The Pearl on the Emperor’s Crown

Chapter 13 – Double Money-fish Patterned Hairpin

Zhu Yi sat in the carriage, waiting to return to the palace. After a while, Xie Ying also bent down and entered inside.  The carriage had been temporarily procured from outside the temple and it wasn’t very big and the sense of oppression caused by Xie Ying’s height suddenly made the space appear cramped.

Zhu Yi shifted her hips, trying to give him more space. As soon as she moved her upper body, Xie Ying grasped her shoulders, and his body leaned towards her.

In the past, Zhu Yi had always struggled hard, and she did it unconsciously at the moment. But when she looked up into Xie Ying’s eyes, she felt the unhappiness in Xie Ying’s heart. She felt that Xie Ying was more concerned and upset about what had happened to her today than she was. She immediately stopped resisting.

Seeing that Zhu Yi had relaxed, Xie Ying slowly embraced her into his arms. She raised her hand and pressed it on his chest but after a little half-hearted resistance, she lowered her defences and let him hold her tightly.

Zhu Yi felt that Xie Ying’s strength was greater than usual today, and it was a little painful. She pursed her lips but made no sound. Her body trembled slightly, and Xie Ying’s hands wandered and rubbed on her vest and shoulders as if he wanted to nestle her into his body as hard as he could.

“It hurts,” Zhu Yi finally couldn’t help reminding him.

Xie Ying’s arms and the flesh on his body were too hard. Zhu Yi felt that she should be disgusted, but she didn’t have any strength after being rubbed and stroked by him. Her legs were strangely weak, even more so than when she had been drugged earlier. 

When Xie Ying heard her cry out in pain, he loosened his grip. Zhu Yi quickly lowered her head, shamefully feeling a twinge of pleasure in her body and a longing for Xie Ying that she had never felt before. She realised that she didn’t actually want Xie Ying to let go, but wanted to be held by him all the time. This recognition made her push him away with force.

Xie Ying thought that Zhu Yi was angry with him for being rude right after she had been badly frightened, and he felt some remorse in his heart.

“Why was Your Highness so surprised that I took you away?” Xie Ying asked after a moment of silence. “Could it be that in your heart, you think that I just want to take advantage of my closeness to you?”

Zhu Yi raised her head. “I didn’t think so.”

“That’s good,” Xie Ying’s gaze was serious. “Zhu Yi, I won’t get close to a woman at will.”

Especially not a woman he shouldn’t even be messing with.

Zhu Yi was still wondering what he meant by this when Xie Ying lowered his head, his lips about to touch her forehead. “Since I treat you like this, I will be responsible for you,” he promised.

Zhu Yi’s face flushed red and she hurriedly looked away from him. Zhu Yi was already keen, and after today’s comparison with Wan Hai, it was difficult for her to deceive herself and others.

The feeling of nausea and fear when Wan Hai approached her was like a flesh-eating worm got into her clothes. But when Xie Ying approached her, she only felt shy.

There was also fear, but it is completely different from her fear of Wan Hai. With Xie Ying, she was afraid that she would not be able to guard her heart under his advances, and that he would leave as he had done the last time. Only then did she realise that she still liked Xie Ying so much.

But how was he going to be responsible? It was only today that she realised how much the empress hated her. If Xie Ying wanted to marry her, the empress would be strongly opposed to it. Zhu Yi’s thoughts were anxious.

Xie Ying hugged Zhu Yi to himself with one hand, and Zhu Yi pressed her face against Xie Ying’s chest and closed her eyes.

