chapter 14

“Third Young Master Hua, is your younger sister alright?” asked the crown prince after entering the side hall of Shoukang Palace. As he caught sight of Hua Chankong sitting with a tranquil expression, more than half of his worries vanished. It seemed Hua Liuli was fine.

“Your Highness,” said Hua Changkong, rising to his feet to salute him. “The yuyi already examined her. My younger sister is fine, and only needs to recuperate for a couple days.”

“Thankfully, Commandery Princess stopped the assassin today. Otherwise, I would have suffered.” The crown prince looked at the lightly swaying gauze curtains in the room. “Security is tight in the palace. Anyone who could enter have their backgrounds thoroughly checked from many prior generations.”

However, in the short span of a month, two assassination attempts had occurred.

Hua Chankong’s expression changed a hint, yet he did not speak.

“There are people with power in the palace working with people outside of it.” The crown prince glanced toward the bedroom. “In a few days, the palace will host a ceremony offering sacrifices to the heavens. Commandery Princess will stay in the palace to recuperate a few more days, and return home after the event. What does Third Young Master Hua think?”

The bed curtains moved slightly.

Hua Changkong pretended not to have seen that. He cupped his hands toward the crown prince. “Everything will go as Your Highness says.”

Perhaps he thought of the imperial princes too highly. Maybe there truly was a prince without integrity who only worked for the benefits before him, not caring about the peace and safety of his country.

Even if such a person schemed to the point of possessing the country, he could not become a wise ruler.

“Word has it that Third Young Master is preparing to take the spring exam?” The crown prince did not want to mention his disappointing brothers, and as such had changed the topic. “I have a few officials in my palace that have placed in the top three of the imperial examinations. If Third Young Master doesn’t mind, come visit my palace often.”

“Many thanks, Your Highness the crown prince. This humble subject…”

“Commandery Princess, have you awoken?” said a pleasantly surprised Yuanwei, her voice traveling outside of the bedroom.

Hua Changkong lifted the gauze curtain and entered the room. His gaze met with Hua Liuli’s.

Hua Liuli turned her head in silence.

To which Hua Changkong coughed dryly. “Little Sis, I’ll pick you up in a few days.”

“Thank you, Third Brother.” Hua Lilu reached out and adjusted his clothes. “It’s been cold recently. Third Brother, don’t forget to dress warmly.” She pinched his arm with her pale fingers. “You need to properly take care of yourself.”

Hua Changkong’s smile stiffened. He whispered, “The crown prince is still outside, so let me keep some face.”

Withdrawing her hand, she said with a smile, “Big Brother, everything has been good in the palace. Don’t worry about me.

“Princess Shunan’s daughter, Commandery Princess Jiamin, is interested in Prince Ying,” said Hua Liuli in a soft voice. “Princess Shunan’s family is very close with Consort Xian.”

If they weren’t that close, Commandery Princss Jiamin wouldn’t have known that the emperor had intended to matchmake her with Prince Ying.

“Take care of yourself,” said Hua Changkong in a loud voice. “Don’t worry. Third Brother will study thoroughly in our home. Perhaps next year, you will have a zhuangyuan as an elder brother.”

“Third Brother has so much confidence. In a little while, I will write a letter to Father and Mother.” Then she rubbed her belly.

Upon seeing that, he replied, “Little Sis, it’s already the period of Wu. Go and have a meal.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“Even if you aren’t hungry, you still have to eat something. Otherwise, your body can’t keep going. Be obedient and listen to me.”

“Then I…”

“You want to eat plain congee again? That can’t be done. Yuanwei, give your master some congee with meat in it, and prepare several kinds of side dishes.”

Hua Liuli blinked at Hua Changkong. Brother, you are my real brother.

To which he poked her on the forehead, then left to speak with the crown prince.

Once Yuanwei brought the meal in with the palace maids, Hua Changkong rose to his feet to check on Hua Liuli eating.

