Over there, Consort Dowager Hui looked at the fish she had caught. She went from her original complacency to confusion. She turned her head and asked Fang-momo, “Can this fish be eaten?”
Li Huairou came over. “This is a koi? It’s an ornamental fish. No one has eaten it, so I don’t know how it tastes!”
“Do you want to eat it?” asked Consort Dowager Hui.
Li Huairou nodded. “It’s not that I want to, but I’m just a little curious. I’ve never eaten it. I don’t know how it tastes.”
“Then bring it back and have the kitchens prepare it at noon,” Consort Dowager Hui replied.
The chief eunuch’s legs went soft, and he almost fell to the ground. But he didn’t dare to say anything! This was Consort Dowager Hui. Who in the palace did not know the special treatment that Consort Dowager Hui got from the empress dowager and the emperor, not to mention this golden koi that was hard to buy. If Consort Dowager Hui really liked to eat that koi, he feared that the emperor would make a decree on the spot to fish out all the koi from Taiye Pond and send them to Qingning Palace to become imperial food.
“Did you still want to continue fishing?” Consort Dowager Hui looked at Li Huairou.
“We’ll just eat this fish. Let’s change the location! Consort dowager, let’s compete! In half an hour, let’s see who catches more fish. The loser promises one thing to the winner—anything!” Li Huairou said after thinking about it.
“Anything is fine? What if I ask you to tell me The Story of the Stone in one go?” Consort Dowager Hui’s eyes lit up.
“You’re giving me a hard time. I have told you many times: the story only has eighty chapters. Before the rest of the story was finished, the storyteller passed away. I also don’t know; I just tried my best. And I can’t tell you everything in one go!” Li Huairou said.
“That’s fine, the first eighty chapters will do! Deal!” Consort Dowager Hui said happily. “Momo, let’s change location.”
The chief eunuch’s eyes lit up. He immediately came forward and said attentively, “To answer the consort dowager, this minion knows a place with many fish that bite easily.”
Consort Dowager Hui gave a signal with her eyes. Fang-momo immediately directed the crowd to move.
Li Huairou was still chattering: “Consort dowager, since we are going to compete, it must be fair. Both of us need to have the same fishing rod and bait.”
The chief eunuch’s mouth twitched even more when he listened to this. This little girl—”both of us”? So unruly, and no one cares?
Of course, he didn’t dare to control her, because the consort dowager was not angry. Instead of being angry, the consort dowager’s tone was as gentle as if she were coaxing a child as she said, “Okay, okay, it’s all the same. What about the chair? Do you want it? What about umbrellas? Do you want them?”
“Never mind the chair. Forget about the umbrella and massage my shoulders—I’m not afraid of getting tanned,” Li Huairou said triumphantly. Women in the palace got little activity. If they didn’t get any sun exposure, they’d probably get osteoporosis before they grew old.
Consort Dowager Hui rolled her eyes. “Beware, no one wants a piece of black charcoal.”
“I’m not afraid. I decided to stick on the consort dowager, so don’t kick me out of the palace!” Li Huairou exclaimed with a grin.
“Forget it. This consort simply can’t handle how troublesome you are!” Consort Dowager Hui added with a smile.
The master and servant exchanged places as they quarreled. When they arrived, Fang-momo led the people to quickly arrange things, and Consort Dowager Hui sat down again, waiting for the little eunuch to put the bait on. She just needed to hold the fishing rod.
After the fish was caught, the little eunuch also helped take the fish off. The whole process didn’t need Consort Dowager Hui’s hands at all; she just needed the fishing rod.
This also counts as fishing?
Seeing that Li Huairou was only staring at herself, Consort Dowager Hui asked this question: “What are you looking at me for? I have already caught one—don’t you need to hurry up?”
Li Huairou withdrew her gaze. Right, she’d been good-naturedly bickering to the point that she forgot about the proper task. She thought about it—if she won against the consort dowager, she’d ask the consort dowager to let her leave the palace before Huailan gave birth. She would have to keep Huailan company and make sure she gave birth safely before she could feel relieved.
