The Qing Palace Never Meets Spring

In the palace, in the princes' quarters.

Yinxiang was practicing calligraphy, but he had only made two or three strokes when the eunuch Zhang Rui entered and said, "Your Highness, the Crown Prince is coming this way."

Yinxiang put down his pen with a hint of regret: "I understand, I'll go meet him now." He already had a guess about the Crown Prince's intentions.

Sure enough, upon meeting the Crown Prince, Crown Prince Yinreng greeted him with a broad smile:

"Thirteenth brother, I've come here today especially to congratulate you. Your marriage is finally settled."

"I hope my thirteenth brother isn't unhappy about this marriage, considering his wife's family background is somewhat inferior to your other sisters-in-law."

The Crown Prince's words sounded reasonable, but Yinxiang, who had been by his side for a long time, was certainly aware of their deeper meaning.

He didn't rush to reply, but instead greeted Yinreng before leading him into the house, expressing his gratitude as he personally poured tea for him.

"What makes you say that, Second Brother? The marriage that Father has arranged is naturally the result of careful consideration. Moreover, Marhan and Second Brother have a history together. My being able to get this marriage must be due to Father's good intentions."

Yinreng, watching his actions, patted Yinxiang on the shoulder and said:

"Marhan and Uncle..." Yinreng seemed to realize he had said the wrong thing, and continued, "The relationship with Songgotu has always been good, and he even married one of his daughters to Songgotu's grandson. Now, Father Khan has betrothed his youngest daughter to you as his primary consort."

Thirteenth brother, there are some things I need to ask you to do.

Yinxiang gently swirled the teacup in his hand, watching the water ripple in circles, and slowly said, "Don't worry, Second Brother."

Now that the Crown Prince had spoken with Yinxiang, he was satisfied and spoke in a more gentle tone: "Then I'll have to trouble you, Thirteenth Brother."

Yinxiang smiled slightly and gestured for him to try his cooking: "Second brother, please try my cooking."

The prince laughed and said, "You didn't boil the water or brew the tea. You just poured it into the cup. I'm afraid I won't be able to appreciate your skills."

Yinxiang couldn't help but smile: "Next time, next time I will definitely let my second brother taste my cooking."

However, after the imperial decree of marriage was issued, Yinxiang once visited the Minister's residence on an auspicious day according to the rites.

That day, Qingwan sat in her courtyard listening to the noise coming from outside. Beside her were her head maid Muxiang, Chenxiang, and the nanny who served Li Jia.

Chenxiang, being younger and more lively, kept looking curiously towards the main courtyard and said to Qingwan, "Miss, you are really calm. I see that you don't show the slightest curiosity on your face. Aren't you really curious about what the Thirteenth Prince looks like?"

Qingwan ran her hand over the Eastern pearls on the newly delivered crown of the prince's consort, and said leisurely, "There are ten Eastern pearls on this crown. If it were up to me, I probably would never have come across such pearls in my entire life. But now I have not only come across them, but so many of them. How unexpected!"

So there's no point in being curious; it's already a done deal, and we'll see it sooner or later. Besides, what can I do even if I'm curious? Am I supposed to sneak off to see it?

Today, it's not just this gentleman who's here; there are also Grand Ministers, retiring ministers, guards, and military commanders accompanying him. As the saying goes, accidents usually happen in this situation.

An arranged marriage was already an unexpected event for me; I can't afford any more surprises.

On the day the engagement was finalized, the mansion was still bustling with activity. The emperor's bestowed gifts and the family's engagement banquet all demonstrated that the mansion had secured an excellent marriage.

Every moment of excitement was related to her marriage, yet every moment had nothing to do with her.

A year is enough time for Qingwan to go from being apprehensive and anxious about the marriage to being completely indifferent.

In the forty-fourth year, Emperor Kangxi took Yinxiang with him on his southern tour in February and his tour of the border regions in May. When they returned to the capital, it was on the eve of their marriage. On that day, Qingwan had just turned nineteen, while Yinxiang's nineteenth birthday was still half a month away.

