The Qing Palace Never Meets Spring

On the first day of the fifth month, Emperor Kangxi led his men to Mongolia in the morning, and at noon, his tenth wife gave birth to a son.

Yinzhi favored his concubine, Lady Guoluo, so it took many years after their marriage for the Tenth Prince's wife to have their first child.

The first three sons were all born to Lady Guoluo. The eldest son died in the month he was born, the second son died in February of this year, the third son was fine, but the fourth son, who was also born to a concubine, died shortly after birth.

Therefore, Yinzhen now only has one son and one daughter alive, making the pregnancy of the Tenth Prince's wife particularly crucial. She has hardly left the house since she found out she was pregnant.

Fortunately, the Tenth Prince's wife gave birth to the child safely. After the news was reported to the palace, even the Empress Dowager praised it and rewarded her with many gifts. On the third-day celebration, she sent Qingwan and two other women who lived in the palace and had received an imperial decree to visit the Tenth Prince's wife to take the gifts.

Although they were not from the same banner, the Tenth Prince's wife often went to the palace to talk with the Empress Dowager, and the Empress Dowager was closer to her than to the other granddaughters-in-law.

A few days later, Yinzhi's concubine, Lady Mao, gave birth to Yinzhi's only daughter, thus making Yinzhi a man with both a son and a daughter.

Both of these are major events. The scale of the full moon celebration for Yinzhi's daughter should not be as grand as that for the princes born to the Tenth Prince's wife.

But the Eighth Prince's wife had been holding back for so many years. She had already made a big deal out of the First Prince's affair, and now she was doing the same for her daughter. However, Qingwan and the others would definitely not go there again, but would only send someone with gifts.

If we ask Qingwan to calculate, no matter what is done about the child, the reputation of the Eighth Prince's wife will be inescapable.

The reason why Yinzhi had no children was because his wife was jealous. Now that Yinzhi has had two children in one year, the outside world is probably even more convinced that the reason why Yinzhi had no children for so many years was because of his wife.

Otherwise, how could the virtuous Eighth Prince's wife have given birth to two children?

Fortunately, the Eighth Prince's wife's maternal family is considered part of the Prince An's household, so there won't be any situation where the Eighth Prince's wife alone affects the unmarried women in her maternal family.

After all, the marriage of a princess from the imperial family was never decided by her family.

Not long after Kangxi left, the Empress Dowager led the concubines who remained in Beijing to Changchun Garden to escape the summer heat, and the palace became quiet. Once the two children were a month old, the rare liveliness disappeared.

The few people, including Qingwan, who remained in the palace, also gave up visiting each other to chat and relieve boredom, and instead stayed in their rooms guarding the ice basin.

During Kangxi's expedition to the border, a minor incident occurred: the eighteenth prince, Yinzhi, fell ill, prompting Kangxi to make a special trip back to visit him.

Imperial physicians from the palace rushed to the imperial palace in droves, and medicinal herbs were being hauled there in cartloads. Such a large-scale operation made even bystanders like Qingwan anxious, let alone Consort Wang, Yinxi's birth mother.

Yi Huan returned to the palace from Changchun Garden under such circumstances, because of the matter of the Eighteenth Prince.

Kangxi also sent a message back to the Empress Dowager, saying that a consort had been chosen for Yihuan in Khorchin.

Although no one explicitly said who it was, the concubines were all discussing it. Feeling annoyed, she went to ask the Empress Dowager to let her return to the palace first.

The two of them were leaning against the eaves to cool off, and there was an opened letter on the small table next to Qingwan.

Yi Huan glanced at it and said, "Brother's letter?"

"Hmm." Qingwan covered her eyes with a handkerchief and lay down: "I asked a few children, and they said that he and the Crown Prince studied mathematics together a couple of days ago, and he plans to teach it to a few children when he gets back, especially Hongchang."

"If Khan likes this, then the older brothers have to learn it too. Now, not only do they have to learn it, but even the younger ones can't escape it."

