Chapter 8
**Chapter 8: Stealing the Prince's Vegetables**
No man dislikes being admired, and Prince Yan was no exception.
As he gazed into Shen Wei's sparkling eyes, filled with unabashed admiration, his self-esteem swelled with satisfaction.
“From now on, leave such matters to the servants. Don’t put yourself in danger,” he said, playfully pinching the bridge of Shen Wei's nose.
Shen Wei sighed a little. “Your Highness, there are only two maids in Fangfei Courtyard. Cai Lian and Cai Ping are timid, and I’m the only one brave enough to climb the ladder.”
The rules in the royal household were strict, with a clear hierarchy. The ranks were: the princess, the side consort, the secondary consorts, the concubines, and the maids.
Shen Wei held the status of a concubine, with only a small courtyard and two maids to serve her.
Prince Yan thought of the throngs of maids in the princess's courtyard, then glanced at the two frail maids beside Shen Wei, and a wave of affection washed over him.
Without hesitation, he instructed Fu Gui, “Tomorrow, select an experienced nurse and two capable eunuchs to serve in Fangfei Courtyard.”
Fu Gui was taken aback.
This was the standard setup for a secondary consort!
But he dared not dissuade the prince; as a servant, he would never go against his master's wishes.
“Your Highness, I’ll remember this and arrange it for tomorrow,” Fu Gui replied respectfully.
Shen Wei subtly curved her lips, her heart swelling with joy.
This was the treatment of a favored concubine; as long as she remained in the prince's good graces, she could reap the benefits from him.
She truly adored Prince Yan... and his generous gifts!
Holding Shen Wei's warm, soft hand, Prince Yan didn’t rush into the house but eagerly went to check on the vegetables he had planted himself.
After the spring rain, the seeds of radishes and cabbages had yet to sprout, but there were faint signs of breaking through the soil. As for the eggplants, peppers, and tomatoes, they had grown even more robust after the rain.
Prince Yan was already looking forward to the day when his vegetables would bear fruit.
When the vegetables he had personally planted matured, he wanted to taste them himself and send some to his elder brother, the Crown Prince, and to his father and mother.
His father valued agriculture and would surely be pleased.
Shen Wei accompanied Prince Yan to inspect the vegetables. His plants were thriving, while hers were struggling.
Frowning in frustration, Shen Wei asked, “Your Highness, we planted at the same time. Why are your vegetables growing better?”
She feigned confusion, but her heart was crystal clear.
Prince Yan’s vegetables thrived because Shen Wei had secretly instructed Cai Lian to fertilize them in the dead of night.
Otherwise, with Prince Yan’s mediocre gardening skills, those plants would have long since perished.
Unfortunately, Prince Yan was unaware of this and believed his gardening skills were superior. He wrapped his arm around Shen Wei’s slender waist, a teasing smile on his lips. “Wei Wei, you’re too gentle; your seedlings are planted too shallowly, so they naturally don’t grow well.”
Shen Wei puffed her cheeks in annoyance, her big, dark eyes glinting with mischief as she deliberately scrutinized the vegetables Prince Yan had grown.
Her thoughts were written all over her face.
She planned to steal his vegetables once they matured!
Prince Yan could see through her intentions; on one hand, he found her innocent and adorable, but on the other, he felt a twinge of wariness.
This little girl wanted to steal his vegetables!
He would have to come to Fangfei Courtyard often to keep an eye on her and prevent her from pulling any tricks.
After inspecting the vegetables, they held hands and entered the house.
Once the door was closed, they began to indulge in each other’s company.
The table in the sleeping chamber had collapsed under the weight, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs had sent a sturdier rosewood table. Shen Wei shyly sat at the edge, affectionately wrapping her arms around Prince Yan’s neck.
Under the soft glow of the lamp, she looked like a painting, and Prince Yan leaned down to plant a gentle kiss on her lips.
Cai Ping and Cai Lian stood guard outside, their faces flushed with embarrassment.
After boiling water several times that night, they brought it inside for their masters to bathe.
After setting the bathwater, Cai Lian stole a glance at the apricot-colored canopy draping over the bed, where a delicate, pale hand hung limply, the skin slightly flushed.
Silently, it was all too suggestive.
Cai Lian’s face turned crimson at the sight. The prince and her mistress were having quite the fun...
Understanding the situation, Cai Lian lowered her head and quietly stepped out to keep watch.
She had a premonition that her mistress would be favored for a long time. The entire royal household was waiting to see Shen Wei’s downfall, but they would be disappointed.
In the following half month, Shen Wei continued to bask in glory. Although still a concubine, the arrangements in Fangfei Courtyard were identical to those of a secondary consort.
Prince Yan’s gifts were unending, and the princess also sent some items to commend her service.
In fifteen days, Prince Yan spent seven of them in Shen Wei’s Fangfei Courtyard, stayed with the princess for two days, visited Liu Ru Yan for one day, and spent the remaining days in the Crown Prince’s East Palace.
Shen Wei was not idle either; aside from serving Prince Yan, she dedicated her remaining time to self-improvement—working out, maintaining her health, enhancing her beauty, and learning etiquette from the newly arrived Nurse Rong.
One day, Cai Lian rushed in to relay the princess’s order to Shen Wei: “Mistress, the princess requests your presence.”
Inside, Shen Wei was applying a facial mask in front of the mirror.
With the limited technology of ancient times, she couldn’t make modern whitening masks. But as a diligent student, Shen Wei was well-versed in various skills.
In her past life, she had come from a poor background, rising from a small mountain village to a modern metropolis, eventually attending the best university in the country, where she consistently ranked first in her major. She studied business and even took a beauty course to enhance her poise.
