When Jun Huailang walked out of Consort Shu’s chambers, he happened to see Jinbao carrying a large box of things toward the western side hall.
Seeing Jun Huailang, Jinbao hurriedly trotted over, greeted him with a bow, and cheerfully rattled off a string of auspicious words.
He had been living in Mingluan Palace for quite some time now. Although the eunuchs and palace maids around him still avoided Xue Yan, they were all quite friendly. Jinbao had always been clever, and by now he had settled in here as comfortably as a fish in water. The only person he was afraid of was Xue Yan himself.
But that one… who wouldn’t be afraid of him? Only this immortal-like heir apparent seemed unafraid.
Listening to Jinbao’s string of auspicious words, Jun Huailang couldn’t help curving his brows and eyes into a smile.
“You’re carrying so many things. Where did they come from?”
Jinbao hurriedly replied, “They were given by Auntie Diancui! Auntie Diancui came over specially today and said she wanted to see if His Highness’s room was lacking anything. With His Highness in this condition… how would this servant dare trouble Auntie? But Auntie insisted on coming to have a look. This servant stopped her several times before she finally gave up and told this servant to go to the storeroom and get the things myself. But Auntie said that the New Year is coming soon, so we should still check whether there’s anything missing in His Highness’s little storeroom, so that we won’t be scrambling around in a panic once the year-end arrives…”
Hearing this, Jun Huailang’s heart sank.
Sure enough, Diancui was probably planning to make another move this time.
Even though she was the most trusted senior palace maid by Consort Shu’s side, taking things from Consort Shu’s private storehouse to furnish an imperial prince’s belongings was already overstepping her authority.
What was more, Diancui disliked Xue Yan so much that she avoided him like the plague. Why would she voluntarily come to Xue Yan’s territory and insist on doing so repeatedly?
There had to be some ulterior motive behind her request.
Jun Huailang pondered for a moment, and a plan gradually formed in his mind.
The people in Consort Shu’s palace might not necessarily all be Diancui’s lackeys, but they all obeyed Diancui’s orders. It was entirely possible that they would curry favor with her. None of them could be trusted easily.
Jinbao, on the other hand, had come with Xue Yan and had little interaction with Diancui.
“Your master has always treated you well, hasn’t he?” Jun Huailang asked.
Jinbao felt bitter inside. Whether his master treated him well or not was beside the point. The important thing was that this master held his cheap life—and the lives of his entire family—in his hands.
He hurriedly smiled and said, “Fifth Highness naturally treats this servant well. Heaven and earth can testify to that!”
Jun Huailang smiled.
“I know you’ve always been clever. Now, someone wants to harm your master. There’s a small matter that I need you to take care of.”
Hearing this, Jinbao felt even more miserable.
Why did all these young masters, one after another, think that he was capable of handling things?
Wasn’t it enough that one of them had already demanded that he risk his life for him? Now there was a second one. Before following Xue Yan, everyone knew that Jinbao was a coward who treasured his life and feared death. How had he suddenly been forced to shoulder such great responsibilities?
However, this second person was different from the first.
The first had threatened him with death and was ruthless enough to take the lives of his entire family. But the heir apparent before him was gentle and kind, and even spoke in a tone that sounded as though he were merely discussing the matter with him.
How could he possibly refuse?
This had to be done. Even if he had to stake his life on it, he would do it.
——
After the Emperor’s birthday passed, November soon arrived.
Chang’an had entered the coldest part of the year. The nights grew longer with each passing day, and the Winter Solstice was drawing ever closer.
Jun Linghuan spent every day in the palace. With the palace maids and old nurses guiding her, she had already begun learning embroidery in her spare time.
Jun Linghuan was quite interested in the activity. After only a short while, she had made quite a few sachets.
—Only, the quality was less than satisfactory. The stitches were crooked and uneven, and it was impossible to tell what she had embroidered.
Jun Linghuan never tired of it, and Jun Huailang would never dampen her enthusiasm.
He specifically chose his days off to summon Xue Yan and Xue Yunhuan to Jun Linghuan’s room, allowing Jun Linghuan to present the sachets she had made and let them choose one.
