Chapter Eighty-Seven: The One Who Sent the Flowers

Miao Miao nodded with a smile. At noon, she ordered the maids to prepare the meal, and when Yanhe came back at midday, he found Prince De Ren there.

Yanhe shot the Fourth Prince, De Ren, a look of utter distaste. Seeing that expression, Miao Miao seemed to ask him with her eyes, “What’s wrong?”

Yanhe turned to De Ren and said sourly, “Is the food in the Eastern Palace not good enough for you, or do you prefer eating in other people’s homes?”

Miao Miao could not help laughing and shaking her head at that. Seeing that Yanping’s face was very dark, she smiled and said to him, “Eat more.”

Yanping met her gaze, smiled, and nodded, then quickly went on eating. No one noticed that his ears had turned red.

Miao Miao could tell that Yanhe was in no mood for this meal, and thought that he was being far too petty. After De Ren and Yanping had left, she teased Yanhe, saying, “You were really not giving me any face just now.”

Hearing this, Yanhe raised his brows and spoke to her in a solemn, almost fatherly tone, like the words one’s own father would have used when scolding a foolish first romance.

“Miao Miao, you don’t understand. If you were to fall for the Fourth Prince, you’d never be happy. If the Crown Prince wins, then the Fourth Prince would still have some hope.”

“But if the Crown Prince loses and the new emperor takes the throne, the Fourth Prince won’t fare any better, and you...”

Miao Miao found his words rather amusing. She shook her head and said, “What sort of person do you take me for? If I ever like someone, I’ll tell you.”

After speaking, she left. When she came out of Yanhe’s study, she saw preparations already beginning in the prince’s garden.

A little puzzled, she asked the old matron behind her, “What are they doing in the garden?”

The old matron replied, “Your Highness, the manor is about to host a banquet. It is also His Majesty’s intention.”

For some reason, Miao Miao felt like laughing when she heard that. This awkward titled lady of a princess.

Though she held the title, Miao Miao was little more than an empty shell, nowhere near a true princess of proper rank. The only reason for this was that she had no official status.

Emperor Yongchang was doing all this to bind Miao Miao and Yanhe together, so he could tell the whole world that he was a wise and righteous sovereign.

That he could forgive a subject who had offended him, and at the same time prove himself a loving father who had fulfilled his son’s wish.

After thinking through all this, Miao Miao suddenly felt a little sorry for Yanhe, though she could not quite say why.

Seeing that the prince’s residence would soon be in order, she smiled at the old matron and said, “Tell everyone this: we are holding this banquet for no other reason than safety.”

“Our manor is large, so have people keep watch. Every corner and hidden place must be properly arranged.”

“Also, prepare the rooms in advance. Put the men’s and women’s quarters farther apart, and station soldiers at every entrance.”

“No other side chambers are to be opened. If anyone refuses to obey, have them report directly to me or Yanhe.”

Thinking of all the shameless palace intrigues she had seen in her previous life—framing people for losing their virtue, framing them for murder and the like—

Today, she, Miao Miao, would be the end of all such schemes.

She assigned people to every corner and hidden place, so that everyone could act only by command. After giving her instructions, the old matron accepted the order and went off to make the arrangements.

Miao Miao stood in the garden looking at the flowers and greenery, a beautiful smile on her face. She said to the little maid behind her, “Go find me a basket and a pair of scissors.”

The maid hurried off at once to fetch them. The maid at Miao Miao’s side was called Spring Flower. These maids had all been brought by the old matron, and when Miao Miao named them she had found it troublesome to think too hard, so she simply used the names she remembered from modern sketch comedy: Spring Flower, Summer Flower, Autumn Flower, and Winter Flower.

Spring Flower soon brought back the scissors and the basket Miao Miao wanted. Miao Miao was quite pleased with the basket, and took the scissors and basket to cut flowers in the garden.

She placed the blooms in the basket and sat down in the pavilion. Seeing that Miao Miao was cutting flowers, Spring Flower very considerately brought over a vase.

Miao Miao had actually held many part-time jobs. When she had worked as a waitress in a flower shop, she had been required to know flower arranging. She had trained there for quite a long time. Though she was not an expert, she knew a little.

So she sat in the pavilion with her scissors, trimming the stems. She did not know that while she was cutting flowers, she had unknowingly fallen into someone else’s eyes.

There is a line of verse that says, “I stand on the bridge and watch the view, not knowing that I have become someone else’s view.”

When Miao Miao heard someone coughing behind her, she turned and saw the Fourth Prince, De Ren.

She smiled and nodded.

