Tonight, the Qi Emperor had found time to dine with his two sons.
After dinner, the three took a walk in the moonlight to help digest their meal.
The Qi Emperor strolled lazily with his hands behind his back, his Silver Dragon Imperial Robe lending him the grace of a jade tree in the wind and a heroic, commanding air.
More than twenty servants formed two rows, carrying lanterns ahead, behind, and on either side to light their masters' path.
The Eldest Prince also held his hands behind his back. Mature beyond his years, he followed one step behind the emperor. From a distance, their movements matched perfectly, one large and one small, as though cast from the same mold.
Out in front, the little Crown Prince kicked his Jade Ball Rolling Lantern along. A bell had been placed inside, its clear, pleasing chimes like wind passing through a hall.
Qi Yuanzuo was thoroughly entertained. As though he could never hear enough of it, he chased the rolling lantern, his little legs pattering without pause.
The Qi Emperor narrowed his eyes at the little yellow chick ahead, bustling about as though scratching for food. Beneath the boy's feet, the exquisitely crafted rolling lantern looked like a round moon.
A chick pecking at the moon?
Or a little pig rooting at the moon?
The Qi Emperor amused himself with the thought.
His son had a perfectly round little head, and his fair features glowed pink. The Qi Emperor had never seen such a beautiful child.
Zuo'er was the moon himself.
The more he thought about it, the more adorable the boy seemed, until he could not resist calling out.
"Slow down. Don't fall."
Qi Yuanzuo had no time to answer him and pretended not to hear.
He scurried farther away after the rolling ball.
The Fat Eunuch spoke with gratification.
"Your Majesty may not know this, but His Highness the Crown Prince dislikes bustle and seldom cares to walk about. This is the first time this servant has seen him so lively."
Whenever the Eldest Prince recalled his childhood, all he remembered was the frustration of losing to the Crown Prince in his studies.
Play and pleasure had never entered into it.
The Crown Prince's intelligence had put him under tremendous pressure. To avoid being overtaken, he had often studied late into the night, even dreaming of his tutor's lessons.
They were three years apart. When the little Crown Prince began learning characters, he had already reached the Four Books.
By the time he had learned the characters in two of the Four Books, the little Crown Prince was ready to begin the Four Books too.
When he finished the Four Books and moved on to the Five Classics, the Crown Prince had already caught up.
In the end, despite starting three years earlier, he had completed his studies a year later than the Crown Prince.
Back then, he had wanted to bite the Crown Prince to death. His head had been full of suspicions that the boy was deliberately humiliating him. Born knowing everything, his ass! Qi Yuanzuo must have been working hard in secret just to outdo him.
He had often cursed the Crown Prince, wishing he would work himself to death staying up late.
Now that he was calmer, he could not help wondering whether the little Crown Prince had been born clever or had secretly studied through the night.
Had he ever felt that crushing pressure too?
The rolling lantern landed among the chrysanthemums. Great clusters of Golden Bell Calling Autumn surrounded the Nine Bends Corridor, where lanterns hung high. Wind stirred, flowers swayed, light shimmered, and a beauty danced. The little Crown Prince stared, spellbound.
Holding the white jade rolling lantern against his chest, he involuntarily drew closer, tilting his head to admire the beauty in rouge-red as she danced beneath the corridor's lanterns, leaping, twisting her waist, flicking her sleeves, and spreading her arms.
Beautiful!
Qi Yuanzuo's eyes filled with wonder.
"System! Classical dance from our great Huaxia really does live up to its reputation!"
"That charm! Perfection! Once I have my own residence, I'm definitely hiring a whole crowd of beautiful ladies to dance for me!"
88 urged him to give up. "You're the Crown Prince. You can't move out of the palace. If you dare watch beauties every day, the Remonstrance Officials will dare scold you every day."
Qi Yuanzuo was entirely unconcerned.
