The Qing Palace Never Meets Spring

Yinxiang was anxious, and Qingwan was anxious too. She asked Muxiang to help her get dressed quickly and followed Yinxiang outside. When she saw the carriage outside, Qingwan didn't care about being cold and said, "Change horses."

Yinxiang would have ridden off on his own, but he was a little worried about taking Qingwan with him. Qingwan noticed his hesitation and said, "It's alright, let's hurry over and not waste any time."

The group moved quickly and caught up with Yi Huan's wedding procession outside the city. From afar, they could see Yi Huan pacing back and forth outside the carriage. Qing Wan and Yin Xiang exchanged a glance and simultaneously quickened their pace.

When the two dismounted, Yi Huan was already waiting nearby, but unexpectedly, her first words were to apologize to them.

Although it was only this one sentence, the two knew it was about Moyaqi, especially about Qingwan. Qingwan took a step closer and said easily, "Silly girl, what are you saying? Your brother and I should be thanking you."

Fourth brother and fourth sister-in-law are excellent choices for the task. Now that Moyaqi has gone to fourth brother's residence, your brother and I could rest easy.

After saying that, she turned to Yinxiang and winked. Yinxiang then said, "Your sister-in-law is right. Don't let this matter disturb your mind. Your most important thing right now is to get married in peace. It's my fault for dragging you into this whole mess with the prince consort."

Upon hearing Yinxiang's words, Yihuan finally broke into a smile through her tears: "Brother, you have such great influence. How could you possibly change such a major event as the Manchu-Mongol marriage alliance? Father must have already made his decision to choose him."

Seeing that Yi Huan had finally stopped frowning, the two felt relieved and simply comforted her.

Yi Huan comforted the two of them and then brought up Yi An's matter: "I have more good news to tell you, brother. My sister is pregnant and has submitted a petition through the Court of Colonial Affairs to return to the capital to prepare for childbirth. Father Khan has agreed, and my sister will return to the capital as soon as the weather gets warmer."

After talking for a while, Xunmei said, "Princess, it's time to go."

Yi Huan tugged at Yin Xiang's sleeve, her eyes reddening. Qing Wan couldn't bear it, so she gave Xun Mei a look, then led her people away, leaving the rest of the time to the brother and sister.

"Let them talk some more. Who knows when we'll see each other again?" Yinxiang is now not only unlikely to go to Mongolia with Kangxi, but he doesn't even know if he'll ever be able to leave again.

He hasn't been granted a separate residence yet, and he can't be confined to his own residence like Yinzhi. He can't be confined to the beekeeping alley, can he? Qingwan sighed helplessly. Yihuan could only marry amidst her worries about her brother, and there was also her own mother. She was afraid she wouldn't be able to have a good New Year this year.

After being urged repeatedly, Yi Huan reluctantly boarded the carriage. Qing Wan and Yin Xiang stood there watching Yi Huan's carriage depart. Along the way, Yi Huan kept sticking her head out, and Yin Xiang could only wave her hand from afar to signal her to stick her head back in.

Once the carriage was no longer in sight, Yinxiang said to Qingwan, "Let's go back now, it looks like it's going to snow."

Qingwan also withdrew her gaze, nodded, and the two mounted their horses, preparing to return.

After entering the city, at an intersection, Qingwan's horse slowly came to a stop. Because of the cold weather, Yinxiang, who had been paying attention to her, immediately noticed her absent-mindedness.

He followed Qingwan's gaze and saw that the road led to two places: the Fourth Prince's residence and the Zhaojia residence.

Yinxiang turned his horse around and stopped beside her. Seeing that she still hadn't come to her senses, he simply flipped over and landed behind her: "You dare to be lost in thought while riding a horse? Should I praise your riding skills to make you dare to do this?"

Qingwan simply handed the reins to Yinxiang; her current condition made it unsuitable for her to ride alone any longer. "Aren't you here?"

