The Qing Palace Never Meets Spring

The two headed towards the horse farm, where they encountered the Fifteenth Prince Yinwu and the Sixteenth Prince Yinlu, who were walking silently with eunuchs.

Yi Huan called out to them, "Fifteenth Brother, Sixteenth Brother, where are you going? Didn't we agree to meet at the horse farm?"

The two turned around and hurriedly called out in unison, "Tenth Sister, Thirteenth Sister-in-law."

Yinlu continued, "My fifteenth brother and I were originally going to the horse farm, but Father Khan just sent someone to summon us. He has already sent someone to tell my tenth sister that you may have missed it."

"Is that so? Maybe you'll be asked to write in front of me, or demonstrate your horsemanship or something."

"Tenth Sister," Yinlu couldn't help but call out with a bitter face.

Yi Huan laughed and said, "It's alright. Thirteenth Brother has done this many times before. Now it's your turn."

However, this is just my wild guess, and it may not be true. There might be other things going on.

Alright, stop looking so glum. Go on ahead. You and Fifteenth Brother have something to do, so Thirteenth Sister-in-law and I will just stroll around and head back.

"Fifteenth Brother and I will go find Tenth Sister another day. We'll be leaving now." After saying that, Yinlu grabbed Yinwu and hurriedly ran off without waiting for Yihuan to speak.

Yi Huan looked at their retreating figures with some regret and said to Qing Wan, "What a pity, I was originally planning to have them teach me."

Seeing her expression, Qingwan said, "How about I give it a try? But I'm not sure if I can teach you. If not, we'll wait for your brother and the two princes, the fifteenth and sixteenth."

Yi Huan was pleasantly surprised: "You can do that too, sister-in-law? I didn't realize. But that's good, let's give it a try."

She said she was just giving it a try, not because she didn't trust Qingwan, but because accidents are unpredictable, and she was afraid that if something happened to her, it would implicate Qingwan.

Qingwan looked down at her hands, somewhat lost in thought. They were hands that clearly had never done any work.

Who would have thought that these hands had once developed calluses from practicing riding and archery? But since the day of the selection, they had never touched the reins again, and gradually they began to resemble the hands of a pampered young lady from a wealthy family.

Yi Huan noticed her absent-mindedness and gently called out, "Sister-in-law." She looked up, smiled, and replied, "Then let's go."

There was a small incident when the two were choosing horses. As soon as Qingwan entered the stable, she spotted a tall, magnificent horse with a black coat and smooth lines. She couldn't resist reaching out to touch the mane on the back of its neck, but before she could get close, the horse impatiently snorted in her direction.

She couldn't help but sigh, "It's probably a wild horse."

The eunuch in charge of feeding the horse behind him said, "The princess is right. This horse belongs to the thirteenth prince. People are not usually allowed to touch it, for fear that it might hurt someone."

Yi Huan glanced at it a few more times: "Since it belongs to Thirteenth Brother, if you like it, you can let Thirteenth Brother take you to try it out."

Qingwan simply smiled and said nothing more. She then instructed the eunuch following behind her to carefully select a gentle, medium-sized horse for Yihuan.

While the eunuchs were being selected, Yi Huan quickly pulled Qing Wan away. No matter how clean the place was, the smell was still there. If it weren't for her curiosity, she wouldn't have come. Now that her curiosity was satisfied, she quickly pulled Qing Wan away.

The half-day went quite smoothly. Although Qingwan wasn't a top-notch teacher, Yihuan was an extremely obedient student, and by the end of the day, she was already behaving quite well.

As the sun grew higher, the two headed back home. Yi'an went back to her courtyard to change her clothes and then came to Qingwan's place.

Yi Huan sat down beside her, leaning against her listlessly. Neither of them spoke for a long time before Yi Huan finally said, "In a few days, it will be the day my sister gets married."

I wanted to see her off in the sedan chair, and I also wanted to walk with her on the final leg of her journey after her marriage; ultimately, I could only choose one.