"That's just how it is. The Emperor has so many grandchildren, he probably doesn't even recognize them all. If you can get a word in with him, it will not only be good for your brother, but also for Hongchang himself."

Yi Huan just chuckled: "Let's talk about it when my sister-in-law has a legitimate son. After all, the Emperor still values ​​legitimate sons."

To be honest, Qingwan was also thinking about this issue, and she didn't know when the next child would come, but there was no use in rushing these things.

"Did my brother say when he'll be back? I wonder how Little Eighteen is doing. How did she get sick? The letter from the other day said things weren't good."

"He didn't say when he would be back, but now that it's September, according to past practice, he should probably be back by now."

“That’s true,” Yi Huan said. “But my brother and the others are really something, they had to cause trouble by whipping the guards, which makes people gossip.”

At the end of August, Kangxi issued an edict to his ministers, saying that the princes often beat and humiliated ministers and guards. They also frequently sought out provocations and made bitter remarks to the princes and nobles.

The news quickly spread to Changchun Garden and the palace. Although it was not explicitly stated which prince it was, it was said to be a prince who had not yet been granted a title.

Among the princes who accompanied the emperor on this trip, those who had not yet been granted titles were Yinxiang, Yinzhen, Yinwu, Yinlu, and the ailing Yinxi.

Among these people, Yinxiang and Yinzhen were the eldest and had already married, so many people suspected them.

Judging from Yi Huan's reaction, it seemed that this was not a big deal, although in addition to the guards, the princes and nobles were also mentioned.

Yi Huan was a princess, and to them, even if she was older, she was still older than Kangxi's son. At most, Kangxi would scold her a few times and give her some gifts, and that would be the end of it.

Qingwan only learned about this yesterday. She was thinking about whether to send a message to Marhan to ask what Kangxi thought. Marhan had followed Kangxi for so many years, and his understanding of Kangxi was definitely not something Qingwan could compare to.

Seeing that Yi Huan brought it up, she simply asked, "How much does your brother have to do with it?"

"Let's not even talk about which prince it is. Even if it really is my brother, what does it matter?" Yi Huan's expression was very relaxed, as if she were talking about something insignificant. "It's just a few princes and guards. It's not the first time. Would Father punish his own son for them?"

No matter how kind we may seem, we are by no means benevolent people at heart.

If the Khan had to punish them every time, he couldn't punish them all. This time, he probably went too far, and then there was the matter of Little Eighteen, which angered the Khan.

It'll probably just be a couple of reprimands, don't worry.

Yi Huan's words were not empty words, nor were they just casual remarks to comfort Qing Wan.

Take Yinzhen for example. He was the richest of all the princes, as evidenced by the attire of the Ninth Prince's wife and the gifts sent by Emperor Kangxi, the Empress Dowager, and Consort Yi for their birthdays.

Everyone says he's good at making a living, but does anyone really think he's doing legitimate business? It's nothing more than forced buying and selling, and abusing his power to oppress people. Countless lives have been taken from the farms and land he owns.

Even the seemingly weak princesses who were sent to pacify the Mongols had their cases reported to Emperor Kangxi by Mongol princes for fighting over the rouge.

Qingwan thought about it for a moment and agreed. The letter was sent in early September, but it would take a few more days to arrive, so she only received it today.

The incident of whipping the guards occurred at the end of August. If something had really happened, Yinxiang would not have been in the mood to write a letter; instead, he wrote about studying mathematics with the Crown Prince.

Yi Huan only stayed for a short while before returning home. Upon returning to the palace, she went straight to the prince's quarters, but after only a brief conversation, she wanted to go back to rest.

Shortly after she left, Hongchang and Moyaqi started crying while playing. Qingwan accidentally broke the jade bracelet on her wrist while trying to comfort the children.

Perhaps it wasn't even bumped into, but it just broke.

The sound of two children crying filled her ears. Qingwan looked at the gloomy sky, a sign that a heavy rain was imminent, and she suddenly felt uneasy.