Not only had Yuyao Palace’s wedding gifts not arrived this quickly in her past life — they had not been this generous either. In the past, it had been a perfunctory affair, a bare minimum gesture.
Xie Yuzhang listened as the eunuch finished reading out the inventory list, and said only, “Please convey my gratitude to Noble Consort.”
Then she turned to Lin Fei and said, “Put it all away.”
Lin Fei harbored her own dislike for Yuyao Palace, but she was ultimately not someone who could afford to act on a whim. Xie Yuzhang could afford to, and when she did, Lin Fei had to cover for her.
In the end, Lin Fei still had a gratuity envelope brought out for the eunuch.
Yuyao Palace’s eunuchs came and went at Zhaoxia Palace regularly. In past days, Princess Baohua had always received them with a smile. This was the first time they had encountered such cool treatment.
The eunuch muttered to himself, she’s about to be married off to that kind of place, and kept a smile on his face as he thanked them, tucked the envelope away, and returned to Yuyao Palace. He whispered to Noble Consort Chen, “Her temperament seems to have suddenly changed entirely.”
Noble Consort Chen showed a serene smile. “Noted.”
That evening, when the Emperor rested at Yuyao Palace, the Noble Consort dabbed at her eyes. “The moment I think of that child going to such a place, it is as though a piece has been cut from this subject-concubine’s own heart. Your Majesty must ensure that Baohua’s dowry is prepared generously.”
After all, it was not her money being spent. The more generously Xie Yuzhang’s dowry was prepared, the better the excuse to be equally generous when Princess Anle married out in the future.
She then exaggerated what she had contributed to Xie Yuzhang’s wedding gifts — claiming various beloved possessions she had originally intended to leave for Anle, but had reluctantly given to Xie Yuzhang out of love, and so on.
The Emperor, seeing harmony in the rear palace and the Noble Consort conducting herself with the manner of a gracious elder maternal figure, was naturally in great imperial pleasure, needless to say.
Among the four chief consorts, the Noble Imperial Consort ranked highest. But since the Empress’s passing, the Noble Imperial Consort had been like a decorative ornament for these past years, perpetually claiming illness to excuse herself from managing the inner palace’s affairs. Without power in her hands, she naturally received all news later than the Noble Consort.
The Noble Consort had sent her wedding gift the first evening. The following morning, the gifts from the Virtuous Consort, the Worthy Consort, and the Noble Imperial Consort arrived in turn. By the afternoon, the lower-ranked consorts in the remaining palaces were gradually hearing the news and beginning to act.
But regardless, Zhaoxia Palace presented a scene of lively bustle.
Xie Yuzhang watched box after box of things being brought in while Lin Fei bustled about cataloguing and recording them, and she could not help but think of her past life. The moment the announcement of the marriage alliance had been made, the gates of Zhaoxia Palace had grown suddenly cold and desolate, unbearably bleak.
A princess destined to leave the center of power, who did nothing but weep and wail until even the Emperor avoided her — naturally, none of the consorts would be willing to spend any effort on Zhaoxia Palace.
Before her departure, when her birthday came, the Emperor had given a token reward, and the consorts had shown no expression at all. The only ones who had truly remembered her birthday and gone to the trouble of preparing a celebration for her were the people of the Duke of Xun’s residence.
Some things cannot be changed, Xie Yuzhang thought, but some things can indeed be altered through human effort.
The ones who were suffering, rather, were Zhaoxia Palace’s palace staff. The thought that they might have to follow the Princess to the distant frontier had each of them wearing expressions of grief, unable to lift their spirits.
This was only human nature. Even she herself had spent her days in tears in her past life. Xie Yuzhang did not reproach them.
Lin Fei, on the other hand, had within the space of that single day reprimanded and punished several slippery servants who had made careless errors.
“This is not the time to let the hearts of the people here scatter,” she said to Xie Yuzhang. “Otherwise, how will we manage and restrain them later?”
