The Black Chamber Dream: Daiyu's Revenge

His lips were like ripe cherries in spring, sweet and with an alluring fragrance. He sucked on them gently, filling his nose and body with their sweet aroma. She was unguarded with him. His nimble little tongue gently probed and opened the tightly closed front of his teeth. The intruder was gentle and patient, chasing and teasing that slightly cold, soft tongue.

Their lips met, their breaths mingled, and the temperature around them rose. He held his wife tightly, one hand on her slender waist, the other cradling her head, a surge of desire rising within him.

Daiyu was stunned. When she looked up, she saw her husband's trembling eyelashes and his straight nose, so close to her. She stood there blankly as he kissed and sucked her, not knowing how to react.

Xiao Tingjun certainly didn't want to stop, but the time and place were all wrong. Besides, he had something to say to Daiyu before he left, so he used all his strength to pull away from her lips and then looked down at her.

At this moment, his wife's lips were moist and translucent, like roses covered in morning dew, and her eyes were brimming with autumn water, full of tender affection. He couldn't help but think: No wonder the poet wrote the line, "From then on, the king no longer held court in the morning."

Burying his head in his wife's neck and taking a deep breath, Xiao Tingjun calmed himself for a moment before looking up to continue the serious matter: "This is a good job. My second brother and fourth brother have been vying for it for a long time. Father said that I did well in the Ministry of Works, so he's sending me. As for my fifth brother, he's still young, so he'll let him go out and broaden his horizons. There's really no need to worry."

This was in response to Daiyu's question earlier. Xiao Tingjun then added, "Besides, the Governor-General of Zhili is Consort Chen's uncle. He has a knack for managing local affairs. If Fifth Brother goes with us, he will definitely protect us well."

Daiyu was slightly relieved after hearing this. Since Consort Chen's uncle could become the Governor-General of Zhili, he must be a capable man. He wouldn't want any princes to get into trouble in his territory, especially two princes together, one of whom was his grand-nephew. If something happened to the other, even if it wasn't him, others would think that he was the one who did it.

"Then I'll quickly call a maid to help you pack your things." Daiyu felt a little embarrassed at this moment. Although they had been married for so long, it was broad daylight, and she felt even more that she had gone too far. Her peach-blossom face flushed with rouge.

Seeing his wife blush, Xiao Tingjun quickly pulled her aside: "I've pretty much packed everything up. You've had such a long day, and you've been frightened. I think we should call a royal physician."

Daiyu shook her head: "There's really no need for that. Just now at my aunt's place, my aunt invited the imperial physician to examine Miss Zuo's injuries, and also took the pulses of the princess and me. Although I was indeed frightened at the time, I've already calmed down."

As she spoke, she went to check what Xiao Tingjun had packed. His clothes were almost all prepared. Daiyu then said, "You should still bring some daily medicine with you. Also, you might get sick from the change in environment when you travel. Bring some tea and sachets. I brewed tea with the tea I brought from home on my way from Yangzhou to the capital, and it was very useful."

As she spoke, Daiyu called Zijuan and Xueyan over, and the two of them packed the items Daiyu had mentioned into Xiao Tingjun's luggage.

After finishing tidying up, Daiyu checked it twice more, and only felt relieved after confirming that nothing had been missed.

"Oh, I was so forgetful! I didn't even ask when you were leaving!" Daiyu suddenly remembered.

"We're leaving tomorrow, so I came back early today after finishing my shift to pack." Xiao Tingjun was actually back partly to pack his things, and partly because he was worried about his wife after hearing about the horse farm incident.

"So fast?" Daiyu couldn't help but widen her eyes.

"Actually, Father Emperor was talking about the Peach Blossom Flood half a month ago, but at the time I thought I was quite busy at the Ministry of War and probably wouldn't have time, so I didn't tell you. Second Brother and Fourth Brother are both very eager to do this. This assignment isn't important, and it will be a merit to come back after it's done. I didn't expect Father Emperor to send me directly." Xiao Tingjun himself hadn't tried to get the assignment.

"To be honest, I really didn't want to go." Xiao Tingjun said seriously. Daiyu thought he would analyze some reasons related to the court and why he didn't want to go, but when she listened carefully, she heard him say, "We haven't been apart since we got married, and I can't bear to leave."

Daiyu glared at him, but he grabbed her and kissed her again. This time, Daiyu dodged away: "Are you trying to kill yourself?"

"Yu'er, I've discovered that this is the only way you can curse." Xiao Tingjun was not angry at all; instead, he smiled.

Knowing his wife was easily embarrassed, Xiao Tingjun didn't tease her further and spoke seriously: "I've instructed the guards to protect the palace properly. You should also bring a few guards with you when you go to the palace or go out. I'm afraid this will only make my second and fourth brothers even more unhappy."

