Return to Beijing

For the women in the backyard, life in Xijing is actually no different from that in the capital.

On the contrary, it should be easier.

Before they knew it, it was the 38th year of Xianshun. In another month, it would be the 39th year after the New Year. They had been in Xijing for almost three years.

Three years have passed, and the palace is still not much the same as it was three years ago.

First, the second girl, Yuzhen, got married.

Yuzhen's marriage had been arranged long ago, but the Eastern Palace Incident and the death of Concubine Xian kept it delayed. The previous dynasty required 27 months of mourning, but this dynasty, with its motto "A day of sincere waiting is worth a month," only required one month. However, the situation was uncertain at the time, and the family was busy moving, so the plan was put on hold, allowing Yuzhen to stay an extra year. She married at the beginning of the 38th year.

Yuzhen was married from Xijing, and her dowry was quite generous, but it was ultimately no match for her elder sister. Although Prince Xuan seemed to have no chance, it was still a princely title, and Yuzhen was the Princess of Heisei County, canonized by imperial decree. No matter what, her husband's family would never dare to neglect her.

Next, the eldest son and Yan, the crown prince and He, and the third son and Xian, all of similar age, were married. The eldest son's wife was Huo, a descendant of a military family; the crown prince's consort was Sun, the granddaughter of the former crown prince's tutor and Grand Secretary of the Wenhua Pavilion; and the third son's wife was Liang, a noblewoman from Xijing. The fourth son and Yun had also chosen a partner and were set to marry.

In addition to these grown ones, there are a few small ones in the backyard.

Wan gave birth to the sixth son, Xuan, and then to the seventh son, Ye, in Xijing. Unfortunately, the seventh son was born with a deficiency and died at the age of five months.

It seemed as if Concubine Li and Li Qingping, the sisters, became pregnant at the same time in the 37th year of Xianshun. They were both surprised and happy. Their children were Balang Jun Hezheng and Jiu Lang Jun Hechang.

However, what made people a little worried was that He Chang was not in good health and fell ill every other day. Several times, Li Qingping almost thought that she could not keep the child. She cried and cruelly asked people to prepare a small coffin in advance, but He Chang gradually got better.

Both Li Qingping and Prince Xuan felt both moved and distressed about this unexpectedly tenacious young son.

Concubine Bai gave birth to Shilangjun and Tun, but they also died in infancy.

This year, the emperor in the capital finally relented and allowed Prince Xuan to return to the capital with his family for the New Year. Of course, the family here refers to Prince Xuan's wife and adult children.

After Prince Xuan and his entourage left, Li Qingping was still left to look after the house.

Everyone has gotten used to it over the years. Li Qingping is trusted by the prince and princess, and Concubine Li also supports her. In addition, Li Qingping is indeed capable, so no one has much to say.

"Sister." After bidding farewell, Concubine Li came to Li Qingping, holding a small hand warmer. Looking at the motorcade that had become a black dot, she couldn't help but sigh, "So many years have passed in a flash. Perhaps this time when I return to the capital, everything will be different."

No matter how innocent Concubine Li was, she couldn't resist the passage of time. Li Qingping and she were both born in the third year of Xianshun, and now they were thirty-five or almost thirty-six years old. After a dozen or twenty years, some things could be seen at a glance.

Li Qingping laughed and said, "Isn't it? I've watched them fight each other in Xijing for the past few years. Now it's time for us to reap the benefits."

Prince Xuan has been retreating to advance and secretly accumulating power over the years, and perhaps the time has come for him to reap the rewards.

The current situation in Beijing is not very clear.

The emperor's health had been poor since the death of Crown Prince Qianyuan. Everyone could see that Emperor Xianshun, who had ascended the throne at the age of twenty, reigned for almost thirty-nine years, and was nearly sixty, was nearing the end of his life.

But he never appointed a second crown prince, allowing his sons to fight over who was next to him. No one knew what he was thinking. But he also didn't allow any of his sons to dominate. In the 37th year of Xianshun's reign, seeing the growing power of the Prince of Yue, he simply issued an imperial decree promoting the Prince of Ling and the Prince of Zhao to the rank of prince. Suddenly, both of his sons held the title of first-rank prince.

In recent years, the tenth prince, Prince Liang, born to Concubine Shu, and the eleventh prince, Prince Qian, born to Concubine Lan, have reached adulthood and entered the court. The princes and the ministers at court are roughly divided into several factions.

