The prince only allowed me to have a baby, so the pressure is a bit high!

Chapter 20 Concubines Finding Trouble

The Cining Palace was not very close to the Yuqing Palace, but Bu Erhe had not thought of taking a sedan chair. One reason was that it was still early, and she intended to go there after the concubines paid their respects. Another reason was that as a modern person, she knew the importance of good health. In this deep palace, she could not jump or run. If she did not move around more, her body would only develop diseases of affluence and become weaker and weaker.

She didn't want to see all the riding and archery skills she had learned since childhood go to waste within two years of marrying into the deep palace. She had to know that she was able to grow up safely and have a good body now, all thanks to constant exercise.

But Buerhe also had a minor annoyance: the crotch soles she wore. She couldn't understand why women would be proud of wearing them. Aren't they supposed to be a torture device for women? The soles of her feet were supported by that tiny spot in the middle, which made them graceful when she walked, but over time, they were excruciatingly painful for her feet.

It was past mid-morning, and the sun was already high in the sky. Burhe and the maids arrived at the front hall of the Cining Palace. From a distance, the gatekeeper eunuch knelt before Burhe and said, "Your servant pays respects to the Crown Princess."

Seeing this, Buerhe hurriedly called out. The young eunuch stood up and whispered to Buerhe, "The ladies are still in the main hall and haven't come out yet." He then gestured to the group of palace maids waiting outside the hall.

Bu Erhe knew that the eunuch was trying to curry favor with him, so he did not refuse. He nodded to the eunuch to indicate that he understood, and asked Liuli to give this clever eunuch a big red envelope.

She then took a deep breath and continued walking towards the main hall. Before entering the main hall, Buerhe left Liuli behind and only brought Wu Ma with him. Firstly, Liuli's status was not high enough, so she couldn't do anything after entering. Secondly, Wu Ma originally came from the Cining Palace. Buerhe brought her here to show the Grand Empress Dowager his appreciation for her, not intending to expel her from the Yuqing Palace all at once.

The main hall was indeed bustling with activity, but after Burhe entered, everything fell silent. Burhe raised an eyebrow but did nothing else. He simply politely greeted the Grand Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager at the top of the table: "Granddaughter-in-law greets Ukuma Mama and the Imperial Mama."

The person that Xiaozhuang liked the most now was Burhe. The vigorous vitality that she had now was brought by this great-grandson's wife. In addition, because of Yinreng, she loved Burhe and his family as well. So when she saw Burhe coming, she was extremely pleased and her smile was even brighter than usual, which made all the concubines of Kangxi in the room glare at Burhe.

Feeling the glares from the emperor's concubines in the room, Buerhe sneered inwardly. These people only dared to wink at her so openly because they thought she was easy to bully because she had just married into the family. If the culprit, the emperor or the prince, was standing below them, they would definitely not dare to show any abnormality.

However, because the one at the top was the Empress Dowager, an old lady who had served three dynasties, these concubines did not dare to make any big moves. They just took advantage of the Empress Dowager's inattention to glare at them.

After calling Bu'erhe, Xiaozhuang asked her to come forward, take Bu'erhe's hand and introduce her to the ladies sitting in the room.

Xiaozhuang: "This is the Imperial Concubine. You should call her Imperial Mother." Buerhe understood and quickly made a half bow to Imperial Concubine Nianhulu: "Greetings to the Imperial Mother. Good luck to the Imperial Mother."

Seeing the Grand Empress Dowager honor her so generously, and considering Burhe's proper manner of greeting, Consort Niuhulu didn't take it personally. She quickly returned the half-bow and personally helped Burhe to his feet. "Crown Princess, please stand up quickly. You shouldn't be so polite in the future. Oh, our ancestor has good taste. This Crown Princess is outstanding in every way. She outshines all of us in this room. I hope we won't fall out of favor with our ancestor in the future."

Everyone in the room was stunned, even Empress Xiaozhuang looked at Concubine Nianhulu in surprise. If these words came from Concubine Yi on ordinary days, it would not be surprising, but it was surprising that it was said by the Concubine today.

