The Qing Palace Never Meets Spring

Yinxiang returned early today, hoping to have dinner with Qingwan.

But when he returned, neither the Fourth Prince's wife nor Ningyin had left yet, so he turned around and went to see Mingxin and Hongchang.

Afterwards, Qingwan didn't say anything. Yinxiang wasn't just Moyaqi's father, so she couldn't go too far.

But the next morning, Yinxiang came to the main room early.

Qingwan simply told the story of the imperial concubine: "Grandmother and the Empress have bestowed a concubine upon the Master. She is a bondservant of the Han Eight Banners. I have not yet met her."

"They should be here in the next couple of days. Let me see if there's anything else I can arrange."

Yinxiang stood in front of Qingwan's bookshelf, looking at her storybooks: "What arrangements can I make? You can handle it as you see fit."

Qingwan smiled and said, "My other brothers all have Han women or Han Bannermen concubines in their mansions, but I don't have any here."

I wonder what kind of person she is. My strongest impression of Han Chinese women is Consort Wang. Could she be someone like Consort Wang?

Consort Wang was the son of Yinlu and others. Emperor Kangxi was always stingy with the rank of Han women, so although she gave birth to three princes, she only received the allowance for the rank of consort this year, but was not officially conferred a title.

However, since the palace also addressed her as "Princess Wang," neither Emperor Kangxi nor the other concubines in the inner court said anything, so Qingwan and the others followed suit and addressed her as "Princess Wang."

When Yinxiang heard her say that, he smiled with a somewhat ambiguous expression: "Princess Consort, she is not comparable to ordinary people, let alone a bondservant of the Manchu banner."

Qingwan glanced at Yinxiang with some surprise: "That's true, after all, the Princess Consort is Li Xi's cousin."

Yinxiang chuckled: "Didn't you know that a few years ago when Father Khan went to the south of the Yangtze River, he helped the concubines in the palace find their biological parents?"

“I vaguely heard my father mention it. Could it be that he is looking for the Princess’s family? But isn’t she a respectable woman, and she has connections with the Li family in Jiangnan?”

If not, how could someone of her status have entered the palace?

"Why not? As long as Father is happy, that's all that matters. The Jiangnan girls sent by the Cao and Li families have not only entered the palace, but also other people's homes."

Qingwan seemed to be deep in thought. As far as she knew, there shouldn't be any of the married Yintao, Yinxiang, and Yinzhen in the courtyard.

The reason there was no gift in their courtyard was probably not because they hadn't sent anything, but because the three of them hadn't yet established their own residences.

As for the others, she hadn't heard of them. It seemed that either they hadn't been given a house or they had no official status. The wives wouldn't talk about such things openly, so she was afraid that not all of these people were commoners.

Thinking of this, Qingwan looked at Yinxiang with a more thoughtful expression. Before Yinxiang could realize it, she lowered her eyelids.

Today is the 20th. After a while, Fuling and Yingyu also came to pay their respects. Yinxiang did not avoid them, as he rarely did so when several people came to pay their respects.

So when Fuling and the other woman saw him, they couldn't help but take a second look, wondering if something was wrong.

Yinxiang didn't care about cleaning the house yesterday, but the two of them did.

Qingwan asked the two women to sit down, and as usual, asked them a few questions about their health and the baby's well-being, then left them to their own devices.

However, Yinxiang went to Fuling yesterday, and it seems he has told her about the child and himself.

As for Yingyu, she was preoccupied with the possibility of having a child and had no idea what to say to Yinxiang.

She knew that her head maid was Qingwan's person, but so many days had passed and Qingwan hadn't made a move, which made her uneasy.

When Yinxiang saw that they had fallen silent for so long, he couldn't help but wonder what they were doing, since they used to stay for much longer periods of time.

One reason why Fuling and the other two haven't left yet is that Yinxiang is still there, although they have nothing to say to each other.

Another reason was to wait for Qingwan to tell them why she had cleaned the house yesterday, even though they already had their own guesses.

Fortunately, the silence didn't last long before Chenxiang said, "Li Shi has arrived. Would the two masters like to see her?"

Li Shi? Fu Ling and Ying Yu suddenly looked outside, while Qing Wan looked at Yin Xiang: "Does Your Highness wish to see her?"

Yinxiang nodded: "Let her in."

As soon as Li entered the room, Qingwan couldn't help but be amazed, and even Yinxiang, who was used to seeing beautiful women, took a second look.

Although her features were just those of an ordinary beauty, her captivating eyes were mesmerizing, and it was surprising that such a unique beauty was not included in the imperial harem.

Qingwan's gaze at Li was too direct, and Li lowered her head, even the exposed part of her neck turned red.

Upon seeing this, Qingwan couldn't help but sigh, "She looks so pitiful."

Fuling and Yingyu were unaware of the deeper meaning behind the words. They only felt that Qingwan was praising Li's beauty, and they were initially resentful. If even Qingwan felt this way, then Yinxiang, this man, must feel even worse.

With such a beautiful woman appearing, Qingwan was probably getting restless and would also be eager to watch the spectacle.

For a moment, both of them had their own thoughts.

Li Shi had studied at home since childhood. After hearing Qingwan's words, she bit her lip and looked at Yinxiang.

Yinxiang clapped his hands and laughed at Qingwan's words: "In that case, how about I give her to you? She will serve you from now on, and you just don't hide from me and scold me."

I feel pity for him, let alone this old scoundrel.

Qingwan chuckled lightly: "Those sitting here are all your concubines, Your words have only made me resentful."

"It's alright, you're the master anyway. And this is yours." Yinxiang pointed to Li Shi.

Yinxiang and Qingwan's jokes frightened Li Shi so much that her face turned pale. Qingwan lifted her chin, making Li Shi look even more pitiful.

She withdrew her hand and smiled, "It was precisely because of Fucha that Mama and the others felt that Master had been wronged, so they specially chose this person."

If they really come to serve me, I'm afraid I'll be forced to kneel before the ancestors in the inner palace tomorrow.

Besides, with such a beauty, would I really bear to part with her?

How could Yinxiang be reluctant to part with them? These people could lack anything but women.

In other words, he hasn't been assigned a flag yet. Otherwise, he could have selected his favorites under his own flag, submitted their names, and simply put down the signboard.

Emperor Kangxi had always indulged them in these matters.

Although he was joking and laughing with Qingwan, Yinxiang found it boring to stay with them, so he got up and prepared to go to the study: "There's nothing to be reluctant about. I'm not exactly a person who cherishes women."

Also, I asked Physician Xiao He to come over later to check on Ping An's pulse.

His younger brother is in school; prepare some useful items for him.

These things used to be managed by people around Yinxiang, but today they specifically instructed Qingwan to do so, and Qingwan naturally agreed.

It was only because He Lin and Yinxiang had a good relationship that they were able to be so readily available.

Since Yinxiang had already gotten up, Qingwan naturally had to see him off with the others. Only after Yinxiang left did Qingwan allow Li Shi to sit down.

"Don't worry, my master and I were just joking around. I can't bear the title of someone who only serves me."

Have you learned all the rules?

"Yes, I've already learned it," Li replied softly.

"It's good that you've learned it. The palace has strict rules, so don't go out and run around. We also have several children here. It doesn't matter what they do, but if the children are hurt, it will definitely bring disaster to their families."

As long as it doesn't involve children, both Thirteenth Master and I are good-natured people.

"Yes, I understand."

Qingwan nodded and looked at Fuling again. Fuling had already guessed some things from her words and from Yinxiang's act of calling He Lin over.

He agreed when Qingwan stared at him.

Seeing this, Qingwan waved for the three of them to leave.