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

After the Mid-Autumn Festival, the imperial concubines returned to the Forbidden City.

By this time, Yi Huan had already left the palace, and everyone knew about the imperial decree. Although they were all surprised, no one dared to ask any further questions.

People intentionally or unintentionally avoided talking about it, as if Yehenara Yihuan had never existed in the palace.

September arrived quickly, and another group of palace maids were about to leave the palace.

On this day, Ye Xin went to Chengqian Palace to pay her respects.

Yanwan hurriedly ordered someone to offer her a seat, and then had Chunchan bring the child to her.

Ye Xin was a little flustered and tentatively asked, "Princess, will you smile?"

Jingyue giggled.

Ye Xin smiled, then her eyes suddenly reddened.

She rose, knelt down, and bowed respectfully.

"This servant will be leaving the palace this September. Today, I have come to bid farewell to Consort Ling."

Yanwan was quite surprised. Ye Xin was already thirty years old this year, and her legs had old injuries. She did have a job in the palace, and Yanwan would occasionally send her things, so she was living a fairly comfortable life. But once she left the palace, she was afraid that life would be much harder.

Ye Xin said, "Those who harmed me have all received their retribution, and those who helped me are also doing well. I am now at ease about Consort Ling and the little princess. Now, it is time for me to leave the palace and say goodbye to the past."

Yanwan was reluctant to part with him. She suppressed her tears and said to Lancui, "Quickly go and get two hundred taels of silver notes, as well as those two bottles of ointment for relieving bruising and pain, and my gray squirrel fur knee pads."

Despite Ye Xin's repeated refusals, Yan Wan insisted on handing over the money and items to her.

Songzhi and Baizhi did not leave the palace in the end, but chose to serve the Second Prince at his residence the following year.

Green Branch was already twenty-three years old. Rongyin allowed her to leave the palace ahead of schedule. In addition to the reward money given by Changchun Palace, she also received a sum of money from Yanwan and several pieces of jewelry that she specially instructed the Imperial Household Department to leave for her. They were all shiny pure silver, inlaid with beautiful jade and jewels, and looked very valuable.

Green Branch thought happily, "So this is what Sister Yingluo meant when she said, 'Don't forget each other when you become rich and powerful'!"

A few days later, Aruo took Princess Hewan to Shou Kang Palace to pay respects to Consort Yu, and listened to Consort Yu complain a few times.

The Fifth Prince entered the Imperial Study in early September. The Dowager Consorts were very worried, fearing that he would fall ill from exhaustion. They even specially asked the palace servants to let him take some snacks with him.

On one occasion, when they met Hailan, Hailan brought some clothes over, and Xian agreed that Hailan wanted to come and pay her respects to the Fifth Prince.

Since she was the child's biological mother, the imperial concubines couldn't simply refuse to let her in.

But in the blink of an eye, Hailan took the child to a corner and mumbled something unintelligible.

Fortunately, Yingluo, who was by the Empress's side, came to deliver something and happened to see what was happening. She stopped Hailan and took Yongqi back to the Dowager Consort's place.

When the Empress came to pay her respects, she also tactfully suggested that, for Yongqi's sake, she should try to avoid letting Yongqi and Hailan be alone together.

Consort Yu said, "That Hailan is definitely up to no good!"

Aruo said, "Even with ill intentions, nothing can be accomplished. The Fifth Prince is afraid of getting tired from studying, so riding and archery are out of the question. The Emperor doesn't like him either, and he sees him less often than the Empress. Now that the Second Prince's wedding is approaching, once the Second Prince gets married, establishes his own residence, and begins his official duties, there will be even less of a role for the Fifth Prince."

Just then, a commotion broke out outside, and Chun Tao ran in and said, "Your Highness, Consort Yu, something terrible has happened! Consort Tong saw Princess He Wan outside and insists that the princess is Princess Chun Que. She won't let go of her. You two should go and see."

