The heavy weight on Jaiyi’s chest had little to do with her cold. A few days ago, Molan slipped into her bedroom and told her the news.
The Emperor was releasing Jiang pin.
The maid who poisoned Xiang gui ren made a decent effort to escape, hiding in a commode cart exiting the city. An eagle-eyed visitor noticed the eunuch’s strange behavior and implored a nearby guard to investigate. The Emperor was so grateful that he offered the visitor a reward. The visitor just happened to be Jiang pin’s cousin. He asked that she be rewarded in his stead. The cousin had asked for this reward publicly, so The Emperor couldn’t deny it, lest he look fickle.
Jiayi clenched the blankets around her shoulders. It was too convenient. But what could Jiayi say about it? Everyone would assume that Jiang pin was blessed. Everything Xiang gui ren did to lock Jiang pin away was going down the drain. And after her arrest, Jiang pin probably wouldn't waste any time getting revenge. Luckily, they would be on an even playing ground again after the new year thanks to Xiang gui ren’s promotion. As happy as she was for her mistress, the promotion ceremony tied Jiayi’s stomach in knots.
The Emperor cared very much about blessings and never promoted one person at a time, be it a minister or a concubine, which meant that Xiang gui ren wouldn’t be alone. Jiayi didn’t have to be a scholar to know that The Empress Dowager would try to tack her onto the list. She mentioned it to Xiang gui ren, but her mistress wasn’t worried at all.
“We’ll have to work together,” said Xiang gui ren, “I’ll gently persuade His Majesty away from the idea, but it won’t do much if he doesn’t think about you. You must make him hate you as much as you hate him,”
“I don’t–”
Xiang gui ren held up a hand, “As much as I love His Majesty, I would be as stupid as everyone thinks I am to ask you to love him as well,”
Xiang gui ren’s advice was sound, but Jiayi was at a loss on how to hold up her end. If she went too far, The Emperor would simply execute her; if she didn’t go far enough, she’d get a royal edict very soon.
What could she do to ruin herself in The Emperor’s eyes?
“Jiayi,”
Jiayi sat up on the bed and looked around the empty room.
“Jaiyi!” The voice hissed again, “Over here,”
The voice was coming from the window by her bed. Jiayi picked up the pole they used to prop the windows open and crept closer. Who was it? No one could be foolish enough to try to attack Xiang gui ren so soon after the first attempt, right?
She cracked the window and peered down.
“Who is it?” She asked.
“After all this time, you still can’t tell?”
Jiayi lowered the stick, “Prince Han?” She pushed the window open in full.
“Take this,”
He pressed a bucket of deep black charcoal into her hander before climbing through. Prince Han dusted the snow off of his shoulders.
“My lord, what are you doing here? What if someone sees you?”
“Don’t worry,” he replied, taking the coal from her, “I seemed to have lost my jinbu* around here during the commotion. Sang’er is outside in the hall looking for it,”
Prince Han opened the softly smoldering brazier near Jiayi’s bed. As he grabbed the tongs to top it off with the charcoal he brought, Jiayi stopped him.
“Is that hong lou tan?† My lord, you can’t! His Majesty wouldn’t even bend the rules for Xiang gui ren. If someone finds out–“
Prince Han smiled, “Finds out what? That I rewarded Yiqiang’s favorite maid with coals to keep her warm?" he snorted, "I'd like to see what they'd do. Why are you standing around in your state? Get back in bed,"
Jiayi sat back down and curled her blankets over her shoulders. The afternoon light slanted into the room and warmed Prince Han’s skin in a way that should only be reserved for a God. His eyebrows furrowed delicately as he fussed with the coals. Looking at him now, Jiayi realized that the delicate dip in Prince Han’s upper lip matched The Emperor’s exactly. Thoughts of The Empress Dowager’s intentions returned to her and chilled her more than the breeze coming from the opened window.
A hand on her shoulder startled her. Prince Han’s face was closer to hers than it had ever been as he leaned down to look at her.
“Are you cold?” He pulled the window closed, “Better?”
Before Jiayi could make herself answer him, Prince Han grabbed her hands. His calloused fingers caressed her skin.
