Now that all the servants had greeted their new masters, they each went up to their respective masters, assisted them with their morning ablutions, and got them dressed for the ancestor worship ceremony at the Imperial Ancestral Temple.
They didn’t have to wear the scarlet red wedding robes for this; Lou Jing wore wide-sleeved robes of the same apricot orange shade as the Crown Prince’s. The colour complimented Lou Jing’s complexion, and made him seem less pale and wan. Silver vambraces inlaid with precious stones were clasped onto his wrists, and a white jade belt with silver edges was fastened on his waist.
The improvement in Lou Jing’s complexion was also due in great part to the medicine Xiao Chengjun had applied on his wounds the previous night. It had worked like a charm, and his condition had improved considerably. Lou Jing was sure the formula had been prepared with great care by the Imperial physicians, and guessed that it probably contained some secret herbs as well.
The newly appointed Crown Prince Consort Lou Jing felt someone’s eyes on him as he fastened the guan on his head. He turned and saw the Crown Prince looking at him intently. Lou Jing raised his eyebrows, then strode over, picking up the Crown Prince’s belt from the tray of clothes in the servant’s hands.
Xiao Chengjun gave Lou Jing a dubious look as he drew nearer, an unspoken question in his eyes. What was he doing?
“Fujun* helped me a lot last night, so I thought I should reciprocate,” Lou Jing said, smiling mischievously. He threaded the belt behind Xiao Chengjun’s back and around his waist, then held on to the ends of the belt, trapping him in this belt embrace. It looked very much like Lou Jing was hugging Xiao Chengjun intimately.
*T/N: Fujun means ‘husband’. It is kind of intimate, like a wife calling her husband “my dear”.
Zitao blushed. She was in the midst of fastening the Crown Prince’s guan on his head, and she looked helplessly at Zizhen, who was holding the clothes tray. Zizhen’s eyes were fixed firmly on the clothes in the tray. Chang En stood to the side and maintained his polite smile, as if he hadn’t seen or heard anything.
Yingqiu took a look and Xunxia, and immediately elbowed her, whereupon Xunxia immediately concealed the mirth in her eyes. She knew her playful Shizi too well. He always had a trick or two up his sleeves, even when he looked good as gold.
Xiao Chengjun was rather disconcerted by Lou Jing’s sudden nearness, but his face remained stoic. “You don’t have to bother yourself with trivial matters like this – leave it to the servants.”
Ruoyan and Ruoshuang were tidying up the bed whilst this was going on. Ruoshuang came out of the bedchamber with a tray in hand and showed it to Chang En. A black box carved with plum blossoms rested on the tray – the same box that contained the ointment applied on Lou Jing’s wounds last night!
Chang En opened the box carefully and took a look. On seeing the box’s used contents, his lips immediately curved up in a bright smile, and kowtowed to the newly wedded couple. He then hurriedly called a young eunuch over. “Quick, go and report to the Empress that there’s been good news.”
Lou Jing observed this scene. The innuendo was clear as day; there was no way Lou Jing would not have understood what was going on. He sidled up to the Crown Prince and whispered in his ear. “Dianxia, don’t you think you should say something?”
Unexpectedly, Xiao Chengjun was also flabbergasted. “… they only told me this balm was very efficacious in easing pain and healing wounds…”
This medicine certainly had those effects, but it apparently wasn’t meant to be used on his back!
The couple didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. There was no way to check for blood on the bedsheets as evidence of consummation of the marriage since they were both men, so the only way the Empress could check on this was to see if the balm had been used. The Crown Prince had asked for this type of medicine to be prepared because he’d heard that Lou Jing had been beaten, but the Imperial physicians had clearly thought he’d needed it for something else entirely… They might even have thought that the Crown Prince was being completely superfluous by requesting for this balm to use on his wedding night.
Lou Jing lowered his head, his shoulders shaking with silent laughter, doing his best not to laugh out loud. This Crown Prince also had a foolish side, and it was incredibly amusing.
Xiao Chengjun looked at his Consort. It looked to him that Lou Jing was trembling with anger with his head down, and he couldn’t help but sigh inwardly. His Consort, who had an illustrious career prior to being forced to marry him, must have already been so aggrieved by this marriage, and now he was being embarrassed in front of the servants. He wasn’t sure how to comfort Lou Jing, but decided to simply offer a practical solution that would help him with the day’s activities. He surreptitiously pushed a wax-sealed pillbox into his hand. “Don’t be angry. Take this as my apology to you.”
