The Qing Palace Never Meets Spring

With Moyaqi's wedding date drawing ever closer, Qingwan helped Moyaqi organize the dowry list. The Imperial Household Department would provide one, and the Prince's Mansion would certainly provide one as well. There was also a three-courtyard house, which was about the same size as the Thirteenth Prince's current residence.

Moyaqi was just about to visit the garden a few days ago when Hongchang hurriedly sent someone to say that Lady Nara was about to give birth.

Qingwan sent the person back, and then instructed Muxiang: "Go and keep an eye on things. If anything is missing, have someone go to the storeroom to get it."

Then he said to Moya, "You should go back first and come back tomorrow."

"Yes." Moyaqi knew that if something happened to the Nara clan, she would have to come to Qingwan for advice, and there were some things she couldn't hear.

Although this was Nara's second pregnancy, she was in labor for a day and a night, and finally gave birth to a little prince at noon on the second day. She fell into a deep sleep before she could even see her child.

A few days after the little prince's third-day celebration, Fuling brought the child to pay her respects to Qingwan and Yunxiang, but Yunxiang had not yet returned.

Yunxiang had already seen the baby the day the little prince was born, and it was clear that Yunxiang was very happy. So even though Fuling couldn't see Yunxiang today, she was only disappointed for a moment before smiling and saying to Qingwan, "This servant has brought the little prince to pay his respects to the Fujin."

Qingwan took the baby from Fuling's arms and weighed it in her hands. The baby didn't look very big, the size of a normal baby, and the position was correct. She just hadn't expected that Nara's delivery would be so difficult.

"Please sit down. How is Nara?"

Speaking of Nara, Fuling's smile faded, her worry barely concealed. "The imperial physician said that she might have difficulty conceiving in the future, so we haven't dared to tell her yet. She's too young to handle this news."

Qingwan handed the child back to Fuling, saying, "As long as she's alright, that's all that matters. She's still young, so take good care of her. Who knows what the future holds?"

Fuling shook her head: "Today the wet nurse took the child to see her, and she was too weak to speak. It's been several days, maybe..."

Qingwan gave her a cold look, and Fuling realized that she had said the wrong thing. The Second Princess's wedding was just a few days away, so she naturally couldn't stand hearing her say such things.

"This servant did not intend to offend the Madam, it's just that the child's health is truly..."

"Alright," Qingwan interrupted her impatiently, "These days, her sisters and sisters-in-law from her maternal family come to visit her from time to time. You should also keep an eye on the people around her and prevent them from talking nonsense in front of the people in that household. It would make people uncomfortable if they heard it."

"When Liu Shengfang comes to take the prince's pulse one day, I'll keep him here so that child can see him."

"Yes, thank you, Madam." Hearing Qingwan say this, Fuling was naturally happy. "But this servant has another matter I would like to ask Madam for her instructions."

"Go ahead."

"Now that Nara's two children are still young, Nara's health may not recover even after she finishes her postpartum period."

There are few servants around me, and I have to take care of Lady Nara and two children. I am truly willing but unable to do so.

Besides, a servant's status is low, and it's not good for the young prince and princess to always be by a servant's side. I wonder what the princess consort's plans are for the two children?

Although she understood what Fuling meant, Qingwan still said, "Just say it."

"We don't have a concubine in our household, so the two children will probably need the primary wife to take good care of them."

Chenxiang laughed first: "The concubine is indeed very thoughtful for the princess and the prince. However, the little princess and the little prince are your own grandsons. As long as the concubine and the prince don't say anything, who in this mansion would dare to say anything?"

You can rest assured and take good care of the young princess and prince. Besides, even when we didn't have so many people in our household, we were able to take good care of all the princes and princesses, let alone now. Our household can lack anything but servants.”

Fuling had come to ask for a favor, and with Chenxiang offering such barbed words of comfort, she dared not say anything, only managing a couple of awkward laughs.

Qingwan didn't respond to their comments, but said, "If you feel you can't take care of them all, I'll have Wantang and Yingyu help you."

“What the Lady and Miss Chenxiang said is true,” Fuling said with a smile. “This servant was just confused because of concern, and didn’t think of so many things for a moment.”

After Fuling left, Chenxiang smiled and said, "Back then, the Fujin was soft-hearted, so she treated the eldest princess so well, which made the concubine Fujin taste the sweetness."

"Speaking of concubines, for the sake of Prince Bei and the First Princess, shouldn't Your Highness also request a concubine for a secondary wife?"

Although Qingwan did not answer, she had been thinking about this question for a long time. Fuling and Wusushi both had children who had been raised, so the concubine should be given to them. However, Qingwan secretly wanted to leave one for Wantang.

She knew about Hongtun's affair back then, so she had been very accommodating to Wantang over the years. But apart from money, she couldn't give Wantang anything else. As for Yunxiang, Wantang really didn't care about him at all. So she thought about it and decided that she couldn't let Wantang be suppressed by others in this mansion.

So when Yunxiang returned that evening, Qingwan told him, "I don't care who the prince's concubine is, but one of them has to be Wantang."

I truly admire Yunxiang's boundless energy. He spent the whole day reading memorials and still managed to stay up late reading books.

Yunxiang put the book away: "Why did you bring up the matter of the concubine?"

Qingwan recounted what had happened during the day, and then said, "My lord now has four concubines, but there are only two positions for secondary consorts. There are too many monks and not enough porridge, so I have to allocate one to Wantang first."

There was something Qingwan didn't say: before the mourning period was over, Yongzheng had already held a small-scale selection of candidates, but none of them were chosen. Once the mourning period was over, Yongzheng would definitely hold another grand selection, and at that time, Prince Yi's mansion would definitely need to bring in new people. As for Yunxiang, Qingwan smiled.

"If you don't want it, then don't ask for the title. It doesn't matter whether there is a concubine in the manor or not."

Yunxiang said this casually, and Qingwan didn't take it to heart: "Don't let me ruin the good reputation I've built up over the years."

Yunxiang laughed and said, "That's easy. I'll go to the palace tomorrow and have Fourth Brother write a plaque for you."

Qingwan lightly kicked him from under the covers: "His Majesty will probably scold me for being presumptuous."

Yunxiang put down his book, slowly slid down to lie down, and said with a smile, "You and I are a perfect couple, with the same virtues."

"How shameless! Are you praising me or yourself?"

Yunxiang smiled and pulled her down to sleep. "Since you've secured a concubine position for Wantang, I'll be the first to request the title for her."

Qingwan nodded, which meant one matter was resolved.