Chapter 33: Consort Rou

“This humble official, Su Ronghua, and his younger brother greets Your Highness.”

Li Rong received a response from Pei Wenxuan the next day. Li Rong took a look at the wedding robes he marked as his choice. After thinking about it, she pulled out the designs for the other set of wedding robes and handed it to Jing Lan: “Tell the Ministry of Rites that I chose the one with the phoenix embroidery.”

Jing Lan was stunned and couldn’t help but say, “Didn’t Pei gongzi choose the one with the peony embroidery?”

“Actually, either of them will do,” Li Rong said as she washed her hands, “I’m just using it as a process of elimination.”

Hearing this, the maids around them all bowed their heads to hide the laughs that escaped. After they joked around for a bit, Li Rong estimated that it should be time. Her Mother Empress should be up, so she went to Wei Yang Palace to pay her respects as usual.

Under normal circumstances, she would have to go and pay her respects to the Empress every day. It was just that during this time, she had been investigating the case, then imprisoned, so she had not seen her mother in a long time. She accepted the handkerchief offered to her off to the side and wiped her hands dry, then she turned and led people to Wei Yang Palace.

As soon as she arrived at the doors of Wei Yang Palace, she heard the sound of women’s laughter coming from inside. Li Rong smiled. She entered through the doors and saw that nearly all the concubines in the harem were present. Her mother, Shangguan Yue, was seated above on her throne, laughing with the people around her.

“What kind of interesting things are Your Majesty and Your Graces discussing to be laughing so heartily?” Li Rong asked with a smile as she walked in before facing the Empress’s throne and paying her respects: “Greeting Mother Empress.”

Afterwards, she turned and saluted the four imperial concubines sitting above: “Greeting Your Graces.”

“It turns out our little Ping Le has come,” A soft voice rang out just as Li Rong straightened up. Li Rong looked up to see Consort Rou looking at her with a smile, “Quickly have a seat.”

The word “Rou” was taken from her own name, Xiao Rou.[1] She came from an ordinary family and entered the palace as a maid at a young age. She was arranged to serve by Li Ming’s side ever since she was young because of her quick-wittedness. It was said that in the years when Li Ming was still a prince, his life was not going very smoothly, and Xiao Rou spent those years of her youth in the Cold Palace with him, so Li Ming had always had a special affection for Xiao Rou. Later on, when Li Ming became the Crown Prince, the Empress at that time arranged for Xiao Rou to be married to a minister. However, not long after she married, Li Ming became Emperor. A few years later, that minister passed away from illness in his residence. Xiao Rou shaved her head to become a Buddhist nun, but she later ran into Li Ming at the temple. After that fleeting spring breeze encounter,[2] she returned to the Palace. Since then, she never failed to be honored and favored for decades.

[1] Rou/Consort Rou (róu/róu fēi) — ‘róu’ can mean to soothe or calm when used as a verb, but in general, it means soft, tender, or gentle.

Consort Rou (Róu fēi) can also translate to Gentle Consort, a title for one of the four imperial concubines in the Jin-Tang Dynasties, hence why it was pointed out that the ‘róu’ in her title is taken from her name.

[2] A fleeting spring breeze encounter — a short-lived, one-time affair like that of a fleeting spring breeze, beautiful and savored in retrospect.

Further Context

To have this kind of ability, her appearance naturally had to be outstanding. Although she was approaching fifty, she still looked after herself with excellent care, and her charms aged gracefully. She was not inferior to the Empress who was seven years younger than her in any way either.

She was currently the head of the four imperial concubines, assisting the Empress in managing the harem and excelled when it came to socializing. The Empress hadn’t said a word when Li Rong came in, but she had already spoken first.

Li Rong smiled softly and gave a slight nod to express her gratitude.

A palace maid set up a small table in the lower left corner of the throne, closest to the Empress. Li Rong took a seat behind the small table. Just as she was about to sit down, she heard Consort Rou ask the Empress: “I heard that Ping Le’s marriage has soon been decided. Is it true?”

“The imperial decree to bestow the marriage has been sent out,” Shangguan Yue calmly said, “It is the eldest legitimate son of the Pei family.”

“It’s Pei Lizhi’s son?” Consort Rou laughed. “I once saw that child three or four years ago. He looks quite handsome indeed. Ping Le,” Consort Rou turned to look at Li Rong. “I heard that you and him both worked together on the Yang family investigation?”

“Niangniang,” Li Rong gently said, “I am not married yet. It is improper to say something like this, so let us change the subject.”

