The Qing Palace Never Meets Spring

Zhang Rui, who had been waiting for a quarter of an hour, was now waiting outside the study when he heard Yinxiang's angry shout. He shuddered. Oh no, he had misjudged the situation.

He reached out to grab Zhang Chun, but his hand grasped nothing. He turned his head and saw only Zhang Chun's back.

"You bastard," Zhang Rui muttered under his breath before entering. "This servant is here. What are your orders, Master?"

Yinxiang sat on the bed, his face full of impatience: "If you don't want to work here anymore, just say so now, and I'll send you away."

“This servant deserves to die. It was all my negligence that allowed her to enter. I will have her removed immediately.”

"Your Majesty, this servant only..." Before the kneeling palace maid could finish speaking, Yinxiang glared at Zhang Rui. Zhang Rui crawled forward and covered her mouth, smiling ingratiatingly at Yinxiang, "This servant will drag her out right now."

The palace maids under Zhang Rui's command struggled fiercely, and Zhang Rui's forehead veins bulged, but he dared not show a pained expression, which looked somewhat comical.

Fortunately, Zhang Chun arrived in time with several older women to take the person away.

Zhang Rui went to see Zhang Chun, but Zhang Chun kept his head down and didn't look at him the whole time.

Yinxiang sat on the bed, coldly watching their actions. When only Zhang Rui was there, he said, "Zhang Rui, how dare you! Go and be punished yourself. If there's a next time, you'll be expelled from the palace."

"Yes, sir." Zhang Rui glanced at Yinxiang's expression and forced a smile, "Then what should Your Highness do with this palace maid?"

"Tell the Fujin (Prince Consort) to forget about it and go back to the Imperial Household Department. Tell Gada that if any more of these unruly people appear in my household, I'll send him away and he won't be able to come back." Gada was a person sent by the Imperial Household Department to manage Yinxiang's family affairs.

"Yes, sir." Seeing that Yinxiang was becoming increasingly agitated, Zhang Rui said in a low voice, "Your Highness, Shi Jia has already entered the palace."

Yinxiang grabbed a cup and threw it at him. Zhang Rui turned to take the hit before scrambling out of the room.

The next morning, Muxiang told Qingwan about it:

“Someone sneaked into Master’s study yesterday.”

"Is it the palace maid you mentioned before?"

"It was her; she caused a ruckus over there all night."

"Hmm? Master didn't accept it?" Qingwan was somewhat surprised. If Yinxiang didn't want it, Zhang Rui shouldn't have let the person into Yinxiang's study.

"No, it was taken back by the people from the Ministry of Internal Affairs early this morning. It was Gada who came to pick it up personally."

But Master, he went to Princess Shijia's room yesterday.

"Hmm." She didn't care about going to Yingyu's room; it was bound to happen sooner or later. What she cared about was the little maid who went to Yinxiang's study.

"It's good that you handled it yourself, so I don't have to bear the blame. At least returning to the Imperial Household Department will save my life."

“But Eunuch Zhang Rui,” Mu Xiang said with a smile, “is being punished in the courtyard right now. He said it was the master’s order, and the master didn’t take him with him when he went out today.”

“He’s been with the master since he was a child, and he even misunderstood his master’s intentions. He deserves a beating so that he can be more careful in the future. If he doesn’t want to do it anymore, there are plenty of people who do.”

Muxiang helped her put on the last piece of jewelry and said, "Does the Princess Consort still need to go to Yanxi Palace today?"

"Go ahead. You've been back for so many days, you should go once, otherwise there will be gossip. Serve the meal."

After finishing her meal, Qingwan slowly made her way to Yanxi Palace with Muxiang. When she arrived, Zhang Jia was there with several children, so she didn't plan to stay long so as not to disturb Consort Hui's family time.

"Greetings to my elder sister-in-law. I had just reached the door when I heard the laughter of several children, so I thought my sister-in-law must be here, and sure enough, she was."

