Qin Bing used to ask the Noble Consort directly for birthday gifts for his younger sister.
Now that he had left the Palace, had silver, and more free time, he knew his younger sister in the Palace had long been used to receiving various jewelry, but preferred the kind of cheap but interesting trinkets Zhang Su sent.
So this time, Qin Bing also decided to give his younger sister something novel.
He began scouting the market last year, then set his sights on a four-month-old green-feathered Parrot.
He bought it along with a young Palace Attendant who cared for birds and brought them both back to the Prince’s Manor, training them for several months.
Today, it was finally ready to be presented!
Seeing his younger sister seemed to dislike the harsh squawking of the bird, Qin Bing enthusiastically lifted the birdcage closer, introducing as he walked, “This is called a Parrot. Their cries are all like this, but what’s fascinating is that they can speak, and they’re beautiful too. Even an ordinary one can sell for dozens of taels of silver. This one cost your Second Brother two hundred taels!”
As Qin Bing spoke, the Parrot in the cage tilted its head to look at him.
Qin Bing stopped.
The Parrot flapped its wings and started calling out again.
“Pretty! Two hundred taels!”
Qingyang was attracted by the cleverness of the bird and examined it carefully.
The Parrot was indeed very beautiful, with a red curved beak, bright green back and wings, and a patch of orange-red on its breast and belly.
Qin Bing: “It’s said that if you take good care of this kind of Parrot, it can live for more than thirty years. Think of the depth of feeling in that.”
Qingyang could sense her Second Brother’s sincerity in giving the gift, but still said, “If it couldn’t talk, I’d accept it. But since it can speak, I don’t want it.”
Qin Bing was stunned.
“Why?”
The day he went to the bird shop, many children circled around the Parrot’s cage, wishing their parents would buy one for them.
Qingyang had him put down the cage, then walked a few steps away before speaking.
“Don’t Second Brother and Third Brother often complain about Father Emperor’s strictness?”
Qin Bing: “…Father Emperor is strict to begin with.”
Qingyang: “Yes, but why do you only dare to complain to me in low voices, at most letting familiar Palace Attendants overhear?”
Qin Bing: “Of course because we’re afraid the words will reach Father Emperor… Oh, are you afraid the Parrot will mimic you, its voice carrying outside?”
That was exactly what Qingyang thought.
Though she never complained about Father Emperor, she spoke countless things daily to her attendants, and who knew if she’d ever say something inappropriate to be overheard by others.
Jie Yu and the rest were loyal and well-versed in Palace rules, never leaking their mistress’s secrets, but would a Parrot understand that?
“I won’t raise it, and Second Brother shouldn’t either.”
Qin Bing found his sister’s reasoning very logical, but after carefully picking out a Parrot and bringing it all the way back, wouldn’t returning it be the same as not giving her a gift at all?
Qingyang smiled.
“But I know Second Brother spent two hundred taels for me, even more than Third Brother, so your thoughtfulness counts as a gift too.”
As soon as Qin Bing heard he’d surpassed Third Brother, he was instantly delighted again.
“Fine, it’ll be this way this year. Next year, Second Brother will get you something even better!”
Qingyang: “Eldest Sister should be entering the Palace soon. Let’s go to the Noble Consort’s place.”
Every time Eldest Sister entered the Palace, she would first go to greet the Noble Consort.
Qin Bing: “Let’s go. Let’s show Mother Consort, Eldest Sister, and your group of little sisters too.”
Such a fine Parrot, it was worth showing off to everyone!
***
In Changchun Palace, Consort Li was accompanying the Noble Consort in conversation.
When she heard the Second Prince and Little Princess were coming together, the Noble Consort sighed.
“It’s the literature lesson this morning. He’s used his sister as an excuse to skip half the day again.”
Consort Li spoke up for the Second Prince.
“It’s just half a day, not much is missed. Sister, don’t nag at Bing anymore. I’m happy for Qingyang. To be so loved by her Second Brother, and receive gifts every year on her birthday.”
The Noble Consort smiled.
“It’s also because Qingyang is clever and lovable, so all her elder brothers and sisters cherish her.”
