Chapter 2 Tea Served but Rejected If Cheng Qianyue's guess was correct, this trip...
If Cheng Qianyue wasn't mistaken, serving tea in the front courtyard was actually a way of reminding the Second Prince that he had gained another concubine in the palace. The more she thought about it, the more uneasy she felt. Although arranged marriages were common in feudal dynasties, especially for princes' wives and princesses, it was still infuriating that it had happened to her.
She hadn't even met the deposed crown prince yet, and now they were going to bed together on their very first meeting? That was way too difficult; she wasn't prepared for it at all!
But no one cared whether she felt awkward or not. That evening, a lowly eunuch brought in hot water, and Granny Shuang stood beside the tub and personally washed her thoroughly, inside and out. Then she redid her hair, arranging it in a bun and inserting the hairpins and floral ornaments bestowed upon her by the Princess Consort. These were all made of gold, inlaid with pearls and gemstones, shimmering beautifully in the candlelight.
"Princess, please follow me." Granny Shuang finished dressing the girl and nodded in satisfaction with her work, though she frowned slightly as she looked at the clothes Cheng Qianyue was wearing. But there was nothing she could do; there wasn't enough time to make clothes with the bestowed fabric, so she could only focus on the hair.
Cheng Qianyue really wanted to tell her that she wasn't ready yet and asked if she could have two days to prepare herself mentally, but Granny Shuang's face was too similar to Granny Yan, who was in charge of the imperial concubines, so she couldn't bring herself to refuse.
When we arrived at the front yard, it was already dark, with only the candlelight still burning in the main hall.
Granny Shuang and Chen He exchanged a glance, and she said in a deep voice, "Eunuch Chen, I am here on the orders of the Princess Consort. I am now handing over Princess Cheng to you." After saying that, she curtsied towards the palace gate and left.
After Chen He left, he waved to the side. A moment later, a familiar-looking round-faced eunuch came out from the tea room next door, carrying a tea tray. Lin Quan'an lowered his eyes and handed the tea tray to Ruoyun, who then passed it to Cheng Qianyue.
Chen He said to Cheng Qianyue, "Second Master is reading in the east room. When you go in, you don't need to bow. Just serve him tea. If Second Master asks any questions, you can answer them."
Cheng Qianyue nodded heavily, holding the tea tray, mentally encouraging herself. Whether she stuck her neck out or not, she was going to get stabbed anyway, so she might as well take it today.
She took a deep breath but didn't exhale, forcing herself to walk in as if facing a mountain of knives and a sea of fire. With her head down, she entered the east room and out of the corner of her eye saw a man in a lake-blue python robe sitting on the kang (a heated brick bed) by the window. This was the deposed Crown Prince, the Second Prince Yinreng, a true prince and grandson of the emperor.
She was as excited as if she had seen a celebrity. Her mind was in turmoil for a while, but remembering Chen He's words, she didn't dare to say a word. She walked over in small steps, lowered her head and placed the teacup on the tray onto the table on the kang (heated brick bed). The cup made a slight clicking sound as it fell.
Yinreng didn't even glance at her. He reached out and turned a page of his book, then used his other hand to skim the foam off the teacup with the lid. He took a small sip, then slammed the cup down, frowning as he said, "The tea's cold."
Cheng Qianyue: No, this is not what I expected. But now is not the time to think. She quickly replied, "This servant will go and get another cup." As she spoke, she took the cup of tea off the table.
Chen He was a little surprised to see her come out so quickly. Before he could speak, he heard her say, "Eunuch, the Second Master said the tea is cold. Please get another cup." Chen He hurriedly called the eunuch to the tea room, and soon another cup was brought out.
Cheng Qianyue took the teacup and rushed into the main hall. As soon as she put the teacup down, she saw Yinreng reach out and touch the cup, saying, "The water is too hot."
Cheng Qianyue blushed truly. She knew nothing about tea; she had no idea about whether the water was too hot or too cold, or whether brewing tea was so particular. Helpless, she could only take the tea and leave.
When they came out of the main hall again, Chen He looked at her differently. Cheng Qianyue didn't know what was wrong, thinking that the eunuch who made the tea was new and his skills were not up to par, so she said to Chen He, "Eunuch, the Second Master said that the tea was too hot this time."
Chen He also felt troubled at this point. It wasn't a matter of the tea being too hot or too cold; it was clearly that the Second Prince was aroused and was giving this new princess a hard time.
After thinking it over, Cheng Qianyue guessed that it might be a problem with the tea, so she asked, "Father-in-law, does Second Master not like this tea? Should we change to another kind?"
Chen He gave her a deep look, but did not refute her. Instead, he told the eunuch to go to the tea room and instruct them to replace the Liuan tea with Biluochun tea.
Cheng Qianyue entered for the third time. After placing the teacup down, she nervously stepped aside, hesitated for a moment, and whispered, "This servant thought the tea wasn't brewed well, so I changed it to Biluochun..."
As soon as she finished speaking, she saw Yinreng stare straight at her, his gaze sharp as an arrow. Cheng Qianyue's heart skipped a beat, thinking, "Could it be that he doesn't like this kind of tea? Oh no, have I done something wrong?" Sure enough, Yinreng immediately snorted coldly and asked her, "Who gave you the audacity to allow you to change it?"
Cheng Qianyue's mind went blank for a moment, and her movements slowed down. After kneeling down, her mind was still blank, and she said in a trembling voice, "This servant is guilty."
Yinreng slammed the book down on the table and sneered, "This is the person who was specially sent over? So rude!" Then he said sternly, "Get out!"
