Chapter 36
Zhao Heng turned to look at him, holding the bowl she had just used, sitting quietly at the dining table, looking cold and fragile like fine snow and broken jade.
The congee in the bowl may have already cooled down, as he kept scooping spoonfuls into his mouth, not tasting the flavor.
Zhao Heng regretted not taking an extra bowl, not covering the food box, and not finishing the congee she had poured.
If she had, she could have openly served him another bowl of hot congee.
Looking away, Zhao Heng picked up a pen, and the words on the desk gradually blurred before her eyes.
In the evening, back at Changqiu Palace, after freshening up, she approached the shelf, intending to light some calming incense from the box.
Upon opening the box, she found it empty, the incense that the Prince had given her had been used up.
Lian Zhou said, "Niangniang, your calming incense is gone. I'll go to Chengming Hall to get some."
"No need, Lian Zhou." She stopped Lian Zhou. The Prince had been through enough lately, she didn't want to trouble him with these trivial matters.
In the following days, Zhao Heng continued her studies at the Academy as usual.
One day, after class, Li Nanxi tugged at her hand excitedly, saying, "Sister A Heng, let's go to the Empress' Palace later."
Zhao Heng asked, "What's going on?"
Li Nanxi whispered, "Today, the Empress Mother announced the entry of Xiao Zheng Hanlin into the palace."
Zhao Heng had heard Li Nanxi mention Xiao Zheng Hanlin a few times before. She remembered how the Third Princess used to sneak off to the Hanlin Court to see him.
Lowering her head, she looked at Li Nanxi's eager face. She had a bad feeling and didn't want Li Nanxi to worry. She patted her head gently and said, "I'm not going, let Lan Ying accompany you."
After Li Nanxi left, Zhao Heng had Lian Zhou bring some pastries and meat dishes and returned to the Beast Garden.
She had been thinking for a few days, and following the medical book's instructions, she had revised the prescription and planned to try it again today.
Before leaving, she had Lian Zhou bring a bottle of wound medicine, thinking of the maid who had been injured last time.
Lian Zhou was happy, with a slight smile on her lips and two dimples on her face, walking lightly.
Passing by Lin Anchi, she noticed someone tending to lotus flowers and asked for a bunch to hold.
Leading the way, Zhao Heng heard her humming softly and asked, "Lian Zhou, what are you singing?"
"It's a folk song from my hometown," Lian Zhou replied with a smile, then asked, "Niangniang, do you like it?"
Zhao Heng nodded, saying, "It's nice, the melody is cheerful."
"I can sing other songs too." Lian Zhou's lips curved into a smile. "I'll sing for you!"
Just as she was about to start singing, she noticed a person approaching. Their gaze was direct, and the smiling eyes made Lian Zhou uncomfortable.
Looking at Ruo Zhen walking towards them, Lian Zhou felt an inexplicable aversion and instinctively wanted to hide behind Zhao Heng. Remembering her duty, she hastily asked, "Who are you?"
"Lian Zhou," Zhao Heng called out to her. She turned back surprised, but saw the calmness in Zhao Heng's expression, "Go over there and keep an eye on someone for me."
"Niangniang..." Her tone was filled with disbelief.
Zhao Heng smiled at her, "Go, I'll be fine."
However, she also understood that Zhao Heng had always been more decisive than her.
She looked worryingly at Zhao Heng a few times before walking out to the Moon Gate. She stood at the door, occasionally looking inside, but suddenly saw Ruo Zhen reach out and grab her wrist! She desperately covered her mouth to stifle a scream.
Unprepared, Zhao Heng was taken off guard by his force, stumbling to the side and hitting her knee against the trunk of a jade hairpin tree, causing a slight frown of pain on her forehead.
"Did I hurt you? I didn't even use much force." Ruo Zhen saw her rubbing her knee in pain, quickly releasing her hand, and half-kneeling in front of her, anxiously saying, "Let me take a look."
"Stand up!" Afraid of attracting attention with too much movement, Zhao Heng forced herself to smooth out the wrinkles in her skirt, stood up, and gritted her teeth, saying firmly, "I'm fine."
"Why are you here again?!"
In the middle of summer, Ruo Zhen was still dressed in Hu clothing, with a fox fur belt around his waist, not seeming to mind the heat. Leaning against the tree nonchalantly, he said, "Why did I come? I've been thinking about you day and night these past few days, couldn't even sleep at night."
