The Chu Garden Literary Gathering had spread throughout the capital, but it wasn't until the Crown Prince of Zhongshan appeared at Chu Garden that the matter reached the depths of the palace.
"What was he doing there?" the Crown Prince asked with a furrowed brow after his bath, "Playing the hero by saving someone?"
The Crown Princess tied his robe sash and said, "Was it the Third Prince who sent him? After all, the Third Prince couldn't appear in person."
The Crown Prince laughed sharply: "What prevents him from appearing? After being humiliated by a young woman, why didn't he rush over in a frenzy? Where has his usual madness before His Majesty and me gone?"
The Crown Princess smiled and said, "You and His Majesty are his father and elder brother, tolerant of him. That young woman is a commoner. To rage against a common woman would lack gentlemanly demeanor, and the people would not be so forgiving."
The Crown Prince sneered, "I thought he truly didn't care about his reputation."
"His position is illegitimate, so of course he needs reputation," the Crown Princess replied, then asked, "Should we have Yanfang go as well?"
"He would never agree," the Crown Prince laughed heartily, "Don't believe me? Ask him yourself."
The Crown Princess chided, "If I ask him, it won't work. He won't even come in to talk with me. It has to be you, Your Highness, who speaks with him."
"He doesn't listen to me either," the Crown Prince said, "This brother of yours fears nothing more than being associated with the imperial family, lest it tarnish his reputation."
This was too harsh. The Crown Princess quickly knelt: "Your Highness, my Xie family takes pride in serving the Crown Prince."
The Crown Prince reached out to pull her up: "Why so nervous? I wasn't referring to your Xie family, I meant Yanfang."
"But Yanfang is from the Xie family," the Crown Princess said, confused.
The Crown Prince smiled: "You don't understand. I've known what kind of person he is from the very beginning. Anyway, don't concern yourself with this matter, just enjoy the show—" At this point, he turned to look at the eunuch standing nearby.
"Has His Majesty learned of this?"
The eunuch replied, "The message has been delivered. They say His Majesty paid no attention, only snorted coldly and said, 'Chu Ling's daughter.'"
The Crown Prince also snorted coldly: "Yes, Chu Ling's daughter. Now she's arrogant and domineering, probably unaware her father is dying?" Then he asked, "What was reported from Yunzhong Commandery a few days ago?"
"Chu Ling's deputy general has come to the capital," the eunuch said, "Insisting on having an audience with His Majesty to present a memorial. They couldn't stop him in Yunzhong Commandery, so they had to let him come."
"Let him come then," the Crown Prince said, "Before dying, he must be seeking something. He himself may not care, but he has children to consider."
The eunuch smiled: "Then Your Highness, in your benevolence, could grant his request, reprimand the Third Prince, and pardon Chu Ling's daughter for her insolence and offense."
The Crown Prince laughed: "Not enough, not enough. I'll even make Chu Ling's daughter an honored guest at the Third Prince's literary gathering. Doesn't she want to compete with men? I'll let her compete to her heart's content and become famous throughout the land."
The Third Prince would be utterly disgraced.
Both the Crown Prince and the eunuch laughed heartily, while the Crown Princess smiled faintly nearby.
"It's late, Your Highness should rest early," she said softly, taking advantage of his good mood.
The Crown Prince waved his hand: "On such a fine night, summon people. I'll have a proper competition with them."
The eunuch acknowledged the order. The Crown Princess could only bow her head in farewell. Soon, laughter and music could be heard from the main hall ahead, mingled with men's cheers and women's delicate laughter.
"Madam," a palace maid entered and whispered, "Those women from the Yang and Qi families are truly shameless, attending to His Highness again."Naturally, the Eastern Palace was not home to the Crown Princess alone. There were countless beauties, and although the Imperial Uncle from the Yang Family failed to secure the position of Crown Princess for one of their own, they still managed to send several beauties into the palace.
These beauties paid no heed to propriety, freely indulging the Crown Prince in amusement—sometimes sharing his chambers in groups, other times performing songs and dances to enliven his banquets.
Such things were utterly beyond the Crown Princess's capabilities, so for many years, she had mostly spent her nights alone in her empty chambers.
"It doesn't matter," the Crown Princess said as she removed her hairpins before the mirror. "Third Brother has assured me that no matter how those women scheme or how powerful their families may be, as long as I uphold wifely virtue, no one can take my position as Crown Princess."
Moreover, Xie Yanfang repeatedly told her she didn't need to seek benefits for her family either.
"You only need to devote yourself wholeheartedly to the Crown Prince—that is enough."
