Chapter 19 – Staying the Night

Yuying was thrown onto the bed.

Fortunately, there was still a quilt underneath her; otherwise, she would have been smashed until she saw stars.

Just a moment ago everything was perfectly fine. How did it suddenly come to this?

Looking at Yuying, lying on the bed with a faint watery glint in her eyes, Kangxi only felt that he could finally breathe more easily.

Enough. She was just a woman. In this rear palace, could she possibly overturn the heavens?

Yuying struggled to sit up and looked toward Kangxi.

Before she could even open her mouth, she heard Kangxi say,

“Serve me well, and I will promote you to Noble Consort.”

Yuying had thought that after transmigrating here for three years, she had long grown used to everything: whether addressing herself humbly as a concubine or kneeling whenever she saw anyone. She was used to it all. But when she heard this, she still could not stop the ache in her heart.

She looked at the emperor before her—so imposing. Though his expression could almost be called gentle, she had never, ever felt such overwhelming despair so vividly, flooding over her like a tide and swallowing her whole.

She actually isn’t cursing me in her heart? Kangxi felt a flicker of surprise.

But in the next second, he saw her stretch out her trembling hands and begin untying her sash.

Kangxi’s interest was piqued, and he allowed her to continue.

As layer after layer of his clothing fell away, revealing his strong, well-built body, Yuying’s mind went completely blank. She’d gotten this far, but she didn’t dare move a step further.

Seeing this, Kangxi asked, “What’s this? You have the nerve to undress me, but you don’t have the courage to do anything else?”

Hearing this, Yuying hardened her heart and shoved Kangxi down onto the bed.

Kangxi went along with her force and lay back, adopting a posture that let her do as she pleased.

Yuying felt a little better inside. At least this way she was the one taking the initiative. It was her own choice—wasn’t it?

Then, mustering all her courage, Yuying straddled Kangxi and began to remove her own clothes, one piece at a time.

Kangxi didn’t feel offended. Though he had always been the one on top in such affairs, this reversal had a peculiar flavor of its own.

He watched the young woman sitting astride him, noting that only a single bellyband remained on her slender frame. Though the hall was warm from burning plenty of charcoal, she was still trembling uncontrollably.

Kangxi sighed, reached out, and grasped her shoulders.

He applied a little force.

In an instant, the world spun.

Looking at the delicate young woman now lying beneath him, pitiable in her frailty, Kangxi swiftly tore away the last bothersome scraps of fabric between them. He brushed aside the strands of hair that had fallen messily across her face from their movements, lowered his head, and kissed her.

“Don’t be afraid.”

His broad, powerful body pressed down like a mountain. Yuying could scarcely breathe, unable to think of anything else.

All she could do was yield to him and sink together into the depths of desire.

Yuying’s unfocused gaze fixed on the swaying candle flame not far away. Through the layers of gauzy bed curtains, she couldn’t see it clearly no matter how she tried.

She couldn’t help but stretch out a damp hand, as though trying to draw the curtains back or maybe to grab hold of something—anything—for a scrap of support.

Yet her hand was caught by another large, equally damp hand and pressed back down.

In the quilt, passion surged like a red wave.

The young eunuchs keeping watch outside the hall were startled by the sounds coming from within. They glanced at each other in surprise, then all lifted their eyes to the sky.

The stars were hidden behind thick clouds. In the vast heavens, only a solitary bright moon flickered in the darkness.

The emperor was in rare good spirits tonight. They would all be up late.

Yuying only felt that this master’s movements were especially rough this evening, as though he was determined not to let her have an easy time of it. She thought she might truly die on this bed.

No one knew how much time had passed before a voice finally called for water.

The maids and eunuchs waiting outside immediately pushed open the doors and hurried in all together.

The heat had yet to dissipate from the hall, which was filled with the cloying scent of acacia blossom.

The servants of the Palace of Heavenly Purity were long accustomed to this. They all kept their heads bowed low, eyes fixed firmly on the floor, not daring to glance around.

The two of them were led away separately to bathe.