Amidst laughter, the Noble Consort had already forgiven her son for skipping class, but when she saw her son enter carrying a Parrot, her smile faded for a moment.
Among the three elders in the Palace, Qingyang was accustomed to acting spoiled with all of them.
She quickly ran to nestle beside the Noble Consort, exclaiming happily, “Mother Consort, look, Second Brother gave me such a beautiful bird, but its voice is too ugly. I’m afraid it’ll disturb my reading, so I asked Second Brother to keep it at his manor for me. I’ll visit it when I go to play there.”
Qin Bing cooperated.
“Right, I’ll let a Palace Attendant take care of it for my sister. I won’t look at it myself, lest it mistake me for its master.”
The Noble Consort gave face to the Little Princess and only cautioned her son.
“You’d better keep your word. If the Emperor finds out you’re wasting too much time playing with birds and neglecting your studies, see how he punishes you.”
At seventeen years old and nearly eight feet tall, Qin Bing secretly winked at his sister.
The Noble Consort pushed him.
“Now that you’ve delivered the gift, hurry back. You only scored a D on your literature exam at the start of the month. If it’s still a D next time, not only will the Emperor ground you, but I will too.”
Qin Bing was about to make an excuse when a Palace Attendant came to announce the arrival of the Grand Princess’s family.
Qin Bing pulled his sister to the door to greet Eldest Sister.
Yongkang, twenty-three years old and dressed in elegant attire, had long shed the immaturity of a newlywed after years of managing the household alone, and carried even greater dignity as the Grand Princess.
She held the hand of her four-year-old eldest son, Brother Ming, while the Nursemaid carried her nine-month-old daughter, Xi Er.
“Eldest Sister!”
Qingyang hugged her Eldest Sister’s waist with a smile, her eyes drifting to her little nephew nearby.
Yongkang patted her sister’s head, her gaze falling on the birdcage in her Second Brother’s hand.
“Is this the gift you gave to your sister?”
Qin Bing: “Yes. Have you seen one outside the Palace, Eldest Sister?”
Yongkang smiled.
There were so many official ladies currying favor outside, their gifts were all sorts of things; a mere Parrot was nothing.
She kept one for a while and then grew tired of it.
Brother Ming, however, found it novel and ran over to his Second Uncle to look at the bird.
Qingyang then moved to the Nursemaid’s side, reaching out to poke her little niece’s chubby cheek.
Yongkang watched, recalling the time when her sister was just born.
She remembered it all so clearly, yet in the blink of an eye, nine years had passed.
Her sister was still a child, but she herself was now a mother of two.
“Come, let’s go inside and talk.”
After saluting the two Consorts, Yongkang sat at the seat below the Noble Consort, smiling as she called her sister, who was clinging to her daughter, and gave her a Pear Blossom Hairpin.
Five white jade petals, with a pink pearl the size of a cherry set in gold at the center.
Qingyang: “It’s so beautiful. Thank you, Eldest Sister.”
Yongkang put the hairpin directly on her sister’s head.
“Our Lin’er looks like a Little Fairy. Any hair ornament looks good on her.”
Qingyang: “I’m the Little Fairy, Sister is the Great Fairy, and Xi Er is the Little Little Fairy.”
Qin Bing: “You always say I have thick skin, but I think the three of you are just as shameless.”
The sisters both glared at him.
Once the noble ladies attending the banquet in the Palace had all arrived, the two Princesses led them to the Imperial Garden to view flowers.
Qin Bing, not wanting to return home to study, followed with the birdcage in hand.
Yongkang didn’t want to play with the young girls and took her soon-to-be sister-in-law, Lü Wenrong, to admire the flowers alone.
Twelve-year-old Yuan Jie and nine-year-old Yan Zhenzhen surrounded Qin Bing, teasing the Parrot, while Meng Yao, who usually loved to pester Qin Bing, went off by herself to enjoy the flowers, though she seemed distracted and weary.
Meng Yao was the daughter of the Marquis of Weiyuan, who had been stationed in Liao Zhou these past years, returning to the capital only once every three years to report.
Qingyang had heard Father Emperor praise the Marquis of Weiyuan as a general of great talent like Zhang Jiu, whose skill made it so that even when the northern grassland tribes invaded Liao Zhou, they could not gain an advantage.
