Jerjer placed the hand warmer by The Empress Dowager's side, "Jiang pin sent another message, asking about the state of her imprisonment,"
"Only that? She didn't ask after Huaguang?"
A eunuch came forward with a folded note. Inside, Jiang pin lamented her treatment as a prisoner. She questioned how an Imperial Concubine could be treated like a criminal and dressed in rags. She even urged The Empress Dowager to do away with Xiang gui ren as quickly as possible now that The Emperor was away. The Empress Dowager threw the note in a nearby brazier.
"I regret ever promising that girl anything. Every word out of her mouth is more stupid than the last. Let her rot there for a little longer,"
"A report from Mulan came last night, Your Highness," said Jerjer, refilling her mistress' gold and jade hand warmer with hot coals, "No progress. When His Majesty isn't meeting with ministers or hunting, he keeps company with either The Empress or Shen huang gui fei,"
"Huang gui fei? She's slithered back into his bed? How?"
Jerjer nodded, "No one knows how. If he's not with either, he's inspecting gifts for Xiang gui ren. He's gathered so many they say he'll need a separate wagon for all of them alone,"
The Empress Dowager rolled her eyes, "I sent letters to all the clans to showcase their best to His Majesty. It was all for nothing,"
Jerjer sighed, "There's more bad news. His Majesty sent back Jiao gui ren,"
"What for?"
"His Majesty, the Mongolian concubines, and a few gêgê went on a rabbit hunting trip. Jiao gui ren felt that His Majesty was paying too much attention to one girl and shot an arrow at her. Because she was unharmed, His Majesty sent her back,"
"Idiot," muttered The Empress Dowager.
"Speaking of bad news, Sixth Prince has been in Xiang gui ren's care for a month now. How shall we treat this?"
The Empress Dowager loved all her grandchildren, but it was stupid not to pretend like some were more worthy than others. With a prisoner for a mother and The Empress with two legitimate sons of her own, Yiqiang wasn't worth paying much attention to. Reports said he was quick-witted but easily pushed around and left out. The Emperor hardly paid him much attention, so The Empress Dowager followed suit, just like everyone else in the Forbidden City. Even if The Empress Dowager were to use Yiqiang against Xiang gui ren, everyone thought so little of him that punishment would be light, if there were any at all.
"There's no harm in letting her keep him. She'll get sick of him like the rest,"
She picked up her teacup and paused. The set was brand new, a birthday gift.
Ah.
"Xiang gui ren's gift, wasn't her maid behind it?"
"Yes, Your Highness,"
"Her looks aren't terrible, are they?"
Jerjer paused, "Your Highness, are you thinking of making that girl a concubine?"
"Perhaps," The Empress Dowager replied, "If not her, one of Xiang gui ren's other maids. Nothing twists at a woman's heart like her dear maid slipping into her husband's bed. Look at Jin pin. If His Majesty still bothered with her, The Empress would lace her with just as much contraception as she did before,"
"All the maids here would jump at the chance to enter the back palace," said Jerjer, "But what if Xiang gui ren has no reaction?"
"Then at least I've found someone new for when Jiang pin finally pushes her luck too far,"
✺
Xiang gui ren had taken to calling Sixth Prince a little tiger, but in Jiayi's opinion, he was more of a feral cat than anything. Xiang gui ren was his benevolent master, feeding him the best foods and giving him nice clothes for Sixth Prince to hiss and twist away. Like the mean little cat he was, Sixth Prince didn't hesitate to wrap himself around Xiang gui ren or anyone else when he saw fit.
Like now.
"I don't like it,"
Yiqiang stared at the pug nestled in Xiang gui ren's arms from Jiayi's lap.
"When you said Royal Father was sending a dog, I thought it was going to be a mastiff or a shar pei or a bear!" he groused, "Not this ugly thing,"
"She's not ugly at all!" Said Xiang gui ren, "She's charming!"
The longer The Emperor was away at Mulan, the more gifts were delivered. Pelts, fabrics, necklaces, The Emperor sent it all. Along with stacks and stacks of letters, with one that mentioned that a canine companion would be sent along as well. Yiqiang had been particularly excited about.
Stolen novel; please report.
"How can this even be a guard dog," he said, poking a finger at it, "It's just one fat roll,"
The dog surged to her feet and let out a round of deafening screech-barks. Yiqiang scrambled back into Jiayi's arms.
Xiang gui ren ran a hand through the dog's silky black fur, "How fierce. I think I'll name her Thunder,"
Yiqiang stuck his tongue out at the dog, "I can't stay in here with that mangy dog. Jiayi, get my tiger kite and fish kite. We'll go to the Imperial Garden. It's windy today,"
"Didn't Prince Han tell you to be ready to spend the afternoon meditating in Dafuge after lunch?" Asked Jiayi.
Since Sixth Prince recovered, he hadn't enjoyed his studies like he used to. Without the scorn of the inhabitants of the Forbidden City, he detested staying inside.
Sixth Prince rolled his eyes, "Bolin!"
When the eunuch appeared, Sixth Prince asked, "Is Uncle here yet?"
Bolin shook his head.
"Time and tide wait for no man*," said Sixth Prince, "If he wanted to meditate with me so bad, he would've been on time,"
Xiang gui ren, who found the entire thing amusing, shooed them out, a roly-poly Thunder barking enthusiastically in agreement.
✺
Prince Han could Yiqiang's laughter ringing through the Imperial Garden.
"Little brat," he whispered under his breath.