Daiyu nodded: "You can rest assured. The guards of the Prince's Mansion are highly skilled in martial arts. I usually go to the palace or to the Huatang Chunxiu, and I don't go to other places much. You don't need to worry about anything in the manor."

Daiyu again reminded Xiao Tingjun to be careful while he was away. The young couple's first separation after their marriage was naturally filled with reluctance.

That night, the incense lamp half-closed the tasseled curtains, and the candlelight cast shadows on the thin quilts and pillows. The swirl of the incense burner warmed the bed curtains, and the embroidered mandarin duck quilt rippled like red waves.

Chapter 138 Chunmei's Difficult Childbirth and Internal Strife in the Prince's Mansion

Xiao Tingjun and Xiao Tingzhao followed Tian Jingmin, the Minister of Works, to Zhili. Daiyu always felt that the Prince's Mansion was empty.

Perhaps it was because Xiao Tingjun had taken Zhao Bingxin and several of his confidants away that Daiyu stared blankly at the few green bamboo stalks outside the window.

This was something Xiao Tingjun had specially arranged for Daiyu: "Your Xiaoxiang Pavilion has bamboo, and besides, one can live without meat, but not without bamboo."

So she specially had it transplanted here, and watching the bamboo shadows sway, Daiyu recalled many old memories.

"Your Highness." Xueyan entered, and Daiyu came back to her senses.

"Have some tea and rest." Xueyan held up a tray with a famille rose covered bowl with a hundred bats design on it.

This bowl was taken out of the storeroom last year while I was tidying up. It is decorated with famille rose enamels, with a gold-painted line around the rim of the lid and a meander pattern. It is glazed white inside and out, and the lid and the outer wall of the bowl are decorated with cloud and bat patterns. The bowl is painted with colorful auspicious clouds in famille rose enamels, with a red bat on each cloud.

At the time, Xiao Tingjun jokingly said, "Our ancestors loved homophones. They folded red bats because 'red bat' sounds like 'great fortune,' which means 'great fortune beyond measure.'"

Seeing the objects reminded her of the person she loved, and even Daiyu herself couldn't help but shake her head.

After Daiyu had finished her tea, Xueyan whispered to her, "Last night, many imperial physicians rushed to the Prince Li's residence. I heard today that the concubine in the Prince Li's residence has miscarried."

What?! Daiyu almost dropped the covered bowl she was holding. Luckily, it didn't fall, otherwise she would have been heartbroken.

"What did you say?" Daiyu couldn't believe her ears. Although there were two incidents, such as her second sister-in-law's premature birth and Qiuwen's death after giving birth, Daiyu thought that the one in the Prince Li's mansion was already so many months along, so it should go smoothly.

"The child couldn't be saved, and I heard that the concubine almost died too, but fortunately the imperial physician saved her." Xueyan didn't know much about the details, only the general idea. "The princess has been seeing the prince off these past two days, so I'm afraid she hasn't been paying attention."

For some reason, Daiyu suddenly saw the scene of Qiuwen rushing out for help, when Qiuwen had gained a lot of weight.

Daiyu certainly remembered that concubine from the Prince Li's mansion, after all, she had served Consort Xu and was a palace maid in charge of the palace. Although Daiyu had entered the palace many times and hadn't spoken much, she had met her quite a few times.

Although Daiyu understood that this was a grand mansion, especially one connected to the imperial family, making it different from ordinary households, she still felt sad and didn't know whose sadness she should feel for.

In that instant, Daiyu remembered what Song Huilan had said to provoke her: "If we're talking about a good relationship, then it has to be Third Brother and Third Brother's wife. If Third Brother had a concubine, that would be an even greater boost to his power."

It's not surprising that a prince like Xiao Tingjun, a duke, would have concubines. Even his two maternal uncles in the Rongguo Mansion, the second one, had Concubine Zhao and Concubine Zhou, not to mention his eldest maternal uncle's other wives and concubines.

The thought that Xiao Tingjun would also have concubines and mistresses made Daiyu feel sad.

Seeing that the princess's expression seemed a little off, Xueyan quickly said, "It's all because I didn't know how to speak, and I made the princess sad."

Daiyu shook her head: "It has nothing to do with you. I just thought of some things myself. Never mind, there's no point in worrying about things that haven't happened yet."

Xueyan didn't understand what the princess meant by "things that didn't happen."

Zijuan came in as well: "The gatekeeper just said that Consort Xu from the palace has sent gifts to the Prince Li's residence, and there seem to be quite a lot of them."

It's obvious without even thinking that Consort Xu was expressing her dissatisfaction with her daughter-in-law, Ge Xijia, and the things she sent were naturally for Chunmei.