Zhao Heng said, "Didn't I tell you not to come find me? I'll come to you when I've made up my mind!"
Ruo Zhen raised an eyebrow and said, "You think you can just stall until I leave for the Xiongnu tribe in a month? Do you want to delay..."
Before he could finish his sentence, he realized what he was about to say.
Ruo Zhen's expression changed, his tone turning harsh, "You think everything will be fine once I leave?"
Upon hearing his words, Zhao Heng felt suffocated. She wasn't that foolish. With someone like Ruo Zhen, if she didn't firmly grasp his weaknesses, he might turn around and bite her at any moment.
She couldn't leave such a hidden danger.
"The reason I haven't contacted you is that I haven't made up my mind yet," Zhao Heng said, "Be patient and give me some more time."
Ruo Zhen smirked, "Why hesitate? Men on our grasslands treat women so well, they let them do whatever they want, ride horses, dance, unlike you who are caged birds for life."
Zhao Heng sneered inwardly at his pompous words. He talked as if women were nothing more than livestock. She didn't want to entertain him, simply saying, "I'll come find you once I've made a decision. You should go now."
"You have to give me a deadline," Ruo Zhen leaned in close to her, his breath heavy, "Waiting too long can drive a person crazy."
Feeling his stale breath hit her face, Zhao Heng felt extremely disgusted. She turned her face away and said, "Fifteen days."
"I will give you an answer within fifteen days," she said coldly, "If you can't wait, go tell the Empress to put an end to me."
"I can't bear to see you die." Ruo Zhen seemed oblivious to how repulsive she was, moving closer to her again, smelling the faint fragrance on her, "I'll give you another fifteen days."
He didn't understand why she was delaying like this. Whether she agreed or not, they would both go to the Xiongnu tribe together, so what difference did it make?
In the end, she could only follow him.
Lian Zhou saw Ruo Zhen passing Zhao Heng through the Moon Gate from a distance, her voice trembling, "Niangniang, I, I will go to the Empress and plead for her to intervene."
Zhao Heng grabbed her wrist, even though it was midsummer, her hand felt cold.
"Do you want to die?" Zhao Heng asked her.
Lian Zhou's eyes blinked rapidly, trembling uncontrollably. She shook her head, "No."
The clouds hung low, and birds flew frantically in all directions. Zhao Heng looked at her silently, her fingers slightly tightening on the trunk of the jade hairpin tree, "I don't want to either."
"To survive, pretend you know nothing." Zhao Heng held her hand and turned away, pretending everything was fine, and continued walking towards the Beast Garden.
"But... he's too audacious!" Lian Zhou recalled the arrogant and disrespectful attitude of Ruo Zhen and couldn't help but feel shocked and fearful. This was the inner courtyard of the palace!
Zhao Heng patted her hand, soothing her in a soft voice, "It's okay, Lian Zhou. I already have a plan in place."
Her calm demeanor greatly reassured Lian Zhou's panic.
*
Perhaps due to the hot weather, there weren't many people in the Menagerie.
Passing by the courtyard from last time, Zhao Heng subconsciously looked inside, but didn't see that delicate figure.
Having witnessed many instances of bullying in the laundry room, she could guess what had happened that day.
Taking the golden wound medicine from Lian Zhou, she walked past the fence and entered the courtyard, placing the medicine on the windowsill.
In that instant, her gaze swept over the flowerpot below the window, and she looked intently for a moment. She unexpectedly broke a branch of the flower and replanted it in the pot, new leaves sprouting from the broken stem.
"Is the noble lady looking for Yueli?" a voice suddenly came from behind. Zhao Heng turned around to see an old man with white hair in her sight. The old man, about seventy or eighty years old, hunched over with a smile in his eyes, appeared to be a very amiable person.
His gaze rested on Zhao Heng's face, with a hint of surprise.
Shaking her head, Zhao Heng said, "No, last time I came here, I saw the owner of the house was injured, so I brought her some golden wound medicine."
Pausing for a moment, she asked, "Is her name Yueli?"
The old man smiled, "Yes, her name is indeed Yueli. She is currently at the horse ranch. Please wait here, I will go fetch her."
