The Qing Palace Never Meets Spring

Then Li Jiashi talked about Guanzhu's marriage: "Guanzhu's father has recently been begging your father to arrange Guanzhu's marriage, but Guanzhu is currently in a situation where he is neither good enough for a high-ranking nor a low-ranking one, so it is not easy to arrange a marriage for him."

He'll probably beg your father to come and find you two. Fortunately, your father is sensible and won't let his son implicate his married daughter.

"But Guan Zhu is a man, which makes things much easier for him when he goes out to do things. If your father still hasn't settled things for him, he might very well approach the Thirteenth Prince and Yiduli himself."

Jingwan sneered, "Don't worry, my family doesn't have that much power. As for the Thirteenth Master..." Jingwan looked at Qingwan.

If Qingwan was unfamiliar with this younger brother, then Jingwan disliked him; it's likely that Yiduli had already been instructed on this matter.

Qingwan said, "If he is capable, even if Father and I don't need to bring it up, the Thirteenth Prince will still help him."

But if he is incompetent, then even my own brother from the same mother would be nothing more than a useless servant in the eyes of the Thirteenth Prince.

For them, it was far better to have Dingzhu's son carry on the family name than to have Guanzhu become a successful person.

After the meal, Qingwan left with Yinxiang. Yinxiang, who had been resting with his eyes closed in the carriage, said without opening them, "Your younger brother is here today too."

Qingwan had already guessed why Yinxiang said that. Guanzhu was always there when he came, and she had never seen him mention it before.

So Qingwan asked very directly, "Did my father beg for help from the master?"

"No, I just mentioned a few times that your younger brother is still in school."

Qingwan scoffed, "He doesn't seem like someone who can read. My father came from a humble background as a clerk, without any family support, and worked his way up to his current position as Minister of Personnel. It's a pity that this son he had so longed for late in life is nothing like him."

Yinxiang then opened his eyes and looked at Qingwan: "I thought you would beg me too."

"If he is capable, I would probably put in a good word for him in front of the master, even if it displeases him."

But my younger brother is fickle. If he were to rise to a high position, it might not be a good thing for my family once my father passes away.

Yinxiang's brows relaxed: "Your younger brother is young but ambitious, but unfortunately his abilities don't match his ambitions. Your father is now the Minister of Personnel, with many colleagues. If you ask me, it would be better to give him a minor official position."

You might as well look at your two nephews; at least it's not too late.

As for your brother, if I'm willing to acknowledge him, he'll be my brother-in-law; if I'm not, he'll just be a servant. Do you understand?" This echoed Qingwan's earlier words.

“I understand, Master. Don’t worry, I don’t want anything to happen to the family even more than you do. I will write to my father and talk to him again,” Qingwan said.

Yinxiang then closed his eyes to rest.

Qingwan stayed with Yinxiang at Changchun Garden until the first day of the sixth lunar month before leaving, because on that day Emperor Kangxi set off from Changchun Garden to the border region.

Qingwan watched the imperial carriage depart from afar, still feeling somewhat wistful. She had been in the carriage last year as well.

Yinxiang asked her if she would go again this year. After careful consideration, she refused. She still vividly remembered the discomfort she experienced in the carriage before she became pregnant last year, let alone after she became pregnant. So she did not want to experience it again this year.

So before leaving, she sent someone to bring Yingyu out of the palace to accompany Yinxiang. After seeing Yinxiang off, she did not stay long in Changchun Garden before bidding farewell to the Consort and others and returning to the palace.

The first person Qingwan saw after returning to the palace was Ningyin, because she was pregnant and did not go to Changchun Garden with her mother-in-law, Consort De.

"You're finally back! I was just looking for someone to talk to, but all the ladies have gone to Changchun Garden to escape the summer heat, and my sisters-in-law all went there to pay their respects. I don't have anyone to talk to in this palace."

She didn't want to go to Jingyu. After the Second Prince's untimely death, Jingyu seemed to have recovered, but her physical condition clearly indicated that she hadn't. As her pregnancy progressed, she had been lying in bed. She had visited her twice, but couldn't bear to go again.

Qingwan immediately raised her hand to stop her from moving forward: "Slow down."

After they finished speaking, they looked at each other and couldn't help but chuckle. Ning Yin laughed and said, "This time it's the other way around. I heard that Thirteenth Brother took you home?"

"You're in the palace, why do you keep asking about everything?" Qingwan said helplessly.

"Fourteenth Master said that a few days ago he suddenly mentioned that Thirteenth Brother took you home and asked me if I wanted to go home. I said of course I wanted to go home."

He hesitated for a while before finally saying, "I'll take you home to see the baby after it's born." Humph, I don't believe a word he says.

She said she didn't believe it, but she couldn't help but smile. Qingwan kept a straight face and slowly said "Oh".

Before anyone else could laugh, Ningyin's maid burst out laughing. Ningyin turned around and glared at the maid, then turned back to see Qingwan laughing as well. She got up angrily and was about to leave when Qingwan pulled her back and coaxed her again and again until she calmed her down.

Ningyin slowly sat back down, holding pastries in her hands. Since becoming pregnant, her appetite had increased considerably, but Consort De did not allow her to eat too much, fearing that the baby would be difficult to deliver when it grew too big. Therefore, she ate very little at each meal and could only eat some pastries from time to time to tide her over.

"Oh, right, there's another strange thing that you probably don't know about while you're outside the palace," Ning Yin said mysteriously.

Qingwan pretended to listen attentively, and Ningyin then said, "It seems that Eighth Sister-in-law has made peace with Consort Liang, and everyone in the palace is talking about it."

"Isn't this great?" Although Qingwan was a little annoyed by the Eighth Prince's wife's lack of boundaries last time, she was still happy for her when she heard about this.

"That's right, I think so too. Consort Liang didn't accompany the Emperor this time because she was sick, nor did she go to Changchun Garden to escape the summer heat. Not long after the Emperor and others left the palace, she summoned the Eighth Prince's wife into the palace, saying that she was attending to the sick.

My Eighth Prince couldn't visit the palace often, but his wife kept Consort Liang company. Later, when Consort Liang's condition improved, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were always together.

Eighth Sister-in-law had only been gone a few days when Consort Liang pleaded with the Imperial Concubine and others to allow Eighth Sister-in-law to return to the palace to accompany her. The relationship between Consort Liang and Eighth Sister-in-law had thawed, which the Imperial Concubine and the others were probably happy to see, so they granted the request.

I ran into the two of them in the Imperial Garden a couple of days ago. Eighth Sister-in-law is indeed very attentive to Consort Liang in every way.

"If they can really reconcile, I think it's a good thing. Their relationship has provided so much gossip in the palace. For example, aren't we talking about this right now?"

Ning Yin chuckled and quickly put down the pastry in her hand to wipe her hands: "That's true. If I stay in this palace for a few more years, I feel like I'll rust."

When someone gets into trouble, different people will talk about it back and forth, and you can't escape it yourself.

Although I didn't have so many fine clothes when I was at home, I could ride horses and shoot arrows as I pleased.

Unlike now, at least you've been to the northern frontier once. Since I married into the palace, apart from going to the garden to escape the summer heat, the farthest I've ever been is to Jingshan Park to see the lions.

He said he'd take me to see it, but the Fourteenth Prince seemed even happier than I was. I wonder when we'll finally get our own residence.

Although she had already received some information from Yinxiang, Qingwan did not tell Ningyin about the uncertainties, for fear that something might go wrong and Ningyin would be disappointed.

So she just echoed Ningyin's words for a few moments.