The Changchun Palace team travels back in time to Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace

In the Xiefang Palace, Yonghuang brought Yonglian to visit Yongqi.

Yongqi was frail and sickly. Unlike other babies who were round and plump, he was thin and small, with a pale face. He was crying incessantly, as if something was wrong with him.

Yonghuang instructed the palace servants and imperial physicians, "These past few days, the Empress has been very busy. You must take good care of Fifth Brother and share her burdens."

The crowd agreed.

After leaving Yongqi's room, a palace maid beside Yonglian took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from Yonglian's forehead.

Yonglian said, "It's really hot in Fifth Brother's room."

The palace maid said, "Fifth Prince is weak and prone to feeling cold. The weather has been unpredictable this year. It's already May, but it still gets cold as soon as it rains, so the underfloor heating is still on. Second Prince, if you feel too hot, I will serve you a bath in a little while."

Yonglian asked Yonghuang, "Brother, are you hot? I'll have someone bring you a towel to wipe your sweat."

Yonghuang shook his head and said, "Second brother, Fifth brother's mother almost harmed you, and almost harmed the Empress Mother. But I have been coming to take care of Fifth brother these past few days. You won't blame me, will you?"

Yonglian shook his head: "Fifth brother's mother has nothing to do with him. Besides, eldest brother is also taking care of the Empress Dowager. How could younger brother blame eldest brother?"

Yonghuang chuckled softly, "That's good."

Yonglian then said, "To be honest, there's a sentence I don't quite understand from my studies today, and I'd like to ask you for your guidance, elder brother."

Yonghuang then said, "Tell me about it."

Yonglian said, “When you teach the Analects, there is a saying: ‘A hypocrite is a thief of virtue.’ I really don’t understand its meaning.”

Yonghuang said, “A hypocrite is someone who is nice but not truly virtuous. Mencius said, ‘He does not criticize or condemn, he conforms to popular opinion and lives in a corrupt world. He appears to be loyal and trustworthy, and acts as if he is honest and upright. Everyone is pleased with him, and he thinks he is right, but he cannot be guided into the way of Yao and Shun.’ A good person praised by everyone may just be conforming to popular opinion and may not be a truly virtuous person. Therefore, he is called a ‘thief of virtue.’”

Yonglian nodded and said, "I understand, thank you, elder brother."

After seeing Yonglian off, Kexin said to Yonghuang, "Eldest Prince, please heed my advice. Although the Empress seems to care for the Fifth Prince, she is not a goddess; she has emotions and desires too. Even if she doesn't hold a grudge, she's unlikely to have a good impression of the Fifth Prince. The Fifth Prince's situation is delicate right now. If you keep trying to get close to her, I'm afraid the Empress might..."

Yonghuang said, "Father Emperor knows about this but hasn't said anything. My second brother, the aggrieved party, is also magnanimous. What are you worried about? I think you're not worried about me, but about Consort Chun, aren't you?"

Kexin, her secret exposed, could only say, "I'm not afraid of offending you, my lord, but I was indeed worried about you. You are my lord's adopted son. Yesterday, when the Emperor saw you come to visit, his expression wasn't very good. It was only because of your filial piety that the Emperor didn't hold it against you. If this matter were to reach the Empress's ears, the Empress would think that you instructed her to do it..."

Yonghuang interrupted her: "If that's the case, then you probably won't have to worry about it for long. Speaking of which, I should go see Yongzhang. Yesterday, when I was teaching him the Twenty-Four Filial Exemplars, I couldn't help but sigh a few times when I thought of my grandmother and aunt. I'm afraid he didn't understand the story yesterday, so I'll have to teach him again today."

At this moment, Jinzhong arrived at Xiefang Palace with the palace maids who had been following Su Luyun during this time.

Jinzhong said, "We've finally found the First Prince and Sister Kexin." He then hurriedly relayed the Emperor's decree that the First Prince was to be handed over to Consort Wan. He continued, "First Prince, the Emperor says that you will be moved to Yikun Palace starting today. If you have anything to pack, just tell me and I'll have someone deliver it to you."

Ke asked anxiously, "Eunuch Jinzhong, what's going on?"

The palace maid who followed Jinzhong spoke with a sob in her voice: "Sister Kexin, please go and see! The mistress said something wrong in Changchun Palace that offended the Empress, which angered the Emperor. She has been punished and confined to her quarters. The mistress has fainted and is currently lying in a side hall of Changchun Palace..."

Kexin was greatly alarmed and hurriedly rushed to Changchun Palace.

