Chapter 9

Shen Yanxin asked with mild interest, “I heard the Empress has been tutoring His Majesty in his studies recently?”

Si Yunqin quickly waved her hand. “Not at all. His Majesty is very clever and mostly studies on his own. The Grand Tutor teaches him well. It has nothing to do with me.”

Even as she said this, Si Yunqin sighed deeply in her heart. There was little chance Shen Yanxin would believe her.

But to her surprise, Shen Yanxin didn’t press further. She simply glanced at the surrounding scenery and asked, “Does the Empress favor peach blossoms?”

Si Yunqin scratched her head and nodded honestly. Perhaps it was because she had been influenced since childhood. Her mother loved peach blossoms, and her father had planted several rows of peach trees in the backyard of their home. Every year when the flowers bloomed, Si Yunqin loved to sit there, brewing wine or tea.

In her previous life, she could never experience what it meant to have peach blossoms stretching for miles. In this life, though she still hadn’t, she had at least seen the beauty of peach blossoms and gradually grown to love them.

“The peach trees planted this year probably won’t bloom,” Shen Yanxin said meaningfully as she looked at the small saplings.

Si Yunqin couldn’t quite figure out what she was trying to say, so she simply nodded in agreement. “That’s true, but I’m not in a hurry. Next year will come soon enough.”

Shen Yanxin chuckled. “It’s noon. Isn’t the Empress going to have lunch?”

Si Yunqin finally understood. The Empress Dowager intended to freeload a meal at her Eternal Peace Palace.

“It was my oversight. Empress Dowager, Your Majesty, this way please.” Si Yunqin made a gesture of invitation. The young Emperor took Shen Yanxin’s hand and led the way familiarly toward the dining hall.

Lin Feng and Si Yin immediately went to the kitchen to arrange for more dishes.

Si Yunqin had ordered fish for lunch after breakfast that morning, so the kitchen had prepared braised fish. But with the sudden arrival of Shen Yanxin and the Emperor, they quickly started adding more dishes.

“Does the Empress Dowager or His Majesty have any particular cravings?” Si Yunqin asked cautiously.

She usually didn’t like to prepare too many dishes because it was wasteful. How much could one person eat? Besides, the palace maids and eunuchs didn’t share her kitchen.

“The Empress may arrange as she sees fit,” Shen Yanxin said. She truly didn’t want to think about anything today.

Si Yunqin had no choice but to add a few more dishes.

Yuwen Luo was still young and couldn’t eat much. As for Shen Yanxin, Si Yunqin had eaten with her once on the second day after entering the palace, and her appetite wasn’t large either.

In the end, four dishes and one soup were served. During the meal, mother and son followed the principle of “no talking while eating” to the letter.

When it was just Yuwen Luo and Si Yunqin, he would usually chat a little. Children are curious and always have questions, and Si Yunqin was patient enough to answer them.

After lunch, Yuwen Luo had the habit of napping. His wet nurse took him back to his own palace.

Shen Yanxin didn’t linger either and left, but before she went, she said meaningfully to Si Yunqin, “It’s better to keep your interests hidden, Your Majesty. It wouldn’t be appropriate for His Majesty to learn such things.”

Si Yunqin’s face flushed red. She wanted to find a hole to crawl into. Being caught reading an erotic book by a parent couldn’t be more embarrassing than this.

“Your subject will remember,” she said.

Shen Yanxin glanced at her flushed little face and ears and somehow felt in a good mood.

After she left, Si Yunqin returned to her room and rubbed her cheeks.

Then she opened the memorials piled on her desk. After reviewing two, she propped her chin on her hand and thought. Shen Yanxin hadn’t scolded her for reading a book about women’s intimacy. She only warned her not to let the young Emperor see it, so as not to corrupt a child.

That made Shen Yanxin seem not as hard to get along with as her father and brother had claimed.

But of course, how one treats the court and the harem is naturally different.

In a way, Shen Yanxin was actually quite good. At least she had spared the lives of everyone in the harem who would have been forced to accompany the late emperor in death. And when she learned of Si Yunqin’s preferences, she hadn’t been furious.

Si Yunqin’s favorable impression of Shen Yanxin instantly increased by a notch.

She had also heard something about the Jiangnan flood disaster. Originally, she hadn’t planned to pry into it.

But after this incident, she became quite curious about Shen Yanxin.

“Lin Feng, do you know about the Jiangnan flood? What measures has the court taken?” Si Yunqin asked out of curiosity.

Lin Feng hesitated when she heard her question. “Empress, I am but a lowly servant in the harem. How could I know about such things?”

Si Yunqin had just asked casually. It was normal that Lin Feng didn’t know.

“Did you study before entering the palace?” Si Yunqin changed the subject.

“Your subject was in the academy with my elder brother for a year before entering the palace,” Lin Feng replied, uncertain why she was asking.

“So you can read?” Si Yunqin looked at the pile of memorials on the table and had an idea. She had been dealing with Lin Feng for nearly two months and had some understanding of her character.

Lin Feng was meticulous and thorough, and she knew palace affairs well. She had been assigned to be the head maid of her palace, so she must be capable. She just wanted to slack off and couldn’t pile all the work on herself.

But she couldn’t always ask the imperial consorts of the late emperor to help her. They were technically her elders, though likely not much older—the Empress Dowager, for example, was only a few years older than her.

“I only learned a little,” Lin Feng answered honestly.

