BERW - Chapter 15

Chapter 15

The Empress Dowager asked Shen Yuyao many things about her time in the palace, all of them centering on the little girl's daily eating, drinking, and sleeping, along with a few lively happenings.

Shen Yuyao picked out some of the amusing stories from the original owner's everyday play and told them, and the Empress Dowager laughed so hard that the hearty sound of it could be heard from the doorway.

Listening to the Empress Dowager's laughter, Qingzhen breathed a sigh of relief. Earlier, word of the Crown Prince's affair had reached Qianyin Temple, and the Empress Dowager had been so angry that she smashed several teacups, her face gloomy all day.

Yesterday, when she heard that the Emperor had brought that palace maid of the Eastern Palace back into the palace and even named her Crown Prince's Junior Consort, she was angrier still, cursing the Emperor as muddled several times over. These words fell on Qingzhen's ears, and she would never speak a single syllable of them to anyone else.

But the Empress Dowager's anger and her loss of appetite were things Qingzhen saw with her eyes and fretted over in her heart. So when she heard that the Seventh Princess was coming to Qianyin Temple to play, she went straight to the gate to greet her.

She had only hoped the Seventh Princess's coming might make the Empress Dowager laugh. And indeed, at the first sight of the Seventh Princess, the Empress Dowager brightened.

Qingzhen had followed at the Empress Dowager's side for thirty or forty years, and their bond was far from ordinary. This was also why Shen Yuyao called her Aunt. Though she was a palace servant, even the Emperor held her in respect.

She turned slightly and asked the young woman standing beside her, "May I ask how long the Seventh Princess will stay at Qianyin Temple on this trip out of the palace? This old servant selfishly hopes the Princess might stay until after the festival before leaving."

The Double Ninth was still more than half a month away, but it could well be brought up as a way to ask.

Lanxiang lowered her eyes cautiously and answered with her head bowed, "In reply to Matron, the Princess has not set a day for her return on this trip. The Princess is most filial, and on this outing she will surely stay to spend the festival with the Empress Dowager."

Qingzhen nodded and glanced at Lanxiang. "And where is the palace maid the Seventh Princess used to bring so often?"

On this trip out of the palace, Shen Yuyao had brought four senior palace maids in all. The original owner had trusted Meixiang most; in the past, when she wandered the palace, she liked to bring Meixiang, a single senior palace maid, out with her, and Qingzhen had grown familiar with Meixiang. Seeing a new face so suddenly, she asked the question idly.

Lanxiang shook her head. "The Princess's thoughts are those of a noble. This servant dares not presume to guess."

Hearing this, Qingzhen actually regarded the young palace maid before her a little more highly.

The former Meixiang was reliable enough at her work, but her eyes were not clean; in speech and conduct she followed Shen Yuyao's temperament and was rather brash, entirely unlike the honest and cautious Lanxiang.

One could not say that one was stronger than the other; it all came down to which the master princess preferred.

But in temperament, Qingzhen felt that the Lanxiang before her was better suited to be at the Princess's side. The Seventh Princess was innocent and carefree, and precisely needed a cautious soul to fret more on her behalf day to day.

When Shen Yuyao came out of the courtyard, she saw that Qingzhen and Lanxiang seemed to be getting along splendidly, the two of them talking back and forth with lively interest.

Only when she drew close did she learn that Qingzhen was passing on experience to Lanxiang, explaining how to handle sudden matters if the noble one a servant attended encountered something while outside.

"Lanxiang, you have won yourself quite a stroke of fortune, to have Aunt Qingzhen teach you personally." Shen Yuyao came over smiling and seized the chance to suggest, "I see Yu Liu at Father's side all day long, and he has taken in no small number of adopted sons. Aunt Qingzhen's standing is higher than Yu Liu's, yet you have no junior at your side to serve you. Lanxiang is honest and dependable, loyal and commendable. Why doesn't Aunt Qingzhen take her as an adopted daughter?"

"How could that be? This old servant is so far along in years; how could I be the adoptive mother of this young palace maid?" Qingzhen blushed at the words. She was over fifty this year, old enough to be Lanxiang's great-grandmother.

People of these times married early; among the common folk, plenty in their early thirties were already grandmothers.

Lanxiang had rather been moved at first, but at these words she felt awkward again.

Shen Yuyao was not afraid of the awkwardness of being refused. To accomplish anything, one had to be thick-skinned; if one's skin were too thin, what could one ever get done?

"What are you saying, Aunt? If you had left the palace and made a family back then, your child would be only about ten years older than Lanxiang. Just think of it as having borne a little daughter. Wouldn't that be fine too? Lanxiang was sold into the palace by her parents back then; she has no fate with them. If she could meet an adoptive mother who treated her well, then in the future, whether she leaves the palace to marry or stays within it, she would have a kinswoman to lean on."

Shen Yuyao's words made Lanxiang's eyes sting. She had not expected that the lofty Princess would remember the background of a palace maid like her, and would even speak up to connect her.

The Princess treated her so well. If this matter came to pass, she would go through fire and water for the Princess without a moment's hesitation! Lanxiang swore silently in her heart, looking at Qingzhen with expectant eyes.

Qingzhen was a senior palace maid at the Empress Dowager's side, her standing different from the others. She had accompanied the Empress Dowager through more than twenty lonely years deep in the palace, and in those painful memories the two of them had supported each other, their affection most deep.

If one could win Qingzhen's regard, even the Empress Dowager would take note.

Qingzhen, too, felt a warmth rise in her heart. Who did not envy the bond of children and parents? If she could have a child at her knee to show her filial devotion, her long remaining years seemed to hold a little hope.

