Emperor Xingwu was a man of great ambition, not given to indulgence in women.
From his youth to the time he ascended the throne, he had only ever taken one official wife and two concubines.
When he married into the Noble Consort’s family, the Empress had already passed away.
The Noble Consort could have been installed directly as the new empress, but because the Pure and Filial Empress had endured hardship alongside Emperor Xingwu for years and died saving the Grand Empress Dowager, he carried a deep sense of guilt toward his late wife.
He believed that no woman he met afterward should surpass her.
So even though the Noble Consort now wielded the power of the empress, her status had reached its limit.
With the Noble Consort in charge of palace affairs, Consort Li had little to worry about and spent most of her time doting on her young daughter.
That day, Consort Li was having her monthly period and wasn’t feeling well, so she arranged for the nursemaid and palace attendants to take her daughter to play in the Imperial Garden.
Qingyang didn’t really like the Imperial Garden anymore, at least not wandering there alone.
After listlessly chasing some butterflies she couldn’t catch in the familiar flowerbeds, she turned her gaze toward the Eastern Palace.
She still wanted to go to Chongwen Pavilion to see her Third Brother.
Qingyang had often been to the Eastern Palace and knew the way.
She walked ahead on her own.
The nursemaid and the chief eunuch assigned to care for the little princess, Jie Yu, followed closely behind.
But when they saw the princess stepping out through the east gate of the garden and heading toward the Eastern Palace, the nursemaid hurried in front of her and squatted down to ask, “Where does the princess want to go play?”
Qingyang quickly promised, “I’m going to Chongwen Pavilion, just to look from outside. I won’t disturb the boys while they’re studying.”
Consort Li herself never dared let the princess go there, so the nursemaid certainly couldn’t allow it.
She repeated Consort Li’s reasoning to try and dissuade her.
Qingyang was willing to listen to her mother, but she had quite the temper with the nursemaid.
She put on the stern face she’d seen from Eldest Sister or Second Brother when they were scolding someone and glared at the nursemaid with her big, clear black eyes.
“Stand aside.”
Serving a ruler was like serving a tiger, and serving the princes and princesses was like tending tiger cubs.
It was no easy job; one wrong move could lead to punishment.
The nursemaid panicked a little.
She stepped out of the way while looking over at Jie Yu.
Jie Yu was eighteen this year.
When the princess was born three years ago, Emperor Xingwu had personally chosen him from a line of fourteen- and fifteen-year-old eunuchs.
According to custom, new eunuchs and maids serving royalty would be given new names by their masters.
But Jie Yu’s original name sounded so elegant and fitting for someone serving a favored little princess that Emperor Xingwu made a special exception and let him keep it.
He came from a scholarly family falsely imprisoned during the previous dynasty.
With finely shaped brows and intelligent eyes, Jie Yu had a talent for poetry and literature and was excellent at coaxing the little princess.
Passing the nursemaid, Jie Yu walked alongside the little princess and gently suggested, “Let us go with the princess. If the guards at Chongwen Pavilion are strict and can’t let you in, please don’t make things hard for them, alright?”
His voice was pleasant, and his tone easy to accept.
Qingyang agreed.
She had never been to Chongwen Pavilion or the Martial Practice Hall before.
Even if she couldn’t go inside, just seeing the place from outside would be nice.
The palace path leading to Chongwen Pavilion was long, very long.
Both Jie Yu and the nursemaid asked if they could carry the little princess, but Qingyang kept walking ahead cheerfully.
She didn’t mind the distance or the sun.
Finally, they arrived at the alley near Chongwen Pavilion.
Qingyang poked her head out, and sure enough, she spotted two imposing, saber-bearing palace guards standing at attention.
The palace was full of guards, all of whom had to bow when they saw a prince or princess.
Qingyang wasn’t afraid at all, and walked forward openly, just as she would in the Imperial Garden.
“Greetings, Your Highness,” the two guards saluted in unison.
