Chapter 105: Spicy Ninth Princess Consort 2

After their argument, the couple had not seen each other for half a month.

Su Huandan stayed in the Main Courtyard to recover her health, while the Ninth Prince lived in the study of the front courtyard. Every day, he went to the Upper Study for his lessons and did not return until after dark.

Today was no different. Su Huandan looked at the dishes laid out on the table and immediately lost her appetite. In the dead of winter, craving green leafy vegetables was a difficult request, even for royalty in the Qing Dynasty.

It wasn’t that the imperial manors didn’t have off-season vegetables, but technology was limited and the labor and resources required were immense. The resulting produce was scarce, not even enough to go around among the many high-ranking figures in the Forbidden City.

If the Ninth Prince came back for dinner, the Imperial Kitchen would certainly send some green vegetables. Otherwise?

Even if you were the Crown Princess, you would be stuck with radishes and cabbage to accompany your heavy meat dishes.

In this era, in the eyes of the common people, eating big portions of fish and meat every meal was a god-like existence. But Su Huandan truly couldn’t get used to it; it just didn’t suit her palate.

Other matters could wait, but she needed to do something about her food and drink.

The skill level of the Imperial Academy of Medicine was quite high, so Su Huandan didn’t change her prescription. She simply supplemented it privately with Spiritual Spring Water.

In half a month, not only had her body fully recovered, but her entire constitution had been revitalized. The physicians from the Imperial Academy of Medicine, who performed daily pulse readings, were startled by her increasingly robust health.

Was their medical skill truly this exceptional?

Were they comparable to immortals?

“What’s so great about it? What kind of immortals are you talking about? How old is the Ninth Princess Consort? She’s only eighteen by nominal age^[1]. She’s young, at the prime of her growth, and has a strong foundation. With the right medicine for the symptoms, how could she not recover quickly?” Imperial Physician Song was the one who regularly performed wellness checks for Consort Yi and her sons. He was also puzzled by the eerie speed of Su Huandan’s recovery, but since he hadn’t seen her consume anything unusual, he could only attribute it to her strong constitution. There was no other explanation.

Having restored her health over the half-month, Su Huandan stopped staying cooped up in her room.

Pointing to the western side-courtyard on the left of the Main Courtyard, she sent people to the Imperial Household Department to request potting soil and vegetable seeds, claiming she wanted to grow vegetables.

The servants were speechless.

Had the Fujin’s mind been damaged by the trauma of the miscarriage?

Who would dare grow vegetables in the Forbidden City?

“Fujin, if you are truly bored, wouldn’t it be nice to go to the Pet House and adopt a kitten or a puppy? If not that, the Greenhouse has many beautiful and rare flowers. Bringing back a few pots to tend to would be a refined hobby!”

“Others like raising cats, dogs, and flowers, but your Fujin does not. Right now, I just want to eat something that tastes right. What’s wrong with me growing vegetables? Must I give up eating what I like just for the sake of appearances?” What kind of logic was that?

“Go, buy the charcoal for me. Stop trying to advise me back and forth.”

By the time Consort Yi and the Ninth Prince heard the news that Su Huandan wanted to grow vegetables, it had already spread throughout the entire Forbidden City. Even the Empress Dowager and Kangxi knew.

The news could only spread so fast because the other three high-ranking consorts had given it a push from behind.

When Kangxi found out, he didn’t think much of it. Let her plant them if she wanted. Growing vegetables wasn’t a disgraceful act; he himself went to the imperial manors to personally plow the fields every year.

Throughout the dynasties, unless they were decadent tyrants, which emperor didn’t farm?

The Emperor personally farming represented the court’s and the Emperor’s emphasis on agriculture. It was a political gesture.

When the Empress Dowager heard the news, she curled her lip and said to the Fifth Fujin, who had come to pay her respects, “Women of the Donggo Clan^[2] are always good at putting on a show. She knows she had a miscarriage and the Ninth Prince is ignoring her, so she’s thinking of causing a scene to make him return to the back courtyard.”

She looked completely disdainful.

The Empress Dowager’s grudge against the Donggo Clan was truly deep-seated.