The two women stood up abruptly. Consort Yu complained, "Ever since Consort Tong made Consort Xian sick a few years ago, she has become more and more confused!" Then she and Aruo hurriedly went out.

Because Oden is getting married next year, Prince Chaoyong sent Subashili to escort the caravan and bring many furs and treasures as Oden's dowry.

Subashiri was the son of Princess Chunke and married the daughter of Princess Dunke, thus having close ties with the royal family. Prince Chaoyong's summons of him was also a demonstration of the importance he attached to this marriage alliance.

He was of average talent and had been pampered since childhood, which fostered his spoiled and arrogant nature. He was not very capable of handling things, so even though he was born of the principal wife and his mother was of noble birth, he did not hold any important military or political positions in the northern desert. He was only responsible for some minor tasks and lived a leisurely life. However, because of his pampering, even though he was over thirty, he remained innocent and honest, without any scheming. He did not become estranged from his two half-brothers because of the distribution of power. He felt a deep sympathy for Ao Deng, who, like him, had lost his mother at birth, and was very close to him.

Upon seeing each other, the usually composed Aodeng cheered and ran over like a little bird: "Uncle Subashri!"

Subashi reached out affectionately to pat her head, but remembering that Aodeng was already thirteen years old and it was time to avoid suspicion, he lowered his hand. He then bowed to Cherdenzab and his concubine behind Aodeng, saying, "Second brother, concubine."

Cherdenzab nodded: "Let's go and offer incense to the princess first."

Consort Chaoyong, along with her two brothers, burned incense and paid homage before the portrait of Princess Chunque in the main hall of the Princess's residence. The woman in the portrait wore a jeweled court hat and a robe with dark blue embroidered dragons and gold sequined sea dragons, dressed in the attire of a Gulun Princess, with a solemn expression.

In fact, Princess Chunque was granted the title of Princess Gulun many years after her death, and she never wore this court dress during her lifetime.

Not to mention Subashili, who had never met her, even Cherdenzab, who had a vague impression of her, felt that the person in the portrait was very unfamiliar and did not resemble the stepmother in his memory.

After offering incense, Subashi muttered, "Was Mother always this serious when she was alive?"

Cherdenzab recalled: "In my memory, the princess was gentle and always smiling. But when she was pregnant with you, she became more prone to crying."

The concubine said, "That's right. Pregnancy is hard for women, and things were chaotic outside at that time, so the princess wasn't in a good mood. I still remember that the prince consort often put aside his official duties and social engagements to accompany the princess."

She suddenly realized that if she continued, she would be talking about that taboo topic, and quickly said, "Oh dear, I've said too much."

Cherdenzab abruptly changed the subject: "Actually, my third brother's hands look very similar to the princess's."

He remembered that when he was very young, the princess would sometimes hold him on her lap, point to several plates of pastries on the table and ask him which one he liked, and then feed him the pastries.

When he was two or three years old, all he could see were the princess's hands and the hem of her skirt. Her hands were somewhat plump, with short, thick fingers. It wasn't until he grew up that he learned that Han Dynasty scholars described women's fingers as "like scallion roots," and by worldly standards, those hands couldn't be considered beautiful. But the princess's hands were always clean, moist, fair, and soft, exuding a faint fragrance of hand-washing powder. She never painted her nails and always wore a jeweled ring with a scroll pattern and two nail guards. When she held him, she would remove the nail guards, making her hands even more bare.

While Subashili resembled his father more closely, he did not have the large, well-defined hands of Tsering. His hands were like those of a princess, but because he was a man, his palms were even larger. Furthermore, with the huge silver, gemstone, and jade thumb ring symbolizing his Mongol noble status, his fingers appeared even shorter.

Subashri stretched out his hands and looked at them, but didn't say anything more.

As they walked out of the main hall, servants were busy unloading the various treasures from the carriages and storing them away.

Subashili had someone fetch his bag, from which he took out a brocade box. Inside were a pair of long hairpins inlaid with gemstones in pure gold, a pair of jadeite bracelets with a lustrous green hue, and a ring with a scroll pattern and an emerald inlay.