Seeing both of them moved in expression, Shen Yuyao pressed harder. "And Aunt Qingzhen, in truth I have selfish motives in doing this. As a princess, it is not easy to leave the palace. Imperial Grandmother treats me so well, yet I cannot come to Qianyin Temple to keep her company at every moment. Seeing her today, she has grown much thinner. If Aunt Qingzhen could be kin with Lanxiang, then in future correspondence with Lanxiang, you could pass along word to me of how Imperial Grandmother's mood is, whether she takes her meals on time. That would be wonderful."

Qingzhen had thought it was some great matter; it was nothing but a heart full of pure filial devotion.

"The Seventh Princess is truly a delight. No wonder the Empress Dowager, among all the princes and princesses, dotes on the Seventh Princess especially. Such a filial heart is rare. How would this old servant dare merely pass along a word or two to the Princess? I ought to send a letter to the Princess every day. It is only that this matter still requires the Empress Dowager's consent."

Though the content was only how the Empress Dowager's mood was and whether she ate well, it still touched on watching the movements of the imperial house. The Empress Dowager's standing was not much below the Emperor's, and this was taboo.

But Shen Yuyao was a princess, and the Empress Dowager doted on her. Even if this were known, no one would pursue it.

Shen Yuyao did not worry at all that Qingzhen might ask the Empress Dowager. She only smiled and nodded, then asked whether Qingzhen would take Lanxiang as an adopted daughter. This time Qingzhen nodded. Lanxiang, overjoyed, knelt and at once kowtowed three times to Qingzhen, changing her form of address to Mother.

Qingzhen had thought Lanxiang would call her adoptive mother; she had not expected it to be "Mother." People weep more easily when old, and at once she burst into tears.

She felt that the regrets of her first fifty years had been fulfilled at this time when half her body was already in the earth.

Shen Yuyao generously granted Lanxiang two days of leave, so that the two could formally go through the ceremony of recognizing kin. She also had Lanxiang stay to talk with Qingzhen. Qingzhen, having taken an adopted daughter, would surely want the Empress Dowager to see her, so Lanxiang would have no small amount to do in these two days.

Then Shen Yuyao turned and left with the other guards.

That was right: she had no senior palace maid with her, but she still had a group of guards, so she was not afraid to go back alone.

Only, she had gone out with a palace maid at her side and came back with only herself, which inevitably made her look forlorn. Qin Shujun, waiting in the guest room for Shen Yuyao, saw her return and asked at once where the palace maid at her side had gone.

"Those guards are careless, far less good at attending one than palace maids are. There is much inconvenience outside. Yuyang, do not be willful as you are in the palace, taking one palace maid everywhere." Having said this, Qin Shujun glanced at the empty place behind Shen Yuyao and frowned. "And even less should you go with no palace maid at all."

"Rest assured, Imperial Sister-in-Law, your sister knows what she is doing." Shen Yuyao gave her assurance. She did not tell Qin Shujun where Lanxiang had gone, but instead brought up the polo match. "Let me tell you something to cheer you, Imperial Sister-in-Law. Just now Imperial Grandmother said we may play polo at the foot of the mountain; it will not disturb her, nor the Daoist priests' quiet."

Qin Shujun had not expected that Shen Yuyao, in a single trip out, would accomplish this matter that had seemed so troublesome to her.

She dazed for a moment. Those carefree, unrestrained days on horseback seemed as distant as a previous life.

Beside her, Shen Yuyao was still talking.

"I heard from a Daoist priest that there is a small town at the foot of the mountain. Mid-Autumn has just passed, and the lantern festival there has not yet dispersed. Imperial Sister-in-Law, why don't we go to the town at the foot of the mountain tonight, wait for your friend, and take in the town's scenery?"

If the person did not come, then they would simply rest a night at an inn in the town, and see the lantern festival besides!

Shen Yuyao cheered inwardly at her own arrangement. She really was a little travel genius.

Qin Shujun could not understand it at all. She had only dazed for a moment; how did it seem that the next few days' time had all been neatly arranged by Shen Yuyao?

If the next few days were all to be spent playing here, did that mean she would not have to think about the Eastern Palace during these days?

As Shen Yuyao counted off her schedule on her fingers, Qin Shujun suddenly spoke and asked, "Yuyang, how long do you want to stay here?"

Shen Yuyao pondered for a moment. "I think at least until the Double Ninth Festival. The Double Ninth is coming, and then Father, Mother, and all our brothers and sisters will come to accompany Imperial Grandmother for the festival. After the festival we can simply go back together with them, saving another trip."

Qin Shujun started. Today was the eighteenth of the eighth month; there were still twenty days to the ninth of the ninth month.

"Imperial Sister-in-Law?" Shen Yuyao called softly. "Why are you dazing, Imperial Sister-in-Law? Is the time too short? I know that playing for only half a month is a little short, but fortunately Qianyin Temple is not far from the capital. If we enjoy ourselves thoroughly this time, we can come again next time. Let me think: before the New Year we can come again, come to fetch Imperial Grandmother back to the palace for the New Year!"

Shen Yuyao had only just arrived, and already she was planning when to come next.

Qin Shujun looked at such an enthusiastic Shen Yuyao, and suddenly her heart felt glad. Under Shen Yuyao's puzzled gaze, she grinned, smiling especially brightly, even a little foolishly.

"No, it is not short at all. It is a very long time. Yuyang, thank you. But Imperial Grandmother does not like me. Next time, come by yourself, so as not to make Imperial Grandmother angry again at the New Year."

These twenty days were already more good days than she dared imagine.

Qin Shujun truly was not greedy at all.

At this moment, Shen Yuyao could see in her a trace of the vigor that belonged to the young.

Shen Yuyao was satisfied. That was right; girls looked their best when they smiled!

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