Lou Jing was still holding on to the ends of the Crown Prince’s belt at this time, and the two were still standing very close together as a result. When Xiao Chengjun suddenly pushed the wax pillbox toward him, he looked up in surprise, and their noses touched.
Lou Jing’s warm breath brushed Xiao Chengjun’s face, and Xiao Chengjun felt his face redden. He tried to take a half-step back, but because his waist was still caught by the belt in Lou Jing’s hands, only his foot moved backwards; the rest of his body remained exactly where it was. He pulled his foot back and lowered his eyes. “We have a full schedule today. You’ll suffer a lot less if you take this medicine.”
Lou Jing realised this must be some kind of painkiller. He figured the Crown Prince likely had access to better medicines than he did, so he accepted it without a second thought and hid it in his sleeves.
“The effect of one pill lasts six hours,” the Crown Prince said. After a moment, he spoke again. “This pill isn’t used for any other purpose…” Thinking about his gaffe earlier, he felt he needed to add this last line for clarity.
Lou Jing fastened Xiao Chengjun’s belt. “Thanks, Dianxia,” he said, suppressing the laughter bubbling in his breast.
The two looked very affectionate, standing close and whispering in each other’s ears. The palace maids all fixed their eyes firmly on the floor. Only the young eunuch Le Xian watched in fascination, grinning widely from his position at the side of the room. An Shun quickly noticed this and dragged him out on the pretext that he had to help with serving food.
On the night of the Crown Prince’s wedding, it was customary for the Emperor to spend the night in the Empress’ palace as a sign of respect. The wedding couple were to pay their respects to the Emperor and Empress before moving on to the Imperial Ancestral Temple. Time was of the essence, so the newlyweds only drank some warm soup before getting on the palanquin and heading for the Empress’ sleeping quarters – Fengyi Palace.
Once on the palanquin, Lou Jing broke the wax seal on the pillbox. He swallowed the huge black pill within with a grimace; this pill was really bitter!
It was calm and quiet at Fengyi Palace. Palace servants were already waiting at the entrance to welcome them. Their expressions were a little awkward as they whispered in Chang En’s ear before they moved to the sides to allow them to pass.
“The Emperor didn’t spend the night at Fengyi Palace,” Chang En said in a low voice to Xiao Chengjun. He was walking next to the palanquin as he said this. “It seems that he was at Luanyi Palace instead.”
Lou Jing frowned in confusion when he heard this. Le Xian, who was stationed in the palanquin to wait on them, hastened to explain. “Luanyi Palace is Chen Guifei’s sleeping quarters. The name of her palace changed at the start of the year; it used to be called Qingluan Palace.”
Chen Guifei was the most favoured consort in the hougong. Her maiden name was Chen, which was why she was called Chen Guifei. It was common knowledge that the Emperor wasn’t attracted to men, but that wasn’t really an issue so long as he accorded the male Empress the respect he was due. However, it seemed that the Emperor not only failed to do this, but even openly showed his dissatisfaction with the Empress.
Xiao Chengjun didn’t say anything in response. He instructed the palanquin bearers to set the palanquin down and walked to the entrance with Lou Jing to wait for the Empress to invite them in.
Before long, the Emperor’s palanquin arrived.
“Erchen* greets your Imperial Majesty, may your Majesty live for ten thousand years,” the couple said as they knelt in greeting. After the Crown Prince knelt, the rest of the people present also kowtowed and greeted the Emperor in loud voices.
*T/N: Erchen means “son”. It’s how the Imperial sons refer to themselves.
The Chunde Emperor alighted from the palanquin. “Be at ease,” he said languidly. He extended a hand and helped a woman down from the palanquin.
This woman wore a gaudy huafu and a golden phoenix hairpin in her hair. The hairpin had many delicate tassels and beads hanging from it, and they swayed daintily as she walked. Her face was youthful, and she had a pair of bright, almond shaped eyes that tilted up at the corners. This was probably Chen Guifei, daughter of the Minister of the Left, Chen Shichang, and also the Third Prince’s mother. The Chunde Emperor was a plump man nearing fifty years of age. Lou Jing had met him many times before and didn’t pay much attention to him.