During the Shunzhi era, whether Consort Donggo was truly a vixen or whether the Shunzhi Emperor used her to rebel against his mother, Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang, the result was that because of this woman, one Empress from the Borjigit Clan was deposed, and she herself, the current Empress Dowager, had nearly been deposed back then.

The Empress Dowager simply disliked women of the Donggo Clan. What could anyone do about it?

The Fifth Fujin smiled shyly and remained silent. The Empress Dowager could say such things, but as a sister-in-law, how could she casually join the conversation?

If she agreed with the Empress Dowager and word got out, how could she ever face the Ninth Princess Consort again?

Furthermore, the Empress Dowager was just venting and speaking casually; there was no need to take it too seriously.

Consort Yi also hurriedly summoned her younger son. It wasn’t to ask him to stop his wife’s behavior, but because she was afraid her son would start another row with his wife over this.

“Old Ninth, your Fujin is unhappy. Regarding the vegetable planting, just treat it as a way for her to pass the time because she’s bored. It doesn’t matter. Don’t listen to the idle gossip in the palace. Your wife is a dignified Prince’s Consort; what’s wrong with her wanting to grow some vegetables? She’s being slandered for no reason, how aggrieved she must be. You must not go back and pick a fight with her, do you hear me?” Consort Yi knew the son she had raised far too well; he was someone who valued his reputation above all else.

She was worried the gossip outside would ignite his temper.

The Ninth Prince was indeed very angry, but he truly hadn’t thought of making trouble with the Fujin over this.

The Fujin had already started setting it up. If he went back and made her stop, the news of that would be even more embarrassing and disgraceful than it was now.

Therefore, the Ninth Prince truly didn’t intend to interfere.

He just felt that he should move back to the Main Courtyard.

Since the miscarriage, the Fujin had changed. The change was drastic. Previously, she consulted her wet nurse on everything, but after the miscarriage, she had sent the wet nurse out of the palace to retire.

And now she was growing vegetables. The Ninth Prince increasingly felt that the Fujin’s mind wasn’t quite right.

Therefore, it was better to keep an eye on her for the time being.

He had to prevent any major chaos; if things got out of hand and he couldn’t fix them, he’d be finished.

By the time Su Huandan had finished planting the seeds and sprinkled them with Spiritual Spring Water, the Ninth Prince returned.

Upon returning to the Princes’ Quarters, he went straight to the western side-courtyard.

As soon as he entered the room, he was choked by the charcoal smoke. He turned his face and walked right back out.

“Is this the charcoal the Imperial Household Department sent? Good grief, who do they think they’re looking down on?” The Ninth Prince was furious. Living in the Forbidden City, the Imperial Household Department handled everything regarding food, clothing, housing, and transportation. Yet, when his Fujin wanted to grow vegetables, they sent this kind of suffocating charcoal. This was a slight against the Fujin, and by extension, a slight against him, the Ninth Prince.

Su Huandan heard the Ninth Prince’s words from the courtyard. She curled her lip, washed and dried her hands, tucked them into her hand muffler, and went outside.

“What are you making such a fuss about? I’m the one who told Xiao Lizi to buy the cheapest charcoal. It’s just to keep the room warm, and using high-quality charcoal would be a waste of money. The Imperial Household Department sent our official allotment of Silver Frost Charcoal^[3], so they haven’t cheated us.” After she finished speaking, she didn’t bother with the bewildered Ninth Prince anymore, turning around to head back to the Main Courtyard.

The Ninth Prince followed her back. After sitting down, he picked up a teacup and took a sip. “What made you think of growing vegetables?”

In the past, he could see through the Fujin’s thoughts at a single glance, but now he couldn’t read her at all. This gave the Ninth Prince a newfound sense of curiosity toward her.

His peach-blossom eyes stole glances at her from time to time, and the more he looked, the more startled he became.

Was the Fujin really this beautiful?

She had slightly rounded phoenix eyes, distinct and well-defined features, and an exceptionally elegant jawline. In the past, in her quest to maintain a frail and slender figure, she had been as thin as a skeleton and always had her face caked in powder.

Now, she had gained a bit of weight, looking both slim and healthy. Her complexion was excellent, her skin a soft pinkish-white, and her face was clean and fresh without all that powder. She looked incredibly refreshing and beautiful.