The Qing Palace Never Meets Spring

After being persuaded by Mingxin, Fuling stopped worrying and started teaching Hongchang as Mingxin had suggested.

Although Hongtun still seemed a bit jealous, at least no one could tell.

During the Lunar New Year period, Qingwan was still in her postpartum period. It was freezing cold, and the maids didn't even dare to open the windows for her, making her feel suffocated. But taking care of her health was the most important thing.

So she could only look at them resentfully, which made them hesitant to stay near her, making her even more bored.

But she didn't take it to heart that she missed New Year's Eve; in fact, she was glad that she had escaped another palace banquet.

After Yinxiang returned, she said to him, "Where do all those wives and noblewomen outside the palace get so many excuses to ask for leave at the palace banquet?"

When Yinxiang heard her say this, he was placing his hand in Hongtun's little hand. At this age, children like to hold onto things in their hands. Although they don't have much strength, they are warm. It was a rare moment of father-son time that Yinxiang enjoyed.

Because Qingwan was in confinement after childbirth, the room was warmly heated. Yinxiang had drunk some wine at the banquet, and the heat made him sweat. He pulled his hand away, opened his collar, and said with a smile, "Otherwise, I'll ask around for you. You might be able to use it in the future."

"We're in the palace; anyone can tell if it's an excuse or not, so it doesn't seem to be of much use," Qingwan said with a chuckle and a shake of her head.

"Besides, if Your Highness really goes to ask, I'm afraid it will frighten people, making them think that the palace is going to investigate."

Yinxiang just looked at Qingwan and smiled: "It will be used sooner or later. When that time comes, you will take leave, but I will not. Can you bear to leave me alone at the banquet while everyone else is in pairs, and I am all alone?"

"I didn't ask you to ask for me, but does this mean you want to divide the mansions?" Otherwise, there would be no need for this, Qingwan couldn't help but guess.

"Yes, a few days ago, the Imperial Household Department that manages Shengjing submitted a memorial regarding the separation of my household registration from my twelfth brother. Father is currently reviewing it, and it seems it's about time."

“Separate households,” Qingwan murmured. In fact, separating households does not mean separating residences. Some of the older princes lived in the palace for several years after separating their households before they were given separate residences.

Judging from Yinxiang's intentions, he must be going to be directly granted a fiefdom. However, since Yinxiang does not have a noble title, it is unknown how many captains and estates he will be granted.

Fortunately, Emperor Kangxi covered most of the marriages of his grandsons, so even if they were separated into different households, it was unlikely that Yinxiang would be unable to support his family.

However, once she establishes her own residence, the servants will likely be chosen from among the officers under Yinxiang's command. But she certainly cannot interfere in the selection process; the Imperial Household Department will send officials to Yinxiang to make the selection.

Qingwan was a bit worried because she couldn't take the batch of servants she had been using from the palace with her. She feared that she wouldn't be able to relax for a while after establishing her own residence and would have to rearrange everything.

There are also Fuling, Yingyu, and Wantang. The people serving them all need to be rearranged. Although these people are obedient now, she can't guarantee that they will be so obedient in the future.

And her two maids are also getting old; they can't be kept by her side forever.

Mu Xiang, on the other hand, mentioned that one of her relatives' nephews was waiting for her.

Even if that doesn't work, she can still pick a good one from Yinxiang's side, and she can protect her.

However, Chenxiang was a commoner, and Manchus and commoners were not allowed to intermarry. It was unknown whether Yinxiang had any suitable people around him.

It's unclear whether this girl is willing to get married. Qingwan asked her about her family situation, and it seems that Chenxiang isn't enthusiastic about marriage, but it's fine if she doesn't want to get married.

Qingwan was lost in thought and didn't even know when Yinxiang had left with the children.

By the time Qingwan finished her postpartum confinement, more than half of the first month of the lunar calendar had passed, and Qingwan noticed that Aunt Yan had been acting strangely lately.

These are all things from the previous generation, and no one knows what kind of old stories they are, whether good or bad. She doesn't know, and she doesn't intend to ask.

But just because she didn't ask didn't mean others weren't curious. After holding it in for more than half a month, Chenxiang, who had been living with Aunt Yan, finally couldn't help but ask.

"Granny, do you and Lord Hada have a past relationship? I have a feeling he has something he wants you to say to him."

It wasn't that she wanted to know the answer, but she felt uncomfortable if she didn't ask. As for whether Aunt Yan was willing to tell her or not, she didn't care.

Fortunately, Aunt Yan had been with Chenxiang for so long and knew about her problem, so she said, "I am a cousin of Consort Min. Do you think I have a past relationship with Lord Hada?"

Everyone here knows her identity, but only Yinxiang and Qingwan know about the old stories of growing up together.