“The Crown Prince is indeed as filial and industrious as they say; even though the Emperor made efforts to get here quickly, the Crown Prince still managed to arrive first,” Chen Guifei said with a pointed little laugh.
Her words grated on their ears. Lou Jing frowned internally. To begin with, the Emperor and Chen Guifei were the ones who had not behaved properly; Chen Guifei didn’t even greet the Crown Prince as she should have, and the Emperor had disrespected the Empress by failing to spend the night at Fengyi Palace. They were really in no place to carp about the Crown Prince arriving before they did. What was even more shocking was that the Chunde Emperor seemed to support what Chen Guifei said; Lou Jing noticed that the Emperor’s eyes darkened resentfully in agreement when Chen Guifei spoke.
“I was worried that you would be displeased if I came later than you, father Emperor, but it seems I overcompensated and left too early,” Xiao Chengjun said, taking the blame as the Emperor wished.
Chen Guifei lifted her chin a little triumphantly, looking down her nose at the Crown Prince. She suddenly caught sight of the Crown Prince Consort standing beside Xiao Chengjun, and she was stunned for moment. She didn’t realise that the male wife that the Crown Prince married was so… gorgeous!
Then again, so what if the Crown Prince’s Consort was good looking? Chen Guifei recovered quickly, and turned to the Chunde Emperor, smiling. “Chenqie* is unable to accompany your Majesty any further than this. I take my leave.”
*T/N: Chenqie is how consorts refer to themselves. It means “I”.
From start to finish, she had not greeted the Crown Prince or his Consort even once.
“Off with you,” the Chunde Emperor said, waving to Chen Guifei. He then turned and walked into Fengyi Palace.
The Empress was already waiting for them in the main hall. His expression was calm and solemn as he looked at the Chunde Emperor striding in. “Chen greets your Majesty,” he said, clasping his hands together and bowing in greeting.
The Chunde Emperor grunted in acknowledgement, then sat on the main seat. The Empress said nothing, moving to sit opposite the Emperor. Palace servants came in with cushioned mats and placed them before the newlyweds.
When the Crown Prince Consort paid his respects to the Empress, he had to kowtow, stand, and then kowtow again three times. The Crown Prince, however, had to do this eighteen times in total. When Lou Jing saw this, he immediately felt that his lot wasn’t all that bad.
Whilst waiting for the Crown Prince to finish paying his respects to the Empress, Lou Jing went to kneel before the Emperor. He didn’t feel any pain at all as he sank smoothly to his knees. The palace maids brought the ceremonial tea to him on a tray, and when he first touched the tray with his hands, he was shocked to find that his hands were completely numb. He couldn’t feel the edges of the tray at all. He looked carefully to make sure he was holding on to the tray before accepting it from the palace maid, then raised the tray respectfully above his head with both hands in offering.
“Zhen originally wanted you to go to the Northwestern Front, to succeed your grandfather as general there. However, the Empress said you were the best choice for the Crown Prince’s Consort,” the Chunde Emperor said, taking a sip of tea. He hesitated for a moment. “You’re still young anyway. It’s probably better that you aren’t out at the battlefront.” After he said this, he gifted Lou Jing with a rose gold guan set with fine opals.
So the Emperor had objected to his marriage to the Crown Prince! Lou Jing maintained a calm smile on his face, but a storm was brewing in his breast. When he kowtowed to the Empress after that, he couldn’t help but steal a furtive look at him.
The Empress name was Ji Zhuo, Ji being his family name, and Zhuo being his given name. His courtesy name was Hanzhi, and he was the second legitimate son of the Jingnan Hou family. He had strong, sharp brows and piercing eyes like those of an eagle, and his expression was calm and reserved. He had faint crow’s feet at the corners of his eyes, but this did not detract from his good looks, and in fact enhanced them, giving his face character.
Empress Ji looked at the exquisitely handsome Lou JIng, and his reserved expression gave way to a warm smile. “The people of the Capital all say that the Anguo Gong’s Shizi is a matchless beauty, and I have seen for myself today that it is true.”
“Father Empress is too kind,” Lou Jing said, lowering his head respectfully. His hands were hidden in his sleeves, and he clenched his fists hard, testing if he could feel anything. There was some sensation, but not very much.