She walked in such a hurry that she didn't notice Yonghuang's complicated expression.

Su Luyun suddenly offended the Emperor, was confined to her quarters and lost her child. Due to the Empress's deliberate concealment, none of the concubines in the palace knew what had happened, and panic ensued.

Consort Gao and Consort Wan received news that the Empress Dowager's visit to Qingyi Garden needed to be arranged quickly.

Consort Gao was puzzled, but Consort Wan advised her not to ask too many questions and to just get it done quickly.

After rushing for twenty days, the Empress Dowager finally set off for Qingyi Garden at the end of May.

In late May, Hengti was also bestowed the title of Princess Gulun Roushu, and a princess's residence was established in the capital. Before his court officials, the emperor declared that his younger sister, Princess Duanshu, had already married far away in the northern deserts. As her brother and son, he could not bear to see his younger sister also marry far away, causing his mother the pain of separation from her children. Therefore, Princess Roushu's husband would only be from a family in the capital.

The emperor's reputation for filial piety spread throughout the previous dynasty.

On the day the Empress Dowager left the Forbidden City, the Emperor, Empress, and many concubines saw her off. The Empress Dowager's carriages and entourage were magnificent, with many trunks and a long procession.

Hengti bid a reluctant farewell, her eyes blurred with tears.

The Empress Dowager said, "Hengti, don't cry anymore. His Majesty said that I can return to the palace to attend the banquet during festivals, so we, mother and daughter, will still have a day to meet. Your brother is willing to keep his promise, so my trip will not have been in vain. This result is already the best. In the future, when your mother is not by your side, you must remember that your brother and sister-in-law are not your mother and will not indulge you. You must be careful in your actions."

Hengti sobbed, "Empress Mother, I don't want you to leave."

The Empress Dowager sighed, "It's all because I've been too protective of you in the past. Now, leaving you alone in the Forbidden City is a painful thought for me." She hardened her heart and continued, "My relationship with your elder brother is complicated and difficult to explain, but you must remember to treat your sister-in-law with respect. Your sister-in-law is shrewd and calculating, but she has one good quality: she only acts when threatened and won't deliberately cause trouble for trivial matters. As long as you respect her, she will give you some face."

Hengti nodded.

After the Empress Dowager left, Rongyin breathed a sigh of relief and discussed with the Emperor the possibility of lifting Su Luyun's confinement ahead of schedule: "With Consort Chun confined, there is much discussion in the harem. I will eventually be unable to keep it a secret. If we punish Consort Chun for suggesting that the Empress Dowager not leave the palace, it will inevitably arouse suspicion among those with ulterior motives, which will be detrimental to Your Majesty's reputation for filial piety."

The Emperor, impressed by the Empress's consideration for the greater good, lifted Consort Chun's confinement. He publicly stated that Consort Chun had spoken in a taboo manner, thus receiving a minor punishment as a warning. Regarding the matter of the First Prince, he said it wasn't Consort Chun's fault, but rather because the Third Prince was at a mischievous age, and he feared Consort Chun wouldn't be able to manage her two sons, so he entrusted the First Prince to Consort Wan's care. He then said, "Consort Xiu has been in the palace for some time now; she shall be promoted to the rank of Changzai. Noble Lady Shu shall be promoted to Consort Shu; the investiture ceremony shall be held the day before the Mid-Autumn Festival."

As soon as Consort Chun was released from confinement, she came to Changchun Palace to apologize and express her gratitude.

This matter has finally come to a satisfactory conclusion.

Besides the Empress Dowager leaving the palace and the Princess being conferred a title, several other minor events occurred in May.

After Gui Duo presented his water management plan, the emperor was delighted. With the recommendation of Gao Bin and Yin Jishan, Gui Duo was transferred to Fengtian and appointed as the Prefect of Fengtian, in charge of water management in the Guandong area.

Although both were prefectures, the Prefect of Fengtian was a high-ranking official of the third rank, and Gui Duo was promoted even higher. Aruo also became the most favored concubine after the Empress and Yi Huan.

Consort Fangjia, a concubine of Prince Lü, brought Princess Hengxi into the palace and, incidentally, informed the Empress of some bad news.

The bad news was that Ma Qi's health had been poor since the Qingming Festival, and by the Dragon Boat Festival, his illness had worsened. Since the primary consort of Prince Lü, being Ma Qi's daughter, frequently visited him at home, she entrusted the matter of entering the palace to Lady Fangjia.

After the Empress Dowager left the palace, the Emperor bestowed upon the Empress the privilege of allowing her mother to enter the palace for a visit. Lady Fucha brought good news with mixed feelings of joy and worry.

