Chapter 2- Zhao YiChen
After about fifteen minutes the carriage stopped. As the whole surrounding was blocked with not even a window opened, Qiu Chen couldn't understand where he was at. Soon the door of the carriage opened and a hand came in. Qiu Chen was wearing a red veil over his head, so he could only figure out that the hand was there to help him out of the carriage. He held the hand, it was callused like the hand is used to holding a sword on regular basis. The Fourth Prince, Zhao YiChen, Qiu Chen thought. Holding onto the hand he came down. The Prince took him all the way to the alter where the marriage was to be held. Without wasting anytime the wedding began.
"First bow, pay respect to the Heaven and Earth" Chief Eunuch shouted.
Qiu Chen and Zhao Yichen did accordingly.
"Second bow, pay respect to the parents" Chief Eunuch declared again.
The Emperor didn't come and only sent the Chief Eunuch. So the present "parents" were only Song Chaoxiang and his main wife. Qiu Chen and Zhao Yichen bowed to them. 'This is the last time I'm paying any respect to you, next time it will be you regretting' Qiu Chen said to the Duke Song and Madame Song in his heart.
"Third bow, husband and wife pay respect to each other."
As they did so, Qiu Chen felt it unreal. Was he really married? Did he just got married to someone who was not Qu Yi? Would Qu Yi be hurt if he knew? He should have. That man loved him way too much. He missed his man.
As Qiu Chen was lost in thought he was guided to the wedding chamber. The Prince attended the banquet by himself. According to Great Zhao rules, if the bride was a ger, he was not allowed in the wedding banquet as to keep safe distance from both male and female guests. So, Qiu Chen was alone in his wedding chamber. Normally there should be a maid with him. But the Song Jia was tough with him, and regarded the fourth prince as a cast-off-candidate-of-the-throne that they didn't even bother doing the minimum. Song RuZhen's mother entered the Song Jia with great wealth as her dowry. But the original owner didn't get any of it. The Song Jia just prepared a few bank notes and a few pieces of jewelry for him which was all worn on his body. They didn't even care about what other people might say about this. The Duke was powerful, the concubine borne son was not famous, and the prince was rumored to be not liked by the emperor. So the common people and other officials didn't bother care about these things. Qiu Chen just sat on the bed thinking about how he could make a deal with the prince. From the plot, the prince seemed to be a gentleman. He wouldn't touch him without consent, would he?
When Qiu chen was getting drowsy from waiting, the door was pushed open from the outside. He guessed that may be the prince returned. A silhouette stopped in front of him. Then his veil was raised. Qiu Chen looked down, not looking at the man. He was now the new bride to the prince, he had to act accordingly. And the man in front of him wasn't the man he loved, so he had no reason to act wistfully. After a few moments Qiu Chen got down from the bed.
"I have seen Wangye," he said cupping his hands.
"Let's drink the wine." Zhao Yichen said after a few moments of silence. He picked up two cups of heated wine and handed one to Qiu Chen.
Qiu Chen didn't want to follow this ritual as it requires close contact with the man but he had to. Zhao Yichen saw through his newly wedded bride's confusion. He thought Qiu Chen was afraid of him. But still crossed hands with him and drank the wine.
"You are tired, go to sleep" Qiu Chen was dumbfounded listening to the prince. Wasn't the ritual of ancient wedding was that the couple must consummate the marriage on the wedding night? Why was he asked to go to sleep? It's not that he wasn't happy to go to sleep, but he just found it weird.
Zhao Yichen didn't explain himself. He removed his wedding robe and went to sleep. Qiu Chen also followed the suit. But he didn't feel at ease lying beside an unknown man. He had the habit of sleeping in Qu Yi's arms. But there wasn't any Qu Yi here. He kept thinking about his previous life. As time passed by, he fell asleep. What didn't know was after he fell asleep, the sleeping man beside him opened his eyes and closed soon enough.