“You’re still freezing,” He said.
Jiayi reluctantly pulled her fingers away and hid them under her blanket. She shook her head, “It’s just my cold,”
Prince Han tucked his hands behind his back, “Right. Did the Imperial Hospital send new medication for you?”
“Yes. Xiang gui ren is getting better every day,”
“What about you? How good is the medicine if you’re still so sick? Was His Majesty not clear enough to send Chengqiangong the best medicine? How are they still so neglectful?”
To see Prince Han become so passionate on her behalf did something to Jiayi that she didn’t dare dwell on.
“Rest assured, my lord, I feel much better than before,”
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“That’s good. Hurry up and get well, then. If Yiqiang complains about not playing with you any louder, my ears will bleed,”
Jiayi smiled, “I’ll do my best, my lord,”
“This servant wishes Her Highness De gui fei peace!”
Jiayi’s head snapped to the door where Sang’er’s voice boomed through. De gui fei was right outside. Prince Han shot an equally panicked look at Jiayi before wrenching the window open. Jiayi held his waist as he lifted a leg over the windowsill. As his legs hit the ground, the bedroom door opened.
“What are you doing?”
Jaiyi turned and greeted De gui fei, “It was a little warm, Your Highness,”
Jiayi shut the window and crawled back into bed. De gui fei’s maid brought a chair to Jiayi’s bedside, and she took a seat. The black silks of her clothes made her look especially severe. The silver and gold butterfly embroidery and white fur didn’t do a thing to soften her.
“The Empress Dowager sent this to you,”
De gui fei’s maid placed a gold and kingfisher phoenix hairpin on the bedside table.
Jiayi's mouth dried at the sight of it. A phoenix? For her? If The Empress found out about this...
“What,” De gui fei said, “You don’t like it?”
“The Empress Dowager is very generous. A lowly person like me–”
“Enough. Meimei might believe this little act you’ve put on, but like I said, I’ve tired of it,”
“Your Highness, I don’t know what you mean,”
De gui fei rose, “I’ve been in this place longer than you’ve been alive. Don’t think having The Empress Dowager at your back will give you a leg up. Meimei may tolerate a maid that crawls into The Emperor’s bed, but I won’t.”
✺
Prince Han was becoming a problem.
Shen huang gui fei never really paid attention to him when she married His Majesty all those years ago. He was a bastard child that The Empress forced His Majesty to take in. She was polite to him because His Majesty favored him as a firstborn son. Now, she was kicking herself for not cajoling him to her side all those years ago. Now, he was The Empress’ perfect little soldier. When he spoke on behalf of Xiang gui ren’s maid, Shen huang gui fei thought him an annoyance.
Now, he needed to be put down.
The Empress Dowager was more than receptive to her suggestion after she’d finished berating Shen huang gui fei for allowing Xiang gui ren to be promoted at all. The Empress Dowager was right; Shen huang gui fei had been sloppy, but she couldn’t help it. The Empress had twisted the knife this time. Her life was emptier than it had ever been without Huabao. She spent her days thinking about Huabao and her nights shaking at the thought of never seeing her only child in the flesh again. How was she faring the Mongolian winter? Was she treated like a princess of the Great Qing? Could her delicate stomach tolerate their barbaric food? Shen huang gui fei was unmoored and at sea without her daughter. It had taken her so long to be a mother, and Shen huang gui fei wasn’t sure she would become one again at her age.
And yet, that whore plucked a child out of the gutter and became an Imperial Concubine from it. It made her want to rip off her skin when The Emperor praised and bragged about what a good mother Xiang gui ren was. And how deep the mother-son bond was between her and Yiqiang. It was unfair. Shen huang gui fei bled and cried for each and every child just to have her only one abounded in the wilderness. But Xiang gui ren is handed one, a son no less, by flashing a smile. Shen haung gui fei wanted to wrap her hands around that woman’s neck and squeeze. The Emperor was so enamored with her that he just brushed off the rumors Shen huang gui fei had sprinkled throughout the Forbidden City. It was madness. She couldn’t think of it any longer.
