Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The only contact I had ever had with the Crown Prince was probably on the day the Old Madam of the Duke’s Mansion celebrated her birthday. The Crown Prince had asked me two questions and rewarded me with quite a bit of silver.

That was likely why the Second Young Lady had asked for me to be brought to her side, then used various means to show me favor, hoping to win my loyalty in return.

Before the Empress Dowager summoned me to the palace, the Second Young Lady and Madam also called me over for a talk. They even prepared clothes and jewelry for me, putting on a very proper show of courtesy without revealing the slightest dissatisfaction.

But just because I had exchanged a few words with the Crown Prince once, was it really worth the Empress Dowager and the Duke’s Mansion going to such lengths to send me to the Eastern Palace as the Crown Prince’s concubine?

Perhaps to the Empress Dowager, this did not count as going to any lengths at all. She merely had to give a casual order, and the servants below would handle everything properly.

Before I could think it through, we had already arrived at the Eastern Palace. The people sent by the Empress Dowager had some standing, and a young eunuch was waiting at the side gate.

I did not get out of the sedan. I was carried straight into a small courtyard.

“Miss, your courtyard is here. This servant will help you down.”

I carefully followed the rules I had learned in the palace, lowering my head, placing my hand on the maid’s arm, and entering the room with small, quiet steps. I did not dare ask too many questions, much less look around.

I was the only one living in this courtyard, but that did not mean the courtyard belonged to me. It was only because I was the Crown Prince’s sole concubine. The servants working in the courtyard were not under my command either.

Two maids were assigned to serve me personally. The older one was called Chuntao, and the younger one Chunxing.

“Sister Chuntao, I have only just arrived at the Eastern Palace and do not know the rules. Should I go pay my respects to His Highness the Crown Prince today?” A concubine’s status was not all that different from a servant’s. I did not dare put on the airs of a mistress in front of palace maids.

“Miss, you flatter this servant too much. His Highness is busy. If there are no orders, it would be best not to disturb him.”

“Then may I have a look around the courtyard?”

“Of course. But there are many people in the palace. If there is nothing urgent, it would be best for you not to leave this small courtyard.”

The courtyard assigned to me was about the same size as the Second Young Lady’s. There was a main room and side rooms to the east and west. I lived in the main room, and some flowers and plants had been planted in the courtyard.

“If I wanted to make some food, where should I go?” I had noticed there was no small kitchen in the courtyard.

“There is a kitchen in the inner court. If you have any instructions, Miss, just have the servants handle it. Why would you need to do it yourself? Forgive this servant for speaking bluntly, but His Highness has no shortage of excellent cooks around him. Putting effort into such things may well be useless. It would be better to embroider handkerchiefs or sachets to show a young lady’s affection.”

“I understand. Let us go back first.”

I had already become the Crown Prince’s concubine. If the Crown Prince did not like me, then I could only remain trapped in this narrow courtyard. I would have had more freedom as a maid at the Duke’s Mansion.

I needed the Crown Prince’s favor, and I had to fight for it. But I could not be too eager. What was delivered to one’s doorstep was never cherished.

Fortunately, I was currently the only concubine in the Eastern Palace. The Crown Prince was still so young. Surely, within a few days, he would come to me. When the time came, I could take things slowly.

The Crown Prince was not very old. Even if he matured early, he must still have some of a young man’s passion. As long as I could move his heart and make him devote a little thought to me, even if he only liked me as one might like an object, that would be enough.

In another ten or twenty years, there would be many women at the Crown Prince’s side. But with the advantage of having served him earliest and with that little bit of youthful affection, I would still have some dignity and could ensure myself a lifetime of peace.

That was probably the best ending I could hope for. I did not expect love in this era, nor did I wish to live in respectful harmony with a husband. I was not even especially determined to have children, though a child would make my position more secure.

My thinking was the same as before: live one day at a time. I would not consider the next generation, nor what came after my death.

However, two months passed, and the Crown Prince seemed to have forgotten that he had a concubine at all. I did not see him even once.

“Miss, the people in the kitchen said there is less ice now, and one piece costs two mace of silver. I could only buy this much.”

When I first arrived, the servants in the kitchen had all tried to curry favor with me. Never mind a piece of ice; they would have sent over delicacies from land and sea if I had asked.

Later, when they saw that I did not have the Crown Prince’s favor, they began to brush me off. Whatever I wanted, I had to spend my own money to buy. Later still, even the prices went up.

“It’s all right. I don’t need that much anymore. Put it there, and ask Chuntao to come here.”

When Chuntao came in, I showed her the designs for a few pieces of jewelry. “This silk flower should be in pale lotus-purple. For this jade hairpin, remember to use white jade. It does not have to be fine and lustrous, but it must be clear and white. Then use pearls to make a pearl flower.”

“Also, buy me a bolt of goose-yellow satin, and some small pieces of white fur to use as trim.”

The first time I met the Crown Prince, I had been wearing a goose-yellow cloth blouse and a pale lotus-purple silk flower. He might not remember, but being fully prepared certainly would not hurt.

“Miss, the silk flower, scraps of fur, and satin are one thing, but a white jade hairpin and pearls are costly items. No matter how you count it, they will cost more than twenty taels of silver. We have already spent quite a bit these past days. If this does not work, then in the future…”

“Go. If this does not work, I am afraid we will have no future to speak of.”

The Crown Prince had not come to see me, likely because he was displeased with the Empress Dowager’s arrangement. Otherwise, even if only out of respect for the Empress Dowager, he would have treated me a little better.

The start had been unfavorable, but it was not entirely a bad thing.

When the Crown Prince discovered that the “spy sent by the Empress Dowager” he imagined was, in truth, wholeheartedly in love with him and had racked her brains only to make him happy, would he feel even the slightest bit of guilt?

That slight bit of guilt was exactly what I wanted.