Si Yunqin nodded. “Si Yin is literate. Have her teach you more in your free time.”

Lin Feng didn’t understand why Si Yunqin wanted her to read more, but she didn’t dare question her mistress’s decision.

Si Yunqin picked out a few books and handed them to her. “Come to me for the next ones when you finish these.”

Lin Feng accepted them respectfully. “Thank you, Empress.”

“You’re welcome. Study hard. I’ll have things for you to do later.” Si Yunqin smiled.

After Lin Feng took the books, Si Yunqin waved them off. “Go rest. I’ll call you when I’m done.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Once they were gone, Si Yunqin continued with her work.

After two days of backlog, she finished in the afternoon. The sun was blazing outside.

The heat was just beginning to show. Bored, Si Yunqin went to the kitchen to make herself a drink.

Then she slipped back to her bedchamber to continue reading her storybook.

The more she read, the more hooked she became. The author wrote exceptionally well and with great wit.

After finishing two books, Si Yunqin grew even more eager to meet the author. Though a woman of this era, she had a remarkably independent, even forward-thinking mindset.

Not that women in this era had no status or ability.

Compared to the Ming and Qing dynasty women she knew from history books, the women of this era were quite highly regarded.

After all, the world had only recently been unified, and women had not yet been tightly bound by Confucian etiquette. The Zhao Kingdom even had a founding female general who had been enfeoffed as a prince—and she was still alive.

Shen Yanxin’s ability to replace the Regent Prince also spoke for her status. Of course, there were still plenty of critics in court who believed women should not govern.

But the author of this book subtly revealed a yearning for gender equality and freedom, as well as a critique of feudal hierarchy. Such ideas had only been won through many struggles in Si Yunqin’s previous life.

She put down the book, walked to the window, stretched, and then went outside.

She spotted the cat casually strolling along the palace wall. Si Yunqin fetched some food and climbed out the window. She slowly approached the plump cat, held out her palm, and coaxed it. The cat leaped down from the wall and landed steadily on the stone table.

Si Yunqin sprinkled the food on the table. While the cat ate, she reached out and touched it. This time it was docile and didn’t run away.

“You sure know how to enjoy yourself. All that meat—life in the palace must be good, huh?” Si Yunqin laughed.

As she was petting it, Si Yin came over and asked, “Does Your Majesty fancy this cat?”

Si Yunqin had loved cats since childhood, but her mother was allergic to cat fur, so she had never owned one.

“It’s very cute,” Si Yunqin said, stroking it. After eating its fill, the cat even lay on its back on the table, exposing its belly for her to rub.

“Too bad it already has an owner,” Si Yunqin said regretfully.

“How does Your Majesty know?” Si Yin asked curiously.

“Look at its fur—smooth and clean, so long without tangles. Someone must be grooming it. And it has a faint, pleasant scent, so it must have been bathed not long ago,” Si Yunqin explained.

Si Yin leaned in to look, and indeed, everything was as Si Yunqin said.

“If Your Majesty likes them, we can have someone find one to keep,” Si Yin suggested.

Si Yunqin laughed. “No need.”

After eating its fill and being comfortably petted, the cat got up after a while, shook itself, and left.

“Come play again sometime!” Si Yunqin called out cheerfully as it leaped back onto the palace wall.

In the Imperial Study, Shen Yanxin was reviewing memorials. Lan Xi came to call her for dinner.

Putting down her brush, Shen Yanxin couldn’t shake the worry from her brow. The Jiangnan flood had scattered the people, and even unaffected prefectures had to take in refugees. Everything was complicated. There were factional struggles at court, and the disaster relief supplies were far from sufficient—the national treasury was already running low.

Looking at the table full of dishes, she had little appetite.

She forced herself to eat a little. As she ate, a shadow leaped in through the window.

Watching the cat jump leisurely onto the table, Shen Yanxin picked up a piece of meat for it. “You’re carefree.”

She gave it four pieces of meat, but the cat only ate two.

She glanced at its belly. “It must have eaten elsewhere in the palace already.”

“There are many masters in the palace. Lili has a gentle nature; perhaps it has found favor with someone else,” Lan Xi said with a smile.

Shen Yanxin chuckled and didn’t think much of it.

After dinner, she returned to the Imperial Study to face the mountain of memorials. It truly gave her a headache.

By the time she finished, it was late at night. She rubbed her temples and asked about the young Emperor. Upon learning he was already asleep, she nodded. “Let’s go. Back to the palace.”

“Won’t the Grand Consort go see His Majesty?”

“No. He eats well, sleeps well, and has fun in Eternal Peace Palace—practicing martial arts and playing. He’s much more carefree than I am.” Shen Yanxin shook her head.

“I didn’t expect the Empress and His Majesty to get along so well,” Lan Xi remarked.

“Si Yunqin is no ordinary woman.”

Whether that was genuine praise or something else, Lan Xi wasn’t sure. She thought for a moment. “It seems the Empress is sincerely teaching His Majesty. I’ve heard she’s even teaching Consort Chen to read and write.”

“She’s certainly busy. Has all the harem affairs been handed over to her?”

“Grand Consort Yuande has transferred everything. The Empress took charge within half a month and has been managing it neatly. She’s even cleared up some previously ambiguous responsibilities.”

Shen Yanxin nodded and asked no further. After returning to her bedchamber, she bathed and prepared for sleep.

Meanwhile, Si Yunqin, who had already lain down, sneezed.