“Ping Le is getting shy.” Consort Duan, who was sitting beside her, deftly turned the conversation around and lifted her gaze towards Consort Rou, “Look at Rou jiejie, making a child this embarrassed. If it wasn’t out of respect for old things like us, which young lady would put up with you?”

Consort Rou lifted her round fan and softly laughed, and laughter filled the hall for a bit. Li Rong held her cup of tea and took a few sips, but she said nothing.

Once the concubines had their fun for a while, the Empress had them all withdraw at last. Consort Rou was still sitting there. After everyone had left, the Empress turned to look at Consort Rou: “Do you have something to say?”

“I just wanted Ping Le to help me with something.”

Consort Rou smiled and looked at Li Rong: “In the past, Ping Le preferred to come and go on her own and wasn’t very close with her other brothers and sisters. Now that you’re about to be married, many sisters want to get along well with you, their older sister, in the time remaining that you have together, and hear their older sister’s teachings. That’s why I thought, why not have Ping Le set aside time every day to interact with the other princesses in the Palace,” Having said that, Consort Rou turned to look at the Empress, “What does Your Majesty think?”

The Empress frowned. She knew that Consort Rou didn’t have any good intentions, so she was about to refuse when she heard Li Rong say: “Alright then.”

Consort Rou was slightly taken aback for a moment. Li Rong brought her eyes up to look at Consort Rou: “Niangniang, what kind of expression is this? Did Your Grace think that Ping Le wouldn’t agree?”

“How could that be?” Consort Rou let out a laugh, “I know that Ping Le might appear indifferent most of the time, but you also keep your brothers and sisters in your heart.”

“Niangniang, these words…” Li Rong tapped the golden fan against the palm of her hand, “They seem to suggest that most of the time, I don’t keep my younger brothers and sisters in my heart. These words of yours portray me in a rather bad light.”

Li Rong’s response dealt a blow to Consort Rou. The smile on her face was a bit forced. She could only turn to the Empress and say, “Would you look at this child? It has only been two months since we last saw her, but she’s become so clever and eloquent.”

“I have always kept all my younger sisters’ best interests at heart,” Li Rong picked up the cup of tea and gently said, “There are many things I want to teach them. I think that Her Grace, Consort Rou might as well make arrangements, and I will give a four hour lecture to all my younger sisters. How does that sound?”

“A lecture?”

Consort Rou was stunned: “What are you going to lecture on?”

“Her Majesty, the Empress Dowager has always been a devout follower of Buddhism, so I will give my younger sisters a lecture on Buddhist scriptures as well as proper conduct and etiquette in order to cultivate the mind and one’s character, so as to not make those mistakes. I heard that Hua Le crippled a maidservant in her own courtyard a few days ago, is that right?”

Hua Le was Consort Rou’s eldest daughter and was used to acting arrogantly. Consort Rou’s face drastically changed when she heard this and immediately said: “There is such a thing?! You must teach her well then.”

“Alright.” Li Rong smiled, “Since Niangniang has given the word, Ping Le will be sure to do it well.”

When Consort Rou heard this, her heart suddenly grew a bit uneasy. Li Rong looked up towards the sky before asking, “Does Consort Rou wish to stay for a meal?”

These words were intended to send guests on their way. Consort Rou had already said everything she had to say, so she stood up and said: “No need. You came to see Her Majesty, the Empress, so I won’t get in between your mother and daughter bonding.”

Once Consort Rou said that, she exchanged a few words with the Empress before she waved her fan and left.

Seeing that the Empress was about to get up, Li Rong came forward to help her. The Empress stood up with her support, rather dissatisfied as she said: “Why did you agree to it just now? She clearly doesn’t have any good intentions.”

“Since she already doesn’t have any good intentions, would she even allow me to refuse?”

Li Rong helped the Empress walk into the courtyard and calmly said: “If I didn’t agree to it just now, she would persuade Father Emperor through pillow talk, saying something about cultivating feelings between sisters and whatnot. Father Emperor has always listened to her, so perhaps an imperial decree would be issued tomorrow.”

“That is disgusting.”

The Empress frowned, revealing her persisting sense of loathing. Li Rong softly chuckled, “So let’s not take that dog man and woman to heart anymore.[3] You are the Empress, the most noble woman across the land, so you only need to sit in that position and be a good Empress. That woman wants me to go and cultivate feelings, and we have already agreed, so Father Emperor will think that I am most understanding and reasonable.”

[3] dog man and woman — derogatory way of referring to those having an affair, an unfaithful man and the other woman, ie. no better than a dog.

