Chapter 3

Chapter 3

“Mother, what are you saying? His Majesty is my husband. How can you be so disrespectful?” I stared at her, dumbfounded.

“Silly child. Let me ask you this: how does he treat you?”

“Very well.”

“Liar. Isn’t there a Xiuyi Song in Zhaohua Palace? I hear the Emperor favors her greatly and spends all day with her.”

“I’m not lying. Xiuyi Song is the daughter of the Remonstrance Grandee. She was selected into the palace before the New Year, and all of you knew about it. His Majesty does indeed favor her, but he truly treats Ah Rong well too. Xiuyi Song has never shown me any disrespect either. She is very deferential.”

Lady Hu née Xu gave a derisive laugh. “The daughter of a seventh-rank official thinks she can be mentioned in the same breath as my daughter? Let me tell you, the Hu Family is not what it used to be. If Zhao Ling refuses to behave, it may not be impossible to find you another husband in the future.”

When Lady Hu née Xu said this, I had already been in the palace for two years.

I had just turned sixteen. After all I had seen and heard, I had begun to understand certain things without realizing it.

Mother’s insinuation must have been Father’s meaning as well.

And Father’s meaning was very likely Prince Liang’s meaning.

Zhao Ling refusing to behave? Perhaps.

But I had not lied. It was also true that he treated me very well later.

When I was Empress, the palace maids and inner attendants by my side all coaxed and indulged me. The finest acrobatic troupe in Luoyang was invited into the palace to perform for several months straight.

The crabapple trees on Jingshan Hill in the imperial garden were all cut down and replaced with ten li of peach forest, all because I had casually said to Inner Attendant Cui, “In Master Five Willows’ ‘Peach Blossom Spring,’ he wrote of suddenly coming upon a peach grove, with no other trees mixed in and fallen petals drifting everywhere. Just imagining that scene makes it seem so beautiful. What a pity I have never had the chance to see it.”

The imperial cooks knew I loved sweets, so they made all sorts of pastries and fruits, each one lovely to look at and fragrant with sweetness.

Cai Juan and Bao Li, the maids I had brought into the palace, as well as my wet nurse and the others, served me with attentive care.

Flying kites, boating, playing cuju, poetry, wine, tea, and flowers-everything was lively and bustling.

My days were even freer and more comfortable than they had been back in the Hu Family.

I was fond of play then. By comparison, Zhao Ling’s coldness toward me was temporarily pushed to the back of my mind.

I did once take the initiative to seek him out.

Inner Attendant Cui had newly made a folding fan, and I brought it to Zhao Ling to ask him to inscribe something on it.

Emperor Jingwen, Zhao Ling, had studied under great masters in his youth and wrote a beautiful hand.

When I went to find him in high spirits, Song Youshu was half-reclining in his arms, her cloudlike hair like mist, her slender figure soft and willowy.

She lifted a jade-white arm and fed Zhao Ling grapes.

Beneath her sleeve, her skin was white as snow.

Song Youshu was the daughter of Remonstrance Adviser Song, two years older than me, and quite talented and beautiful.

She knew proper etiquette. When she saw me arrive, she hurriedly rose.

Zhao Ling lifted his eyelids and asked carelessly, “Does the Empress need something?”

I gathered up my skirts and stepped forward, beaming as I explained why I had come. Then I pleaded, “Your Majesty’s calligraphy is worth a thousand gold and hard to obtain. Please write something for me. Once you finish, I will leave at once and absolutely won’t pester you.”

I had long since clearly realized that Zhao Ling did not like me.

Of course I had been sad. I had also tried to change things, doing things to win his favor. Unfortunately, he remained unmoved.

Hu Minrong was not a spoiled, willful person, nor could she learn to force what was not meant to be.

The Empress of Great Wei would enjoy lifelong glory, honor, and every blessing.

If Zhao Ling liked me and was willing to treat me with mutual respect, that would naturally be best.

If he did not like me, that would not change the fact that I was already the Empress.