The Qing Palace Never Meets Spring

After things calmed down, Qingwan realized that it was inappropriate to give Yinxiang the cold shoulder, but she didn't have the energy to think about anything else at that time.

Looking at Yinxiang now, she found that he didn't seem angry at all, but was just playing with the cup in his hand. Qingwan looked at Yinxiang and unconsciously became stunned. This man didn't seem like someone with a good temper.

After an unknown amount of time, Qingwan was suddenly jolted awake by Yinxiang's voice: "After throwing a tantrum, he's now staring blankly at you. What, does he want his wife to rub his face too?"

Qingwan blushed deeply at Yinxiang's words. Seeing Yinxiang fiddling with the cup, she quickly poured water and handed it to him, saying, "I apologize to you, Master. I hope you won't take offense."

Yinxiang took the cup, gave a lazy reply, and that was the end of it. The two remained silent all the way back to the palace.

Before he even reached the prince's residence, Yinxiang was intercepted by the crown prince's guards.

"This servant greets the Thirteenth Prince and the Thirteenth Princess Consort."

Yinxiang responded, and after thinking for a while, he remembered who the person was and replied, "It's you. Why are you here when you're not with the Crown Prince?"

Years ago, Yinreng angered Emperor Kangxi for some things, and a number of his attendants, including the eunuchs and guards, were punished. Since then, the people around Yinreng have been frequently changed. This person was someone who had just been replaced not long ago, and it took Yinxiang a while to remember who this person was.

The man replied, "Replying to Thirteenth Prince, the Crown Prince is waiting for you."

Upon hearing this, Qingwan turned to look at Yinxiang. Yinxiang gave an "oh" and prepared to head towards Yuqing Palace. After taking two steps, he turned back and saw Qingwan still there, seemingly waiting for him. He then instructed Zhang Rui:

"Zhang Rui, you accompany the Fujin back, and then give her that pink lotus flower cup from the master's storeroom to play with."

"Yes, sir." Zhang Rui replied respectfully.

Qingwan looked at Yinxiang with some surprise. She was just following the rules and was going to see Yinxiang off before leaving herself. She wondered what Yinxiang had thought of and why he had given her something.

However, Yinxiang's relationship with the Crown Prince was much better than she had imagined. He had just returned from accompanying her homecoming when the Crown Prince summoned him. At this time, she wondered how much of their conversation was about Marhan.

On their way back, Qingwan and her entourage encountered the Crown Princess Shi with a girl of about ten years old, who was probably a princess under the Crown Prince's rule.

Strangely enough, the Crown Prince's wives and concubines did not live with him in Yuqing Palace. Instead, they lived in Xiefang Hall, which was located more than halfway away from Yuqing Palace. This meant that once the Crown Prince favored his wives and concubines, it would be common knowledge.

Qingwan stepped forward and bowed to the Crown Princess. After the Crown Princess greeted her, she first addressed the young girl beside her, saying, "This is your thirteenth aunt."

Then he said to Qingwan, "This is my third princess."

The Crown Princess came from an excellent family, with her in-laws being prominent clans or high-ranking officials. She was a wife carefully chosen by Emperor Kangxi for the Crown Prince. However, after the betrothal, the Crown Princess observed mourning for several years until the thirty-fourth year of Kangxi's reign when she finally married the Crown Prince, who was already twenty-two years old at the time.

The Crown Princess gave birth to a princess in the thirty-sixth year of her reign, but has not had any children since. However, Emperor Kangxi has always valued this daughter-in-law who waited several years to get married, so the fact that the Crown Princess has no children has not affected her status.

Although the Crown Prince's second son, Hongxi, was favored by both the Crown Prince and Emperor Kangxi, his birth mother remained a concubine and did not gain status through her son.

The Third Princess withdrew her hand from the Crown Princess's and greeted Qingwan with grace and poise: "Greetings to Aunt Thirteen. Where is Uncle Thirteen? Uncle Thirteen brought me some things from outside the palace a few days ago, which I really like. I was just about to thank him."

