J'ai passé mon bras autour de la taille fine de l'homme fort

Chapitre 52

The Emperor nodded in approval after reading it. Sun Kejiu then handed the brush to Pei Heng, who pondered for a moment before finishing it in one stroke.

The princess stood guard by his side, watching as she recited the last couplet: "No one brings the lanterns and brocade, in the red-powdered palace I remember the treacherous minister."

The Lonely City Closes (The Princess Who Fell in Love with a Eunuch) The Pearl Pavilion is deserted, the summer day is long. 42. The Imperial Grandson

Chapter word count: 2666 Update time: 08-08-21 16:16

42. Imperial grandson

The princess's voice wasn't loud, but it was clear enough for those around her to hear. A subtle silence followed. The smiles on the lips of those admiring the poem remained, but no one spoke for the time being. Each person, intentionally or unintentionally, openly or covertly, glanced at Consort Zhang, who sat beside the Emperor.

Consort Zhang must have heard Pei Heng's poem. In the past, she might have reprimanded the eunuch who offended her, or perhaps signaled her attendants to punish him. But now, faced with this unprecedented, open mockery, she didn't make a move against Pei Heng. After giving him a cold glance, she began to stare intently at the Emperor, using silence to convey her grievances and requests.

And now, the Emperor didn't even look at her. Perhaps he did, but only with the eyes of his mind. He was neither angry nor upset, calm and composed, his gaze slowly shifting from the poem to Pei Heng's face. His complexion seemed to be illuminated by the boy's clear black and white eyes, and finally, the corners of his lips turned up, revealing a warm smile like the sun.

“A fine poem,” he said.

He genuinely accepted Pei Heng's poem with a smile, even stopping Pei Xiang after he had only uttered a few words of apology on behalf of his son. He then ordered someone to bring gifts to reward Pei Heng and Sun Kejiu. As a result, the courtiers who had been secretly worried about Pei Heng all breathed a sigh of relief, and the emperor smiled broadly. The princess was also very happy and personally laid out paper to ask Pei Heng to write another spring couplet.

Everyone, including the Emperor, openly promoted a harmonious atmosphere, seemingly ignoring Consort Zhang completely. She sat there for a moment, her face ashen, before finally sweeping away the cups and goblets in front of her with her sleeve to interrupt the laughter in the hall. Then, under everyone's watchful eyes, she stood up, and without offering a bow or taking her leave, walked indifferently out of the hall.

The Emperor didn't say anything about it, but simply had someone clean up the broken pieces of the cups and saucers. He then smiled at Pei Heng, who was holding a pen and looking at him intently, and gently instructed, "Continue writing."

Pei Heng's poem quickly spread outside the palace, gaining considerable praise from scholars and officials. In the capital, some even composed a folk song about it, which soon reached the palace. Given the Emperor's public expression of leniency towards the poem, the palace women had no qualms, and for a time, the palace was filled with the song, "No one presents lanterns and brocade anymore; in the red-powdered palace, one remembers the treacherous minister."

In the end, it was the Empress who forbade the song. "Wen Yanbo's governance has many commendable aspects, and I heard that the lantern brocade was presented to the Consort on his own initiative, without his knowledge. These two lines of poetry are excessive." She later said that from then on, no one in the palace was allowed to sing this song.

Consort Zhang did not reciprocate her kindness and continued to offend the Empress from time to time. After the Lantern Brocade incident, she became even more anxious and insecure in the face of the Emperor's unpredictable attitude.

Perhaps out of fear of falling out of favor, as early as the second year of the Huangyou reign, she asked the current emperor to take her eighth sister as a concubine and bestow upon her the title of Lady of Qinghe County. However, this sister was taciturn and not very favored. Therefore, in the fourth year of the Huangyou reign, she sent her adopted daughter, Miss Zhou, who had just reached the age of marriage, to the current emperor.

Miss Zhou was simple and kind, and had been raised by the Emperor himself, so she was quite favored by him and was granted the title of Lady of Anding County. However, Consort Zhang's emotions became extremely unstable afterward. If the Emperor did not see Miss Zhou for several days, she would suggest that he visit her more often. But once the Emperor actually favored her, she would often fly into a rage for no reason, frequently beating and scolding the servants, and even using excuses to berate Miss Zhou.

This constant state of worry and anxiety gradually destroyed her health. At just over thirty, she was already plagued by numerous ailments and looked quite haggard.

Two years later, the reign title was changed to "Zhihe". Every year on the seventh day of the first lunar month, the Empress's adopted daughter, Lady Gao of Jingzhao County, would bring her and the children of the Thirteen Militia to the palace to visit the Empress. This year was no exception. They entered the palace early in the morning and spent the day with the Empress.

Miss Gao has two sons and two daughters. The two sons were named Zhongzhen and Zhongming by the Emperor. One is seven years old and the other is five years old. They are extremely cute, and their beauty surpasses that of the Thirteenth Regiment. The princess likes them very much. Every time they enter the palace, the princess will play with them for a long time.

