The Qing Palace Never Meets Spring

Li Jia and Jing Wan often came to keep her company from the time she gave birth until she finished her postpartum confinement period, especially Li Jia. However, the two of them naturally did not actually live in the Thirteenth Prince's residence; they would come early and leave late.

She would only stay when Moyaqi and Hongtun were making a fuss about not letting Guo Luoma leave.

Even Malhan came with Li Jiashi to see the children a few times. Jingwan would bring not only Fuseng'e but also her youngest son each time she came.

But clearly, Moyaqi was far more interested in Fuseng than in the others. Jingwan stared at her youngest son for a long time and said, "This little face is so cute to rub, and he's quite adorable."

Qingwan told her to let go of the child: "Why are you joining in this nonsense?"

Jingwan sent the child away and said with a smile, "I don't have a daughter, so I can only dote on my niece more."

She only regretted that Moyaqi would likely be betrothed in the future, and Qingwan and Yinxiang had no say in the matter.

Before leaving, Jingwan said, "When the Thirteenth Prince first had his accident, I was very worried about you. Later, although you were separated into different households, your Sixth Sister's husband was originally Suo'etu's grandson, and he and his brother were involved in the Tuoheqi dinner party. I didn't dare to come to see you, for fear of implicating you and arousing His Majesty's suspicion."

When your servants came to deliver the message, I thought I had misheard. It seems that, at least for you, this period of time has turned out to be a blessing in disguise.”

"I'm sorry to have worried you." Although she and Jingwan had met in the past two years, it was always when she went back to her parents' home, and the two rarely had a proper heart-to-heart talk.

This time, the two not only had enough to say, but Li Jia and Jing Wan also saw her life in the mansion, and only then were they truly at ease.

Before leaving, Jingwan held her hand and said, "Now that your sixth brother-in-law has become an official in the Imperial Household Department, he should be fine. The Imperial Household Department can still take care of you."

"Okay," Qingwan replied with a smile.

Before leaving, Jingwan asked Moya curiously, "How about your sixth aunt invites you to my house to play in a few days?"

Moyaqi nodded repeatedly, and Jingwan left with Li Jia, satisfied.

After her confinement period ended, Qingwan wanted to deal with the affairs of her two maids first. As for Chenxiang, she was fine with it. She had mentioned it before, but Chenxiang threw a tantrum and refused to go out. Furthermore, Aunt Yan said that she would make the decisions about Chenxiang's affairs in the future. Although Qingwan did not know what Chenxiang was planning, she did not intend to force her to do anything, so she could only let her be.

Only Mu Xiang knew that Mu Xiang had a fiancé waiting for her to leave the palace, so she started working on it after leaving the palace, but Mu Xiang always managed to deflect the matter with various excuses.

Later, after she became pregnant, it took almost a year to recover. She remembered and asked Muxiang again. Muxiang only said to wait a little longer, but she wouldn't say what she was waiting for.

Qingwan had no choice but to promise her that she would do whatever she asked for in the future. She couldn't help but feel disappointed, wondering why one thing after another was not going well.

Spring came and winter went, cold came and heat went, and in the blink of an eye, fifty-four years had passed. At the end of the fifty-third year, the two dying eagles that Yinzhi gave to Kangxi once again focused the attention of everyone in the capital on the matter of the struggle for the throne.

When Emperor Kangxi toured the northern frontier and arrived at the imperial palace in Miyun County, Yinzhi, who had just returned from Zunhua to pay respects to Consort Liang, sent his personal attendant Haha Zhuzi and a eunuch to greet him.

Yinzhi was sent to pay respects at the Emperor's behest, and he should have personally gone to pay his respects and give a reply. However, Yinzhi did not choose to do so. Instead, he went to the Tangquan Palace first and prepared to wait for the Emperor there.

In the past two years, Emperor Kangxi, who was already seriously ill, couldn't help but think of himself when he saw two dying hunting falcons. His dissatisfaction with Yinzhi resurfaced. He not only tortured the guards and eunuchs sent by Yinzhi to pay their respects in front of everyone, but also demanded that they reveal Yinzhi as the mastermind.

She even wrote letters to the older princes in the capital, cursing Yinzhi: "He is nothing but the son of a lowly woman from my Xin Zhe Ku, treacherous and cunning."

He also bluntly stated that he had severed ties with Yinzhi and his son, and that Yinzhi hated him a hundredfold, among other harsh words.

Furthermore, in the first month of this year, it was said that Yinzhi's conduct was base and that he was lazy and unwilling to attend to any official duties. In the end, an order was issued to stop the stipends for Yinzhi and his officials, and the conflict between father and son became increasingly unbearable.

Although Yinxiang had been a marginal figure all these years, as the eldest prince, he had read the letter along with the others, and upon returning, he couldn't help but fall silent.

After listening to what Yinxiang said, Qingwan thought of Consort Liang, who had died to prove her loyalty.

Even Yinxiang said, "In this matter, I can understand Eighth Brother's choice. If it were my brother who was insulted like that by the Khan, I would probably do the same as Eighth Brother. After paying respects to my brother, I would not go to see the Khan immediately."

Yinxiang only spoke these words to her in private at the residence. Yinxiang was now practically invisible among the princes, not only because he had fallen out of favor with Kangxi, but also because of his leg ailment that would flare up from time to time.

Qingwan thought that such peaceful days would last for a long time, but unexpectedly, ripples soon appeared.

The older children had all gone to school, leaving her with only two younger ones.

Hongjiao, who could already walk, darted around her feet, while Mingzhao, who could only lie down, was in the cradle. The wind chimes on the cradle jingled as Mingzhao touched them.

Perhaps it was the sweltering heat of summer, but after a while Qingwan found it noisy and asked the wet nurse to take both children away. Only after the noise subsided did she feel a little better.

Hongjiao was the fourth prince she gave birth to in the fifty-second year. Later, in the first half of the following year, she discovered that she was pregnant again, and in October of the fifty-third year, she gave birth to her second daughter.

Later, her fourth son was given the name Hongjiao when he turned one year old, and her second daughter was also given the formal name Mingzhao not long after she was born.

Not long after the two children were taken out, Muxiang came in to report: "Madam."

Qingwan, who was resting her head on her hand, didn't open her eyes when she heard her voice, and only asked, "What is it?"

Mu Xiang bit her lip and hesitated, "A message came from the Imperial Household Department..."

Qingwan waited for a while, but didn't hear anything more. She rubbed her aching temples and said, "Speak, what storms haven't you weathered?"

"Yes." Mu Xiang's voice was still a little hoarse. "The Imperial Household Department sent word that the palace has selected a young lady to enter the manor. She is a Manchu from the Plain Blue Banner, and her father is a first-class guard and a captain."

With such a background, Mu Xiang was certainly not there to be a maid, which is why she hesitated.

Hearing the sound of porcelain falling to the ground from behind the screen, Qingwan felt even more annoyed. She opened her eyes, but before she could speak, she pointed to the spittoon in the corner.

Mu Xiang understood and presented the spittoon to her. Qing Wan could no longer stop vomiting and began to vomit, her fingernails digging into the pillow she was using to support herself. Because she vomited so badly, her face soon turned white, along with her complexion.

Yinxiang came out from behind the screen and said, "Go find the imperial physician."