Chapter 9: Studying
Spring, March, the thirty-seventh year of Kangxi’s reign.
The white camellias on the wall were in full bloom, their snowy petals falling softly in the warm breeze. In the corner, clusters of deutzia bushes still held their buds tightly, their lush leaves adding a unique vibrant hue to the spring scenery.
Yu Yan brushed off Hongfeng’s hand as he cried loudly.
“Mother!” Yu Yan, flustered, gripped Hongfeng’s small hand firmly to stop him from moving, then turned to Lady Li with a complaint, “My little brother keeps biting his hand!”
Hongfeng was nearly one year old, full of curiosity about the world. His hands wandered everywhere, and with no awareness of sanitation in this place, what if he touched something dirty and then put his hands in his mouth? How unhygienic! What if he got sick?
Looking at Hongfeng’s tear-filled eyes, both angry and helpless, Yu Yan thought to herself that she should smear some chili water on his hand to see if he’d still dare to bite it.
“Don’t cry, don’t cry,” Lady Li said, picking up Hongfeng and patting his little bottom. “Your brother is so young, how can he remember if you tell him once or twice? Didn’t you also like biting your hands when you were his age? And I never hit you for it.”
“I didn’t hit him!” Yu Yan pouted.
Lady Li chuckled softly. “If you were a few years older, you would have been hit long ago.”
No one knew where her daughter’s fiery temper came from. The Fourth Prince was clearly a man who never showed his anger, and she herself rarely lost her temper. Yet their daughter was like a little firecracker, jumping three feet high at the slightest displeasure. Fortunately, she was born into royalty, with servants doting on her. Had she been born to commoners, such a temperament would not have been tolerated.
“Didn’t your father entrust your schooling to the Fifth Princess?” Lady Li reminded her. “Why haven’t you gone to the Palace of Eternal Longevity yet? Are you trying to slack off?”
Yinzhen had been busy lately, leaving early and returning late. The plan to start Yu Yan’s education had to be postponed for the time being, but he did not want to waste his daughter’s talent. Among the women in the rear palace, only Consort Fu had some schooling, but she came from a proper Manchu family and was only average in Han studies. After much thought, Yinzhen entrusted Yu Yan’s education to his sister in the Palace of Eternal Longevity.
Today was Yu Yan’s first day going to visit the Fifth Princess there.
“It’s the hour of Wei as the Fourth Prince ordered,” Aunt Chen explained for Yu Yan.
Nanny Xie, who had been helping Hongfeng learn to walk, immediately added, “The Fourth Prince said to come at the hour of Wei to see the Fifth Princess, so we two young ladies might as well go to the Palace of Eternal Harmony during this time to pay respects to the Virtuous Consort. If the Second Young Lady is to study in the Palace of Eternal Longevity for a long time, someone must look after her once she leaves the Southern Three Residences.”
No one in the Fourth Prince’s rear palace or among the servants could have such far reach.
Lady Li suddenly understood and promptly had Pearl and Agate help Yu Yan prepare.
Yu Yan’s quick wit made her admire Nanny Xie even more. No wonder she could care for her foolish mother and keep the household peaceful, without drawing suspicion from the Fourth Prince or Consort Fu despite their kinship. Such emotional intelligence and quick thinking—Yu Yan wished she could learn from her.
In the Palace of Eternal Harmony, the Virtuous Consort had just finished her nap, surrounded by palace maids grooming her hair. Bi Xing took Yu Yan from Aunt Chen and placed her on a nearby luohan couch, then brought her some honey water to drink.
The Virtuous Consort glimpsed Yu Yan’s restless eyes in the polished mercury mirror and smiled faintly, “It seems Elin Zhu is growing.”
Children at three or four years old change quickly, yet Bi Xing teased, “I think the Second Young Lady looks more and more like Your Highness.”
The Virtuous Consort smiled quietly, then asked Aunt Chen, “Why bring Elin Zhu here today?”
“To report respectfully, Your Highness, the Fourth Prince entrusted the Fifth Princess with the task of educating the young lady. The appointment was set for the hour of Wei, but since the young lady was calling for Nanny Ma, I took the bold step of bringing her to the Palace of Eternal Harmony.”
A child that young’s memory is thin. As her nanny, she had seen her only twice. Any mention of missing Nanny Ma was likely a pretense; what the child really wanted was care.
The Virtuous Consort smiled knowingly. Being her own granddaughter, she called to Qing Xing, “Since she is to begin her lessons, we must prepare ink, brushes, and paper. Go to the Treasure Pavilion and bring out the pine soot ink and tortoiseshell-mount purple-tipped brushes for the Second Young Lady.”
After some thought, she hesitated before adding, “Elin Zhu is still young. Since she will be studying this afternoon, she might get hungry. Bring some of the newly made blush pink peach pastries from the small kitchen. If she is hungry, she can have some to fill her stomach.”
Bi Xing responded promptly. The blush pink peach pastries were not very sweet, so most children disliked them, but the Fifth Princess loved them. Aunt Chen knew well for whom these pastries were prepared. Fortunately, before she came, Consort Fu had instructed her to bring some sweet pastries to soothe the stomach for the Second Young Lady, so there was no worry if Yu Yan refused the peach pastries.