What Daiyu didn't expect was that the next day when she went to the palace to pay her respects to the Empress, she would run into Consort Xu.

Consort Xu deliberately went to the Empress's room to cry and complain: "Your Majesty, look at her! What can we do with her temper? Chunmei is just a concubine, and she's unhappy that she has a child. She's been scheming against them in every way possible. She's been married into the family for so long and hasn't conceived yet, so she can't blame anyone else."

The incident at the Prince Li's residence caused quite a stir. This was partly due to Ge Xijia's poor judgment, and partly due to Consort Wu and Prince Rui's residence keeping a close eye on the Prince Li's residence. Calling so many imperial physicians in the middle of the night made it hard for others not to know.

So the Empress naturally knew this as well. Seeing Consort Xu wiping away tears in front of her, she tried to comfort her, saying, "Young couples all go through this. They say you can't be a good father-in-law if you're not deaf and dumb. Consort Xu, try to relax."

In fact, her words already implied that she should stop interfering in the affairs of the children's household, but Xu Shufei was not happy about it. She always felt that her daughter-in-law was very arrogant in front of her because of her family background.

"Your Majesty, how could I not know this principle? But as you know, she made a grave mistake in the past, causing the Princess Consort of Rui to get into trouble. If it weren't for Your Majesty's skillful command and arrangements, we would have truly let them down." Consort Xu deliberately brought up the past. The reason she came to complain today was that she had heard that the Emperor seemed to genuinely intend to appoint concubines for the princes.

If I'm going to choose a concubine, I need to be more discerning this time. I can't just consider family background; the girl's character and education are even more important.

Just as Consort Xu was pondering these thoughts, news came from outside that the Princess Consort of Yi had come to pay her respects to the Empress. Consort Xu suddenly had a flash of inspiration: That's it! When choosing a concubine, she should find someone like the Princess Consort of Yi. She has no powerful background, so she's easy to please. She's also good at currying favor and will win the Emperor and Empress's favor.

So the first thing Daiyu heard after entering was what Consort Xu said.

"Your Majesty, look how filial the Princess Consort of Yi is. She comes to pay her respects to you whenever she has time, and she also brings you delicious food and fun things from time to time. Even that nine-section wolf, we concubines find it really cute."

Daiyu thought, it seems that Consort Xu's dissatisfaction with Ge Xijia is really quite strong.

Unfortunately, Daiyu also brought something for the Empress today. It was something the Empress had asked for beforehand: peach blossom paste and peach blossom cakes, nothing extraordinary.

Sure enough, when Consort Xu saw Daiyu's maid carrying a three-tiered sandalwood box with a carved lotus pattern, she knew it must be a gift again, and asked what it was.

Daiyu had no choice but to take it and open it. After seeing the small and cute peach blossom ointment, Consort Xu became even more dissatisfied with Ge Xijia: In the end, Princess Yi's tricks were nothing but petty tricks, while Ge Xijia knew nothing at all.

After tasting the peach blossom paste, Consort Xu took her leave.

The Empress rubbed her temples, feeling somewhat tired. Just then, the Imperial Household Department sent over rhinoceros horn, agate, and crystal as tribute from Burma. Granny Hu came to report, "His Majesty said that His Majesty instructed the Empress to distribute them as she sees fit. He also specifically said that some should be given to the princes' consorts as well."

Chapter 139 The Empress Reminds Jia Lan of His Visit

Seeing that the Empress had things to do, Daiyu got up to take her leave.

"No need to leave. You can learn from this. Don't underestimate this kind of thing. Distributing things in the harem is a complex art." The Empress was determined to teach Daiyu. "Whether someone has more or less, the items themselves are small matters, but they have great significance."

The Empress then instructed the palace maids to bring in rhinoceros horn, agate, and crystal, all packed in small boxes. There were two boxes of rhinoceros horn, five boxes of agate, and eight boxes of crystal in total.

The Empress smiled and asked Daiyu, "If it were you, how would you divide it?"

Daiyu mentally counted the number of people in the Emperor's harem: the Empress, Consort Wu, Consort Xu, Consort Xiande, Consort Zhou, Consort Lu, Consort Cheng, and Consort Guo. The Empress was the most respected, followed by the four consorts. Consort Lu had six princes, so her rank was somewhat different. But surely she couldn't just take out the gifts that were sent, count them, and then distribute them?

Seeing that Daiyu seemed troubled, the Empress slowly explained to her, "The rhinoceros horn has the effect of warding off evil and poison, while agate symbolizes good fortune and wealth. Therefore, one box of rhinoceros horn will be given to the Imperial Concubine, and one box of rhinoceros horn will be given to Consort Xu. Two boxes of agate will be given to Consort Xiande, and two boxes to Consort Zhou. One box of agate and one box of crystal will be given to Consort Lu, and Consort Cheng and Consort Guo will each receive two boxes of crystal. The remaining three boxes of crystal will be given to the three princesses of the three princes, one box each."

