Chapter 8 — The Jade Robe and Old Dreams

Lowering my gaze, I saw that a small, dark stain had bloomed across the fabric of my skirt. I stood frozen in place, unable to advance or retreat. Footsteps echoed from behind. Just as I was about to turn my head, a voice drifted through the air.

“I told you I would not appear before you again. Since you made the wager, you must accept the loss.”

It was Zhao Zhipu.

“Your dress is soiled. I have hung my outer robe upon the branch behind you; you may take it and use it.”

He paused for a brief moment before continuing.

“I recall that both you and Qingge experience your menses around the fifteenth of every moon, always entirely on schedule. Why has it arrived so early this time?”

Hearing those words, I felt only a profound sense of absurdity.

“Perhaps Your Highness has forgotten,” I said softly. “My monthly cycle was never aligned with my sister’s from the beginning.”

Silence immediately fell behind me.

“Your Highness’s kind intentions are duly noted by this humble subject’s wife. But… there is no need.”

The sound of rustling fabric drifted from behind. A moment later, all grew still once more.

“A Ci!”

I turned my head to see Lu Chu striding toward me, beads of sweat glistening upon his forehead. Upon catching sight of me, he let out a long breath of relief. His gaze fell upon the hem of my skirt. Without asking a single question, he unfastened his own outer robe and draped it gently over my shoulders.

“Let us go. I will take you home.”

As I turned to leave, he too noticed the outer robe hanging from the branch.

“Whose garment is that?”

“Perhaps some young nobleman left it behind by oversight,” I replied. “Leave it hanging there. The owner will likely return to search for it.”

After that, our lives remained tranquil and steady. Two months later, I discovered that I was with child. Lu Chu rejoiced like a young child, pressing his ear against the side of the bed to listen to my abdomen, declaring that he could hear movement. I told him it had only been two months, how could there possibly be any movement. He paid me no heed, insisting that he had indeed heard something, and earnestly began to converse with the little life resting within me. Days drifted by in peace and contentment.

Conversely, word reached us that the Eastern Palace had taken in a new secondary consort. She still wore robes of azure silk, and her brows and eyes bore the very same familiar contour. Following the arrival of this new consort, my sister and she vied fiercely for favor, bickering and fighting with unceasing turbulence. Whenever the Crown Prince offered a single word of praise for the new consort, my sister would frantically copy her attire and makeup by the very same night. The new consort refused to yield an inch. Upon seeing any token bestowed upon my sister, she would immediately rush to the Crown Prince to beg for an identical prize.

The two women imitated one another endlessly. Today you wear kingfisher green, tomorrow I shall wear a deeper jade. Today you pin your hair in the fallen-horse style, tomorrow I shall wear mine piled even higher. In time, even their tones of speech and the very manner of their walking grew increasingly indistinguishable. Two women who looked utterly identical now wandered the halls of the Eastern Palace. The servants soon found themselves entirely unable to tell who was who. Even the Crown Prince lost the ability to distinguish them. No matter which one he called out to, both would respond in unison. Staring into those two identical faces, he would suddenly feel a splitting agony lance through his skull.

One evening, the pair quarreled once more within the courtyard garden. The new secondary consort carelessly knocked over a lantern, and the flames instantly leapt upon her silks. By the time the servants rushed forward to beat out the inferno, half of her face had been horribly charred.

The Emperor flew into a rage, issuing a decree to thoroughly investigate the Eastern Palace. Only then was it uncovered that over the past few years, the Crown Prince had acted with utter absurdity, favoring lowly concubines while casting aside his principal wife, condoning the bitter struggles of the women in his inner quarters, which had led to the corruption of the Crown Prince’s consort and the disfigurement of his secondary consort. Memorials of impeachment from court officials piled high upon the imperial desk.

The Crown Prince’s twin younger brother, Zhao Zhipu, seized the opportunity to ally with the high ministers, jointly submitting a petition requesting the deposition of the Crown Prince. The Emperor had long since harbored a deep disappointment toward this eldest son, and moreover, Zhao Zhipu enjoyed immense popular support; thus, bowing to the irresistible current of the times, His Majesty issued an imperial edict stripping the Crown Prince of his title and reducing him to a commoner, while elevating Zhao Zhipu as the heir apparent.

On the very day Zhao Zhipu was driven from the Eastern Palace, I was sitting within the courtyard basking in the winter sun. Lu Chu returned from his official duties and recounted the news to me. I stroked my gently rounded belly without raising my head.

“I know.”

He squatted down before me, pressed his ear against my waist for a moment, and smiled warmly.

“A Ci, the little one is kicking me.”

I lowered my gaze, looking at his entirely earnest expression, and could not help but laugh.

“The child has barely grown at all, how could it possibly know how to kick someone?”

“It is true.” He captured my hand within his own. “Just then, it truly gave me a kick.”

“This child will certainly grow up to be just like you.”