Chapter 348

Long Xi Yue felt her nose sour from Hu Xiaotian's words, tears welling up again and spilling down; she wanted to push Hu Xiaotian away, but her arms felt sore and weak, her heart telling herself that all she wanted now was to lie peacefully in his embrace, listening to him speak these domineering words of love, although she knew these words might never come true, yet each sentence, each character struck deep into her heart. Even if they were lies, Long Xi Yue would rather believe them.

Hu Xiaotian, however, knew that what he said was absolutely not a lie; in his heart he had already fallen for Long Xi Yue, he had long since made up his mind to take Long Xi Yue and escape this cage, and it was not that there was no opportunity—there surely would be one.

Long Xi Yue, with great difficulty, finally controlled her emotions and whispered: 'You haven't even asked if I'm willing.'

Hu Xiaotian cupped her pretty face with both his large hands: 'I don't care whether you're willing or not; I've taken a liking to you, and I will absolutely not let you run away.'

Long Xi Yue grasped his large hand, seeing in the darkness Hu Xiaotian's eyes shining brightly; yet her heart suddenly surged with strong confidence, and she whispered: 'You bold slave!'

Hu Xiaotian laughed: 'Even a slave will have a day to turn things over; let's make a bet—if I successfully bring you out of here, you must obediently serve me for life.'

Long Xi Yue not only did not find him reckless and shamelessly overstepping, but instead a warm current rose from her heart; she lowered her head and gave a soft hum. Hu Xiaotian was about to make further demands when the wind outside suddenly rose; Long Xi Yue released his hand, stepped back two steps, and, embarrassed beyond words, said: 'Hurry and go, it's snowing.'

Hu Xiaotian nodded. Leaving the study, he saw the ground already covered with salt granules, a expanse of white, the snowlight making the night much brighter.

When Long Xi Yue closed the door, she saw his silhouette already gone, her heart feeling a vague sense of loss. She shut the door, her delicate body leaning against it, recalling the recent scene, Long Xi Yue still felt bashful. Approaching the desk, she relit the candle, only to hear the lattice window tapped lightly; Hu Xiaotian pushed open the lattice window, revealing a smiling face: 'I just realized I haven't had a chance to properly look at you yet.'

Long Xi Yue came to the window, her pretty face flushed, her beautiful eyes unusually bright, she coquettishly said: 'Hurry up and leave, aren't you afraid of being discovered?'

Hu Xiaotian laughed: 'What's there to fear? I'm a eunuch.'

Long Xi Yue came up to him, grabbed the window sash, and whispered: 'Have you seen enough? Hurry and go!'

Hu Xiaotian smiled, narrowed his eyes and nodded, then suddenly braced both hands on the windowsill, leapt up, and like a dragonfly skimming water kissed her flawless forehead; after a sparrow-hawk flip, he landed lightly beside the well.

Long Xi Yue blushed with shame, her cheeks flushed; looking again, Hu Xiaotian was already at the well, blowing her a flying kiss, then vanished into the well opening.

The eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, also known as the Laba Festival, is when ordinary people often sacrifice to ancestors and deities, praying for harvest, good fortune, and warding off evil. There is a custom of drinking Laba porridge on this day. Tradition holds that this day is when Shakyamuni attained enlightenment under the Bodhi tree and founded Buddhism, also called the 'Dharma Treasure Festival,' one of the grand festivals for Buddhists.

Because today was the day the Talented Person entered the palace, Hu Xiaotian rose early, drank a bowl of Laba porridge prepared for him, and headed for Mingyue Palace. When he arrived at Mingyue Palace, the sky was still dark, but the palace maids and eunuchs there had already made ready.

Dakang has a strict harem system. There is one empress, Empress Jian. Below the empress are four consorts: Noble Consort, Virtuous Consort, Gentle Consort, and Wise Consort; these four consort ladies are of the first rank. Below the four consorts are nine concubines: Zhaoyi, Zhaorong, Zhaoyuan, Yiyi, Yirong, Yiyuan, Chongyi, Chongrong, Chongyuan; they are of the second rank. Next are nine Beauties (Jieyu) of the third rank, nine Beauties (Meiren) of the fourth rank, nine Talented Persons (Cairen) of the fifth rank, twenty-seven Baolin of the sixth rank, twenty-seven Palace Women (Yunu) of the seventh rank, and twenty-seven Cai Nü of the eighth rank. Not to mention the palace maids and attendants. Previously, Baobao had served Lin Wan, who was merely a second-rank Zhaoyi, but because she had once suffered illness while attending Long Yelin, she now holds her present position.

Wen Ya, upon entering the palace, was immediately granted the rank of fifth-rank Talented Person and bestowed an independent palace—this is extremely rare among the palace ladies; of course, a large part of the reason is her family background. Her foster father is the current Grand Tutor, so the emperor must at least give him some face.

Hu Xiaotian originally thought the emperor's new beauty entering the palace was akin to a wedding, but upon arriving at Mingyue Palace he discovered there was not a trace of festive atmosphere; two eunuchs, Wang Ren and Ma Liangpeng, stood outside the Mingyue Palace gate, looking forward expectantly.

Baobao and Qiuyan were also waiting there; the four of them saw Hu Xiaotian approach and hurriedly performed their salutations.

Hu Xiaotian said: 'All this early?'

Ma Liangpeng said: 'Reporting to Eunuch Hu, today is the day the Talented Person enters the palace; how could we dare be negligent?'

Hu Xiaotian hummed, glanced left and right, and asked: 'How come? No one else has come into the palace?'

Several eunuchs and palace maids simultaneously shook their heads.

Hu Xiaotian said: 'Also, there isn't any ceremony?'

Wang Ren said: 'I haven't heard of any.'