When Xue Yunhuan first received a sachet, he was full of interest. He turned it over and over in his hands, then reached out and ruffled Jun Linghuan’s hair.
“Little Sister Linghuan embroidered this tiger so nicely. It looks so lifelike.”
Jun Linghuan unhappily slapped his hand away.
“What tiger? That’s a cat!”
Xue Yunhuan looked enlightened.
“Oh, it’s a cat? With such a fierce-looking face, I really couldn’t tell!”
Jun Linghuan was so angry that she lunged at him again to hit him.
“It’s just because your Sixth Imperial Brother has bad eyesight,” Jun Huailang said with a smile, coaxing her. “How could it look like a tiger? He’s simply never seen a tiger before.”
Jun Linghuan believed her brother without question. She picked up another pile of sachets that she had specifically selected and held them out before Jun Huailang, asking him to choose.
Jun Huailang picked up the one on top.
The sachet had coarse, clumsy stitches, with a crookedly embroidered, brightly colored duck on it.
“What is this?” Jun Huailang asked.
“It’s a pair of mandarin ducks!” Jun Linghuan declared proudly, holding her head high.
Beside them, Xue Yunhuan burst into loud laughter again.
Jun Huailang, however, remained completely composed. His smile was gentle and soft as he said to her, “Indeed, it’s a pair of mandarin ducks. Linghuan embroidered it so beautifully.”
Then he raised his head and cast Xue Yunhuan a glance, forcing every word that was about to leave his mouth back down his throat.
Xue Yunhuan grumbled inwardly.
Ever since he was little, who had ever dared make him suffer grievances? Only this pampered Jun heir apparent and that arrogant calamity.
He had suffered the most grievances here at Mingluan Palace, yet, oddly enough, he also loved staying here the most.
Truly strange.
Over on the other side, Jun Linghuan brought another small pile of sachets before Xue Yan.
Although this Fifth Imperial Brother didn’t like talking or smiling, he usually sat nearby in silence, solemn and imposing, which made him rather frightening.
But her brother had said that Fifth Imperial Brother was a good person. She trusted her brother the most, so she wasn’t particularly afraid of him.
“Fifth Imperial Brother, I’ll give you one too!” Jun Linghuan said in her soft, sweet voice, looking as though she were the most generous person in the world.
Xue Yan lowered his eyes and glanced at them.
On those little hands, there were only three or four sachets in total. Each was bizarrely shaped, and the patterns on them were a complete mess. All he could make out were several clumps of thread. There was no way to tell what they were supposed to depict.
He swept his gaze over them, and out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the mandarin-duck sachet that looked like a duck in Jun Huailang’s hand.
He saw Jun Huailang lower his eyes and untie the sky-blue Suzhou-embroidered sachet hanging from his waist, the one decorated with a piece of warm Hetian jade.
He poured all the scented pellets inside it out and transferred them into that crudely stitched mandarin-duck sachet.
He handed the Suzhou-embroidered sachet to Fuyi for safekeeping, then personally tied the brightly colored, crude little sachet around his waist.
The robe he wore that day was in a light, subdued color. The only bright thing was the vivid red sachet hanging from his waist, making the whole combination look rather mismatched.
Yet his gaze was gentle and indulgent.
He clearly had the most cold and aloof appearance, but his gentleness was enough to make anyone wish they could drown in it.
Beside them, Xue Yunhuan was still pointing at Jun Huailang and laughing, saying that the duck was exquisite and unique, and that hanging this sachet on Jun Huailang had a marvelous effect, like putting the finishing touch on a painting.
Jun Huailang didn’t get angry either. He pretended to scold him a couple of times, but his expression remained gentle as he praised Jun Linghuan for making it beautifully.
Xue Yan shifted his gaze away.
His chest felt hot, and his heartbeat inexplicably quickened, making him restless. He wanted to raise his hand and press it against his chest, forcibly suppressing that inexplicably agitated heart.
His hand had already risen halfway when reason stopped him.
He paused, then changed the direction of his hand, letting it fall onto the sachets in Jun Linghuan’s hands.
As if possessed by a ghost, he took one out that looked like a bird. It should have been a pair of mandarin ducks.
