The Virtuous Concubine

Before leaving, the prince went to take care of Kangxi for a while. With Malu by his side, he felt a special kind of security, and his fighting spirit became higher.

If he did it to protect himself and his status before, now that Malu has his child and told him so frankly, his mentality has changed.

Malu sent the prince away in a trance, returned to the Qianqing Palace, and sat in the warm room in silence.

For the first time, she clearly realized that the prince's love for her was so firm. Logically, she should be happy, but for some reason, she just couldn't feel happy.

But after thinking about it, Malu couldn't think of a better solution, so she had to let the matter go and relax and take care of the baby. Worrying so much would not be good for the child.

She touched her still flat belly, and thinking of the prince's happy expression, she couldn't help but smile.

When the prince returned to Yuqing Palace, he found that there seemed to be fewer people in the courtyard. In addition, according to the rules, Ulanara should have come to greet him, but she was nowhere to be seen. He could not help but feel a little surprised and frowned and asked, "What's going on?"

The housekeeper of Yuqing Palace hurried forward to explain: "The concubine went to Yonghe Palace to visit the fourth wife. Thanks to the care of the Dezhao Imperial Concubine of Yonghe Palace a while ago..."

In just a few words, the nanny explained how Malu discovered the danger and stopped Ulanara from eating mangoes in time, and how Guarjia and Ulanara were getting closer and closer and getting along better and better.

The reason why I say this is not because the nanny wants to stir up trouble, but the Fourth Prince is now at loggerheads with his own Crown Prince, so this matter still needs to be explained clearly.

The prince's lips curled up slightly, revealing a genuine smile: "She is like this."

If she were in front of him, she might deliberately show her concern, but even when he was not around, she also cared about the people in his palace and his children.

The nanny lowered her head, wondering who the prince was referring to as "she"?

Maybe it's Wulanala's concubine? It seems that this concubine is going to take advantage of her pregnancy to rise!

The prince thought for a moment and then asked, "Have Guarjia and Ulanara often gone out together recently?"

The nanny quickly replied, "Your Highness, the concubine often goes to Yonghe Palace to pay respects to Concubine Dezhao, and Guaerjia also gives her some small items. They have a very close relationship."

The prince said nothing about this and went straight to the study.

Ulanara did not expect the prince to return to Yuqing Palace so early. When she heard the palace servant coming to deliver the message, she hurriedly said goodbye to the Fourth Lady and hurried back to Yuqing Palace.

Guaerjia looked at her hurried back, shook her head, and let Qingfeng help her back to the room.

Mrs. Guarjia is actually very busy. She has to get closer to Concubine Ulanala in the palace, take care of the fetus in her belly, and deal with the urging of the Fourth Prince... She is exhausted both physically and mentally.

In the past few days, the Crown Prince returned, and the Fourth Prince changed his strategy and began to strive for a reputation as a filial son. He was very busy, chanting sutras, opening the eyes of the Buddha, and seeking medical advice. In short, he was very busy and had no time to take care of her.

Presumably, in order to win favor, Concubine Ulanara would have less contact with herself, and she finally found a little free time in this gap.

But Guaerjia was too busy to spare any time. She felt that the imperial concubine had prepared foods that were suitable for pregnant women in order to accommodate her, which might not suit her appetite, so she ate less at every meal. Now that she had some free time, she decided to make something for the imperial concubine to see if she could please her.

She did it as soon as she thought of it. Guaerjia took people directly to the small kitchen and prepared to make a dish that her wet nurse had once made for her mother.

When the people in the Yonghe Palace kitchen heard the Fourth Lady asking them for pickles, they were also stunned: "This thing, but... it's not suitable for a noble to eat."

But the fourth lady was very insistent, and everyone had no choice but to start from scratch according to her request. First, wash and dry the fresh kale and other vegetables, then chop them finely, sprinkle with coarse salt, let the salt force out the moisture in the vegetables, then squeeze out the juice of the vegetables, and marinate them in a cool place for three days, and the pickled vegetables are ready.

After she got this dish, Guaerjia cut rice cake, lean meat, bamboo shoots, wild rice stem and fried eggs into thin strips, stir-fried them and simmered them into soup, and then put some fresh vegetables and diced soft tofu in to blanch, and this big stew with yellow and green, white and yellow is ready.

Looking at this bowl of yellow and white stew, Bai Xia, Bai Fu and others' faces changed.

How can your Majesty eat these things?

But this was the Fourth Lady's intention... Just when everyone was struggling, Malu calmly took the bowl of miscellaneous food, smelled it, and looked at it.

Oh, isn’t this the Shengzhou tofu rice cake that I have eaten in modern times before?

How could the Fourth Lady, a Manchu, cook this? She curiously asked the Fourth Lady, "Where did you learn this dish?"

Guaerjia was slightly stunned, with a trace of melancholy on her face: "Your Highness, my wet nurse is from Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and this dish is a skill passed down from her family. When I was a child, I often saw her making this dish for my mother... Later, when she got older and returned to the south, I always remembered the taste. I thought that Your Highness was used to the delicacies of the palace, and maybe she would like it if she changed her taste."

Malu nodded, scooped a spoonful of the dish into his mouth, chewed it carefully, and showed a pleasant surprise on his face: "Well, it tastes really good, you are thoughtful, but next time, just teach this method to the people below you, don't tire yourself out."

Guaerjia smiled and agreed, then turned around and asked someone to send a bowl to Concubine Ulanara.

Malu was very grateful for the favor and reminded him, "Before eating, let the imperial physician of Yuqing Palace examine it."

Guarjia was stunned and nodded.

Malu really likes this. Her morning sickness has been very severe recently, but she doesn't dare to vomit for fear of giving away the clues. She can only eat as little as possible. If she really has to eat, she has to choose dishes that will definitely not cause her to have a reaction.

If others asked, she would say that she was so worried about Kangxi that she couldn't eat and had lost a lot of weight.

She also cares about the child's development, but...if it is exposed at this time, she will have to be reborn.

A mouthful of soup and a mouthful of rich dishes were enough to make one dizzy with the aroma. Malu rarely used two small bowls, which made Bai Xia and Bai Fu very happy.

Bai Qian immediately reported to the prince - Malu had been unable to eat recently, and the prince was worried and distressed. He acted frantically when dealing with the affairs of the previous dynasty, hoping to buy as much opportunity as possible for Malu so that she could go to Changchun Garden to take care of her pregnancy as soon as possible.

However, there is considerable resistance to this matter.

Although Kangxi was in a coma, he was not dead. The Fourth Prince, the Eighth Prince and others kept submitting memorials to urge the Crown Prince, and even openly attacked the former court, accusing the Crown Prince of not paying attention to Kangxi's condition, and even suspected that he did it on purpose just to seize power.

But if the prince really wanted to kill Kangxi, he couldn't do it.