The Virtuous Concubine

After the Mid-Autumn Festival, some big and small things happened in the palace.

After Bai Lu collected the information, he ran to report to his master. Ma Lu took some nuts, snacks, and tea, and called Yin Zuo to come over to listen.

A major event in the palace was the discovery of the body of a palace maid from the pond next to the Qianqing Palace.

At this time, the status of palace maids was not particularly low compared to that of eunuchs. After all, these girls were from the bannermen of the Eight Banners, and theoretically they could not be beaten or scolded at will, but now they are dead, and they died next to the Qianqing Palace.

The coroner said that judging from the condition of the body, the person should have died on the Mid-Autumn Festival. As for who did it, the emperor had no intention of investigating it. Instead, he checked the palace maids to see if they had followed the rules.

Another major event was that the eldest prince left Yangfeng Alley and temporarily returned to the prince's residence, instead of taking his wife, who was two months pregnant, out of the palace to set up her own residence.

The reason is very simple. The prince's residence outside has not been repaired yet, so the emperor asked the eldest prince to stay in the prince's residence for a while. The emperor's thoughts may not be that complicated, but it is hard to say how outsiders interpret it.

After the eldest prince came back, he was quiet for a while, but he still quarreled with the eighth prince.

The Eighth Prince's biological mother, Wei Shuren, once lived in Concubine Hui's palace, and Concubine Hui also raised the Eighth Prince. However, the Eighth Prince is now close to Concubine Wenxi. When the eldest prince was imprisoned before, he was extremely cold to Concubine Hui. He never helped the eldest prince, nor did he comfort Concubine Hui. He simply wanted to draw a clear line between himself and them.

The eldest prince is filial, so naturally he will settle these issues with the eighth prince after he is released.

It is said that when the two quarreled, the Eighth Prince was always polite, but the First Prince refused to give up. At the end of the quarrel, the First Prince pointed at the Eighth Prince's nose and said that he was ungrateful and flattering, and was really "an extremely despicable hypocrite!"

At this point, Bai Lu stamped his feet angrily, making Ma Lu burst into laughter. Yin Zuo, who was standing next to him, sipped his tea slowly, but smiled without saying a word.

My eldest brother has been locked up for so long, but he still hasn't made any progress. He still gets angry easily. But after all this fuss, I wonder if Concubine Wenxi and Concubine Yi know what it means to learn from past mistakes?

If the Eighth Prince could do this to Concubine Hui, he could do the same to them. If they haven't realized it yet... He rubbed the ring on his hand,

Malu recovered and looked at Yinzuo: "You said that the eldest prince is the same, why does he quarrel as soon as he comes out? Aren't you afraid that the emperor will be angry?"

Yinzuo smiled a little wider: "The eldest prince must be worried about his mother. He took such good care of Wei Shuren and the eighth prince before, but it was a mistake. But the eighth prince is indeed easy to be criticized for acting like this."

After the mother and son finished chatting with the eldest and eighth princes, they continued to listen to Bai Lu talking about other things.

After talking about the case between the eldest prince and the eighth prince, Bai Lu also mentioned another small matter about the eighth prince.

Grand Secretary Li Guangdi recommended a student with excellent calligraphy to the Southern Study. It is said that his student, He Zhuo, was a famous scholar in the literati circle. His calligraphy impressed Emperor Kangxi so much that he was said to be one of the "Four Masters of Calligraphy".

Yinzuo couldn't help laughing after hearing this: "What a mess, it's... calligraphy studies. People should specialize in studying the origin, quality, and authenticity of calligraphy."

Malu raised an eyebrow: "Do you know him?"

Yin Zuo quickly shook his head: "How can my son know such a person? He is unknown, and I am not the kind of person who likes to do research. But since he likes such learning and is so good at calligraphy, he must be a person with an upright character and carefulness."

After saying this, Yinzuo remained silent, but secretly gave a thumbs up to Li Guangdi and Wei Zhu in his heart.

These two people are really efficient.

Sure enough, Bai Lu saw that the master had finished the discussion and continued, "Young master, you have a good eye, it is indeed true. The emperor assigned this candidate to the Eighth Prince as a teacher, saying that the Eighth Prince's handwriting was too poor and needed to study hard. People in the palace said that the emperor was actually punishing the Eighth Prince to copy because of the eldest prince. The Eighth Prince now has endless words to write every day. It is said that I have to go to the Ministry of Internal Affairs every three days to get pens, ink, paper and inkstone."

Malu had no idea that the Eighth Prince was plotting to use his poor handwriting to get Kangxi's attention, but Yinzuo knew about it in advance and asked someone to prepare an honest man who only knew how to practice calligraphy, and then provoke the eldest prince to make Kangxi dissatisfied with both of them.

She just laughed it off as a joke and said, "It's really hard to guess what the emperor is thinking."

Yinzuo nodded in agreement, and couldn't help but gloat a little: "Well, I just don't know what the Eighth Prince is thinking. Being punished to practice calligraphy like this, I'm afraid he must be a little helpless."

Bai Lu continued, "I heard that the Eighth Prince has no complaints and practices calligraphy seriously every day. Who dares to slack off on the emperor's orders?"

Ma Lu said thoughtfully: "This Eighth Prince is a man who can keep his composure."

The mother and her two children talked about this for a while, and the topic gradually turned to other trivial matters in the palace. After saying this, Ma Lu was a little tired: "Hey, I don't know how your sister and your brother are doing in Jiangnan? They are two heartless people, and they don't even know to write more letters back."

Hearing this, Yinzuo winked. After the servants left, Yinzuo whispered, "Many letters are with the Emperor's father and have not been delivered to Yonghe Palace. If mother really has something important to say to Wenxian and fourth brother, you can tell your son."

Malu was a little confused: "Why did he stop the child's letter?"

Yin Zuo sighed: "Perhaps Wen Xian's letter involves too many things related to the government. She didn't mean it. She just wanted to share her progress with my mother, but my father..."

Malu frowned, a trace of worry flashed in his eyes: "What about your fourth brother's letter? He always knows his limits, it won't be all about government affairs."

Yinzuo shook his head helplessly: "How can it be possible that the letter from Fourth Brother arrived but Wen Xian did not write to you?"

Malu was silent for a while, then said, "I know, it's nothing serious. I just haven't seen them for a long time and I miss them. You should have a way to contact them, but don't use it too much, don't let it show, okay?"

Yinzuo nodded quickly and said, "I understand, mother. Don't worry. I will be careful. Mother, don't worry, they are doing well in Jiangnan and are making good progress. They will probably be back earlier than expected."

Malu was relieved to hear him say this, and prepared to concentrate on the prince's marriage. The trial marriage was only a few days away, and she had a lot of things to arrange.