BERW - Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Shen Yuyao was, for the most part, an obedient child. She was willing to heed Qu Yanyue's words.

So that evening she put away two big bowls of rice in one go, all to store up energy so she could have at it in earnest once night fell.

But before night came, Shen Yuyao gave Meixiang a proper fright.

"This servant truly deserves death. To think I did not know the Princess had been hungry all this while, and let the Princess go hungry until now. I beg the Princess to pass sentence."

Shen Yuyao had never eaten so much before. Meixiang worried that Shen Yuyao, having eaten so much in one go, would suffer indigestion that night. Rather than be the target of the uncomfortable Princess's anger then, it was better to beg forgiveness now.

Such was Meixiang's survival wisdom in serving at Shen Yuyao's side.

It left the present Shen Yuyao somewhat speechless. Was she eating a lot because she was hungry? It was purely because she now simply ate a lot!

"What's the big deal? Your Princess is growing lately; what's strange about eating a bit more?" Shen Yuyao waved for Meixiang to hurry up. "If you've got nothing to do, go back and eat a couple bowls of rice too, and while you're at it, check whether everything I had you prepare is all there."

Meixiang's face turned troubled. Eating two bowls of rice... she was not quite up to that!

But a princess's command could not be disobeyed. And truly, if it were something tasty, eating a bit more would be no trouble.

Meixiang agonized a moment, then answered, "Yes."

After dinner, the sky darkened quickly. Palace lanterns were lit throughout the Imperial Palace, and the Imperial Guards patrolling with lanterns, along with the palace staff on night duty, began to move about.

Everything proceeded in orderly fashion. The gates of the Eastern Palace remained shut tight. The palace staff on duty passing by the Eastern Palace lowered their heads and exchanged glances, a dread impossible to hide in their eyes.

They seemed to have discovered something, but they did not know whether they ought to speak of it!

The tormented staff chose to hurry away, treating themselves as briefly blind, having seen nothing at all. In the palace, it was best to be deaf and mute.

The Crown Prince wore a long black robe. Led by a trusted servant at his side, he slipped out through the Eastern Palace's rear gate and crept cautiously away.

Zou Xuan watched the backs of the patrolling staff recede, let out a breath of relief, and turned to respectfully invite the Crown Prince onward.

"Your Highness, the palace patrols are exceedingly strict. You could say there is a guard at every step. Please, along the way, Your Highness must stay close to this servant. If we are discovered, His Majesty will certainly not let Your Highness off lightly."

As Zou Xuan spoke, counting on the Crown Prince's inability to see his expression clearly, a look of conflict surfaced on his face. He truly did not want to help the Crown Prince leave the palace under such enormous risk. But he was, after all, under the Crown Prince's thumb. If he refused him today, tomorrow the Crown Prince could send him up to heaven to meet his long-dead parents! A man beneath another's eaves must bow his head. Outsiders saw him as the Head Steward of the Eastern Palace, impressive and commanding in every direction, but in truth, the helplessness of it all was beyond words.

"I know. Hurry." Shen Zhuocong urged him, somewhat impatient.

He had not seen Qiluo for two days already. To think she had been driven out of the palace while with child; the matter had him burning with anxiety.

Qiluo had nothing at all. She was like a frail dodder vine, which must cling to a great tree to survive. If he could not set Qiluo's heart at ease, she would surely live each day in terror, washing her face with tears, utterly haggard.

Just thinking of it made his heart ache, ache as if his heart would shatter.

Zou Xuan lowered his head and strode quickly onward, not caring whether Shen Zhuocong behind him could keep up.

The servant, who walked these paths every day, had a swift pace, and for a moment Shen Zhuocong actually could not keep up. He was also quite unused to walking behind a servant. For a time he fell a stretch behind. Fortunately, Shen Zhuocong was well versed in riding and archery, his physique beyond reproach, and he soon caught up.

Only, during the stretch where he had fallen behind, how many palace staff had glimpsed his figure was uncertain.

But the staff who saw him did not dare say anything. They even had to help cover his tracks, lest the Crown Prince notice and bear them a grudge.

The Crown Prince could be stopped by the Imperial Guards at the palace gate, but he must absolutely not be stopped by them.

By now, Shen Yuyao had already brought her people to the South Palace Gate. Glancing at the bright moon rising in the east, Shen Yuyao asked Meixiang, "Is it time?"

"Replying to Your Highness, there is still a quarter of an hour." Meixiang had eaten too much that evening, and now even her voice was a little soft. She was terrified that when she answered, she might carelessly open her mouth and hiccup.

