The Cicada Knows Neither Spring Nor Autumn - Chapter 5

After seventeen years, the Emperor finally seemed to remember he had another son.

He gave Zhao Yan Qingyan Residence, assigned him a host of servants, and showered him with gifts. He even permitted Zhao Yan to study every day at Taihua Hall beside the Crown Prince.

Consort Li smashed everything in her study. No one in Jiyue Palace dared breathe too loudly.

“Why? Why is my belly the only useless one? Even that little slut Consort Lan bore the Third Prince this year. The Noble Consort miscarried once because of the Empress and still managed to bear the Second Prince. Why can I not conceive?”

No matter how splendidly Consort Li dressed for the birthday banquet, the Emperor had not offered a single word of praise. After the Tiele provocation, every eye in the palace had been fixed on Zhao Yan.

Biyun and I knelt before her with lowered heads.

Biyun glanced at me, rose, and began to massage Consort Li’s shoulders.

“Please calm yourself, Your Highness. The Noble Consort’s father was only a petty local official, and she herself is a madwoman. What good is a son? The Second Prince has been beaten and cursed by her all these years, and His Majesty never cared.

“Your Highness’s brother is a third-rank regional commander in Lingnan, and your father is a vice second-rank admiral. Only days after their coastal victory, His Majesty sent Your Highness a coral tree three feet tall. Even without a child, His Majesty’s regard for you—”

The slap snapped Biyun’s face to one side.

“Fool,” Consort Li said coldly. “His Majesty values me precisely because my father and brother command troops.

“But if I remain childless, their military power will become an even greater thorn in his eye.”

I had thought Consort Li cared only for dresses, coy affection, and competing for favor. Apparently that was not entirely true.

Then again, who in this palace was truly simple?

Consort Li tipped her chin toward me. “Qiuchan, what do you think?”

My forehead touched the cold floor.

“This servant is dull. I do not know whether some things should be said.”

“Speak. I pardon you.”

“A mother rises through her son, and a son through his mother. Yet giving birth is not as valuable as raising a child, and the Noble Consort has shown the Second Prince no maternal care…”

Consort Li raised a brow.

“And in her present state, that madwoman probably has few years left. The Empress hates mother and son too much for him to be placed in her care when that happens…”

I remained kneeling properly and said nothing more.

After the grand scholars of Wenhua Hall praised the Second Prince as “heaven-blessed in intellect, able to memorize a text at a glance,” Zhao Yan became the most sought-after figure at court.

He was constantly occupied. The Emperor summoned him to the imperial study every few days. Most of the servants in Qingyan Residence were the Emperor’s people—ostensibly there to serve, but truly there to watch him.

I did not know how Zhao Yan slipped free of them, but he still met me every other day at Qiyun Palace.

I no longer taught him to read. Most of the time, we simply ate and talked together, as though nothing had changed.

“Sister, you saw me today and called ‘Your Highness the Second Prince’ from so far away. It broke my heart.”

Zhao Yan sat on a stone bench in Qiyun Palace’s garden, playing with my fingers like a child fascinated by a new toy.

I poked his palm helplessly.

“There were so many people. What else should I call you? Do you want me beheaded?”

He smiled. “There are only two of us now. Surely you need not call me that here.”

“Yan’er…” I said softly. “Zhao Yan.”

“What did Consort Li say to you in private today?”

Lately, Consort Li had repeatedly extended goodwill toward Zhao Yan, sending small gifts to Qingyan Residence. When the Emperor visited Jiyue Palace, she even shed a few tears over the Second Prince’s pitiable childhood.

Meanwhile, the Noble Consort threw every imperial gift sent to Jingyang Palace back outside. Palace servants said her madness had worsened. She sat at the gates each day, shrieking curses like an owl until everyone who heard her shuddered.

“Consort Li has no son,” Zhao Yan scoffed. “She wants me to become hers.”

“But I do not want to.” Having tired of playing with my fingers, he threaded his larger hand through mine. “Li Jiao, you are the only family I need.”

I studied him. “Yan’er, until you can truly do whatever you please, there will be many times when you cannot indulge your temper.”

“The Rong clan stands behind Consort Li,” I reminded him.

Zhao Yan’s smile was harmless, but something in his eyes felt unfamiliar.

He looked like a snake tasting the air.

“Do not worry. I simply do not want another mother appearing from nowhere.

“As for the Rong clan, we can each take what we need.”