"Securing advantages for the family is the responsibility of us men."
She smiled at her maid, calling the servant who had accompanied her since childhood and followed her into the palace by her pet name.
"You see, compared to those women, being Crown Princess is so much easier and more relaxed for me."
Easier and more relaxed? The maid looked at the woman sitting alone in the lavish palace chambers. With the ornate hairpins removed and the exquisite robes taken off, her pure features were revealed. The young mistress wasn't even thirty yet—
This lifetime was still so long, and it seemed it would continue like this forever.
Outside the lonely palace chambers came the sound of light, hurried footsteps, accompanied by the hushed exclamations of palace maids and eunuchs: "Little Highness." "Little Highness, slow down."
Hearing this, the maid was overjoyed. The Crown Princess had already risen and was hurriedly moving to welcome the visitor.
"Ah Yu—" she called out.
A small dark shadow rushed through the palace doors and threw itself into the Crown Princess's arms, a childish voice ringing clear and bright: "Mother—"
The Crown Princess lifted the shadow, smiling as she examined him. This was a boy of five or six, with jet-black hair, luminous fair skin, and facial features nearly identical to the Crown Princess's own. Huddled small and adorable in her arms.
This was her firstborn son with the Crown Prince, the Little Highness whom the Emperor had personally named Yu'er. He was now studying, with all his tutors selected by the Emperor himself.
"After all, he can't spend all his time lifting cauldrons like his father," the Emperor had said at the time.
Since beginning his studies, Yu'er often stayed at the Emperor's quarters, rarely returning to the Eastern Palace.
The Crown Princess hadn't seen him for several days either. Now, seeing her son so late at night, she cherished him like a precious treasure.
"Ah Yu, why have you come?" she asked, then anxiously looked outside. "Don't tell me you sneaked back on your own."
Ah Yu laughed, wrapping his arms around his mother's neck: "No, the tutors said I did well in my lessons. Grandfather Emperor granted me a day off tomorrow, so I came back now. This way, I get an extra day of rest."
The Crown Princess was amused by her son's cleverness, pressing her cheek against his soft one: "Ah Yu is truly remarkable to earn His Majesty's praise."
The child nodded proudly: "Grandfather Emperor likes me very much." He then leaned closer to his mother and lowered his voice, "Auntie Zhao doesn't like me and tried to make Grandfather Emperor dislike me too, but Grandfather pays her no mind."
The Crown Princess quickly signaled her son to speak softer: "You mustn't speak carelessly in front of His Majesty."
"I know," the child said, tightening his embrace. "I never speak carelessly—except when I'm with Mother."
Mother was the safest place in all the world. The Crown Princess's heart softened with a smile as she sat down holding her son. Mother and son talked late into the night, reluctant to sleep.
"Mother, didn't you say Third Uncle was coming? When can I see him?" Xiao Yu asked.Third Uncle Xie Yanfang was someone Mother often spoke of—brilliant, handsome, and capable of anything. Though they had never met, he had become the child’s most familiar and admired figure.
The Crown Princess held her son and laughed, "He’s coming soon. You must study hard. When Third Uncle comes to see you, he’s sure to test you. Once he does, he’ll discover our Yu’er is just as clever as he is—what a surprise that will be!"
Yu’er giggled, "I’ll definitely give Third Uncle a scare! Two scares! Three scares!"
A palace maid chuckled as she extinguished the surrounding lamps, "The moment you see Little Highness, my lady, you just can’t stop talking. What’s the hurry? There’s always tomorrow."
The Crown Princess smiled, pinching her son’s cheek gently, "A-Yu and I could talk every day and never run out of things to say."
A-Yu giggled, lying on the bed and holding his mother’s hand, "Mother, tell me a story tonight—one so long it never ends."
The Crown Princess agreed softly, leaning close to her son and beginning a story in a hushed, tender voice.
The palace maid said no more, leaving only a single night lamp before withdrawing. Though the light was dim, the opulent palace no longer felt lonely.
With mother and child keeping each other company, and loved ones close at hand, even difficult days became bearable.
……
……
Far away, deep in the mountains of the Border Commandery under the cover of night, there were no splendid palaces or glittering lights—only pitch darkness, occasionally pierced by the eerie cries of night birds.
Beyond layers of dense forests and rugged peaks, a wooden cabin stood perched on a cliff. Behind its tightly shut door, a faint, yellowish light glimmered.
The lamplight flickered as a girl seemed to emerge from the shadows, pounding urgently on the door.
"Aunt, Aunt," she cried anxiously, "Zhong Changrong has gone to the capital!"
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