Chapter 121: Treason 2 (1/2)

The Crown Prince Mansion, the west courtyard

It was around 2 pm and as usual, Zhu Fenfang reclined on a long cushioned chair at the balcony facing the Fish bond and peach garden behind the West Pavilion. Life at the Crown Prince's mansion was peaceful. She was the only concubine in the residence and served under a calm madam like Xia Ying.

Life was easy for her, every day after paying her respects to Xia Ying in the morning, she was left to do whatever she liked. The Crown Princess consort was nothing like she had expected. She was calm and didn't nitpick on anything she did. She didn't mind that the Crown Prince spent more time with her.

Most women were irritated if their husbands spend more time with the concubine than with them but not Xia Ying. She didn't make things difficult for Zhu Fenfang and treated her nicely. Two days after the Crown Princess consort was married, she went to the east courtyard to serve tea.

It was normal tradition for the concubines of a household to serve tea to the new madam on the second day of marriage. The tea serving ceremony was the most dangerous ceremony of a concubine's life after marriage. It could make or mar you since it was one of the major determining factors that decided your future in the house.

It was the official first meeting between the Principal wife and the concubine. The concubine would first salute the principal wife before serving her a cup of tea. After tasting the cup of tea, the principal wife would give her a small gift.

Zhu Fenfang had decided to tolerate whatever Xia Ying did during their first meeting. Since Xia Ying was the principal wife and had a very strong backing. She had expected Xia Yong to behave like most madams and scold her a little, but that never happened. Instead, Xia Ying received the cup of tea and handed her an embroidered pouch.

Zhu Fenfang went there expecting Xia Yong to offer her an opportunity to earn a little pity from the Crown prince, but Xia Ying didn't go down the usual route as expected. She went back to her courtyard unease, after days of getting no reaction out of Xia Ying, she gave up.

In her time in society, Zhu Fenfang understood that there were two types of madams. The first type of madams, are the vicious over bearing madams like her stepmother, second madam Zhu. The second type is the gentle and kind type, who did not cause trouble for concubines and was naïve but while the first type was difficult to handle, they were the easiest to make use of.

The second was the hardest to handle because they were so nice and always borough out a man's protective instinct. The best example of that was Zhu Fengyin's mother, Princess Bai. She was so kind and soft-spoken that the minister fell madly in love with her and didn't put anyone else in his eyes. He focused solely on her, that he ignored her concubine mother.

The most dangerous thing for concubines was being unfavoured and because of Princess Bai, they were forced to live in the shadows and tolerate the second madam's harmful actions. She wore to never let that happen to her, which was why she held on to the crown Prince's favour with a tight grip.

She laid outside patiently waiting for the crown Prince to come back from court. She had her maid bribe a guard at the gates to inform her as soon as the crown Prince was home. She had the chair placed in a way that gave her a clear view of her room in case the crown Prince arrived.

She fell asleep during the wait, only waking up when her maid Xiao Chu tapped her shoulder gently.

She groaned and opened her eyes weakly, ”is his highness back?”

Xiao Chu nodded, ”Yes”.

Zhu Fenfang sat up gently while using her palm to shield her eyes from the bright rays of the sun, ”Xiao Chu, please get me a cup of water?”

”Mmm,” Xiao Chu replied. She stood and rushed inside to get a cup of warm water.

Zhu Fenfang sat up and brought her legs down to the ground. She raised her hands and stretched a little when she caught the crown Prince's eyes as he walk out of her room with a small round tray holding a small pitcher and a cup of water.

Zhu Fenfang stood quickly and bowed, ”Your Highness!”

Zhongshan Ling smiled, ”there is no need to act all proper with me. We are too close for that”. He wrapped his hands around her and led her back to her seat ”I met Xiao Chu in your room, she was carrying a cup of water. I took it from her”. He picked up the cup of warm water and handed it over to her, ”Drink up”.

She collects the cup of eater and mumbled ”Thanks”.

He smiled and watched her drink slowly, He observed that her face looked a little red she looked down at her nose shyly. The servants bowed to the crown Prince and quietly retreated, how can they as servants observe their masters interact. Even the madam's first rank maid had stepped back for the couple, their continuous presence was courting trouble.

He took the cup from her when she was done drinking and returned it to the tray on the small stool beside the chair. There were a few drops of water at the side of her lips, he used his thumb to wipe it away.

”You look a little warm, let us get back inside” he stood and stretched out his hands to her.

”Okay,” she placed her and in his and stood. He hugged her close and they return inside together. The maids had all retreated and stood just outside, Zhongshan Ling walked then to the top seats in the living room. The two seats were on a raised platform at the center of the room, directly opposite the door and shared a slim stool between them.

”Your highness just got back from court, Should I send for the maids to bring in your lunch?” She asked.

”No, there is no need for that. I ate at Wuyi restaurant with A'Zhu”