He walked to the eaves and brought out a dusty stool, rolling up his sleeves to wipe off the dust before offering it to Zhao Heng.
"No need." Zhao Heng politely refused with a smile. She had just come to take a look and it was okay if she didn't see the person. She said, "I just came to stroll around the Menagerie. If she's not here, thatâs fine."
She took the ointment from the windowsill and handed it to the old man, "Could you please give this to her?"
The old man grinned, revealing rows of teeth that had seen better days, and cheerfully said, "Since you're here to stroll in the garden, why don't you come with me to see Yueli training the horses."
Zhao Heng was surprised. Could she still train horses? She glanced at the sky, realizing it was still early, and said, "Alright, I've never seen horse training before."
The old man then led them towards the horse training yard.
In the horse training yard, Yueli rode on a horse, a fiery steed resisting control, fiercely fighting back. Its head made sudden charges, mane flying, front legs strong and powerful, leaping into the air, back legs kicking upwards, constantly moving and jumping. Yueli gripped the reins tightly, her hair flying as she sat on the horse, swaying with its movements.
She almost got thrown off the horse several times.
Zhao Heng gasped lightly.
The old man chuckled, "Don't be afraid, noble lady. Yueli has tamed even the most ferocious tigers before, the wildest horses listen obediently to her commands."
The old man's admiration shone through in his eyes as he looked at Yueli.
With a long leap, the horse jerked Yueli downward, but she managed to regain her balance by pressing down on the horse and flipping back onto the saddle. Her beautiful hair cascaded back down her back, glistening in the sunset.
"Beautiful!" Zhao Heng's tense posture relaxed as she realized she was sweating in nervousness. She smiled shyly and turned to the old man, "She's really amazing."
The old man nodded proudly, "Yueli is the best animal tamer I've ever trained. Any wild animal becomes obedient in her hands. Back when she was very beautiful, many noble hunters would catch fierce beasts during the autumn hunt and bring them to the Menagerie for her to train!"
Thinking about Yueli's half beautiful, half terrifying face, Zhao Heng turned to the old man, "Was her injury... acquired later?"
"Yes, it seems to have been about five or six years ago," the old man sighed, "That year, during a cold spring night, she sat by the fire for warmth and fell asleep. The fire licked the blankets, and she woke up to flames. She was unharmed, but her face was burnt, her throat damaged, and she could no longer speak."
"Yueli used to be a very cheerful child, but after that incident, I rarely saw her smile again." The old man continued, "She went through a lot - her face destroyed, her voice lost, her temperament changed. Those lowly beings constantly bullied her."
Zhao Heng couldn't help but recall the scene where the eunuch pressed her to the ground and kicked and beat her. She frowned slightly.
There is nothing new under the sun, and she had seen such things before in the laundry room.
"Master." A palace maid from the East Palace hurriedly found Zhao Heng. "His Highness has returned to the East Palace and was looking for you just now."
Zhao Heng was briefly taken aback. The Crown Prince had never actively sought her out before. Fearful that Li Wenjian had urgent matters to discuss, Zhao Heng did not dare to delay. After bidding farewell to the old man, she quickly left the Beasts Garden.
Before leaving, she took a look at the animals she had fed earlier. The monkey that had eaten the pastry was dozing off on a tree branch. However, it immediately woke up at the sound of footsteps and glanced at her.
Still no progress.
Suppressing her emotions, Zhao Hong continued to walk forward calmly. She needed to make a decision quickly as she had promised Ruo Zhen the answer within fifteen days.
Shortly after, Zhao Heng returned to the East Palace and learned that Li Wenjian was waiting for her in the Changqiu Palace.
She hurried inside and saw Li Wenjian standing with his hands behind his back, tinkering with Little Guai's feathers with a stick.
Little Guai rudely said, "Zhao Heng, you naughty thing!"
Li Wenjian frowned and poked Little Guai's back with the stick, causing it to jump around while cursing. Zhao Heng touched her forehead and approached, prepared to bow in respect. Li Wenjian held her arm, halting her movement.
When Little Guai saw Zhao Heng, it said, "Zhaoxun blessed auspicious."
Zhao Heng quickly had someone move Little Guai to the back hall and asked, "Your Highness, did you summon me for something?"
"Rushed back?" Li Wenjian looked at her sweaty appearance.