Fu Heng wrote back, saying that Shen Xin was pregnant.

Madam Fucha was overjoyed to be a grandmother again, but she was also worried that the young couple were far away in the northern desert, in a harsh environment, and without anyone to take care of them, which would not be good for their pregnancy. If she weren't so old, she would have loved to go to Uliastai herself to take care of them.

Rongyin could only comfort the old lady and asked her to send a few reliable servants to deliver some medicine to Uliastai.

June began with a torrential downpour. Then came a few days of sunshine followed by a few days of rain, with no fixed pattern.

It was another rainy day, and rainwater dripped down the glazed tiles.

On this day, the emperor received Hong Bong-han, the envoy of the Yu clan and the father of the Crown Princess.

The Crown Princess of the Yu Clan gave birth to a baby boy, whom the old prince personally named Yu Su.

The emperor was displeased, but still smiled and said, "The Yi Zhou Shu says, 'The scholars share the burdens of the people.' It seems that the old prince has high hopes for his grandson."

Hong Fenghan was also delighted by the birth of his grandson: "Yes, when the young master was born, he was handsome and had an extraordinary appearance. The old prince was overjoyed and said that the child's appearance was extraordinary. It seems that the ancestors have blessed him so that the Yu clan's ancestral temple and state have a successor."

The emperor maintained his smile and instructed Jinzhong to inform the Ministry of Rites and the Imperial Household Department to prepare rewards for Lady Yu.

After seeing Hong Fenghan off, the emperor sat in the Hall of Mental Cultivation, intently reading a secret memorial.

This secret memorial was submitted by Prince Chaoyong.

On that day, Fuheng captured several runaway slaves, one of whom turned out to be Ruyi's father, Narbu.

It turns out that Narbu was a traitor who was sentenced to be "a slave to the armored men" when he was exiled. Even among the exiles, he was among the most miserable and hard-working.

He had only become an official through his connections with Empress Ulanara and his daughter, as well as hereditary titles. He was an incompetent and muddle-headed person with little knowledge. He was not as respected by the locals as other scholars who had studied and passed the imperial examinations. He had been pampered for many years and could not even do the most basic work well. He was always complaining and blaming others, or boasting about how noble he had been in the past.

Therefore, the master disliked him greatly and quickly sold him to another armored man, leaving only his family to work. The buyer thought he had gotten a good deal, but it turned out he had acquired such a useless piece of trash, and he resold him in less than a month.

After changing hands four or five times, Narbu was sold from Ningguta to a small town on the border of Jilin and Uliastai.

Upon arriving in that small town, perhaps the stark contrast between his former noble status and his current status as a slave had pushed him to his breaking point, or perhaps the gradual approach to the grasslands from the harsh, cold land had given him hope. In any case, he snapped. One day, while the men of his household were away, he murdered his mistress and fled.

He and several other exiles who had escaped from different families secretly hid in a caravan's wagon and were sent to Uliastai along with the ginseng in the wagon.

Unfortunately, just as they entered Uliastai, they encountered Fu Heng and his soldiers, who were on duty preparing military supplies.

Fuheng had been keeping watch in Zhenggejiazhuang and had personally investigated the Hongxi treason case. His understanding of the case far exceeded that of many other officials.

Therefore, upon seeing Narbu's face, they immediately imprisoned him secretly, instead of sending him to the Ministry of Justice in Uliastai along with other escaped slaves. They also reported to Prince Chaoyong that this man was a wanted criminal who had betrayed the country.

Although Prince Chaoyong had spent most of his time in the northern desert, he had read the imperial gazette and knew about the Hongxi rebellion. He became vigilant and personally interrogated the suspect.

Unexpectedly, Narbu, upon meeting Fuheng, said that the Ulanara clan had no important officials from the previous dynasty, only women in the harem, and had always been a sure thing for the empress's family. His daughter was the emperor's childhood sweetheart, and back then, his daughter should have been the empress, not Fuheng's sister. The emperor was forced by the late emperor, but even so, he still made his daughter a secondary consort, which shows that the emperor still valued his daughter. He even said that the emperor would depose the empress sooner or later and bring his daughter out of the cold palace.

Fu Heng almost hit someone on the spot, but Prince Chaoyong quickly told him to leave.

He didn't know if there was any inside story, but according to the laws of the Qing Dynasty, spreading rumors was a serious crime. Narbu claimed to be a member of the Empress's clan, which belittled the Borjigit clan! The Empress had not committed any immoral acts and had two children. Narbu's constant talk of deposing the Empress was clearly spreading rumors, destabilizing the harem, and slandering the royal family!

