4 The Prodigy

Although Honghui’s smallpox came on fiercely, his recovery was swift; within a few days, he was mostly well. Those who survived smallpox were often considered fortunate, and Yinzhen thus cared for this son even more attentively.

Yu Yan, being only three years old, encountered very few people and events daily. Though Yinzhen doted on her, there was little to say to a child just a bit older than three. Therefore, as long as she ate and slept on time and offered her greetings, she muddled through her days.

The tail end of midsummer passed swiftly. Just as everyone thought the weather was cooling and it was time to prepare autumn clothes, the late summer heat struck back unexpectedly, turning the air oppressively hot once again.

Such heat was torment even for adults, let alone the two little princes, just over a month old, who were also suffering from colic. Every night they cried ceaselessly, their wails so loud they could wake even the soundly sleeping Yu Yan, not to mention the many young women in the Fourth Prince’s rear courtyard.

The consorts Fu and Li fared better, as these were their own children; if they didn’t sleep well at night, they could nap in the afternoon without issue. Consort Wu, being low in status and barely settled in the household, dared not complain rashly.

The unfortunate one was Princess Song, troubled by poor sleep and easily awakened at night.

“Crying, crying, crying! Crying all day long!” Song’s usually gentle and delicate face twisted into a grimace as she gripped her quilt tightly, her hair disheveled and unkempt.

“Be patient, Princess, all children go through this,” her chief maid, Dujuan, hurriedly soothed her. “After a couple of months, they won’t cry so much.”

“In two months, I’ll be driven mad!” Song grumbled bitterly. “I thought Consort Wu looked sharp and capable, but it turns out she’s timid. The prince even went to her room two nights running but didn’t dare say a word.”

“Consort Wu is new here; she doesn’t have the nerve,” Dujuan replied softly, handing Song a cup of tea. “If anyone else heard you say that, it wouldn’t be good.”

The crying in Lady Li’s quarters quieted, but it began again in Consort Fu’s room. It was a constant cycle—one episode ending as another began—stoking Song’s annoyance just as she began to calm.

She glanced sharply and said, “Fetch Magpie for me.”

Song had entered the palace as a minor selection and served as a maid for Imperial Noble Consort De for two years. Later, because of her gentle nature and beauty, she was assigned to the Fourth Prince’s sleeping quarters. When he formally married Consort Fu, he honored Song with the title of princess, remembering she was his first woman.

Dujuan was a maid assigned from the Imperial Household Department, but Magpie was sent through family connections. For delicate matters, Song trusted only Magpie, not Dujuan.

“Did you get rid of the items after completing the task last time?” Song pressed.

Magpie lowered her voice, “The prince burned all those silk handkerchiefs afterward. No one can find any trace of them now.”

“Too bad the eldest prince is so lucky,” Song muttered, pounding the bed in frustration. Listening to Honghui’s wailing outside, her heart pounded as if she could hardly breathe. “Why did my daughter die, yet her son survives?”

She frowned and whispered a few words to Magpie.

The next day, Yu Yan overheard that Song had summoned the imperial physician and had been diagnosed as pregnant.

“What should we send over?” Lady Li fretted, looking toward Nurse Chen.

When she was a princess, like Song, she had simply sent silver ingots to avoid suspicion. Now a secondary consort, she could not send the same thing, yet she feared others might tamper with any gifts she sent, leaving her uncertain.

“For the second prince’s full moon, didn’t the family send a long-life lock carved from mutton fat jade? That piece is solid and cannot be tampered with,” Nurse Chen suggested.

Lady Li hesitated. “That was a gift from Father, specially chosen for his grandson. How can I give it to someone else?”

“All the items in our household come from the Fourth Prince’s favor, except this one. Besides, the mutton fat jade lock is dignified and not easily meddled with,” Nurse Chen explained patiently, finally convincing Lady Li to reluctantly agree.

Consort Fu in the main chamber remained indifferent to the news—pregnancy was pregnancy, birth was birth. For her, “having a son meant all was well.” No matter how many children the other women bore in the rear, none could surpass the eldest legitimate son, Honghui.

The only one perhaps a little disappointed was the newly arrived Consort Wu.

“In a while, the Golden Bestowal Festival will be held. Consort Fu will likely take some children to Yonghe Palace to pay respects to the Empress. Sister-in-law, you should pay more attention and teach Erlin Zhu how to win over her grandmother’s favor,” Lady Li said, stroking her daughter’s thinning braid with a sigh.

Golden Bestowal Festival?

Yu Yan heard the unfamiliar name again. She glanced at her mother and then at Nurse Chen, but neither seemed inclined to explain. So she suppressed her questions and quietly sat in Lady Li’s lap, playing the part of a child.

“Our second princess is so quiet, she already has some of the demeanor of the Fifth Princess. The Empress will surely like her,” Nurse Chen smiled.

Whether Imperial Noble Consort De liked her or not, Yu Yan did not know. She only knew that in the following days, Nurse Chen kept training her how to bow and address others properly. Even the autumn and winter clothes she would wear were already being made.

As autumn deepened, the infants’ cries faded with the falling leaves carried away by the wind. The cries of Honghui could no longer be heard in Consort Fu’s courtyard, but Hongyi still cried loudly from time to time, causing Lady Li sleepless nights.

