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

Chapter 23 Returning Home

The Grand Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager, who were sitting at the top, smiled at each other. The younger generations could get along so well with each other, and the elders could only be happy.

Just as Buerhe and the Fifth Princess were exchanging greetings, a maid from the Cining Palace came to report that several princesses had come to pay their respects.

Princess Buerhe and the Fifth Princess quickly stood behind the Empress Dowager, awaiting the arrival of the other princesses. The first of the group was the proud Fourth Princess, who had every reason to be proud. She had the powerful support of the Guoluo clan. Her mother was Consort Guoluo, whom Kangxi had taken into the harem despite her widowhood and doted on for years. Her aunt was Consort Yi, one of the Four Concubines, and a beloved and enduring concubine. She was also very intelligent, and was a princess Kangxi favored for marriage to Outer Mongolia.

It can be said that among the remaining princesses, the Fourth Princess not only has a high status and is the oldest, but is also extremely favored by the emperor. She is the most favored princess in the harem after the Third Princess, Princess Rongxian, got married.

Behind the fourth princess was the sixth princess, followed by the eighth and tenth princesses walking hand in hand, and the last one walking was the ninth princess.

These were all introduced softly by the Fifth Princess into Burhe's ear. Burhe also appreciated the Fifth Princess' kindness and smiled gratefully at her before carefully observing the other princesses.

It is said that the princesses under the emperor's knees are all very beautiful, and each has her own merits. The fourth princess is like a beautiful and passionate red rose, the fifth princess is a slightly blooming lotus, the sixth princess is a fragrant white jasmine, the eighth princess is a tender bell flower, the ninth princess is a quiet crabapple, and the tenth princess is an innocent freesia.

After paying respects to the ancestors, the Empress Dowager pointed at Buerhe and said, "This is your second sister-in-law," and then said to the princesses below, "These are Yinreng's sisters."

Then there was a burst of greetings, "Hello, Crown Princess," and "Hello, princesses." After the two sides greeted each other, they sat down according to their status and age.

Buerhe smiled and said to Xiaozhuang: "Ukuma Ma is so lucky! Your princesses have really dazzled my great-grandson's wife. They are all very beautiful, and they make me look like a fool."

Empress Xiaozhuang laughed heartily upon hearing this and, pointing at Buerhe, said, "You little girl, the princesses are very good, and you are no less. I really like your personality. You are truly the great-grandson's wife I am satisfied with."

The sedan chair is carried by everyone. If you praise me, of course I should praise you back, right?

After a few words from the two, the atmosphere in the Cining Palace instantly became lively. Then Xiaozhuang pointed out the princesses one by one and introduced them to Buerhe. Buerhe knew that this was Xiaozhuang's face, so he quickly stood up to greet them in return and handed over the gift he had prepared long ago.

Each person's gift was different, with varying values ​​but not too disparate. Furthermore, the gifts were generally chosen based on the princesses' personalities, so this time, the gifts Burhe gave touched the hearts of several princesses. Even the ever-picky Fourth Princess praised the purple bracelet Burhe had given her.

The Crown Princess herself had no conflict of interest with them, and the Crown Prince was the next legitimate heir. Even after getting married, the princesses had to rely on their fathers and brothers for support. Therefore, Buerhe not only did not encounter any difficulties during his trip to the Cining Palace, but was also sincerely accepted by several princesses, especially the fifth princess.

The Fifth Princess was raised by the Empress Dowager from a young age, and thus developed a non-competitive character. Furthermore, the Fifth Princess's mother was Consort De, and the person in the palace who had the most conflict with Consort De was Consort Yi. Consort De was a favored concubine of the same period, and Consort De's son, the Fourth Prince, was raised by Empress Xiaoyi and became the Empress's adopted son.

However, Concubine Yi's eldest son, the Fifth Prince, was taken to the Empress Dowager's palace shortly after birth, forfeiting his inheritance rights. Furthermore, because he had grown up in the Ciren Palace, the Fifth Prince could not speak Chinese until he was almost five years old, only Mongolian. Therefore, when he entered the Shangshufang to study, his grades were poor. For this reason, Emperor Kangxi always considered his son stupid, and compared to the previous princes, he paid less attention to the Fifth Prince.