They got on the palanquin again after leaving Fengyi Palace. This time, the palanquin was one used for travelling out of the palace. It was a covered carriage pulled by eight horses, and was much more spacious than the ones used for moving around within the palace. Apricot orange privacy curtains separated the interior of the carriage, where the masters sat, from the part where the servants usually stood. There was aural privacy as well; the deafening sound of the horse’s galloping hooves also made it impossible for the servants to hear what the people seated in the carriage interior were saying.
“Dianxia, your situation might be worse than mine,” Lou Jing said. He circulated his internal force as he said this, checking for poison. He found none, which meant that the numbness was likely due to the medicine the Crown Prince had given him earlier. He relaxed, and gave Xiao Chengjun a faint smile.
Xiao Chengjun lowered his eyes. “Chen Guifei has been consistently favoured by my father Emperor for twenty years. I have to tread carefully around her,” he said.
An Imperial Prince, treading carefully around a mere concubine? The Crown Prince was supposed to be a position of high honour, second only to the Emperor; it spoke volumes of the difficulties the Crown Prince faced in the palace. In the Imperial Court, he probably suffered even more from this lack of favour.
“You seem to the one suffering a loss here,” Lou Jing said with a sigh. His elbow rested on an armrest, and he supported his head with a single finger at his temples.
The Crown Prince’s hands, which were concealed in his wide sleeves, clenched involuntarily. Who was Lou Jing to judge him? What did Lou Jing know about his struggles in the Imperial Court? Suffering a loss?! Was ruling a country to be described that way, as if it were a mere business dealing between merchants? He, Xiao Chengjun, still had his pride, and he was not going to take this kind of attitude from a subject.
“What do you want?” he asked, his voice frosty.
Lou Jing didn’t seem to hear the chill in Xiao Chengjun’s voice. He laughed and sidled over. “I can’t feel a thing in my hands and feet. If you feel sorry for me, how about you let me sleep on you for a bit?” He looked longingly at the Crown Prince’s broad chest, thinking that leaning on that would be far more comfortable than resting on this chair that bumped up and down with every movement of the carriage.
“Sleep on… me?” Xiao Chengjun was dumbstruck for a moment.
Beansprout: Nyahaha Lou Jing is so cute! Like a golden retriever. XD
15 Aug 2021 – I have amended the “short end of the stick” reference to “suffering a loss”. This seems to make more for the later chapters.
Now that all the servants had greeted their new masters, they each went up to their respective masters, assisted them with their morning ablutions, and got them dressed for the ancestor worship ceremony at the Imperial Ancestral Temple.
They didn’t have to wear the scarlet red wedding robes for this; Lou Jing wore wide-sleeved robes of the same apricot orange shade as the Crown Prince’s. The colour complimented Lou Jing’s complexion, and made him seem less pale and wan. Silver vambraces inlaid with precious stones were clasped onto his wrists, and a white jade belt with silver edges was fastened on his waist.
The improvement in Lou Jing’s complexion was also due in great part to the medicine Xiao Chengjun had applied on his wounds the previous night. It had worked like a charm, and his condition had improved considerably. Lou Jing was sure the formula had been prepared with great care by the Imperial physicians, and guessed that it probably contained some secret herbs as well.
The newly appointed Crown Prince Consort Lou Jing felt someone’s eyes on him as he fastened the guan on his head. He turned and saw the Crown Prince looking at him intently. Lou Jing raised his eyebrows, then strode over, picking up the Crown Prince’s belt from the tray of clothes in the servant’s hands.
Xiao Chengjun gave Lou Jing a dubious look as he drew nearer, an unspoken question in his eyes. What was he doing?
“Fujun* helped me a lot last night, so I thought I should reciprocate,” Lou Jing said, smiling mischievously. He threaded the belt behind Xiao Chengjun’s back and around his waist, then held on to the ends of the belt, trapping him in this belt embrace. It looked very much like Lou Jing was hugging Xiao Chengjun intimately.
*T/N: Fujun means ‘husband’. It is kind of intimate, like a wife calling her husband “my dear”.
Zitao blushed. She was in the midst of fastening the Crown Prince’s guan on his head, and she looked helplessly at Zizhen, who was holding the clothes tray. Zizhen’s eyes were fixed firmly on the clothes in the tray. Chang En stood to the side and maintained his polite smile, as if he hadn’t seen or heard anything.
Yingqiu took a look and Xunxia, and immediately elbowed her, whereupon Xunxia immediately concealed the mirth in her eyes. She knew her playful Shizi too well. He always had a trick or two up his sleeves, even when he looked good as gold.