"Once my eldest brother and the Third Prince establish their residences, I'll keep the dancers at their places and visit one house a day. If we're close, they'll cover for me. If we aren't, they'll be only too happy to see me lose myself in pleasure, so they'll cover for me all the more."
88 had no answer to that.
The Qi Emperor and the Eldest Prince followed his trail over and found the little Crown Prince standing on tiptoe, clinging to the railing outside the corridor and staring dreamily at the beauty.
The beauty's sidelong glances were silky with allure, her waist bending as softly as silver. She tapped the little Crown Prince's nose with one slender finger and sprang back like a flying blossom. Then she caught sight of His Majesty nearby, and astonishment crossed her face.
She hurriedly knelt.
"This humble concubine greets Your Majesty."
The Eldest Prince's face went as black as the bottom of a pot.
The Crown Prince liked beauties.
After he had left the palace and established his residence, the Crown Prince had sent him a large group of Music Maidens. He had refused them, but the Crown Prince insisted.
He had darkly suspected that the Crown Prince wanted him to become addicted to beauty and waste his days in pleasure.
Later, he discovered that the Crown Prince was the one who wanted to wallow in beauty.
Finding it inconvenient in the palace, the Crown Prince had simply sent the women to his residence-and made him pay to keep them!
That sly fox had come running to his residence every few days. Each time, he would stretch out in a grand armchair and summon the beauties to play music and dance, drinking tea and eating pastries with a grin so wide his eyes disappeared!
Even after they fell out, Qi Chengyou had continued supporting those Dancing Maidens, unable to understand why he was still playing the sucker.
Tonight, he was certain: the Crown Prince was still the same Crown Prince, with exactly the same lecherous look!
So his fondness for beauties had already shown itself at three years old!
The Eldest Prince covered the little Crown Prince's eyes to stop him looking. Dissatisfied, the little Crown Prince tugged at his hand.
The Eldest Prince slapped his bottom.
Qi Yuanzuo shuddered and burst into loud sobs.
"Waaah!"
He cried and sought a hug from his imperial father. A grown man like him could not endure such an indignity!
"You can't touch a tiger's backside... I'm telling on you!"
The little Crown Prince wailed for the Qi Emperor to uphold justice. His crying was practically wringing the Eldest Prince's brains dry.
"I barely used any strength!"
The little Crown Prince pressed against the Qi Emperor. Rather than genuinely aggrieved, he seemed to be wheedling, sniffling as he threw a tantrum.
"I don't care. I'm telling Father..."
The Qi Emperor showed no anger. Smiling with kindly elegance, he played along with his youngest son and nudged the Eldest Prince's backside with his knee. Qi Chengyou clutched his bottom and jumped in shock.
"Don't cry. I've hit him back for you."
Qi Chengyou shook off a whole body's worth of goose bumps and felt he could not stay here another moment.
He discovered that, compared with receiving his imperial father's affection, he still preferred his cold looks.
Only after the father and sons had tussled for a while did their attention return to the beauty in the corridor.
The Qi Emperor asked indifferently, "Who are you?"
There were many women in his harem. She looked familiar, but he could not put a name to her face.
"This humble concubine is Xiao Yiniang."
The Fat Eunuch offered a timely reminder.
"Your Majesty, she is Lady Xiao."
The Eldest Prince instantly went on alert. The sixth prince's mother!
"Why are you dancing here in the dead of night?"
Lady Xiao looked a little aggrieved. "Your Majesty, it isn't the dead of night yet..."
The Qi Emperor fell silent for a moment. Very good. This concubine had successfully piqued his interest.
"Why are you dancing here?"
Lady Xiao rubbed the fabric of her clothes. "There are so many flowers here, and the scenery is beautiful. This humble concubine likes it."
"I wanted to perfect the dance so I could perform it for Your Majesty."
The Qi Emperor grew still more interested.
"In that case, I shall look forward to it."
