The Qing Palace Never Meets Spring

After Yuan Shou's incident, Nian Xialing's daughter entered the household as a servant.

Also with her was Nian Gengyao's wife, the daughter of Duke Su Yan, whose ancestor was Prince Ying, Ajige.

The Fourth Prince's wife and she were old acquaintances, but she was a bit older than this Second Lady. However, it had been many years since then, and if no one had told her, she might not have recognized her if they met again.

After hearing the servant's reply, he suddenly realized: "So the daughter of Su Yan whom Nian Gengyao remarried was her."

"Help me change my clothes, and let them in."

The Fourth Prince Consort glanced at Lady Nian and exchanged a few more words, then knew that the position of Yinzhen's secondary consort was about to be filled.

She first instructed the maidservants beside her to take the person away to rest. After all, she was a daughter of an official family. Even if she entered the mansion as a servant, she couldn't really be made to do the work of serving others. Only by her side could this great Buddha be kept.

After Lady Nian left, the Fourth Prince's wife said, "It's been so many years since we last met. I never expected to see you again as the Second Lady Nian. But why did you become Nian Gengyao's second wife?"

Madam Nian said with some regret, "Everyone says that Nian Gengyao has a bright future. He has also gained Mingzhu's favor and has married her own granddaughter to him first."

Later, after the first wife, Madam Nian, passed away, Mingzhu acted as matchmaker again. My father also liked him, so he married me to him as his second wife.

After catching up for a while, the two got down to business.

The Fourth Princess Consort asked, "You came here today because of your sister-in-law?"

Madam Nian nodded: "My sister-in-law is the third daughter of the Nian family. She and Liang Gong are not born of the same mother. When she was born, Liang Gong had already gone out to take the imperial examination."

Later, she and her father-in-law were not appointed to the same official positions, while my sister-in-law stayed by her father's side.

So although they are siblings, they aren't very close; they only exchange greetings when they bump into each other at home.

"Is it really worth making a special trip for her?" the Fourth Prince's wife asked.

"There's nothing we can do about it," said Madam Nian with a hint of helplessness.

Nian Gengyao had been promoted to Governor of Sichuan for some time now, and she had already packed her bags to go to Nian Gengyao's new post. However, a message came from the Yong Prince's Mansion to the Nian family, asking them to send a girl into the inner quarters to serve them.

Of the three daughters who grew up in the family, the first two were either engaged or married, leaving only the youngest one.

“My sister-in-law’s birth mother couldn’t even get close to the gate of the Prince Yong’s mansion. Madam Nian is not young anymore, and my sister-in-law is away on a post with my brother.”

My father-in-law came to find me, and I had no choice but to agree. Besides, Nian Xiyao had just moved to Daming Road, so he probably didn't have the mind to care about family matters.

Her father also held the title of Duke of the State, so no matter how far apart she was from Yinzhen or the Fourth Prince's wife, they could still be connected by tracing back a few generations.

Because of this, she was delayed in setting off, mainly because it took several months after the message from the Prince Yong's residence was sent out before anyone was allowed into the residence.

"My lady, what do you and the prince mean by letting my sister-in-law, the prince, into the mansion?"

The Fourth Princess Consort smiled without saying a word, and then said, "I can tell that your sister-in-law is educated, isn't she?"

"She's read it; she's quite a talented woman," said Madam Nian.

"That's it. She's the daughter of an official, and a talented woman who's been educated. You can't really expect her to just serve others."

Even if you're going to serve someone, it depends on who you're serving. I'm telling you this out of respect for our past acquaintance, and you should know what I'm talking about.

Whether the Nian family was happy to hear this news, Madam Nian the Second did not know, but she did feel somewhat regretful.

She still harbored some affection for Lady Nian, but she never expected that she would end up in the Prince's mansion. Lady Nian was in poor health, and she didn't know whether the Prince Yong's mansion was peaceful or not.

Fortunately, the Nian family's social standing was high enough for her to become a prince's concubine.

Now that she knew what she wanted to know, she didn't stay any longer and took her leave. After returning home, she only said what she could say, and only mentioned the possibility of Nian's future at the Yong Prince's residence.

After the Fourth Princess Consort had the Second Madam Nian sent away, she said to the maid beside her, "Teach Madam Nian the proper etiquette for serving others. When the others come to pay their respects tomorrow, bring her along and let her make an appearance."

The next day, as soon as Lady Nian appeared, she attracted the attention of Yinzhen's concubines. Except for Lady Niohuru, who was still in confinement, the others were all there and unanimously turned their attention to Lady Li.

It's not because the two look alike, but because they make you feel that they are the same type of people, the kind of people that Yinzhen would like.

Tender and gentle, delicate and graceful, ideally with a beautiful woman by her side, Li Shi was lacking in the last aspect: her family background was insufficient to allow her to keep up with Yinzhen's cultural level.

But she was beautiful enough at that time, and Yinzhen was young enough. He was able to raise a consort who suited his taste, so naturally he had the patience to train a beauty to become the kind of woman he wanted.

Although Yinzhen was no longer patient, the woman surnamed Nian, whose family background was not low, was already the kind of woman he liked.

Now, Li looked Nian up and down before looking away.

After everyone had left, Madam Geng asked, "Madam, is this person also from the Bordered White Banner?"

The Fourth Princess Consort simply nodded slightly, and everyone knew what she meant.

He then went to see the Li family again.

Li said, "Why are you looking at me? I'm so old, do you think I'm going to compete for your affections with a teenage girl?"

"But the Princess Consort has a good eye for talent. I could tell at a glance that this young lady is the kind the Prince would like. You young people should be worrying about how much favor you'll retain."

Li was actually a shrew, but Yinzhen preferred gentle women, so she changed herself. Now that she had fallen out of favor, she reverted to her original self.

Fourth Princess Consort was amused by Li's words: "Alright, who talks about themselves like that?"

Madam Li took a sip of tea with a contented look: "The tea here is still the best, Madam." She had never been a fan of Manchu milk tea.

But since falling out of favor, the tea at her place has become part of the rations, and occasionally the eldest princess and Hongshi would also give her a little.

But she couldn't always compete with the children for a drink of tea, so she still quite liked to pay her respects to the Fourth Prince's wife.

After drinking the tea, she said, "I am a year or two older than you, sir. To put it bluntly, I am old enough to be this young girl's mother."

Moreover, my eldest daughter is to be betrothed within the next year or two, and if I wait a few more years, I will be a grandmother.

If I were to compete for favor with someone who could be my daughter, I could not bear the shame.

Besides, I've gotten older these past two years, and my temper has grown rather volatile; it's no longer to your liking, so I won't go looking for trouble with you."

Although the Li family had joined the Manchu banners and become bondservants, they were not yet accustomed to these Manchu terms of address.

Fourth Princess Consort shook her head: "You're quite open-minded."

Lady Li stroked her hair and said, "Now I'm just waiting to hold my grandson first, and then my grandchild." It would be even better if Hongshi could be made a prince.

The Fourth Princess Consort simply smiled and said to everyone, "You all know why I brought you here today. Don't put on that master's face. Her family background is much better than any of you here."

The Fourth Prince's wife was never one to sit idly by and watch the tigers fight; she always meant what she said, so no one dared to disobey her and quickly agreed.