Chu Yue wondered whether the monk would have the courage to snatch her away to be his wife after he became worldly and learned that she was Prince Qin's imperial consort.
She lay down on her cushion without any semblance of a lady-like image, and Hupo quickly whispered to her, "Milady, what are you doing? You have to get up."
"It's comfortable lying like this. Look at how blue the sky is and how wide our field of vision is," Chu Yue said in an unbothered fashion.
Hupo could do nothing about it, so she brought out a blanket and covered her mistress' body, which looked rather amazing after she lay down.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm covering you a little," Hupo whispered.
Meanwhile, she sighed in her heart. The prince was really unlucky. Not only did her mistress have lovely features, her figure was also good. But after the prince married her, he did not even sleep with her.
Chu Yue felt a little helpless when she saw Hupo reacting this way. The women in imperial China were surely persecuted because of the feudal system.
She was already wrapped up in thick layers, yet she still had to cover her body?
"Milady, His Highness might have gone a little overboard, but if he is willing to make it up to you, you should let it happen. His Highness will definitely like you," Hupo said softly.
"I don't want to let him take advantage of my great figure." Chu Yue waved her hand in dismissal.
Hupo only wanted to advise her a little. She did not dare to try and push her opinions on her. When she saw that her mistress was unmoved, she changed the topic and said, "Milady, eat some desserts."
"You eat it. I'll lay down for a while." Chu Yue closed her eyes while her body was wrapped in a blanket of comfort.
At that moment, the sound of a flute came from a distance. A young man was playing it. He was trying to woo girls, and Chu Yue had to admit that he was pretty skilled.
Soon, more people came in carriages, which was a clear sign that they came from good families.
At that moment, even if the sun hung high in the air, it was not too hot. Besides, Hupo had chosen a spot under a tree, so it was really comfortable.
They stayed there until it was almost eleven in the morning. Then, Chu Yue brought Hupo back while saying that she wanted to come again tomorrow.
The wind at the lake was refreshing and the air clean. The temperature was suitable as well, so there was nothing more comfortable than lying on a meadow on cushions.
Hupo quite liked the lake as well, so she nodded in agreement.
Chu Yue had won a lot of money the night before, so it was only natural that she wanted to eat good food. She ordered a few signature dishes with Hupo before she had the waiters send some food to Yingda. After that, she started eating.
That meal cost her around ten taels of silver.
Hupo could not help but tighten the strings of her wallet. "Milady, we can't eat like this later on."
"We can just eat. I noticed that I have another batch of money," Chu Yue said.
Hupo was stunned. "Where did that come from?"
"My grandmother gave it to me in the past. I never told you, and Shanhu had stolen the rest of our money. At that time, I was really sick, and my head was dizzy, so I didn't remember it. I only remembered it now," Chu Yue said.
Hupo's eyes lit up. "How much is that, Milady?"
"Don't ask. In any case, it's enough for us to not have to live such a frugal life anymore. You can buy whatever you want to eat," Chu Yue said.
"Milady, you don't have to cook for the master anymore. We can just open our sewing shop," Hupo said happily.
"Hupo, we can't be so ungrateful and cast our benefactor aside," Chu Yue said.
"Milady, that's not what I was thinking about."
"While we were at our darkest times, the master helped us. But now that we have money, we'll kick him aside right away? Doing such a thing lacks sincerity," Chu Yue said.
"But… Milady, you can't just keep cooking for the master. Once we open our sewing shop and start earning money, we can just give him more donations. The master won't make a fuss when it comes to this," Hupo said.
She knew how the world worked quite well.
Chu Yue was satisfied and said, "But I want to cook for the master, and he is already used to my cooking."
She could be considered to be getting Hupo ready for the inevitable. It was to prevent Hupo from not being able to accept the fact that she had an affair with the monk later on.
Hupo did not think in that way at all, but when her mistress insisted on something, she usually did not disagree. She only said, "Then, Milady, what should we do about the sewing shop?"
"We'll have to wait and see about it. I reckon that the prince will bring me back in another month or two," Chu Yue said.
Secondary Consort Li would not want to see her pregnant with the monk's seed. If that happened, Chu Yue would not be able to occupy the position of Prince Qin's imperial consort, because she would definitely be dismissed. This would not be beneficial to Secondary Consort Li.
It would be better if she was safe but there was blackmail material in Secondary Consort Li's hands. This way, she would be valuable to Secondary Consort Li as Prince Qin's imperial consort.
Hence, she believed that Secondary Consort Li should be doing her best to persuade Prince Qin to bring her back.
Chu Yue was right.
When Prince Qin went to sleep with Secondary Consort Li, she mentioned Chu Yue again after they made love.
"Your Highness, when are you bringing the imperial consort back?" Secondary Consort Li asked.
"My love, why are you talking about this again?" Prince Qin said.
"Your Highness, I went out with a few of the girls today, and I heard that Marquis Yongle's mother, Madam Jiang is not healthy. Judging by what they said, she might not be able to live for long.
"Right now, Marquis Yongle's first wife is in control of the mansion, since Madam Jiang is recuperating. There's a high chance that she doesn't know that the granddaughter she loves is currently in Shangqing Temple. If she learns about it, I'm afraid…" Secondary Consort Li did not continue.
"Why are you afraid? Marquis Yongle's family is just an empty husk. Do they think that they're still as great as they were in the past?" Prince Qin let out a cold huff.
"Your Highness, it's only natural that you will not regard the insignificant Marquis Yongle as anything. But you did marry Madam Jiang's granddaughter, and Madam Jiang is your senior. If something happens to her because of how angry she is… Your Highness, His Majesty rules over the country with filial piety in mind, and he's famous for being filial. If something like this happens, then…" Secondary Consort Li said.
Prince Qin scowled.
"Everything that I said comes from the bottom of my heart. Your Highness, for the sake of your reputation, please think about this," Secondary Consort Li said gently.
Prince Qin held her in his arms and said, "I know that you're thinking for me, but I'm unhappy about this."
The woman he met by chance was clearly the imperial chancellor's second legitimate daughter, so he liked her. He had fallen in love with her at first sight when he saw her beauty.
He had quite a number of concubines, but the position of his imperial consort had always been empty, so when he saw her, he wanted to give that position to her.
Only a girl like that was worthy of the position of his imperial consort.
But who would have expected that the imperial chancellor's family would use a substitute? The one he fancied was Chu Jia, and he even gave a dowry to marry her, but they sent him the eldest legitimate daughter, who was birthed to the imperial chancellor by his previous wife.