"A quarter of an hour, hm. I reckon it won't be easy to leave the palace, so let's board first." Shen Yuyao cleared her throat and, with that, went into the carriage. Once she was seated securely, the carriage began to trundle forward.

"Drive carefully. If you jostle the Princess, you'll answer for it with your skin." Meixiang warned the young eunuch, whose hands were trembling, and trotted alongside the slowly moving carriage.

Carriages could not race through the palace.

The young eunuch wore a bitter face. He should have known better than to swap duty shifts with someone today. He had wanted to piece together three days of rest leave to go out of the palace for a stroll. Who would have thought he would run right into Shen Yuyao demanding a carriage and be forced into driving it?

If something went wrong today, he could only pray it would not cost him his little life!

Asking for a carriage this late, even thinking with his toes the young eunuch knew something had to be wrong. Unfortunately, he had no way to avoid it and could only steel himself and push on.

"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid. No one will come to harm today." Shen Yuyao could sense the feelings of the eunuch named Bai Yuan and comforted him through the carriage curtain. "But if you don't drive properly and startle the horse and throw me off, then you may not be able to go back safe and sound."

Bai Yuan was so frightened he flinched, and hurriedly turned his full attention to handling the tall horse, no longer trembling.

Meixiang thought to herself that the Princess did have a way about her, settling that young eunuch down in just a few words. Only, would the Princess of before have had such a knack?

Meixiang could not shake a faint sense of strangeness. It seemed that since returning from the clan banquet the previous day, the Princess had changed, become different from before.

As if she had become a different person.

Before the thought in her heart could take shape, the group had already arrived before the South Palace Gate. The Imperial Guards in armor saw a carriage approach and stepped forward to block it.

"The palace gates are locked. No unauthorized persons may leave the palace without an edict!"

"Are you blind, you dog? The one seated in the carriage is a princess! This is a token of the Central Palace. Open up at once!"

Meixiang took out from her bosom the token Shen Yuyao had gotten from the Empress and tossed it to the Imperial Guard officer blocking the way. The officer caught the token and examined it carefully, confirming from its appearance and weight that it truly was a token of Fengyi Palace.

The combination of Empress and Princess gave him pause, but entry and exit from the Imperial Palace bore on the Emperor's safety. It was impossible to let someone through on the strength of a token and a palace servant's few words.

The Imperial Guard officer Yuan Shilu bent slightly at the waist and performed a military salute, cupping his hands in apology. "I beg the Princess's forgiveness. Even were it Her Majesty the Empress's own pass, the palace gate cannot be opened late at night. Please, Princess, return to the palace and request His Majesty's edict."

He did not dare say anything else, only steering Shen Yuyao toward the Emperor's authority. It was not that he would not give face; it was simply that this palace gate could not be opened at will.

Shen Yuyao pulled out melon seeds from the carriage's hidden compartment, then arranged tea and cakes, propped a soft cushion behind her back, lit the palace lantern and hung it on the hook at the side, and began cracking seeds.

The palace lantern lit, casting a faint candle glow from within the carriage and throwing the girl's slender shadow onto the curtain. One could see the girl sitting upright, but only her upper body and head were visible; that Shen Yuyao was cracking seeds by hand could not be seen.

There truly was only one person inside. Yuan Shilu relaxed somewhat, thinking it was probably some princess being headstrong and wanting to go out for a bit of fun, and did not give it much thought.

"Commander Yuan, the Empress's token cannot make you yield, and you insist on His Majesty's edict instead. Is this open contempt for Fengyi Palace? Our Seventh Princess wishes to leave the palace and meet with General Qu, to plan together for Grand Madam Qu's eightieth birthday a month from now. If you stop the Seventh Princess's carriage today and delay Grand Madam Qu's birthday, you will find it hard to explain yourself when you return, won't you?"

Meixiang congratulated herself on having eaten two big bowls of rice that evening; otherwise she truly would not have had the energy now for a verbal battle with the Imperial Guard.

Yuan Shilu had not expected that the one seated in the carriage was actually the Emperor's most beloved Seventh Princess, and still less that this matter had to do with Grand Madam Qu.

With any other person of power and privilege, he would not have cared a whit about birthdays, but Grand Madam Qu was his maternal great-grandmother.

If one really traced it out, he and Shen Yuyao were cousins through their mothers; their mothers were own sisters.

"This... this general did not know it was the Seventh Princess's honored self. Having disturbed the Seventh Princess, I beg the Seventh Princess's pardon. Only, it is already deep in the night, and there is a curfew outside the palace walls as well. Might the Princess not leave the palace tomorrow instead to discuss the birthday matter at the Qu Residence?"

Tomorrow was not his shift; then he could wash his hands of the matter!

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