Yes, Kangxi could bring Yihuan with him, but he couldn't allow Yihuan and Yi'an's wedding procession to come to the imperial palace together again.

Qingwan reached out and smoothed the braid that was hanging down to one side for her: "You'll see your sister soon. She'll know you've been happy these days, and she'll probably be happy for you too."

Women in the palace often wore their hair in braids and buns, which were simple and neat. They would insert hairpins and rings into the braids for decoration, or wrap their hair to insert more hairpins and rings.

Qingwan and the others dressed the same way, while Yihuan, when not entertaining guests, usually wore a braid hanging down in front of her, and she did the same today.

Yi Huan didn't say much after hearing her words, she just nodded casually.

The two had only been sitting for a short while when a young eunuch beside Yi Huan entered and said, "Princess, the Third Princess has arrived. She went straight to His Majesty's side upon arrival. What do you think..."

Yi Huan straightened up and explained to Qing Wan, "I asked him to keep an eye on Third Sister's whereabouts. I want to go see Third Sister."

Then she gave a bitter smile, "She got married when I was very young, and I don't know what to say to her, but I always feel that I need to see her to put my mind at ease, and besides, I've been asked to do this. Sister-in-law, please come with me."

Qingwan nodded: "Okay."

The two went to Kangxi's place together. As soon as they arrived, Liang Jiugong came out to greet them: "Why have the princess and the princess come here? Do you want to pay your respects to His Majesty? But Princess Duanjing is still inside. His Majesty has not ordered anyone to serve her. We don't know when she will finish speaking. Why don't you come tomorrow, princess?"

Yi Huan looked inside and said, "You don't need to worry about us, we're here to wait for Third Sister."

"This servant understands. Then this servant will go and wait, and will not disturb the princess any longer."

After saying this, Liang Jiugong bowed and left, giving a wink to the person next to him. Another person then led Qingwan and the other two to sit down elsewhere.

Almost half an hour later, Princess Duanjing finally appeared. Her complexion was not good. She stood in front of the door, looking at the closed door, seemingly lost in thought.

Yi Huan and Qing Wan exchanged a glance and then walked forward first, calling out softly to their third sister, "Third sister."

Duan Jing turned around abruptly, and after seeing Yi Huan's momentary confusion, slowly asked, "Is it Tenth Sister?"

Yi Huan smiled and nodded, while Duan Jing looked at her with surprise: "You've grown so much. When I got married, you were only one year old and couldn't even walk steadily yet."

Yi Huan nodded with a smile: "I recognized Third Sister as soon as I saw her. She looks a lot like Bu'e Nie."

When Bu Changzai was mentioned, Duan Jing's expression became even more affectionate: "I think you and the thirteenth brother look alike, especially your eyebrows and eyes. I also heard that you are accompanying the emperor by his side, so I guessed it was you."

Are you here to pay your respects to the Khan? Please come in.

This was not the first time she had come to pay her respects to Emperor Kangxi during his tour, so she was quite familiar with Yinxiang, who had been by Kangxi's side for a long time. Kangxi's sons looked much like him, but Yinxiang looked more like Consort Min.

Yi Huan continued to look at her and said softly, "I just wanted to come and see Third Sister."

"Look at me?" Duan Jing was a little incredulous. She didn't expect that this younger sister, whom she would not recognize if they met in public, would say she wanted to see her.

"Yes." Yi Huan nodded affirmatively and said in a low voice, "I have the things and letters that Bu'e Nie brought for Third Sister."

Duan Jing murmured, "Eh-ne."

Seeing this, Qingwan also felt a little uncomfortable. She handed the handkerchief in her hand to Duanjing and said, "It's so nice to see the princesses again. Let's go back and talk about it slowly."

Duan Jing then realized that she was already in tears. She took the handkerchief that Qing Wan handed her and wiped her tears away. She slowly looked Qing Wan up and down and saw that her clothes must also belong to a mistress of some household.

