The Qing Palace Never Meets Spring

(See the synopsis for minefield warnings)

The 43rd year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign.

The capital city, the residence of Marhan, Minister of War.

The New Year had just passed, and although the "Fu" character on the window was still up, the mansion was quiet and still without any sign of excitement.

In the small courtyard on the south side of the mansion, Qingwan was pointing at the young maid who had just arrived beside her doing needlework, speaking softly and gently. The kang (heated brick bed) in the room was warm, keeping out the chill of winter.

When Jingwan entered, this was the scene she saw, which calmed her anxiety somewhat:

"You seem quite relaxed, but I was worried you'd be nervous about the upcoming auditions, so I rushed back."

Qingwan looked up at her with some surprise upon hearing the voice, and quickly got up and pulled her to sit down: "I was feeling really anxious. It's good that Sixth Sister is back and can talk to me. It will give me some confidence so that I won't show my fear in front of others."

The talent show is in May, but it's only January now. Jingwan's words clearly didn't go well, but Qingwan didn't say much and just picked up where she left off.

Jingwan felt her anxiety subside a little. She sat down with Qingwan's help and saw Qingwan pour her a cup of hot tea. She took it and said, "I should have come then, but you know what happened in our household. I don't know what the situation was like then."

At this point, Jingwan's expression also became somewhat downcast. She twirled the handkerchief in her hand twice before continuing, "To be honest, it was because our master was anxious today that he came to ask Father for advice, which is why I came back with him."

Jingwan was the sixth daughter of Marhan and was born of the same mother as Qingwan. The two were supposed to participate in the talent show together, but Qingwan almost died from a serious illness during the talent show forty years later, so she missed that year's talent show.

After being rejected in the imperial concubine selection forty years, Jingwan was arranged by Marhan to marry Yiduli, the third son of Yisang'a of the Wenhua Hall Grand Scholar Yiergenjueluo clan.

It was supposed to be an excellent marriage, but last year, first Yisang'a passed away, and then Suo'etu was ordered by Emperor Kangxi to commit suicide in Youjing Palace.

Yisang'a's wife, Ene Wuyunzhu, was the daughter of Suo'etu and the cousin of Empress Renxiao. Wuyunzhu had just lost her husband, and her father had died for a crime, so she inevitably fell seriously ill. At this time, Jingwan naturally could not go home anymore.

Seeing her like this, Qingwan couldn't help but ask a few more questions about things in their household: "Are you doing alright now? Are they giving you a hard time over there?"

Marhan had accompanied Grand Secretary Songgotu and others on a diplomatic mission to Russia to establish borders in his early years, and later followed Emperor Kangxi in suppressing the Rebellion of the Three Feudatories; they had a long-standing friendship. It was Songgotu who acted as matchmaker for this marriage, which is why Qingwan asked this question.

Upon hearing this, Jingwan relaxed a bit: "You know your brother-in-law, she's a famous and talented woman."

He had more reason than we did, so after getting through that period, although he wasn't fully recovered, he did recover. As for the others, let them say what they want; at least I have a father who is a high-ranking official.

However, the atmosphere in that mansion was so oppressive that I wished I could stay inside every day. Today, I'll just come back for some fresh air.

But her mother married a much older man when she was young, and now that this has happened, it's uncertain whether they'll be able to live happily ever after.

Qingwan understood: "Lady Hesheli is the most talented woman in Manchuria. You said she has a lot of wisdom in her heart, and with your brother-in-law by your side, she should be able to get through this soon."

Since you're back, let's not talk about these things.

Jingwan nodded and continued, "Don't talk about me. How about you? I just came from E'nei's place. She was also worried about your health."

Qingwan smiled helplessly. Forty years of serious illness had left her family with the impression that she was frail, and they had been taking good care of her in recent years.

A few days ago, she coughed a couple of times because she caught a chill while playing in the snow with some of her maids. When Li Jia heard this, she was very concerned about her health and even exempted her from her daily greetings. She couldn't refuse, so she stayed in her room and didn't go out unless necessary.