When Qiu Chen woke up in the morning, he subconsciously put his hand beside him in a haze. Sensing the place empty he suddenly woke up completely. He was now the Fourth Princess Consort of Great Zhao. He heard rustling sound of cloths and looked over. The Prince was putting on cloths by himself. He was astonished again. Weren't princes helped by maids while putting on cloths?
As if Zhao Yichen could hear his question, he answered, "I don't like other people touching me. If the Wangfei is awake, he should get himself prepared to go to the palace to pay respect to His Majesty. The maids are waiting outside."
With a signal of the prince's hand a row of maids entered the chamber. In the trays in their hands there were fine robes and jewelry and cosmetics. The Prince went out as soon as the maids came in. Qiu Chen also didn't like people touching him, especially women. So, after the maids put down the trays he dismissed them. He didn't want to dress up as gers usually do in this world. It's not like he is against men wearing make-up and jewelry, but it's really not his thing. And he got the perfect reason of doing so without going OOC. That was, he, as a neglected member of the Duke's household, was never used to these.
When Qiu Chen stepped outside the room after getting ready, the maids jaw dropped and the guards hurriedly looked down. No one could blame them. Yesterday they didn't see the new Wangfei's face, so didn't know how beautiful this person was. Even without dressing up deliberately, their new Wangfei could make a city fall. In actuality, the real Song RuZhen wasn't this beautiful. He was malnourished and sickly. But after Qiu Chen took over, he adjusted the body data. A maid came over and showed him the way. Qiu Chen guessed that she was taking him to the prince. He was right, only the prince was at the gate of the Prince's Manor standing with his horse. A beautiful carriage was standing beside them. This picture was so beautiful that Qiu Chen kept looking. The Prince felt a bit 'uneasy' under his wife's gaze, but his face didn't show anything. He just ordered the maid, "Help the Wangfei in the carriage."
Only then Qiu Chen's sense came back to himself. He understood that what he just did was impolite, and felt embarrassed. His face turned red from the turns of events and hurriedly got inside the carriage. Zhao Yichen didn't enter the carriage but rode the horse instead as he thought his newly wedded wife might be uncomfortable if he took the carriage, though he had some other reasons too.
As the carriage and horse duo proceeded down the road, it attracted the attention of people. Although the wedding ceremony held yesterday was low-key, it still was the marriage of a prince, so common people naturally knew about it. But Song Ruzhen was a transparent character and Duke Song's family didn't do anything extravagant, and moreover, the fourth prince was not in front of public's eyes and spent almost 10 years at the borders, as a result almost unknown to the people, so they were not a hot topic circulating around the street. This was another intention of Zhao Yichen, to make himself known to the people.
After around half an hour they reached the palace gate. Zhao Yichen dismounted from the horse, the coachman opened the carriage door, and the hand from yesterday appeared in front of Qiu Chen's eyes again. Qiu Chen grabbed the hand came down from the carriage. A young eunuch was waiting with a sedan chair at the gate.
The little eunuch bowed his head towards Zhao Yichen, "This little one has seen Wangye." Then he turned to Qiu Chen, "This little one has seen Wangfei." Qiu Chen nodded gently in response.
Zhao Yichen helped his wangfei into the sedan chair and told the little eunuch, "Lead the way." It's not like he didn't know the way, but it was the custom. The little eunuch bowed again and made a little hand gesture. While walking Zhao Yichen noticed that it was not the way to the Emperor's palace but to the imperial garden. He raised one eyebrow as wondered what his father emperor might be thinking to hold the formal meeting there.
Not long after they reached the imperial garden. Zhao Yichen helped Qiu Chen come down as usual. The emperor noticed it from the corner of his eyes, thoughts in his eyes unknown.
The couple walked to the pavilion where the emperor was seated. They both knelt down and touched their forehead on the ground.
"Long live Your Majesty."
"Long live Your Majesty."
The Emperor looked down at them. After a while he spoke slowly, "You may rise."