Cheng Qianyue stood up, her face pale, not even knowing how she got out. Ruoyun quickly stepped forward to help her, thankfully preventing her from falling.
The commotion inside the room had been clearly heard by those outside. Chen He immediately lowered his eyes and said, "Princess Cheng, please go back."
Cheng Qianyue pursed her lips and said okay, then staggered back to the backyard with Ruoyun. As soon as she sat down, she looked up and saw Ruoyun's panicked face. She could no longer hold back her tears and they streamed down her face.
Chen He waited for about half an incense stick's time before entering the main hall. He reminded the Second Prince that it was time to retire for the night. After serving him and extinguishing the candles in the main hall, he came out but did not return to his own quarters. Instead, he went to the tea room first.
Inside the tea room, the young eunuch who was boiling water and brewing tea hurriedly stood up. His tea had been returned several times, even affecting the newly arrived princess; his face was now ashen. "Grandpa Chen, it's my poor skills," he said, his face contorted with grief.
Chen He sighed. All the people who used to serve the Second Prince were dead, and the new ones were all new and needed to be trained. So he gave him a few pointers: "This isn't about tea."
It's not about the tea? The eunuch who was brewing the tea was immediately taken aback.
The Second Prince harbored resentment towards the Emperor, which is why he used the pretext of serving tea to vent his anger on the newly appointed Consort Cheng. However, he couldn't say this outright, as that would be stirring up trouble between the two masters. It could only be said that Consort Cheng was unlucky and didn't receive the Second Prince's favor.
Chen He let out a long sigh of relief, and then said, "Forget it, I can't explain it to you. From now on, let someone else take care of making tea."
The tea-making eunuch, with a pained expression, reluctantly agreed.
In the east side hall of the backyard, Cheng Qianyue cried for a while, and felt much better. To be honest, at first she cried because she felt wronged, but later she cried for reasons other than just about serving tea.
She thought to herself, "Is this the palace? It's a damn no place for a human to stay."
She originally thought she would stay in the palace for at most a month, and then go home after failing the re-selection. But what happened? She doesn't know what sins she committed in her past life, but she was actually betrothed to the deposed crown prince!
The Crown Prince, twice deposed and twice reinstated, and this is only the first time! There's another reinstatement and another deposed waiting for him, and after that, he'll be imprisoned for life. She'll probably never leave the palace again. Is there any life more tragic than this? Huh?
Cheng Qianyue seemed to be crying out all the grievances she had suffered since entering the palace, and by the end her body was trembling.
"Pah, such a bad temper, no tolerance for subordinates at all, no wonder she was crippled, serves her right." She thought to herself, then stopped crying and a grotesque smile crept across her face. "Heh heh, these words would be considered outrageous nowadays, but thinking like this feels so good."
She mentally cursed like Ah Q, successfully stopping her crying.
Ruoyun brought in water from outside and saw Cheng Qianyue sitting there wiping away tears with a handkerchief in her hand, her face a mix of crying and laughing like a fool. She thought to herself, "Oh no, has this new princess been traumatized?" She quickly came over and said, "Princess, wash your face."
Cheng Qianyue gave a nasal "hmm" and got off the kang (a heated brick bed). Her legs went weak; she had cried so much that she had no strength left.
Ruoyun was startled, fearing that Cheng Qianyue would bump her face. If her mistress were disfigured, she, as her personal maid, would definitely be in trouble. She hurriedly helped Cheng Qianyue up and carefully examined her before feeling relieved.
Cheng Qianyue's face was incredibly dry; she only felt relief after applying a damp cloth to it. Once she washed her face, she completely stopped crying because she was hungry. She hadn't eaten much of the food that had been served that evening because she was going to serve tea, and now her stomach was rumbling. She looked up and asked, "Is there any snack in the room?"
Ruoyun hadn't expected her to be thinking about food, and replied with difficulty, "The pastries that were sent over have all been eaten. Besides, Princess, it's already very late, and all the palaces are locked at this hour, so it's not appropriate to order a midnight snack. Shall I serve you until you rest?"
"Okay," Cheng Qianyue thought, feeling wronged. She should have eaten more tonight; all that preparation was for nothing, and she only got a scolding in the end.
Cheng Qianyue washed her feet, put on her undergarments, and lay down on the small bed. She stared blankly at the bed curtains, silently counting sheep in her mind. She was still so hungry. She needed to sleep quickly; once she was asleep, she wouldn't feel hungry anymore. In the end, she didn't know what time she fell asleep, but she drifted off into a hazy sleep.
The next morning at breakfast time, someone came to the Fujin's side. This time it wasn't Granny Shuang, but a palace maid named Suxin. She bowed respectfully and said in a deep voice, "Gege Cheng, the Fujin requests that you come to the main courtyard after your meal."
Cheng Qianyue was taken aback, wondering what she was being asked to do there. Surely it wasn't to punish her? She hesitated for a moment before saying, "Please wait a moment, Madam. I'll get ready and go."
After Su Xin left, Ruo Yun urged her to get moving, lest the Fujin (wife) keep waiting. Cheng Qian Yue still had half a red date bun in her hand, and had only drunk a few mouthfuls of congee. Annoyed by Ruo Yun's urging, she put the food down and said, "Alright, alright, I'll eat it when I get back." Then she asked Ruo Yun to comb her hair.
When Cheng Qianyue finished getting ready and arrived at the main courtyard, she finally breathed a sigh of relief, because the Fujin (principal wife) was not there to punish her for not serving the prince well, but to comfort her.
A note from the author:
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