The crown prince took a sip of tea. Then he heard Hua Changkong say from the bedroom, “Why did you eat so little? Eat more.

“If you finish this bowl of congee, then I’ll buy you that pearl hairpin you took a fancy to last time.

“If you always eat so little, how could you get any better? There are side dishes too. You have to eat them. Don’t think since you’re in the palace and I can’t see you eating so little, that you can be so picky with food!”

“Third Brother…”

“It’s useless for you to act like a spoiled child. Yuanwei, when your master has her meals in the future, watch her attentively. Don’t let her do as she pleases.”

After coaxing his sister to eat in a stern manner, Hua Changkong left the room and said to the crown prince, “Your Highness, we’ve let you witness a joke. My silly sister is young and not sensible. Since childhood, her eating habits have worried others. This humble subject is helpless about it.”

“Commandery Princess is still young. It’s normal for her to be picky with her food.” A smile graced the crown prince’s lips. “I also have things I’m not fond of eating.”

A while later, the palace maids brought out the empty bowl and plates. The crown prince glanced at them. Apparently, the might of an elder brother had its use: the little girl finished all her food in a well-behaved manner.

After the yuyi finished checking Hua Liuli’s pulse, and was certain that eating so much wouldn’t harm her body, the crown prince heard Hua Changkong sternly lecturing her again. And the crown prince said, “Third Young Master Hua, Commandery Princess is still young. You don’t have to be so strict with her. In the coming days, I will watch her well for you.”

“Your Highness the crown prince is right,” blurted Hua Liuli.

With the gauze curtains separating them, the crown prince could not make out her expression. However, he could tell a lot from her tone.

Truly a child who would grow very happy with people backing her up.

To avoid arousing panic in the palace, the assassination attempt in the Eastern Palace had been kept under wraps.

Although the crown prince had not been harmed, Emperor Changlong flew into a rage. Not only did he have the generals in charge of guarding the palace thoroughly investigated, he also increased the amount of guards in the Eastern Palace.

Moreover, the officials in charge of managing affairs in the Eastern Palace were greatly affected. The servants of the palace did not know what had occurred, but they grew more careful in their duties.

The only person unaffected was probably Hua Liuli. Ever since she had returned to Shoukang Palace from the Eastern Palace, her days were full of leisure. What the crown prince had told the empress dowager stood as anyone’s guess. But afterward, the empress dowager gained a new hobby: watching Hua Liuli attentively as she ate.

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“In the past, this grieving one found it such a headache when elderly ladies of the common folk coaxed children to eat. But now, it seems very interesting.” Then the empress dowager said to her personal attendant, “Liuli, this child, is obedient and clever. Even when she eats, she’s more adorable than other girls.”

The palace maid smiled. “Your honored self is right.”

Your honored self never witnessed a brat’s formidable power, so you think coaxing a child to eat is interesting.

If Commandery Princess Fushou wasn’t beautiful, and liked to cry and make noise, your honored self can only say these words if you are able to endure that.

Once Hua Liuli finished her meal, the empress dowager shooed her away to take a stroll as usual. It was unknown where she had heard certain rumors from, but the empress dowager said that it wasn’t imposing enough to walk around with only two servant girls. As such, she arranged for a few palace maids to follow after Hua Liuli.

The empress dowager’s words had been, “If you have many people with you, and encounter people with bad tempers in the palace you don’t get along with, then you won’t suffer losses.”

Hua Liuli thought that what the empress dowager’s words meant beneath the surface was the following: if you can’t win against whoever dares to act against you, then have your palace maids fight back.

Originally, she thought that since the empress dowager had experienced all kinds of schemes in the imperial harem, her words should be vague and euphemistic. Never had she expected her to be a person who wore their heart on their sleeve.

“Little girl, Imperial Grandmother shooed you out to take a stroll again?” From far away, the crown prince noticed Hua Liuli walking very slowly. “How much did you eat for the noon meal today?”

