little prince was now one year and five months old since birth, nearly three by the traditional reckoning, and the Empress had only seen him twice. What grandmother wanted to see her grandson and couldn’t? Yet it had to be her mistress who ran into a daughter-in-law this narrow-hearted.
If the mother-in-law the Crown Princess had encountered hadn’t been her mistress but some other high-ranking consort skilled in underhanded schemes, who knew what state she’d have been reduced to by now.
“I hope she truly understands.” The Empress pressed her fingers to her brow. “Oh, right — this palace’s energy hasn’t been up to much these past days. Yesterday, looking over the maidens selected for the Crown Prince, I noticed one originally circled was crossed out, and Noble Consort Lan circled Consort Shen’s younger sister instead?”
Nanny Fan bowed. “Reporting to Your Highness, it was indeed Noble Consort Lan’s doing. She dragged out the timing deliberately, bypassing you, and submitted the list straight to His Majesty.”
The Empress was not surprised — if Noble Consort Lan hadn’t stirred up some mischief, it would have felt strange. But circling Consort Shen’s half-sister was clearly a pawn meant to make the Crown Prince uneasy, and she knew this was Noble Consort Lan’s deliberate doing.
But more than the disgust of it, the Emperor’s attitude was what truly angered her.
After stepping down from duty at the Hour of Shen, Cui Yu, still in his crimson official robes, left the Metropolitan Governor’s office and boarded the Eastern Palace carriage.
Aside from studying and attending court to hear on state affairs, the Crown Prince of Great Yong also held the post of Metropolitan Governor of the capital — another way of testing how he handled government matters. B L A C K L O T U S Novel · Black Lotus Novel
Zheng Yuande, attending at his side, saw his master’s expression calm and unreadable, and couldn’t help but feel a wave of relief.
Having served his master for years, he could still read him a little. Ever since the Cavalry General had been reprimanded by His Majesty and stripped of his title as Military Commissioner of the Zhenguo Army, his master had rarely been in such an even-tempered mood.
At this morning’s court session, contrary to his expectations — he’d thought His Highness would once again argue and plead on the Cavalry General’s behalf and be scolded by His Majesty for it — His Highness had, uncharacteristically, not argued for the Cavalry General at all.
Cui Yu closed his eyes to rest, then suddenly lifted his gaze. “If you have something to say, say it.” His voice was clear and cool, steady.
Zheng Yuande, his round white face wreathed in a fawning smile, said, “Your Highness truly sees all — you can tell this servant’s belly is full of questions even with your eyes closed.”
Cui Yu glanced at him.
Not daring to press his luck further, Zheng Yuande chuckled. “This servant was worried about you, Your Highness, but who’d have thought His Majesty would praise you openly at court. This servant saw the faces of the Fourth Prince and the other princes as court let out — not a smile among them. Made this servant feel quite pleased, it did.”
Those princes, who’d deliberately come needling His Highness with snide remarks after he was scolded — now that His Highness had been praised, let them be the ones stewing in anger!
Cui Yu lowered his eyes, voice low and unreadable. “Arguing serves no purpose.”
What would winning the argument even accomplish?
A ruler’s heart wary of a subject whose merit overshadowed his own — right and wrong ceased to matter once that wariness set in.
It was only that, before this, he hadn’t been able to accept that his young uncle’s military honors — earned guarding the borders, drenched in the blood of enemies slain — had been stripped away, most of it, as though it were nothing more than child’s play.
He felt the injustice of it, for his young uncle, for the soldiers who guarded Great Yong.
But his position as Crown Prince, combined with the military merit his young uncle had earned, had already made his father wary in his heart. If he stepped back, and it eased his father’s guard even a little, it might make things safer for his grandfather and young uncle.
Since that was so, there was no need to contest this moment’s gain or loss.
Only, the moment he returned to the Eastern Palace, Cui Yu heard Cao Zhongda, the eunuch in charge of the front hall, report a few words to him in a low voice. Zheng Yuande’s expression shifted slightly, unable to hold back his complaints inwardly — he had no idea what the Crown Princess was thinking, daring to feign compliance while defying the Empress behind her back. That took some nerve.
After hearing it, Cui Yu’s expression remained unchanged, betraying nothing — only in his usually calm eyes did a trace of coldness surface.
“Your Highness, just listen to this old servant’s advice — when we go pay respects to the Empress next ten-day period, let’s bring the little prince along, shall we?” Nanny Zhou urged in a low, earnest voice.
The Crown Princess’s face darkened, her heart aching even more. “Nanny, didn’t you see how Mother Empress deliberately made things difficult for me today? Every word implying the Crown Prince’s thin line of heirs is my fault, my wrongdoing — blaming me for not bearing him a healthy son!”
Since childhood she had been the most outstanding among her sisters, married to the most exalted man in the realm, and yet she had borne a sickly son, leaving her unable to hold her head up before Mother Empress or anyone else!
Nanny Zhou naturally ached for the bitterness in the heart of the young lady she had nursed and raised, but now that she was a wife married into the imperial family, she could no longer indulge her temper as she pleased.
She counseled gently, “Your Highness, set your heart at ease. The little prince is currently the Crown Prince’s only son under his knee — no one else can surpass our little prince, however things go.”
“If our little prince can win the Empress’s fondness and favor, that brings us nothing but good, no harm at all. Why should Your Highness contest this moment’s pride with the Empress? If His Highness learns of it, it’s the bond between husband and wife that will end up wounded.”
The Crown Princess’s expression shifted slightly.
As the two were speaking, familiar sounds came from outside.
The Crown Princess hurriedly straightened her attire and makeup, stepping forward quickly to offer her greetings.
