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

Chapitre 112

I didn't talk much to Cui Bai during that time, and he remained silent, intently observing us, who looked rather disheveled after the storm.

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Jiaqingzi accompanied the princess for a long time. While Cui Bai was paying his respects to Li Wei, I also got up with him and saw him out of the central gate.

After watching Cui Bai walk away, I did not immediately return to the central pavilion, but instead headed towards Madam Yang's residence.

I think what happened last night must have been her idea again.

But halfway there, someone called me from behind. When I turned around, I saw Yun Guo'er, who had become the concubine of the prince consort.

She slowly walked up to me, blocking my way, and asked, "Where is Mr. Liang going?"

I said frankly, "I'm going to see the Empress Dowager's wife; there are some things I want to ask her."

"Is it about the Captain and the Princess last night?" Yun Guo'er said. "Sir, please don't go. This matter has nothing to do with the Empress Dowager."

I frowned and gave her a questioning glance. She calmly met my gaze and said indifferently, "It was I who persuaded the Commandant to enter the Central Secretariat last night."

The Lonely City Closed (The Princess Who Fell in Love with a Eunuch) Long smoke and setting sun, the lonely city closed, concubines

Chapter word count: 3092 Update time: 09-07-05 10:44

concubine

(2865 words)

Her gentle tone carried an unusual coldness, making me feel as if I were listening to a clerk recounting a case to a judge after taking a statement: "The Emperor has recently been summoning the Empress Dowager and me to discuss the Princess's affairs. He heard that the Princess once shared a bed with the Commandant, so he wants us to speak well of him to the Princess, hoping she will continue to be his wife. But we all know that the Princess despises the Commandant; she looks at him as if he were a moldy pancake. No amount of flattery will change her mind. Therefore, I suggested that the Emperor simply order the Commandant to move to the inner chambers. One night of solitude between husband and wife is better than ten cartloads of sweet words from others..."

"You know perfectly well that the princess dislikes the Commandant, yet you still let the Emperor issue such an order that clearly goes against her wishes?" I looked at Yun Guo'er's calm expression and was secretly surprised that her familiar features had become so repulsive.

"Forgive my frankness, Mr. Liang, but there are some things about women that you may not know." After saying this, perhaps to avoid making me too embarrassed, she shifted her gaze to the double-eaved white walls of the central pavilion before continuing, "Many quarrels between couples are resolved in the bedroom late at night. Yunniang once told me that couples 'fight at the head of the bed and make up at the foot of the bed.' Sexual intimacy is a good way to mend rifts between couples. If the princess shares a bed with the captain a few times, her attitude towards him will definitely improve."

She spoke of this private matter with such openness that it made me feel somewhat awkward. After a while, I finally spoke: "The first time the princess invited the captain to stay overnight, we both saw that the distance between them not only didn't grow closer, but actually widened. Why did you resort to such a tactic, letting the captain anger the princess?"

Yun Guo'er said, "What else can a woman feel besides pain during her first time? But it's different afterward. The captain also said that the princess wouldn't accept him. I advised him to be firm with the princess, and he was surprised, saying that the princess might hate him. I told him, 'Anyway, the princess already hates you. Consider it a gamble. If you win, the princess will live well with you from now on. If you lose, there won't be any worse consequences; at most, the princess will just continue to hate you.'"

I looked at her coldly: "Now you see an even worse outcome."

“The Commandant is indecisive and still unable to be firm enough. Last night, after entering the inner chamber, he hesitated and woke the princess, causing her to make a scene.” She turned to look at me directly and said, “You are also to blame for the princess’s current state. You have protected her too well, unwilling to let her suffer even the slightest harm. But some pain is something that must be experienced in life, just as falling is inevitable when learning to walk. If she had slept with the Commandant from the beginning of her surrender, things would not have gotten so out of control.”

I was startled, scrutinizing her as if she were a complete stranger. I'd known her for over a decade, yet I'd never discovered such a clear mind and keen insight. She had already grasped her destiny according to her own will, and now I needed to consider her attitude towards the princess. Given that they shared the same husband, was her scheme truly intended to repair the princess's relationship with her husband, or was it a way to cause a complete rift between them by harming the princess?

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For the next two days, the princess remained emotionally unstable. She would become enraged at the mere sight of Li Wei, or even just hearing his name, and would cry, yell, throw things, or run around frantically. Then, she inadvertently saw a porcelain pillow with a design of mandarin ducks playing in the water, which the Emperor had recently bestowed upon her and Li Wei. She picked it up, smashed it, and then grabbed a shard and tried to stab herself in the neck. Fortunately, I was there and intervened in time to prevent a tragedy.

Moreover, she refused to sleep in the central chamber bedroom from then on, only willing to sit in the hall, day and night without sleep. I advised her to go inside and rest, but she resolutely shook her head: "Thieves will come in." I said that I had already instructed the maids to guard her well and that nothing else would happen, but she still refused: "I can't trust them."

The maids were actually quite innocent. That night, after the princess fell asleep, Yun Guo'er brought Li Wei into the central pavilion and announced the emperor's order for Li Wei to move in and sleep with the princess. The maids dared not disobey and let Li Wei into the princess's bedroom. However, things didn't go smoothly, and they also lost the princess's trust.