He handed the brocade box to his concubine: "This is the dowry jewelry that Abu gave to Aodeng."

The concubine was shocked: "These were all worn by Princess Chunque before, they were part of the princess's dowry, this...this is too precious."

Subashi said, "Aodeng married a prince, so it is only right that she use royal jewelry. If my mother were still alive, she would have left the jewelry to Aodeng as part of her dowry."

The concubine then accepted it.

Subashi added, "Also, Aodeng's dowry maid was from Abudian, and her name was Jiya."

Cherdenzab asked, "Jiya? I don't recall any of Aoden's former maids having that name."

Subashili replied, “She came to our house after my second brother went to work in the capital. She was originally… a slave of the Balin tribe. This name was given to her by Abu.”

He hesitated for a moment, then continued, "Actually, she was born to the King of Balin and a female slave. The Queen of Balin refused to acknowledge the identities of the mother and daughter, so Jia had always been a horse slave. The Balin royal family brought her along to serve the horses during a hunt one time, and it was there that Oden took a liking to her."

Cherdenzab pondered for a moment and said, "Abu's arrangement has its own reasons, but will the King of Bahrain be dissatisfied with it?"

Subashili laughed and said, "Second brother is too cautious! The mere Balin tribe ranks forty-ninth among the forty-nine tribes of Mongolia, and occupies only two small banners. Our Khalkha tribe dominates the northern desert and is the most powerful tribe. Let alone a female slave, even if we asked the Balin king's own daughter to be Oden's maid, would the Balin king dare to say a word of dissent?"

Cherdenjab said seriously, “That’s not how it works. Manchu-Mongol intermarriage is an old custom. Now that Aodeng is fortunate enough to marry the Second Prince, I’m afraid that more noble Mongol women will marry into the capital in the future. This daughter of the King of Balin may become Aodeng’s sister-in-law, or even enter the palace as a concubine. Even though the Balin tribe is weak, it cannot be underestimated.”

Subashili seemed to recall something from the past, suppressed a laugh, and after a long while said, "Don't worry, Second Brother, Ao Deng is the Empress's daughter-in-law. Even if the daughter of the Balin royal family gets lucky and enters the Emperor's harem and becomes Ao Deng's stepmother-in-law, that stupid girl can't do anything to Ao Deng. With such a daughter, it's difficult for the Balin King to rise to power."

Meanwhile, Oden was eagerly leading her horse out from the cavalry outside the door.

It was a young male Mongolian horse, brownish-yellow all over, tall yet docile. It lowered its head and sniffed, sensing its young master's scent, and snorted excitedly.

It was bred from Celeng's most magnificent horse. When it was born, Celeng gave it to Aodeng as a birthday gift for her eighth birthday and named it "Tele Piao". This name is the same as that of the Turkic yellow horse in the Six Steeds of Zhaoling Mausoleum of Emperor Taizong of Tang, which shows Celeng's high hopes for it.

Oden stroked it and praised, "Tele Piao is no longer a foal. Look how strong you are and how smooth your mane is!"

The servant standing nearby smiled and said, "Young master, Gia has been taking care of this horse all along, and it seems that Gia has taken very good care of it."

Ao Deng asked, "Jiya? Who's that?"

A suppressed, excited female voice sounded behind her: "Young mistress, this servant, Jia, greets you!"

Ao Deng turned around and saw a teenage girl. When she turned around, he respectfully bowed deeply.

Ao Deng told her to get up, frowned and thought for a moment, then suddenly remembered who this was.

She asked hesitantly, "I remember now, you were that stable boy from the Balin tribe. Why did you come to the capital?"

Jiya respectfully replied, "This servant was ordered by the prince consort to serve as the young master's dowry maid."

Ao Deng's face immediately showed a tense expression. He took two steps forward and whispered, "From now on, you should obey my orders. You came after Abu entered the capital. Abu has never seen you before and will definitely ask about your identity. You cannot tell Abu that I beat up Balin Meiruo!"