Cui Yu slowly came to a stop before her, lowering his eyes to look at her face. After a moment, he finally spoke, telling her to rise.
Once he had settled onto the arhat couch, the Crown Princess quickly had hot tea brewed and presented it with her own hands, her voice gentle and smiling. “Your Highness has just come off duty? Your Highness’s government affairs are so demanding these days, but you must mind your health too — please don’t overwork yourself and harm your body.”
Cui Yu lifted his gaze to her gentle smile, his voice low. “No need.”
The Crown Princess set the teacup smilingly on the side table, then asked with a smile, “Shall I have the meal brought in, then, Your Highness?”
“No need,” Cui Yu said, then turned his gaze to Nanny Zhou at the side. “Where is Zhang’er?”
At this, the Crown Princess’s smile turned genuinely warm, and she quickly turned to instruct, “Quickly, bring Zhang’er here.”
Nanny Zhou was naturally pleased too, that the Crown Prince still had their little prince on his mind. Once the wet nurse had brought the swaddled child in and offered her greetings, she bowed respectfully and presented the little prince in her arms for the Crown Prince to see.
Cui Yu looked at the child, still sleeping with eyes closed, and had the wet nurse take him back down, so as not to wake him.
As if in passing, he asked, “This king recalls the Crown Princess saying yesterday that Zhang’er’s health has grown much stronger of late?”
The Crown Princess’s heart tightened slightly, fingers unconsciously clutching at her handkerchief. “Reporting to Your Highness, the Imperial Physician did say Zhang’er’s health has improved somewhat recently, but he still needs quiet rest and mustn’t be exposed to drafts.” — BLACK LOTUS Novel Translation Site — BLACK LOTUS NOVEL
“Oh? Is that so?” Cui Yu idly rubbed his thumb over the ink-jade archer’s ring he wore. “How fortunate, then — this king has already called for the Chief Imperial Physician. Someone, go ask Physician Lu to check the little prince’s pulse for his wellbeing.”
Zheng Yuande: “Yes, Your Highness.”
The Crown Princess’s face stiffened slightly, and she hurried to say, “Your Highness, Zhang’er’s pulse checks have always been done by Physician Zhang. Wouldn’t it be better to summon Physician Zhang instead? He understands Zhang’er’s condition better.”
Cui Yu’s voice remained calm. “Chief Imperial Physician Lu holds that post for a reason — his medical skill is certainly no less than Physician Zhang’s.”
The Crown Princess’s face tightened, and she lowered her head to mask it. The Crown Prince asked after the child every few days, and at first she’d harbored no suspicion at all, but now…
Before long, Zheng Yuande led in an elderly man with graying temples, dressed in the official robes of the Chief Imperial Physician.
After the greetings were exchanged, Chief Imperial Physician Lu reported, “Reporting to Your Highness the Crown Prince and Your Highness the Crown Princess, the little prince’s constitution, while somewhat weaker than that of ordinary infants his age, should become no different from a normal child’s by the time he grows up, so long as he continues to be well cared for.”
Cui Yu: “Can he withstand being moved right now?”
“As long as curtains are hung around the little prince’s palanquin, there should be no serious issue.”
“Much obliged to Chief Imperial Physician Lu.”
After Zheng Yuande had seen the man out and stepped back through the door, he heard his master’s calm, unruffled voice: “Someone, bring the palanquin.”
A chill ran through the Crown Princess’s heart, sinking heavy — it must be that the Empress had sent someone to speak to His Highness about something, for him to act on it the instant he returned from duty!
How truly infuriating!
Zheng Yuande slipped smoothly back out, thoroughly puzzled by the Crown Princess’s behavior, which could almost be called blatant disregard for the Empress’s authority.
The Empress’s illness wasn’t a cold, wasn’t a plague — not the least bit contagious. Where did the Crown Princess find the nerve to keep challenging the Empress’s dignity, again and again?
Nanny Zhou dropped to her knees at once, kowtowing and pleading, “Your Highness, please be magnanimous. Her Highness was simply too worried about the little prince’s health, which is why she didn’t carry him to see the Empress today. Just now, when she returned, she told this old servant herself that she planned to visit the Empress next ten-day period, by which time the little prince’s health should have recovered, and she meant to bring him then for the Empress to see properly.”
Cui Yu turned his gaze to the Crown Princess, his voice slightly cold. “Oh? Is that so?”
The Crown Princess’s face went stiff and pale. After a long moment, she bit her lip, bent her knees, and lowered her head. “Yes, that was indeed my intention. It’s only that I’ve caused Mother Empress worry while she’s unwell — my handling of this was not thorough enough. I beg Your Highness’s forgiveness.”
Cui Yu slowly rose, lowering his eyes to study her expression. After a moment, his voice turned low. “Mother Empress plans wholeheartedly for your sake and mine. Zhang’er is this king’s eldest legitimate son. Do not fail to appreciate her painstaking intentions.”
Hearing this, resentment welled up even more in the Crown Princess’s heart. Plans? The Empress had only one son, the Crown Prince — wasn’t planning for his sake simply expected of her? Didn’t her own father and brothers do the very same, scheming for the Crown Prince’s benefit at court?
As for painstaking intentions? She sneered inwardly. Was it painstaking intention, showing no regard for her dignity as Crown Princess, to bestow gifts on Chu Liangdi again and again?
Such painstaking intentions — she could not bear them.
But however she felt inside, on the surface she swallowed the grievance for now.
The disappointment in Cui Yu’s eyes flickered and vanished in an instant, his dark pupils calm and without a ripple. He said nothing more, turned, and left.
