Klares Wasser und wunderschöne Berge

Kapitel 89

The princess smiled and said, "Let her sing another song. If I find it pleasant, I will drink this cup."

Yuqing readily agreed and asked Fuyue to sing again. Fuyue nodded and, together with Zhuyun, played the sheng and pa, changing the tune. She sang softly: "In the warm sun, I ride a flower-patterned horse, its reins swaying along the willow-lined path. Fragrant grasses are tinged with green smoke, and fallen catkins drift white in the wind. Whose embroidered carriage stirs up fragrant dust, concealing a celestial guest? The madman with the jade whip is so close yet so far."

The princess listened intently, her eyes brimming with tears, seemingly moved. After listening, she sighed softly, took the cup of wine, and drank it all in one gulp.

The three female Taoist priests exchanged smiles, and Fu Yue personally came over to bow and thank the princess. Yu Qing poured another cup in Zhu Yun's name, urging the princess to drink it again. Zhu Yun, however, switched to the pipa and smiled at the princess, saying, "This time I'll sing. The princess mustn't be biased and only drink theirs, ignoring me."

After speaking, she lightly plucked the strings and sang a verse of "Thinking of My Hometown": "Spring outing, apricot blossoms fill my hair. On the roadside, whose young man is so dashing? I intend to marry him, for life. Even if I am heartlessly abandoned, I will not be ashamed."

I have selected all the lyrics and music that the princess usually listens to. Even the delicate lyrics about love are elegant and subtle. She rarely hears songs that are so straightforward about love. At this moment, her eyes brightened slightly and she smiled, as if she had heard something interesting. Fu Yue came over to offer her a drink, and she did not refuse and drank it all.

She wasn't a big drinker to begin with, and after three cups, her face was flushed. I was a little worried, so I gently called to her and advised her to moderate her intake. But Yuqing smiled and said to me, "Sir, there's no need to worry. This wine is like sugar water. It will warm you up, but it won't make you drunk."

Madam Yang also said, "How strong can the wine that the young ladies are drinking be? But you two gentlemen Liang, the Prince Consort only celebrates his birthday once a year, and you've only had a little bit to drink now. Do you not think highly of the Prince Consort?"

Liang, the military supervisor, and I hurriedly said, "We dare not." Madam Yang then ordered the maids around us to urge us to drink more wine.

I drank a cup myself, but kept glancing at the princess, hoping she wouldn't drink too much. The princess noticed and smiled, waving her hand at me: "It's alright, I'm perfectly sober." Then she turned to Yuqing and ordered, "You all continue singing."

Yuqing agreed and asked Zhuyun to pour wine for the princess. She then went to fetch the pipa and began to play and sing: "A golden parrot in hand, a phoenix embroidered on the chest. Stealing glances at her, I admire her. It would be better to marry her and become a pair of lovebirds."

As she sang, her eyes glanced sideways at the prince consort Li Wei, filled with tender affection, as if she mistook him for the handsome young man described in the song. The princess laughed and asked her, "You are immortal nuns who cultivate the Tao, but I don't know how you cultivate it. Why do you also want to marry your lovers and become a pair of lovebirds?"

Yuqing smiled and replied, "What's wrong with cultivating the Tao? There's a lover in the depths of Peach Garden."

The princess nodded, pointed at Li Wei with her slender hand, and said seriously, "Well, in that case, I will bestow this young man, Ruan Lang, upon you."

Yuqing rose and bowed in gratitude: "Thank you for your grace, Princess."

The princess laughed incessantly, and all the maids in the room joined in the laughter. The old Prefect Liang felt somewhat embarrassed, and having drunk a few cups, he was a little tipsy, so he rose to take his leave. Madam Yang also stood up immediately and said to the princess, "I'm tired too, I'll go back and rest first. You young people have a good time, so please enjoy yourselves a little longer and listen to them sing a few more songs."

After speaking, she gave Li Wei a deep look, as if hinting at something. Li Wei got up to see her off, remaining silent and not uttering a word.

When she walked up to me, Mrs. Yang paused briefly and said to me with feigned concern, "Mr. Liang, you've had a long day. Go back to your room and rest early."

I bowed slightly to thank her, but did not accept her thanks. She raised the corner of her mouth slightly, looked back ahead, and strode away.

After Madam Yang and Supervisor Liang left, Yuqing became even more active, acting like the hostess of the banquet. She frequently ordered the other female Taoist priests and the princess's maids to toast the princess's attendants. The princess's cup was never empty; every time the wine was emptied, Yuqing, Zhuyun, and Fuyue would take turns refilling it for her.

The princess was quite drunk, and I tried to persuade her to go back, but she wouldn't listen. She only kept ordering the female nuns to continue singing. They smiled and obeyed, picking up their instruments again and playing "Willow Branch." They performed the melody with a gentle and tender touch, and the lyrics sung softly by Fu Yue made me secretly startled: "Her silk skirt trembles, her waist slender and golden, her delicate eyebrows are worn and unpainted. Drunk, she bites the new flower petals, and grabs her fairy lover, letting her be as charming as ever."

After listening to the song, the princess, still drunk, rested her head on her hand and remained silent, a hint of a smile on her face. It was unclear whether she was pondering the meaning of the lyrics. Zhang Chengzhao, on the other hand, listened with great interest and even asked Fuyue, "Fairy, you sang very well, but there's something I don't understand: the young lady in the song got drunk and bit off her noodle, which had nothing to do with her lover, so why did she cling to him and act coquettishly?"

Fu Yue laughed, "How can a young lady bite a dough flower stuck to her face? The one who gets drunk and bites the dough flower might not be her..."