After a while, the entire harem knew that Consort Dowager Hui was fishing with someone.
Many people come to watch the excitement.
Noisy. There was no serenity.
Consort Dowager Hui glanced at Li Huairou. There were already seven or eight fish in the barrel beside her, and the sizes of the fish weren’t small. On the consort dowager’s side, there were half as much fish as Li Huairou’s amount. I’m getting a little angry.
She didn’t think that her technique was bad; she could only attribute the fault to the women’s loud voices, which affected her performance.
“Momo, make them go away. It’s so noisy!” Consort Dowager Hui said impatiently.
Fang-momo held back her smile and turned away.
But after the crowd dispersed, Consort Dowager Hui still didn’t catch any fish. After another moment, she looked at Li Huairou over there for a while.
Consort Dowager Hui grew angry, and she threw the fishing rod. “Stop fishing, stop fishing. I lost!”
“No more? It hasn’t even been half an hour yet!” Li Huairou beamed.
“In just one cup of tea, the difference between us has become so much. Can this consort come back against the wind? If you lose, you lose! This consort is not a person who can’t afford to lose,” Consort Dowager Hui said angrily.
[Ancient Chinese method of measuring time. One cup of tea is around 10 minutes]
Even using “this consort” still didn’t admit that she couldn’t afford to lose.
But Li Huairou had already won. Naturally, it wasn’t good to get a bargain and still sell goods; the consort dowager was getting more and more childish, so it was better not to annoy her.
Li Huairou put away the fishing rod. “After catching so many fish, let’s have a whole fish feast today! Fish head with chopped peppers, fish with pickled cabbage, fish head pot, steamed fish, spicy fish, braised fish steak, fish balls in clear soup. How does that sound?”
Consort Dowager Hui blinked without speaking.
Li Huairou leaned over and whispered, “Don’t worry, the imperial physician said that eating fish won’t make you gain weight.”
Consort Dowager Hui glanced at her. “Momo.”
Fang-momo nodded immediately, meaning that she understood, and then she asked the little eunuch to carry the fish back to the dining room. Along the way, she ordered the kitchens to make a full fish banquet for lunch.
Finally sending these ancestors away, the chief eunuch wiped the sweat from his head. He was about to go back and take a break when he had to turn around.
[Ancestor can mean someone who gives you headache]
“Chief, the empress dowager sent someone to give a message over. It says that the empress dowager summoned you. Quickly, chief, go!”
With a drooping face, the chief eunuch hurried off.
Fortunately, the empress dowager had summoned him not to take responsibility for the fish, but to ask the chief eunuch a few questions with great interest. Then, he was sent back.
When the chief eunuch walked out of Ningsheng Palace, he happened to hear the instructions given to the momo next to the empress dowager; the empress dowager wanted to eat fish at noon, and she’d asked the kitchens to prepare it quickly.
The chief eunuch had been in the palace for so many years, and he knew a lot. Those concubines of the first emperor who offended the empress dowager would either die or be wounded. The rest were locked up in the cold palace. The only variable was Consort Dowager Hui.
Consort Dowager Hui’s grandfather was the first emperor’s mentor. Consort Dowager Hui and the first emperor had a generation gap between them. When the first emperor met Consort Dowager Hui by chance, he was moved, but for the sake of his mentor’s reputation, he never dared to act on it. It was said that the empress dowager finally took her shot, and then Consort Dowager Hui entered the palace.
The empress dowager treated Consort Dowager Hui like this. Who knew whether it was because of the imperial decree left by the first emperor before his death or the guilt in her heart. After all, Consort Dowager Hui had only been sixteen when she’d entered the palace, and the first emperor had reached the age at which he knew that his end was near. When the first emperor passed away, Consort Dowager Hui was only twenty-two years old—at the peak of youth.