“This pair of mandarin ducks is embroidered beautifully,” he said, trying to cover up his intentions by offering a compliment.
Jun Linghuan, however, shyly smiled.
“It’s not a pair of mandarin ducks!” she said, her eyes curving into crescents. In her soft, sweet voice, she added, “It’s a little duck!”
Beside them, Xue Yunhuan laughed so hard that he nearly pounded the soft couch apart.
Xue Yan gave him a cool glance but said nothing.
The group stayed at Jun Linghuan’s place for a while. When it was nearly time for the midday meal, they bid farewell and left.
After the two of them departed, Jun Huailang looked thoughtfully at the small pile of sachets remaining on the table.
He thought again of the matter he had instructed Jinbao to handle that day.
Although, according to his instructions, if Diancui tried to tamper with anything at Xue Yan’s side, they already had a foolproof way to deal with it, it would be even safer if they could make her leave behind some evidence.
He remembered that after he entered the palace, Consort Shu had been afraid that he would lack things and had specifically ordered the palace servants to send him quite a few items.
Diancui had not been there that day. Everything had been arranged by Zheng Guangde. Zheng Guangde had been extremely generous, having people carry over a huge pile of miscellaneous objects and stuffing all of them into his possession.
Every side hall had its own small storeroom.
Jun Huailang had gone inside to take inventory once, and he remembered that there was a rather unusual item among them.
It was several scented pellets presented as tribute from the Western Regions.
Although their fragrance was ethereal and exceedingly faint, after wearing them for several days, one’s entire body would become fragrant. Even objects one touched could retain the scent for half a month.
These scented pellets were particularly suitable for the ladies of the palace.
Their delicate fragrance lingered in the air, and they could even leave traces of their scent beside the Emperor, making him think of the wearer.
However, Consort Shu disliked this sort of faint, elusive fragrance, so she had sealed the pellets away in the storeroom, where they had remained for many years.
Jun Huailang pondered for a moment, then looked toward Jun Linghuan.
Jun Linghuan was still sitting at the table, unable to bear parting with her sachets as she picked them up one by one. The more she looked at them, the more accomplished she felt.
After a while, though, she thought of something, sighed, and flopped down onto the pile of sachets.
“Brother,” she said. “It’s such a shame. There are so many sachets. How can I possibly wear them all?”
Hearing this, Jun Huailang’s plan became even clearer.
He sorted out his thoughts, smiled, and said, “How can you not wear them all?”
Jun Linghuan emphasized, “There are so—many here!”
As she spoke, she even gestured with her hands several times.
Jun Huailang smiled gently.
“But there are also so many older brothers and sisters in the palace, aren’t there? The Winter Solstice is coming soon. Linghuan, how about giving your older brothers and sisters gifts that you made yourself?”
Jun Linghuan’s eyes immediately lit up.
“Okay!”
She jumped down from her chair and eagerly went to look for her sewing basket again.
“There are so many pretty sisters in Mingluan Palace! Linghuan wants to make even more!”
Jun Huailang smiled and shook his head, his gaze falling toward the main hall outside the window.
Over there, Xue Yan had returned to the western side hall and was examining the sachet for a long time.
When Jinbao came over to pour him tea, he cautiously stole a glance at it.
In an instant, the chaotic stitches on it nearly burned his eyes.
This… what the hell was this?!
It was simply ruining perfectly good silk!
Seeing that Xue Yan hadn’t noticed his gaze, Jinbao hurriedly finished pouring the tea and turned around, intending to slip away.
But he hadn’t taken more than two steps when Xue Yan spoke.
“Come here.”
He didn’t even lift his eyes, issuing the order in a淡淡 tone.
Jinbao felt as though a bridle had been yanked tight around his neck. He immediately turned back, put on an ingratiating smile, and approached him.
“Your Highness, what orders do you have?”
Xue Yan spread the sachet out on the table and asked, “What is embroidered on this?”
…This was really asking too much of Jinbao.
He stared at it bitterly for quite some time before cautiously saying, “It’s a… duck, I suppose?”
But Xue Yan’s expression turned solemn.
He raised his eyes and gave him a warning look before saying coldly,
“Remember. It’s a mandarin duck.”