Please support the translator by reading this on sunkissed 
~~~~~
translations. Don’t support sites stealing my hard work.

The empress was forty-six years old, yet she looked thirty with her well-maintained face. She wore a sixteen-panel lilac-coloured satin peony skirt that cinched around her waist. It was really difficult to tell that she had a son in his thirties. Xie’s family were well-born, so naturally, the empress was also a beauty. Noble Consort Tong was charming, but the empress’s beauty was cold and arrogant.

Xie Ying knew very well that his aunt was the apple of his grandmother’s eye when she was just a girl in the Xie family. She was so pampered to the point where she did as she pleased, and her emotions were written all over her face. Xie Jia Yuan never thought that she would become an empress. The emperor had asked for her hand when he was just a prince.

The empress gave birth to her eldest son in the first year she married the emperor. This son was very competitive and knew how to protect his mother from an early age. Because of the Xie family and the crown prince, the emperor was also proud and tolerant of the empress. Therefore, although the empress has been in the inner palace for decades, her temperament had not changed much from when she was a girl.

The empress looked at Xie Ying and asked him to sit down. When the palace lady retired after serving tea, she held the carved jade double money-fish patterned hairpin on her head, and said, “Ah Ying, you know that you and the crown prince are the most important to your aunt. Even Ah Dai has to take second place after you.”

Xie Ying was silent.

“I called you over today to talk about your marriage,” the empress said. “I’ve always hoped that you can marry Ah Dai, but it is indeed a bit difficult for you to wait for her to grow up, and the Xie family is still waiting for you to start a family. Why don’t you accept a concubine or two first? Let Aunt pick a few good ones for you.” 

The empress was indeed placing Xie Ying right in front of Zhu Dai.

“The Minister of Rites, Zhen Xian’an, has also had dealings with you,” she continued. “His eldest daughter, Zhen Xi Bing, is smart and  beautiful, and her appearance will not lose against that little fox1. If you’re interested, I will invite Miss Zhen to the palace for you to take a look. How about that?”

Although the empress did not explicitly say who the little fox was referring to, both she and Xie Ying knew well by heart.

Xie Ying lightly rubbed the edge of his teacup with his thumb, his expression was indistinguishable as he said, “It’s enough for Aunt to worry about the crown prince’s inner courtyard2 I have my own plans for my marriage. As for Princess Hua Xian, I’ve always regarded her as my little sister, so Aunt can find other consort candidates for her.”

The empress’s expression suddenly changed. “You have your own plan…why not tell your Aunt what you’re planning?”

Xie Ying did not answer directly, but instead said, “Zhu Yi is loyal and she respects Aunt as her mother. Aunt’s behaviour today was really inappropriate.”

The empress frowned. Here she was thinking that she shouldn’t have a disagreement with him so she hadn’t mentioned this. Yet he was fine with taking the initiative to bring it up first. Was this to ask for an explanation for Zhu Yi?

The empress stood up. “Ah Ying, your heart should be clear on how your aunt has treated you since you were a child. Last time, your foolish father requested for Xie Shao to be conferred as a second-ranked prince3, and I also opposed it for you. But today you actually turned against me for an outsider?”

Xie Ying sneered slightly and was about to speak when the crown prince strode in. He greeted the empress and looked at Xie Ying. “Ah Ying is really here with imperial mother,” he said. “I was looking for you. Our Zhu uncles are here again. Let’s go. The both of us will definitely win all the treasures they have.”

When the empress heard this, she knew that they were going to play Cuju4. In front of the prince, she couldn’t discuss the previous topic with Xie Ying anymore so she looked at him and said, “Go on, go on, be careful of the heat.

Please support the translator by reading this on sunkissed 
~~~~~
translations. Don’t support sites stealing my hard work.

Xie Ying quickly discovered that Zhu Yi was avoiding him in the past few days after returning from Dajue Temple. She didn’t even go to Zhu Xiu Li’s place and instead asked her palace maid to summon Zhu Xiu Li over to her. He tried to ask her out in Zhu Xiu Li’s name again, but she didn’t fall for that trick anymore.

She was very obedient to him that day, so she must have changed her mind when she returned to the palace. Xie Ying frowned slightly and was planning to visit her boudoir again in the evening when the emperor unexpectedly gave him a chance.

When Xie Ying arrived at the imperial study, Zhu Yi was also there. Xie Ying didn’t look at her, but only greeted the emperor.

The emperor first showed some concern towards Xie Ying as an elder, and then he said, “Xi Zhen is the most filial to her imperial grandmother. The Yulanpen Festival5 is approaching. Tomorrow, she will set off for Grand National Temple on behalf of the empress dowager.”

Xie Ying naturally glanced at Zhu Yi following the emperor’s words. Zhu Yi was feeling guilty and didn’t dare to meet his gaze. She usually went to Grand National Temple at this time of the year, but this year she had the intention of avoiding Xie Ying.

“Rong Xiao, who used to escort Xi Zhen, isn’t in the palace now,” the emperor continued. He looked at Xie Ying. “How about nephew escorting Xi Zhen to Grand National Temple this time?”