The Fifth Princess lived in the Yihe Pavilion on the northern side of the Palace of Eternal Longevity. Aunt Chen carried Yu Yan through the Xiangfei bamboo curtain. Behind a zitan wood screen inlaid with an enamel depiction of the Five Relationships stood a rosewood table with a heartwood strip inlay. The young girl sat quietly on a palace stool, bent over the desk, with scroll upon scroll of books by her side.
“Auntie!” Yu Yan hurried over and climbed onto the stool beside the Fifth Princess, curious about the book in her hands.
The book was not the expected “Lessons for Women” or “Instructions for Women,” but an aged copy of the Zuo Zhuan. Yu Yan was unaccustomed to vertical script and, having not yet systematically learned traditional characters, found it difficult to read. She took the chance to pick out a few characters she recognized and read aloud, “Not until the Yellow Springs, no meeting again.”
This passage was from the Zuo Zhuan’s “Duke Zheng Overthrows Duan at Yan,” recounting how Duke Wu of Zheng’s wife Wu Jiang favored the younger son, causing a rift with the elder son Duke Zheng Zhuang, leading to a struggle for the throne between brothers.
Palace gossip abounded, but since Empress Dowager Xiaoyi’s death, many looked down on the Virtuous Consort’s behavior in the Palace of Eternal Harmony. Her coldness toward her eldest son Yinzhen and favoritism of the youngest Yinzhen resembled the story of Wu Jiang.
The Fifth Princess closed the book and smiled gently, “We are not studying the Zuo Zhuan.”
Which child at three or four would study the Zuo Zhuan? That would be like making a toddler run before they could walk. Without a solid foundation, one’s learning would falter. The Fifth Princess prided herself on not pushing children too hard.
Yu Yan had already learned much of the Thousand Character Classic. Tilting her head, she peered at the Fifth Princess’s hand, who drew from beneath the books a copy of the “Jade Forest of Early Learning” and placed it on the table.
The “Jade Forest of Early Learning” was written entirely in parallel prose, making it easy to recite and remember for children. A comprehensive encyclopedia of ancient Chinese knowledge, it was an ideal primer for young learners.
“In the beginning, chaos was split, heaven and earth established...”
The warm spring sunlight streamed through the glass windows of Yihe Pavilion, casting a golden glow on a silver-gilt floral hairpin resting atop a warm inkstone box. Yu Yan followed the Fifth Princess word by word, but her gaze drifted unconsciously toward the window.
In the clear blue sky, colorful kites floated high, dancing with the wind. Yu Yan watched, captivated, forgetting she was supposed to be reading with her aunt.
“Pain!”
The ruler struck Yu Yan’s palm. Tears welled in her eyes as her thoughts snapped back.
The Fifth Princess coughed softly twice, then looked at Yu Yan with gentle but firm eyes. “Elin Zhu, you must focus when studying.”
Yu Yan’s face flushed. Though younger than Yu Yan in this life, the Fifth Princess was a strict little teacher, correcting even a three- or four-year-old’s reading habits without leniency.
“You were born into royalty, and as a girl, you have the chance to learn to read,” she said, brushing Yu Yan’s newly sprouted wisps of hair. “Girls your age in the countryside would never have such opportunities. Even if they dreamed of studying, upon waking they would only follow their fathers and mothers to help care for younger siblings.”
Ashamed, Yu Yan lowered her head. Having transmigrated less than a year ago, she had enjoyed the privileges of her status too much, forgetting the hardships girls endured under feudal society.
It was truly inexcusable.
“Auntie, I know I was wrong. I will study hard,” Yu Yan apologized sincerely.
The Fifth Princess nodded and did not press further, instead continuing the lesson: “The sun is the origin of all yang, the moon the symbol of yin...”
Yu Yan gathered her scattered thoughts and earnestly followed the Fifth Princess’s example, reciting.
After covering half the astronomical section, the maids brought in brewed tea and honey water for the children. Aunt Chen also presented the blush pink peach pastries from the Palace of Eternal Harmony to the Fifth Princess.
The Fifth Princess paused, somewhat absent-minded, and picked up a pastry to taste.
She had never liked sweets since childhood, but her Empress Dowager loved sweet and even salty foods. The Fifth Prince had grown accustomed to that palate early on.
The Fifth Princess, however, was different. She simply did not like certain foods, no matter how many times she tried. Sensitive and unwilling to trouble the palace cooks for her small cravings, her appetite had dwindled over the years. Usually, a plain cake would suffice.
The blush pink peach pastries from the Palace of Eternal Harmony were rarely made without sweetness and were her favorite.
She had always thought her mother had stopped caring for her after sending her to the Palace of Eternal Longevity. Unexpectedly, she still remembered what she liked to eat. Thinking of this, the Fifth Princess felt a rush of mixed emotions. The delicious pastry slowly lost its flavor in her mouth.
Her mother had not completely forgotten her daughter after all.