Jia said, "My master saved me back then, so of course I won't tell my master about it."

Subashiri, the emperor's cousin and brother-in-law, naturally sent a memorial to greet him upon arriving in the capital.

The emperor then summoned him to the palace for an audience and arranged a banquet.

Shortly after Subashri was born, he was taken to Tamir by Tsering and rarely went to the capital. He was also somewhat reserved when facing his cousin the emperor and his cousin the empress, whom he had never met before.

After the luncheon, the emperor said he had official business to attend to and asked Jinzhong to take Subashili for a stroll in the imperial garden.

It was already autumn, and the afternoon sun had lost some of its warmth.

Subashri was walking along when suddenly, not far away, several palace maids and eunuchs surrounded an old woman with white hair and wrinkled skin, who was walking towards them.

The old woman wore a dark blue embroidered robe with floral patterns. Her hair was almost entirely white, tied in a simple bun with a silver hairpin inlaid with pearls.

Upon seeing this from afar, Jinzhong immediately said to Subashili, "Would you like to sit in the pavilion over there for a while?"

Subashiri realized that Jinzhong did not want him to meet the old woman, but a question suddenly arose in his mind, so he asked, "Who is that master?"

Jinzhong hesitated for a moment and replied, “That was a concubine from the time of the Holy Ancestor. Now, she is old and sometimes mistakes people for others. We servants are afraid that she will disturb the other concubines in Shou Kang Palace, so we often help her go out for a walk. You are a junior, and if that concubine mistakes someone for another and they clash, it would not be good.”

Subashi gave an "oh" and then prepared to leave with Jinzhong.

However, Consort Tong arrived while the two were talking, so they had no choice but to stand aside and bow.

When Consort Tong walked up to them, her legs suddenly gave way, and she stumbled and fell to one side.

Subashili instinctively reached out to help, and happened to catch Tongtai Pin's hand.

The eunuchs and maids beside her also helped Consort Tong up.

Subashi released his grip, took a step back, and knelt down, saying, "This servant has been impolite; please forgive me, Your Highness."

Consort Tong felt the hands supporting her, which seemed very similar to a pair of hands that had held her in her memory.

A look of astonishment appeared on her numb, aged face, and her finger trembled as she pointed at him: "You...you are..."

Subashili, unaware of the situation, still replied, "This servant is Subashili, the Duke of Fuguo."

Consort Tong closed her eyes, and two lines of turbid tears slowly slid down her sunken cheeks.

A few days later, Consort Tong passed away at the age of eighty-one.

Before her death, she instructed that all the jewelry she wore when she entered the palace be left to her grandson, Subashili.

Subashili received a box of jewelry, paused for a moment, and asked Jinzhong, who had delivered the items, "Does Consort Tong have any other relatives from her maternal family?"

Jinzhong said, "This... the entire Ulanara clan was punished long ago. The only ones still alive are Consort Xian and a palace maid named Ying'er who was sent to the Xin Zhe Ku. Ying'er is now serving Princess Rou Shu. Consort Xian offended Consort Tong in the past. The Empress was also present at the time and was implicated. The Emperor and all the imperial concubines and consorts have heard about it."

Subashili remained silent for a long time before opening the box. When Consort Tong entered the palace, her family was of modest means, so her jewelry did not use high-quality gold, silver, or gemstones, and the designs were not elaborate. Almost every piece was decorated with pomegranate, grape, or gourd shapes, symbolizing many children and good fortune.

He picked and chose, and finally selected a silver hairpin inlaid with pearls and a butterfly from among several pieces of jewelry. The small pearls on it had turned yellow.

He closed the box, handed it to Jinzhong, and slipped some loose silver into it: "I have no daughter, and my wives and concubines are not lacking in jewelry. I only wish to keep this hairpin to offer before my deceased mother's spirit. Please arrange for the rest of the jewelry to be given to Ying'er, so she can wear it herself, or you can sell it for money."