Xiao Chengjun was rather disconcerted by Lou Jing’s sudden nearness, but his face remained stoic. “You don’t have to bother yourself with trivial matters like this – leave it to the servants.”
Ruoyan and Ruoshuang were tidying up the bed whilst this was going on. Ruoshuang came out of the bedchamber with a tray in hand and showed it to Chang En. A black box carved with plum blossoms rested on the tray – the same box that contained the ointment applied on Lou Jing’s wounds last night!
Chang En opened the box carefully and took a look. On seeing the box’s used contents, his lips immediately curved up in a bright smile, and kowtowed to the newly wedded couple. He then hurriedly called a young eunuch over. “Quick, go and report to the Empress that there’s been good news.”
Lou Jing observed this scene. The innuendo was clear as day; there was no way Lou Jing would not have understood what was going on. He sidled up to the Crown Prince and whispered in his ear. “Dianxia, don’t you think you should say something?”
Unexpectedly, Xiao Chengjun was also flabbergasted. “… they only told me this balm was very efficacious in easing pain and healing wounds…”
This medicine certainly had those effects, but it apparently wasn’t meant to be used on his back!
The couple didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. There was no way to check for blood on the bedsheets as evidence of consummation of the marriage since they were both men, so the only way the Empress could check on this was to see if the balm had been used. The Crown Prince had asked for this type of medicine to be prepared because he’d heard that Lou Jing had been beaten, but the Imperial physicians had clearly thought he’d needed it for something else entirely… They might even have thought that the Crown Prince was being completely superfluous by requesting for this balm to use on his wedding night.
Lou Jing lowered his head, his shoulders shaking with silent laughter, doing his best not to laugh out loud. This Crown Prince also had a foolish side, and it was incredibly amusing.
Xiao Chengjun looked at his Consort. It looked to him that Lou Jing was trembling with anger with his head down, and he couldn’t help but sigh inwardly. His Consort, who had an illustrious career prior to being forced to marry him, must have already been so aggrieved by this marriage, and now he was being embarrassed in front of the servants. He wasn’t sure how to comfort Lou Jing, but decided to simply offer a practical solution that would help him with the day’s activities. He surreptitiously pushed a wax-sealed pillbox into his hand. “Don’t be angry. Take this as my apology to you.”
Lou Jing was still holding on to the ends of the Crown Prince’s belt at this time, and the two were still standing very close together as a result. When Xiao Chengjun suddenly pushed the wax pillbox toward him, he looked up in surprise, and their noses touched.
Lou Jing’s warm breath brushed Xiao Chengjun’s face, and Xiao Chengjun felt his face redden. He tried to take a half-step back, but because his waist was still caught by the belt in Lou Jing’s hands, only his foot moved backwards; the rest of his body remained exactly where it was. He pulled his foot back and lowered his eyes. “We have a full schedule today. You’ll suffer a lot less if you take this medicine.”
Lou Jing realised this must be some kind of painkiller. He figured the Crown Prince likely had access to better medicines than he did, so he accepted it without a second thought and hid it in his sleeves.
“The effect of one pill lasts six hours,” the Crown Prince said. After a moment, he spoke again. “This pill isn’t used for any other purpose…” Thinking about his gaffe earlier, he felt he needed to add this last line for clarity.
Lou Jing fastened Xiao Chengjun’s belt. “Thanks, Dianxia,” he said, suppressing the laughter bubbling in his breast.
The two looked very affectionate, standing close and whispering in each other’s ears. The palace maids all fixed their eyes firmly on the floor. Only the young eunuch Le Xian watched in fascination, grinning widely from his position at the side of the room. An Shun quickly noticed this and dragged him out on the pretext that he had to help with serving food.
On the night of the Crown Prince’s wedding, it was customary for the Emperor to spend the night in the Empress’ palace as a sign of respect. The wedding couple were to pay their respects to the Emperor and Empress before moving on to the Imperial Ancestral Temple. Time was of the essence, so the newlyweds only drank some warm soup before getting on the palanquin and heading for the Empress’ sleeping quarters – Fengyi Palace.
Once on the palanquin, Lou Jing broke the wax seal on the pillbox. He swallowed the huge black pill within with a grimace; this pill was really bitter!
It was calm and quiet at Fengyi Palace. Palace servants were already waiting at the entrance to welcome them. Their expressions were a little awkward as they whispered in Chang En’s ear before they moved to the sides to allow them to pass.
