Chapter 42 Returning to the Palace

Return to the palace

"The Crown Prince will be back in a few days. The Crown Princess should relax and take care of her health."

The Crown Princess's mother was from the Aisin Gioro clan, her father was a Dorobele, and she was also a Lady of the County.

Speaking of which, the Guarjia clan already possessed an extremely noble bloodline; if they could produce a prince…

Thinking of this, Princess Guargia sighed inwardly, what a pity.

The Crown Princess Guarjia nodded. "The imperial physician said she is much better than she was two days ago."

However, her pale face and frail body made her words unconvincing.

The frown on Guarjia Fujin's brow never loosened.

“Mother, don’t worry. Although I have suffered so much, people outside say that I am deeply in love with the Crown Prince. Even Father Emperor looks at me differently and has made an exception to make Yushu a Heshuo Gege at a young age.”

Whether it was the daughter of a prince or a prince, they were all called Gege. Only the emperor's biological daughters and adopted daughters could be granted the title of princess.

The title of Heshuo Gege was bestowed shortly before her marriage, which was already an immense honor.

“The princess is still young, you should make more plans.” Upon hearing this, Consort Guarjia said, “You only have the princess in your family. While she is still young, it is important to ask the Emperor or the Crown Prince for an imperial edict to allow the princess to stay in the capital.”

We should make plans for this sooner rather than later.

If the crown prince were to ascend the throne in the future, he would surely have to arrange a marriage alliance with the Mongols.

If it weren't for the crown prince ascending the throne, it would be a terrible thing if he were to be sent to Mongolia at the right age.

The Crown Princess nodded. "I understand."

Consort Guarjia gritted her teeth and said, "If the situation forces you to, I will have your father take a suitable boy from the clan and kneel before the Emperor to ask for a marriage between our children."

If this were to be done, the Guarjia clan would be tied to the Crown Prince's lineage. After all, someone who could marry the Crown Prince's eldest daughter must be of high status, and might even be the eldest son of the main branch of the Guarjia clan.

"Mother..." The Crown Princess's eyes stung terribly, and tears were about to fall, but were wiped away by Consort Guarjia.

"You can't cry during postpartum confinement," she said with heartache. "Don't think too much. Marrying a princess is a blessing our family could never have asked for."

The Crown Princess and her mother were discussing the future in the room, and Yinreng was also thinking about what to do in the future.

There is no legitimate son left, and there will be considerable obstacles to ascending the throne, since a legitimate heir is also a crucial element in stabilizing the court.

But then he thought of his mother, the Empress Dowager, who died in childbirth while giving birth to him.

Then he thought about the princess in his backyard, who had only had one prince and one crown princess for many years.

The Crown Princess was loyal and devoted to him, and it was he who had harmed her. He certainly couldn't depose the Crown Princess.

One can't help but sigh, "It's all about timing and fate."

However, he saved his father, so perhaps he will remember even a little bit of kindness from him.

Yinreng felt that his chances of ascending the throne were slim, so he wanted to change his strategy.

He either had to let his father bypass his son and let his grandson ascend the throne directly, or he would personally select an emperor.

Leaving aside his grandchildren, he only has one son in his household, who hasn't shown much intelligence and has little chance of standing out.

Then he could only choose from among his brothers.

Yinreng listed the strengths and weaknesses of all his brothers, and felt a headache coming on.

The brothers are all excellent, even the thirteenth and fourteenth kids who are only ten years old are performing well.

None of them can compare to himself; at least, none of them are befitting an excellent crown prince.

Headache!

Yinreng was so anxious that he kept scratching his head, but he was afraid that getting too angry would cause his wound to reopen, so he simply lay down.

Kangxi was unaware that Yinreng was thinking so far ahead. He was telling Chen Guanxue that they would set off for Beijing the day after tomorrow.

"The Crown Prince's injuries?" Chen Guanxue asked in confusion. The Crown Prince's injuries were quite serious, so why did he return so quickly?

"He's not well yet. Let him and the Crown Princess go to Xiaotangshan for a while to recover. Winter will be over by then," Kangxi said.