De Ren simply sat down beside her. Seeing her arranging flowers there, he lifted his brows and said, “You’re quite good at this.”

Hearing that, Miao Miao smiled and replied, “That’s rather perfunctory of you. I feel like you hardly even understand what you’re looking at.”

De Ren’s lips curved faintly. “Forget that for now. I heard you gave silver to the Third Prince?”

Miao Miao smiled beautifully at that and said, “Yes. At the very least, he is an old acquaintance. It’s only right to look after him a little.”

Hearing this, De Ren said, “The Third Prince is the one who killed the Second Prince.”

Miao Miao raised her head to look at him. De Ren looked at the little girl facing him, her eyes reflecting him back.

Her gaze was so clear.

Miao Miao sighed and said, “That is your affair. It has nothing to do with me, so I won’t get involved.”

After saying that, she looked down at the flowers she had arranged and said to Spring Flower behind her, “Take this vase over to the prince.”

Then she turned to Summer Flower. “Go fetch some stiff paper, and bring some string as well.”

After saying this, she glanced at De Ren and said, “Move aside.”

Then she took up her scissors again and went on cutting flowers in the garden. When she was done, Spring Flower and Summer Flower returned, and Miao Miao began tying the remaining blossoms into small bunches.

She made two bunches. One she handed to De Ren.

“Sometimes, if there are things you can’t make sense of, then stop trying to make sense of them,” she said. “This is for you.”

De Ren looked at the bouquet she had tied and said, “I thought only the Second Prince had one.”

Miao Miao smiled and said, “Mm. This one’s for you. If you ever meet a girl you like, give this bouquet to her.”

After speaking, she stood and said to De Ren, “All right, I have work to do. You should leave now.”

Then she said, “I’m different from all of you. I don’t belong here either, so I will always be an outsider.”

Having said that, she curtsied to De Ren and smiled. “Then I’ll take my leave first, Your Highness the Fourth Prince.”

With that, she turned and left with her maid. De Ren watched her in her pale pink court dress, not knowing what he was thinking, and stood there looking after her for a long time.

He eventually left with a bouquet of flowers that seemed utterly out of place in his hands. After getting into the carriage, he saw his elder brother there and handed the flowers to Crown Prince Hanwen.

Hanwen looked at the bouquet in his hands and said to him, “The flowers are arranged quite well.”

De Ren heard the Crown Prince’s words and smiled. “The one who gave them to me told me that if I met a girl I like when I was leaving, I should give the flowers to her.”

“But I thought about it for a long time and realized I don’t have any girl I like, nor anyone to give flowers to.”

After saying that, he smiled at the Crown Prince. Hanwen stroked the Fourth Prince, who was lying across his lap, and asked, “What else did the one who gave you the flowers say?”

Hearing this, De Ren’s lips curved into a roguish smile. “She said she was never one of us. She said these matters had nothing to do with her, and that the silver notes were only given because of an old acquaintance.”

Hanwen smiled at that. “What kind of old acquaintance is he?”

De Ren’s mouth twisted into a strange smile. “Who knows?”

With that, he burned the note in the carriage.

It read: Princess Anping is interceding on behalf of the Third Prince, Li Tai’an.

Li Tai’an looked at those people, then at the silver he had just given away, and could not help letting a mocking smile appear on his lips. Watching their retreating figures, he said, “So they’re really afraid I might rise again.”

Beside him, a man in black knelt. Removing his face covering, he proved to be none other than Xiao Gexu, who had been sent to the countryside.

Seeing his cousin in such a sorry state, the Third Prince sat down on the ground and said, “Cousin, you should not have taken such a risk.”

Hearing Li Tai’an’s words, Xiao Gexu let out a bitter smile. “I had thought you were all alone and helpless here. I never imagined there would still be people who remembered Your Highness.”

Li Tai’an gave a wry smile. “I never imagined there would come a day when I would need the help of someone I had only met once.”

After speaking, he said to Xiao Gexu, “Let’s go.”

Then he took up a torch and set the corpses on the ground alight.

Soon, the air was filled with a pungent stench. Li Tai’an and Xiao Gexu turned and entered the dilapidated residence, while the few loyal retainers he had left stared at the bodies with numb eyes.

After all, they were men condemned in place of others; their food and lodging were naturally far from good. The Crown Prince had sent assassins after them again and again, and Li Tai’an’s loyal men had been killed almost to the last. The silver Miao Miao had given Li Tai’an had also helped him bribe the guards watching over him.

No matter how miserable Li Tai’an’s situation was, it was still better than he had once feared. In truth, Miao Miao’s silver had preserved the last shred of his dignity.