The first is the Prince Xuan faction, which appears to be non-aggressive but actually takes a step back to advance.

Even though Prince Xuan had arrived in Xijing with his entire family, many in the capital still missed him. His status as the eldest son of the emperor still held considerable weight. Furthermore, even though Prince Xuan wasn't physically present in the capital, his presence was still strong. Xijing was a crucial hub on the trade routes, and many rare treasures from the Western Regions could be seen there before they could reach the capital. Prince Xuan would often send these goods, along with Xijing's traditional ceremonials, to the emperor via express horses. He would also frequently send heartfelt letters of greeting to the emperor, earning him even more nagging attention than when he was in the capital.

As the saying goes, fragrance from afar can be smelled close, and without his son by his side, the emperor seemed to have forgotten his past misdeeds and was only thinking of his eldest son's goodness. He would mention him from time to time, and those in the capital looked at him with disdain. In short, the fact that the emperor still remembered his eldest son was enough to reassure the ministers who supported Prince Xuan.

The second group was the literati, led by Prince Su. Prince Su enjoyed great popularity among the literati due to his love of reading and writing. However, some court officials with limited vision did not take this seriously. After all, being an emperor required more than just reading and writing.

The third group was the pro-Consort Qing faction. This group primarily supported Prince Yue. Prince Chun had always followed his brother's lead, and because Consort Xiang and Consort Qing were close, Prince Tao, Xiang's son, also followed Prince Yue. In truth, Prince Yue himself didn't necessarily want to compete, but his mother's status as a living Consort, the power of his mother's and wife's families, and most importantly, the Emperor's desire to force him to compete with the Empress Dowager's son, all forced Prince Yue to stand before others and fight for a position that remained elusive.

The three children of the empress do not form their own faction. One is Prince Ling, and the other is Prince Lian and Prince Qian, who were later recruited by Prince Zhao. The empress dowager is powerless in this situation. Prince Zhao is stubborn and thinks that since they are both legitimate sons, why should he be inferior to his brother. Prince Ling also does not tolerate his younger brother. So the two brothers fell out and almost became enemies for the position of crown prince. As for the youngest son of the empress dowager, Prince E, this kid does not get close to any of his brothers. Instead, he gives gifts to his eldest brother Prince Xuan during festivals and holidays, and secretly shows more favor to him than his other brothers.

This year has been really boring.

Oh, I mean the other princes were boring. Because the emperor cared about Prince Xuan, the son he hadn't seen for three years, and ignored his other sons.

Prince Ling and the others all looked extremely unhappy, but they still had to smile as they watched the Emperor and Prince Xuan show their loving father and filial son. Only Prince Yue breathed a sigh of relief, using his wine glass to cover his mouth while drinking.

After the Chinese New Year, the emperor did not allow Prince Xuan to return to Xijing, and ordered him to accompany him to Chunxi Garden in the suburbs of Beijing at the beginning of March.

Over the past two years, the emperor has become less and less fond of staying in the palace, spending most of the year in Chunxi Garden. Since he has appointed Prince Xuan to accompany him, it is a sign that the old man's attitude has softened.

Prince Xuan seemed to truly no longer care who became crown prince, nor did he ask the emperor for a proper position. On weekdays, he would spend his free time in Prince Xuan's mansion, walking his birds and dogs, or spending a few days in the garden with his wife and children. Even when he didn't visit the palace to pay his respects, he would occasionally write a memorial to the emperor, simply mentioning ordinary matters, and occasionally sending some small, fresh gifts to the palace. The emperor praised Prince Xuan for his filial piety.

However, the relationship between Prince Xuan and the Emperor is no longer the same as before. Everything he does is just for his own benefit.

Perhaps it was because Prince Xuan's non-competitiveness was too outstanding. Looking at his sons who were constantly making moves, the emperor became angry and summoned them into the palace one by one to scold them.

"What are you scolding?"

Prince Xuan leaned back in his chair, reading a book with a nonchalant look and gesture.

Subordinates: "I heard that Prince Su was criticized for only knowing how to read and write all day long. He is a dignified prince of the first rank, but he acts like a copyist. He is not necessarily calm and composed, but impetuous and eccentric. They also said that Prince Yue is dull and stupid, and is useless. Prince Xunling is mean and treacherous. Finally, they accused Prince Zhao of not caring about brotherly love and being ambitious and greedy."

