Chapter 339: Returning to the Palace at Night, Shadows Floating
The vermilion lacquered gate of Prince Rong's Mansion glowed a subdued red in the twilight. The palace lanterns hanging under the eaves swayed gently in the evening breeze, illuminating the four large gilded characters "Prince Rong's Mansion" in flickering light.
“Whoa—”
The carriage stopped steadily in front of the door. Little Dengzi jumped out first, swiftly lowering the footrest and reaching out to lift the curtain with his usual smile on his face. "Princess, we're here."
The carriage curtain was lifted by a hand wearing a silver-studded jade bracelet, and Xiaoyanzi poked her head out first. She was wearing a moon-white soft satin cheongsam embroidered with magnolia flowers. The hem of her skirt was slightly wrinkled by the carriage seat, and the pearl tassels inserted diagonally on her hair swayed gently with her movements. She caught a glimpse of the doorman, Old Zhang, standing on tiptoe, looking around, and laughed loudly, "Uncle Zhang, what are you looking at? We're back!"
Old Zhang quickly bowed, a smile on his face: "Greetings to the princess! I see it's getting late, and I've been waiting for you."
As soon as Little Swallow landed, she heard Little Zhuozi's clamoring voice behind her: "Hey, we're finally here! Little Mosquito, you just stepped on my foot in the carriage, and we haven't even settled that yet!"
"Who stepped on you? It was the carriage shaking!" Little Mosquito got out of the carriage, still clutching a half-eaten piece of osmanthus cake in his hand, with some crumbs on the corner of his mouth. "Besides, if you hadn't insisted on taking my mung bean cake, would I have been able to hide over there?"
"I'm helping you taste whether it's sweet or not!"
"Bah, you're just greedy!"
The two of them were bickering back and forth. Little Bug was holding a bulging cloth bag beside them. Inside was a sugar painting that Little Swallow had brought back from outside the palace. He was afraid it would be crushed, so he hunched his shoulders and said, "Alright, alright. If you keep arguing, the prince will come out to see you."
Xiaoyanzi turned around and glared at them, but there was no anger in her eyes: "Quiet down! This is the gate of the palace, don't you think we are in Shufangzhai?" Having said that, she couldn't help laughing - with these four lively guys around, even the most boring day could still make some noise.
As they were talking, footsteps were heard from the mansion, and Yongqi, dressed in a dark blue suit, came out to greet them. His sleeves were rolled up, revealing a fair wrist, and it was obvious that he had just finished attending to some business in the study. Seeing Xiaoyanzi, the calmness in his eyes immediately warmed up, and he walked quickly forward: "Are you back? Were you tired from the journey?"
"Not tired!" Xiaoyanzi looked up at him, her eyes sparkling. "I brought you something good, the beggar's chicken from the shop in the south of the city, it's hot!" As she spoke, she was about to lift the food box in the carriage, but Yongqi gently grabbed her wrist.
"Don't worry." Yongqi stroked the back of her hand with his thumb, his eyes sweeping over her slightly messy hair. He reached out to straighten the crooked pearl tassel for her, and lowered his voice, "The old Buddha...didn't say anything, right?"
Xiaoyanzi's smile faded and she shook her head. "What else can I say? It's just asking me to keep an eye on Rui'er and Xin'er and not let them run around the palace. Oh, by the way," she suddenly leaned closer, lowering her voice, "I saw Zhihua in the Cining Palace. The Empress Dowager praised the stitching on her embroidered handkerchief, and the way she looked at me, tsk tsk, was as if she had been frozen."
Yongqi's brows knitted slightly, and he let go of her hand. He then took the cloth bag from Xiao Chongzi and said, "Ignore her. Where are the children?"
"She's following the wet nurse." Xiaoyanzi looked back and saw two wet nurses each holding a swaddling cloth. Mianrui was in the wet nurse's arms, looking around with his black eyes open, but Mianxin had fallen asleep, his little face flushed and a smile on the corner of his mouth.
"Come in quickly, it's cold at night." Yongqi put his arm around her shoulders and walked towards the mansion. Xiao Dengzi and the others followed behind tactfully, carrying food boxes and bags in their hands, and walking very lightly.
Walking through the corridor in the front yard, the lanterns hanging below cast long shadows on everyone. The evening breeze carried the fragrance of osmanthus flowers. Xiaoyanzi took a deep breath and suddenly stopped. "Yongqi, smell it, are the osmanthus flowers in our garden blooming?"
Yongqi followed her gaze and saw that beside the moon-shaped gate in the west courtyard, several osmanthus trees were indeed covered with tiny golden stamens. He was about to reply when he saw the corner gate of the west courtyard creak open a crack. A figure shone behind the door and quickly retreated.
"Who is it?" The sharp-eyed little mosquito pointed at the corner door and shouted.