“Jingse, bring my cape. I want to stroll in the Imperial garden,”
Jingse looked up from the brazier she was tending, “Your Highness, there was heavy snow last night. It wouldn’t be safe for the eunuchs to carry you there,”
“I’ll walk,”
“Your Highness–”
Shen huang fei glared at her to stop her prattling.
Jingse returned with her heaviest fur-lined cape while A’Fang pressed a hand warmer into her palms. The streets were deserted of even the servants when Shen huang gui fei stepped out. It was for the best. She wasn’t in the mood to make small talk.
When the only sound for quite some time was the crunching of the snow beneath their feet, Jingse looked up at her.
“Your Highness, is something wrong?”
“The garden and my palace have so much in common these days. Both are empty,”
“We’ll find a way to bring First Princess back, Your Highness,” said Jingse.
“The Empress can’t keep her away from you forever now that you have Jiang pin to assist you again,” said A’Fang, “And An pin,”
Jingse snorted, “An pin. What good is that thing? Her Highness only keeps her around to make amends,”
“What amends?” Said A’Fang, “An pin shouldn’t have been so greedy during her pregnancy. That’s what she gets for eating the food Her Highness prepared for Mu pin,”
“Enough,” said Shen huang gui fei, “Speak like that again, and I’ll have you flogged,”
✺
An pin held her breath as Shen huang gui fei walked away. She pressed her hand to her stomach. Perhaps she had gone crazy. Perhaps she was hearing things. It couldn’t be true.
“It’s strange,” An chang zai said, rubbing her swollen belly, “He’s not moving as much as he used to,”
“Don’t worry, meimei, “Mu pin said, placing a few pieces of shrimp and pork on her plate, “He’s just running out of space,”
“Have some tea, meimei,” said Jiang gui ren.
An pin remembered the flavor of Mu pin’s food all these years later. It was unique, and no matter how much silver she gave the chefs, no one could replicate it.
“It hurts!”
An chang zai screamed as another contraction tore through her. She was so, so tired. Why wasn’t the baby coming? Why was it taking so long?
“I can’t do it, I can’t,”
Shen huang gui fei wiped her sweat, “You can meimei, just a little more! Momo, how much longer?”
“A few more pushes, Your Highness,”
A miserable tear slid down An pin’s face.
With one final push that burned more than hell ever would, An chang zai knew it was over. Her baby was born. She laughed happily.
“Let me see him,”
She then noticed the silence in the room. She grabbed Shen huang gui fei’s hand, “He’s so quiet. Why isn’t he crying?”
“…Meimei…he,”
An chang zai pursed her lips and sat up.
“Let me see him,” she whispered.
The momo frowned, her eyes sad, “My lady. You are young. You’ll have many more children. Don’t fret and worsen your health,”
The momo could’ve sliced her stomach open. It would’ve been kinder than those words.
An chang zai opened her shaking arms. Her son was wrapped in a dark blue blanket, making his bloodless body even more stark. He had her lips and His Majesty’s stern brow. He was small, smaller than a newborn baby ought to be.
And still.
She turned to Shen huang gui fei, tears in her eyes, “Isn’t he handsome, Your Highness?”
Weiwei wiped the tears from An pin’s eyes, “Your Highness…”
An pin didn’t know how to categorize the feelings screeching in her head. She wanted to laugh. She wanted to scream. She wanted to slit Shen huang gui fei’s throat.
Instead, she slid to the ground and sobbed.
When the tears finished, An pin felt like the dead branches above her, empty and dry. She wobbled to her feet.
“Your Highness, are you alright?” Weiwei rubbed An pin’s arms through her cape and blew warm air on her frigid fingers.
“Yes,” said An pin, her mind whirling, “I’m fine now,”
“Really?”
An pin nodded, “Let’s head back,”
Weiwei still looked worried but helped her mistress back onto the main roads.
Shen huang gui fei thought no more of An pin than she would think of a stray dog on the street. Something to make loyal with a few scraps and toss in the river when you finish.
Poor Shen huang gui forgot a cardinal rule.
When a loyal dog goes mad, it bites.
–––––
*Hanging waist accessory made of jade
†Luxury charcoal allocated to women titled imperial concubine and above. Technically could be granted to anyone of high favor or owned by anyone who could afford it