In the palace, with imperial authority bearing down on them, the servants could not stir up real trouble. But once they reached the frontier, she worried that Xie Yuzhang would have difficulty keeping the people below her in check, and so she had been turning this problem over in her mind from now.
Xie Yuzhang’s thinking was different.
“Those who are determined to leave — as long as they have a way out, let them go.” She did not seem the least bit angry. “People whose hearts have already fled, tied to us by force, may not be a good thing at all. Using this moment to do a round of sifting through may not be a bad thing either.”
Lin Fei was speechless for a long moment, then said, “If I were not right here before Your Highness, I would have thought these words came from a seasoned old monk who had seen through all worldly matters.”
Xie Yuzhang smiled. After a moment, she said, “A’Fei, Attendant Xu… let it go.”
Lin Fei paused.
Attendant Xu was the head palace nurse and Palace Directress responsible for overseeing Xie Yuzhang’s daily life and care. These past two days she had been nowhere to be found, running about on her own business. Lin Fei was quietly furious, but she was in truth a daughter of a convicted official, still registered in the lowly registry, which put her in an awkward position — Attendant Xu, by contrast, was a female palace official with a proper court rank. Lin Fei had no real authority over her. By reprimanding and punishing the palace servants, she was, as they say, striking the mountain to frighten the tiger, sending a warning to Attendant Xu.
Otherwise, if all of Zhaoxia Palace followed Attendant Xu’s example, what would become of things?
“Attendant Xu entered the palace as a woman of good family and is a native of the capital region. She still has a large family of kin outside the palace walls. That she does not wish to go to the frontier is only human nature.” Xie Yuzhang said with indifference. “If she can find her own way out of it, let her. If she cannot, when the roster comes into my hands, I will simply strike through her name.”
But if even your own nurse has left, who will truly follow you with a loyal heart? Lin Fei’s lips moved, but the words never came out. Her heart, however, was anxious and restless.
The Princess — how could she sit there looking like someone utterly untroubled, without a trace of worry or urgency? It was as though she had already seen through all of it to the other side.
A palace servant came in to report. “Fuchun is here.”
Fuchun, coming to Zhaoxia Palace at a time like this? Lin Fei glanced at Xie Yuzhang in surprise.
Xie Yuzhang’s gaze flickered. “Let him in.”
Fuchun entered in his customary way, back bent, shuffling with quick small steps, light and quiet. Seeing that the only other person in the main hall besides Lin Fei was no one else, and knowing that this was someone Xie Yuzhang trusted, he did not bother to conceal anything in front of her. He drew close to Xie Yuzhang. “That forty thousand jin of sugar and ten thousand jin of tea that His Majesty wished to add to your dowry — the Chief Ministers refused. His Majesty argued with them for half an hour. In the end, it was decided that it will come from the inner privy stores. The Princess’s dowry list is expected to be ready this afternoon.”
Regardless of where it came from, hearing that it was settled made Xie Yuzhang breathe out in relief. But the thought that the Emperor was drawing from his own privy stores to add to her wedding gifts stirred in her a feeling that was difficult to name.
It was he who had steeled himself to send her away in a marriage alliance. It was also he who feared she would suffer and was preparing her a generous dowry. It would also be he who would, in a panic, think of presenting her to the new emperor.
Princess Baohua’s expression shifted through many things. Fuchun simply stood bowed, saying nothing. Something like this naturally required the Princess time to absorb.
After a moment, he heard Princess Baohua let out a long, slow sigh. He stole a glance upward, and the Princess’s face had already been composed.
“Has the attendant roster come out yet?” she asked.
“Not yet.” Fuchun replied.
“Help me keep watch over it. Tell me the moment it comes out.” The Princess said.
Fuchun bowed. “Yes.”
Xie Yuzhang glanced at Lin Fei. Lin Fei understood, and took out a gratuity envelope.
But Fuchun firmly refused to accept it. “Your Highness, please do not humble this servant so. Your Highness’s kindness to this servant is a debt that cannot be repaid in a lifetime.”
He gave a quick bow and made off at a trot.
Lin Fei stared in astonishment.