The two children bore a striking resemblance, but their personalities were drastically different. Whenever they entered the palace, the slightly younger Zhongming would obediently stay by the Empress's side, or let the ladies-in-waiting vie to hold him, never crying or fussing, and remaining very quiet. Zhongzhen, on the other hand, was much more lively, always searching for things to play with, never still for a moment, and vehemently disliked being held. This had been true since he had just learned to walk; if a lady-in-waiting tried to hold him, no matter who it was, he would struggle to get down and insist on walking on his own.

This dish of candied fruit once again revealed different aspects of their personalities.

The Empress bestowed upon each of them a dish of candied fruit in the palace, including dried pears, jujubes, peach rings, black plums, quince, dried pears, and dried crabapples, along with several pieces of Sichuan lactose, lion's mane candy, and honeydew melon. Upon seeing this, the princess deliberately smiled and reached out to Zhongming, who was in the Empress's arms, saying, "Zhongming, would you like to give your fruit to your aunt?"

Zhongming was just about to put a black plum in his mouth when he saw the princess say that, so he immediately handed it to her. The princess took it and ate it herself. Seeing this, Zhongming grabbed a handful of candied fruit for the princess, and still feeling it wasn't enough, he simply pounced on the table and pushed the whole plate in front of the princess.

"Give me all of them?" the princess asked, pointing to the candied fruit.

Zhongming nodded and smiled at his aunt. He had a pair of eyes that were as calm and gentle as the still waters of an autumn lake.

The princess smiled and stroked Zhongming's cheek, picked up a peach ring and fed it to him, then turned to tease his brother: "Zhongzhen, are you giving your candied fruit to your aunt too?"

The request was rejected. Stopping the dismantling of a gilded silver incense ball along the edge of the brocade curtain, Zhongzhen turned back, staring at her directly, and said, "Didn't Zhongming give all his candied fruit to Aunt?"

“Not enough,” the princess said with a smile. “When I was little, I didn’t get to eat candied fruit, so I need lots of it now.”

“Why can’t I eat it? Auntie is a princess, she can have as much as she wants,” Zhongzhen asked.

The princess replied, "Because my grandfather forbids my aunt from eating it."

Why won't Grandpa allow it?

"Because my aunt was losing her baby teeth at that time, he was afraid that if she ate candied fruit, her teeth would not grow properly."

“Oh, then I can’t give it to you either.” Zhongzhen stated his attitude seriously and firmly. “Eating too much candied fruit will turn your teeth black. Your aunt is a woman, and black teeth don’t look good, so I can’t give it to you.”

Upon hearing this, everyone in the hall burst into laughter. The princess also laughed incessantly, beckoning to Zhongzhen and saying, "You little rascal! Come here quickly, let your auntie slap you a couple of times."

Upon hearing this, Miao Shuyi pretended to pat the princess and laughed, "You really have the nerve! You're a seventeen-year-old young lady, and you're still fighting with your little nephew for fruit!"

During this time, ladies-in-waiting came in to pay their respects to the Empress. They were all delighted to see Miss Gao and her son there and stayed to chat with them. After court, the Emperor also came and joined the Empress in enjoying the company of their grandchildren, appearing very happy.

Consort Zhang did not appear until nearly noon. The Empress offered her a seat and had her grandchildren pay their respects to her.

The princes bowed respectfully, addressing her as "Lady Zhang." Upon hearing this, the Emperor said to them, "We are all family, so don't be so formal. From now on, you may call Lady Zhang 'Little Lady'."

In the capital, children call their grandmother "Niangniang," which is also how Gao's children address the Empress. Seeing the Emperor's words, the Empress gestured to Consort Zhang, instructing Zhongming, who was in her arms, to address her first.

Zhongming hesitated for a moment, but finally followed the Emperor and Empress's wishes and called out, "Your Highness."

Consort Zhang smiled slightly, then looked at Zhong Zhen on the other side, as if waiting for something.

Zhong Zhen was also looking at Consort Zhang. When their eyes met, he spoke, his voice clear and loud, but he still called out, "Lady Zhang."

Consort Zhang's smile faded, and the Emperor frowned slightly. Miss Gao gently tugged at Zhong Zhen's sleeve and whispered a correction, "It's Your Highness."

Zhongzhen shook his head and said loudly to the Emperor, "In this palace, Zhongzhen has only one father-in-law, and of course, only one empress. There is no 'little empress' in the world, and Zhongzhen will not have a 'little empress' either."

The Lonely City Closes (The Princess Who Fell in Love with a Eunuch) The Pearl Pavilion is deserted, the summer day is long. 43. Treading the Road

Chapter word count: 3248 Update time: 08-08-21 16:16

43. Follow the path

These words undoubtedly stirred up quite a ripple, but as usual, they quietly faded into the hearts of everyone, without the emperor and empress changing their expressions.