Qingyang admired such powerful generals, and so liked the daughters of such families as well.
She walked over and asked Meng Yao, “Why do you seem unhappy?”
Thirteen-year-old Meng Yao looked at the Little Princess, shorter than her by a head, and her eyes turned red.
“My mother is ill. Seriously ill.”
Before the words finished, tears as large as beans fell.
Qingyang hurried to take out a handkerchief.
Qin Bing was in the pavilion, feeling proud that all the girls liked his Parrot.
By chance, he glanced outside and saw that Meng Yao was crying, so he curiously went over and heard her sobbing about her mother’s illness.
Qingyang: “I’ll tell Father Emperor to send an Imperial Physician to take a look.”
Meng Yao shook her head.
“The Emperor already arranged for an Imperial Physician. They visit daily, but the physician says mother’s illness is in her internal organs, so medicine can only lessen the pain. It can’t cure the root…”
She wept bitterly, her shoulders shaking.
Qingyang reached out to hug her, but Qin Bing, seeing his sister’s small frame, stretched his arms and pulled Meng Yao into his own embrace.
He sighed.
“If even the Imperial Physician can’t heal her, then do your best to be good to your mother. Ask if there’s anything she wants to do, and try to fulfill her wishes.”
Meng Yao could no longer speak through her sobs.
Yongkang, with Lü Wenrong, came over with the others, and upon learning the reason, they all comforted Meng Yao.
Yongkang even pushed Qin Bing aside and embraced Meng Yao herself, full of pity.
Because of Meng Yao’s mother, Qingyang lost her mood for celebration and asked Eldest Sister to entertain the guests while she went to Qianyuan Hall.
After several years, the Little Princess no longer needed the Emperor’s permission to enter Qianyuan Hall.
If there were no officials inside, He Yuanjing would let the Little Princess in directly.
If there were, the Little Princess would wait outside sensibly.
“Father Emperor, when did you know the Madam of the Marquis of Weiyuan was seriously ill?”
The Little Princess asked with a troubled expression.
Emperor Xingwu: “She took sick leave with the Noble Consort at the New Year’s Palace banquet and didn’t attend the Lantern Festival either. I had the Noble Consort send someone to check, and that’s how I learned.”
Qingyang: “Mother Consort said the Marquis of Weiyuan and his wife are deeply attached, and he’s never taken a concubine. Now that the Madam is gravely ill, she must want the Marquis to return and be with her.”
Emperor Xingwu looked at his daughter, then at the memorial in his hand.
“Lately the Liao Zhou border has been unstable. Only with the Marquis of Weiyuan guarding there can Father Emperor feel at ease.”
Qingyang: “Didn’t Father Emperor say the Duke of Wei was just as capable? You could send the Duke of Wei to temporarily replace the Marquis of Weiyuan’s post, letting him return to the capital to visit the Madam.”
“If this is the last time the couple will see each other, the Marquis will surely be grateful for Father Emperor’s kindness, and in the future, serve even more loyally. When the people hear of this, they’ll praise Father Emperor’s compassion and virtue as a ruler.”
Emperor Xingwu’s gaze finally left the memorial.
He naturally understood the feelings of the Marquis of Weiyuan and his wife, but as a man, career must come first.
How could he let personal feelings hinder the affairs of the frontier?
But his daughter’s words were reasonable.
For a loyal and capable commander like Meng Ji, the Marquis of Weiyuan, loyalty was just as valuable.
After some thought, Emperor Xingwu teased his daughter.
“The Marquis of Weiyuan may be grateful, but the Duke of Wei is doing well in the capital. If you suddenly send him to the frontier, that’s at least a year of separation. Aren’t you afraid Zhang Su will blame you for separating him from his father?”
Qingyang replied unhappily.
“Men train in martial arts to defend the nation. It’s because of his talent that the Duke of Wei is recommended, and Father Emperor employs him. If Zhang Su holds a grudge against me for that, then he’s lacking in sense and unworthy to be Third Brother’s Companion Reader.”
Emperor Xingwu rubbed the Little Princess’s head hard.
“You’re a good daughter!”