He sighed again, "Both of them are deficient in qi and blood. I don't know what kind of suffering they would endure if they stayed in the capital during the winter. Xiaotangshan has hot spring pools, which are perfect for recuperating."

"Although the Crown Prince's injury is not visible on the surface, the imperial physician said that if he is not properly cared for, he may have to bury his son in the future." He finished speaking and sighed again.

Chen Guanxue thought about the age at which he died, and it was indeed very possible. If he had died a few years later, it wouldn't just be the Crown Prince who would have passed away.

"With the imperial physician watching over him and nourishing food, there shouldn't be any problems," Chen Guanxue said, trying to persuade him not to stay up late reviewing memorials, so that he could get some rest.

In the end, he didn't say anything, because Fu Shou arrived.

Fu Shou was a worldly young prince. He had many cloth dolls made from the fox furs that Emperor Kangxi had hunted, and he liked them, choosing one to hug every day.

Today we brought home a baby deer.

"Oh, Fushou likes deer today, come and show them to your mother." Chen Guanxue unconsciously raised her voice when she spoke to him.

I took Fushou from the wet nurse, held him in my arms, and teased him with the little deer he had brought.

Fu Shou has a good personality. She doesn't cry or make a fuss when her things are taken away. When she covers her face and plays hide-and-seek with him, he laughs happily.

He was laughing so hard that all you could see was his toothless mouth. He was small and drooled a lot, so Chen Guanxue would tease him a few times and then wipe his mouth.

Kangxi sat to one side, watching her smile, and felt a little itchy to touch her.

However, she was playing with the child and didn't bother with making Fu Shou (a traditional Chinese New Year offering).

After looking at it for a while, she remembered the painting she was still working on yesterday, so she went behind the desk, looked at it, asked Liang Jiugong to add ink, and picked up her brush to continue the painting.

After finishing one drawing, seeing that Chen Guanxue hadn't lost patience, he took a new sheet of paper, laid it out, and drew her.

In the painting, Chen Guanxue has gentle features, holding a small deer doll and swaying it, looking both beautiful and lively.

As for blessings and longevity, Kangxi thought about it and added them anyway.

Since the mother and child had already been depicted, Kangxi, as the painter, also included himself in the painting.

This can be considered a record.

Emperor Kangxi hung up a rather impressionistic painting.

After Chen Guanxue had finished teasing him, he took the Fu Shou and handed it to the wet nurse.

“It will be cold when we return to the palace. Fu Shou’s little clothes have been made before. Weren’t you drawing the pattern for the clothes a few days ago? Go back and ask the Imperial Household Department to make them in time for winter.”

The thought of the bizarrely shaped clothes she painted gave Kangxi a headache.

It's one thing to draw a little tiger, but why draw cats and dogs too? If Fu Shou wears these every day, he'll be furious when he grows up.

"That works too."

There was no time to spare; they clearly didn't want the Imperial Household Department to do everything.

However, Chen Guanxue could go along with him on such a small matter.

What if he finds those clothes ugly and no longer likes the auspicious symbols of fortune and longevity?

It's a bit of a shame that we can't see Fu Shou wearing it anymore.

Thinking of her increasingly exquisite painting skills, Chen Guanxue smiled. It didn't matter if she didn't wear it; she could paint it herself.

The return to the palace was swift; they arrived there on the same day.

The concubines who remained in the palace were delighted, and those who went out brought back some things. For a time, many people visited each other and chatted, making it quite lively.

With snow just around the corner, Chen Guanxue took Fushou to the Imperial Garden for one last look at the maple leaves.

The green leaves turned fiery red, falling to the ground one by one, like a layer of sunset.

I also saw several young princes and princesses in the Imperial Garden.

These were all princes and princesses born after the thirtieth year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign. Their mothers were not high-ranking concubines and were not particularly noticeable in the palace.

Since Emperor Kangxi stopped entering the harem, he cherished both his biological mother and the mother who adopted him.

The children, who seemed to be pampered, were all chubby and ran around the Imperial Garden chasing butterflies.

[Author's Note]

I need to pick a day to update an extra chapter; I've been updating less frequently for the past few days. [Panda head emoji]