Zhao Heng replied, "I went to the Beasts Garden to watch them tame the horses. When I heard that Your Highness was looking for me, I hurried back."
Li Wenjian walked to a shelf with a wooden basin, dipped a towel in water, wrung it dry, and handed it to her. "Wipe the sweat off your face. There's no rush. Take your time next time."
Zhao Heng hesitated for a moment, then unexpectedly met Li Wenjian's gaze, before taking the towel from him and wiping the sweat off her face.
After cleaning up, as she was about to wring the towel, Li Wenjian reached out to her. "Give it to me."
Surprised, Zhao Heng hesitated. She didn't dare to hand over the dirty towel. Li Wenjian said again, "Don't touch cold water when you're hot, or you might get rheumatism in the future."
She had indeed heard the lame doctor say that before, but with her status, sometimes she didn't have to pay attention to such details.
Seeing Li Wenjian's insistence, she reluctantly handed the towel back to him. He washed it in the basin, wrung it dry, wiped his hands, and hung it on the shelf. The water dripped gently down into the basin, creating ripples.
"Mother Empress has arranged a marriage for Jun Ning and Zheng Qishu after the Mid-Autumn Festival." Li Wenjian said quietly.
Zhao Heng saw the loneliness in his eyes and the subtle furrow of his brow.
Marriages should be a joyous occasion for two families, but with the Third Princess and Xiao Zheng Hanlin's wedding being arranged under such circumstances, it must be difficult for those in the know.
A faint smile appeared on Zhao Hong's lips as she said to Li Wenjian, "I've heard Eight Princess talk about Zheng Hanlin before. I heard he's a perfect match for the Third Princess."
Li Wenjian thought of the two of them standing in front of the Empress Mother in the afternoon, their faces blushing with sweetness, and the heavy burden on his heart lightened a bit. He smiled at her, "They are indeed a perfect match."
"I may be particularly busy in the future." Li Wenjian looked at her and said, "The East Palace also needs to prepare a dowry for her. Can I entrust this matter to you?"
Zhao Heng was momentarily stunned, then lowered her head.
"I have never handled such matters before, Your Highness. Do you trust me to do it well?" Zhao Heng asked softly.
Li Wenjian was confident. On the one hand, he understood her meticulous and thorough thinking, always paying attention to details in whatever she did. On the other hand, she was diligent in learning and willing to seek advice, never feeling ashamed to ask when she didn't understand.
He said, "If I didn't trust you, I wouldn't have asked."
Zhao Heng smiled and nodded, "I will do it well."
I will not disappoint your trust.
*
The Third Princess had reached a suitable age for marriage, and the news of her wedding with Xiao Zheng Hanlin had been met with widespread praise. However, some wondered why the wedding was rushed. Betrothal negotiations started in June, and the wedding was set for August, leaving just over two months to complete the six traditional rites, which seemed a bit rushed.
Zhao Heng took out the embroidery purse she had promised Ning Wanzhi to make for Little Fourth Master. She had been busy with her studies and managed to steal some time each day to embroider a few stitches. Now, she had embroidered most of it and was close to finishing. Thinking ahead to the busy preparations for the Third Princess's wedding, she planned to stay up late tonight to finish it.
She sat by the window calmly working on the purse.
Ning Wanzhi said that Little Fourth Master was an upright, modest, and outstanding young gentleman, so she asked Zhao Heng to embroider bamboo patterns for him.
Bamboo symbolized a gentleman, and Little Fourth Master was seen as a humble and upright gentleman in Ning Wanzhi's eyes.
After finishing the last stitch, Zhao Heng put away her needle and thread, wrapped the purse in a handkerchief, and placed it in a box for Ning Wanzhi to have when she returned to the palace. Ning Wanzhi had gone to Jiangzhou with her father and would be back in a while.
She rubbed her sore wrists, then opened a drawer and took out a medical book to continue studying for a while. She had almost memorized this prescription, preparing the herbs and doses as specified, so why had she been failing repeatedly?
Was fate determined to keep her down in the mud?
As soon as this thought crossed her mind, she shook her head quickly, not allowing herself to entertain such ideas.
No one could keep her down in the mud. As long as she had breath, she would struggle and stand up.
After placing the book back in the drawer, Zhao Heng blew out the lamp in the room and lay down on the bed.
