The Qing Palace Never Meets Spring

The two smiled at each other, and after a moment, Yi An suddenly said, "Sister-in-law, just call me by my name. Don't call me Princess anymore, and don't... call me Wen Ke either."

Although Qingwan was puzzled, she still called out "Yi'an".

Yi An smiled slowly again, her smile revealing her disappointment: "When we were in the palace, before the imperial decree was issued, Yi Enie called me Wen Ke. I'm not surprised that Yi Enie knew my title in advance, but she never called me by my name again after that."

Later, I went from being the Eighth Princess to Princess Wenke. So many people were called Wenke that I almost forgot I even had a name.

"Was your name given to you by the Emperor?" Qingwan understood why Yi'an was so insistent on having her call her by her name.

A woman's name is not easily revealed, let alone a princess's, especially in recent years. Before the conquest of China, at least several princesses and empresses had their names passed down to posterity, but now...

“No.” Yi’an shook her head: “Actually, it was made up by me. Princesses are different from princes. Most princes have their names decided by the Ministry of Rites and then approved by their father.”

Since it cannot be recorded, and a title is bestowed upon the newlyweds during the wedding ceremony, some favored concubines would also request this favor, and the Khan would generally not refuse.

Although Ene was not as favored as Consort De and Yi Ene were in their youth, Father Khan still granted her request when she asked. However, Ene had not read many books and could not recall any classical allusions; she simply begged me and my sister…”

"Peace and joy."

"Peace and joy."

The two spoke at the same time, and Qingwan continued, "What mother doesn't hope that her children will live a peaceful and happy life?"

"Yes, although my mother is intelligent, she is not very shrewd. In her last few years, she was even bedridden due to illness, so she was unable to make any plans for us. We can only entrust our wishes to her name."

However, after my younger sister was born, I read some books and thought that her name probably meant "Enjoy life to the fullest when you're successful."

History books won't record our names; they'll just summarize our lives with a simple statement like, "In the 47th year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign, Princess Heshuo Wenke married Prince Consort Cangjin."

Now that Qingwan understood Yi'an's meaning, she would no longer bring up the rules. So she took Yi'an's hand and said solemnly, "The Thirteenth Prince and I will remember, remember your names, and remember that this is our motherly love for the two princesses."

Seeing her actions, Yi'an recalled that when the marriage was first arranged, she and Yi Huan were naturally extremely curious. However, it was unclear whether Yinxiang was simply not curious and hadn't inquired, or whether he was curious and inquired but deliberately kept them hanging. In any case, the two of them couldn't get a single word about Qingwan from Yinxiang.

In the end, they had no choice but to ask around themselves, but the result was both laughable and pathetic, and the two sisters were ridiculed by Yinxiang once again.

The eunuch who had delivered the message returned and told them:

"In response to Your Highness, the Minister's family has produced seven fairy daughters, and our Princess Consort is the seventh. She also has an older sister from the same mother who married the third son of Lord Yisang'a."

This sixth young lady was known for her fiery temper. Although Madam Wuyunzhu was a first-rank noblewoman, she was implicated by Suo'etu.

So after Lord Isanga passed away, he and his first wife had two sons and then turned their attention to Lady Uyunzhu.

Who would have thought that this sixth young lady was not a kind-hearted person? She went to each of them's doors to scold them...

In short, this little eunuch, as if he were personally present, exaggerated the story of how the sixth daughter of the Marhan family outwitted Iduli's two half-brothers.

It wasn't until then that Yi'an and the other person couldn't help but ask, "What about his seventh daughter? We asked you to inquire about his seventh daughter, why did you talk so much about his sixth daughter?"

Under their persistent questioning, the young eunuch stammered, "I really haven't found out anything about his seventh daughter. I only heard that the imperial concubine selection in 2004 was postponed due to illness."

"But this servant thinks that since they share the same mother, perhaps we can glean some insight into the Seventh Miss's personality from the Sixth Miss."

The two found this both amusing and reasonable, as most of the daughters-in-law chosen by Kangxi were related to the royal family to some extent.

Even more remarkably, the Fourth and Eighth Prince's wives were originally women from the imperial clan. The Fourth Prince's wife's mother was the great-granddaughter of Chu Ying, the first son of Emperor Taizu, and the fourth daughter of Mu Eryou, who had been stripped of his title as a Prince of Gushan. Because her father was stripped of his title, she was unable to obtain the title of a member of the imperial clan and later married Fei Yanggu as his second wife.

The Eighth Prince's wife, Enie, was the daughter of the late Prince An, Yue Le. She was granted the title of Heshuo Gege upon marriage, and the Guoluo clan had been linked to the imperial family through marriage for generations.

These people are easy to find out, but Qingwan's family is different. Her family has never even had a girl who left her name tag, and there's no news of where this girl often goes or who she's on good terms with.

When the little eunuch first started talking about Jingwan, the Yi'an sisters were worried about how they would get along if Qingwan was the same way.

The siblings are both the type who respond better to gentle persuasion than force; if they were to confront each other head-on, things could get quite interesting.

Fortunately, as we got to know each other, I discovered that Qingwan's personality was just like her name. She would quietly listen to you with a smile, only speaking occasionally. Being around her made me feel calm.

In her several encounters with the Third Princess Consort, she thought she should speak up for her, after all, she was a princess and did not have the same concerns as Qingwan.

Moreover, because of the previous princes, the two should be closer to the Crown Princess. However, the Crown Princess is the third prince's cousin's niece. The two have known each other since childhood and have been sisters-in-law for many years. If Qingwan really has a conflict with the third prince, it is hard to say who the Crown Princess will side with, because the Crown Princess knows in her heart that no matter what she does, it will not affect the previous relationship.

Unexpectedly, Qingwan would only respond with a few light "Is that so?" or "What do you mean by that, Third Sister-in-law?" without taking the bait. It was unclear whether she was genuinely naive or just pretending, but she was definitely someone who could infuriate the Third Princess's temperament.

And then there's Yinxiang's temper; only someone like him could control him.

If Yinxiang knew what Yi'an was thinking, he would probably cry foul. In the past year, Qingwan had given him the cold shoulder every single time.

Looking at Qingwan's focused gaze after making her promise, Yi'an suddenly felt a sense of anticipation for a child who resembled Qingwan.

She liked Qingwan's eyes from the first time she met her, especially when she smiled, which made people want to get close to her.

Therefore, it would be best if the child's eyebrows and eyes resembled Qingwan's, so that when he angered his father, he would stare innocently at his father with those eyes that resembled his forehead.

If it were a son, Yinxiang could probably discipline the child if he hardened his heart, but if it were a daughter, Yinxiang would feel as helpless as he did with her and Yihuan.

Yinxiang could still say a few words to his daughter and Yihuan to annoy them, but it was different with his daughter. Yinxiang couldn't keep putting on a blank face like he did with his sisters to annoy them.

She felt a mix of anticipation and regret. She was to depart the day after tomorrow. Although there was an opportunity to return to the capital to visit her family, these were uncertain. She might only find out who the possible child would resemble from letters.