Chapter 116 Poaching Talent After only two days in Jining City, it's time to set off again...
After spending only two days in Jining, we had to set off again. We traveled and stopped along the way, and after about half a month, we finally arrived at the last stop of our southern tour – Jiangning.
The place where the emperor was received in Jiangning was quite different. While other places hosted residences donated by officials and local prominent families, the Jiangning Textile Bureau prepared a temporary palace for the emperor, right next to the bureau. As for Yinreng and her, they stayed in a separate courtyard next to the palace.
Cheng Qianyue felt this setup looked very familiar. Then she realized, isn't it just like Changchun Garden and West Garden?
However, she was really exhausted from the journey. She guessed that Yinreng should still be out socializing at this time. She had been waiting for a while, and her head drooped and her eyelids slowly slumped down.
After a while, Ruoyun tiptoed over and whispered to her, "Jingshun just came to tell you that the Crown Prince instructed that he would be back in a while, so please don't wait and go to bed early."
Upon hearing this, Cheng Qianyue didn't wait any longer. After washing up, she went to bed. She didn't know how much time had passed when she heard the soft sound of water outside the bed curtains. A moment later, the water stopped, and a short while later, a person, still damp from the water, gently got into bed and lay down beside her.
Cheng Qianyue groggily moved closer, initially pressing against his chest, but after a while she felt hot and moved away, then hugged his arm and fell asleep again.
The next day, Yinreng got up early. Cheng Qianyue sat up and watched him get dressed. She yawned and said, "Is Your Highness going out?"
Upon hearing this, Yinreng looked over and said, "Why are you awake? It's still early, go back to sleep."
Cheng Qianyue shook her head: "I can't fall back asleep once I'm awake." She then asked Ruoyun to help her get up.
Yinreng, dressed, strode over, sat down beside her, and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear, saying, "I've been busy these past two days, so you don't need to wait for me for meals or to rest."
Cheng Qianyue nodded like a chick pecking at rice.
Yinreng smiled and continued, "You look tired from your journey, so you don't need to see anyone for the next few days."
Really? Cheng Qianyue's eyes widened instantly, and her eyebrows soon arched. She had been wondering whether she should attend any social events in the next few days when Yinreng told her such good news.
Yinreng had expected her to be confused or disappointed, but to his surprise, she was beaming with joy. He felt both relieved and amused, but he still explained to her, "It's not that I dislike how you handled things when you met people before. It's just that Jiangnan is different from other places. If you take it easy, we'll have less trouble."
Jiangnan has always been a region the imperial court sought to cultivate and guard against. Why did the Emperor make several trips to Jiangnan after the suppression of the Three Feudatories and the subsequent rebellion? Wasn't it precisely for this reason? For many years, the Emperor had been placing his trusted confidants there, whether it was the Imperial Textile Commissioner of Jiangning, the Imperial Textile Commissioner of Suzhou, or the Governor-General of Liangjiang—all were, without exception, his trusted servants. It was precisely for this reason that he wanted to avoid any involvement with the officials there, even avoiding receiving guests in the inner quarters whenever possible.
He knew better than anyone how suspicious the Emperor was. He had no desire to shatter the trust he had painstakingly built with the Emperor.
Cheng Qianyue didn't know what made Jiangnan different from other places, but hearing him say he didn't want to cause trouble, she guessed that the local officials might be involved in some shady dealings, which was why they couldn't summon their wives and daughters. So she replied, "Yes, I won't cause you any trouble, sir. Besides, I've met enough people along the way, so this is a good opportunity to rest."
After having breakfast, Yinreng went to the imperial palace to pay his respects to the Emperor. Cheng Qianyue, having nothing to do, thought she would stroll around the garden. Just as she was about to speak, Lin Quan'an walked in from the outer room and said, "Your Majesty, the servants in the garden want to come and kowtow to you."
Cheng Qianyue was already quite adept at this kind of thing, so she immediately replied, "Understood." After a while, she arrived at the main hall and, from several meters away, saw many people kneeling in the courtyard, men and women. Some of them kowtowed and then left, but a few remained.
One of the old women stepped forward and said, "This humble servant greets the Crown Princess. I heard that the Crown Princess did not bring many people with her on her southern tour, so I have selected a few people to serve her in the courtyard."
As she spoke, she selected several maids, and those who had been kneeling stood up and came over, each revealing a face as beautiful as a lotus flower washed by water.
Cheng Qianyue was still thinking to herself: It is said that the land of Jiangnan is full of outstanding people and beautiful scenery. Although the maids who came to kowtow to her had their faces down and could not be seen, their figures were quite graceful.
But after the old woman spoke, and glancing at the girls again, Cheng Qianyue suddenly realized that these people were probably not there to serve her, but rather to be prepared for Yinreng. Thinking this, she felt a tightness in her chest. However, she didn't change her expression in front of others, only saying, "Leave them there first."
After the group left, Cheng Qianyue sighed, and her desire to stroll through the garden vanished.
Ruoyun had been wearing a stern face since the beginning. Seeing that her mistress was unhappy, she said, "Please don't worry, mistress. In my opinion, even if you dressed them up like flowers, they still couldn't compare to you."
Cheng Qianyue thought to herself, "Girl, you're just being biased towards me." In modern times, she would be considered in her prime, but in ancient times, she had been a mother for several years. Besides, she had been in the palace for many years, and even with the best maintenance, she couldn't compare to a fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl in terms of collagen.
