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

Chapter 80 Sisters Reunited

Half of July passed in the blink of an eye. One day, after Kangxi finished his government affairs, he wanted to go out for a walk. From afar, he heard the sound of reading coming from the Shangshu Room. On a whim, he decided to go to the Shangshu Room to take a look.

Kangxi: "Liang Jiugong, I remember that the prince's twins have returned to the Shangshufang, right?"

Liang Jiugong: "Your Majesty, I returned at the beginning of this month, which is about ten days ago."

Kangxi: "How has the Shangshufang adapted to the new regulations I issued? I've been so busy these past few days that I almost forgot about them."

Liang Jiugong: "Your Majesty, the Shangshufang reports that the princes, grandchildren, and their companions have shown a much improved enthusiasm for study in class recently, and have basically completed their homework. I heard they just had a ten-day test yesterday, and I think the results will be out today. Your Majesty, would you like to go over and take a look?"

Kangxi: "Well, we need to go and take a look. If their performance is worse than before after the new rules are implemented, we will have to change it back. Let's go to the Shangshufang."

The Shangshufang was bustling with activity at this moment, because the masters had just announced the results of their ten-day test yesterday, and everyone was sharing their own results.

Thirteenth Prince: "I never thought that I could get such a high score in arithmetic. Nephew Hongye, your method is really good. Next time, if I encounter something I can't do, I will definitely teach me."

Hongye: "Uncle Thirteen, don't worry. I will tell you everything I know. But even as for riding and archery, I have to teach you. I am still only in the horse stance. I envy you so much when I see you shooting arrows every day."

Suddenly, the Fourteenth Prince came out from behind and said, "You asked your Thirteenth Brother to help you, why don't you ask your Fourteenth Uncle? Your Fourteenth Uncle is much better at riding and shooting than your Thirteenth Uncle."

Hongye said in a good mood after hearing this: "Then I would like to thank you, Uncle Fourteen. You must help me when the time comes."

Upon hearing this, Yinzhen patted his chest and promised, "I'll leave it to your fourteenth uncle. It's just..." Yinzhen moved closer to Hongye and said, "Can you teach me again how to write this policy paper? My teacher always says that my words are meaningless. This is the third time I've been told that I can't get a high score in this ten-day test, so I'm holding back."

Hongye also had a headache after hearing this. His fourteenth uncle was strong and cheerful, and he was among the best in riding and archery, but he was lacking in cultural aspects.

If you let him practice archery or horse riding continuously, he can go for half a day without a rest, but once he starts reciting, reading or practicing calligraphy, he can fall asleep completely in less than a quarter of an hour.

How can one write a good article without any knowledge? His masters had taught and corrected him before, but he could not remember the content that he was not interested in even if he read it a hundred and twenty times. He always managed to forget all the knowledge that his masters had stuffed into his head.

Unfortunately, Fourteenth Uncle had already come to him, so Hongye could only bite the bullet and analyze it for him.

Jingyi was currently discussing the math problem in the exam with other study partners. To be honest, the problem was quite difficult for children of this age group, but unexpectedly, the twins, a boy and a girl, all managed to solve it this time. Although the teachers had explained it, some people still didn't understand. So someone came to Jingyi and hoped that she could explain it.

When I entered the Shangshufang this time, not only was the daily schedule changed, the requirement of reciting 120 times was cancelled, and even the relationship between classmates began to change.

It can be clearly seen from the twins, the boy and girl, that this time when he returned to the Shangshufang, Hongye took the initiative to take Jingyi to interact with the classmates in the school, helping each other with learning problems.

Jingyi herself was young and a soft and sweet little girl, so who could resist her if she took the initiative to say hello? Especially since most of the people in the Shangshufang were her uncles, and the masters were almost old enough to be her grandfathers.

In this way, it didn't take long for Princess Jingyi to win the hearts of everyone in the Shangshufang. Even those old scholars stopped talking about Jingyi's identity as a woman.

When Kangxi arrived, the Shangshufang was still bustling. He stopped the teacher who wanted to pay his respects and stood quietly at the back of the classroom to listen to what the children were discussing.

He originally thought that the children were just using the discussion time to talk about some irrelevant things, but he didn't expect that the children were basically discussing the content of yesterday's ten-day test. The children were almost divided into two groups, one group surrounded Hongye and Yinxiang, mainly to ask for advice on how to write this policy paper.

Another wave of people gathered around Jingyi. Jingyi was explaining the mathematical solution this time, and a group of people were listening and taking notes.

Seeing this scene, Kangxi did not disturb them too much, but called the master who was in charge of the Shangshufang to ask questions outside the courtyard.

Kangxi: "How were the results of this ten-day test? Did anyone take advantage of this opportunity to slack off or sleep in class?"

Kangxi hinted at something, but to his surprise, when he asked about the ten-day test, the teacher looked very satisfied. "Congratulations, Your Majesty! Your Majesty is wise. Everyone has made progress in this ten-day test, and Fourteenth Prince has made the greatest progress. His Manchu, calligraphy, and policy essays have all improved. Based on his previous progress, his learning speed this time is more than double that of before."

Kangxi: “Oh?” He really didn’t expect that there would be such a big change this time. He originally thought that a slight improvement would be a big deal. He even suspected that these children’s learning would become slower and weaker. He never expected that just changing the time and the number of recitations would result in such a big change.

Kangxi received the results of the ten-day test, nodded with satisfaction, and left with Liang Jiugong without disturbing the children. This one time didn't count. If it worked, he could try a few more times. Then, if it really worked, this rule would be completely abolished.

At Qingfeng House, the Crown Princess started to get busy early in the morning. Yesterday, Ulanara's residence had sent a visiting card saying that they would come today. Bu Erhe had also asked the Empress Dowager for permission, and today they would be hosted at Qingfeng House.