The couple stood up but kept their heads down. At this moment a few handmaids brought tea equipment and presented in front of Qiu Chen. Qiu Chen was a bit confused. He couldn't sit without the emperor's permission, and couldn't let the emperor wait. He kept his head down and thought what he should do.
The emperor made a hand signal to the chief eunuch and the chief eunuch spoke, "May Wangye and Wangfei be seated."
The couple sat down on the opposite sides of the pavilion. In front of Qiu Chen was the tea equipment. He never knew the tea art, but the original was trained to do these things. Though the Song Jia was not good to the original owner, he still had to take the classes from the masters, so he was well versed in the arts of a wife. So, Qiu Chen started making tea unhurriedly, or rather, more calmly than a regular newly wedded bride.
The emperor was looking leisurely at the person emerged in work. From the memory the original owner left behind, Qiu Chen knew that the emperor was actually judging him. After all, this was the person he himself selected for his son. But the original was too flattering to the emperor which made the emperor looked down on him. In the emperor's eyes he became his son's tool to use, not a partner. Qiu Chen had to make a favorable impression of himself in front of the emperor. He kept his face down as if concentrated on making tea, but a gentle smile hung on his lips.
After a while he got up and went in front of the emperor, a maid followed him with the tea he just made. Qiu Chen knelt down, took the tea from the maid's hand and presented in front of the emperor with both hands.
"Praying Father Emperor to accept Erchen's* tea" Qiu Chen said with slight smile in his voice his tone not that of talking to an emperor but to an elder of the family who needs some spoiling from the younger generation. (A/N: Erchen means son and official which princes normally used to refer to themselves, here Qiu Chen used it as he is the son-in-law of the emperor)
His tone made the fourth prince astonished. He never saw anyone talking to his father like this after his mother passed away, even the empress didn't dare. The maids hung their heads even lower. The maid closest, who just handed over the cup to Qiu Chen, had a sneering smile on her lips, but she put it away before anyone noticed her. But this didn't include Qiu Chen. He remembered the maid's face.
The Emperor looked at Qiu Chen as he accepted the tea, and nodded in approval. If his son's companion were someone who would be flustered easily and wouldn't even be able to read the environment and arrangement, then he wasn't suitable for a bigger picture.
After the emperor accepted the tea he started talking Zhao Yichen about the situation at the border. Qiu Chen went back to his seat. He sat in an elegant poised posture. After sometime he looked outside. There was a pond full of water lily. It looked beautiful, but baffled Qiu Chen. In an imperial garden there should be some elegant flower, not such a common flower. He didn't ask anything but looked at the flower with fascinated eyes. The emperor noticed and smiled to himself. After a while he told Zhao Yichen, "It's time to meet your mother. Come back here after you see her. Go back after you have your lunch."
The two got up, saluted the emperor and left. When they came outside the imperial garden the sedan wasn't there, even the little eunuch wasn't there. Only the maid from earlier stood with a tray of tea equipment in her hands. Zhao Yichen didn't even look at her or his wangfei, he just started walking towards a certain direction. Qiu Chen was a bit confused because of the prince's sudden attitude. He thought that he might me angry because of the people's negligence. He quietly followed him.
After a few minutes they arrived in front of a deserted palace. Qiu Chen knew from the original's memory that this was the palace of former Gui Fei, birth mother to the Fourth Prince Zhao Yichen. The original owner was highly superstitious about the dead. So, although he entered the palace, he was mostly afraid. This could mean that he disrespected the deceased. The prince's face was cold as always, not a faint hint of displeasure could be detected. But the emperor had eyes and ears all over the forbidden city. So, when he got to know about this matter his view on the original owner downgraded further ahead.
After entering the palace Qiu Chen took the tray from the maid's hand and dismissed her. The two entered. The palace was deprived of any living creature but not a peck of dust could be seen. It seemed like someone was taking care of this place with all their heart. After walking for a while they reached the chamber where the former concubine's memorial tablet was placed.