“If he keeps crying like this, he’ll hurt his throat,” Lady Li worried, gently touching her son’s flushed face.

Yu Yan sat beside Lady Li, craning her neck to look at Hongyi. She thought her half-brother looked like a big-headed doll. Though less frightening than a month ago, he was still far from pretty.

Her own half-father and mother were both good-looking; surely they would not produce an ugly child.

Nurse Chen comforted her, “Perhaps he’s not ready yet. The eldest brother no longer cries or fusses at this age. Since our brother is just a few days younger, he should improve soon.”

“It’s strange that since Song became pregnant, the eldest prince has stopped crying. The maids say this pregnancy is good luck for him,” Lady Li recalled something a young maid had said with a laugh, and she too was curious. “Could it really be so?”

“Nonsense. They’re all sons of the same father, what luck or misfortune? They’re not household slaves,” Nurse Chen said, half laughing and half exasperated. “Don’t listen to the maids’ nonsense; if the Fourth Prince heard such talk, it wouldn’t do him any good.”

Lady Li finally fell silent and laid the crying Hongyi back into his cradle.

When Yinzhen entered, he saw Lady Li holding a book, teaching Yu Yan to recognize characters.

Lady Li had never cared for reading. She was the youngest daughter, born when her mother was over thirty. She had no skill with needlework until pressed to learn it after being assigned to the Fourth Prince’s quarters. Reading was even less her interest; a few years ago, the prince had barely spoken to her, let alone recited poetry or essays, so she only knew a handful of characters forced upon her by her father in childhood.

She might not be literate, but her daughter must be.

The Emperor favored Han learning, and all the concubines and princesses studied reading. The Fifth Princess was the best scholar, raised apart from Imperial Noble Consort De, who worried often over her only surviving daughter. Lady Li hoped Yu Yan could learn to please the Empress and thus wanted to teach her literacy.

Besides, though Lady Li disliked reading, she understood its importance. Otherwise, why would men outside the palace devote themselves to studying the classics?

“Erlin Zhu, come, repeat after Mother: Heaven and earth, mysterious and vast.”

Lady Li held Yu Yan, reading each character carefully. Though she had learned the lines only recently, her clear and modulated voice made every word ring like a crystal spring.

“Heaven and earth, mysterious and vast,” Yu Yan’s eyes caught Yinzhen standing at the door, looking somewhat melancholy. Brightening, she reached out her hand and shouted, “Father!”

Here came Daddy!

Yinzhen watched as Yinzhen quietly observed Lady Li teaching the child through the beaded curtain. Her face seemed bathed in a soft glow, reminding him of the days long past in Jingren Palace under Empress Xiaoyi’s care, when Lady Tong had once taught him reading in the same careful way.

He smiled bitterly to himself. His foster mother, who loved him dearly, had died early. His birth mother’s entire maternal love was lavished on the youngest son. Now, what difference was there between him and the Crown Prince?

The Crown Prince had his devoted mother’s protection; he was alone in the world.

Yu Yan, seeing him hesitate, slipped from Lady Li’s arms and toddled to the curtain. A maid lifted the beads, revealing her half-father lost in quiet sorrow.

She threw herself at his legs, shaking them hard, calling out louder with each yell, “Father!”

Yinzhen’s thoughts snapped back. He smiled, lifting Yu Yan in his arms. “Erlin Zhu is speaking much more fluently now.”

“You’re naughty, Father!” Yu Yan scowled. Her half-father’s hands were never still; every time he held her, he tried to tug at her tiny braids, undoing her hair again.

Lady Li laughed, “Even such a little one knows to care about her appearance.”

“Girls are probably all like that. The eldest son’s daughter, Ni Chu He, was also quite coquettish at this age,” Yinzhen said with interest, picking up the Thousand Character Classic Lady Li held. “Why suddenly decide to start teaching Erlin Zhu to read?”

“My brother’s child also began learning at three. Erlin Zhu is that age now. Though she’s a daughter, it’s good to recognize more characters,” Lady Li answered honestly.

Yinzhen nodded. “That makes sense.”

He then began teasing her, reciting a line and prompting her to repeat it. When they reached “The stars are arranged in constellations,” he mischievously stopped and asked, “Do you remember what came before, Erlin Zhu?”

Who would underestimate her?

Yu Yan promptly recited, “Heaven and earth, mysterious and vast…”

She stopped after the first two lines, not because she forgot the rest, but because everyone in the room was looking at her in amazement. She remembered she was supposedly three but technically only two. To recite so much so clearly in such a short time was indeed extraordinary.

Yinzhen was surprised but knew there were precocious children in the palace, so he only praised, “Our Erlin Zhu is quite the prodigy.”

Lady Li beamed with pride. Though not clever herself, she had given birth to such a bright and lively daughter.

“However, Erlin Zhu is still young. Though she’s beginning to learn, don’t overdo it,” Yinzhen said softly, stroking her soft hair. His voice softened involuntarily. “Learn a little each day.”

A tree that stands out in the forest is the first to be cut down. She was still so small; it was better to keep some of her talents hidden.