The Crown Princess smiled and pulled the Third Princess back: "You're only thinking about the things your thirteenth uncle brought out of the palace. I think you're not thinking about thanking your thirteenth uncle, but about asking him to bring you something else." The Third Princess wrinkled her nose in dissatisfaction upon hearing this.

Qingwan was amused and smiled. The Crown Princess then continued, "I remember today is the day my thirteenth brother's wife returns home. She should have returned by now. Why isn't my thirteenth brother by your side?"

Qingwan smiled and said, "He was summoned by someone close to the Crown Prince; perhaps there's something he needs to do."

The relationship between the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess was actually just so-so. However, regardless of their private relationship, in front of Qingwan, the Crown Princess still scolded, "The Crown Prince is really something. Doesn't he know what day it is today? He has to call the Thirteenth Brother over."

Qingwan smiled and said, "There's nothing we can do. It's just that men's business is more important than ours."

The emperor was not on an inspection tour and was still in the capital. In Qingwan and the others' view, there was naturally no urgent matter. Otherwise, the successor would have been Kangxi.

The Crown Princess chuckled and sighed, "Yes, men's affairs are always more important than ours."

Then she added, "Are you in a hurry to go back and rest? Go ahead, we can talk again when we have time. I'll take this child out for a walk." As she spoke, she pointed to the Third Princess beside her.

"Yes, then Qingwan will take her leave."

The Crown Princess nodded, and Qingwan took a few steps back before turning to leave. Watching her departing figure, the Crown Princess pulled the Third Princess along and left as well.

After Qingwan returned to her room and changed her clothes, Zhang Rui came to her with the tea set that Yinxiang had mentioned. Qingwan held the set in her hands and examined it for a moment before asking Zhang Rui:

"When did you start following Master?"

Zhang Rui replied, "Replying to Your Highness, this servant has been serving you since I was a child."

Qingwan wanted to ask some other questions, but then she remembered that Yinxiang was alone at Yuqing Palace and there was no rush to ask. So she said to Zhang Rui, "Go to the master's side."

Then he called Chenxiang, who was left in the palace, to his side: "Did anything happen in our courtyard today?"

Chenxiang said, "Nothing else, it's just that Concubine Guarjia has been wandering around outside with the eldest princess, perhaps waiting for the master and the princess."

Qingwan leaned against the couch and picked up a travelogue, saying, "She's not waiting for me. Waiting for me won't do her any good. Let her be. It's been nine days already. If Master wants to go, I can't stop him."

When Qingwan was getting ready to sleep that night, Muxiang lowered the bed curtains and said, "When the master returned late, the concubine Guarjia was outside with the eldest princess, so she led him to that room. They haven't come out yet."

"Master, are there any lights left on in the room?"

Qingwan casually said, "Master is probably resting over there. She's already inside. If we don't keep her here, it would be unfair to her for coming to Master's side for so many years."

We won't leave the lights on. Perfect timing! You can all get a good night's sleep and don't need to keep watch. Go and rest.

We're used to waking up early at home, but compared to those princes, we're still far behind. Every morning when Your Highness wakes up, I wish I could just cover myself with the blanket and pretend I don't know anything.

When Yinxiang came out of Fuling Room and slowly strolled back to the main house, he saw that the main house was completely dark. After leading Zhang Rui around the main house, he paused for a moment outside the main entrance before saying to Zhang Rui:

"Does this mean your wife didn't leave the door open for me?"

Zhang Rui kept his head down: "Well, perhaps the Princess Consort thought you were resting in the master's room over there."

Yinxiang impatiently flicked the jade pendant at his waist, turned and left. Zhang Rui quickly jogged after him, asking, "Master, where are we going?"

Yinxiang said irritably, "Go find a place to sleep. This is such a big courtyard, surely I have somewhere to go?"