Fortunately, the Empress Dowager was not slow to react. She smiled and reached out her hand to Noble Consort Nianhulu, nodding, "You, when did you learn Consort Yi's smooth talk? Don't worry, our ancestors won't get tired of the old and neglect you, a naughty girl."

When Concubine Yi heard this, she immediately refused to obey. Because her eldest son Yinqi was raised by the Empress Dowager, she had a close relationship with the Empress Dowager of Ciren Palace. She also had some face with the Grand Empress Dowager, so she spoke freely in the Cining Palace: "Grandfather, you are really wronging me. It was Sister Niuhulu who learned bad things on her own. What does it have to do with me? Grandfather, you are wronging me, and I will not obey."

Seeing Concubine Yi also come out to make jokes, the old ancestor laughed even harder: "Okay, okay, it's the old ancestor's fault. We shouldn't have wronged our little sweet fruit. Su Ma, I'll serve this plate of fruit to your mistress Yi to please her mouth. It's my apology for the injustice."

Upon seeing this, Concubine Yi pretended to be greedy, stood up and thanked the Empress Dowager, which made the Empress Dowager laugh again.

The other concubines saw this and knew they couldn't afford to show any displeasure to the Crown Princess in the Cining Palace today. Hadn't they seen the Grand Empress Dowager start setting up a trap for the Crown Princess right from the start? They all restrained themselves somewhat, putting on smiles and agreeing.

After the joke, the Empress Dowager went on to introduce the four concubines who were currently in power to Burhe. This time, Burhe directly performed a level bow. After what had just happened, the concubines did not say much. They all returned the bows in a proper manner and then sat down quietly to continue chatting.

Seeing that it was getting late, the Empress Dowager showed a trace of fatigue on her face. The concubines also said goodbye tactfully and left the Cining Palace one after another according to the rules.

According to the rules, Bu Erhe walked last, but just as he was about to start, he was stopped by Su Malagu and invited to the inner room.

In the inner room, Xiaozhuang was already leaning on the big pillow with the help of the palace maids. When she saw Buerhe coming in, she quickly waved to her. Seeing this, Buerhe did not bother with those empty formalities, but just quickened his pace and came to Xiaozhuang.

Empress Xiaozhuang: "Girl, are you adjusting to life in the palace? Are you feeling comfortable in Yuqing Palace?"

Bu Erhe didn't expect that when Xiaozhuang saw him, she didn't instruct him to treat the women in Yuqing Palace well, nor did she ask him to consummate his marriage with the prince as soon as possible. Instead, she first cared about whether he was living well and whether he had adapted to life in the palace. For a moment, he respected and loved Xiaozhuang from the bottom of his heart.

In the Qing Dynasty, countless women were proud to marry into the royal family. Outsiders would only see the glory of marrying in, but no one would pay attention to their panic and hesitation when they just got married. She originally thought that this situation would only happen when she returned to her parents' home, but she didn't expect to encounter it today, and it was the Empress Dowager who brought it up first.

After being moved, Buerhe did not express his hesitation, but just smiled gratefully at Xiaozhuang: "I am back to Wukuma Ma, and I feel very good as your granddaughter-in-law. Madam Wu of Yuqing Palace takes good care of us. The food and accommodation are very comfortable."

Seeing that Burhe's expression was not a disguise, Xiaozhuang felt relieved. It seemed that the prince and Burhe got along well and did not reject Burhe in that way.

However, thinking of the prince's abnormal health, the Empress Dowager felt a little guilty. But this matter had to be handled by her, otherwise there was no one in the palace who could act as the prince's elder to give him instructions.

After a moment's thought, the Grand Empress Dowager dismissed the servants, took Buerhe's hand, and asked her to sit beside her, speaking earnestly, "Logically, this shouldn't be said by me, Ukuma Ma, but Yinreng's mother died young, and there's no one else to say it, so this old lady has to do it for you. You're still young, and I heard your menstrual period hasn't come yet. According to Ukuma Ma, you and Yinreng should wait two years before consummating your marriage. Don't worry, I've made this clear today. No legitimate son has been born in the Yuqing Palace, and other women are not allowed to bear children. I'll also ask the Emperor not to rush you. Everything is based on your body, and you must not harm it. You must know that your body is your capital, and consummating your marriage and getting pregnant too early is very dangerous for a woman."