At three or four years old, children were already great imitators.
Qingyang had learned plenty about how princes and princesses should behave from her eldest sister and three older brothers.
She stood very straight and spoke clearly: “You may rise. I’d like to go in and take a look. I won’t disturb my brothers while they study, may I?”
The two guards exchanged glances, looking hesitant.
Their orders were to guard Chongwen Pavilion, watching for outside threats or sneaky eunuchs and maids who might try to steal the precious items inside.
At most, they had to keep mischievous princes from sneaking out to play.
There had never been any specific rule about whether a young princess could go in.
It was precisely because no such rule existed that they were caught in a dilemma.
If they didn’t let her in, they might anger the little princess.
If they did, and she caused trouble inside, they’d be at fault.
Qingyang took their hesitation as refusal.
Thinking of what her mother had said, maybe Father really did enforce strict rules?
“Forget it, I’ll go play somewhere else. Where’s the Martial Practice Hall?”
The two guards breathed a sigh of relief and pointed her toward the main entrance ahead.
The Martial Practice Hall was currently empty; the little princess was free to take a look.
Qingyang had just started walking that way when she suddenly noticed two figures turning the corner from the south end of the path she had come down.
The man in front wore a deep blue dragon-patterned robe, tall and broad-shouldered, with sword-like brows and star-bright eyes, it was her Uncle Wang, Prince Yong.
On the day of the Dragon Boat Palace Banquet, Uncle Wang had played with her for a while, so Qingyang remembered him clearly.
But it had been a long time since they’d last met. Seeing him now, Qingyang felt a little shy and didn’t run over like she would to her older brothers.
Prince Yong spotted her from afar and smiled, quickening his steps.
As he reached her, he bent down and lifted his little niece high into the air, gently tapping her soft cheek.
His eyes were full of affection as he asked, “Lin’er, what are you doing all the way over here?”
Qingyang glanced at the vermilion doors of Chongwen Pavilion, slightly ajar, and answered truthfully, “I wanted to see how Third Brother and the others study.”
Prince Yong said, “That’s no problem. Second Uncle will take you in.”
Then, without so much as a glance at the two bowing guards, he held his niece in one arm, pushed open the double doors with the other, and strode boldly inside.
Leaning on her uncle’s shoulder, Qingyang looked back and saw the two tall guards who had blocked her earlier still bowing respectfully with their heads down.
She blinked and turned her eyes to Prince Yong’s smiling profile.
“Uncle Wang, why didn’t they stop you?”
Prince Yong was slightly surprised, then casually explained, “Your father isn’t here, so it’s your uncle’s job to help him check whether your brothers are studying properly.”
He was the emperor’s full younger brother.
Because of proper boundaries between men and women, he didn’t go to the Western Palace or the Imperial Garden.
But visiting the Eastern Palace to check on his nephews, there was no need to avoid that.
Qingyang’s eyes lit up.
“Then next time I’ll say that too, will they let me in if I say I’m checking on my brothers for Father?”
Prince Yong burst into hearty laughter.
His laugh carried all the way into the second courtyard and reached the three-classroom hall, where First Prince Qin Hong was in the middle of a lecture.
His eye twitched.
Qin Hong glanced toward the other desk, where his study companion Qin Liang sat, Prince Yong’s son and his own cousin, born just two months after him.
Qin Liang gave a small shake of his head, as if disapproving of his father’s lack of decorum.
It only made him look all the more cultured and refined.
Qin Hong quickly looked back at the teacher, but his mind had already drifted.
His father held him to strict standards, while his uncle treated him with affection and indulgence, so indulgent that he’d even made sure Qin Liang’s scores never surpassed his.
Yet the emperor saw right through Qin Liang’s act and mistakenly assumed it was Qin Hong who couldn’t stand being outdone by his cousin.
Qin Hong didn’t like Qin Liang. And because of that, he didn’t like Prince Yong either.
His uncle always showed up unexpectedly, what was he laughing about this time?