Prince Chaoyong dared not act on his own authority, so he sent a secret memorial to the capital with an urgent dispatch, briefly describing the case and asking the emperor what should be done about this treasonous case.

Having spent some time copying Buddhist scriptures, the emperor was now able to remain calm in the face of such remarks, though he was somewhat weary. Why was Celing so cautious? Couldn't he have acted decisively just once and allowed the Ministry of Justice in Uliastai to deal with Narbu on the spot?

Now he knows about this, and if he doesn't do anything about it, it will affect the country's affairs; if he does, he's afraid of being cursed. He's in a real dilemma.

The emperor had no choice but to put the matter aside for the time being.

After lunch, the emperor still hadn't figured out what to do.

Just then the rain stopped, and the emperor instructed Jinzhong, "I'd like to go for a stroll in the Imperial Garden."

The air was fresh after the rain, and it was June, with flowers in full bloom, creating a thriving scene.

The emperor was strolling along when he suddenly saw a palace maid hiding behind a flower bush, holding a jar in one hand and a stick in the other. The stick was wrapped with something white and had a bee stuck to it.

She carefully pushed the bees into the jar through the opening.

The emperor immediately became interested and deliberately ordered his followers to remain silent and simply watch quietly.

The palace maid turned around and realized that the emperor had been standing behind her all along.

Like a startled rabbit, she hurriedly knelt down: "This servant greets Your Majesty. I was unaware that Your Majesty was here. This servant has been disrespectful. Please forgive me, Your Majesty!"

The emperor, intrigued, waved his hand and said, "No need for formalities, rise."

The palace maid stood up, bowing her head respectfully and timidly.

The emperor said, "Raise your head." Looking at the palace maid's face, he felt a sense of familiarity.

Jinzhong said at the right moment, "Your Majesty, isn't this the palace maid who passed by Fubi Pavilion the other day? Her name is Yanwan."

The emperor smiled slightly and asked, "Why are you catching bees here?"

Wei Yanwan was still hesitating when Jinzhong reminded her, "Just answer whatever the Emperor asks."

Wei Yanwan then said, "I have a palace maid I know who has a chronic leg ailment that aches and hurts on rainy days. I heard about a folk remedy that uses bee stings to relieve the pain, so..."

The emperor pretended to put on a stern face and said, "How dare you! Every blade of grass, every tree, every bee and butterfly in the Imperial Garden belongs to the royal family. How can you catch them for yourself? You serve in the flower room, so why don't you catch the bees there? And how did you get this bee-catching pole?"

Yanwan was so frightened that she knelt down again and said, "This servant knows her mistake, Your Majesty, please forgive me!"

Jinzhong realized that the emperor was deliberately trying to scare him, and said, "Speak properly, and the emperor will be magnanimous and won't hold it against you."

Yan Wan said, "Reporting to Your Majesty, the bees in the flower room have all been caught by this servant. The bee stinger is still... actually useful. This stick is made by wrapping a spider web around a wooden stick, just like catching cicadas."

The emperor said, "You are quite skillful. Get up."

Suddenly, another dark cloud drifted in from the sky, followed by a bolt of lightning that ripped across the sky, and then it started to drizzle.

The emperor then said, "It's raining again. Never mind, Jinzhong, take this palace maid back. I should also return to the Hall of Mental Cultivation."

Unbeknownst to them, Zhenshu was hiding behind a large tree not far away, watching from a distance.

Jinzhong opened his umbrella, sheltering Yanwan beneath it. Yanwan clutched the jar, and the two walked silently down the rain-soaked path.

When they reached the vicinity of the greenhouse, the rain was almost stopping. Yanwan said, "Father-in-law, this is enough. Thank you. Oh dear!" she exclaimed in surprise. It turned out that Jinzhong had been tilting the umbrella towards her the whole way, and half of his shoulder was already soaked with rain. However, she had kept her head down the whole way and hadn't noticed.

She hurriedly pulled out her handkerchief, but Jinzhong gently stopped her, saying, "Miss, this is inappropriate."

He folded the umbrella and handed it to Wei Yanwan: "This umbrella is for you. You are a fortunate girl. If you become rich and powerful in the future, do not forget this day."

When the emperor returned to the Hall of Mental Cultivation, Wei Yanwan's radiant face and gentle voice still lingered in his mind.

He not only became interested in Wei Yanwan, but this also led him to think of another palace maid.

He instructed Jinbao: "Summon Zhaohui to see me."