Chapter 17: Dragon Boat Festival

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With the deepening breath of spring, the sun grew noticeably warmer. Beneath the corner of the wall, clusters of bright yellow pittosporum blossoms bloomed in abundance, captivating Hongfen’s gaze as he often looked outside. Though he wasn’t as quick with words as Yuyan, he could still stammer out phrases like “go out” or “play.” At present, his wet nurse held him crouched by the wall, letting him play with the pittosporum while coaxing him to walk, all the while keeping a watchful eye to prevent Hongfen from stuffing the flowers into his mouth.

The two young attendants, Pearl and Agate, busied themselves inside the room, changing the embroidered curtains, bedding, and pillows, replacing every piece with a brand-new set. During winter, the Fourth Prince favored the Li family’s chambers richly adorned, so that upon entering, one felt enveloped in warmth. But when spring blossomed in earnest, he found the decorations too gaudy and had the entire set replaced with elegant yet noble zitan wood furnishings.

Aunt Chen and Lady Li sat around Yuyan, who was receiving measurements from the seamstress sent by the embroidery room. The garments for the young prince and princess were typically made three times each season. Yuyan’s growth seemed to have taken after Yinzhen, growing rapidly. Though only five years old, she looked no different from children of six or seven.

Children’s clothes were always vivid and bright. Lady Li laid out many pieces of peach pink and goose yellow brocade in front of Yuyan for her to choose from. The patterns were largely similar, but Yuyan, growing bored, suddenly spotted a black-and-pink cloak embroidered with swallows in flight. Her eyes brightened as she clutched the fabric and declared to Lady Li, “Mother! I like this one!”

“Ah, that’s a swallow pattern,” Lady Li smiled, examining the material carefully. “Spring swallows flying in pairs—a good omen for young Yelinzhu.”

“The swallows are beautiful!” Yuyan exclaimed.

Since her daughter liked it so much, Lady Li didn’t hesitate to have the seamstress cut seven or eight bolts of brocade to make cloaks and silk trousers for Yuyan, selecting a few bright red pieces to tailor riding attire as well.

After the spring term ended, the Fourth Prince’s short lessons came to a close. The current princess consort Xingde now diligently supervised his early education. Yuyan returned to the steady routine between the Palace of Longevity and the Southern Third Quarters, once again enjoying the happy days spent visiting the Fifth Princess at the Yihe Pavilion.

In truth, Yuyan herself didn’t quite understand the difference between attending lessons under the Fifth Princess and studying under her own father, but she inexplicably preferred going to Yihe Pavilion.

Perhaps it was because the pastries at the Palace of Longevity suited a child’s palate better? Yuyan didn’t know. Before leaving, she hugged the newly returned Hongfen, pinching and tickling him until he laughed heartily, then dashed away, disappearing in no time.

Within Yihe Pavilion, the Fifth Princess was engrossed in a book. Outside, magnolia petals softly drifted down, scattered by the breeze over the pages. Yuyan tiptoed over and noticed the indigo cover bore the title The Twin Saviors, apparently a romance novel. It was surprising that her aunt, whose mind was usually far removed from tales of love and passion, would one day read such a book.

“Why did you come so early today?”

Zhalafen had long heard Yuyan’s soft footsteps and set her book aside, smiling gently. “Don’t you usually come right on time?”

Yuyan threw herself around her leg, pouting coquettishly, “Fifth Aunt, I missed you! Isn’t that allowed?”

“Even when you’re spoiled, you still have to do your homework,” Zhalafen said, taking from Aunt Chen the large characters Yuyan had practiced over three months in Yinzhen’s study, each stroke neat and straight.

“I practice every day. Father says my writing is about the same as yours was when you were little,” Yuyan said happily as she climbed into the rocking chair. “When I’m bigger, teach me to write like Wang Xizhi.”

Zhalafen examined the copybooks Yuyan had been tracing and circled a few characters lightly in vermilion ink. “Not bad, but you should hold yourself to a higher standard.”

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To be fair, for a child Yuyan’s age, starting out with such calligraphy was already commendable, but Zhalafen always felt she should push her more. She believed a clever girl like Yelinzhu should advance at a pace hundreds or thousands of times faster than ordinary children.

If only she were a little prince... Zhalafen’s bright eyes momentarily dimmed.

“My father says I write much better than Xingde,” Yuyan protested, though she still explained, “That’s the boy from the Empress’s household.”

Zhalafen coaxed patiently, “Are you content just to be better than him? Don’t you want to be even more remarkable?”

Yuyan looked up pleadingly. “Isn’t it enough to surpass him?”

“The Crown Prince’s elder brother Hongxi is only a year older than you. He has already finished studying the Thirteen Classics and is now learning the Spring and Autumn Annals,” Zhalafen said softly. “I heard that a few days ago, when His Majesty visited the Yuqing Palace, he even tested him with several questions.”

Yuyan lowered her head uneasily, muttering, “That sounds too hard.”

“From six years old, the princes must start attending the study hall through all seasons. But the princesses only chase butterflies, paint their eyebrows, and stay cozy indoors when it’s cold,” Zhalafen observed. “Which life do you prefer?”

“I want to study.”

