Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Once war broke out, the common people were the ones who suffered. Even though reports of victory kept arriving from our army, there were still casualties. Those fallen soldiers had all been someone’s son, someone’s husband, someone’s father. Behind every single man was an entire family, now separated forever between heaven and earth, left with nothing but grief. Yet when the reports were presented, they were nothing more than cold, hard numbers in His Majesty’s memorials.

Three years. Over these three years, the rear palace had become much more frugal as well. The money saved was only a drop in the bucket compared with the enormous military expenses, but at least in name, we had made our contribution.

I had thought His Majesty would press on in one burst and destroy the Yue Kingdom entirely. To my surprise, after taking half of the Yue Kingdom’s territory, His Majesty suddenly accepted their plea for peace.

I did not quite understand it. It was Tun’er who cleared up my confusion. He said that although we had won many victories, when two armies clashed, casualties were inevitable. If the fighting continued and the people had no chance to rest and recover, it would likely turn into a bitter campaign. Besides, what if some third party took advantage of the situation?

The army’s return to court should have been a joyous occasion. Unexpectedly, along with it came a marriage-alliance princess sent by the Yue Kingdom. I heard this princess possessed beauty that could topple cities and kingdoms. I dismissed such rumors entirely. Reputations were all exaggerated, weren’t they?

Yet at the banquet, only after seeing her did I realize that sometimes rumors were true. I had thought Lady Xue’s looks were already of the highest order, but the Princess of Yue was exceptionally beautiful as well. The two of them could be said to be evenly matched.

No wonder His Majesty’s eyes lit up the moment he saw her. Before this, he had clearly told me that granting her the rank of Zhaoyi and letting her live out her days in comfort would be enough. Now, with one grand wave of his hand, he directly made her a consort.

Fine. He was the emperor. As long as he was happy. In any case, no matter how much he favored her, she was still only a marriage-alliance princess. If this beauty had been born on someone else, perhaps I would have worried. But since it belonged to the Princess of Yue, I was not particularly concerned. After all, she was not one of us.

Consort He truly was favored. His Majesty seemed utterly enchanted by her. She was different from the other consorts and concubines in the palace, with an arrogant temperament through and through. Even when facing me, the Empress, she carried a hint of disdain. I guessed it was because she saw herself as a princess of noble birth. But she did not stop to think that this was not her Yue Kingdom.

Because of her behavior, complaints spread throughout the rear palace. These past few years, because of the war, there had been no new selections, and no new faces had entered the palace. I had managed the old residents quite smoothly. Now, when such a thorny figure finally appeared, she really did give me a headache.

Still, considering that His Majesty currently favored her, I merely told the consorts and concubines to avoid her sharp edge and endure it for the time being. In any case, they were all minor matters, nothing that could be brought out into the open. If trouble truly erupted, one could guess with eyes closed whom His Majesty would protect. And I valued my own reputation. I would not argue with His Majesty over these trifles. There was no point.

I simply had not expected the trouble to reach Lady Xue. Consort He snatched away some fabric Lady Xue had taken a fancy to. With Lady Xue’s temperament, she was usually the one others gave way to. Apart from His Majesty, no one could make her lower her head, so naturally she clashed with Consort He.

Thus, the matter was brought before me. Two great beauties were indeed pleasing to the eye, but when they started quarreling, my head ached just the same. Both were women at the very tip of His Majesty’s heart, one his new favorite and one his old love. What could I do? Of course, I said the proper polite words while ordering someone to hurry and invite His Majesty over. His own women could be dealt with by him.

Otherwise, who knew whether he might resent me for it in the future?

Only, I had not expected that although His Majesty did come after I invited him, the quarrel remained just as fierce. It seemed my hall would not be quiet today. I truly wanted to send them out to find some other place to argue.

