Chapter 264 – The Imperial Consorts (2)

“Lu Yaoyao, then you can make another supper for this prince. What you make is delicious!” Mo Rongyi flashed his twinkling eyes at Ye Zhen.

“It’s already late, and it’s not good for your health to eat supper again,” Ye Zhen said.

Looking at the bickering pair, the empress dowager immediately felt a lot more cheerful. She turned to Aunt Cheng, and said with emotion, “How delightful would it be if Aijia had such a daughter!”

That wish reminded Aunt Cheng of a smidgen of information she had just gleaned. Apparently, the emperor had visited the library pagoda last night. She sighed within thinking, without such a daughter, who knows, there could be such a daughter-in-law? As for the happenings in the pagoda, she was utterly ignorant.

“It’s snowing outside.” Ye Zhen cried out just as she saw snowflakes floating outside the window. “This should be the last snow this year, we can make ice lanterns tomorrow!”

“There are many ice lanterns in the palace. It will be the New Year’s Festival in more than half a month now. When that time comes, there will be colorful lanterns lining all the streets in the capital. During the Lantern Festival, particularly the Lantern Meet, surely it will be beautiful.” Mo Rongyi added excitedly.

She naturally knew how busy New Years and the Lantern Festival in the capital would be. Back in the day, her father took her and her brother out to have fun, but that was Ye Zhen not Lu Yaoyao. She quickly hid the soreness in her heart as she said, “Is it so? We don’t have any lanterns in the border town. Even if there are lanterns, they are not all over the streets.”

“I will make you a lantern,” Mo Rongyi said proudly, “The lantern I made last year was the best one. Imperial Father~”

However, the little prince was unable to finish his words. He was instantly reminded of the happenings of the previous year. His emperor brother had yet to ascend the throne, he and his mother lived their days warily in the inner palace. Every step, move, and word was not caution. As such, how could a little boy dare to act out his fantasy, no matter how simple? Although he had made his own lanterns, he didn’t dare to bring them out and could only enjoy it quietly with his mother. Despite knowing well that his lanterns were far better than those made by others, the young heart still closeted the urge to display his artistry and hunkered within the walls of his mother’s palace.

Ye Zhen smiled. “Thank you very much, then, Little Prince.”

Not counting the two years her spirit was wandering in the palace, at this time last year, she lived alone in Qin Wang Fei’s residence. She knew that the first emperor was an incompetent tyrant and that the empress dowager and Mo Rongyi had a hard time in the harem.

Mo Rongyi nodded a little triumphantly, “Seeing that you have made so much delicious food for me, I will make a lantern for you.”

After chatting with Mo Rongyi for a long time, she didn’t hear any bad news coming from Mo Rongzhan, much to her surprise. She’d presumed he would forbid her from entering the palace again. She was relieved, at the same time, a little worried. His silence only perturbed for she didn’t know what to expect from him next. More importantly, she couldn’t tell how he would treat her in the future.

Just because she looked like her former self and one found her displeasing to the eye, could that one even ban her from becoming a female physician?

Until she left the palace the next day, Ye Zhen didn’t see Mo Rongzhan again. Nor did she hear anything from him. She returned to the academy anxiously, unable to ascertain if this calm was before a storm. And so, half a month passed.

The academy had dipped into vacation mode now. She packed her medical books in the dormitory to bring with her as she returned to the Lu Mansion. She started with sorting out the books she had read in the library pagoda last time. She was done with ten books so far, there were still a few that had yet to be written. She thought she had nothing to do anyway, so it should be good to write it down from memory when she got back home.

♚

Back at the Lu Mansion, the air was filled with bitter-sweet news. On one side there was happiness, now that the wang fei, Lu Wushuang’s confinement had been lifted. On the other, there was a sourness over the addition of a Xianfei*, two Jieyu* into the inner palace along with several dignitaries, all of whom were selected from this year’s Xiunu Selection.

[T/N: 1. Xianfei (贤妃)- a title for an imperial consort; one of the sub-rankings within the fei, the highest major rank in the imperial harem.

2. Jieyu (婕妤)- a title for a third-rank palace lady; two ranks below the empress.]

The title of Xianfei was naturally bestowed to Xu Huiru, the daughter of Prime Minister Xu. As for the rest, they were unable to pique the interests of the several masters of the Lu Family.

Wang Fei Lu’s rival had finally appeared, she could no longer enjoy the peerless status in the imperial harem.

The pent up anxiety from the last few days finally abated. Ye Zhen’s mood took a turn for the better, after all, she was certain Mo Rongzhan would not pay attention to her anymore.