The quiet room echoed with Yuyan’s childlike voice. She traced the stacks of books beside her, believing she was not one to harbor grand ambitions. Back in the modern era, her schooling had been aimless. Yet there, opportunities for men and women seemed more or less equal on the surface: if you worked hard and were excellent enough, you could climb to the highest heights by your own merit.

After transmigrating, things were different. Even the well-favored Fifth Princess, endowed with wealth and love, was confined to a corner of the rear palace.

But could mere study and enlightenment truly change such circumstances?

Perhaps the Fifth Princess did not contemplate so deeply. She nodded slightly and laid before Yuyan the copybooks she had prepared earlier on the windowside writing desk. “A child’s hand is tender; do not write too many large characters. We seek quality, not quantity—five sheets a day will suffice.”

Yuyan now held her brush steadily, though her strength was still lacking. She always felt her neat, upright characters lacked something. Glancing at the calligraphy hanging on the Fifth Princess’s wall—dated the twenty-eighth year of the Kangxi reign and written when the author was about Yuyan’s age—she noted those strokes were more raw but sharp-edged, more youthful and flamboyant than the softer, rounder characters she now wrote.

Returning to her seat, Yuyan sat upright, poised her brush, eyes fixed on the tender, soft words on the white rice paper, and began to write without hesitation.

She did not want roundness; she wanted sharpness and brilliance.

Outside the Fifth Princess’s window, magnolia blossoms withered one flush after another in the spring wind. In Lady Li’s courtyard, the newly planted locust flowers thrived, their fresh white and green exuding a gentle fragrance. Nurse Xie specially instructed the little eunuchs to gather fallen locust petals and send them to the kitchen to make egg and locust flower cakes, which cooled the body and soothed the lungs.

Approaching the Dragon Boat Festival, Pearl and Agate, along with the young eunuchs and palace maids, scattered circles of realgar powder around every corner of Lady Li’s courtyard. Sitting on a small stool at the door, Yuyan could smell the faint scent of calamus and mugwort inside the house. Though the fragrance was mild, she had disliked scented places since childhood, so she quickly retreated outdoors, chewing on a sugar cake while daydreaming.

“Yelinzhu, which do you prefer, red bean paste or ham zongzi? Shall I ask Aunt Chen to unwrap one for you to try?”

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Without hesitation, Yuyan shouted, “Ham!”

She disliked sweet things—dates, red bean paste—all of them. After speaking, she cast a somewhat plaintive look at Lady Li. “Mother! You don’t even remember what your daughter likes!”

Lady Li retorted confidently, “Well, I have to ask you first. What if today you suddenly want something sweet? Besides, you’re always changing your mind, liking this one one moment and that the next. Now it’s food and clothes, but later, when it comes to marriage, you’ll want to marry this one or that one instead. Won’t that worry me to death?”

What kind of comparison was that! Yuyan stared at Lady Li, dumbfounded. “Mother! What books have you been reading lately?”

“Nothing special, just said it casually,” Lady Li waved her hand, pulling Yuyan into her arms, her brow furrowed with worry. “It’s just that your father raises you not like a princess, but like a prince. If you were truly a prince, this temperament wouldn’t be so bad. But since you are a princess, although I won’t say you must always consider others’ faces, you won’t be as carefree as you are now once you marry.”

“Oh, Mother, those thoughts are far ahead,” Yuyan jumped down from Lady Li’s embrace. “I’m only a few years old now. Marriage is still over ten years away. Either way, I’ll have worries then, so you might as well wait until that time to fret.”

Lady Li was at a loss for words. Probably only she took Yuyan’s words seriously; even Aunt Chen stifled a laugh, clearly thinking Lady Li was worrying needlessly.

Aunt Chen handed Yuyan a peeled zongzi. Yuyan broke off a small piece and fed it to Hongfen, who watched eagerly. Lady Li, watching her son’s silly smile, grew even more anxious. While fretting over her daughter’s increasingly spoiled nature under the Fourth Prince’s indulgence, she still reminded Yuyan, “Just a little bit. Don’t feed him too much—glutinous rice is hard to digest. If he eats too much, he’ll have stomach pain at night.”

Upon hearing this, Yuyan swiftly pulled the zongzi away from Hongfen’s mouth and stuffed it into her own.

“Sister! Naughty!” Hongfen opened his mouth but didn’t get the treat. Pouting, he ran to Lady Li to complain, “No no!”

“Oh, children shouldn’t eat that. Hongfen, be good,” Lady Li said absently, soothing him.

At the door, Yuyan swayed in a rocking chair when a small, blurry figure appeared in her line of sight.

“Xingde?”

The child held two paper kites, hesitating to approach. It was Qingdai, standing nearby, who smiled and explained, “There’s a folk custom of ‘releasing misfortune’ during the Dragon Boat Festival. Yesterday the princess consort mentioned it casually, and unexpectedly, the young master took it to heart. Today he came looking for the princess to fly kites.”

Yuyan turned to Lady Li, who smiled without hesitation. “It’s rare for Yelinzhu to have a playmate her own age. Go on, then.”

Play is always good. Yuyan kicked off the rocking chair and slowly walked toward Xingde.