Seeing that the Empress made a decision so quickly, and that it was based on the order of the concubines' ranks, Daiyu thought it was reasonable.

"If it's divided like this, won't Mother have nothing left?" Daiyu thought for a while and decided to ask.

"I was afraid you wouldn't ask, but it's good that you did." The Empress nodded with satisfaction. "If His Majesty felt it necessary to give me these things, he would naturally distribute them himself. The reason he's having me distribute them is simply because he thinks the items are ordinary, and also to give me an opportunity to establish my authority in the inner palace. Naturally, I should be fair in my dealings, don't you think?"

Daiyu nodded and listened attentively.

"You'll have plenty to learn in the future," the Empress advised Daiyu, then inquired about the horse farm.

Daiyu was somewhat surprised that even the Empress knew about the horse farm incident, but then she thought it was normal: if the Empress couldn't hear everything, she probably wouldn't be able to keep everything perfectly secret.

After listening to Daiyu's story, the Empress first sighed, "Fortunately, the young princess was not injured. Otherwise, even if the eldest princess did not blame you, there would still be some rift between you in the future. However, I must thank Miss Zuo. In my opinion, she is a person with an upright heart."

Then, the Empress instructed Granny Hu: "Find the jade tiger-shaped pendant with red patina and the white jade gourd-shaped pendant with five auspicious symbols, and send them to Miss Zuo."

After receiving the order, Hu Mama went to carry out the task. The Empress then asked about Xiao Tingjun's business trip. After listening to Daiyu's detailed explanation, she nodded and said, "You did a very good job. Go back and rest."

Before Daiyu could even leave, a palace maid came to report the good news to the Empress: "Consort Chongyi has just been diagnosed with pregnancy, and she's been pregnant for over two months."

The Empress naturally showed concern, so Daiyu withdrew.

Upon returning to the Prince's residence, Daiyu was surprised to find that Granny Xu had rushed forward to announce the arrival of Princess Anping. Having not received prior notification from the Princess's residence, Daiyu hurried inside.

At this moment, Xueyan and Chunyu were playing with the princess in the courtyard. It was a game the little princess always liked, jumping rope. Seeing that Gao Xin was not bothered by the horse farm incident at all, Daiyu was completely relieved.

“Aunt, I heard from Grandmother that Uncle went out. Shall I come and keep you company?” Seeing Daiyu return, Gao Xin stopped jumping rope, came up with a smile, and greeted Daiyu very politely.

"Sure, I'd be happy to." Ever since Xiao Tingjun left, Daiyu had felt that the house was too quiet. Now that a little girl had come, it seemed that there was a lot more laughter and joy.

If Gao Xin's arrival was unexpected but also reasonable for Daiyu, then the arrival of the Sixth Prince with Jia Lan and Li Ke was even more surprising to Daiyu.

When Xiao Tingjun was at home, he brought the Sixth Prince to the Prince Yi's Mansion a few times. The Sixth Prince, Xiao Tingyu, also expressed his liking for the dishes and snacks at the Prince Yi's Mansion.

But this was the first time the Sixth Prince had come uninvited.

Xiao Tingyu was very courteous when he arrived. After greeting Daiyu, he said, "I heard from my mother that my third sister-in-law sent peach blossom cakes to the Empress Dowager. They are very delicious. I would like to try them."

Just to eat? Daiyu, of course, generously invited them to sit down and asked Zijuan to fetch some snacks, and also brought over some peach blossom soup.

“I heard from my father that my third brother has the original copy of the ‘Draft of a Eulogy for My Nephew’ here. I would like to borrow it to take a look,” Xiao Tingyu said.

Oh, so you came for the calligraphy scrolls. That makes sense. Daiyu nodded: "Alright, I'll go get them after you've eaten."

Gao Xin, who was unfamiliar with "Draft of a Eulogy for My Nephew," asked, "Is it Han Yu's eulogy for my nephew, Twelfth Brother?"

“No, it’s Yan Zhenqing’s ‘Draft of a Eulogy for My Nephew Ji Ming’. Father said my handwriting is not good and made me practice Yan’s style.” Xiao Tingyu frowned and said dejectedly, “Father praised that my third brother’s handwriting is the best among my brothers. Father also said that my third sister-in-law’s handwriting is also very good.”

Two days ago, the Emperor reviewed Xiao Tingyu's homework and pointed out his shortcomings on the spot. Xiao Tingyu was somewhat resentful, but he also knew that his father was telling the truth.