If we follow the meaning of her words, we can naturally imagine a sensual scene. This time, her first words are a beautiful image of a woman in her boudoir: "Jade tower, ice mat, mandarin duck brocade, powder melts and fragrant sweat flows onto the mountain pillow. Outside the curtain, the sound of the well pulley, she frowns and smiles in surprise. Willow shade, misty and hazy, her hairpin falls from her lowered temple. I must fight with all my might to enjoy this day to the fullest."

The song described the affair between a man and a woman, which I found extremely jarring and made me feel extremely uncomfortable. I called for the princess again, but Yuqing brought a celadon powder box to the princess's side and said, "Just now the princess said she didn't know how we cultivate the Tao. Now please take a look, the secret of our cultivation is in this box."

The princess looked down, and Yuqing pointed to the inside of the powder box, lowering her voice as she continued to speak to her. I was sitting some distance from the princess's seat, so I couldn't hear Yuqing's words or see the contents of the powder box. The princess, seemingly intoxicated, with hazy eyes, looked at the powder box and smiled faintly, completely unaware that I was changing her.

Then the singer changed to Zhu Yun, and the song was still about love between men and women, but the content could no longer be described by the word "erotic": "When we meet, let's not talk about tears, after the wine, we can talk about our joy again, with phoenix screens and mandarin duck pillows, we sleep in the golden bed. The fragrance of orchids and musk can be smelled in our breaths, and the fine silk can be seen on our skin. At this moment, do we still hate that the heartless one is not there?"

The princess listened, then glanced back at the powder box. Her face was flushed, and she was slightly out of breath, leaning weakly against Yuqing. Yuqing, with his arm around the princess, smiled at the prince consort and raised an eyebrow, saying, "Captain, your wife is tired, aren't you going to help her?"

Li Wei hesitated, but with Fu Yue's repeated encouragement, he still came over and approached the princess. Yu Qing smiled and pushed the princess into his arms. The princess was dazed, looked up at Li Wei, and then lazily lowered her eyes. She did not refuse his embrace.

Normally, if Li Wei gets even slightly close to the princess, she will immediately frown, let alone make physical contact like this. Now it seems that the princess is probably out of her mind.

I immediately stood up and called out to Jiaqingzi, Xiaoyan'er, and Yunguo'er, ordering them to escort the princess back to her chambers to rest. Yuqing, however, waved her hand to prevent them from approaching, and pointed at the princess with a smile, saying, "Look at the princess like this, she certainly can't walk far. The prince consort's chambers are just behind. Why don't we sisters help the princess over there to sit, have some tea, and chat? Once she's more awake, you can take her back."

Without waiting for the maids to reply, she and Li Wei helped the princess up, then called over Zhu Yun and Fu Yue, and together they escorted the princess toward the Prince Consort's Pavilion.

Seeing this, I quickly followed. Yuqing turned around and saw it was me, then smiled leisurely and said, "It's late at night. Isn't it inappropriate for Mr. Liang to follow the princess into the inner chambers like this?"

I paused, then stopped. After they had gone a few steps, I ordered Jiaqingzi and the others to catch up and make sure the princess returned to her chambers as soon as possible. Then I slowly walked back to the hall where the banquet was being held and saw the powder box that Yuqing had shown the princess earlier still on the table. I picked it up and opened it, but what I saw was an embarrassing scene: inside the box were two small, naked porcelain figures, a man and a woman, sitting opposite each other with their legs intertwined around each other's waists, making the act of intercourse.

My heart skipped a beat. My gaze fell on the embroidered ewer next to the powder box, so I picked it up, lifted the lid, and smelled it. The aroma of wine inside was enticing, but it wasn't pure wine; it seemed to be mixed with herbs and medicinal plants. My heart raced, and all the blood in my body seemed to rush to my head. I began to realize that this was a meticulously planned conspiracy against the princess.

I handed the wine jar to Zhang Chengzhao and ordered him to find out what had been added to the wine. Then I hurried toward the Prince Consort's Pavilion.

We hadn't walked far when we encountered several maids returning from the Prince Consort's Pavilion. "The Empress Dowager is in the Prince Consort's Pavilion," they told me. "She said there are maids there too, and the princess doesn't need us to serve her, so she sent us out."

"Where is the princess?" I heard my own hoarse voice ask.

"Those female Taoist priests helped the princess into the prince consort's bedroom," Xiaoyan'er answered timidly.

Without asking any more questions, I swept my sleeves and hurried toward the Prince Consort's Pavilion at an almost running speed.

Upon entering the gates of the Prince Consort's residence, I saw the Empress Dowager sitting regally in the hall, seemingly having been waiting for me. She gave me a cold smile, set down her teacup, and slowly said, "Mr. Liang, I might as well be frank with you today: the Prince Consort is going to consummate his marriage with the Princess tonight. It's their mutual consent, and it's none of your business, nor can you interfere. You'd better go back and rest early, and come back tomorrow to offer your congratulations. I will have the Prince Consort prepare a generous reward for you."

The Lonely City Closes (The Princess Who Fell in Love with the Eunuch) The wine is finished, leaving only two sorrowful brows and a jade-like body.

Chapter word count: 2990 Update time: 09-07-05 10:36

Jade Body

(This chapter contains 2713 words)

My ears were ringing, I couldn't breathe, and I didn't want to hear any more words coming from her parted lips. I turned to face the prince consort's bedroom and began to run as fast as I could.

"Grab him!" Madam Yang chased after him out the door and ordered the servants on both sides.

Immediately, five or six tall and strong servants blocked my way, and two more stepped forward, grabbing me from the left and right.

I turned around angrily and said to Madam Yang, "If the princess is unwilling, you cannot force her!"