The camellias outside the window were blooming beautifully, but Lady Ruan sat on the kang bed, somewhat absent-minded.
"Mistress, the days are getting colder. Shall we move the camellia inside?" Autumn Purple, the maidservant, asked cautiously.
Lady Ruan nodded, and when the camellia was carried in, Autumn Purple asked her where to place it. She pointed to the center of the room. The old woman carrying the plant complimented, "Mistress, this flower is really beautiful."
Autumn Purple glanced at Lady Ruan, then took a handful of coins from the box and handed them to the two workers, "Thank you for the hard work, mamas."
The old women accepted the reward with a smile and left gracefully.
Lady Ruan gazed at the camellia in front of her, its pink petals soft and lovely, unable to find a single flaw, just like a beautiful young girl attracting everyone's affection.
But, ironically, this very plant, so painstakingly cared for by its original owner, ended up being the cause of the original owner's death.
When she, unluckily, was reincarnated, she spent several days slowly absorbing the original owner's memories.
The original owner was a common daughter from the Duke of Sui's mansion, which was the maternal family of the previous empress. As the previous empress and the emperor died, and the current emperor ascended the throne, the Duke's mansion fell into decline. They had found Lady Ruan from some corner and cultivated her into the most beautiful girl, hoping she could secure favor within the palace.
Since they took great care in rearing her, she became quite proud. In addition, the Duke's mansion had sent her horoscope to Shang Lin Temple for a fortune telling and received a prophecy saying "Phoenix falls from the sky, only to return to its nest". Hearing such, the Duke felt overjoyed and even drank three bowls of wine.
Who would know that the second day Lady Ruan entered the palace, she was bestowed to the Emperor's dear brother and lifesaver, Lin Zhaohe.
Lin Zhaohe's grandfather and the current Emperor’s grandfather were biological brothers. Their relationship became a little distant in Lin Zhaohe's generation. But Lin Zhaohe was intelligent since youth, serving as the study companion for the Emperor. When he grew up, he became a palace guard.
The Emperor rashly waged war on the state of Chen and was trapped on Zonghua Mountain. Lin Zhaohe, disregarding his life, resolved the crisis, thereby saving the Emperor. When an opponent's general loosed an arrow, Lin Zhaohe, already spent, yet still protected the Emperor and took an arrow to the knee. He then fell into a three-month coma and woke up a cripple.
Lin Zhaohe's wife, Lady Lin, was heartbroken and cried her eyes blind. The other eye's vision blurred and was constantly teary.
In appreciation for Lin Zhaohe's life-saving grace, the Emperor bestowed him the title of Prince Sheng, along with gifts of money, goods, and women.
Ruan Niang became a concubine of Lin Zhaohe under those circumstances.
She was appointed by the Emperor and came from the Duke of Sui's house, hence naturally being a noble concubine.
However, this outcome was not what the Duke of Sui's house wished for, nor what the old protagonist desired. Sometimes when she was in the Duke's house, Ruan Niang relied on her unappealing appearance, and her sisters in the boudoir gave her a Camellia plant to care for. The camellia bloomed beautifully, only to be planted amidst rubble.
If Prince Sheng didn't have a disability, she would not be so enraged. After all, Prince Sheng was a royal prince with grace and favor, so glory, wealth, and rank couldn't escape him. But, he was handicapped, no longer serving, and though the Emperor might remember Sheng's favor for one or two years, given a few more years, Prince Sheng's household was destined to be no better than the Duke of Sui's, with only an empty royal title.
The old protagonist thought through this clearly, and became angrier the more she thought about it, that she ended up dying of anger.
Autumn Purple figured that her mistress probably did not appreciate the flowerpot her family sent over because she had pointed to it and angrily said to place it outside, immediately after it arrived. The mistress then stayed in bed for several days and only lazily got up today.
Afraid that the flowerpot might contain an anecdote bad enough to infuriate her mistress, Autumn Purple, noticing her mistress' complicated expression, quickly said, "Mistress, it would be in the way here in the middle of the path, why don't we move it to the side?" She pointed towards the corner.
Ruan Niang shook her head, "No need, the sunlight here is good, just leave it here." If she couldn't even tolerate a pot of flowers, even if she transmigrated again, she might not land in the situation she was in right now.
In the main courtyard of the prince’s residence, Prince Sheng's wife was speaking to him about Ruan Niang: "Regardless of your dissatisfaction with her, she was still bestowed by the Emperor. I think you should at least visit her."
Lin Zhaohe furrowed his brows. He was a clever man. The moment he met Ruan Niang, he saw the contempt in her eyes. He felt like a knife had pierced his heart. Even the Emperor was criticized - if the Emperor wishes to bestow someone, he should have bestowed a virtuous and simple woman. That would be better than this, "It's just an object, you need not bother."