“Your Highness,” said Hua Liuli, looking up at the crown prince who sat on a sedan. “Has your honored self eaten yet?”

“I just ate at Chenyang Palace.” The crown prince disembarked from his sedan. He handed over two meal boxes to her.

“What’s this?” She received the meal boxes. Smelled a faint scent of food.

“Tomorrow there will be a ceremony offering sacrifices to the heavens,” said the crown prince in a soft voice. “It will start before the crack of dawn and last until after the afternoon.”

Hua Liuli turned her head to look at the palace maids and court eunuchs who followed after them with their heads lowered. Whispered, “Your Highness, would this be bad?”

Sneaking food during a period where they were supposed to pray to the heavens…

“What’s wrong about that? Children are in their growth periods. They can’t go hungry.” The crown prince clasped his hands behind his back, having full courage of his convictions. “The Heavens favor the common folk, and forgive all living things. It would not concern itself with such a trivial matter. Don’t worry.”

Hua Liuli was speechless.

She was a… fifteen-year-old child?

The next day, before dawn broke through the skies, Yuanwei and a few palace maids pulled her out of her covers. After a quick freshening up and dressing up, she was brought to a sedan.

“Commandery Princess, this slave has packed the snacks from His Highness the crown prince in some silk brocade bags.”

Hua Liuli grunted in acknowledgement, nodding in a daze.

“Your honored self’s body is weak, so the palace servants don’t dare to tire you. However, this slave heard that once the ceremony starts, it will be inconvenient to relieve oneself. You mustn’t drink too much water today.”

“Alright.” Hua Liuli leaned against the window of the sedan. A few yawns escaped her lips.

The distance between Shoukang Palace and the raised altar for the ceremony proved very far. But on the way there, besides the sound of footsteps, Hua Liuli could not hear anything else.

The cold morning air woke her up. She lifted the window curtain of the sedan for a look outside. The road to their destination was filled with beautiful hanging palace lanterns, lighting said path entirely with a splendid glow. As if it were daytime.

There was a massive area beneath the raised altar, which was now filled with people. Hua Liuli examined it. And she discovered that all the court ministers and their wives were present. However, they were divided left from right, not all standing together.

The sedan reached the ground without a sound. A female official lifted the door curtain of the sedan and whispered, “Commandery Princess, please disembark.”

Once Hua Liuli did just that, she caught sight of the empress dowager, who had just gotten off her phoenix sedan, beckoning to her. “Come here Liuli. Support this grieving one.”

When the imperial concubines who had long since waited at the side heard the empress dowager’s words, upset entered their hearts. Because there was no empress, those imperial concubines who were able to stand by the empress dowager’s side during such an event would have glory. In previous years, the empress dowager would choose an imperial concubine who had given birth to a prince. Never had they imagined she would choose the daughter of an official to accompany her.

The smiles of the imperial concubines did not change. In fact, they all even took a step back, a strange peace between them.

Probably because of the “although it’s not me, it’s also not you” conclusion, they could still accept it.

Hua Liuli supported the empress dowager’s warm and soft hand, accompanying her as they walked past the wives of the court officials. In the end, they ascended the steps to the altar.

The court officials and the honored womenfolk watched this scene in hidden curiosity. Was the girl supporting the empress dowager’s hand the daughter of the Hua clan?

Why would the imperial clan give the Hua clan so much face?

No, that’s not right. The Hua clan had just triumphed in victory. The imperial clan would definitely give them all their deserved glory. However, if the Hua clan had much glory at present, then in the future when the imperial clan suppressed them, the methods of suppression would prove very ruthless.

Ah, being close to the sovereign could be as perilous as lying with a tiger. The imperial clan was bound to be this merciless.

After all the officials present had finished sighing in sorrow, they could not help but glance at her.

Why couldn’t it be them that had such glory?

If it were them, they would definitely not end up in the situation the Hua clan would find themselves in the future.