I also realized that His Majesty’s fondness for Consort He seemed no less than what he felt for Lady Xue. Otherwise, given his usual temperament, he would have protected Lady Xue without question. The discovery left me somewhat displeased. Leaving aside the fact that Consort He looked like anything but a dutiful, well-behaved woman, I had spent all these years around Lady Xue and had developed some affection for her, so naturally I felt sorry for her.

I wanted to smooth things over, but unfortunately, neither of them gave me any chance to get a word in. In the end, what rescued me was the news that the Fifth Princess had fallen ill again.

The Fifth Princess was Consort Bai’s daughter. Back when the Third Princess had not been placed in her care, and now that she had given birth to the Fifth Princess, His Majesty had at least granted her some face and promoted her rank. However, because of the matter with the Third Princess, and because she had always had a good relationship with Jieyu Wen, the two of them still lived in the same palace.

Only, compared to the Third Princess, the Fifth Princess was in rather poor health. The direct cause was probably that she had been born prematurely; the Imperial Physician said she had been weak in the womb. Still, with the Fourth Prince as a precedent, it seemed as though the Fifth Princess should not have any major problems either.

But once she was actually being raised, we discovered that the Fifth Princess truly did suffer a small illness every three days and a serious one every five. It was exhausting. Because of this child, Consort Bai had grown much more haggard. Not everyone was like Lady Xue, who could look heartbreakingly beautiful even while ill. As a result, His Majesty gradually cooled toward Consort Bai.

So I used that as my excuse to extricate myself, leaving His Majesty with Lady Xue and Consort He. Once I was away from them, even the air outside felt fresher.

When I arrived at Consort Bai’s place, I found that the Fifth Princess had already fallen asleep. Consort Bai and Jieyu Wen were teaching the Third Princess embroidery. I touched the Fifth Princess’s forehead and found that her temperature was not high; it was not nearly as serious as the palace maid had made it sound.

It was Consort Bai who cleared up my confusion. She said they had heard that Lady Xue and Consort He had started making a scene at my place, and now that His Majesty had gone over as well, they had come up with this pretext to help me escape.

“You two are far too bold,” I said.

“Ah Xing had a fever last night and fussed the whole night through. She has only just gotten a little better now, so it can’t exactly be called making mischief,” Consort Bai said.

“It has been hard on you both.”

Consort Bai smiled gently. “How can this be called hard? This concubine only hopes Ah Xing can suffer a little less. Fortunately, Ah Wan was healthy and strong when she was little.”

I looked at the Third Princess sitting quietly to the side, embroidering, and stroked her head. She looked up and called me “Empress Mother,” then showed me the green bamboo she was embroidering. It was quite good. I thought of the Second Princess, who was the same age as her. Wanyi Xiang was clearly excellent at embroidery, yet the Second Princess did not seem to have inherited even the slightest bit of that talent. Instead, she liked playing with swords and spears, and spent every day pestering the Second Prince and Third Prince to teach her martial arts. If Tun’er were not older, and also the Crown Prince, busy all day long, I feared that little girl would have latched onto him too.

“Ah Wan is so young, yet your embroidery is already this good.”

The Third Princess smiled shyly. “If Empress Mother likes it, then once Ah Wan finishes it, I’ll give it to Empress Mother.”

“Good. What a sweet girl.” Who would not love such an obedient, soft little girl? As I chatted with Consort Bai and the others, I cuddled and ruffled the little girl. Ever since Tun’er had grown older, he had started putting on the Crown Prince’s airs, all proper and dignified. Unless he was acting spoiled with me, I could no longer get my hands on him like this.

As for the rest, the Second Prince and Third Prince were grown too. Although the Fourth Prince had been healthy these past few years and had not had any major problems, whenever I thought of how ill he had been as a child, I was afraid that if something happened to him again while he was in my hands, what would I do then? The Second Princess was familiar with me, true, but the moment you let go of her, she was gone. I simply could not catch that little girl. Only the Third Princess was at just the right age, and so well behaved besides.