The day before her wedding, her dowry had already been sent to the palace. Early that morning, the commander of the infantry led his men to clear the road.

When the auspicious hour arrived, Qingwan bid farewell to her parents and was helped by a female official into a sedan chair carried by eight people. The procession was not removed until they arrived at the prince's residence.

Qingwan had been like a puppet, manipulated by the ladies-in-waiting around her. Now that she had finally sat down, she let out a long sigh of relief before removing her red veil.

As the surroundings quieted down, she guessed that Yinxiang must have entered the room. Sure enough, she heard the voices of the noblewomen waiting inside, and then the red silk on her head was taken off.

Qingwan looked up at Yinxiang and found that Yinxiang was also looking down at her. Before she could think about it, a female official came to serve the two of them some fertility cakes and to perform the nuptial ceremony.

After everyone had left, Yinxiang approached her. Qingwan looked at the face that had suddenly loomed large in front of her and forced herself not to turn her head away.

As their breaths mingled, illuminated by the red candlelight, even the two who had just met felt a surge of tenderness. Unfortunately, the words spoken by the person before Qingwan were rather inappropriate:

"You should wash your makeup off."

Qingwan was taken aback by Yinxiang's words. Suddenly realizing that her face must look rather unpleasant, she couldn't help but smile.

Yinxiang was somewhat surprised and curious about her performance. He exchanged a glance with her and was about to say something when he heard someone calling from outside:

"Thirteenth Brother, if you don't come out soon, I'm going in to get him."

Then came a burst of laughter. Some people called him Thirteenth Master, while others called him Thirteenth Brother or Thirteenth Younger Brother.

Yinxiang glanced outside, rubbed his forehead in annoyance, and then said to Qingwan, "I'm going out to greet the guests." When he reached the door, he seemed to remember something and turned back to instruct, "I already asked someone to prepare some food. You can have something to eat first."

He left without waiting for Qingwan's reply.

Qingwan listened to the fading noise outside the door and was somewhat surprised by Yinxiang's thoughtfulness. However, she was indeed hungry, as getting married was truly a physically demanding task.

Yinxiang had just left the house when Muxiang entered: "Fujin (wife)."

Qingwan paused for a moment, as if trying to figure out who the "Fujin" was referring to, before getting up and sitting down at the dressing table: "Your address almost caught me off guard. In just one day, even your status has changed."

She brought only two maids, Muxiang and Chenxiang, with her when she entered the palace. They were servants sent by the prince's wife's family because she thought that Yinxiang would soon be able to leave the palace and live in his own household.

Mu Xiang just smiled and helped her sit down. When Mu Xiang helped her remove her jewelry, she asked, "Why do I only see you? Where is Chen Xiang?"

Mu Xiang kept working: "The eunuch next to the Thirteenth Prince, Zhang Rui, called her away, saying he was going to get some food."

When Chenxiang returned, Qingwan had already changed into more comfortable clothes. Chenxiang first called out "Fujin" before taking bowls and plates out of the food box.

Qingwan still remembered to ask, "Have you asked them if they've prepared any hangover soup?"

Chenxiang replied, "Replying to the Lady, it has been prepared."

Qingwan was relieved.

Later, when Yinxiang returned to the room reeking of alcohol, Qingwan was so bored that she was about to rummage through the books in her dowry chest.

She noticed that although Yinxiang smelled strongly of alcohol, his eyes were still clear and his steps were steady, so she said, "Master, please drink the hangover soup first before you wash up."

Yinxiang didn't speak, he just nodded. The first thing he saw when he entered the room was Qingwan sitting there with her hair down, looking bored.

When he first saw Qingwan smile, he thought that if she washed off the inappropriate makeup, his wife would be a beauty, and he was right.

After Yinxiang finished washing up, the two lay on the bed. As Yinxiang reached to untie her clothes, Qingwan was still recalling how the drawings in the notebooks that Li Jiashi had shown her the day before were done.