The night was deep, the moon cool like water. Sitting in the carriage after leaving the palace, Xie Wenzhao had also been thinking all along—what exactly did Meng Fu go to do after leaving Linde Hall?
He thought for a long time but couldn’t come up with an answer.
What exactly did Meng Fu get provoked by, how did she suddenly become like this?
If Meng Fu had been like this back then, he wouldn’t have married her into the Xie family no matter what.
He raised his hand and pinched the bridge of his nose, trying hard to recall what Meng Fu had done recently, only then realizing that his attention toward Meng Fu was pitifully little—he only knew she had been sick recently and seldom came out. Later, it was because Qu Hanyan wanted to switch to a better courtyard that he went to Jixue Courtyard to see Meng Fu.
Xie Wenzhao didn’t know when Meng Fu would return to normal. If this kept going, he truly didn’t dare bring her into the palace anymore.
If something happened to her, it would be a small matter; if it implicated the Marquis Manor, then it would be finished.
The carriage stopped at the gate of the Marquis Manor. Xie Wenzhao got off the carriage and looked up to see Sun Yulian and Hua Xiaoling standing at the entrance. Upon seeing him, they smiled and gave a graceful salute.
Xie Wenzhao only gave them a glance before withdrawing his gaze, turning instead to look at Meng Fu, who had just jumped down from the carriage, and then his brows instinctively furrowed.
Hua Xiaoling stepped forward, walking to Xie Wenzhao’s side. She smiled like a blooming flower and said sweetly, “My lord, this concubine stewed chicken soup for you. Would you like to try some?”
However, just like usual, Xie Wenzhao didn’t even spare her a glance and walked directly toward his Songxuan Hall.
Hua Xiaoling turned to glance at Sun Yulian beside her, perhaps feeling humiliated, stomped her foot and let out a “hmph.”
Sun Yulian lowered her head and didn’t respond to Hua Xiaoling. Outsiders all said Xie Wenzhao was gentle and affectionate, but only they knew—Xie Wenzhao appeared affectionate, but was in fact the coldest. Aside from those he kept in his heart, he wouldn’t care about anyone else.
But even so, as concubines, they still had to fight for a way out for themselves. They couldn’t go on like this forever.
She had to think of a way.
Sun Yulian glanced in Hua Xiaoling’s direction. Hua Xiaoling sensed her gaze and glared back.
Sun Yulian curled her lips into a smile. Seeing that Meng Fu had returned, she bent her knees and saluted again.
Hua Xiaoling felt that Sun Yulian’s smile held ill intent, but though she had always been domineering, she couldn’t forbid others from smiling.
Li Yue walked over and gave the two of them a sweeping glance. He didn’t speak and entered the manor.
Hua Xiaoling stared at Li Yue’s departing figure, then angrily flung the handkerchief in her hand to the ground and asked Sun Yulian, “You’re just willing to go on like this?”
Sun Yulian gave a bitter smile and said, “Even if I’m unwilling, what can I do? The Marquis already has someone in his heart.”
Hua Xiaoling sneered and twisted her hips as she walked back to her own courtyard.
After she returned to Linglong Pavilion, the more she thought, the angrier she became. She began to cry and throw a tantrum. The little maid beside her coaxed her for a long time before she finally calmed down. Then, she heard that Xie Wenzhao had recently taken a liking to a particularly troublesome-to-make treat—Peony Pastries and immediately ran to the kitchen to start researching.
After Li Yue returned to his room, having already dressed and relieved himself, he once again faced a new problem—he had to bathe.
His Majesty the Emperor was a rather pure and innocent virgin. Though he was already over twenty, he had never seen a woman’s body. But now, he had to bathe.
Li Yue, the time to test you has come again.
He reached out his hand, curling it in a lanhua zhi [orchid finger; a dainty gesture with middle and ring fingers touching the thumb, usually signifying delicateness or femininity], and slowly pulled off his waistband. The carefulness in his movements looked like he was trying to catch a hedgehog.
Opposite him, Qingping asked in confusion, “Madam, why are your eyes closed?”
Li Yue cracked his eyes open into a thin slit and said to Qingping, “You go out too.”
Qingping actually didn’t feel at ease leaving her here alone, but once she met Li Yue’s eyes, she didn’t dare say any words of rebuttal, and obediently exited the room.
Only Li Yue was left here now. He took off the rest of his clothes, took a deep breath, and with the resolve of one heading to his death, entered the water.
This matter absolutely must not be known by a third person.
Oh right, it seems he still has to tell Huaiming, that bald guy.
He lowered his head and stared at the flower petals on the water’s surface. If those dead brothers of his knew about his current situation, they’d probably laugh so hard they’d do somersaults in their coffins.
In the imperial palace, Meng Fu sat behind the long desk, seriously copying Li Yue’s calligraphy. She couldn’t have all the memorials sent to the Marquis Manor for His Majesty to review via the dark guards—those less urgent ones had to be handled by herself. Fortunately, when His Majesty reviewed this type of memorial, the vermilion comments he gave were quite simple—mostly just “approve” or “not approve.” Meng Fu only needed to copy a few more lines of official phrasing, and that would be enough for her to deal with it.