What happened to the studious young man he used to encounter during his visits home? The one who quietly and diligently kept his head in a book and listened eagerly? Prince Han couldn't let this continue. Yiqiang didn't have the luxury of regaining favor as easily as Prince Han did. Yiqiang would need to prove that he could be an earnest and loyal servant to His Majesty if he wanted to get anywhere in this life. The odds of Xiang gui ren bothering with Yiqiang long term were low. When the inevitable happened, Yiqiang could only depend on himself.
"Do you see them?" He asked Sang'er.
"I think I see Sixth Prince's cape over there by that pond," said Sang'er.
Prince Han also saw a flash of red in the distance.
"My lord," said Sang'er, "Don't be so upset. Sixth Prince is a child,"
"He's not a child. He's a prince," Prince Han found himself repeating the exact words he said to Xiang gui ren weeks before. Redundant as it was, it was the truth.
"That one! That one!"
Prince Han watched as Yiqiang pointed to clusters of rocks and shrubs at the end of the pond. Jiayi was crouched at the edge of the pond as well, her warm skin of arms on display as she cupped her hands above the water. Before he could blink, Jiayi reached her hands inside and pulled out a fat, angry toad.
"This is so awful! Why did you want this ugly thing?"
"You're such a girl! Give it here!"
Yiqiang snatched the toad from Jiayi. The toad, furious from the manhandling, lobbed its sticky tongue right between his eyes.
Screaming, Yiqiang would've flailed straight into the pond if Jiayi didn't get a good grip on him.
"Sixth Prince," she said between laughs, "Are you alright?"
"Stop laughing at me," he whined, "It's not funny,"
Watching the scene, Prince Han wondered why odes to great beauties only ever mentioned pale skin and delicate bodies. Was it because talking about skin kissed by the sun would make women feel like they fell from the heavens? Would talking about solid shoulders and a firm body scare away the men who were never strong themselves?
How could anyone look at Jiayi and not feel compelled?
"Sixth Prince!"
Prince Han snapped out of his trance as Sang'er called over to Yiqiang. At the sight of him, Jiayi's face dropped. She rolled down her sleeves, ducking her head.
Yiqiang didn't look particularly happy to see Prince Han either.
"You," said Prince Han.
He stalked over to Yiqiang, only to be met with the top of Jiayi's head.
"Forgive me, my lord. I knew about your plans with Sixth Prince, but I took him out to play instead,"
A plain lie.
Even if Jiayi had a perfect poker face, Yiqiang's look of complete surprise would've spoiled it.
"Really?"
"Yes, my lord,"
Prince Han waited for Yiqiang to surge forward, tell the truth, and beg for Jiayi to be free. Instead, Yiqiang stood aside quietly.
"Fine then. Go back to Xiang gui ren. I'll ask her to withhold a month of your salary as punishment,"
The threat didn't seem to faze Jiayi at all. She bowed lower, "I thank you for your grace, my lord. I'll take my leave,"
Yiqiang stomped over to Prince Han when Jiayi left.
"You can't punish her. She didn't do anything!"
"Be grateful," replied Prince Han, "If she did this again while His Majesty was here, she would've been sent to the Office of Careful Punishment for her influence,"
"But she didn't–I didn't–nothing happened," Yiqiang said, "It's her birthday next week! How can you do this to her?"
"If you cared about Jiayi, you wouldn't behave like this. You're old enough to understand how your actions can affect people. Learn from this,"
"But,–"
"My lord," said Sang'er, "Shall we head to Dafuge?"
Yiqiang's eyes glittered with tears, "Whatever. Let's go,"
He skulked away.
"I wasn't too harsh with him," Prince Han said when Sang'er turned pitying eyes to him, "He needs to learn,"
Prince Han then spent a tense two hours at Dafuge praying for patience while Yiqiang glared at the back of his head. He was exhausted he returned Yiqiang back to Xiang gui ren. All he wanted to do was unwind in his room with a warm meal and a hot bath.
So it was incredibly curious that he ended up in the Treasure Pavilion instead.
'It's her birthday next week!'
In an effort to teach Yiqiang a lesson, Prince Han was a bit harsh on Jiayi. It would only be right to compensate her with a worthy birthday gift. Staring down at the trays of jewelry and hairpins the Treasure Pavilion servants pulled out, Prince Han realized he knew nothing about what kind of jewelry Jiayi would like. Day to day, Jiayi wasn't much of an adorned woman. Like most maids, she wore an assortment of velvet flowers in her hair, but she never bothered with things like earrings and bracelets. But did that mean she didn't like them?
"When maids come here, what sort of jewelry do they buy?" Asked Prince Han.
"The maids?" Echoed the eunuch, "One moment,"
The trays of glittering gold and jade were whisked away and replaced with a simpler, common fare of painted glass, copper, and clay. Prince Han hated it. Each piece was plainer than the last and incredibly cheap looking. He almost told the eunuch to take it back when a set of earrings caught his eye. Teardrop-shaped pieces of stormy blue glass dangled from a pair of copper hooks. They were striking. Imagining how they would look caressing the side of Jiayi's face made Prince Han pick them up.
The eunuch frowned, "These dew-drop earrings barely cost a few pieces of copper, my lord. Shall I bring back the other tray?"
A pair of dew drop earrings for a woman born in the dew month†. It almost fit too well.
Prince Han shook his head, "Put these in a decent box,"
"Would you like me to deliver this to Wei guniang, my lord?" Asked Sang'er as they made their way back to their palace.
Prince Han curled his hand tighter around the box.
"No. I'll do it myself,"
------------
*Chinese proverb, shi bu dai wo
†The phonetic name for the tenth month (between October 23– November 22)