“If she…”

“She won’t be the one to take action.” Li Rong walked into the garden with the Empress and leisurely said, “Are you still not familiar with her methods after all these years? This time, having me build relationships with several princesses is actually just a way of giving the princesses an opportunity to approach me. There are a few foolish ones among them, so she doesn’t need to lift a hand because someone will naturally do it for her.”

“You seem to understand it all.” The Empress breathed a sigh of relief after hearing Li Rong’s reasoning and analysis. “Then you must deal with it well.”

“Please rest assured.”

Li Rong’s tone of voice was flat: “There are only so many little tricks in the harem. You don’t have to worry. On the contrary, we ought to be happy.”

“What is there to be happy about?” The Empress had a fatigued expression, “I don’t think there is anything to be happy about right now.”

“Think of it this way: if there was no value to my marriage, Consort Rou wouldn’t be coming up with ways to destroy it. She came to find trouble for me today, and that can only mean one thing.”

“What?” The Empress turned her head. Li Rong let out a laugh, “It appears Pei Wenxuan is about to be promoted.”

The Empress was stunned. After a few moments, the Empress softly sighed: “The more I look at you, young people, the more I cannot understand you. You really had me scared to death two months ago when you sent Chuan’er to the Northwestern frontier. On one hand, I was afraid Chuan’er would run into trouble on the battlefield. On the other hand, I was afraid that he wouldn’t do well there in the Northwest, and His Majesty had sent him off for this very reason. I could only ask your uncle for help, but after the dust had settled, the Shangguan family’s power suffered a great loss. Chuan’er did not receive the slightest merit either, and yet you all are still quite happy.” The Empress’s eyes reddened, “I’m genuinely starting to wonder whose side Pei Wenxuan is ultimately on.”

“Mother Empress,” Li Rong placed her hand on the Empress’s shoulder and consoled her, “You don’t need to worry about it. In fact, think of it another way. It would be best if you cannot understand it either. This goes to show that it will be even more difficult for Father Emperor to understand. It’s not necessarily a bad thing for the Shangguan family to exhaust a bit of their strength. Mother Empress, there is a very simple reason,” Li Rong suggested, “Keep the knife’s edge hidden, and when it is time to kill, you can kill a person with a single blow.”

“Then you would also need to have a blade.”

The Empress was a bit anxious, but Li Rong only smiled and said nothing, accompanying the Empress to the dining area. The two of them sat down, and the Empress dipped her hands into the copper basin, cupping and pouring water over her hands as she spoke, “This time, your uncle agreed to help on one condition.”

“Hm?”

“He wants to send Ya’er into the Palace.”

Li Rong paused in the middle of washing her hands when she heard this. The Empress took a handkerchief from off to the side and looked back at her: “Do you remember Ya’er? You two met when you were little.”

“Oh, I remember.”

Li Rong returned to her senses and quickly said, “I remember she returned to Youzhou a long time ago.”

“She will be returning to the Capital next month and attend your wedding along the way.” The Empress went about casually speaking, “Chuan’er isn’t young anymore. I plan to let him select his concubines next year, so I am looking at some good candidates to choose from. Ya’er must be the Crown Princess, and as for the others, you can help me keep an eye out for good candidates too.”

Li Rong did not speak. The Empress took her chopsticks and began to eat as she spoke, “After marrying Ya’er, I want him to marry four more Side Consorts. Who these people are is not important. What is more important is their background. You can help me look, and it would be best to choose two from generals’ families. Chuan’er has no military power in his hands, which has always been his weakness.”

The Empress and Li Rong talked as they ate.

Li Rong said very little in front of the Empress. It was the Empress who did most of the talking. After the meal, the Empress was a bit tired, so she planned to rest for the afternoon, and Li Rong took her leave.

On the way back, she sat on the palanquin, thinking about what the Empress had said.

In the previous life, Li Chuan did marry Shangguan Ya, then also married four Side Consorts. She and Shangguan Ya were similar in their personalities and had known each other since they were young. They were later separated when Shangguan Ya left for Youzhou. Although the latter returned as her younger sister-in-law, it did not affect the relationship between the two of them.

The matter of marrying Side Consorts meant very little to Shangguan Ya. She was a rather strong-minded woman, who usually appeared noble and beautiful yet aloof, but after getting to know her, she became an irritable big sister when she opened her mouth. Family was first and foremost when it came to everything. As for the rest, she had her personal hobbies: drinking, playing Go, and painting, living a very leisurely life in that manner.