Consort Hui was happy to have several grandchildren around her: "Get up quickly. You really are something. You were pregnant but didn't tell anyone to report to the palace earlier. I only found out when you came back."

Qingwan found it amusing. Prince Zhi had already sent the message back, so it was rather difficult for Consort Hui to put on this act of mother-in-law and daughter-in-law affection with her.

"Both Thirteenth Master and I are young and inexperienced in this matter, and I don't have any experienced people by my side."

I was so overwhelmed by the news of my pregnancy that I couldn't think of anything else. Please forgive me, my dear, please don't blame me and the Thirteenth Prince." After saying this, Qingwan was about to get up to apologize, but even she felt goosebumps when she said the last sentence.

Consort Hui naturally wouldn't actually let her get up. Lady Zhang stopped her from rising the moment she made a move, and spoke to her:

“Before my sister-in-law came, I was still thinking about you. I heard you were vomiting badly, and I was discussing with the nanny when to visit you. How could I blame you?”

Consort Hui also laughed and said, "You're quite distant with me, child. I was worried that you young people might be reckless, but now that I see you've taken good care of yourself, I'm relieved."

Qingwan said, "I should have come to pay my respects to you as soon as I got back, but I was having severe morning sickness and was afraid of losing my composure in front of you."

"We're all women, and we've all been through this, so how could I not understand? It's just..."

Consort Hui then inquired about Lady Shijia: "I heard that when the thirteenth prince was on the grasslands, he asked His Majesty for a concubine."

"Yes, she is a Manchu of the Bordered Blue Banner, Shijia clan. Once she has learned the proper etiquette, I will take her to pay her respects to my mother."

Consort Hui was playing with the prince born to Lady Zhang Jia when she heard this. Without even looking up, she said, "Why would I see her? I'm worried about you. This was personally requested by the Thirteenth Prince from His Majesty. He must be extremely satisfied. If you're not careful, I'm afraid the Thirteenth Prince will no longer care about you."

Qingwan simply placed her hand on her lower abdomen, looking completely content with her child: "I am the legal wife, how can I compete with a concubine? Besides, I am pregnant now, and I will be satisfied as long as I can give birth to the child safely and raise him to adulthood."

Furthermore, whenever I'm in public, the Thirteenth Prince always treats me with the utmost respect. My family background is inferior to that of my sisters-in-law, and I dare not ask for anything more.

Consort Hui stared intently at her, while Qingwan simply lowered her head and stroked her lower abdomen, looking quite content.

After a long silence, Consort Hui finally said, "His Majesty has indeed chosen a good daughter-in-law."

Qingwan smiled and said, "In my opinion, I am perfect in every way."

As they were talking, the little prince in Consort Hui's arms hummed twice. Qingwan had no intention of staying any longer, so she got up to take her leave, and Consort Hui did not try to keep her any longer.

After Consort Hui left, she smiled and said, "I wonder what kind of person she is. She has one set of stories in front of others and another behind their backs."

After all, she's not his biological daughter, so it's normal that she can't be truly accustomed to him. "Speaking of this, Consort Hui chuckled again, "His Majesty has gained another good daughter-in-law, and Consort Liang is probably unhappy again."

The eighth prince's wife is quite capable; even someone as temperamental as Consort Liang can be driven to speak harshly by her.

Unfortunately, she married into the royal family; no matter how good her family background was, it wasn't enough in the royal court.

Qingwan, who had already left, encountered the Eighth Prince's wife halfway there. She saw the Eighth Prince's wife from afar, and the Eighth Prince's wife stood still, as if waiting for her. She had no choice but to quickly walk over and greet her, "Eighth Sister-in-law, what a coincidence! Are you going to the palace today to pay your respects to Consort Liang?"

"Unfortunately, I heard that my thirteenth sister-in-law was coming to pay her respects to Hui'e today, so I waited for her. Even if she hadn't come, I would have gone to my brother's residence to see her today."