During that beauty course, the professor had jokingly told the class, “Learn as much as you can—how to make masks, soap, extract penicillin, and produce white sugar. You never know when you might need these skills if you ever travel back in time.”
Shen Wei took it seriously, never expecting that one day, she would actually use this knowledge.
Making an ancient facial mask wasn’t too difficult; using ingredients like black sesame, soapwort, tianhua powder, and white atractylodes, she ground them into powder, mixed them with water, applied it to her face for a while, and then washed it off, leaving her skin smooth and radiant.
“Little Mistress, there’s more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading; it gets even more exciting!”
With the mask on, Shen Wei lazily asked, “What does the princess want with me?”
Cai Lian replied, “The spring banquet is approaching. The princess has sent someone to purchase a batch of fine fabrics to distribute to all the women in the inner court.”
Shen Wei felt a bit disappointed. “Let me wash my face first, and I’ll be right there.”
So it was just about distributing fabric.
She had thought that her recent prominence had drawn the princess’s ire, and she wanted to make things difficult for her.
Shen Wei found it rather dull, lacking any challenge. The wives and concubines in the royal household were all indifferent to fame and fortune, content to let things slide. As the ambitious one, she truly had no place to shine.
Ah, how lonely it is to be invincible.
After tidying up, Shen Wei stepped out of Fangfei Courtyard and headed to the princess’s Kunyuyuan to pay her respects.
As she passed the royal flower house, she didn’t notice a maid inside casting a jealous glance her way.
“Shen Wei, you really are living the high life,” Zhang Yue said, holding a flower pot, her face filled with envy as she watched Shen Wei walk by.
Shen Wei enjoyed the prince’s favor, and her status had risen accordingly, with her living conditions only slightly inferior to the princess’s. Meanwhile, Zhang Yue looked down at her rough fingers.
After working hard every day, her hands had grown calloused, and her once beautiful, fair face was starting to yellow.
At night, crammed into the stinky maid’s quarters, Zhang Yue would sometimes wonder—if she had agreed to be the prince’s concubine back then, would she be enjoying the same glory as Shen Wei?
Her own failure was regrettable, but the success of a colleague was even more disheartening.
Gritting her teeth, Zhang Yue could only keep reassuring herself, “The prince’s affection is fleeting. Shen Wei will lose favor sooner or later.”
...
Shen Wei arrived at the princess’s courtyard, the last to arrive.
It wasn’t that she had intended to be late; the princess had deliberately informed her last. Shen Wei chuckled inwardly; the princess, seemingly aloof, was quite shrewd.
Looking around, Shen Wei spotted Liu Ru Yan in white, the plump side consort Zhang Miao Yu, the heavy-hearted Liu Qiao Er, and about ten other secondary consorts and concubines. They were all chatting, and the courtyard was lively.
When Shen Wei appeared, the courtyard fell silent.
All eyes turned to her. Dressed to the nines, Shen Wei was strikingly beautiful, her face radiant like blooming flowers, exuding charm.
In contrast, the other wives and concubines wore pretty dresses, but their faces were bare of makeup, and their expressions appeared dull.
Shen Wei knelt and greeted, “I pay my respects to the princess and to all my sisters.”
The princess, seated in the main position, smiled warmly. “Now that everyone is here, let’s begin distributing the fabric. Shen, you’ve been favored by the prince lately, so you can choose first.”
Shen Wei’s face showed alarm. “I wouldn’t dare! My status is low; how could I choose first?”
To make her the first to pick was clearly a deliberate attempt to put her on the spot.
The princess sipped her tea slowly, taking her time. “The prince favors you the most; you can certainly handle it.”
If Shen Wei refused again, it would be seen as disrespectful to the princess. With no other choice, she knelt and said, “Then I shall obey.”
She stepped forward to choose the fabric.
Her gaze lingered over the materials.
The quality of the fabrics was evident to the naked eye. The finest ones shimmered and sparkled in the sunlight, while the inferior ones appeared dull and unattractive.
After surveying the options, she pointed excitedly at the best piece. “Cai Lian, we’ll take this one.”
It was the most expensive piece of floating light brocade, and there was only one. The main color was a light silver, the fabric soft, glimmering beautifully in the sunlight.
Cai Lian, knowledgeable about fabrics, subtly signaled to Shen Wei: No! This kind of fabric is only for the princess and the prince!
Although Shen Wei was favored by the prince, she was still a lowly concubine; how could she wear such expensive floating light brocade?
“Shen Wei, you might want to choose another piece,” Zhang Miao Yu, the side consort, kindly advised.
Zhang Miao Yu was plump but had a good heart.
She couldn’t bear to see this beautiful sister dig her own grave.
Shen Wei turned to look at the onlookers. Liu Ru Yan showed sympathy, Liu Qiao Er looked disdainful, and the other secondary consorts were all eager to watch the show.
Only Zhang Miao Yu spoke up to warn her.
It was well-intentioned.
Shen Wei withdrew her gaze, her expression one of arrogance, as if she had finally found her place: “I want this one. Cai Lian, hold on to it.”
Cai Lian, feeling the weight of the situation, reluctantly clutched the fabric, her heart sinking.
Oh, Mistress, there’s no saving you now...
“You do have an eye for quality,” the princess remarked, sipping her Bi Luo Chun tea. While it seemed like praise for Shen Wei, it was actually veiled mockery.
This Shen Wei, coming from a poor background, was short-sighted.
Seeing something good and daring to claim it—how greedy!
A beautiful yet foolish woman wouldn’t last long in the royal household.
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