The Qing Palace Never Meets Spring

For the next few days, Yinxiang did not show up, and Qingwan was happy to be at ease. She only asked someone to keep an eye on Consort Hui's palace and report to her if the wife of Prince Zhi or the wife of the Eighth Prince entered the palace.

Of Kangxi's first few princes and princesses, only the crown prince was raised by Kangxi himself; the others were raised outside the palace, in the homes of members of the imperial family, or in the homes of ministers.

When the fourth prince, Yinzhen, was born, Empress Xiaoyi, who was still a concubine at the time, had no children. So, Emperor Kangxi sent the fourth prince, who was not yet one year old, to Empress Xiaoyi's side.

Then the eldest prince, the third prince, and the second princess, who had been sent out of the palace, were all taken in, and the practice of sending princes and princesses out of the palace to be raised was discontinued.

However, the rule in the palace was that mothers did not raise their own children. Therefore, the princes stayed in the Princes' Residence when they were young, and when they got older, they went to the palace of the imperial concubine designated by the emperor. This imperial concubine was usually Consort Hui.

Even someone of Consort Wenxi's background and rank never raised the Tenth Prince, Yinzhen.

Fortunately, as the princes grew older, the rules loosened, and the princes were allowed to go and greet their parents.

The princes and their wives were also required to enter the palace from time to time to show their filial piety. Consort Hui was the biological mother of Prince Zhi, not to mention that the Eighth Prince was raised in Consort Hui's palace when he was young, and only went to Empress Xiaoyi's Jingren Palace when he was older.

Therefore, when the Eighth Prince's wife, Lady Guoluo, went to the palace to pay her respects to Consort Liang, she would also go to Consort Hui's palace to pay her respects.

This was Qingwan's first time paying respects to the emperor on her own since her marriage, which is why she wanted to go with these two. However, both of them lived outside the palace, so it would take some effort to "bump into" them during the greetings. But her main target was the Eighth Prince's wife, as the wife of the Prince Zhi probably wouldn't enter the palace so soon.

A few days later, when Qingwan heard that the wife of Prince Zhi and the wife of the Eighth Prince had entered the palace, she was somewhat surprised to hear that the First Princess was also there, but she did not inquire further. She simply asked someone to help her get dressed and went to Yanxi Palace.

When Qingwan arrived, she happened to see Zhang Jia, the wife of the Prince Zhi, carrying a child, entering the room, with the Eighth Prince's wife following behind her. Qingwan pretended to casually raise her voice and called out twice, "Eldest sister-in-law, Eighth sister-in-law." Then she saw both of them turn to look at her and stop in their tracks.

He then quickly stepped forward to greet the two women: "Eldest sister-in-law, eighth sister-in-law, are you here to pay your respects to Hui'e? I just happened to run into you two sisters-in-law."

Lady Zhang Jia just smiled shyly. She was the second wife of Prince Zhi, and she entered the family at the end of the forty-third year. Among Kangxi's many daughters-in-law, her family background was average, and she was a year or two younger than Qingwan.

However, the Eighth Prince's wife behind her smiled as soon as she saw her and said, "Look at us, you've just entered the palace and are living here now. My sister-in-law and I have forgotten about you. I'll remember to call you when I go to pay my respects to Hui'e in the future."

She further explained, "Whenever my sister-in-law and I have nothing to do, we always go to Hui'enie Palace together. The other sisters-in-law also go to the palace to pay their respects at about the same time, but after entering the palace, they each go to their own places."

Qingwan quickly replied, "Then I'll be waiting for you two sisters-in-law from now on." Noticing that Zhang Jia's face was pale but she was still holding the baby herself, she asked, "Is the little prince a month old now?"

Zhang Jia smiled and said, "That's right, it's her birthday on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month." Qingwan nodded; she hadn't entered the house yet at that time.

"Then my sister-in-law even went to the palace to pay her respects. She is truly filial." Qingwan was also somewhat surprised by this. After giving birth, Zhang Jia suffered a severe hemorrhage. At that time, Yinzhi was taken away from the capital by Kangxi. Yinzhi, Yinsi, and others in the capital hurriedly summoned the imperial physicians Liu Shengfang and Zhang Maogong to treat her. When Kangxi found out, he was also very worried and issued an imperial decree to the imperial physicians, saying that this disease should be treated with hemostatic stones. After the two imperial physicians did so, Zhang Jia slowly recovered.

