The Virtuous Concubine

In the end, Bai Xia still didn't ask, but took some clove powder, dissolved it in hot water, and helped Malu drink it.

Malu felt a little relieved after drinking it, but she couldn't fall asleep now, so she let Bai Xia sleep next to her footstool, and the master and servant chatted casually.

Soon, it was daybreak and Malu had to get up and change clothes - today the Fourth Prince and his newlywed wife, Guaerjia, would be coming over soon as they came to the palace to pay homage.

After entering the palace, the Fourth Prince brought his new wife to the Queen Mother's palace. The Queen Mother looked loving, but not interested. One reason was that the Fourth Prince and her were not close on a daily basis, and the other was that they did not communicate well in language.

There were only a few Mongolian concubines in the palace, and daily communication was inconvenient. Although she had learned a few words of Manchu and Chinese, she was still quite awkward in using them. Most of the time, she had to rely on the nanny to translate in order to communicate with everyone.

Over the years, only Concubine Yi learned Mongolian to please the Fifth Prince because the Fifth Prince had lived with her for a period of time.

Someone said something, the nanny translated it, the Queen Mother responded, and then the nanny translated it again, and so on and so forth, and the conversation became tedious and boring.

Unexpectedly, after the Fourth Prince and Lady Guaerjia paid their respects respectfully, Lady Guaerjia was so generous and spoke a series of auspicious words in fluent Manchu, sincerely wishing the Empress Dowager a long life.

Moreover, his speech was fluent and natural, without any sense of stagnation. It seemed that he had put a lot of effort into it, which made the empress dowager very happy. The smile on her face became three times more genuine, and she couldn't help but feel more admiration and curiosity for Guaerjia in front of her.

The Queen Mother said amiably, "It is rare that you have such a thoughtfulness and have learned these few words."

Unexpectedly, Guaerjia directly spoke to the empress dowager in Mongolian, which instantly shortened the distance between them. "Thank you for the compliment, empress dowager. When my father was alive, he often said that the emperor valued the relationship between the Manchus, Mongols and Han people, so he always urged me to learn Mongolian. I never thought that I could still be in your arms."

The Queen Mother was even happier, and quickly asked Guaerjia to come closer, to look again and again, and to ask again and again. Guaerjia was able to handle all the questions with ease, and her words were appropriate, neither flattering, and she was able to express her respect and concern for the Queen Mother in a proper way, which made the Queen Mother very satisfied, and asked her to come to Shoukang Palace often to talk with her in the future.

After saying this, he praised the fourth son and Concubine De Zhao for choosing a good daughter-in-law, and then gave her generous rewards.

This was the first time among his grandchildren. The Fourth Prince smiled, feeling very satisfied.

She is worthy of being the Crown Princess carefully selected by the Emperor in his previous life for the Crown Prince. She is truly intelligent and virtuous, and is truly a rare and wise wife.

After coming out of the Queen Mother's palace, the Fourth Prince pinched Guaerjia's face and said, "You performed so well in front of the Queen Mother today. How should I reward you?"

Guaerjia blushed, as if she was not used to such intimacy: "My husband, you are too kind. I am just doing my duty."

When the two looked at the time, they realized it was already late because they had talked to the Empress Dowager for a while longer, so they hurried to the Emperor's study. The Fourth Prince repeatedly gave instructions to Guaerjia.

Unexpectedly, the two of them found nothing in the Qianqing Palace. Wei Zhu smiled and congratulated the Fourth Prince on his wedding, and then told him: "After the Emperor left the court, he went directly to the Yonghe Palace. He said that he and Concubine De Zhao would meet you two and then receive the ceremony of kowtow. You can go directly to the Yonghe Palace now."

Guaerjia was also stunned when she heard this. She didn't expect that Concubine Dezhao was so favored.

Last night she could still think that the Emperor valued the Fourth Prince, or valued the royal family ties, and therefore permitted Imperial Concubine De Zhao to attend the Fourth Prince's wedding banquet in a low-key manner.

According to palace etiquette, the order of audience today should be the Empress Dowager, the Emperor, the Empress, and then the prince's biological mother.

The emperor's move is tantamount to publicly acknowledging that Concubine De Zhao is the invisible queen!

The Fourth Prince did not have any special feelings. His mother had always been special in the eyes of the Emperor. Now he was participating in government affairs in the former dynasty, the Seventh Prince was far away in Jiangnan, the Fourteenth Prince went to the Northwest, and his mother openly supported the Crown Prince.

In order to make her children more dependent on the prince, what's wrong with the emperor giving her more preferential treatment?

The two of them then rushed to the Yonghe Palace without stopping. Guaerjia thought about it again and again, and practiced the dialogue several times, but when she entered the Yonghe Palace, she was still a little stunned.

Kangxi and Consort Dezhao were not sitting in front of the main hall, solemnly waiting to be summoned, but were sitting at a round table, eating from the pot with great interest.

Concubine De Zhao was dressed more gorgeously than yesterday, and her demeanor was different from yesterday, more capable. She sat next to the emperor, occasionally picking up food for him, but most of the time she ate by herself.

Seeing this, Yinzhen's mouth twitched slightly. What kind of pot should I eat so early in the morning? It must be my mother. My mother is like this. Whatever she wants to eat, she must eat it immediately, no matter what time it is.

He twitched his nose and sniffed, it was still lamb.

However, despite their surprise, the Fourth Prince and Lady Guaerjia hurriedly paid their respects, shouting "Long live Kangxi" and "A thousand years for the Empress".

Kangxi nodded, but did not stop what he was doing. He skillfully blanched the mutton himself and dipped it in chive sauce. "Now that you are here, please sit down first. Your mother and I are having a meal. You don't have to be polite. Sit down and eat together."

The Fourth Prince and Lady Guaerjia hurriedly bowed to express their gratitude, and then carefully sat down aside.

Guaerjia dared not eat, and even sat on the edge of the seat. The fourth prince was bolder, he knew that the emperor liked the royal father and son, so he also threw his arms around and started eating.

Seeing that Guaerjia was still reserved, Malu laughed and scolded the Fourth Prince: "The Fourth Prince is just a piece of wood, he doesn't know how to be kind to others. Your wife is shy, why don't you pick some food for her and feed it to her?"

He turned to Guaerjia and said, "Wenying, don't be nervous. Relax a little. Yonghe Palace is your home."

After that, he personally picked up a piece of mutton and put it into Guarjia's bowl, "Try this mutton, it's very fresh."

Guarjia was flattered and quickly stood up to express her gratitude: "Thank you very much, Your Majesty, for your mercy. I am overwhelmed."

Kangxi laughed loudly, patted the back of the Fourth Prince's head affectionately, and personally picked up a piece of food for Malu with his chopsticks: "Your mother, she is talking about you on the surface, but she is actually talking about me!"

Malu also smiled and responded: "Your Majesty is wise and understands the hidden meaning of my words. You can be regarded as half of my confidant. It's a pity that the fourth child is still not enlightened. He may be good at self-cultivation, but he needs to learn more from Your Majesty about the way to manage the family."

Listening to the exchange between the emperor and his concubine, Guaerjia felt a strange soreness in her nose.

Could it be that there is true love in this deep palace? She turned her head and looked at the Fourth Prince lovingly.