Qi Yuanzuo marveled at his imperial father's harem. Consort Xian, Lady Yin, and Lady Xiao were all beauties, and Lady Zhou was lovely too. Cool elegance, gentleness, vivacity, innocent purity-he had them all, and that was only four women!
There were dozens of consorts in his imperial father's palace!
Qi Yuanzuo looked forward to tomorrow's Double Ninth Banquet more than ever.
Their walk ended after this "chance encounter."
Watching the emperor depart with the little Crown Prince in his arms, Lady Xiao straightened her clothes and rose with a quiet laugh.
Spending every last coin on this great gamble had not been in vain.
Whenever His Majesty dined with the Crown Prince, he would enter the Imperial Garden afterward to walk off the meal.
The Imperial Garden was vast, and she could not control where His Majesty went. But the Crown Prince had a habit: on seven out of ten visits, he would stroll along the pebble path in front of the Golden Bell Calling Autumn chrysanthemums.
And His Majesty would naturally accompany him.
She had gambled on those seven-in-ten odds.
She had succeeded.
When she saw the little Crown Prince, she had tapped his nose as though by accident.
What child had ever encountered such a display? She was certain the little Crown Prince would remember her vividly.
A child's focus and stubbornness were no weaker than an adult's.
And so it proved: Qi Yuanzuo was eagerly anticipating the performances at tomorrow's Double Ninth Banquet.
On the morning of the Double Ninth Banquet, the emperor would entertain his officials at the Nine Bends Corridor in the Imperial Garden, admiring chrysanthemums together and singing the praises of peace.
That evening, officials' wives of sufficient rank would bring their marriageable daughters and sons into the palace for the banquet hosted by the Empress Dowager.
The men recited poetry, composed rhapsodies, and performed sword dances; the women played pitch-pot, sang, and danced. Ostensibly, they were entertaining the Empress Dowager, but it was really a public matchmaking occasion.
If two young people took a liking to each other and their elders approved, they might exchange tokens on the spot. With luck, they might even receive a marriage decree from the Empress Dowager.
The emperor attended the evening banquet too. At occasions like this, the consorts naturally vied for splendor like a hundred competing flowers.
Whether a newcomer would eclipse an old favorite or an old favorite would regain favor remained to be seen.
Qi Yuanzuo rose early that day.
He filled his stomach and downed his bitter medicine. The Blood-Red Bead Strand hung at his waist, tied there with a brocade ribbon one finger wide.
It was too large for his wrist, but he insisted on wearing it, so the Fat Eunuch had devised this solution.
Actually, it looked rather nice.
Qi Yuanzuo had decided that this strand of beads represented a promise between him and his imperial father, unique and special.
He needed to keep it on him every day, making its presence impossible to overlook, so that when the time came to use it, his request would carry weight and could not be refused.
Of course, he hoped even more that he would never need to use it.
"Meow~"
Tabbyback appeared, swept his tail across Qi Yuanzuo's hand, and rolled belly-up, enticing him to stroke him.
Qi Yuanzuo rubbed and kneaded Tabbyback until his fur stood on end. Once he finished, Tabbyback meowed for food.
Like a wealthy lord, Qi Yuanzuo declared, "It's the Double Ninth today. Steam a big bun for Tabbyback!"
Simiao agreed with a beaming smile.
Once the little Crown Prince was ready, someone carried him to Dragon Rest Hall, the Qi Emperor's sleeping quarters.
Father and son rode the Dragon Carriage to the Double Ninth Banquet together, provoking who knew how much envy along the way.
The Qi Emperor instructed him earnestly, "When you see Grand Commandant Yin later, call him Maternal Grandfather, and say it affectionately. In the future, he will be your blade, Zuo'er."
Qi Yuanzuo thought that whether this blade truly belonged to him was another matter. But considering that the man had personally killed the Elder Princess "for his grandson," he would certainly be affectionate enough to bring tears streaming down his maternal grandfather's aged face.
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