But at this moment, everyone is in the Queen Mother's Zen mountain retreat. This is also the first time the two good sisters have met again after several decades.

After paying their respects, everyone tacitly found an excuse to go out, leaving only the empress dowager and the old lady in the main hall.

The Queen Mother: "Sister Wujina, how have you been these years?"

The old lady couldn't hold back her emotions after the Queen Mother spoke. "Qiqige, Sister Qiqige, I was sorry for you back then. I haven't dared to ask you all these years. Are you doing well?"

The Queen Mother took the old lady's hand and sat down with her. The two sisters, decades apart, whispered to each other, "I don't blame you. Qiqige has never blamed you all these years. Even if you hadn't done it back then, I would have found a way to let you know and help you escape. This palace is a huge mouth that devours people. No Mongolian woman who entered has a good end. I was already imprisoned here at the time, so how could I bear to let you go with me?"

The old lady cried, "In my dreams at midnight, I always wonder if I did something wrong back then. Otherwise, why couldn't I stay with my beloved Batulu even though I married him? Shouldn't I have listened to the Queen Mother (referring to Xiaozhuang) and entered this deep palace with you?"

The Empress Dowager patted the old lady on the back and soothed her, "Sister Wujina, stop talking. Those are all lies. So what if you listened to the Empress Dowager back then? Haven't you seen clearly over the years that the Emperor of the Qing Dynasty would never tolerate a Mongolian woman occupying the harem again? Wasn't Aunt Jingfei beautiful and intelligent back then? But just because she was the most noble little princess of the Khorchin Mongols, wasn't she also deposed? So what if you accompanied me into the palace back then? The worst that could happen is that there is just one more Mongolian concubine in this deep palace."

After a pause, the Queen Mother told a secret that had been kept for many years: "In fact, I was a little resentful of you at the beginning." Seeing that the old lady was about to start feeling guilty again, the Queen Mother stopped her from saying anything: "Don't say it, listen to me, at that time we agreed to find Baturu on the grassland, get married together, and be a pair of good sisters after marriage, but suddenly one day I was sent to the capital to be the imperial concubine, and you were married to Shengjing and became the general's wife. At first, I really didn't expect things to happen so suddenly, so that the two of us didn't even have time to say goodbye.

Entering the palace, my every move was under the watchful eyes of others. You know the tension within the palace at that time. My aunt was deposed, and Dong E became the Imperial Noble Consort. I could only tremble in fear, clutching my pillow all day, fearing that one day I, too, would vanish into the depths of the palace without explanation. My greatest wish at that time was to be driven out of the capital by Emperor Shunzhi one day and return to the grasslands where I was born and raised.

But I miscalculated. My aunt had been deposed. How could Mongolia give up the throne of the queen and let other women occupy it? So I, who was born in the most prominent family at that time, became a chess piece in the game between the two sides. During that time, I knew that I could never leave this deep palace.

At that time, the Empress Dowager suggested that she could fulfill one of my wishes and find someone to come into the palace to accompany me. I did think of you, my sister, but I soon came to my senses. I was already trapped and could never escape. How could I bear to let you follow me in?

But I didn't expect that my maidservant, Wulan, would betray me and reveal your information to the Empress Dowager. That's when I realized that the Empress Dowager had already chosen you, but I was easier to control, so I was able to obtain the throne of Empress. It just so happened that at that time, the Emperor only wanted to be with Dong E all day long, and she was pregnant. This incident was a great blow to the Empress Dowager. She insisted on summoning you to the palace despite my objections.

Later, I learned about your marriage, but I didn't get a reply after sending you several letters. I thought you were angry with me, and then there was no further news. Sister Wujina, you have been in the capital for many years. Why don't you ever come to the palace or contact me?

After listening to the empress dowager's story, the old lady was stunned: "So that's how it is!" Then the old lady told a different version, which was that after Qiqige entered the palace, the old lady suddenly received a letter inviting her to go to the capital to play together.

Unprepared, the young Wujina followed the group on their journey. They unexpectedly encountered a gang of bandits along the way, but it was Ulanara Bohucha who rescued her in the nick of time. The young couple, unmarried, and, thanks to the life-saving grace and the beauty of the man, became a couple on their way to the capital.

When she arrived in Shengjing, she suddenly received a letter. She didn't know who the sender was, but the letter directly revealed the empress dowager's intention at the time, which was to want Wujina to enter the palace to serve the emperor.

How could a man and woman in love bear to be separated from their lover? They held hands and asked for marriage in front of Emperor Shunzhi in the Qianqing Palace.

The next day, Wujina received a letter from Qiqige breaking up with her husband. Wujina didn't want to believe it, but after being rejected several times, she gradually understood the situation and finally stopped entering the palace.

After hearing the old lady's version of events, the empress dowager finally realized why the two sisters had so little contact despite living together in the capital. It seemed that the matter of her own imperial mother was part of this.

But it would be of no use to say so much now. Fortunately, although they are already gray-haired, they finally talked things out, and the resentment and guilt in their hearts were relieved. Now they can meet again, and knowing that the other party is still thinking about them, they are already satisfied.

The Queen Mother invited the old lady to have lunch at the Zen Mountain Retreat. The authentic Mongolian meal made the two sisters feel as if they were back in the good old days on the grassland: drinking milk tea, singing songs, and lying together on the green grassland to imagine the future!

When Buerhe went to pick up the old lady after lunch, the empress dowager and the old lady were holding hands, both of them smiling like flowers, with a happy face. At that moment, Buerhe seemed to see that both of them were glowing, and the corners of her mouth unconsciously rose.