Hu Xiaotian said to Qiuyan: 'Qiuyan, you were sent by the Empress; did the Empress mention anything about what ceremony should be held today?'

Qiuyan said: 'The Empress didn't say anything at all; she only said to let the servant attend well to the Talented Person.'

Hu Xiaotian hummed, thinking inwardly that this palace maid was clearly an insider planted by Empress Jian; naturally one could not get any truthful answer from her mouth. Among these few people, he only truly knew Baobao's background. He waved his hand, signaling Ma Liangpeng to stay outside and wait, while the others went to check for any oversights.

Hu Xiaotian took the opportunity to walk with Baobao, and seeing no one around, he said: 'What's going on today? The Talented Person enters the palace, the emperor takes a concubine, yet so far we haven't seen any movement in the palace.'

Baobao snorted: 'It's just a Talented Person entering the palace; you think it's like marrying the empress? There are so many consorts in the harem we can't even count them, and besides, the emperor probably can't even remember this affair.'

'Having too many wives is also not good!'

'That's certainly the case; I've heard that this matter from start to finish is being handled by the Empress.'

Hu Xiaotian said: 'Looking at her, she seems quite earnest; could it really be just like this, with no ceremony at all?'

Baobao said: 'Mingyue Palace is already prepared; the new Talented Person will just move in upon entering the palace. I estimate it will be like this, and whether the emperor comes or not is hard to say.'

Hu Xiaotian secretly thought: if the emperor truly does not come, that would prove he has not placed this newly arrived Talented Person in his heart at all; the plans of Grand Tutor Wen and Eunuch Quan De'an and their allies would surely come to naught, and Ji Feihua naturally would not need to worry overly—does this mean I could leave Mingyue Palace and return to the Si Yuan Bureau?

Baobao was sizing him up when, unexpectedly, Hu Xiaotian turned his head, startling her; she quickly lowered her head again. Hu Xiaotian asked: 'Has Lin Wan looked for you over there?'

'No!'

Hu Xiaotian was about to continue questioning her when he heard Ma Liangpeng's voice from outside: 'Eunuch Hu, someone is coming.'

Hu Xiaotian hurried out the door, only to see a group of people approaching from afar; when they drew near, he realized it was Eunuch Quan De'an, Superintendent of the Office of Ceremonies, leading the group.

Hu Xiaotian hurried forward to pay his respects.

This time, Quan De'an had sent ahead the Talented Person's belongings, which were in fact her dowry; although a Talented Person's entry into the palace is not as grand as an empress's, Wen Ya, being the foster daughter of the Grand Tutor and a lady of a distinguished family, brought many items with her upon entering the palace, namely: two golden ruyi scepters; ten court crowns; eleven trays of various court beads including eastern pearls, coral, red beryl, green jade, amber, golden amber, and ginan incense; two pieces of gold-inlaid coral neckbands; two bolts of bright yellow satin. Eighty-seven pearls, various gemstones, coral ornaments, and playthings twenty-seven items; six pairs of various rings and pendants; seventeen pairs of gemstone earrings; five pairs of flat round bracelets; ten pairs of gemstone flower pins; gold-inlaid gemstone, pearl, green jade, and red beryl embracing lotus four sprigs; fourteen gold clasps; five pairs of gold hoops set with pearl, green jade, and mutton-fat jade; twenty-eight various long flat hairpins of fat jade, green jade, and ginan incense; eight trays of prayer beads and bracelets, eighteen ornamental pieces; fifty-one items of various court robes, court skirts, and gauze shirts; two hundred thirty-six items of various undershirts, outer shirts, tight-fitting garments, and patchwork robes; forty-four items of various collared garments; eighty pieces of various undergarments; eighty pairs of various shoes and socks; twenty-four boxes of head-wrapping towels. Not to mention various makeup cases, dazzling to the eye, leaving these palace maids and eunuchs dazzled.

Hu Xiaotian, seeing such a lavish dowry for the first time, secretly thought that only an empress's grand wedding could compare to it. But then he reconsidered: Grand Tutor Wen belongs to the sort who starts hot and then cools off; they made the dowry so extravagant, yet the palace interior is cold and deserted—thus it was only this group that learned today the Talented Person was entering the palace, and there wasn't even a hint of celebratory atmosphere.

Hu Xiaotian directed the palace maids and eunuchs to help send the dowry first into Mingyue Palace; he originally had no need to exert himself, but he seized an opportunity to approach Quan De'an's side and laughed: 'Eunuch Quan, you've worked hard, but I don't know when the Talented Person will arrive.'

Quan De'an said: 'She will come this morning; she should already be on the way now.'

Hu Xiaotian said: 'Will the emperor come today or not?'

Quan De'an: 'How could we guess the emperor's thoughts? Perhaps he will come, perhaps he will not.' Quan De'an answered Hu Xiaotian's question with two 'perhaps'es.

To Hu Xiaotian, it sounded as if nothing had been said. Hu Xiaotian said: 'Eunuch, how has your health been lately?'

Quan De'an's lips curled into a faint smile: 'This sentence is exactly what the Miscellaneous School wanted to ask you.'

Hu Xiaotian silently cursed: if it weren't for you, old coot, forcibly losing ten years of internal energy to me, I wouldn't know how carefree I could be. On the surface he showed no resentment, respectfully saying: 'I'm fine, just feeling a bit uneasy inside.'

Quan De'an secretly handed him a jade bottle: 'Inside are three Hundred Flowers Dew Pills, which can alleviate internal irregularities; if you suddenly feel unwell and cannot reach the Miscellaneous School in time, they can save you for the moment.'

Recently I've been feeling unwell, so updates will be every two days; please bear with me! (To be continued~^~)