Next were the Sixth Prince and the Ninth Prince. When the Sixth Prince, the daughter of Concubine De, was born, the Emperor gave him the name Yinzuo, and the Sixth Prince was the most favored in the palace during those years.

However, when the Ninth Prince was born, the Emperor followed the old custom and named him Yinzhen only after he was one month old. Finally, there were the Eleventh and Fourteenth Princes. The Eleventh Prince died in infancy, but the Fourteenth Prince became the Emperor's most beloved youngest prince after the Sixth Prince.

She and Defei were both one of the four concubines, and both had two princes and a princess, but she was always inferior to Defei in the emperor's favor. How could Yifei be willing to accept this?

So after the Fourth Princess received the Emperor's attention, Concubine Yi always used the Fourth Princess's name to suppress the Fifth Princess. In addition, the Fourth Princess was older and had an extremely proud personality, so the Fifth Princess usually avoided the Fourth Princess when she was with her.

In fact, another reason why the Fifth Princess never fought for it was that she got the news from Concubine De that the Fourth Princess was going to marry into Outer Mongolia, a poor and miserable place, and she had heard from her mother that the Queen Mother intended for her to marry in the capital.

One married far away, the other stayed in Beijing. Anyone with a discerning eye could see who got the better deal, so the Fifth Princess never pursued the Fourth Princess's daily dominance, and never said a word even if she verbally pressured her.

Buerhe was not aware of this. She only knew that what she saw was that the Fourth Princess was a bit aggressive, while the Fifth Princess was the kind of considerate, gentle and lovely girl.

In addition, his own mama and the queen mother were good friends, and the fifth princess was raised by the queen mother. Because he loved the fifth princess, Burhe was naturally more friendly to her.

The Queen Mother also wanted the Fifth Princess to be on good terms with Burhe. Others didn't know how Burhe became the Crown Princess, but didn't she, the old lady, know?

It can be said that as long as the crown prince is not deposed, Burhe's position as the crown princess will be stable and as solid as a rock.

As for the Crown Prince being deposed? You must be kidding! Given the Emperor's deep love for the Crown Prince, she didn't believe that day would ever come.

All we can say is that judging from the current situation and looking into the future, the position of the crown prince is stable. However, no one expected that people's hearts are so fickle. Kangxi, who is now a good father who is known for his filial piety, changed his mind so quickly after twenty years. In his previous life, as he grew older, his suspicion became more and more serious. In the end, he could no longer bear it and directly abolished the crown prince's position, which led to the bloody scene of the Nine Dragons Fighting for the Crown Prince, and also abolished the all-round capable princes and grandchildren who Kangxi had raised with great difficulty.

Yongzheng, who succeeded him, was considered a good emperor, but he lacked support from the court. Most of the remaining princes were against him. To ensure the stability of imperial power, he had to abandon those who had different intentions. For this reason, he became a famous emperor in history who confiscated property. The treasury was full and the imperial power was stable, but he had few princes to choose from. In the end, he had to choose the ambitious Hongli as his heir.

Next, everyone knows what kind of person Hongli is, so I won’t go into details.

Back to the Cining Palace, after the princess and the empress dowager left, Xiaozhuang kept Buerhe for a while longer, this time mainly for his return visit nine days later.

This also set a precedent for Buerhe. Before, there was no such thing as the Crown Princess returning to her parents' home. However, Buerhe was the first Crown Princess of this dynasty, and the previous rules also followed the old customs of the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, whether she could return to her parents' home was actually decided by the royal family.

The Empress Dowager and the Emperor liked Buerhe, the Crown Princess, so they were willing to give Buerhe a favor and allow her to return home on the ninth day. To this end, Su Malagu quickly brought several palace maids holding lacquer trays to Buerhe and said, "Crown Princess, this is a return gift from the Empress Dowager. Please accept it."

Buerhe quickly declined: "Ukuma Ma. Yuqing Palace has already prepared some. How can the great-grandson's wife still ask you to prepare some? This is inappropriate! Besides, this is too much."