“There’s no need!” Zhu Yi interjected.

The emperor and Xie Ying both turned their heads to stare at her. Xie Ying’s gaze made Zhu Yi fidget uneasily. “This is a trivial matter,” she explained. “Imperial Father can just assign me a few guards.”

Guarding the princess was a serious job. However, Xie Ying was not an ordinary nobleman’s son, and asking him to be the princess’s guard was not only excessive but also a matter of condescension.

The most crucial thing was that Grand National Temple was the largest royal temple in the dynasty. It was not near Sheng River Palace, but on the outskirts of the Imperial Capital. In previous years, she usually stayed at Grand National Temple for more than ten days. After the Festival, she would directly return to the Forbidden City from the Grand National temple. For Zhu Yi and Xie Ying to be together every day for such a long period of time, Zhu Yi felt overwhelmed even thinking about it.

“This…” The emperor was still hesitating when Xie Ying calmly said, “This official accepts the order.”

After leaving the imperial study room, Xie Ying and Zhu Yi had to walk in the same direction so naturally, they walked together.

Zhu Yi kept her eyes fixed on the road ahead, and after Xie Ying had also walked for a while, he gave Zhu Yi a side glance, his gaze somewhat meaningful.

Zhu Yi thought Xie Ying was going to ask her to go somewhere alone with him again, but Xie Ying just said, “Princess, this official will pick you up at Harmony Gate tomorrow morning at nine.”

Zhu Yi nodded.

That night, Zhu Chuo and Zhu Xiu Li hugged her and cried, desperately reluctant to let her go. These two were so used to being dramatic that Zhu Yi couldn’t help but feel sad. After all, since Zhu Ning wasn’t there anymore, these two were the ones she was most concerned about in the palace. Zhu Yi kept comforting them, saying that they could go back to the Forbidden City to meet in late July, but as they talked, the three of them hugged their heads and wailed together again.

But this matter of praying on behalf of the empress dowager was proposed by Zhu Yi herself when she was eleven years old in order to get close to the empress dowager. It was only natural that she would have to continue after the first time, otherwise, it would not be sincere.

Noble Consort Tong was very satisfied with the emperor’s arrangement. This time she didn’t even remind Zhu Yi not to get too close to Xie Ying.

After all, you had to pay the price in order to reach your goals. Besides, princesses were different from the daughters of ordinary families. Even if she had lost her virginity and married someone else, she was still a princess who represented the family of heaven. Therefore, whoever the emperor wanted to give her to would have to accept her. Besides, there were also women in the palace who were knowledgeable in the ways of covering it up on the wedding night.

Concubine Tong thought that even in the worst-case scenario of Xie Ying not wanting to marry Zhu Yi after sleeping with her, as long as she didn’t let Zhu Yi get pregnant, she wasn’t afraid that Zhu Yi wouldn’t be able to find a good husband. Also, a person like Xie Ying would never allow a woman who wasn’t his consort to give birth to his child, so Noble Consort Tong wasn’t concerned about this.

Zhu Yi has always been frugal wherever she travelled, and the next day, she only brought along four court ladies and two eunuchs with her.

After leaving Harmony Gate, Zhu Yi slowed down her pace. Not far away was a team of sturdy young men in the same style of navy blue uniforms, different from that of the imperial army. They should be the personal guards that Xie Ying brought from Wei Province.

The crown prince was also there, speaking with Xie Ying on the stone steps.

Zhu Yi stepped forward to greet him. “Xi Zhen greets Imperial Elder Brother.”

The crown princes’ periphery had seen Zhu Yi approaching from afar, and he waited for her to come over. “Xi Zhen is the most benevolent and filial, and you will have to work hard again this time,” he said softly. “In a few days, when I’ve finished the urgent matters at hand, I will join you at Grand National Temple to do my part.”

“It’s not hard to be in the temple,” Zhu Yi said. “Imperial Elder Brother shoulders heavy responsibilities. Let Xi Zhen do these things for you.”

Xie Ying listened to the two of them in silence, and when he saw Zhu Yi’s suitcase being loaded into the carriage, he asked, “Shall we set off?”

Zhu Yi bid farewell to the crown prince and went to the first carriage in the front.