Fortunately, because the sky was overcast and looked like it was about to snow, there were almost no pedestrians on the road. The guards who were with the two of them also dispersed far away, keeping their eyes on the sky and the road, but not looking at the two of them.

Yinxiang hugged her tightly and said, "In the future, when there is a chance, we will go out again and visit them."

"it is good."

They talk about the future, but nobody knows when the future will be, or even if there will be a future at all.

Seeing that Qingwan had withdrawn her gaze, Yinxiang did not linger any longer.

The snow fell quickly, and soon it became heavy. Qingwan raised her hand and let the snowflakes fall into her hand and melt away. She simply tilted her head and snuggled into Yinxiang's arms to avoid the snow.

Both of them were wearing thick clothes, and there was only so much space between them. Qingwan's posture was actually a little awkward and uncomfortable, but she couldn't care less about that right now.

Yinxiang pulled his cloak tighter to cover her. When they returned to the alley, Qingwan was still dry, but Yinxiang was covered in snow.

As soon as the two entered the house, Mu Xiang and Zhang Rui watched them and forced them to drink ginger soup. Qing Wan didn't like the taste and her brows were still furrowed after she finished drinking it. Mu Xiang then stuffed a candied fruit into her mouth.

Mu Xiang's movements were so swift and smooth that Qing Wan didn't even have time to react. Only when all that remained in her mouth was the sweetness of the candied fruit did she ask, "Where did you get all of this?"

Mu Xiang seemed very busy, helping Qing Wan change her clothes and keeping an eye on Zhang Rui's movements to make him hurry up, as she was worried that if Yin Xiang caught a cold, he would infect Qing Wan, who was in the same room.

Hearing Qingwan's question, he didn't stop what he was doing: "These days, Zhang Rui and I have become familiar with the people watching outside, and they can help bring in some unimportant things."

I don’t know if it’s just my imagination, but I feel like the guards aren’t as strict as when we first arrived.

"And Songhua's father is in the Imperial Household Department. He said that these days, thanks to her father and Lord Gada's joint efforts, the Imperial Household Department has been very well taken care of. It's no wonder that the Fujin (princess's wife) treats Songhua so well, and even specially instructed the nanny to teach her."

After saying that, Mu Xiang hurriedly told Zhang Rui to fetch hot water without waiting for Qing Wan to speak.

Qingwan watched her rush out and said, "I always praised her for being steady, but look at how she's rushing out like this, it's like someone's chasing her."

Yinxiang changed into dry clothes, sat down in a chair and shook his head: "Zhang Rui really listens to you, girl. Those two are quite capable, they've become familiar with the guards outside. When I wanted to ask them to send in a couple of books, they wouldn't even talk to me."

"Perhaps it's as Mu Xiang said, the guards have loosened their grip, and who knows when they'll let us go back. In the past, we wanted to separate from the palace and go out, after all, we were free. Now we feel that staying in the palace is also good."

As for the fourteenth brother, he was expelled from the palace by the Emperor because of the eighth brother's affair. The twelfth brother is still in the palace, and the fifteenth brother and the others are still young. If we have the opportunity to be assigned to a separate household, I don't know whether we should go with the twelfth brother or wait for the fifteenth brother and the others.

Yinxiang poured a cup of tea for Qingwan before saying, "The matter of dividing the mansions had already been put on the agenda, but after this incident, it will probably have to be put on hold again."

You don't like living in the palace; I've never heard you mention that before.

"It's not that I don't like it. In the palace, I don't have to worry about anything. I just need to manage my subordinates and follow the rules."

Even the best palace is just one or two courtyards with forty or fifty rooms. You see each other all the time, and over time, friction is inevitable.

As for who he frequently encounters and with whom he has conflicts, Yinxiang must know. Sure enough, upon hearing her say this, Yinxiang craned his neck to look outside the door and said, trying to cover up his unease, "Why haven't those two come back yet?"