When Yuying was finally brought back—her legs limp and powerless—the bed had already been cleaned up again. Kangxi was lying there with a book in his hands.

According to protocol, Yuying should have taken her leave at this point.

“Your Majesty—”

Hearing her voice, Kangxi set the book aside and interrupted her unspoken words.

“Don’t go back tonight. Stay here.” He spoke suddenly, for reasons even he did not fully understand.

“Ah?” Yuying cried out in surprise. Had the sun risen in the west? She hadn’t forgotten how she’d been made to walk back the first time she had served him in bed.

Was today really any different from that day?

Not only Yuying—even the servants present, and Kangxi himself—were stunned by what he had said.

Kangxi regretted it the moment the words left his mouth.

After all, there had never been a precedent in this dynasty of a concubine spending the night in the Palace of Heavenly Purity after serving in bed. He had always reminded himself to be an emperor unlike Taizong and Shizu—so why had he spoken such absurd words today?

But now that he’d said it, it would look even worse to take it back. In truth, it wasn’t any great matter. What harm could it do to let a concubine spend one night here?

Was it truly no great matter? If so, why had no concubine ever stayed here before? Whether it was serious or not, only Kangxi himself knew.

He waited, but heard no words of thanks. With a puzzled frown, he looked over and saw Yuying still wearing a stricken expression, as if she’d seen a ghost. Irritation welled up in him, and his tone shifted.

“What? Are you not going to thank me?”

He had made a rare gesture of kindness, yet she did not appreciate it.

Later, whenever Kangxi recalled this night, he would think everything had already been foreshadowed.

Yuying finally came to her senses, quickly dropping to her knees.

“This concubine thanks Your Majesty for your gracious favor!”

Her legs were weak, her body exhausted and drowsy. She thought for a moment: if she had to walk all the way back to the Palace of Eternal Spring, she probably wouldn’t make it by morning. So in the end, she readily accepted.

She didn’t know there had never been a concubine who stayed in Kangxi’s bedchamber overnight. Even if she’d been given ten times her courage, she wouldn’t have dared agree if she’d known.

As it was, no one informed her this was improper.

Kangxi himself had no objection. The concubine staying overnight had no objection. Naturally, there was no blind servant who would step forward to point out that this broke protocol.

After all, no rule was greater than the will of the Son of Heaven.

As long as the emperor was happy, that was all that mattered.

Kangxi was indeed rather happy—especially once the two of them lay down under the covers together. Staring at the young woman so close at hand, he suddenly felt that all those nights he had spent alone on the dragon bed had been truly cold and lonely.

At some point, the servants silently withdrew, leaving the hall quiet save for the occasional sputter of the candle flame in the dark.

Yuying turned on her side to look at Kangxi lying inside.

Her mind was a haze—it all felt like a dream. Just a moment ago she’d felt like nothing but a plaything for his pleasure, and now she was sharing a pillow with him.

She forced her eyes wide open, as if trying to engrave this scene into her memory. But she couldn’t resist the wave of sleepiness that came crashing in after everything they’d done.

Her eyes, just opened, slowly closed again—then snapped back open.

Over and over.

Kangxi, watching her struggle, finally couldn’t bear it.

He lifted a hand and patted her back.

“All right, sleep. Tomorrow there’s no rush to return. Have breakfast with me first, then take the decree promoting you to Noble Consort back with you.”

His tone was an unprecedented gentleness he himself hadn’t noticed.

In truth, an ordinary concubine would never dare fall asleep before Kangxi. But Yuying didn’t know this.

Bathed in that soft coaxing voice, she slowly drifted into slumber.

The last thought she had before her dreams took her:

Why is he so gentle today? I wonder if it’s still too late to try the route of a favored consort.

She left Kangxi behind, both amused and exasperated.

But in that moment, he was also certain this woman had a simple heart and an impulsive nature.

A favored consort? She really doesn’t know the immensity of the heavens.

After all, the favored consorts in history had never met with good ends.

Oh well. He still needed her inner voice, and he supposed he owed her something too.

As long as she never did anything to endanger the Qing dynasty—if she wished to be a favored consort, then he could indulge her a little.