In just two days, the princess had become emaciated and unrecognizable. Shi Zhicong dared not conceal the truth and had no choice but to go to the palace to tell the Emperor, Empress, and Consort Miao what had happened at the princess's residence. Consort Miao immediately sent Wang Wuzi to bring the princess to the palace for a few days. Seeing her daughter's miserable state, Consort Miao was heartbroken but unable to quell her anger. She vented her frustration on Shi Zhicong, accusing him to the Emperor of dereliction of duty in supervising the princess's residence, which led to the princess being bullied by her husband and his concubines. The Emperor then dismissed Shi Zhicong from his post and stripped him of his original rank of Inner Palace Attendant.

Only after the Emperor repeatedly promised that Li Wei would no longer share a room with the Princess did the Princess reluctantly agree to return to her residence. Accompanying us back to the residence was Wang Wuzi, who, at the recommendation of Consort Miao, became the new head eunuch in charge of the Princess's household.

Consort Miao chose him to go to the princess's residence for two reasons: First, he had been in Consort Miao's palace for many years, watching the princess grow up, and he understood the princess and was very loyal to her; second, he was quick-witted and had a good way of dealing with subordinates. In Consort Miao's words, he was "neither a nice old man like Liang Quanyi nor a sycophant like Shi Zhicong who only knew how to flatter the emperor."

Upon assuming office, Wang Wuzi immediately gave Yun Guo'er a hard slap across the face as she came to greet him. He glared at her and shouted, "You lowly servant, if you can't sort out your cunning schemes next time, I'll take a pair of scissors and cut them off!"

Then, under the astonished gazes of Madam Yang, Li Wei, and others, he regained his amiable expression and smiled almost kindly as he cupped his hands to Yun Guo'er: "Miss Yun, please forgive me. What I said just now was what Lady Miao asked me to relay to you. This old servant had no choice but to do so. I apologize for the offense."

Yun Guo'er covered her face with red eyes and coldly turned her head away.

Wang Wuzi maintained his friendly smile and announced the punishment for Yun Guo'er in a very polite manner: "I see that Miss Yun does not look well, which must be due to the hard work of the past few days. Why don't you go back to your room to rest now? For the next month, you don't need to worry about anything in the house. Just rest and recuperate. I will also send someone to serve you in front of your room and make sure that no irrelevant people enter and disturb you."

After speaking, he slightly tilted his head, and immediately two eunuchs stepped forward, flanking Yun Guo'er and taking her back to her room where she was placed under house arrest. From then on, the maids in the princess's residence lived in constant fear, shrinking back and bowing their heads like mice before a cat when they saw Wang Wuzi, not daring to utter a sound. Even the usually arrogant Madam Yang became much more subdued in his presence, speaking to him politely and even softly, completely devoid of her former arrogance.

After settling into the residence, Wang Wuzi paid close attention to Li Wei's movements, assigning many people to monitor him. From the moment Li Wei rose in the morning until he went to bed at night, every little detail was reported to Wang Wuzi. I observed this and couldn't help but feel it was excessive, so I privately said to him, "Sir, you are certainly doing your best to protect the princess, but isn't it a bit too much to be so concerned about the prince consort's movements?"

Wang Wuzi sighed, “You have worked with me for many years, and given the situation between you and the princess, I need not hide anything from you. Consort Miao sent me here today with a request. She understands that the princess hates the prince consort and there is no possibility of reconciliation between them. Therefore, she ordered me to carefully observe the prince consort’s behavior. If there is anything inappropriate, such as disrespect towards the princess or uttering complaints, I must report it to the Emperor so that he can later request permission for the princess and the prince consort to separate and allow the princess to return to the palace to live permanently.”

I don't know if Li Wei realized his intentions, but Li Wei's subsequent behavior was impeccable. He came to pay his respects to the princess every morning and evening. Knowing that the princess did not want to see him, he would bow from afar outside the pavilion gate and then leave silently, never disturbing the princess. He treated the princess with utmost respect and also respected Wang Wuzi, sometimes even when faced with Wang Wuzi's deliberate provocations, he never uttered a word of complaint. Moreover, even when Yun Guo'er was under house arrest, he did not allow any maids to serve him in bed, leaving Wang Wuzi with no excuse to accuse him of being "lustful."

Yun Guo'er was also a woman of strong will. After being confined to her room, she began to go on a hunger strike and soon became very weak. Wang Wuzi showed no intention of letting her out, no matter how much Li Wei and Madam Yang pleaded. In the end, I went to open Yun Guo'er's door, helped her out, and took her to Madam Yang.

Mrs. Yang was surprised: "Did Mr. Wang give permission for Mr. Liang to release her?"

I shook my head and said, "It's okay, I'll explain to him."

As I was about to leave, Yun Guo'er suddenly asked me to stay, then whispered, "Do you also think I'm trying to harm the princess?"

I thought about it and told the truth: "I'm not sure."

"Then why did you save me?" Yun Guo'er asked.

I said, "I can't just stand by and watch someone die in front of me."

She smiled sadly: "You've always been like this..."

She blinked her dry eyes, wiped away her excess emotions, and regained her calm tone: "I will try to get the princess to accept her husband. If that doesn't work, then it would be good for her to get pregnant and have a child of her own. That way, she will have something to live for in the future, and she will have a reason to live—after you leave."

After a long silence, she slightly curled the corners of her lips: "Don't stare at me with such surprise. You must have guessed that you and the princess would be separated sooner or later."