Buerhe wasn't sure how others felt when hearing this, but she was in tears. Although the Crown Prince had promised last night that he wouldn't consummate the marriage for the time being, that was only a private matter between husband and wife, and the elders wouldn't necessarily agree. But now it was different. This was what the Grand Empress Dowager had said, and her words carried the most weight in the harem. She would have many years of good life ahead of her. Even if others tried to use this as an excuse to attack her, they would be in trouble.

After all, she was following the emperor's order to take care of her health. Although it was the order of the Empress Dowager, the authority hidden in it was not weak at all.

Seeing Buerhe nod in agreement, Xiaozhuang felt guilty but also happy. Regardless of the future, everything was good now. Overall, this hastily selected Crown Princess was quite good. The next step would depend on her ability to handle affairs and interact with others.

She was aware of the four concubines' covert and overt glaring at her in the Cining Palace today, but even if she could protect herself from such things for a while, she couldn't protect her forever. The Crown Princess would have to face it eventually, so she simply protected her. As for the future, she thought she'd better see what Bull and Bull would do first!

After this topic was passed, the two of them talked about how Bull and he usually spent their time. Bull and He did not talk about the boring study of rules and housekeeping some time ago, but talked about his life in the villa outside Beijing where he had lived for a longer time.

There, she would spend about an hour each day practicing horseback riding and archery, perhaps even longer if she felt like it. Sometimes Mama would join in the practice, and that was when the two of them would compete. At first, Mama won more, but later it became a one-on-one competition, with her always winning.

This topic, which was different from that of other ladies in the capital, attracted Empress Xiaozhuang's interest greatly. Even Su Malagu did not leave, but stood aside with a smile and listened to the conversation between the two.

You have to know that after entering the Pass for a long time, the noble ladies of the Eight Banners in Beijing had already given up riding and shooting and turned to learning needlework and poetry. Just look at the women in Kangxi's harem. Although they are generally not well educated, they are basically gentle, considerate and meticulous, unlike when they first entered the Pass, when they were straightforward, honest and frank.

Over the years, she had watched Xuanye grow fonder of Han women, and in the past two years, the ones he favored the most were basically the weak and delicate Han Banner women. If she hadn't been very confident in her own education and knew that Xuanye would never follow Fulin's old path and favor only one woman, she would have been unable to resist and stopped him long ago.

After discussing these, the two went on to talk about the delicious snacks they found in daily life. Xiaozhuang recommended Mongolian yak jerky and milk tea to Buerhe, and Buerhe recommended his own homemade sachima and egg cake.

Su Malagu, listening nearby, frowned. She could understand the Crown Princess's young liking for these things, but her mistress had stopped eating dried yak years ago. Why was she bringing it up again today? Besides, isn't it a bit inappropriate for you to keep discussing food?

Thinking of this, Su Malagu coughed to remind the Empress Dowager that it was time to let the Crown Princess return to Yuqing Palace.

Xiaozhuang also knew that enough was enough. There was still a long time in the future, and there would be many opportunities to discuss with Buerhe. She didn't have time yesterday, and today was the time for the women of Yuqing Palace to pay their respects to the Crown Princess. So she didn't keep Buerhe for long. She just asked someone to prepare a lot of the yak jerky and milk tea that she had mentioned before before Buerhe left.

He also told her that the princesses would come to pay their respects only on the first and fifteenth day of every month as he requested, but they all lived in West Building No. 5, so if Bullhe was bored, he could go directly to play with them.

Tomorrow is the fifteenth day of the lunar month. Bu Erhe didn't think much about it and just agreed. When he was ready to go back, he asked Nanny Li to prepare the gift for the princess in advance and bring it with her when she came to pay her respects tomorrow.

After leaving the Cining Palace, Buerhe instructed Liuli to go back and ask the small kitchen to speed up the preparation of some sachima and egg cakes, and send the recipe to the Cining Palace.