She was already very tired by this hour, yawning continuously, tears streaming down her face.
But she didn't sleep. She kept pinching her thighs hard with her hands, trying to stay awake.
She couldn't sleep yet. There was a suspicion in her heart, and today, she wanted to confirm whether her hunch was correct.
In the darkness, time seemed to stretch out endlessly, and she waited for what felt like an eternity, almost convinced that she had guessed wrong.
Suddenly, there was a rustling sound outside the corridor.
The controlled and steady footsteps, one after another, seemed to tread heavily on her heart.
She closed her eyes slightly, unable to contain the trembling.
Would it be as she had imagined?
The tense mood persisted until the door was gently pushed open.
Li Wenjian quietly entered the room, afraid to wake her, moving with gentle grace.
Slowly approaching the bedside, he pulled back the mosquito net to see her peaceful sleeping face. She seemed to be sleeping well tonight, with no signs of worry between her brows.
Time is the best medicine, he thought somewhat comforted.
He raised his hand to touch her neck, about to massage it, when he suddenly felt a warmth on his wrist.
It was Zhao Xuan's hand.
"Your Highness."
In the darkness, Zhao Heng's soft voice suddenly echoed.
Li Wenjian was momentarily taken aback, silent for a moment.
Then he chuckled lightly, not surprised that she had figured it out. She was so clever, nothing could escape her notice.
"How did you know it was me?"
"Besides Your Highness, no one cares about me." Zhao Heng let go of his hand, turning over and sitting up on the bed, her crimson dress pooling around her.
Li Wenjian breathed a sigh of relief, not feeling embarrassed about being caught.
Zhao Heng smiled, the moonlight making her appear even more gentle.
She reached for the back of her neck, saying softly, "Sometimes the back of my neck hurts."
His hand was still in hers, the soft warmth of her delicate hand holding his large one, as he asked, "Did I hurt you?"
"Yes!" Zhao Heng bit her lip. "But I donât blame Your Highness, you did it for my own good."
Finally releasing his hand, Zhao Heng half knelt on the bed, while Li Wenjian stood before her, his face obscured by the moonlight. She asked softly, "Did it start that night when Your Highness was injured?"
That night she had been attending to him in the Chengming Hall, only to wake up the next morning after a good night's sleep. She never overslept, but now slept until almost noon every day.
The first day she returned from the Chengming Hall, she had endured terrible nightmares. It was only after she had obtained some incense from Li Wenjian that her condition improved.
She had always thought it was the incense's doing, until recently when she ran out of incense and still slept deeply at night, she realized it had nothing to do with the incense.
On that night, Xiao Guai suddenly called her a "bad person." Since it had just been brought back from the Beast Garden, no one from there could have taught it to curse. So she suspected that someone had come while she was asleep.
That night, His Highness asked her if she had another nightmare, seeming to believe that she shouldnât have nightmares.
So many strange details led her to this conclusion.
Li Wenjian said, "That night you had nightmares and kept muttering, keeping up awake."
Looking up at the clean and gentle man standing before her, Zhao Heng's eyes gradually turned red as she watched him.
That night he was on the brink of death, gasping in pain with breath as weak as a flickering lamp in the wind. She couldn't imagine how he managed to get up, move to her bedside, help her fall asleep, and then grope his way back to his own bed.
Was his blood-stained nightshirt the result of her?
Was his silently contained gasps due to her?
If that night was because of her disturbing him with nightmares, then what about every peaceful night she slept after returning to the Longqiu Palace?
He was the revered and compassionate king, the splendid moon in the Nine Heavens; she was a lowly maidservant, a humble speck of dust in the mortal world.
Why did he treat her so well?
A tear unexpectedly fell down her cheek, rolling onto the back of his hand, the warm tear causing him to feel as though he had been branded.
"Why are you crying again?"
Li Wenjian gazed at her face, her delicate eyes seeming veiled in mountain mist, with water condensing, giving her irises a faint pinkish hue. There was a fragile porcelain-like beauty about her that made him unable to resist feeling compassion.
Though she didn't need anyone's pity, he couldn't help himself, he just couldn't help it.
âââ
Author's note:
Li Wenjian: Oh no, no more peeking at my wife while she sleeps.
Zhao Xuan: Please look at me openly and honestly.