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Translation: marchmallow
Prince Wei had always been a gratified recipient of Feng Sheng’s clever appeasements, so he didn’t pursue the matter further.
The two trod away from the men’s hall and wended their way to the women’s hall.
Dividing the men’s hall and the women’s hall was a brook, a blue river that coursed through the village, serving as the clear boundary between Chu and Han,1 which likewise embodied the separation of men and women. Over the river was a stone bridge that very few traversed, but also only because the students in the women’s hall were meager in number. There were more or less twenty of them, and majority were around seven or eight-year-old girls. Charming though these young ladies were, they were far too young for any gentleman.
The reality was that, no one regarded the women’s hall with due importance. All assumed that it was something Princess Consort Wei had burgeoned on a whim. Guan Qian had prattled on more than once about how wasteful it was for the women’s hall to occupy half the area of the academy. He did not have the impertinence to raise this before Feng Sheng, but he bravely voiced it out to Prince Wei. Unfortunately for him, Prince Wei paid him no heed.
Later, when De Wang caught wind of his lack of tact, he enlightened the other a little by elucidating that the academy was the fruit of the princess consort’s efforts, and that the prince had it erected especially for the princess consort to fritter away time with. Since the princess consort liked it, it would be wiser to say nothing more.
What else could Guan Qian say? Could he say that the wealthy and influential were too disagreeable?
Certainly not.
When Feng Sheng arrived, Han Ying was teaching the young schoolgirls arithmetic.
With such a spacious lecture hall, every student had their own table and a chair, five rows in horizontal and four rows in vertical. On their desks were writing brushes, ink sticks, paper and inkstones. They listened very earnestly in their neat student robes.
Upon careful scrutiny, the girls seemed to have gained a lot of weight and appeared much healthier than before. Feng Sheng chose not to disturb Han Ying and instead poised outside to watch. Han Ying didn’t notice her there, rather, it was Xiao Yin Zi who glanced out the window.
“Shall we go?” asked Prince Wei.
Feng Sheng nodded and strode away with him.
*
Feng Sheng’s baby seemed to be determined to prove something. Except for a few days of morning sickness during the first three months, she had very little reaction, but when the sixth month dawned, her lower back began to ache.
She could only sit or lie flat. Leaning or even half-leaning wouldn’t do, else her back would be in pain.
Prince Wei summoned Imperial Physical Wang and relentlessly bombarded him with questions, only to realize that a woman was typically like this during pregnancy. The only way to mollify it was to wait for it to pass.
As time went on, Feng Sheng’s back pain grew more severe day by day. Once she lay flat on the bed, she could not sit up by herself and required someone else’s assistance to pull her up. Even so, it would take a long while for the pain to alleviate. Even Imperial Physician Wang expressed that there was not much he could do, so it really seemed that there was no other way. Alternatively, the servants proffered some traditional remedies, of which were the daily use of warm compress pressed with just enough force, and regular walks.
Since then, Prince Wei’s job was to massage Feng Sheng and to accompany her for a daily stroll.
Time trickled away, and in the twinkling of an eye came winter. Feng Sheng had been pregnant for more than eight months, but this instant, an incident occurred. The eldest legitimate son of the First Prince’s Manor passed away.
This child ranked third at the First Prince’s knee, less than four years of age this year. He was the son of the First Princess Consort. Song-shi‘s experiences with pregnancy had never been pleasant; she had been pregnant twice before but miscarried on both occasions. After extreme care and caution, she finally bore a child with great difficulty and had her desire fulfilled at long last. Hence, her son was a pearl in her eyes. But no one expected he would die from wind chill.
The child was also very young. It was a known fact that the rate of premature deaths of young children was very high. Countless children died in the imperial palace alone, so this was not at all appalling. However, only when the knife cut one’s own body would one know that the flesh hurt. Song-shi, who had been indisposed for quite some time, collapsed straightaway.
When the news came, everyone felt quite sorry for her.
Whether or not there was enmity between them, the child had nothing to do with it. As a sister-in-law, Feng Sheng ought to have gone there. However, her pregnancy made it inconvenient for her, so she bid Princess Consort Liang to offer condolences in her stead.
On the day of the winter solstice, it was customary to offer sacrifices to the heavens. Feng Sheng thus entered the palace with Prince Wei.
She hadn’t come to visit Imperial Noble Consort Li in a while and seized this opportunity to stop by. Prince Wei sent her to Xianfu Palace and hastened away, while Zhi Qiu supported her as they ambled towards the main palace hall.
Before she drew near, the palace maid Ling Zhi, who had been guarding the palace hall’s door, caught sight of her and welcomed her in haste.
“This servant greets Princess Consort. Her Ladyship was thinking about Princess Consort yesterday, not at all expecting your honored self’s visit today. It’s cold outside. This servant will accompany Princess Consort inside. Her Ladyship is in the east warm chamber.”2
Feng Sheng was a frequent guest, so everyone in Xianfu Palace was more than familiar with her. Over time, her arrival didn’t even need to be announced. Feng Sheng trod behind Ling Zhi to the east warm chamber. Before reaching the area, past the beaded curtain partition, she saw Imperial Noble Consort Li sitting on the kang, looking rather pensive.
