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

Chapitre 75

The princess and I both thought that Yang's refusal to release Chun Tao would make Chun Tao's redemption somewhat difficult, but the result was unexpected.

At dinner, Li Wei arrived later than usual and looked slightly tired. Upon seeing the princess, he took out a scroll from his sleeve and handed it to her, saying hesitantly, "This is Chun Tao's indenture."

The Lonely City Closes (A Princess Who Fell in Love with a Eunuch) Leaning idly against the twelve balustrades 7. Ancient Ink

Chapter word count: 3032 Update time: 08-08-21 17:33

7. ancient ink

The next day, Chun Tao carefully kept the indenture given to her by the princess and returned to her parents. Before leaving, she bid farewell to the princess, who ordered someone to give her one hundred strings of cash, and instructed her to return if she encountered any difficulties in the future, and that she would help her. Chun Tao was extremely grateful, kneeling down and kowtowing repeatedly with tears in her eyes, expressing her gratitude. The princess helped her up and smiled, saying, "No need to thank me. Seeing that I was able to facilitate a good marriage, I'm probably even happier than you are."

This kept her in a good mood all day, and it was the first time she had smiled so happily since her marriage.

That evening, she summoned the maids she had brought with her and said to them, "You have served me for many years and are now of marriageable age. If you have someone you love, just tell me and I will let you go back to your parents' home to await your marriage and prepare a generous dowry for you."

The maids thanked her profusely, but none of them requested to go home. When the princess asked again, only Xiangyuanzi stepped forward, stammering, "This servant has no one in mind, but my parents are old, I have no brothers, and my sisters are all married, so..."

The princess understood and, before she could finish speaking, said, "Alright, then go home. I will give you more money so you can buy some land or start a small business. In the future, I will also find a son-in-law to live with you and help you serve your parents."

Citron was overjoyed and thanked the princess repeatedly. Afterwards, two more maids expressed their desire to go home, and the princess agreed to release them both, rewarding them handsomely. When no one else expressed their desire, the princess reiterated her intention to grant them freedom and made a long-term promise to them: "Whenever you find a suitable person, or miss your parents and want to go home, you can tell me, and I will release you immediately."

The maids were all delighted and bowed in gratitude, praising the princess's kindness. After they had left, I asked the princess with a smile, "Now that you've let them all go, who will serve you from now on?"

"Isn't there you?" The princess glared at me, then sighed sadly, "I hope that each of them can find a good husband, leave the princess's house in the future, be a good wife and mother, and live a happy life, unlike me, who is trapped here for the rest of my life and can't get out."

I never expected her joy today to end with this topic about her predicament, and my smile froze as well.

“And you, you won’t be as lucky as them.” Seeing my silence, she added in a lighthearted, joking tone, “I won’t let you go. If I’m locked up here for the rest of my life, you’ll have to stay here with me for the rest of your life!”

Her words were like a gentle spring breeze, warming my heart and rippling with affection. I bowed deeply to her and said, "Your subject accepts the decree and thanks you for your grace."

After her marriage, the princess needed my company much more often than before. In the palace, she had to visit her parents daily, enjoying their company, and she had many female companions, such as the adopted daughters of the imperial concubines, and young concubines like Qiuhe, not much younger than her. Her interactions with them were enough to fill her leisure time. Now, as the most honored mistress of the princess's residence, she no longer had the obligation to serve her in-laws. Moreover, since the Chun Tao incident, Lady Yang had become increasingly displeased with her, avoiding her at every turn. Aside from the usual greetings and family banquets, she didn't actively seek her out for conversation. Her husband's brothers all had their own residences, and her sisters-in-law rarely visited. Therefore, the princess was quite lonely. Besides practicing the konghou (a type of harp), she would pass the time with refined pursuits, and at these times she would usually ask me to accompany her.

The initial feeling of unfamiliarity with the environment gradually faded, and we slowly adapted to this new life. In quiet moments with few disturbances, we played the piano and flute, played chess, drank tea, or composed poems and lyrics. Occasionally, I would give her pointers on calligraphy and painting. She now shows far more patience with art than she did as a child; she no longer scribbles a few strokes and wants to run outside. To complete a satisfactory piece, she can practice in the study all day. I was surprised by her change and asked her, "Didn't the princess used to say that practicing calligraphy and painting was a waste of time, something usually done by old scholars?"

She replied, “That’s right. As you can see, I have plenty of time, and I’m getting old.”

Although they didn't share a room, Li Wei often visited the princess, but the two rarely spoke. Even during meals, Li Wei could only find trivial questions to ask the princess, such as whether a certain dish suited her taste. The princess usually gave perfunctory replies, but Li Wei remembered every word she said. Once, the princess simply mentioned that the drunken crab from Jiangnan was delicious, but the palace had run out of stock. The next day, a plate of Jiangnan drunken crab appeared on the princess's table; no one knew where Li Wei had found it.

He showed great sincerity in trying to please the princess, but sometimes his efforts backfired.

One day, the princess was in a bad mood and stayed in her room, unwilling to go out. When Li Wei came in to greet her, he carefully suggested that she go to the garden to clear her mind. The princess lazily replied, "This garden is so small. I've walked through every corner. What's there to see?"