He then asked, "Tenth Sister, who is this?"

Yi Huan smiled and said, "She's my sister-in-law."

Duan Jing quickly pulled Qing Wan's hand: "It's my fault. I neglected Thirteenth Brother's wife. Thirteenth Brother is so lucky to have such a beauty. Your relationship as a couple must be very good. No wonder he always takes you with him when he goes out."

Qingwan greeted her politely, neither confirming nor denying Duanjing's claim of a good relationship. She simply said, "It's rare for Third Sister and Tenth Sister to meet, so it's understandable that they couldn't help themselves. However, I was so moved by your affection that I forgot to greet Third Sister. Please forgive me, Third Sister."

She glanced at the house again and then said, "Shall we leave first?"

Duan Jing knew it wasn't good to stay here any longer, so she said, "Then I'll trouble you, Thirteenth Sister-in-law, to lead the way."

The three of them walked out together. Qingwan took a half step back and whispered a few words in Muxiang's ear. Muxiang left first.

Hearing the commotion inside, Liang Jiugong, who had been waiting outside, entered the room, bowed, and asked, "What are your orders, Your Majesty?"

Emperor Kangxi looked up from the memorial and asked, "Who's here?"

"Your Majesty, it was the Tenth Princess and the Thirteenth Princess Consort. The Tenth Princess said she came specifically to wait for the Third Princess and to speak with her. Now, the princess and the others have left."

Kangxi looked down at the memorial, every word filled with quiet grievance. He closed the memorial and said, "Summon Garzang to see me."

On their way, Qingwan and her two companions encountered Duanjing's son-in-law, Garzang.

Garzang was the second son of Duling, the Prince of the Kharachin tribe. He inherited the title in the forty-third year. He seemed to have been waiting here for a long time. When he saw Duanjing, he quickly stepped forward.

Duan Jing saw that his smiling face, which had been smiling while he was talking to Qing Wan and the other woman, suddenly turned cold. She took two steps forward to block Qing Wan and the other woman, then lowered her eyes to hide the disgust in them, and asked, "Why did you come here, Prince Consort? Father Khan should not have summoned you yet."

Garzang bowed to Duanjing before straightening up: "I saw that the princess had not returned for a long time, so I came to fetch her."

He looked Qingwan and the other woman up and down before asking, "May I ask who these two are behind the princess?"

The undisguised gaze made both of them unconsciously frown, especially Yi Huan, who wanted to reprimand them, but held back when she saw Duan Jing standing in front of them.

Duan Jing said coldly, "She is the wife of the Tenth Princess and the Thirteenth Prince. After the prince consort pays his respects to the princess, he should leave. My sister and I still have things to say, so we won't go back with you."

Garzang quickly averted his gaze and said, "So it is the Tenth Princess. Greetings, Princess." Before coming, Garzang had naturally inquired about who was accompanying the emperor. He just hadn't expected the Tenth Princess, who shouldn't be familiar with Duanjing, to be by Duanjing's side. He had assumed she was one of the daughters of some minister.

Yi Huan simply nodded to him and then said to Duan Jing, "Third Sister, let's go."

Duan Jing nodded and pulled Yi Huan away. Because Duan Jing's expression was not good, the three of them remained silent the whole way.

Before Garzang could take more than a few steps after turning around, he heard someone call out to him from behind: "Your Highness, please wait! His Majesty summons you."

Duan Jing felt better after following the two back to where Yi Huan was staying in the imperial palace.

The three entered the room, where washing utensils were already laid out on the table. Yi Huan thought of what had just happened and recalled the absurd things she had heard about Garzang in the palace. She sighed slightly, dismissed everyone around her, and handed a handkerchief to Duan Jing.

Duan Jing did not refuse. She sat down in front of the mirror, took the handkerchief and covered her face with it, only putting it down after a long while.

Yi Huan wasn't used to doing things like this, and her sleeves got wet while she was rubbing the handkerchief. Since she couldn't change it immediately, Qing Wan folded the handkerchief in her hand and used it to pad the wet part of her sleeve.