“The Emperor didn’t spend the night at Fengyi Palace,” Chang En said in a low voice to Xiao Chengjun. He was walking next to the palanquin as he said this. “It seems that he was at Luanyi Palace instead.”
Lou Jing frowned in confusion when he heard this. Le Xian, who was stationed in the palanquin to wait on them, hastened to explain. “Luanyi Palace is Chen Guifei’s sleeping quarters. The name of her palace changed at the start of the year; it used to be called Qingluan Palace.”
Chen Guifei was the most favoured consort in the hougong. Her maiden name was Chen, which was why she was called Chen Guifei. It was common knowledge that the Emperor wasn’t attracted to men, but that wasn’t really an issue so long as he accorded the male Empress the respect he was due. However, it seemed that the Emperor not only failed to do this, but even openly showed his dissatisfaction with the Empress.
Xiao Chengjun didn’t say anything in response. He instructed the palanquin bearers to set the palanquin down and walked to the entrance with Lou Jing to wait for the Empress to invite them in.
Before long, the Emperor’s palanquin arrived.
“Erchen* greets your Imperial Majesty, may your Majesty live for ten thousand years,” the couple said as they knelt in greeting. After the Crown Prince knelt, the rest of the people present also kowtowed and greeted the Emperor in loud voices.
*T/N: Erchen means “son”. It’s how the Imperial sons refer to themselves.
The Chunde Emperor alighted from the palanquin. “Be at ease,” he said languidly. He extended a hand and helped a woman down from the palanquin.
This woman wore a gaudy huafu and a golden phoenix hairpin in her hair. The hairpin had many delicate tassels and beads hanging from it, and they swayed daintily as she walked. Her face was youthful, and she had a pair of bright, almond shaped eyes that tilted up at the corners. This was probably Chen Guifei, daughter of the Minister of the Left, Chen Shichang, and also the Third Prince’s mother. The Chunde Emperor was a plump man nearing fifty years of age. Lou Jing had met him many times before and didn’t pay much attention to him.
“The Crown Prince is indeed as filial and industrious as they say; even though the Emperor made efforts to get here quickly, the Crown Prince still managed to arrive first,” Chen Guifei said with a pointed little laugh.
Her words grated on their ears. Lou Jing frowned internally. To begin with, the Emperor and Chen Guifei were the ones who had not behaved properly; Chen Guifei didn’t even greet the Crown Prince as she should have, and the Emperor had disrespected the Empress by failing to spend the night at Fengyi Palace. They were really in no place to carp about the Crown Prince arriving before they did. What was even more shocking was that the Chunde Emperor seemed to support what Chen Guifei said; Lou Jing noticed that the Emperor’s eyes darkened resentfully in agreement when Chen Guifei spoke.
“I was worried that you would be displeased if I came later than you, father Emperor, but it seems I overcompensated and left too early,” Xiao Chengjun said, taking the blame as the Emperor wished.
Chen Guifei lifted her chin a little triumphantly, looking down her nose at the Crown Prince. She suddenly caught sight of the Crown Prince Consort standing beside Xiao Chengjun, and she was stunned for moment. She didn’t realise that the male wife that the Crown Prince married was so… gorgeous!
Then again, so what if the Crown Prince’s Consort was good looking? Chen Guifei recovered quickly, and turned to the Chunde Emperor, smiling. “Chenqie* is unable to accompany your Majesty any further than this. I take my leave.”
*T/N: Chenqie is how consorts refer to themselves. It means “I”.
From start to finish, she had not greeted the Crown Prince or his Consort even once.
“Off with you,” the Chunde Emperor said, waving to Chen Guifei. He then turned and walked into Fengyi Palace.
The Empress was already waiting for them in the main hall. His expression was calm and solemn as he looked at the Chunde Emperor striding in. “Chen greets your Majesty,” he said, clasping his hands together and bowing in greeting.
The Chunde Emperor grunted in acknowledgement, then sat on the main seat. The Empress said nothing, moving to sit opposite the Emperor. Palace servants came in with cushioned mats and placed them before the newlyweds.
When the Crown Prince Consort paid his respects to the Empress, he had to kowtow, stand, and then kowtow again three times. The Crown Prince, however, had to do this eighteen times in total. When Lou Jing saw this, he immediately felt that his lot wasn’t all that bad.