Qiu Chen went ahead on his own accord, knelt down, put the tray beside him, and then he touched the ground in front of him with his forehead. Zhao Yichen followed the suit. After Qiu Chen sat up straight, he offered the tea to the deceased. After that the two remained silent.
"Water lily was mother-concubine's favorite flower" Zhao Yichen suddenly spoke.
Qiu Chen understood it the response to the question he had in his mind not long ago. It seemed like the prince noticed him looking at the flowers.
"They are beautiful." Qiu Chen said. He could feel that Zhao Yichen's mood was low. But he could do nothing about it. To be honest, he knew nothing about comforting people. If it were the man he left behind, a simple hug could comfort the man. The man in front of him now is unknown to him. He still misses his man. He knew that that man was no eternal soul like him, and had no chance to be with him in future, but he still held that man on tip of his heart.
Suddenly a broad palm came in his vision. He didn't know when Zhao Yichen stood up and extended his hand to help him up. Qiu Chen took the hand and stood up. He followed the the man who was still holding his hand. Qiu Chen didn't feel as uncomfortable as he thought he would be. May be this man, though fierce, emitted an aura that said that he is reliable. As they reached the main gate of the palace the man released his hand. Qiu Chen was suddenly at a loss. He himself didn't know why.
When they returned to the imperial garden, the emperor wasn't there. The two sat down at their previous seat. The lunch was served immediately after. They imperial chef's delicacy was beyond comparison. Qiu Chen loved almost everything present in front of him. He was eating elegantly with relish. Suddenly a piece of shrimp appeared in his bowl. He took the shrimp and bit it. He was used to Qu Yi giving his food time to time. Wait, there is no Qu Yi here, he thought to himself. Qiu Chen looked up and saw the prince looking at him. Qiu Chen nodded to say thank you. He immediately looked down to his bowl. That man is still haunting me. He didn't see the man's eyes going dark as he looked down.
After lunch they immediately left the palace. Qiu Chen entered the carriage and Zhao Yichen mounted his horse. Qiu Chen was thinking about a lot of things. Such as he could guess why the original owner's guilt became his obsession. The prince was too tolerant to him. He could do whatever he wanted. But he took all those for granted. Not only he didn't help the prince but harmed him. Even when this man was exiled, he didn't blame the original. He was always understanding of him but the original owner didn't try to understand him even a little bit. This hit the original hard. Thus became his obsession. The prince deserved better, Qiu Chen agrees on that.
When they reached the prince's mansion, Qiu Chen was again helped descending from the carriage. The head butler of the mansion, Butler Wang was standing at the door to receive them. They entered the mansion but did not go to the main courtyard. The prince went to his study while Butler Wang guided Qiu Chen somewhere else. Qiu Chen looked at the man with a hunched back in front of him. Before being the head butler at the prince's mansion, this man used to be the head eunuch of Gui Fei's palace. He was someone watched the prince grow up. It could be saying without asking that he hated the original owner, but never acted out of line as it was the prince's intention. At present, the story hadn't progressed, so Butler Wang had no prejudice against him. He was still respectful to the new Wangfei.
When they reached their destination Qiu Chen saw it was a courtyard named "The Rising Moon Pavilion".
"This the courtyard made for the Wangfei. There are two more courtyards except for the main courtyard meant for two concubines to the prince. But they are empty now. New maids, servants and guards are already here for the Wangfei." Butler Wang explained as he hunched his back with a bowing head.
Qiu Chen nodded as he walked ahead. This arrangement was good for him. He didn't want to share a bed with the prince.
"Butler Wang, bring the records of household expenses. I will look at them." Qiu Chen ordered. This was his duty as the Wangfei. Even though he didn't accept the prince as his husband from his heart, he still should fulfill his duties towards him.
A little servant boy came running, "Greetings to the Wangfei. Chief Eunuch Zhou has come. He is currently having tea." Qiu Chen expected the Chief Eunuch a bit earlier than this. He went to the main hall to greet him.