Once she finished copying, it would be time for bathing and resting. She was actually much more straightforward than Li Yue—her most awkward moment had already passed during the day.
At that time, she had just finished court and gone to the cleansing room. She untied her waistband and lowered her eyes to look at that thing. She had held it in for a very long time already and felt extremely uncomfortable, but for a moment didn’t know how to proceed.
The Emperor likely wouldn’t want her to righteously ask the eunuchs in the palace about such a matter, right?
Was she really going to call someone over to consult just for this?
In the end, Meng Fu took a deep breath—for the sake of His Majesty’s dignity, she decided to fumble her way through it herself.
After getting past that hurdle, Meng Fu no longer had much embarrassment about these matters.
——
Morning light pierced through the long night. In the distance, mountain ranges were shrouded in a mass of white mist. The courtyard was filled with rich floral fragrance, and birds chirped cheerfully.
A new day. Li Yue was once again woken by the same kind of noise he had heard the morning before. He didn’t even need to open his eyes to know that he was still in the Xuanping Marquis Manor.
When would this kind of life come to an end?!
He opened his eyes and exhaled, asking Qingping, who was standing nearby: “What’s going on out there again? What’s all the noise? Did Xie Wenzhao die?”
Qingping was startled by her words. Luckily, it was she who was attending the lady’s side. If someone else had heard that, and it got spread around, it really wouldn’t be good.
She walked over, pulling open the curtains on both sides while explaining to Li Yue: “Last night, Concubine Hua stayed up late into the night to make a batch of pastries. She brought them over for the Marquis to try this morning. The Marquis didn’t like them. Concubine Qu said she wanted to try, so the Marquis gave the pastries to Concubine Qu. After tasting just one bite, she gave the rest to the servants. Unfortunately, Concubine Hua saw that. Now Concubine Hua has gone over to Concubine Qu’s place and is currently scolding the servants.”
In Qingping’s opinion, Concubine Qu was indeed in the wrong in this matter. Even if she thought they didn’t taste good, she shouldn’t have so casually given the pastries to the servants, especially letting Concubine Hua find out. With Concubine Hua’s temper, if she didn’t explode, that’d be stranger still!
“Where’s Xie Wenzhao?” Li Yue got out of bed and asked, “He caused this mess and isn’t going to handle it?”
“Ah…” Qingping was stunned for a moment, not expecting the lady to think like this. She answered, “The Marquis went out early this morning.”
Li Yue sneered coldly: “He sure ran fast.”
For some reason, seeing their lady with that expression, Qingping suddenly had the feeling that their Marquis might be about to suffer again.
Wait a second—why did she use the word “again”?
After returning last night, Li Yue had read through the booklet Meng Fu gave him about the conditions of each courtyard in the Marquis Manor. Inside, the personalities and backgrounds of each concubine were recorded. Hua Xiaoling had originally been a maid by the Old Madam’s side. The Old Madam found her appearance and disposition pleasing, so she gave her to Xie Wenzhao. Hua Xiaoling was especially skilled in massage, and even now the Old Madam often summoned her to give massages. In front of the Old Madam, she had a fair amount of say, so when she felt wronged, she would complain to the Old Madam. The Old Madam, due to certain considerations, after hearing Hua Xiaoling’s words, would always summon Meng Fu for a lecture or to give her a warning.
Meng Fu had included these notes in hopes that this His Majesty could mentally prepare himself—that Old Madam’s words might not necessarily be pleasant.
Li Yue thought to himself, No matter how unpleasant it is to hear, can it be more unpleasant than what I’ve already heard?
Among the three concubines, Sun Yulian’s background was the best. If Li Yue didn’t want to deal with these trivial matters of the Marquis Manor, he could toss all of them to her to handle.
As for Qu Hanyan, aside from being liked by Xie Wenzhao, there was nothing else worth paying attention to.
Of course, in Li Yue’s eyes, Xie Wenzhao’s liking wasn’t even worth mentioning.
After washing up, Li Yue walked out of the room. After practicing a set of fist techniques, that Hua Xiaoling was actually still making a scene. Although Qu Hanyan’s Tingshui Pavilion wasn’t adjacent to his Jixue Courtyard, unfortunately Hua Xiaoling’s voice was so loud, he could hear her clearly from within Jixue Courtyard.
Li Yue took a sip of tea and frowned. The Marquis Manor is noisy and chaotic all day long—what kind of behavior is this.
This matter was completely Xie Wenzhao’s fault. What was he doing marrying so many little wives?
He lifted his foot and started walking out. Qingping quickly followed and asked where he was going.
“To Qu Hanyan’s place,” he said.
