The Promotion Record of A Crown Princess

I stole a glance at Qi Sheng and noticed that his head was held low in silence, a clear sign to me that there might be a chance to salvage the situation, and so I quickly added, “Your Majesty is right though. Every female member in Zhang clan, old or young, are all very resourceful.”

Qi Sheng remained silent.

I licked my lips and decided that I would be better off speaking from his perspective, so I continued with faked anger, “To say they are resourceful would be an understatement. Truth is, they are a bunch of calculating shrews!”

Qi Sheng still remained silent and only stood up after a while.

I hurriedly stood up and asked, “Are you going back? Won’t you stay for a little longer?” Before Qi Sheng could reply, I then immediately added with a warm smile, “I will see you off.”

Qi Sheng opened his mouth, as if trying to say something, but eventually nothing came out as he walked toward the entrance of the palace in silence. Before he reached the door, he paused and turned back to look at me, “Follow me.”

I wanted to give myself a hard slap. I shouldn’t have smiled so heartily and escorted him to the door!

I smiled, and rejected, “It’s late and cold outside. Why don’t we talk tomorrow, Your Majesty?”

Unmoved, Qi Sheng only stood still and observed me. He then beckoned Lv Li and commanded, “Get a cape for her.”

Lv Li obeyed with joy and turned back inside the palace. Shortly after, she came out with a scarlet cape embroidered with images of golden phoenix. But instead of giving it to me, she gave it to Qi Sheng.

Her motive behind this odd behavior was not hard to guess. I could not help but glare at her, which, surprisingly, only brought a broad smile to her face and she then backed down to the side.

Qi Sheng held the cape and placed it on my back. He then held my hands and said matter-of-factly, “Let’s go.”

It was all that I could do to hold in the weird feeling his action brought to me as he dragged me outside. I followed him across the corridor, over the winding path, the bridge and the artificial rocks, and finally entered a pavilion atop the highest point on Qi Long Mountain near the Taiye Pool. From here, I could get a panoramic view of nearly half the Sheng City.

Qi Sheng watched the glistening city from above and turned around, “What do you think?”

I clung on to the cape and replied uncaringly, “A bit windy.”

Qi Sheng glanced at me under the moonlight, his lips raising, and then turned his back to me and asked, “What’s your name?”

I thought for a while and replied, “Well, I am thinking, Zhang Pengpeng.”

Being the way things were, I had no better alternatives other than sticking to that name.

Qi Sheng held my hand, and after a long silence, he replied, “Well, Zhang Pengpeng it is. Do you know the history associated with this name?”

I was taken aback by this question and subconsciously asked, “What? You know that as well?”

Qi Sheng ignored me and smiled, “I walked among the wheat filed and the wheats are blooming.”

I stayed silent and stared at the flickering candle lights scattered all around the city.

Qi Sheng turned around and asked, “Why don’t you ask me why the name comes from those two lines?”

I looked up, and asked with a solemn face, “Can I ask another question first?”

Surprised by my question, he nodded, “Alright.”

“Tell me the meaning of those lines first!”

Apparently shocked by my question, he goggled at me and let out a hearty laughter, which immediately drew the attention of the nearby eunuchs and imperial guards.

I was very much ashamed by his reaction towards my ignorance of literature and shot a cold look at him. I detested people who liked to show off their talents and I never knew why they couldn’t speak plainly.

After a while, Qi Sheng’s laughter abated, but his eyes had become all dewy because of the laughter. With a smiley face, he explained, “These lines come from The Book of Songs, which tells a story of someone whose name had the word ‘Peng’ in it. That woman was very special to Emperor Chengzu and she lived in Zhang Family when you were born, so he gave you that name.”

“I see,” I nodded, “So by naming me Pengpeng, Emperor Chengzu was actually wishing that he could bump into that woman from time to time in the Zhang family, right?”

Qi Sheng nodded, “Aren’t you a clever woman.”

I puckered up my lips and asked, “I assume the Grand Empress Dowager doesn’t know about this, right?”

Qi Sheng was a bit surprised and asked, “How do you know?”

“Well, what else could it be? If she knew there was another woman, and that he gave me this name in memory of that woman, she would’ve killed me long ago.”