"Zhou Gonggong*" Qiu Chen greeted the Chief Eunuch. (A/N: respectable address for palace eunuchs)
"Wangfei. Please accept His Majesty's meeting gift to the Wangfei." Chief Eunuch said handing over a large rectangle wrapped package. Qiu Chen Knelt down and accepted it.
"Erchen has accepted Father Emperor's gift." Qiu Chen said respectfully.
This attitude pleased Chief Eunuch Zhou. After chatting for a few minutes he left. During this whole time Zhao Yichen didn't come out. Qiu Chen also returned to his own courtyard. He unwrapped the package. It was a beautiful painting of water lily. Seems like the emperor approved of him. He asked a servant to hang it from the wall of his bed chamber.
The expense records were already delivered. Qiu Chen started going through them. He didn't even realise when the sun went down. He waved his hand and a maid came to receive the order.
"Tell the kitchen to prepare dinner, and send a message to Wangye that I have requested him to have dinner here." Qiu Chen said as he got up and tidied his robe. The maid retreated and went to follow the orders while Qiu Chen walked towards the inner chamber.
The original owner liked gloomy colored outfit. So the closet was full of them. But Qiu Chen liked light colored outfit. The dresses in the closet did not match his taste. So he called a servant in.
"Take these out. Do whatever you want to do with them. Prepare some clothing in white, light blue, light green and light pink." After saying what he had to say Qiu Chen dismissed the servant with a wave of his hand. Then he went out again, called a maid and asked her to give him some tea. The maid began preparing at once.
"What's your name?" Qiu Chen asked the maid.
"Little one is called Xiao Li" the maid answered respectfully.
"I see. From now on you will wait on me." Qiu Chen seemingly randomly made the girl his head maid servant. But it wasn't random. This girl was not a local to the capital but was rescued by Zhao Yichen at the border. She is extremely loyal to the prince and very unlikely to betray him.
After Qiu Chen finished the tea he inquired about the situation of the mansion from Xiao Li. When it was about time he sent her to invite the prince for dinner again. As the wangfei ha has to wait on his husband, moreover he has something to ask from the prince.
After about fifteen minutes Zhao Yichen came. Qiu Chen invited him in. As the two sat for dinner, Qiu Chen signaled the servants to bring the food. He tried to serve Zhao Yichen when the meal arrived.
"Let them serve. You eat with Ben Wang*." Zhao Yichen said, his tone flat. Even during the meal the similar scenario of Zhao Yichen putting something in Qiu Chen's bowl didn't repeat itself. Qiu Chen didn't know why he felt a little uncomfortable. His eyes downcast, he didn't even had the mood to eat anything. But he still ate. He can't appear rude in front of the prince. (A/N: This king, Princes used it to refer to themselves)
After the meal was finished, Zhao Yichen sat in front of Qiu Chen, "Do you have anything to ask from Ben Wang?"
"Asking for Wangye's permission to leave the mansion for some time tomorrow. I have to return to my natal house for the scheduled visit after marriage." Qiu Chen replied.
"Returning to natal house without your husband?" Zhao Yichen said in a gloomy tone.
Qiu Chen wasn't intimidated by him. "It would be the best if Wangye could return with me. But Song Jia doesn't respect my husband very much. I don't want Wangye to be in some awkward situation because of me. I have to return to get something from there."
"Do you want Ben Wang prepare some gifts for your parents?" Zhao Yichen's voice eased a lot.
"In that case, prepare the minimum. I didn't bring much for the dowry, and I shouldn't bring much for gift." Qiu Chen calmly replied.
Zhao Yichen looked at his Wangfei with deep eyes. "Butler Wang will accompany you tomorrow. No need to wait on me tomorrow morning. I will go to the barracks." With that the prince left.
Qiu Chen went to sleep after seeing Zhao Yichen off. Tomorrow is a big day for him, he must perform well.