Sharing a Pavilion With You Chapter 9: The Emperor’s Seal

The Second Prince's mother had passed away when he was young, and he had only hazy mories of her.

She was his Emperor Father's great love. He had never installed another empress and maintained a comparatively small harem.

The Emperor had four sons and five daughters. The Second Prince's oldest brother the Crown Prince and his younger brother, the Third Prince, as well as his sister Princess Lingling, were all the children of his mother, the forr Empress Xu. The Fourth Prince and the other four princesses were all the children of concubines.

This ant that he now had no one he could seek advice from, as he tried to strategise how to secure i ili, either as his wife or as a concubine. God forbid he should speak to his father; he was just as likely to take her into the harem.

Thus, he found himself outside his sister's room.

"Let her know I've co to see her," he commanded a lady-in-waiting.

"Yes, your highness," she curtsied.

"Brother!" ca the happy cry from Lingling. "I wasn't expecting you today, what brings you here?"

She took his arm happily, and he steered her down the steps for a stroll in her extensive gardens.

"I need your help with sothing Lingling."

"Really?" she said with delight. "This is new. Whatever it is, I'll do it!"

"Wait and hear what I'm asking you first."

"You'll never ask sothing lightly gege," she said confidently.

She didn't know how true that was, he thought.

"I know that the first spring flowers have blood in the Empress's garden," he said.

His sister shot him a surprised look. Here was a topic he had never once spoken about before...

"Yes?" she tried not to make too much of a big deal out of what clearly was a very big deal.

"I want you to arrange a flower-viewing for so of the young noble won who have recently co of age."

Well, here was sothing she would love to do, so this would be no hardship for her at all!

"Of course, brother, I would love to do that for you. It would be an honour to our Empress Mother, and the young noble ladies in the capital will be thrilled. Is there soone in particular you'd like to include in the invitation list?" she asked lightly, spoiling the effect by giggling nervously.

"Yes," he said gruffly, "the youngest i sister, i ili".

The princess's eyes bugged out of her head. "i ili," she squealed, "but she's never left the i mansion. She's confined to the inner courtyards. Even her brothers say she's ugly. There must be sothing wrong with her, or they would have introduced her to society by now."

"There's nothing wrong with her," he assured her, "except that she has five over-protective brothers."

"How do you know? Have you seen her?" she asked curiously.

"Don't ask how... I just know," he said, closing down that line of enquiry.

"Really!" she was intrigued. "What a great mystery. I can't wait to et her. Leave it to brother," she spoke confidently.

"It won't be straightforward," he warned her. "The i's won't just agree to let her attend. You'll need to force their hands."

"Of course I know that," she said earnestly. "I'll speak to Emperor Father about it when I ask for his permission."

"Perfect," he said with satisfaction; that was exactly what he'd hoped she would agree to.

"Leave it with ," she chirped with excitent. "I'll go and see Emperor Father as soon as possible. Wait for my good news."

"Thank you ii," he said, looking pensive.

"I'm excited for you ge. You've never shown any interest in a young lady before. This i ili must be very special. She'd be very lucky to have you."

"I hope she feels that way," he said with an uncharacteristic lack of confidence.

"How could any young woman not love my brother? You're handso, kind, brave, and after all, you are the second prince of the realm."

"That's the part I'm worried about," he told her. "She'll have to move with to Gu. And there's every chance Emperor Father won't agree to her being my wife, only a concubine."

Lingling hadn't considered that any young noblewoman wouldn't find her brother to be the catch-of-the-century, especially one whose reputation didn't make her a particularly attractive marriage partner.

"I'm sure she'll be head over heels after she ets you gege. And I'll be there to make sure it all goes smoothly."

"Thank you, ii; I'll wait for your good news."

He strode off without looking back, feeling more reassured than when he'd arrived.

The Princess sought an audience with her father that sa day, and was already in his study with him. As the only daughter of Empress Xu, she was greatly favoured by the Emperor.

"Father," she requested prettily, "may I arrange a first spring flower viewing in Empress Mother's garden for the young noble ladies?"

"Of course, Lingling," he said indulgently. "That would be a lovely way to honour your Empress Mother's mory. I was there myself just yesterday and the flowers are very beautiful. The plum blossoms and callias she chose are all blooming."

"Thank you, Emperor Father," she clapped her hands with excitent. "Also, if I prepare the invitations, would you mind sealing them for ?"

He narrowed his eyes now. What was this daughter of his up to? No flower viewing invitation required the Emperor's seal.

"Why would you need my seal on a young ladies' invitation, Xiao Lingling?" he asked her. "What are you up to?" he shook his head at her.

"Well, I thought it would be a nice touch given it's in the Empress's Garden," that was the best reason she'd been able to co up with.

"And?" he prompted her. "Co on Lingling, tell why you need it and I might agree to do it."

She gulped. "I...I... There's soone I want to co along who probably won't join us without your command. Don't make say who it is, please Emperor Father," she begged him.

Interesting, he thought. His mind imdiately jumped to the youngest i child, who had caused i Renlong to stumble when he'd asked after her at the polo match.

"Alright," he agreed.

"Really?" Lingling danced with excitent and gave her father a kiss on the cheek.

"Make sure you include the Pri Minister's daughter, Li Fengfeng," he said.

The acrimony between them hadn't escaped his notice the other day.

Lingling furrowed her brow but nodded.

Chief Eunuch Feng, who had watched the entire exchange, smiled knowingly. For sure his Master knew who the girl in question was. You underestimated this Emperor's intelligence at your peril. He was the puppet-master, and they were all dancing marionettes on his stage.

"I've already written them, so I'll bring them back this evening for you," she called as she backed out of the study.

She turned and practically ran down the corridor in her excitent.

Her plans were all falling into place. She couldn't wait to tell her second brother!