After hearing this, Prince Xuan sneered, put down the scroll and said, "Old Master, these words really hit the heart of the matter. I'm sure my brothers are not in a good mood."

It was more than just not good. When those princes and dukes left the study, their faces were pale and they were deeply shocked.

The emperor was getting old, becoming more and more suspicious, and his temper was getting worse. His most beloved son had passed away, and now he looked at his remaining sons as if they were traitors plotting to usurp the throne.

Haha, that’s the son, the rest are not. The old man is quite weird.

Prince Xuan narrowed his eyes, asked his subordinates to leave, and then asked Liang Pei'an to help him change his clothes.

However, the emperor's health had indeed been failing recently. He used to review memorials from dawn to dusk without a break, but now he'd become exhausted after just a short while. Even a stroll in the Imperial Gardens would soon lead to a sudden onset of discomfort, heartburn, sweating, and heavy breathing. Most importantly, the emperor's sleep duration had been increasing, and upon waking, he'd be completely disoriented for a while.

Prince Xuan certainly had informants within the Imperial Hospital, and while it was difficult, it wasn't impossible to obtain the Emperor's pulse. Furthermore, the Emperor's physical condition could be discerned with a bit of careful observation.

Furthermore... Prince Xuan had anticipated the emperor's current state. But this wasn't enough. Sooner or later, the emperor would become suspicious, and a drastic measure would be necessary.

Prince Xuan's eyes darkened.

Today, Yujin and Yuzhen, the two married daughters, are coming home. Especially Yujin, who hasn't seen her father, mother, and brothers for several years, has been coming more frequently these days, eager to make up for the past few years of not seeing them.

It’s just a pity that Li Qingping didn’t come back with us.

After dinner, everyone was about to go home. Seeing that my father had something to say to my eldest sister, I got on the carriage and left first.

"I heard that your relationship with Yurong has improved in recent years?"

Yu Jin nodded.

The eldest daughter of the late crown prince, Princess Yurong, had also married and was given the special title of princess when she got married. After Prince Xuan "lost the emperor's heart" and was exiled to Xijing, Princess Yurong felt that she and Yujin were in the same boat and took the initiative to get to know her cousin Yujin because she was forced to separate from her parents and relatives.

In March, the emperor set out for Chunxi Garden.

After being scolded a few days ago, the emperor saw that his sons had calmed down a lot and felt a little relieved. However, he still liked to summon Prince Xuan to accompany him the most.

That day the emperor summoned Prince Xuan again. Naturally, Prince Xuan was ordered to be a filial son.

The emperor felt bored while reviewing memorials, so he asked Prince Xuan to accompany him for a walk in the garden.

When I walked to a waterside pavilion not far away, I saw two figures sitting there.

When the two men saw the emperor's bright yellow ceremonial procession, they hurried over to pay their respects and said, "Grandsons pay their respects to the Emperor." They also paid their respects to Prince Xuan, who was standing beside them.

"My niece asks how my uncle is doing."

"My daughter asks how her father is doing."

The people who came were Yu Jin and Princess Yu Rong.

The emperor's gaze was fixed on Princess Yurong, and he couldn't help but feel a little dazed.

After the death of Crown Prince Qianyuan, he rarely saw his wife and children, to avoid their grief. They say a daughter resembles her father, and Princess Yurong bears a striking resemblance to the late Crown Prince. He hadn't expected his son's daughter to be this grown up. Back then, the Emperor had held this girl in his arms when she was born, personally naming and giving her a title. How could he not adore his beloved son's eldest daughter?

The emperor came back to his senses and asked with a smile, "Why are you two here?"

Princess Yurong gently stroked her already visibly pregnant belly and said, "This isn't my grandson's first pregnancy. I'm getting bored staying indoors, so I thought I'd go out for a walk with you and chat."

The emperor was shocked again. This child was about to become a mother. It was a pity that the prince didn't get to see the birth of his first grandchild.

The emperor slept uneasily that night and dreamed of Prince Qianyuan for the first time in a long time.

On the second day, the emperor summoned Prince Qianyuan's children to talk to him, rewarded the pregnant Princess Yurong with many things, and kept Prince Qianyuan's legitimate son by his side.

After a long time, someone spread the news that the emperor wanted to make the legitimate son of the former crown prince the crown prince, and the crown prince would inherit the throne a hundred years later!