But it makes sense, since although she was over the age, Kangxi did not grant Malhan this favor, so she was still among the candidates for this year's selection, and she could not afford to miss it again.

Therefore, the household had registered her for the selection early on. Li Jia was so worried about her health because she was afraid that something unexpected might happen again.

Marhan had two sons and seven daughters, but only one son and two daughters remained with him. The others had either passed away or married far away. His eldest son had also died a few years ago. Marhan was not prominent in his early years, but later gained some status. He remarried Li Jia after his first wife passed away.

Therefore, Li Jiashi and Malhan were considered an older man and a younger woman. However, she was a kind and gentle person and only asked for respect from Malhan. Even after having her own child, she also took good care of the other children. Therefore, Qingwan had a good relationship with the others.

Except for his youngest son, Guanzhu, who was born to a concubine and was only a few years younger than Qingwan, he was a spoiled child born to Marhan when he was nearly sixty. Therefore, Qingwan did not like him much.

Moreover, the aunts of the Eight Banners families were always pampered because they were going to be selected for the imperial concubine selection. So, although the child was spoiled, he didn't dare to do anything around her. And because she annoyed him, he deliberately avoided her. So, the two only met but didn't talk much.

Although they are siblings from the same household, if you asked her to describe their relationship, it would probably be simply that they are not close.

Therefore, things were actually peaceful and calm in this mansion, and she had a smooth and successful life growing up.

Qingwan explained her health condition to Jingwan, and Jingwan was relieved. Then she talked to her about the talent show.

After saying that, Jingwan sighed and said, "The girls in our family all gave up their names early on. Maybe you will too. There's no need to be nervous. On the day of the preliminary selection, because there were so many people, we didn't even have a chance to greet our masters. We could only stand there for a short while before we had to leave."

Jingwan understood her younger sister's thoughts. She had never had any great ambitions, and as for a position in the palace, she probably never thought about it. Moreover, in recent years, most of the women selected in the imperial concubine selection had been betrothed to princes and members of the imperial clan as primary or secondary wives, but these people's harems were not peaceful either.

She sighed inwardly, but no one with power and influence has a peaceful backyard. What kind of family you end up with depends half on choice and half on luck.

Qingwan smiled and agreed with her, as she also thought so, and just hoped to put down the sign and go home as soon as possible.

The two chatted for a while longer, and then a message came from the front yard that the sixth son-in-law had called them to get up. Only then did Jingwan reluctantly leave.

Qingwan thought about the talent show that Jingwan had mentioned, and hoped that nothing unexpected would happen on that day.

May arrived in the blink of an eye. The day before the imperial concubine selection, Madam Li Jia couldn't help but give her a few more instructions. The servants in the mansion also began to busily prepare the carriage. Fortunately, this was not the first time that the mansion had sent its master to the imperial concubine selection, so everything seemed to be in good order.

It was only midnight when Qingwan dressed up as instructed by Li Jia and boarded her own carriage to head towards the palace.

Thanks to her father, a high-ranking official of the first rank, she made it to the first day of the imperial concubine selection. Of course, along the way, besides her own carriage, she also encountered other people's carriages from time to time.

After entering the Imperial City through Di'anmen, Qingwan sat quietly in the carriage as instructed, waiting for the selection officials' arrangements before finally getting off in order.

At dawn, the Shenwu Gate opened, and she followed the eunuch leading the way to the main venue for today's selection of candidates, along with many other participating young ladies.

The actual selection process took much shorter than the waiting time. Just as Jingwan said, Qingwan felt as if she had just stood still and hadn't had time to think much before she had completed the selection process that she had to go through in the first half of her life.

She stood on the palace path, staring blankly at the wooden plaque on her body that read "Zhaojia clan, daughter of Zhaojia Marhan, Minister of War of the Plain White Banner".

He sighed inwardly, knowing that as expected, an accident had still occurred.