The Qing Palace Never Meets Spring

Qingwan closed her eyes briefly, and when she opened them again, she had calmed down. She didn't want to cause suffering to those around her.

She looked at Mu Xiang, her eyes still gentle: "It's alright, you can all go out now."

"Madam." But Mu Xiang was still worried about the two people who looked like they were about to clash, so she said, "Why don't you let me lead the people to clean up the broken pieces on the ground first?"

This will allow the two of them to calm down.

Seeing that neither of them refused, Mu Xiang quickly gestured for the outsiders to enter. At Mu Xiang's prompting, the group deliberately slowed down their cleaning, and it took an incense stick's time to clean up the broken pieces in the room.

Throughout the entire process, neither Qingwan nor Yunxiang spoke. After everyone left, although Qingwan did not mention leaving again, she was still unwilling to speak first.

The two remained locked in this stalemate until Yunxiang finally lost his temper: "Qingwan, I don't know why you're reacting so strongly to this."

The palace has raised so many children, but not everyone can become a princess; this is His Majesty's grace.

The Emperor has no daughters, so once Mingzhao enters the palace, she will be the rightful princess.

Even if she enters the palace and is given a title, she will still be our daughter. She will still call you "Empress," and she can still return to the manor, just like Moyaqi did before. You can accept Moyaqi becoming His Majesty's adopted daughter, but you are unwilling to accept Mingzhao becoming His Majesty's adopted daughter.

"Your Highness, you used to call him Fourth Brother, but now you call him Your Majesty. If it's the same, why did Your Highness change your address to Your Majesty?"

"Have you forgotten? Your two younger sisters were also princesses. They married into Mongolian families and are buried there. Have you visited them all these years?" Qingwan interrupted Yunxiang.

"You've forgotten that you also felt guilty and blamed yourself for not being able to protect them. Why can you so calmly decide Mingzhao's future now?"

"You're a prince now, you know? I thought I'd never have to worry about my daughter being betrothed to one of the Mongol tribes and never seeing her again."

“I originally thought that you had gotten used to it over the years. Apart from princesses, which family doesn’t have a princess marrying into Mongolia? It’s a responsibility they should bear.”

"Just because Mingzhao is my daughter doesn't mean I can shirk this responsibility." Yunxiang's calm tone made Qingwan realize that the Yunxiang who had worried about Moyaqi with her was not the same person as the one in front of her.

A tremendous sense of powerlessness swept over her, and she bent over as if she were in darkness.

"Greetings, Father." Hearing her two daughters' voices, Qingwan felt a glimmer of light return to her.

She looked up, smiling at the two children, and asked, "Why did you come over?"

Moyaqi patted Mingzhao's back gently, gesturing for her to come over, and chuckled, "I heard that Father designed a winding stream pavilion in the garden. I was really curious, so as soon as I heard that Father was back, I brought Zhaozhao over."

Mingzhao walked up to Qingwan and softly called out "Ene!" Qingwan's heart ached.

Moya asked curiously, "Father, please take me to the study to see the blueprints."

Yunxiang knew they had come to mediate the fight, and since he also felt that both of them needed to calm down, he said, "Alright, let's go."

Before leaving, he turned back and gave Qingwan a deep look, but Qingwan did not look at him.

"Why didn't you take Zhaozhao back to her room?" After leaving, Yunxiang led Moyaqi slowly toward his study.

"Did Ama and Enie have a fight?" Moyaqi didn't answer Yunxiang's question, but asked directly.

Even when Qingwan and Yunxiang argued, they were exceptionally restrained, and they didn't shout or yell when questioning each other.

So Moyaqi, standing outside the door, had no idea what they were saying and could only guess from their expressions whether they had argued.

"How could that be? Your mother and I just have some differing opinions. We'll clear things up once we've explained it." Yunxiang's first reaction to Moyaqi's question was to deny it.

Moya nodded. Yunxiang could tell she didn't believe him, so he said, "This is between you and me, and you shouldn't interfere."

Now that you've arranged your marriage, you have nothing to worry about anymore. Your husband and I only hope that your future will be carefree.

Moyaqi smiled, and the two of them had already entered the study. Although looking at the blueprints was just an excuse Moyaqi made up, Yunxiang still gave the blueprints to Moyaqi.

Moyaqi looked at it very carefully and even offered some of her own opinions. She was so serious that Yunxiang thought she was really just there to look at the blueprints.

Much later, Moya said, "I remember when Father mentioned my two aunts, he said that whenever my two aunts were together with me, Father would always be the one who was left helpless."

"Then you must have a very good relationship with your two aunts, right?"

"Hmm." Yunxiang also reminisced about that time. "Your two aunts are princesses after all. Actually, they are not easy to get along with. I was quite surprised that they could get along with your father so well."

But in the end…” Yunxiang’s voice lowered, “they all passed away in front of you.”

“It must have sounded like a wonderful time,” Moyaqi said leisurely. “Hamafa has many princesses, but when it comes to princesses, I can only think of Aunt Wenke and Aunt Dunke.”

My mother has already experienced the helplessness of sending a loved one to marry far away twice; how can she accept it a third time? Father, my mother has already lost Hong'er.

Hong's name seemed to be a taboo in this mansion, and everyone deliberately avoided it. Yunxiang never expected to hear the child's name again under such circumstances, especially from the mouth of another child.

He felt a dull ache in his heart, but it was only for a moment before he said, "Your Aunt Wenke and Aunt Dunke are princesses, and your Aunt Quejing is also a princess. Mingzhao's future is not limited to serving the Mongols."

"Did Father and Mother say this?" Moya asked curiously.

"No, you won't listen to anything I say. I thought she would understand even if I didn't say anything." Yunxiang recalled that not only had he not explained, but he had also said a lot of angry things, making the conversation between the two of them even worse.

Today's events seem to have exceeded Yunxiang's expectations from the moment Yongzheng said he wanted to let Mingzhao enter the palace, and everything is going further and further out of control.

“Father.” Moyaqi’s tone was very disappointed, and she didn’t hide it. “Perhaps it’s because I only have two daughters, Zhaozhao and I, but you have more than just Zhaozhao and me. So I’m not sure.” She wasn’t sure that Yunxiang would defy the Emperor’s will for Mingzhao.

When the nanny who taught her talked to her about wives and concubines and children, she didn't understand why she was being told these things. Her fiancé was her childhood sweetheart and cousin, with whom she was deeply in love. But the nanny said that some things would be too late to talk about after she got married.

But at this moment, what she thought of first were the things her nanny had taught her.

"You're being insolent." These words shocked Yunxiang, and his mouth moved faster than his brain.

Moya sighed inwardly, then knelt before Yunxiang. "What I said today has broken the rules. No matter how Father punishes me, it is justified. I just hope that you and my father can get along well and that this matter will not cause any discord between you."

"Did your father say these things?" Yunxiang asked.

“Father, do you think that I, Zhaozhao and my eldest sister have a bad relationship? If I had any issues that would not be accepted by the others, the aunts would have already started making a fuss.”

Yunxiang opened his mouth, but that wasn't what he meant. "Never mind, you can go back."

Moyaqi kowtowed to Yunxiang: "Father, you and my brother are the pillars of the palace. My younger siblings, my servants and I all hope that you will be well."