When Li Chuan didn’t favor her, Li Rong deliberately came up with ways for her, but Shangguan Ya waved her hand upon seeing the arrangements made: “It’s fine as long as my position as Empress isn’t undermined, and I’m left with some face. As for other matters, he can just roll and make himself scarce, the farther the better. If it weren’t for the fact that he is the Emperor, who would patiently put up with him?”

That single response made Li Rong choke on her words, but Li Rong also knew that Shangguan Ya wasn’t trying to force a laugh out of the matter. She had the temperament of a person of great importance and was likely annoyed at the sight of Li Chuan.

But… Just because it meant very little to Shangguan Ya, did not mean it hardly meant anything to other people. The four Side Consorts fought back and forth. When the fight came to an end, two of them had died, one became a nun, and the remaining Side Consort thought things through and stayed with Shangguan Ya in the Palace for the remainder of her life.

Come to think of it, no one had a good ending in the previous life.

If you knew fully well that it would come down to this, would you want to embark on the same path and make it all happen again?

Li Rong tapped her fan against the palm of her hand, silent in thought.

Qin Zhenzhen simply must not enter the Palace again, and even then, it would be best if she and Li Chuan never meet again.

And Shangguan Ya…

Li Rong hesitated for a moment, unexpectedly unsure of what to make of it.

She took a deep breath and rolled up the curtain before telling Jing Lan: “Send someone to the Shangguan residence. Have someone report back immediately if Young Miss Shangguan Ya returns.”

“Yes.”

“Also,” Li Rong thought about it for a moment, “Tell Pei Wenxuan to write me a letter, the general idea of the contents is that he is entrusting someone to deliver this letter to me, asking me to go to a place where the two of us can meet because he has something he wants to give me. After that, tell him to bring that with him every day and wait until he receives my summons.”

“Yes.”

Jing Lan heeded at once.

After Li Rong finished giving these instructions, she put down the curtain and leaned to the side to rest.

Pei Wenxuan’s letter arrived the next day, passed through the hands of people from the Princess’s mansion. Pei Wenxuan’s letter contained a stack of papers. Li Rong glanced at the letter that he had written upon her request and confirmed that he had roughly understood her intentions before keeping it on her.

Then, she opened up Pei Wenxuan’s letter and saw three sentences written on there: “Which wedding robes did you decide on? Did you end up in any tricky situations? Also, Your Highness is quite rich.”

Li Rong couldn’t help but laugh when she saw the “Your Highness is quite rich” part. She put the letter away and looked at the other miscellaneous things that Pei Wenxuan had given her and found that he had done some accounting on her property and assets. There was even a spending budget proposed.

Li Rong accepted the cup of tea from Jing Lan as she looked at the list of items. Jing Lan saw Li Rong smiling and couldn’t help but ask, “What is Your Highness looking at to be smiling and happy like this?”

“Pei daren is indeed rather capable.”

Li Rong lifted the cup of tea with one hand and took a sip before setting it down. She tossed the accounts that Pei Wenxuan had sent into the brazier to burn the papers.

After washing up, Li Rong received news that Consort Rou had already arranged for a place for the classes for the princesses to be held. Li Rong nodded and stood up, suddenly realizing the place Consort Rou had arranged seemed to be the waterside pavilion in the Imperial Garden.

“Niangniang said,” The eunuch who led the way started to say, “It is hot in summer, yet cool in the waterside pavilion. It couldn’t be better for Your Highness to give Buddhist sutra lectures to the princesses here.”

Li Rong gave a hum of acknowledgement and stepped into the waterside pavilion. As soon as she entered, she saw that her six younger sisters had already arrived.

Among these six younger sisters, only two had reached marriageable age: Chang Le and Hua Le. Chang Le was born from Consort Mei, one of the four esteemed imperial concubines. She came from a noble background, was well-favored, and often fought with Li Rong over trivial matters. Hua Le was Consort Rou’s daughter and inherited Consort Rou’s always smiling face, but in private, she was absolutely ruthless. The remaining four princesses were under fifteen and looked just like a handful of children, so far apart in age from Li Rong that they had nothing to do with each other.

Once Li Rong arrived, Chang Le turned and looked over before suddenly smiling: “Oh, jiejie is here.”

Li Rong also smiled: “You all also came early. Sit down now.”

Li Rong assumed the position at the front and center as she spoke. After the princesses sat down one after another, Chang Le looked over at Li Rong and smiled: “I heard jiejie has been arranged to marry the eldest son of the Pei family by imperial decree. Jiejie has always been favored, so the person jiejie is to marry must also be a proud talent under the skies with an extraordinary background, right?”