Qingwan thought she would stay in bed to rest, but she didn't expect her to actually enter the palace today.

The Eighth Prince's wife smiled and began, "Elder sister-in-law..." She then glanced at the head maidservant beside Consort Hui and approached them. She swallowed her words, and the maidservant, smiling, bowed to them before speaking:

"When Master Hui heard that several wives were coming together, she prepared fine tea, but after waiting and waiting, they didn't show up. She even told us that they must be gathered at the palace gate telling jokes, and asked us to quickly welcome the wives in so that we could save the jokes for Master to hear."

Qingwan looked up and found that the Eighth Princess Consort was also looking at her, with a half-smile. She lowered her head and smiled back. It was her mistake that she forgot about the First Princess Consort, whose health was not yet fully recovered. But even in this state, she still had to go to the palace.

"Alright, let's go in. Don't keep Hui'e waiting, and don't make your sister-in-law stand there any longer," said the Eighth Princess Consort.

Unexpectedly, when the group entered, Consort Liang was also there. Before Zhang Jia could even bend down, Consort Hui called her to get up. Consort Hui's head maidservant also hurriedly helped Zhang Jia sit down on a chair and took the little prince from her arms to comfort him. Zhang Jia looked somewhat embarrassed in front of Qingwan and the other two.

Qingwan and the other woman didn't seem to mind. They simply performed their respective rituals and rose. Qingwan took a seat, while the Eighth Prince's wife stood beside Consort Liang.

Consort Liang is indeed a beauty, but there is a mark between her eyebrows, which means she often frowns, so she looks older than Consort De, who is about the same age as her.

Looking around, although the Eighth Prince's wife was standing next to Consort Liang, the two did not seem very affectionate. It was mostly Consort Hui and Consort Liang who were talking in the room. As they talked, they turned the topic to the First Prince's wife, Zhang Jia, who had just given birth.

Consort Liang said, "Sister Huifei is truly blessed. Although her first child is gone, she still has four beautiful granddaughters and a clever grandson to take care of her."

Pointing to Zhang Jia's wife, he said, "This child is also blessed. She became pregnant as soon as she entered the family and gave birth to a son in one fell swoop."

Upon hearing this, Lady Zhang was about to get up to reply when Consort Liang quickly stopped her, saying, "Please sit down properly. My Eighth Prince relied entirely on your mother-in-law for upbringing when he was young. If you don't mind, you can feel more comfortable as if you were with your mother-in-law."

Upon hearing this, Qingwan couldn't help but glance up at everyone in the room. Everyone else seemed normal, except for the Eighth Prince's wife. Qingwan wasn't familiar with this scene, but Zhang Jia, who had married into the royal family before her, was. She glanced at the Eighth Prince's wife, sighed inwardly, and took over the conversation. However, she didn't know how to respond, so she could only smile and say:

"You're joking, Liang'e."

Consort Liang then spoke of the Eighth Prince: "Today I saw the eldest son's wife paying her respects to my sister, and I became even more envious. Yinzhi is already twenty-five this year. Others his age are surrounded by children. I wonder if I will be able to see that child with children when I am still alive."

Upon hearing this, the Eighth Prince's wife's expression grew even worse. Consort Hui, who had been listening to Consort Liang's veiled words, finally spoke up, her voice laced with a smile: "You've got some nerve! This is the first time the Thirteenth Prince's wife has come to pay her respects to me. Don't frighten the child, or I'll have the Thirteenth Prince come to you and cry."

Qingwan had been pretending to be clueless while listening to their conversation, but when the topic turned to her, she smiled and said, "It's my blessing to be able to listen to your teachings."

Consort Liang laughed, "Look how eloquent this child is. It's only because Consort Min and Sister Hui are you so lucky to have such wonderful daughters-in-law. Unlike me..." Then she sighed to Qingwan, "Your Consort Min, she received the rank of Consort shortly after giving birth to the Thirteenth Prince. She received the imperial decree in the same year as me, but she was less senior and missed the grand conferment. By the time it was her turn, she was gone, leaving only a few children."

The thirteenth prince is a good child, and he's good to his two younger sisters from the same mother. The greatest comfort for your mother, Consort Min, will be for you to have children of your own in the future.