When Li Yue arrived, Hua Xiaoling had just finished a round of commotion and was catching her breath, preparing to continue. Meanwhile, Qu Hanyan was standing atop the stone steps, looking slightly down at Hua Xiaoling, her expression carrying disdain, as if she deeply disdained Hua Xiaoling’s shrewish behavior. She said, “It’s just a few pieces of pastry. Why get so worked up? If you like them, I’ll have the servants make a few more plates and send them to you so you can eat your fill all at once.”
Hua Xiaoling was so angry her teeth itched, she wanted nothing more than to scratch that face of Qu Hanyan’s.
What the servants made and what she made—can that be the same?
She opened her mouth, just about to start scolding, when suddenly she heard the voice of the lady behind her. A breath caught in her throat, nearly choking herself.
Li Yue said: “Shut up, all of you. You’ve been making noise all morning—aren’t you done yet? Do you want me to send you all to the vegetable market on East Street to let you shout to your hearts’ content?”
“I wasn’t arguing with her,” Qu Hanyan said.
Hua Xiaoling had just opened her mouth to refute, but was cut off directly by Li Yue. He turned his head to Hua Xiaoling and said to her: “I already know what happened. What’s the use of coming here to cause a scene? It was Xie Wenzhao who gave the pastries you made to someone else. If you want to make a fuss, go make a fuss at Xie Wenzhao.”
“Huh?” Hua Xiaoling didn’t react at first and blurted back instinctively, “But it was she—”
Li Yue already knew what Hua Xiaoling wanted to say and cut her off with a final word: “If that shit-stirring stick Xie Wenzhao hadn’t given them away, none of this would’ve happened.”
Logically, that did seem to be the case. But Hua Xiaoling had made this plate of pastries in order to win Xie Wenzhao’s favor in the first place—if she went and made a scene with him over this, wouldn’t he be completely fed up with her? What would she get out of that?
Also—Did the lady just call the Marquis a shit-stirring stick?
Heavens, is this really something she was allowed to hear? Would the lady silence her afterward to keep it from spreading?
Hua Xiaoling had heard yesterday that the lady had scolded the Marquis in Jixue Courtyard. She thought it was just the servants exaggerating. But now it seemed it might very well be true.
Her eyes darted about—this matter would probably spread to the Old Madam soon. There was a good chance the Old Madam would summon her to give a massage today. She needed to properly think about how to report on all of them: the lady, Qu Hanyan, Sun Yulian—none of them should think they could escape.
Qu Hanyan hadn’t expected Meng Fu to speak like this either. She lifted her chin and gave a cold “hmph.”
“What are you hmph-ing for? You think you’re in the right? Huh?” Li Yue turned his head, looking at Qu Hanyan who still stood on the stone steps. He walked up the steps, ending up a level higher than her, and said, “If you want to eat something, have the servants go to the kitchen and make it. Or has the Marquis Manor fallen into such poverty that it can’t make a second serving? You just had to eat someone else’s—what’s wrong with you?”
After scolding them each in turn, Li Yue gave a final summary: “Alright. From now on, whoever argues early in the morning again will all be kicked over to the East Street vegetable market to be ducks! Let’s see whose voices are louder—yours or the ducks’!”
Hua Xiaoling and Qu Hanyan no longer dared to argue. They couldn’t tell whether the lady was just threatening them or would really go so far as to sell them off as ducks.
With the lady’s current temper, that really couldn’t be ruled out.
Seeing that the two of them had quieted down, Li Yue was about to return to Jixue Courtyard to practice another round of fists. Just as he was about to leave, he heard Hua Xiaoling call out softly, “Furen?”
“Still something else?” he asked.
Hua Xiaoling lowered her head. She had always been shameless—tantrums and rolling on the ground were common—but for some reason, ever since yesterday, she hadn’t dared to act even the slightest bit unruly in front of the lady. She said with a pitiful expression, “Furen, this concubine hasn’t seen the Marquis for two months now. Could you let the Marquis come sit in my place for a while?”
Li Yue thought for a moment and asked, “Didn’t you just see him at the Marquis Manor gate last night?”
Qu Hanyan couldn’t hold back and let out a laugh.
“……” In her heart, Hua Xiaoling thought: Once I meet with the Old Madam, I’ll definitely lodge a good complaint against Meng Fu!
She could only change her words: “It’s been a long time since the Marquis came to my Linglong Pavilion.”
Li Yue became slightly interested and asked: “Oh? Why doesn’t he go to your place?”
“How would this concubine know the Marquis’s thoughts?” Hua Xiaoling was extremely aggrieved. Her eyes blinked rapidly, as if she were about to burst into tears.
Li Yue rested his chin in his hand and asked: “He already took you in, if he doesn’t go to your place, then where does he go? Sun Yulian’s?”
Hua Xiaoling shook her head again.
Before Li Yue could ask the next name, Qu Hanyan took the initiative and said, “The Marquis only comes to my place to listen to music.”
Could it be that Xie Wenzhao… isn’t functional?
Aiyo, at such a young age too.