Whilst waiting for the Crown Prince to finish paying his respects to the Empress, Lou Jing went to kneel before the Emperor. He didn’t feel any pain at all as he sank smoothly to his knees. The palace maids brought the ceremonial tea to him on a tray, and when he first touched the tray with his hands, he was shocked to find that his hands were completely numb. He couldn’t feel the edges of the tray at all. He looked carefully to make sure he was holding on to the tray before accepting it from the palace maid, then raised the tray respectfully above his head with both hands in offering.
“Zhen originally wanted you to go to the Northwestern Front, to succeed your grandfather as general there. However, the Empress said you were the best choice for the Crown Prince’s Consort,” the Chunde Emperor said, taking a sip of tea. He hesitated for a moment. “You’re still young anyway. It’s probably better that you aren’t out at the battlefront.” After he said this, he gifted Lou Jing with a rose gold guan set with fine opals.
So the Emperor had objected to his marriage to the Crown Prince! Lou Jing maintained a calm smile on his face, but a storm was brewing in his breast. When he kowtowed to the Empress after that, he couldn’t help but steal a furtive look at him.
The Empress name was Ji Zhuo, Ji being his family name, and Zhuo being his given name. His courtesy name was Hanzhi, and he was the second legitimate son of the Jingnan Hou family. He had strong, sharp brows and piercing eyes like those of an eagle, and his expression was calm and reserved. He had faint crow’s feet at the corners of his eyes, but this did not detract from his good looks, and in fact enhanced them, giving his face character.
Empress Ji looked at the exquisitely handsome Lou JIng, and his reserved expression gave way to a warm smile. “The people of the Capital all say that the Anguo Gong’s Shizi is a matchless beauty, and I have seen for myself today that it is true.”
“Father Empress is too kind,” Lou Jing said, lowering his head respectfully. His hands were hidden in his sleeves, and he clenched his fists hard, testing if he could feel anything. There was some sensation, but not very much.
They got on the palanquin again after leaving Fengyi Palace. This time, the palanquin was one used for travelling out of the palace. It was a covered carriage pulled by eight horses, and was much more spacious than the ones used for moving around within the palace. Apricot orange privacy curtains separated the interior of the carriage, where the masters sat, from the part where the servants usually stood. There was aural privacy as well; the deafening sound of the horse’s galloping hooves also made it impossible for the servants to hear what the people seated in the carriage interior were saying.
“Dianxia, your situation might be worse than mine,” Lou Jing said. He circulated his internal force as he said this, checking for poison. He found none, which meant that the numbness was likely due to the medicine the Crown Prince had given him earlier. He relaxed, and gave Xiao Chengjun a faint smile.
Xiao Chengjun lowered his eyes. “Chen Guifei has been consistently favoured by my father Emperor for twenty years. I have to tread carefully around her,” he said.
An Imperial Prince, treading carefully around a mere concubine? The Crown Prince was supposed to be a position of high honour, second only to the Emperor; it spoke volumes of the difficulties the Crown Prince faced in the palace. In the Imperial Court, he probably suffered even more from this lack of favour.
“You seem to the one suffering a loss here,” Lou Jing said with a sigh. His elbow rested on an armrest, and he supported his head with a single finger at his temples.
The Crown Prince’s hands, which were concealed in his wide sleeves, clenched involuntarily. Who was Lou Jing to judge him? What did Lou Jing know about his struggles in the Imperial Court? Suffering a loss?! Was ruling a country to be described that way, as if it were a mere business dealing between merchants? He, Xiao Chengjun, still had his pride, and he was not going to take this kind of attitude from a subject.
“What do you want?” he asked, his voice frosty.
Lou Jing didn’t seem to hear the chill in Xiao Chengjun’s voice. He laughed and sidled over. “I can’t feel a thing in my hands and feet. If you feel sorry for me, how about you let me sleep on you for a bit?” He looked longingly at the Crown Prince’s broad chest, thinking that leaning on that would be far more comfortable than resting on this chair that bumped up and down with every movement of the carriage.
“Sleep on… me?” Xiao Chengjun was dumbstruck for a moment.
Beansprout: Nyahaha Lou Jing is so cute! Like a golden retriever. XD
15 Aug 2021 – I have amended the “short end of the stick” reference to “suffering a loss”. This seems to make more for the later chapters.
