The Qing Palace Never Meets Spring

Marhan ultimately did not resign from his official post. Since Emperor Kangxi disagreed, Marhan could only wait a while before submitting further memorials.

When Emperor Kangxi toured the capital region, Yinxiang was still among those present. When Qingwan saw him off, she held his hand and said, "Your Majesty, the children and I are waiting for you to come back."

The memory of her previous confinement was still fresh in his mind, so Yinxiang could only comfort her: "Nothing will happen again. I'll be back in a month or two. Don't worry, take good care of the children and wait for me to come back."

After Yinxiang passed away, Qingwan stopped going out. In the past, she still needed to go to Yanxi Palace to pay her respects to Consort Hui, but after Yinzhi's incident, Consort Hui also closed her doors to eat vegetarian food and chant Buddhist scriptures.

After Qingwan returned to the palace, she went to pay her respects to Consort Hui. Consort Hui said bluntly, "My Yinzhi and Yinxiang have different stances. Now, he is imprisoned, but Yinxiang has returned."

To be honest, as a woman myself, I don't really want to hold a grudge against you, but I'm not that magnanimous to treat you kindly. From now on, you don't need to come to pay your respects anymore; I will speak to the Imperial Concubine."

Qingwan listened to her in silence, then said, "Thank you."

With Consort Hui's words and the events of the past few days, Qingwan has been keeping to herself and living her own life behind closed doors. Fortunately, she has several children, so she is not lonely.

Every day, Qingwan would calculate where Yinxiang and the others had gone and when they would return. Whenever someone came to report, her heart would be in suspense. Not only her, but also Fuling and Yingyu felt the same way.

"This servant greets the Princess Consort." Because everyone had also noticed that Qingwan was acting strangely, they all spoke slowly when it came to the matter. Zhang Chun replied in the same way, "The Fourth Princess Consort sent someone to say that the Prince Anhe's concubine has passed away."

Prince Anhe was Yue Le, and He was Yue Le's posthumous title.

"Which concubine is it? What is the imperial decree?"

In the early Qing Dynasty, there was still a sense of shared status between the primary consort and the secondary consort. However, with the changes over the years, a distinction of rank has emerged between the two, especially after Emperor Kangxi issued an edict in the forty-fifth year of his reign to differentiate the ranks of children born to the primary consort and the secondary consort.

However, the concubine of Prince Anhe was an elderly member of the imperial clan.

Zhang Chun said, "She is the maternal grandmother of the Eighth Prince's wife."

"Really?" Qingwan said, "Just prepare the funeral according to the rules, why did Fourth Sister-in-law send someone in to deliver a message?"

Zhang Chun added, "The Fourth Prince's wife said that since the Prince is not here, it is inconvenient for you to receive news, so you don't know that the Ninth Prince, the Tenth Prince, and the Fourteenth Prince, who are on good terms with the Eighth Prince outside the palace, will probably all gather before the coffin."

The Fourth Princess Consort meant that she was afraid you would be misled by this scene.

However, the Fourth Prince instructed his wife not to act rashly, and that the funeral arrangements should simply be conducted in a manner that was not disrespectful.

Qingwan thought about how Kangxi had treated Yinzhi during this period and felt a little sad. Kangxi had never liked Yue Le and the Eighth Prince's wife. Could it be that this matter involving Yinzhi would implicate this concubine?

A few days later, Kangxi sent word back to reprimand everyone, saying that it was unnecessary to have all his princes and wives gather during the funeral.

Since Emperor Kangxi had spoken, no matter how good the others were to Yinzhi, they could not go against his wishes. In the end, only Yinzhi and his wife attended the funeral.

When Qingwan heard the news, she was catching Moyaqi, who was chasing after Hongchang. She touched Moyaqi's flushed face from running, but what she was thinking about was this far-reaching case of misplaced anger.

February was an unsettling month. Yinxiang had not yet returned, and the imperial physicians were calling for the Second Prince more and more frequently. Each time the physicians left, their head shaking seemed to proclaim that no more miracles would happen to the Second Prince.

It seems that Yingyu has truly come to her senses. She began to stay by the Second Prince's side every day, taking care of the child herself. However... after Qingwan had the imperial physician sent away, she didn't know how to bring it up with Yingyu.

Well, let's see. Yinxiang is expected to return at the end of the month. Perhaps it would be better for Yinxiang to make the first move.

Qingwan was awakened by the crying. The woman's crying was so shrill that even Moyaqi woke up. She pouted, snuggled into Qingwan's arms, and closed her eyes again.

Hearing a knock at the door, Qingwan said, "Come in."

Chunshui entered and said, "Madam, the Second Prince has passed away. It was Princess Shijia who was crying just now. Sister Muxiang has already gone over. Would you like to get up now?"

"Hmm, go and fetch the princess's wet nurse first. What time is it now?"

It's Hai hour (9-11 PM).

When the wet nurse arrived, Qingwan had already quickly changed her clothes. After handing Moyaqi over to the wet nurse, she said, "Gege was just woken up. Please keep an eye on her and make sure she isn't woken up again."

When Qingwan came out, the whole courtyard was lit up. Muxiang came to her side and whispered, "The imperial physician came to see me during the day and I took medicine. I thought I was all better, but I developed a fever again at night. Before I could call the imperial physician again, the second prince went."

But right now, the princess is holding onto the Second Prince tightly, refusing to let anyone take him away. Logically speaking, the Second Prince's…” Mu Xiang paused, unable to bring herself to say the word “corpse” to refer to such a young child, “shouldn’t be kept in the palace for long.”

The concubines in the palace had to be moved out of the palace before they died, not to mention the children who died young.

Qingwan, being a mother herself, couldn't help but feel sorry for Yingyu after hearing this. Upon entering the room and seeing Yingyu's almost mad appearance, she felt even more distressed. She said to Muxiang, "Now that all the palace gates are locked, we shouldn't run around recklessly."

"Have someone report this to the Imperial Household Department as soon as the palace gates open tomorrow. Let's leave it at that for tonight. Have someone keep an eye on Yingyu to prevent her from doing anything impulsive."

As for Qingwan, she wasn't good at offering words of comfort, so she didn't look at Yingyu again. After turning around, she saw Fuling at the door, who didn't seem to have any intention of comforting Yingyu either.

Her eyes were slightly red. After bowing, she asked, "Madam, is the Second Prince really here?"

Qingwan nodded, and upon receiving Qingwan's confirmation, Fuling also felt bad: "Poor child, he's only five months old."

"If you want to go in and take a look, then go. If you don't want to, then go back and rest. The people from the Imperial Household Department will come tomorrow morning. The two children are still young and haven't seen many strangers. Don't let them go out, lest they be frightened."

"Yes."

After giving her instructions, Qingwan returned to the main room. Moyaqi woke up, and the wet nurse wanted to apologize to her, but Qingwan waved her hand and said, "Go back and rest."

As soon as Moyaqi saw her, she reached out to her. She held the child in her arms and listened to her soft moaning, and her heart gradually calmed down.

Seeing that the child still wouldn't sleep, she simply asked someone to light a candle on the desk and wrote a letter to Yinxiang.

Behind the desk, in the spot where Yinxiang often sat, Qingwan was holding her as she sat. She tilted her head and looked around for a while before asking, "Where's Father?"

“Father isn’t home yet, he’ll be back soon.”

"Oh." Moyaqi lowered her head listlessly, so Qingwan had no choice but to hold her and finish writing the letter to Yinxiang. Fortunately, although Moyaqi was curious, she did not cause any trouble.