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

In the following days, Yonglian would occasionally get some pastries from Yongqi. The pastries were not poisonous, so he ate some to dispel Hailan's suspicions.

The pastries were mostly things like milk and water chestnut flour cakes, lotus root starch cakes, and osmanthus sugar cakes, and were generally exquisite and delicious. Over time, Yonglian thought that these pastries were originally for Yongqi, but Yongqi had shared some with him. Although Hailan had plotted against him, the Fifth Prince was her own son, and she still had a motherly heart towards him. Perhaps these pastries were just a way of showing care and compensation to Yongqi, and not meant for him. Therefore, he gradually felt at ease.

Yuan Yi monitored the whole process, and the three of them were relieved to know that Hai Lan had not poisoned or tampered with anything. However, they still instructed Yong Lian to avoid eating it if possible.

Rongyin said, "Even the ghost mother of the hungry ghost realm loves her ghost children. Perhaps, even non-human beings have feelings of love for their children."

Yuan Yidao said, "I have reservations. But since it's harmless for the time being, my advice is not to alert them."

As the wedding date approached, he became busier and gradually reduced the number of times he returned to the palace. Each time he did return, he would stay in Changchun Palace for a long time, listening to Rongyin's teachings.

After much persuasion from the director, Rongyin finally overcame her shame and made up her mind to provide Yonglian with some "physiological education courses for teenagers".

Such things would normally be taught by a nanny, but Rongyin did not stop there.

She summoned Huang Yuanyu and taught Yonglian the "Treatise on the Primordial Innocence of Antiquity" from the "Huangdi Neijing" in detail.

"At seven years old, a girl's kidney qi is abundant, her teeth change, and her hair grows longer. At fourteen, her Tian Gui (menstrual blood) arrives, her Ren meridian is open, her Tai Chong meridian is abundant, and her menstruation occurs regularly, thus she can conceive. At twenty-one, her kidney qi is balanced, so her permanent teeth grow and reach their full length. At forty-two, her tendons and bones are strong, her hair reaches its full length, and her body is robust. At fifty-one, her Yangming meridian declines, her face begins to wither, and her hair begins to fall out. At sixty-two, the three Yang meridians decline in the upper body, her face is withered, and her hair begins to turn white. At forty-nine, her Ren meridian is deficient, her Tai Chong meridian is weak, her Tian Gui is exhausted, and her menstrual flow ceases, thus her form deteriorates and she cannot conceive."

Yonglian pondered: "Ao Deng will only turn fourteen after her birthday in July, and she was not born at full term. Although she recovered later, she was still weak in the womb, and her body is not yet at its 'peak'."

So he decided to restrain himself and asked Huang Yuanyu to make some fish maw.

The days passed peacefully and uneventfully. In May, Chen Xin gave birth to a son, whom she named Fu Long An.

On July 14th, E Yujie suddenly felt abdominal pain. Granny Tian knew that she was about to give birth and hurriedly sent someone to make arrangements.

The birth was very difficult, but fortunately, she gave birth to a son on the fifteenth of July. He was named Yongxuan, and E Yujie was promoted to the rank of Noble Lady because of the birth.

Ao Deng celebrated his fourteenth birthday in late July and received a birthday gift from Yong Lian.

On the first day of the eighth lunar month, the two held a grand wedding.

On this day, long bursts of firecrackers resounded throughout the Duanjun Prince's Mansion. From court officials to commoners, almost half of Beijing knew about the happy event of Duanjun Prince Aodeng Gege.

Meanwhile, people in the far north and northwest regions learned of the marriage after the two were engaged.

Prince Duan is the eldest son of the current Empress. Emperor Kangxi also designated his eldest son, Yinreng, as Crown Prince early on. Although Yinreng was later deposed, triggering the struggle for succession among the nine princes, Emperor Yongzheng, to prevent this disaster, did not designate a Crown Prince and instead hid the edict of succession behind the "Zhengda Guangming" plaque in the Qianqing Palace. However, Yinreng had served as Crown Prince for forty years, and even after being deposed, he still held the title of Prince. His eldest son, Hongxi, had even stirred up trouble. This shows that even if the emperor might not designate his eldest son as Crown Prince, the title of "eldest son" still carries some weight.

The emperor then betrothed his eldest son, Prince Duan, to the granddaughter of Prince Chaoyong, the daughter of Cherdenzabu, a meritorious official who fought against the Zhun.