Yi Huan looked down at her movements, then looked up at her with a silly grin.

This was the scene that Duan Jing saw when she took off the handkerchief from her face. She was also amused by the two of them, but she was in a hurry to do something else, so she coughed lightly and called out, "Tenth Sister."

Yi Huan turned around, stood up, and beckoned the two of them to walk towards the west side room. She took a small box out of the trunk and handed it to Duan Jing.

Duan Jing sat down on the chair with the box in her arms before slowly opening it. Inside were all sorts of rabbit-shaped jewelry. Duan Jing picked up a hairpin and smiled: "I loved rabbits when I was little, and I've always remembered that."

She married at nineteen, long past the age where she couldn't live without something she liked. Although there were few instances of mistreatment in Kangxi's harem, apart from the favored concubines, they all lived by their allotted allowances.

So Bu Changzai didn't have anything good in her possession, but she collected things that her daughter liked when she was young and sent them to her.

Next was a bulging letter. Duan Jing put down her jewelry, wiped her hands on her clothes a couple of times before picking up the bulging letter. She looked at it over and over again before saying, "I don't know what it says. It's so thick."

In fact, Consort Bu often asked people to deliver messages to her, but she was not favored and rarely saw Emperor Kangxi. She could only go to people around Emperor Kangxi. After a while, she was looked down upon and her reputation was affected. Moreover, the messages could not always be delivered to Duanjing.

Later, she went to the princes and concubines who accompanied the emperor. Even Yinxiang helped deliver the messages a few times, but she couldn't always meet the princes, and not all the other concubines were willing. Moreover, when delivering messages in this way, Consort Bu only dared to speak of everyday matters.

After the princess married into Mongolia, her only contact with the capital was through the Court of Colonial Affairs, and her maternal family could not provide any assistance.

So although she and Bu Chang had corresponded over the years, it did not alleviate their longing for each other. She wondered how Bu Chang had managed to get along with her tenth sister, which made her feel at ease writing so much.

Duan Jing held the letter, about to say thank you, when Yi Huan interrupted her: "Third Sister, there's no need to thank me. What you have today may well be my future."

Yi Huan overlooked the fact that Bu Changzai had been lingering around her and Yi An's residence day after day. If it weren't for someone mentioning it, the two sisters wouldn't have known. She also overlooked the fact that Bu Changzai had somehow managed to prepare such lavish gifts for the sisters' birthdays.

Duan Jing opened her mouth, but only nodded.

Qingwan, however, somewhat disagreed with going to see Yihuan, but Yihuan smiled at her indifferently.

After asking some more questions about the Crown Prince's son, Hongxi, Duanjing got up to leave. Before leaving, she said to the two of them, "Thank you so much, sister and sister-in-law, for being so considerate of me today."

Whether it was Yi Huan holding back in front of Garzang, or Qing Wan having prepared toiletries in advance, no one else was invited into the room.

Yi Huan looked at Duan Jing, who had already turned away, and suddenly said, "Third Sister, face is not something others give us."

Duan Jing remained silent for a while before calmly saying, "My husband isn't actually a very good person, but Father Khan said that I am a princess of the Qing Dynasty and should prioritize the greater good."

She touched her earlobe. Although she had married into Mongolia, she still maintained the Manchu custom of wearing multiple earrings on one ear. Now she suddenly felt a little pain and whispered, "My father used to ask about my ear piercings in his letters." Her words were barely audible; though she said it was an explanation to Yi Huan, it sounded more like she was talking to herself.

Duan Jing spoke calmly, as if she were talking about someone unrelated. After she left, Yi Huan gave a bitter smile: "I heard in the palace that Third Sister was not doing well, but I didn't know what was wrong with her. The ladies would only avoid talking about it with us."

So before I saw her, I thought a lot about how to comfort her. Now, as the words finally come to my lips, I realize how powerless I am.