Qi Sheng quieted down and looked at me as if he was pondering over something. After a while, he asked, “Is that what you think?”

I shrugged my shoulders and smiled, “That’s what every woman would do in that circumstance.”

Qi Sheng fell into silence again after hearing what I said.

I was a bit drowsy and I also didn’t like the way he tended to fall into silence every now and then during conversation. Therefore, I said, “You’ve already told me about this thing before. I remember it all. It’s late. Let’s talk about this some other time. It’s time for us to go to sleep.”

Before he could voice his rejection, I straightforwardly started to walk out of the pavilion. However, Qi Sheng spoke from behind just when I was about to leave, “I want to talk about Jiang shi with you today.”

I halted my steps and turned around to look at him with a smile, “It can wait, right? Staying up is bad for your health.”

Qi Sheng looked at me without uttering a word. After a short while, he replied, “You want to drive me mad. Is that it?”

I was surprised by his perceptiveness. How did he manage to see through me?

But being seen through was one thing. I couldn’t very well say it out loud, and so I simply remain silent.

Qi Sheng turned around, stayed silent for a while, and then blurted out, “I met her at the Zhang residence.”

It took me a while to realize that by “her”, he meant “Jiang shi”.

I hummed in response and took a few steps towards him. I wrapped the cape round myself tightly and sat by the rail of the pavilion. Then, I looked up and asked, pretending to be interested, “Then what happened?”

Qi Sheng continued, “Back then, she had just arrived at the Zhang residence. There weren’t many female members in the Zhang family, so Mrs. Zhang put her in the nearby courtyard to accompany Zhang shi. Together they would study and practice needlework. Once I accompanied Emperor’s Chengzu to the garden and that’s when I met her for the first time.”

Honestly speaking, I wasn’t impressed by this story, as it was basically the Chinese version of Cinderella, and it had the same logic as the mundane fantasy of poor man courting a rich woman. But unlike fairytales, in real life, princes tend to marry real princesses and rich girls almost always ended up marrying their equals. So, the love between Qi Sheng and Jiang shi was destined to bear no fruits.

I couldn’t help but shake my head in disappointment.

Qi Sheng seemed to have been befuddled by my gesture, but he didn’t say anything.

Although it was a tedious story, I nonetheless followed with a question out of politeness, “And then?”

Qi Sheng seemed pleased with my curiosity and continued, “Though Zhang shi was only twelve or so when I met her, she and I had been friends growing up, so the Zhang family didn’t stop me from seeing her. When she heard that I was there, she came for me and was followed by Jiang shi. Jiang shi looked skinny and she always kept her head down the whole time when I was there, which was a stark contrast to Zhang shi. I have always hated Zhang shi’s willfulness and so I naturally paid extra attention to Jiang shi. Zhang shi sensed the shift of my attention and she started causing trouble for her every now and then. But the more she mistreated her, the more protective I became of Jiang shi.”

I nodded my head and asked, “Then what?”

Qi Sheng replied, “Back then, I thought Jiang shi was more reasonable than Zhang shi and thought that if I married her, she would make an excellent Empress.”

I was very much amused by this. How could a possessive woman make for an exemplary Empress? But I could not say it out loud, of course. I then added, “Then what?”

Qi Sheng took some time to collect his thoughts and then laughed, as if recalling something funny, “Then I chose Zhang shi to be my Crown Princess and Jiang shi ended up marrying Lord Fifth.”

I asked, “Why?”

Qi Sheng softly replied, “Because Emperor Chenzu was very fond of me and he would bring me to the army whenever possible. As such, the late Emperor was very wary of my influence. Besides, he loved Lord Ninth and the plan was to make Lord Ninth the Crown Prince. I was walking on eggshells and back then relationship was a luxury that I couldn’t afford. Lord Fifth had been on a good term with me. After discussion, we agreed that it would serve me best if I could stay low and bide my time. We pretended that our relationship fell apart because of Jiang shi, so as to get Lord Fifth off the hook, allowing him to contact generals in the army for me.”

I immediately realized what transpired between them and came to pity Zhao wang more. But I didn’t fully understand why, of all the ways to achieve his end, he should choose to have himself cuckolded.