Although Manchu-Mongol intermarriage was an old custom, after the Shunzhi Emperor, it gradually changed to Qing princesses marrying Mongol princes, rather than Mongol noblewomen marrying the Qing emperor as empresses.

Now, the Prince Duan, who holds a superior position, has married the grandson of Prince Chaoyong, who was enfeoffed as a prince for his meritorious service in the war against the Dzungars, as his primary consort. Is it because the emperor is wary of the empress's maternal family's power and wants to weaken the possibility of the Prince Duan's further advancement, or is it because the emperor intends to increase his efforts to win over the Mongol tribes and strengthen his control over the border?

From the time Aodeng entered Beijing until their marriage, various factions, including the Mongols, the Dzungars, and the Hui, speculated wildly, and undercurrents surged in the northern desert region.

The capital city was also experiencing similar undercurrents.

On the second day of the eighth lunar month, Gui Duo received a short note inviting him to have a cup of tea at a quiet teahouse that evening. The note was signed Gao Youwen.

In recent years, the Gao family has become incredibly powerful, with Gao Bin rising to prominence through his role in managing the Yellow River. Currently, anyone not from the Gao family or their in-laws, the Xilin Gioro clan, is exiled to distant regions along the Yellow River; Qiu Yuexiu was even sent to Gansu to manage a tributary. However, the more powerful the Gao family becomes, the more wary the emperor becomes. In recent years, more and more members of the Gao family, even those from collateral branches, have been implicated in crimes. Following the horse administration reforms, the emperor, acting on Chen Dashou's proposals, has focused on reforming the salt administration, sending numerous officials to Lianghuai to oversee its operations.

Gao is now like the child in the Buddhist scriptures playing in a burning house, with an irreplaceable comfort before him, but surrounded by dangerous flames.

After thinking about it, he decided to keep the appointment.

Upon arrival, Gui Duo was led into a private room by the waiter, where he saw Gao Bin dressed in casual clothes, sitting at the table.

The two greeted each other and then sat down.

On the table was a pot of tea, a plate of lotus root slices, a plate of peeled water chestnuts, and two plates of pastries.

Gui Duo was not a person who cared much about food. After suffering from injuries and illnesses, he followed the doctor's advice and ate a light diet for several years. However, he had served as an official in Jiangnan and seeing these common Jiangnan snacks inevitably reminded him of his past.

But all he could say now was, “Aquatic things are cold in nature, and I’m afraid I can’t eat too much of this lotus root and water chestnut. I hope you won’t mind.”

Gao Bin nodded.

After the usual pleasantries, Gao Bin asked if Gui Duo's family was well.

Gui Duo mumbled, "All is well."

Gao Bin sighed and said, "Actually, the best thing is for the whole family to be safe and sound."

He looked up at the bright moon by the window: "I still remember, many years ago on this day, my daughter entered the Prince Bao's mansion and became a princess."

Gui Duo comforted him, saying, "Your Excellency, the deceased is gone. If the spirit of Consort Huixian is in heaven, she would surely hope that you would not grieve too much."

Gao Bin said with a sigh, "Actually, Consort Huixian was always frail. We consulted many doctors before, and they all said she didn't have the appearance of living a long life. But at thirty-five, she was still too young. To be honest, when she was alive, I always hoped she would be careful and restrained in everything she did, wishing she would always behave properly so as not to bring trouble to the Gao family. But in fact, she was much better than Gao Heng. It was never her who brought trouble, but Gao Heng, Gao Jin, and the others who were eager for me to get promoted and make money. As her father, I also have many things I have done wrong to her."

Gui Duo also thought of his daughter and fell silent for a moment.

The two sat in silence for a long time before Gao Bin finally spoke: "Back then, when you returned to the capital, you proposed a way to preserve the Gao family. I hesitated and failed to properly restrain Gao Heng and Gao Jin, which instead implicated you. That was my fault. But Huamin, these past few years, I've sometimes wondered if these things were part of your plan?"

Gui Duo remained silent, pondering a solution.

Gao Bin didn't give him a chance to think, and continued, "If I really listened to you, the Gao family would have a stable and prosperous future, and you could rely on them with peace of mind. Consort Shen could also continue to rely on Imperial Noble Consort Huixian. But in that situation back then, if I hadn't restrained Gao Heng, Gao Heng, whose interests had been harmed, would definitely have been unable to hold back and would have retaliated. The more you were targeted by Gao Heng, the more the court officials would know that you had offended the Gao family. If the Gao family were to suffer any misfortune, you could easily escape."