"That's right, I forgot. Lord Hada probably wanted to catch up with you."

Aunt Yan smiled and sighed, "There's no way to reminisce about so many old times."

However, Hada's behavior was too obvious. He would stare directly at whoever he wanted to talk to. This old habit hadn't changed over the years, and it was unclear whether he had corrected it in front of his masters.

So Aunt Yan found a suitable opportunity to strike up a conversation with Hada.

The two were standing under the tree that didn't carry people, with a person's distance between them.

"Does Your Excellency have something to say to me?"

Hada stared blankly at the person in front of him. After so many years, he felt that Aunt Yan was still as beautiful as the moon in the sky.

Whether from nervousness or cold, he rubbed his hands together, then pulled them back after touching the chilblains.

"It's been over twenty years since I last saw my cousin, hasn't it? How have you been all these years? How did you end up with the Thirteenth Prince? When I saw you again the other day, I thought I was seeing things."

In the end, he smiled somewhat ingratiatingly as usual, only to realize what he had done after he finished smiling and then withdrew his smile.

Seeing the hada in this state made Aunt Yan unable to hide her resentment of more than twenty years any longer. She said somewhat sarcastically:

"It's really kind of you that my cousin still remembers me after breaking his promise for over twenty years, having a large family with many wives and children."

Of course it's good. I heard that my cousin got engaged, and my father betrothed me to a 'promising' bondservant.

He would beat and scold me whenever I spoke to outsiders, and this was especially true after my daughter was born.

If I hadn't pleaded for the opportunity to serve in the palace and hadn't met Consort Min, with her backing me up, my cousin would probably be at my grave asking me this greeting today.

Later, my husband and daughter both passed away, leaving me destitute on the streets. Fortunately, the Thirteenth Prince needed someone and found me, allowing me to live a few more years.

The last sentence is obviously false; although her husband and daughter have passed away, she will not be homeless.

With each word Aunt Yan spoke, Hada's face paled further. He tried to calm his trembling body, but every word Aunt Yan uttered only intensified his pain.

"How could it be just a bondservant?" Hada said incredulously. "I didn't break my promise. After you were rejected, I waited near your house for a month, waiting for your mother to send you a handwritten letter and tell your father that you had promised to another wealthy family."

"My own handwritten letter?" Aunt Yan's mocking expression made Hada even more embarrassed. "Don't you know who I am? Don't you know how my family treats me? Don't you know why my aunt took me in? Don't you know whether I can write a handwritten letter or not?"

"I know." Hada uttered each word with great difficulty.

In terms of looks alone, Aunt Yan was no less beautiful than Consort Min, so before the selection of concubines, Aunt Yan said she would come back, but Hada did not believe her.

But to his surprise, Aunt Yan really lost the election. The moment he heard that Aunt Yan had lost the election, he begged Haikuan to propose marriage.

However, he never expected that his own uncle, Aunt Yen's father, would even lie to his own sister, saying that although Aunt Yen was not selected, she had been favored by the royal family.

Hada had always felt inferior in front of Aunt Yan, and upon hearing this, she felt even more that Aunt Yan shouldn't be by her side in simple clothes, hiding her true beauty.

He lingered outside Aunt Yan's house for a month, wanting only to see her one more time and get some answers, but when he saw the red cloth hanging in Aunt Yan's house, he cowardly ran away.

Little did she know that this cowardice would ruin Aunt Yan's life.

He covered his face in despair, about to say something, when he heard the little girl in the courtyard exclaim, "It's snowing again!"

Aunt Yan looked at the little maid and eunuch running around in the courtyard and suddenly asked, "Cousin, how are my wife and the others at home?"

"Yes, all is well."

"That's good," Aunt Yan said. "I've resented you for over twenty years, but I have no intention of rekindling our old relationship. Don't overthink it."

I'm telling you this not to get any compensation from you, and that would be unfair to my cousin-in-law.

Actually, I shouldn't have said any of this, but I've been in pain for over twenty years, and you should know why I'm in pain.

Cousin, you and I have always only been cousins.

The wound on my back was throbbing again, just like the scalding water that had been poured on me years ago.

She no longer paid attention to Hada's expression, beckoned a young eunuch over, and instructed him, "You escort Lord Hada out."

"Don't worry, Granny."

Finally, Aunt Yan didn't forget to exchange pleasantries with Hada: "My lord, I hope you will take my affairs to heart."

Hada nodded silently, and before turning to leave, asked again, "Why were you not selected back then?"

"If the nobles don't like it, they can just choose a palace maid. It's not like they have to choose just anyone," Aunt Yan said calmly.

After returning to the room, Chenxiang lay down, seemingly engrossed in reading something, and secretly laughed to herself.