Li Rong did not answer and opened the scroll in front of her: “Let us recite the Diamond Sutra today.”

“What’s wrong?” Chang Le was happy when she saw that Li Rong wasn’t answering, “Jiejie, is there something that can’t be said? Isn’t that Pei gongzi also a high official of the imperial court? Even if he can’t compare to Vice Minister Su, he must at least be an official of the sixth rank, right?”

“Chang Le,” Li Rong looked up at her and gently said, “If you dislike today’s lecture, then there is another kind of lesson that jiejie can teach.”

“Oh?” Chang Le raised her eyebrows, “Jiejie, what else can you teach?”

“Jing Lan, go to Wei Yang Palace and invite Si Zheng momo.”[4]

[4] momo — honorific for older servants that may have duties similar to a governess, ie. teaching children etiquette, or manage other servants given their seniority

Jing Lan heard these words and heeded the order, but Chang Le did not seem to understand, and so, she went on to say, “Jiejie, you can just talk about it.”

“Chang Le,” Next to her, Hua Le hastily advised her, “I heard that Pei Wenxuan is a minor eighth-rank official, please, you must not poke at jiejie’s sore spot.”

Li Rong said nothing and only drank tea in a calm and composed manner.

After a while, an older lady followed Jing Lan inside with a ruler in her hand and bowed to Li Rong after crossing the threshold.

“Your Highness.”

“Bengong was ordered to teach these princesses the rules for how to be a princess. I wanted to give a lecture, but it seems that some of my younger sisters have forgotten even the most basic rules of the palace, so I must let Si Zheng momo give everyone a lesson once more.”

Everyone turned pale upon hearing this. Li Rong turned to look at the handful of younger princesses and said: “It will suffice for Chang Le and Hua Le to receive this teaching. The other sisters are still young, so just let them be.”

“Ping Le, you dare?!”

Chang Le slapped the table and raised her hand to point directly at Li Rong. Li Rong let out a soft laugh and calmly drank her tea: “Having no respect for hierarchy and order and what kind of princess slaps a table? Si Zheng momo, how do you think this should be addressed?”

“With slaps to the mouth and hand.”

“Slaps to the mouth would make the heavenly imperial family lose face,” Li Rong said indifferently, “Just hit her hand.”

The people around her did not dare to move. Chang Le let out a sneer: “I really want to see who would dare lay a hand on me!”

“Whoever does not dare to lay a hand on you,” Li Rong brought her gaze up to look at everyone: “Bengong will punish that person. Bengong is the eldest princess that came to teach the princesses at the request of Consort Rou. Is this to say that Bengong cannot even enforce the most basic rules of the Palace?!”

With that, Li Rong abruptly stood and pointed at Chang Le, angrily shouting: “Hold her down for me!”

As soon as her voice rang out, Jing Lan and Jing Mei quickly came up to grab Chang Le. The maids by Chang Le’s side wanted to rush over, but Li Rong’s gaze swept over them as she coldly said: “You all can give it some thought. You will be caned to death if you offend your superiors.”

Several of the maids were immediately frightened. Si Zheng momo came forward and raised her ruler before mercilessly hitting the palm of Chang Le’s hand ten times.

Chang Le was screaming, but Li Rong’s expression was as calm and unperturbed as before and only said: “Leave now that you have received your punishment. I still wish to give a lecture on Buddhist sutras to the other younger sisters.”

The sound of a young man’s voice came from outside as soon as she had finished speaking. When the curtain was lifted a moment later, the young man seemed stunned.

Li Rong looked up and saw that he was a handsome man wearing a black outer robe with golden bird embroidered patterns and a single cross-collared robe underneath. He was holding a small folding fan in his hand, and although his facial features were similar to Su Rongqing’s, he had that wild spirit that Su Rongqing did not possess.

Behind that young man was Su Rongqing, who had been talking to him when the curtain was lifted, and Su Rongqing’s smile had not disappeared. As the curtain was slowly lifted up, Su Rongqing’s eyes naturally fell on Li Rong. The conversation abruptly came to a halt as he and Li Rong quietly looked at one another.

One was standing, and the other was sitting. The two looked at one another. The man in black attire beside him was the first to react. He anxiously knelt on the ground and loudly cried out: “This humble official, Su Ronghua, and his younger brother greets Your Highness!”

The author has something to say:

【Mini Theater】

The Empress: “Rongrong, Consort Rou wants you to take part in the palace intrigues. Are you not afraid?”

Li Rong: “It’s just going to kindergarten to beat up some kids. What’s there to be afraid of?”

The Empress: “…”