Little Dengzi immediately became nervous and reached out to touch the short stick at his waist - this was specially given to them by Emperor Qianlong, who said it was to "protect the princess and the young master."
"Don't make a fuss." Xiaoyanzi held his hand, a hint of understanding flashing in her eyes, "It's probably the maid from the west courtyard who came out to get some fresh air." She said this, but her heart was as clear as a mirror - who else could be peeping from behind the corner door at this time except Zhihua?
Yongqi's face darkened. He held Xiaoyanzi in his arms and continued walking forward. His voice grew colder, "From now on, do not let servants wander around the courtyard at will. Pass it on that no one in each courtyard can leave their own courtyard until after the hour of Mao and before the hour of You."
"Yes!" The butler following behind responded quickly, with sweat oozing out of his forehead.
Entering the east courtyard, warmth enveloped them instantly. In the main room, a silver charcoal fire lit a cozy warmth. The nurse carried Mianrui and Mianxin to their cribs in the inner room and gently tucked them in with a blanket.
Xiaoyanzi took off the cape outside her cheongsam and handed it to the maid beside her. She turned around and opened the food box: "Hurry and try it. I specially asked the boss to add extra lotus leaves. It smells delicious!"
Yongqi watched her busy figure, the palace lantern on the table casting a soft light on her profile. The pearl tassels on her temples dangled from her neck, swaying gently with her movements. He walked over and hugged her from behind, resting his chin on the top of her head, and said in a muffled voice, "Did you feel wronged by the old lady today?"
The chicken leg in Xiaoyanzi's hand almost fell on the table. She turned around, still chewing the meat in her mouth, and said vaguely: "No. The Empress Dowager just muttered a few words, but didn't punish me. Besides, who am I? Princess Huanzhu, Princess Rong, what's this little wind and wave?" As she spoke, she patted her chest with her dry hands, but her eyes were a little wandering.
Yongqi could see that she was holding on. He reached out and wiped the oil stains from the corners of her mouth. When his fingertips brushed across her cheek, he felt a hint of coolness. He sighed, "I didn't handle Zhihua's matter properly."
"It has nothing to do with you." Xiaoyanzi pushed his hand away and stuffed another chicken drumstick into his hand. "She's just idle. She'll be fine once she's busy. By the way, Xiao Jian sent some new tea from Jiangnan. I'll bring it over tomorrow for you to try."
Yongqi tightened his grip on the chicken drumstick, and his Adam's apple moved as he recalled the argument from the day before. "Okay, it's just as well that I haven't seen Big Brother for a while."
Xiaoyanzi looked up at him and saw that he looked calm. The awkwardness in her eyes immediately disappeared. She couldn't help but smile and said, "You are sensible."
As the two were talking, there was a sudden "bang" sound outside the window, as if something had fallen to the ground.
Xiao Zhuozi was the first to react. He grabbed the broom by the door and rushed over: "Who's outside?"
Little Dengzi and Little Ware also followed over, while Little Bug guarded the inner door, staring nervously in the direction of the crib.
Yongqi stood up and protected Xiaoyanzi behind him, and asked in a deep voice, "Who is it?"
There was silence outside the window for a moment, then a burst of tiny footsteps could be heard, as if someone was running away in a panic. Xiao Zhuozi opened the window and looked out. He only saw the pomegranate tree in the corner swaying and dropping a few leaves. Apart from that, the place was empty and deserted.
"Your Highness, there's no one here." Little Zhuozi scratched his head. "Could it be a wild cat?"
Little Swallow walked to the window. The evening breeze, carrying the sweet fragrance of osmanthus, blew in her hair slightly. She looked towards the west courtyard, where the lights were still on. A vague figure was reflected on the window paper, as if standing in front of the window.
She suddenly curled her lips and shouted out the window, "It's late. If any of you can't sleep, why don't you come in and have a cup of tea? I have some Biluochun tea I just brought from Jiangnan!"
The light in the west yard flickered, and the figure suddenly disappeared.
Yongqi held her hand, his palm warm: "Ignore her."
Xiaoyanzi turned around and smiled at him, her eyes curved into crescents. "Ignore her. Let's go eat the chicken! It'll be cold if we don't eat it now!"
She pulled Yongqi toward the table. Xiao Dengzi and the others looked at each other in bewilderment before following suit. The beggar's chicken in the food box was still steaming, glistening with oil, and the fragrance of lotus leaves mingled with it, filling the warm room.
The palace lanterns in the corridor continued to sway, carrying the laughter and cheers from the East Courtyard far into the distance. At the West Courtyard window, Zhihua's fingers, clutching the curtains, turned pale. As she gazed at the warm glow of the East Courtyard, the resentment in her eyes spread like ink, darkening her entire outline.
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