“Consort Mother.”
Imperial Noble Consort Li snapped out of her trance and fussed, “Why are you here? It’s so cold outside. Didn’t I tell you not to bother entering the palace if you find it uncomfortable? Be careful not to harm the baby.”
Feng Sheng smiled and replied, “I’ve been cooped up in the manor for too long. Today is the winter solstice. When His Highness planned to enter the palace, I decided to tag along.”
“Take a seat.”
Imperial Noble Consort Li asked Feng Sheng to sit opposite her. She instructed people to fetch a soft pillow and a footrest, resolved to make Feng Sheng as comfortable as possible. It hadn’t been long since she gave birth, so she was very cognizant of the severity of a woman’s suffering this month of her pregnancy.
When Feng Sheng was finally at ease, she asked about her pregnancy, how well she ate, and how well she slept. In any case, she inquired about all matters, no matter how big or trivial. Feng Sheng answered one by one. After listening, Imperial Noble Consort Li set her worries aside, and the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law pair chatted about other frivolities.
During this period, an imperial concubine suddenly dropped by. Imperial Noble Consort Li feared she would disturb Feng Sheng, so she left her seated there and scurried to the west warm chamber to meet the other, beckoning Qian Ru to attend to Feng Sheng.
When Imperial Noble Consort Li left, Feng Sheng glanced at Qian Ru and inquired about the recent happenings around Imperial Noble Consort Li. Feng Sheng could more or less discern something peculiar about her, but she couldn’t figure out exactly what.
Qian Ru appeared reluctant and was about to speak, but in the end said nothing.
“Is it something Consort Mother told you not to say?”
“That’s not it. It’s just that, this servant doesn’t know how to properly say it.”
Seeing her like this, Feng Sheng deemed it uncouth to force it. “If it’s difficult to say, then forget it.”
However, Qian Ru still couldn’t help it. Looking rather aggrieved, she gritted her teeth and spoke in a hushed tone.
“This servant does not dare say this to others, as they might find it laughable or disgraceful. The gist of it is that someone is too versed at playing sly. His Majesty has been giving her face simply because he acknowledges her identity. This servant finds it uncomfortable looking at Her Ladyship, fearing that it’s troubling heart.”
Hearing this, Feng Sheng laughed bitterly. This was not something other people could intervene in, let alone talk about. No wonder Qian Ru felt so suffocated.
It still had something to do with Empress Chen. More specifically, it concerned the loss of the First Prince’s eldest legitimate son, as well as the gravity of the First Princess Consort’s malady. Empress Chen had just lost a grandson of legitimate birth, so it was only natural for her to grieve. Prior to that, the Chen family had united to mount on Empress Chen’s head and contrived to recognize Imperial Noble Consort Li. Since then, Empress Chen seemed to have been enlightened by her misery. She had been used to putting on airs and cared a lot about maintaining her prestige, but at present, she no longer paid heed to any of those and could only vie for some recognition.
This seldom-seen ‘misery’ was, in fact, a type of advantage. At least, the ‘misery’ of the one in the Central Palace softened the Jianping Emperor’s heart. Although it was for the most part out of pity, the Jianping Emperor had recently been giving Empress Chen a bit of preferential treatment. It had been long since he visited Kunning Palace, but as of late, he had gone there twice in succession.
Those in the palace knew they would smell the fragrance of meat wherever the wind blew. On Empress Chen’s side, the east wind3 was blowing once more. Although it had not overpowered the west wind, the people below were restless and agitated, anxious to know where the wind would blow next.
“Princess Consort, your honored self probably doesn’t know this, but Her Ladyship is accustomed to enduring. She’s the type to hold back all the pain in her heart. This servant has noticed something off about Her Ladyship these days, but she won’t say anything. The way this servant sees it, this one fears that it has something to do with this matter.”
Feng Sheng sighed in her heart, musing that Qian Ru must have assumed wrongly. Perhaps it wasn’t that Imperial Noble Consort Li cared about where the direction of the wind would blow, but rather, it was because she was jealous.
However, this vinegar contained iron slags which shouldn’t be spoken of, vomited, or swallowed. A concubine getting jealous of the main wife, what would you even call such a thing? There was no consolation to such an emotion. She could only resign herself to the circumstance and carry on.
Feng Sheng also thought it unfit for Qian Ru to say more, so she could only pacify her. When Imperial Noble Consort Li returned, she brought up the Sixteenth Prince as if nothing had transpired and mentioned that she would sew clothes for the child in her belly.
This subject seemed to boost Imperial Noble Consort Li’s spirits. She had Qian Ru bid people to haul over a bunch of baby clothes, all of which she had ordered the palace maids to prepare a few days past. Feng Sheng’s sight shifted downward. Large and small clothes were piled together, as well as some old ones, which seemed to be hand-me-downs from the Sixteenth Prince.
“Old clothes are good for children as they’re soft. I’ve had them washed and dried. Take them back with you when you leave the palace.”