Ruoyun glanced outside and said in a deep voice, "Actually, Jingshun revealed a few things when he came over last night." She paused and said softly, "Yesterday, when the officials received the emperor, I heard that there were quite a few women singing and dancing during the banquet. Jingshun said that perhaps His Majesty will add a few more concubines after this trip." Seeing Cheng Qianyue staring at her, she continued, "Jingshun also said that there are probably some specially selected women in our garden to serve him. I guess they are the ones from just now."
Cheng Qianyue lowered her eyes and after a while said, "Let them serve outside." Although they were all beautiful and charming girls, she hadn't expected them all to be trying to steal her away. Besides, she felt that those officials who wanted to curry favor with Yinreng were treating her like a pushover; otherwise, they wouldn't have so brazenly sent them to her. Did they think she was mild-mannered or that she was getting old and would seek someone to secure Yinreng's favor? But they had misjudged her. Even if her beauty faded in ten or eight years, she would never push anyone towards Yinreng.
After noon, before the sun had set, Yinreng returned from outside and noticed that Cheng Qianyue's complexion was not good.
Cheng Qianyue helped him take off his outer clothes. She was supposed to hang the outer robe on the hanger, but for some reason, she brought the clothes to her nose and sniffed them, while also looking left and right to see if there was any long hair on them.
Yinreng watched her actions from the side: ......
"What are you doing?" he asked, somewhat speechless.
Cheng Qianyue raised her head with a wronged look and said with a hint of resentment, "What else can I do but smell if Master has any cosmetics on him?"
Yinreng was taken aback, then suddenly laughed: "So, did you smell anything?"
Cheng Qianyue shook her head. She couldn't smell anything, but she did find a long hair! Of course, people in ancient times all had long hair, so she couldn't tell if the hair belonged to Yinreng or someone else.
Yinreng said, "What a jealous person. I'm out on important business, how could I possibly be tainted by any feminine scents?"
"Really?" Cheng Qianyue didn't believe it and muttered, "It'll happen sooner or later. Isn't there a lot of beautiful women in Jiangnan? Doesn't the Emperor have several concubines from Jiangnan by his side?"
Upon hearing her words, Yinreng had a plan in mind and glanced at the side questioningly. Chen He immediately replied, "Yesterday, the steward of another courtyard told me that in order to await the arrival of the Crown Prince, there are quite a few people in the garden who have been specially selected to serve him, including some gentry or women from respectable families."
Yinreng knew he hadn't misjudged the situation. He waved to the servants, and after they all left, he pulled Cheng Qianyue into his arms and sat her down, pressing his forehead against hers, saying, "I don't want anyone else, I only want you."
Cheng Qianyue was skeptical and muttered, "Really?"
"Really," Yinreng answered decisively. "You've favored her for years, and you still doubt this? You're just jealous." He wasn't the kind of person who was lustful. Besides, true love was rare in this world; no one understood him better or better than her, so what was the point of having a few ornate wooden figures standing there blankly?
Furthermore, he disdained employing the people in the garden. The maids sent to him claimed to come from respectable families, but weren't they all just pawns sent from Jiangnan? Ha, he had heard about this before coming to Jiangning. The Cao and Li families, in order to welcome him, joined forces with others to expand and renovate the palace, spending far more than a million taels of silver. Add to that his own villa, and the gardens where the Eighth Prince and the other princes lived, all of which had been renovated; how much must that have cost?
Where did they get so much money? Hmph, we'll find out just by looking at the tax revenue that Jiangnan region pays to the national treasury this year. They think they can smooth things over by offering a few women? Don't even think about it!
Yinreng narrowed his eyes.
Cheng Qianyue: ......
Weren't they talking about the maids in the garden? Why did they suddenly fall silent and even look at me with a fierce expression? Wait, what are they thinking about?
She wanted to ask, but was afraid of bothering him. However, her curiosity was too strong, and she blurted out, "Master, what are you thinking about?"
Yinreng snapped out of his reverie and said, "Oh, nothing. Where were we?" he asked. Cheng Qianyue continued to look at him with a resentful expression. Yinreng realized what he meant and continued, "I remember now, we were talking about jealousy." He mimicked Cheng Qianyue's earlier actions, sniffing her neck, "Let me smell you, are you feeling all sour?"
Cheng Qianyue felt ticklish from his rubbing and couldn't help but hide and laugh. As they laughed, they both stopped and looked at each other, and then slowly began to kiss.
Cheng Qianyue thought that the two of them seemed to have become one person. However, a somewhat jarring thought popped into her mind: "If men are reliable, pigs will fly."
A day later, Yinreng was busy again. When Cheng Qianyue asked him what was going on, he said he was going to pay homage at the Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum with the Emperor. However, Yinreng did not return that night, and no further news came.
Cheng Qianyue was suspicious and asked Lin Quan'an to go to the palace to inquire. But when Lin Quan'an returned, he said, "This servant was unable to get in; the entire palace is under martial law."
Cheng Qianyue waited anxiously all night, and news finally came in the next day. It was said that the Emperor had caught a chill while inspecting the river yesterday and was unwell. Yinreng had taken care of him all night, and it was possible that he wouldn't be back for the next few days.
Oh, so the Emperor is ill. No wonder the palace was closed.
Cheng Qianyue nodded to indicate that she understood, but secretly she was delighted: since he was attending to the sick in the palace, Yinreng should not have time to look at beautiful women, hahaha.
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