The fourth page of “Notes on Gazing at the Moon” reads: “Walking, I think of you; sitting, I think of you.”
Recently, the Princess had lost her appetite. The thing she did most often each day was sit by the latticed window, gazing at the crabapple blossoms outside and sighing.
This was because the Prince Consort had been sent to Wu Province to preside over the regional examinations of the Jiangnan Circuit.
This trip would take a whole month.
The Princess still remembered the evening before the Prince Consort’s departure. They had lit candles and reclined on a low rosewood couch, talking for a long time. She nestled in the Prince Consort’s embrace, reluctant to part: “Can’t I go too?”
“No.” The Prince Consort rejected her mercilessly: “I’m going as an examiner. How can an examiner bring family members?”
The examiners sent by the Ministry of Rites to the Guannei, Henan, and Hedong Circuits hadn’t brought their families either. Besides, the Jiangnan Circuit was the most prosperous region of the Great Zhou, teeming with talent. The Prince Consort estimated he would be so busy that his feet wouldn’t touch the ground. He would even have to stay in the examination compound and wouldn’t have time to look after the Princess.
The Princess was still reasonable. She said reluctantly: “If I can’t go, then I won’t.”
Her reluctant appearance was both pitiful and adorable. The Prince Consort was moved. He lowered his head and kissed the Princess’s forehead: “It’s just one month. After a month, I’ll be back.”
“One month. Thirty days.” The Princess counted on her fingers: “I won’t see you for thirty days.”
The more she thought about it, the longer thirty days seemed. The Princess hugged the Prince Consort’s slender waist. She leaned into his embrace and said reluctantly, “Thirty days is so long. Except for when you went to take the palace examination, we’ve never been apart for so long.”
The Prince Consort smiled: “Mingyuezhu, don’t you get tired of being with me all the time?”
“Not at all.” The Princess hugged the Prince Consort even tighter: “Not the slightest bit.”
She suddenly realized something and raised her head with a pout: “Could it be that you’re tired of me?”
The Prince Consort was startled. He lowered his head and gently kissed the Princess’s lips. He kissed her very tenderly, as if handling the most precious treasure. He raised his head, his voice soft: “Mingyuezhu, how could I ever tire of you?”
He sighed: “I’m afraid you’ll tire of me.”
“Why would you think that?”
The Prince Consort found it difficult to explain, but he spoke anyway: “I was thinking that before, you might not have met many excellent young men, so you liked me. But now it’s different. You’ve opened a medical clinic and hired many famous doctors to provide free medical care for the poor. You’re no longer a secluded maiden who never leaves home. You’ll gradually discover that I’m not that special.”
This was the first time the Prince Consort had expressed such insecurities to the Princess. After listening, the Princess burst into laughter: “Do you think so?”
The Prince Consort nodded: “Since you opened the clinic and met more people, I’ve thought this. But I can’t make you stay at home all day just waiting for me to return. You have your dreams, and I won’t stop you.”
The Princess’s dream had always been to alleviate the many hardships of the common people, wishing for everyone to be well-fed and warm. In addition to the clinic, she was also planning to establish a free school to educate children who couldn’t afford to study. The money and silk she received annually from her fief were too much to spend, so she wanted to take from the people and use it for the people.
The Princess looked up at the Prince Consort and indeed saw some unease in his eyes. He was truly afraid that after she had seen a broader world, she would no longer like him. The Princess sighed. She cupped the Prince Consort’s face in her hands, kissed him on the lips, and then said: “Who says I haven’t seen excellent young men? I’ve seen many handsome and outstanding young men of the Great Zhou.”
She looked into the Prince Consort’s eyes and said: “But in my heart, you are the best. No matter how many years pass, no matter how many people I meet, Seventeenth Lord, you will always be the best.”
The Prince Consort’s heart warmed. He carefully asked: “Really?”
The Princess nodded firmly: “I’m not like you, always breaking your promises. Saying you’ll come back, and then…”
Her voice lowered, and she cast her eyes down. She blinked and shrank into his embrace, as if afraid of losing him again. She reached out and hugged him tightly: “And then not doing so, only placating me with a thousand grasshoppers… I’m different from you. When I say you’re the best in my heart, you are the best. When I say I’ll love you forever, I will love you forever. I keep my word better than you.”
The Prince Consort felt a strong ache in his eyes. He pretended to rub them, wiping away the glistening tears that had seeped out. He hugged the Princess in return and kissed her hair: “Yes, the Princess keeps her word better than I do.”
The Princess smiled. She leaned in the Prince Consort’s embrace, took his hand, and played with his fingers. Suddenly remembering something, she said: “By the way, I heard that when you officials from the capital go down to the provinces, local officials often arrange for famous courtesans to accompany you. Is that true?”
The Prince Consort was stunned: “I think so…”
Especially in Wu Province, which was a place of sensual indulgence and extravagant revelry. When officials from the capital went to Wu Province on official business, having famous courtesans as companions had become a refined practice.
The Princess frowned: “Actually, I think those famous courtesans might not want to accompany them either, but they have no choice due to power dynamics. When you go to Wu Province this time, those self-proclaimed refined local officials will surely try to curry favor with you. At that time, you mustn’t agree to their arrangements.”
Thinking of this, she felt a pang of jealousy and raised the Prince Consort’s hand to bite the back of it.
Her bite wasn’t hard, only leaving a shallow tooth mark. The Prince Consort sighed: “What’s the use of biting there?”
“Hmm?”
The Prince Consort said, “With the sleeve covering it, no one can see it. You should bite somewhere visible.”
The Princess was stunned and looked at the Prince Consort’s neck, as white as jade.
She said: “You don’t mean… But last time when I kissed there, didn’t you say you were teased by the people of the Ministry of Rites for a full ten days, and it spread throughout Chang’an?”
The Prince Consort replied with a straight face: “Being teased is better than being curried favor with by those oblivious local officials.”
The Princess understood: “Are you serious? No regrets later.”
“No regrets.”
This time, the Prince Consort didn’t struggle but rather assumed a posture of letting her do as she pleased. The Princess’s eyes darted mischievously, and she suddenly said: “This time, no kissing.”
“Hmm?”
“Last time I left so many marks, it was exhausting for me.” The Princess looked up: “This time, just one will do.”
She bared her teeth and bit the Prince Consort’s neck, leaving a tooth mark.
The Prince Consort didn’t even frown. After the Princess finished biting, she examined her work with satisfaction: “Now those oblivious local officials will know exactly whose person you are!”
Before she could finish speaking, she suddenly felt the world spin. When she came to her senses, she had been pinned beneath the Prince Consort. He murmured: “I am yours. Seventeenth Lord will always be Mingyuezhu’s person.”
As he finished speaking, his eyes reddened. The Princess asked curiously: “Seventeenth Lord, what’s wrong?”
“I’ll miss you…” The Prince Consort buried his face in her neck, lightly inhaling her fragrance, murmuring: “I’ll miss being away from Mingyuezhu…”
The Princess was both moved and slightly annoyed: “Then, when I said I’d go with you to Wu Province, you still refused.”
“Missing you is one thing, and official duties are another.” The Prince Consort lightly kissed the Princess’s forehead: “Mingyuezhu, I wouldn’t have time to accompany you then.”