Empress Xiaozhuang: "A gift from an elder cannot be refused. The Crown Princess is my favorite great-grandson's wife. I would like to add some return gifts. Who can say anything more? Just accept it. This is a gift from Ukuma Ma."

Having said that, Buerhe thanked him and accepted it.

Before Buerhe left the Cining Palace, the Grand Empress Dowager warned her that she didn't need to come here every day to pay her respects. Young people are still growing, so they're definitely sleepy. Paying her respects early every day would only delay her growth. Besides, the weather was turning cooler, and the days in the Forbidden City were quickly getting shorter and longer, gradually becoming colder. Even in the mornings, it was still chilly, so there was no need to come so early to pay her respects. If she felt bored and wanted to go out for a walk, she could just come here to pay her respects on the first and fifteenth day of each month, as the princesses did.

Hearing the Empress Dowager's thoughtful advice, Buerhe thanked her again. Who would be willing to leave their warm bed to sleep a little longer? November was almost here, and the weather was indeed getting cooler. Fewer visits from now on would certainly be a good thing.

However, Bu Erhe also secretly reminded himself in his heart that even if the Empress Dowager said so, he should come more frequently and not just come to pay his respects on the first and fifteenth days of the month like a fool.

When they said goodbye to the masters and servants of Cining Palace and returned to Yuqing Palace, the entire Yuqing Palace had already arranged the division of labor for the servants in the main courtyard according to what Buerhe and Nanny Li had discussed yesterday. Among them, Buerhe's two senior palace maids were not required to do so because they were often needed. The others were all arranged in day and night shifts with the old and the new.

The rest time of the main courtyard was also changed from one day off per month to one day per half a month at the request of Burhe. As for the monthly allowance, it was not just the monthly silver money, but Burhe also gave each person an extra set of ready-made clothes every two months.

You have to know that you have to wear the same clothes when working in the palace. Palace servants have their own clothing styles, but according to the original palace rules, the palace will only issue one set of clothes as a uniform. If the clothes are torn or old, you can only use your own money to buy a new set from the weaving office.

If those who have connections can still buy a set at the original price or a cheaper price, but for those who are just ordinary palace maids with no power, influence or status, the weaving bureau will secretly raise the price.

Sometimes, a little palace maid would have to save for two or three months to buy a set of clothes, and this was the money saved by the little palace maids who lived frugally.

Nowadays, the master of the main courtyard just sends a set of ready-made clothes every two months. Even if the servants in the main courtyard can afford it, one set every two months, six sets a year, how much money can be saved? This is based on summer ready-made clothes. Winter clothes are more expensive.

Tsk tsk, just thinking about it makes me feel that I was lucky to be assigned to the main courtyard of Yuqing Palace. Now, according to the work schedule of the Crown Princess, I only need to complete my work on time and in quantity every day, and then I can go back to the servants' room to rest openly, without having to bow down and help those with better family backgrounds.

All they need to do every day is work honestly, without being lazy or slacking off. At the end of the month, they will receive a full attendance award. I heard that there will be a bonus if they work like this until the end of the year. Such a promising life instantly made the servants in the main courtyard united as one, and every day they only thought about working hard and getting the appreciation of their leaders.

At the same time, the servants also began to keep a close eye on everyone around them, trying to find colleagues who committed crimes or had ulterior motives, because the master said that if they could catch the traitor or the person with ulterior motives, as long as there was evidence, they would be evaluated according to their merits. If the performance was good enough, even if they had not served for a long time, they could still be promoted to leaders.

Of course, if the person caught is a leader, then whoever catches him can replace that leader and become the new leader.

The atmosphere in the main courtyard suddenly became serious. This was noticed when Buerhe entered the main courtyard and all the servants greeted him politely.

Buerhe was very satisfied. Although if he continued like this, others might say that he was too strict in managing his subordinates and not gentle enough, what was the point of having a reputation for being gentle?

She understood the principle that kindness is not suitable for military command and benevolence is not suitable for government. Only by setting the rules directly from the beginning and having the servants strictly follow them can the operation of the entire main courtyard be guaranteed without being disturbed by other minor accidents. It also makes those with ulterior motives dare not act rashly even if they come in.