The contempt and loathing in Lin Zhaohe's words made Prince Sheng's wife feel joyous at first, then sorrowful. Tears welled up and flowed out, "I am the one at fault, otherwise you would not have to endure these complications. I was hoping that she might win your favor and bear a son for you."
"It’s not your fault. What good can come out of the Duke of Sui’s mess? Don't cry. We should put effort into finding miracle doctors from among the common people. Perhaps they can cure you."
Even the head of the Imperial Hospital said that she cannot be cured. Could the miracle doctor from the folk medicine field compare to the Imperial Doctor who gave treatment to the Emperor? The wife of Prince Sheng nodded, without hope in her heart. She tried to persuade the prince again, "Your Highness, she is young and naive, raised in pampering. We can teach her the rules slowly." Before Prince Sheng could refute, she went on, "After a while, I will find two virtuous ladies to bring in for you." Actually, whenever she found them, it would make no difference. She was just afraid that people would say that she was challenging the Emperor.
Even though Prince Sheng had saved the Emperor, she did not feel that she could challenge the Emperor.
"It's getting late, I will have the kitchen prepare some of your favorite dishes and send them over. You can go over there to eat later."
Lin Zhaohe was indeed reluctant to go to the East Garden, but as the head of the house, now the princess had spoken, he would discredit Ruan Niang instead of the princess if he didn’t go.
After Lin Zhaohe left, the wet nurse in the house said anxiously, "Princess, why are you only considering the prince, not thinking about yourself? Didn't the lady also say when she came, to pick a few honest and reliable ones to stay in the house, and once you have children, you’ll have a lifetime of support..."
The princess sighed with her eyes closed, "Mother, stop saying it." She and Lin Zhaohe have been married for a decade. While they can be considered to be deeply in love, she has never been pregnant. Out of gratitude that Lin Zhaohe has never taken a concubine, she was truly sad when Lin Zhaohe was injured, to the point of tearing her eyes out crying, but after doing so, her heart became more peaceful.
With Lin Zhaohe's leg being lame and her eyes being ruined, they did not seem like lovers, but more like suffering brothers. Not only did she think so, but even Lin Zhaohe did not have the feelings he once had when lying in the same bed with her.
Nevertheless, she was clear, Lin Zhaohe would definitely not divorce her. She gave up one eye for a lifetime of dignity and honor, wasn't it quite worth it? The one in the East Garden who's eager for the favor of the kingdom has now ended up in the prince's mansion, it's like falling into the mud...she is always stronger than the one in East Garden!
Elsewhere, Qiu Zi was asking Ruan Niang, "Madam, what do you want to eat tonight? This slave will get it for you from the main kitchen."
Ruan Niang looked at her chest. She was only sixteen and already this big; in the future, she would definitely sag. She needed to lose weight: "Get some rice porridge, and some cold mixed black fungus. I don’t want anything else."
Qiu Zi was about to persuade her but saw that Ruan Niang had already closed her eyes and was lying on the welcoming pillow. So she could only instruct the young maids to listen in the room while she went out to the main kitchen for food.
When Lin Zhaohe entered the East Garden and saw the quietness, he was disheartened. The young maids in the corridor were about to salute him when they were frightened by his cold eyes and dared not move.
Lin Zhaohe pulled the curtain open himself and saw Ruan Niang sleeping on the east side of bed. Her black hair was softly spread around her, the night wind blowing in from the window, rustling a few strands of hair, revealing her face and neck as white as jade.
Regardless of his contempt, Lin Zhaohe admitted that Ruan Niang was truly a beauty when she was asleep.
Thinking of this, he chuckled. It was well known that the emperor loved beauty; perhaps the emperor had not yet seen Ruan Niang’s true appearance. He wondered which lady in the palace disliked Ruan Niang and whispered into the emperor's ear resulting in Ruan Niang being sent down.
But with her looks, perhaps she could live longer in the prince's mansion than in the palace.
Ruan Niang, despite being in deep sleep, was awakened by his audible chuckle.
She shivered slightly. Her eyes were languid and blurred, staring at Lin Zhaohe like a lost child, until she combined the image of him with the person in her memory.
Qiu Zi brought in a food box. The food Ruan Niang wanted was very simple and was readily available, so she just took them back. Seeing Lin Zhaohe's servant standing in the courtyard, she became tense and quickly entered the room to pay her respects.
Thanks to her arriving, Ruan Niang was finally fully awake. She quickly rolled out of bed to put on her shoes and, following the etiquette rules from her memory, she greeted: "Peace to the prince."