Guilt? Would the empress dowager feel guilty?
The chief eunuch shook his head quickly, shaking the ridiculous thought away.
Forget it. What did the empress dowager’s thoughts have to do with him? He just needed to do his job and preserve his little life.
A few days after the all-fish banquet, Prince Qi set off to Nanshan Palace. The attendants around him felt aggrieved for him. The dignified prince, a person talented in literary and military fields, could only do these chores, such as supervising the renovation of the palace.
Hearing the attendants’ complaints, Prince Qi merely smiled gently and turned a deaf ear.
This summer came very early; only, in June, the temperature was terribly high. Li Huairou missed being surrounded by ice all day long, and Consort Dowager Hui was not much better than her.
Fortunately, the empress dowager spoke soon, saying that she would leave for Nanshan Palace to escape the summer heat.
Most of the concubines in the palace were taken. Concubine Ling had fallen out of favor, but the night before her departure, the emperor remembered Concubine Ling and added her name for some reason.
Sitting on the carriage and seeing a corner of the palace hidden in the deep mountains and forests from a distance, Li Huairou was a little excited. She lowered the curtain of the carriage and turned to look at Consort Dowager Hui.
Consort Dowager Hui was looking down at the manuscript of The Story of the Stone that she had copied herself. She simply waved her hand. “Go, go.”
Li Huairou was suddenly happy and looked at Fang-momo.
Fang-momo understood. She stopped the carriage and arranged for someone to send Li Huairou to the Shi family house.
Li Huailan had received the news a few days earlier and had been looking forward to it.
These days, she’d learned that Prince Qi had come to Nanshan Palace. In order to avoid suspicion, she kept hiding at home. Although she was accompanied by the old aunt, and Shi Yong tried his best to spare time to come back to keep her company, she still felt a little lonely.
Hearing the sound of a carriage outside from a distance, Li Huailan excitedly stood up with the support of the table. The old aunt hurried over to help her. “Sit down, I will go and see.”
In the next second, the door was knocked. The aunt hurried over to open it.
The door opened, and Li Huailan saw that familiar face. “Huairou!”
“Jiejie!” Li Huairou waved to her happily. “Thank you, both of you.”
The guard accompanying the carriage brought Li Huairou’s things in. “Miss, the momo said that you can live here with peace of mind. If you want to return to the palace, ask someone to bring a message, and the subordinates will come to pick you up immediately.”
Li Huairou nodded and replied that she knew.
Turning her head and watching Li Huailan want to come out, she said, “Jie, don’t move, I’ll go over there.”
“Why did you bring so many things?” The old aunt smacked her tongue.
“It’s all food and useful things, as well as things for my future niece and nephew. I am sorry to trouble you,” Li Huairou replied with a smile.
“It’s fine. You can go in and talk to your sister; she’s been thinking about it all morning. I will move these,” the old aunt said with a smile.
Li Huairou hurried in, looking at Li Huailan with a strange look in her eyes. “Jie, why is your stomach so big? Did you eat too much?”
Li Huailan lowered her head and smiled embarrassedly.
The old aunt said from behind her, “The doctor said that your sister is pregnant with twins!”
“What?!” Li Huairou turned her head to look at the old aunt in surprise. Then she looked at Li Huailan with horror. “Twins!”
Li Huairou was about to run outside when Li Huailan hurriedly called out to her, “Huairou, where are you going?”
Li Huairou turned her head and said, “Jie, I’ll go to the summer palace to find the consort dowager and ask for an imperial physician to come.”
Li Huailan had a dumbfounded expression. “Why are you so anxious?!”
“Jie, don’t worry. I’ll catch up since they haven’t gone far,” Li Huairou said without looking back.
Li Huailan still wanted to stop her, but the old aunt thought it was a good idea. This was Huailan’s first children, and they were twins, which was worrying. Although Brother Yong had also hired a doctor, if you could hire an imperial physician, it would be double insurance.
