CHAPTER 109: CHAPTER 108: THE GRAPE TRELLIS

Men probably don’t like women who are erratic and hysterical at the drop of a hat. Zhao Junyao was the Emperor, and he came to the Harem to relax. He disliked such behavior even more. So, Zhao Junyao left.

Noble Concubine Shih was very disappointed. She collapsed on the bed, letting her tears soak the pillow.

Ying Yue was terribly anxious.

"Your Highness, you must take care," the Imperial Physician said. "You ought to..." Maintain a happy mood.

Ying Yue couldn’t bring herself to say the last few words. Happy? Forget it.

After thinking it over, she changed her words. "You need to maintain a calm mind!"

Noble Concubine Shih heard this and closed her eyes, her tears soaking the pillow.

She felt deeply sarcastic. A calm mind? Ha, could she remain calm?

"Ying Yue, who do you think the Emperor will take on his southern inspection tour?"

Ying Yue hesitated to speak, thinking to herself, Your Highness, why do you always dwell on the things that distress you? No matter who he takes, we can’t go with him. Besides, by asking about it, are you just trying to make yourself unhappy?

Seeing that Ying Yue remained silent, Noble Concubine Shih gave a few cold laughs and muttered to herself, "The Emperor will certainly take Lady Xia. This palace knows it!"

As she spoke, a cold glint flashed in her eyes, making Ying Yue shiver. Ying Yue rubbed her eyes and looked again, but it was gone. She must have imagined it.

"Your Highness, can’t you think about this after you give birth to the Little Prince? You can’t keep distressing yourself like this!"

But Noble Concubine Shih shook her head. "You’re wrong, Ying Yue! This isn’t about seeking distress!"

She also wanted to ignore it, but watching that bitch, Lady Xia, grow more favored by the day... who knew, once Lady Xia had a child, she might just overturn everything. A favored Honored Lady who had caught the eye of her ’cousin’ might not be terrifying, but she was certainly vexing enough. Lady Xia was like an unkillable cockroach, always there, popping up occasionally to disgust her.

When had Noble Concubine Shih ever suffered such humiliation? The more she thought about it, the more furious she became! Hidden under the covers, her fingernails dug viciously into her palms, as if trying to pierce through them. Lady Xia! As long as I, Shih Wanxin, am here, you will never know peace!

She refused to believe that a Noble Consort of distinguished birth, and pregnant at that, could not bring down a mere Honored Lady!

「Qingya Residence」

Xia Ruqing lay in bed, drowsy and on the verge of sleep, when she suddenly shivered and woke up instantly. Zi Yue, who was fumigating the bed curtains, jumped in fright.

"My lady, what’s wrong?"

As Xia Ruqing’s mind cleared, she felt goosebumps all over her body. "It’s so cold!"

Zi Yue stared at her, stunned, an expression of disbelief on her face. "My lady, it’s almost the sixth month now."

The sixth month of the lunar calendar? That meant the dog days of summer.

Someone was cold on the cusp of the scorching dog days?

Xia Ruqing also found it a bit incredible. She took another moment to assess how she felt, then smiled sheepishly. "Maybe... I was just half asleep!"

"You certainly were! If you really feel cold, then I’ll have to call the Imperial Physician!"

Xia Ruqing didn’t say much. She just yawned and went back to sleep. As she was drifting off, she reminded Zi Yue, "You should go to bed early too. Tomorrow will be busy..."

"Yes, my lady!"

After finishing fumigating the bed curtains, Zi Yue quietly took the lamp and left.

Xia Ruqing had spent a month’s allowance of silver to have the Ministry of Internal Affairs procure a large, beautiful grapevine for her. Tomorrow, it was to be transplanted and the soil prepared. As the owner of the grapevine, she naturally had to supervise carefully.

Of course, the main reason was that she was simply too idle! When she first moved in, she had mentioned wanting a grape trellis, and now... her wish was finally coming true. Later, whether for eating grapes or making wine, having the grapevine right there would be so convenient!

「The next day.」

Several Little Eunuchs arrived early to dig the pit. The spot, chosen by Xia Ruqing, was in the garden on the right side of the courtyard. It had previously been planted with flowers, but since no one cared for them, they hadn’t grown well, so Xia Ruqing had them all removed.

Zi Yue brought her some cool herbal tea.

Xia Ruqing pondered for a moment, then said, "Later, let’s plant grass all around here, and then add some other fruit trees! The kind that has flowers in spring and fruit to pick in autumn, like peach, pear, and cherry trees!"

As a foodie, she would never plant a bunch of things that were purely ornamental and inedible.

Zi Yue nodded in agreement. "That way, we won’t lack fruit to eat, and we’ll also have a shady place to cool off."

"There’s already bamboo in this courtyard, so it’s not too hot. If we plant more fruit trees, it will be even more fragrant!" Xia Ruqing added, very pleased. "Once this courtyard is spruced up, it’ll look so many times better than before!"

Indeed, the Emperor still dotes on me so much! Even if rules prevent my promotion, he can ensure I eat well, drink well, live well, and enjoy myself. That’s certainly permissible. In the Harem, who would dare say anything? Even the Empress Dowager and the Empress wouldn’t be able to find any fault! Therefore, in the palace, whether one lives well or not mainly depends on the Emperor. If the Emperor likes you and favors you, the whole world will want to curry favor with you and give you face; it has little to do with your actual rank. If the Emperor doesn’t favor you, then being a concubine, even one of high rank, is utterly useless. Of course, that’s not to say rank is entirely worthless. With a higher rank, even if you fall out of favor, life will still be somewhat better! That’s why everyone is still desperately trying to climb higher!

When she returned from paying her respects at Jiaofang Hall, the pit for the tree had been dug. Several Little Eunuchs were busy planting the tree. Xiao Xizi was also helping. He wasn’t doing much, just assisting with packing the soil, but the back of his clothes was soaked with sweat.

Zi Yue was a little worried. "My lady, the sun is getting harsher. We should go back inside."

"They’ll be done in another two Shi Chen. We can come back to look when it’s cooler!" Zi Yue added, trying to coax her.

But Xia Ruqing was still a bit worried. "Summer isn’t the best season for transplanting. I’m afraid they might damage the roots and kill the tree!"

Zi Yue sounded rather helpless. "That won’t happen! My lady, you underestimate them too much!"

Xia Ruqing thought for a moment and conceded the point. Aren’t these the same people who manage the flowers and trees in the Imperial Garden? With that thought, she stopped worrying.

She went back, washed her face, turned over the plums she was sun-drying, and then returned to her room.

"It’s so hot!" she exclaimed, fanning herself.

Zi Yue brought her a bowl of chilled mung bean soup.

Xia Ruqing drank it without a second glance; she was extremely thirsty.

"What should we have for lunch? It’s so hot, I have no appetite at all!"

Zi Yue glanced at the nearby basin of ice and said, "Shall I move the ice basin closer to you, my lady?"

Only when Zi Yue mentioned it did Xia Ruqing remember there was a basin of ice in the room. She immediately said, "Yes, quickly, move it over."

It was so inconspicuous she’d completely forgotten about it. Still, it was better than nothing! Some people wished they had ice but couldn’t get any. Like Consort Zheng Pin and Honored Lady Hu, for instance. On such sweltering days, life without ice must be quite unbearable.

Consort Zheng Pin would probably say with a gloomy face, I’m used to it.

Honored Lady Hu would likely flash a malicious smile and think, Xia Ruqing, I’d like to see just how many more days you can remain so carefree!

COUGH COUGH. Anyway, I digress.