"What are you looking at?"

Chenxiang shoved the book in her hand into the quilt: "Granny, you're back."

Aunt Yan reached out her hand to Chen Xiang; "Even if you're not on duty, look at you, what kind of behavior is this?"

Chenxiang handed the book to Aunt Yan and sat down cross-legged on the kang: "The Fujin said that Muxiang and I have worked hard these days, so she let us take turns to rest."

Aunt Yan flipped through a couple of pages and discovered it was a romance novel about talented scholars and beautiful women. She smiled and said, "Miss Chenxiang, are you thinking of getting married?"

Chenxiang shook her head vigorously, completely disregarding any semblance of decorum, her earrings swaying back and forth.

"Aunt Yan, please don't say things like that to tease me. I still want to live a few more years."

"You silly girl, it's not like I'm asking you to go through hell and say such unlucky things."

Chenxiang said, "It's about the same for me. It's better now. I don't have to worry about food or clothing. Although I'm supposed to be serving people, I don't get to do any dirty or tiring work."

"You're really spineless. Do you want to serve others for the rest of your life?" Aunt Yan handed the book in her hand to Chenxiang again.

"Of course I don't want to, but I can't find anything else to do. I don't know how to grow crops or feed livestock anymore."

If he's too poor, my children might end up being sold off like me, so I'd better not marry him.

"She really just says whatever comes to mind," Aunt Yan shook her head.

Chenxiang lay back down: "I have older brothers and sisters, and younger brothers and sisters. I'm the only one in the middle. My father doesn't love me, and my mother doesn't care about me."

Later, when the family ran out of money and needed to sell someone, they immediately thought of me.

When I was first sold, I survived on the thought that they would come to redeem me sooner or later. I even saved my monthly salary for them to collect.

Later, after I learned that my sister had been married off to a hunter from the next village who was said to be very fierce and prone to violence, and that the money was being used to pay for my brother's dowry, I became unwilling to give them the money.

As Chenxiang spoke, she secretly glanced at Aunt Yan's expression, and seeing that she was listening attentively, she continued,

“I went to the Fujin and cried. I cried so hard. The Fujin was not even ten years old at the time. After I had cried enough, she peeked out from behind the book and said to me, ‘If you don’t want to acknowledge her, then don’t. Why are you crying?’”

As he spoke, a look of reverence appeared on Chenxiang's face, which even made Aunt Yan smile.

"The next day, the princess consort had the household steward take me to tell the family that I would have nothing to do with them anymore, and that I was just a member of our household."

I had prepared some silver, but the steward said it was pitiful that I was so young and had severed ties with my family, so he gave me the silver as compensation and also gave me the silver that had been used to buy my death contract. I still keep it as my private savings.

I often went hungry when I was a child and never wore clothes that fit. Now I not only have hot meals every day, but I also have new clothes to wear every season. I'm not ambitious anyway, so this is enough for me.

As for marriage," she waved the storybook in her hand, "I'll just follow the characters in the book."

Chenxiang's good mood also infected Aunt Yan. She took out the scar-removing medicine that Chenxiang had given her before and said, "Please apply the medicine for me."

Chenxiang took it and smelled it: "Finally, you're willing to use it. But it's been so long, I wonder if the medicinal properties have dissipated."

After saying that, he got out of bed, put on his shoes, and said, "I'll go find some new ones."

Without waiting for Aunt Yan to speak, he disappeared without a trace.

Aunt Yan couldn't stop her.

That evening, Chenxiang asked her, "Aunt Yan, was that burn you accidentally inflicted? It might be difficult to remove the scar completely with medicine."

After thinking it over, Aunt Yan said, "When I was young, I liked someone and wanted to stay by his side. In order to prevent any accidents from happening during the talent show, I adopted a method that could eliminate any future troubles."

Chenxiang said, "Aunt Yan is really beautiful, she still looks good now."

Aunt Yan couldn't help but laugh even in the darkness; she was such a lively character.

The next day, Qingwan could clearly see that Aunt Yan was the same as before, and she was genuinely happy.

Aunt Yan said to Qingwan, "That girl Chenxiang is really to my liking."

Qingwan's expression shifted. She knew that Aunt Yan only had one daughter, who had passed away long ago. She said, "If Aunt Yan doesn't mind her status, how about I have that girl take care of you in your old age?"

"That's good, then I'll have someone to keep me company in the future," Aunt Yan said with a smile.

Since Qingwan was bored all day, she decided to witness the family reunion.

However, since Chenxiang was not a Manchu, to prevent gossip or future trouble, the ceremony was completed in the house with only a few trusted confidants watching Chenxiang kowtow to Aunt Yan.

Chenxiang's way of addressing Aunt Yan remained unchanged.