“Many thanks, Mother. In fact, the Prince and I have also made preparations, though not as well-planned as Mother.”
“Isn’t that just the same?” She dismissed that so readily, but Imperial Noble Consort Li was actually quite elated.
It was still early in the morning, so Feng Sheng and the imperial noble consort chatted about the women’s hall in the academy.
Gossiping was just finding something to say out of nothing. She brought up Xiao Yin Zi and Hua’er. The two women subsequently bemoaned the state of the universe and pitied the fate of mankind, deeply affected by their discourse as though they experienced the troubles themselves, sighing with emotion all throughout.
Imperial Noble Consort Li even made a suggestion; she proposed to utilize her personal silver to subsidize at least one or two children, as providing for them would not inconvenience her in any way. Feng Sheng then confided in her with utmost sincerity about her own ideas, how to apply one’s learnings, the philosophy of ‘give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime’, and so on.
Although the imperial noble consort didn’t hail from favorable origins, not just any person could weather through a ‘thin horse”s training. ‘Thin horses’ did not lack skills in reading and writing, as well as in zither, Go, painting, and calligraphy, so she could concur with Feng Sheng’s sentiments.
Time lapsed in peace and harmony as they conferred with each other like so. When it was time for her to depart, Feng Sheng darted a purposeful glance at Qian Ru. Qian Ru instantly sped over to divert the imperial noble consort’s attention to spare her the sorrow of thinking too much.
Later, the imperial noble consort managed to fathom out Feng Sheng’s objective. She sighed in her heart, at a loss for words. She could only inwardly say to herself that this daughter-in-law was married well. For Prince Wei to have taken great pains to get to marry her back then, it seemed that it was not without reason.
*
After the eighth day of the 12th month, Imperial Physician Wang speculated the period of labor to be around New Year’s Eve. Other manors were busy with New Year preparations, while the Wei Prince Manor was occupied with matters related to the princess consort’s childbirth.
They had already sought good midwives at an earlier time. In addition to requesting for two old momo from the palace, Prince Wei also ordered people to invite two from other places. There were already four wet nurses at ready, and the delivery room and childbirth necessities had been well arranged, only awaiting Feng Sheng’s delivery.
After waiting until New Year’s Eve, Feng Sheng’s stomach was still unmoving. The husband and wife discussed the importance of their attendance at tonight’s family banquet, so Feng Sheng ventured to the palace once more.
The first day of month was the day all noblewomen would convene in the palace to celebrate. Imperial Noble Consort Li initially exhorted her to rest in the manor, but Feng Sheng was not disposed to become the center of gossip. Thus, she entered the palace on the first day of the month and paid respects to Empress Chen. She could tell that this bewildered the other party and even slightly disappointed her.
She had observed the clandestine battles within the palace for quite some time now, so Feng Sheng could also somewhat perceive her meaning.
Empress Chen had changed her methods. In the past, wielding her identity as the main wife and empress, whether it was her mode of thought or her way of doing things, she dealt with matters in a condescending fashion. Now, she abandoned all those and resorted to every conceivable means possible. This was when she was truly fearsome.
Feng Sheng even worried about whether or not the imperial noble consort would suffer losses, but after seeing the imperial noble consort’s calm countenance, she concluded that she was simply too overly concerned. The two had been old rivals for decades. So long as she and Prince Wei didn’t disgrace the imperial noble consort, there was no telling at whose hand the deer would die.4
Not in the slightest did she want to taint her mother-in-law’s name, so the next few days, whenever an occasion required her attendance in the palace, she would make an appearance to elude ridicule.
On the evening of the 14th day of the first month, she was finally in labor. Perhaps because she had walked around religiously as the midwife had instructed, the delivery went smoothly.
When dawn broke the next day, she finally gave birth to a son. The mother and child were safe and sound.
Author’s Note:
Under the emperor’s artifice, the sons below all snatched up the opportunity to contend [for the throne], but with the crown prince ousted from his position, the princes lost their target and could only lie low. The next chapters should focus on the greater scheme of things and penetrate deeply into the theme. At present, it still isn’t a good time for Prince Wei to become the emperor, so he will draw the attention to Sixteen, while the Wei husband and wife pair will act like leisurely vagrants, busying themselves with the academy and wandering all over the world.
Translator’s Note:
Hi everyone! I’ve finally started translating a novel that I’ve longed to share with you all, and it will be up next week. Feng Xing will be updated every Saturday, while the new one every Sunday. Please look forward to it! My review should be up at the same time I upload the first chapter.
Happy weekend!
1 汉界楚河: lit. the river that divides Chu and Han; fig. a line that divides rival territories
2 暖阁 [nuǎn ɡé]: a partitioned-off section of a large room with a heating stove
3 东风: The east wind is auspicious in Chinese. The author uses the wind as an analogy a lot. I’ve been having a hard time trying to look for more words to describe it lol.
4 鹿死谁手 [lù sǐ shuí shǒu]: at whose hand will the deer die (idiom); the one to emerge victor