Li Wei thought for a moment and said, "The other day I went to Yichun Garden and saw a large wasteland nearby, more than three times the size of our garden. I'll go and find out who owns the land, and then buy it and build a large garden with pavilions and terraces for the princess to enjoy."

The princess said, "Forget it. It took a lot of time to build this princess's residence. If the garden were three times larger, it would cost a lot of money to buy land and build houses. It would be a waste of resources and manpower. Let's save our money."

“It’s alright,” Li Wei replied immediately. “I don’t need the money.”

Perhaps he didn't mean it, but I still found his words grating, let alone the princess. The princess frowned slightly and stared at him for a long time before finally replying indifferently, "Fine, you can do whatever you want with it."

Li Wei seemed oblivious to the reason why he had displeased the princess, and continued to shower her with gifts, using his abundant wealth. Seeing that the princess often practiced calligraphy, he soon sent over a batch of writing implements: an agate inkstone, an ivory brush, a gold inkstone box, and a jade paperweight.

"They really wish even the ink could be made of gold and silver." The princess said with disdain as she looked at the pile of glittering gifts.

Not long after, Li Wei gave the princess another piece of ink. Although it wasn't made of gold or silver, it still ended up backfiring.

On the winter solstice, the emperor would, as was customary, receive the congratulations of all his officials. All officials in the capital with official titles would wear their official robes and hats and enter the palace to participate in the court assembly, which was as solemn as a grand sacrificial ceremony. This ceremony was called "Pai Dong Zhang" (排冬仗). After the Pai Dong Zhang was completed, the emperor would host a banquet for his officials and bestow new clothes and gifts upon them.

The Imperial Son-in-Law, Li Wei, also entered the palace to attend the court assembly. After the banquet, he rushed back to attend the family banquet. As soon as he entered the door, he took out a piece of Tinggui ink and presented it to the princess with both hands: "Princess, this is a gift from the Emperor today. I wanted to find a piece of ancient ink for you last time, but I couldn't find a suitable one. Now it's just the right time to make up for it."

Li Tinggui of Shezhou was a renowned ink maker in the Southern Tang Dynasty. His ink could shave wood, and even if dropped into a ditch, it would not spoil for months. It also possessed a unique fragrance and was highly praised by scholars and officials. Moreover, ink personally made by Li Tinggui was becoming increasingly rare, and even the palace had few left. Therefore, people considered it an honor to be bestowed with ink from Tinggui. The piece presented by Li Wei now, shaped like a double-ridged dragon and bearing the characters "Tinggui," is indeed a precious tribute that Li Tinggui presented to the emperor.

The princess took it and looked at it, neither agreeing nor disagreeing, but asked Li Wei, "Is this the piece your father gave you?"

“No, that’s not it.” Li Wei answered truthfully: “The one the Emperor gave me was originally a different one. Judging from the name engraved on it, the ink maker’s surname was also Li, and his name was ‘Li Chao.’ He was probably a descendant of Li Tinggui…”

"Oh," the princess asked him calmly, "then why did you bring back Tinggui ink?"

"Later I discovered that the scholars around me were all bestowed with Tinggui ink. Perhaps Tinggui ink is rare, and the Emperor has always favored scholars, so he bestowed it upon them," Li Wei explained. "I borrowed Tinggui ink from Scholar Cai Junmo, who was sitting next to me, to admire it. He probably sensed my interest and offered to exchange it with me..."

The princess couldn't help but sneer: "So you exchanged Li Chaomo for Ting Guimo?"

Li Wei nodded, not forgetting to praise Cai Xiang: "Scholar Cai is so generous to part with such a precious gift. Of course, I cannot accept his favor for nothing, and I will prepare some more gifts for him in the future."

The princess had nothing to say. She placed Ting Guimo on the table, pushed him back in front of Li Wei, then got up and silently left.

Her reaction was completely unexpected by Li Wei, leaving him bewildered. He stood up and watched the princess leave before turning to me, asking anxiously, "Mr. Liang, did I say something wrong?"

After much deliberation, I finally decided to tell him the truth: "Captain, Li Chao is Li Tinggui's father."

Li Wei was stunned, speechless. Meanwhile, Madam Yang, who had been observing, also became interested in the antique ink and asked me, "Mr. Liang, is the ink made by Li Chao more expensive, or by his son?"

I replied, "People love to collect antique ink. The older the ink from a family of ink makers, the rarer the quantity, and the more valuable it becomes."

Madam Yang was furious. She poked her son's forehead and scolded, "You spendthrift son! You actually traded a good item for a cheap one! You're so bad at business. Even if we had ten times the wealth, you would still squander it all. No wonder the princess doesn't like you!"

The Lonely City Closed (A Princess Who Fell in Love with a Eunuch) Leaning idly against the twelve balustrades 8. Calligraphy and Painting

Chapter word count: 1943 Update time: 08-08-21 17:34

8. Calligraphy and painting

Every year before New Year's Day, the Emperor and Empress would bestow New Year's gifts upon members of the imperial family and relatives. At the end of this year, the princess instructed me well in advance to make preparations and to purchase some elegant and refined items that were not available in the palace in return.