"I received the news around that time that Consort Huixian and Consort Shen had a quarrel, and Consort Shen was even injured. The Empress punished her, and the whole palace knew about it. Huamin, Consort Shen was able to rise from a palace maid to a palace consort. She must not be someone who would easily suffer in silence, right?"

Gui Duo rose and bowed, saying, "This humble official is ashamed."

Although Gao Bin already had the answer in his heart, he still sighed deeply, "Huamin, Huamin, you cut ties with the Gao family for your own and your family's sake. You had no choice but to do so, and I have nothing to say. But I am certainly not a person of high moral character. Do you think I am the same as those people from the Ulanara clan, someone you have to be wary of, and even use such schemes against?"

Gui Duo bowed deeply: "This humble official has never had such a thought!"

Gao Bin sighed and reached out to help him up.

The two sat down again, and Gao Bin said self-deprecatingly, "Actually, the Gao family now is not much different from the Ulanara family back then. It's just that even if there are many disagreements, a father always tries his best to protect his children. Huamin, you are also a father of three children, you can understand, right?"

Gui Duo pondered for a long time before saying, "My lord, if I may be so bold, do you think you can still protect Lord Gao now?"

Gao Bin's heart sank, and he asked, "You mean, a brave man cuts off his own arm? But I'm over sixty, and this is the only child I have left."

Gui Duo said, "Whether it's a brave man cutting off his own arm or putting himself in a desperate situation to survive, it's still uncertain. My lord, if those shady dealings in the salt industry are exposed, in addition to the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Revenue will definitely need to investigate the accounts. And Prince Duan's uncle, Lord Fu Heng, is now the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. Since Prince Duan was enfeoffed as a prince and established his own residence, His Majesty has not allowed him to do any official duties. Now, in addition to Lady Fucha, Prince Duan has also married the granddaughter of Prince Chaoyong. But parents who love their sons will surely plan far ahead for them. I think His Majesty would prefer that Prince Duan be able to establish himself on his own."

After pondering for a long time, Gao Bin closed his eyes as if making a decision: "Hua Min is truly a clear-headed observer. It seems that after returning to Beijing this time, I won't need to go back to Zhili."

Gui Duo said, "The lord already has the answer in his heart, he just needs to make the decision."

On this day, Yonglian returned to the palace to pay his respects to his father and mother, the Emperor. Yongzhang and Yongqi also presented gifts.

Yongzhang sent a pair of golden boys and jade girls, holding a qilin, symbolizing a perfect couple and the auspicious meaning of the qilin bringing children.

Yonglian laughed and said, "Empress Chun is from the South, and these two big amulets are also a specialty of the South."

Yongqi then had a food basket brought over and said somewhat awkwardly, "These pastries are for my second brother and sister-in-law to try."

He asked Hailan to make him pastries, originally just to avoid being outdone by his third brother, who received pastries from his mother. But his mother always told him to please his second brother, saying that as the eldest son, he must not compete with him and should always give way to him. Now, she even specially made a box of pastries for his second brother as a wedding gift, and it was specially made, saying that his second brother was getting married and would have more face in front of the Emperor.

He didn't understand what marriage was. His third brother said that marriage meant living with a girl and having children. Why would this make his second brother more favored by the Emperor? And why would his mother give his second brother the latest homemade pastries?

Yonglian seemed to sense Yongqi's reluctance, smiled and patted his head, then had someone open the food basket.

The food basket contained a milk-based water chestnut flour cake, and another item of unknown origin, which was translucent, crystal clear, and had a delicate fragrance.

Yonglian asked Yongzhang and Yongqi to share some pastries before leaving with the food basket.

Back at the Prince Duan's residence, he took out his congratulatory gifts, and Ao Deng suddenly laughed when he saw Da Afu.

When Yonglian asked, Ao Deng covered her mouth and said, "It's nothing, I just remembered something happy." She then changed the subject and looked at the pastries again.

After all, it was a gift from an elder. It wouldn't be good if she found it ridiculous that some Mongolian princess, whom she had beaten up, was also eagerly accepting the large amulet from the south.

The two of them each ate a piece of pastry when a eunuch came to report that Prince An had arrived with his family.

The two brothers greeted each other, took their seats, and exchanged pleasantries. Yonghuang then presented his wedding gift.

After chatting for a while, Yonghuang picked up a pastry from the table, took a bite, and said, "The pastries at my second brother's residence are quite good. They look very similar to those from Jiangnan."