Chapter 14 Two Tigers Fight

The mansion was bustling with activity that day, and everyone's face was beaming with joy. But in Yixiu's room, the atmosphere was as if frozen. Yixiu, wearing a headband, leaned against the headboard without saying a word, her face terribly grim. She was covered with a thick brocade quilt, but she still felt as if she had fallen into an ice cave, her body stiff and icy.

These days I've been in a daze, sometimes even unable to distinguish between day and night. I don't know if I'm living in a dream or reality. In my nightmares, I see either my hateful stepmother, or my resentful sister, or sometimes Honghui crying in my arms, or my mother who sent me into the mansion with tears in her eyes.

The nightmare that had plagued her every night, preventing her from sleeping, suddenly and without warning disappeared today, taking with it her recurring headaches. But as Jianqiu recounted the events of the past month to her, she felt that her headaches had not truly healed and were showing signs of flaring up again.

Now that Lady Lü is also pregnant, there are suddenly three pregnant women in the mansion.

That's not important. What's important is that Emperor Kangxi passed away today! Prince Yong ascended the throne, and in principle, the household should have started making preparations for the late emperor's funeral and the arrangements for his entry into the palace long ago. These are things that Yixiu, as his primary consort, should have been concerned about.

Now all these matters are firmly in Nian Shilan's hands!

She is the legitimate wife, the prince's true wife, and in the future, she will only be the emperor's one and only empress and empress dowager.

This is the only asset she currently has that allows her to suppress Nian Shilan. But if even attending the late emperor's funeral and settling the harem after the emperor's ascension to the throne are all done by Nian Shilan, Yixiu dares not imagine what her situation will be like after entering the palace, or how confident she will be in facing her in the future.

She absolutely cannot let that happen.

But Nian Shilan wouldn't give up so easily. At this moment, she was personally leading Songzhi ahead to keep an eye on things. It wasn't appropriate to dress up too much while in mourning, but even the white cloth and silk flowers couldn't hide her stunning beauty.

At this moment, she was watching the servants move things around with her eyebrows slightly furrowed, pacing back and forth, pondering what was missing.

"You all need to be careful in your work. If anything goes wrong, you'll lose your heads! If anything is missing, just ask Zhou Ninghai for it. It doesn't matter how much money it costs. You must handle this matter perfectly and not embarrass the Prince."

With her long-standing authority and stern reprimand, the crowd nodded in agreement.

She has spent a lot of money on this job, using the best of everything. Money flows out like water, but she doesn't feel any heartache. Instead, she feels increasingly gratified.

As expected, only she could help the prince at this time, and she was the woman who should stand by his side the most.

That old woman from the Ulanara clan only knows how to hide her head in the courtyard. She is not worthy of being the prince's wife, much less the head of the harem!

——

With his ascension to the throne imminent, Yinzhen moved directly into the palace. However, the rest of the family members in his residence had to wait until after the enthronement ceremony, when the Emperor and Empress discussed their ranks and assigned palaces, before they could enter the palace. Now, they were constantly shuttling between the palace and the Yongqin Prince's residence.

Fortunately, Lü Yingfeng was pregnant, which spared her from this ordeal. She only needed to kowtow for the first few days before returning home.

However, Hongzhao and Hongjin could not escape this fate. As princes and princesses, they had to kneel from beginning to end during the funeral. Fortunately, they were still young, only three years old. Even the most strict palace rules would not be so extreme. Every time it was halfway through, the wet nurses would give the signal to take the two children to the back hall to rest.

Although Lü Yingfeng felt sorry for them, she knew that royal children were not flowers raised in a greenhouse. These were things they had to go through, so she could only hold her belly and force herself not to look at the two small figures.

After Yixiu recovered, she tried to persuade Nian Shilan to take over the household management several times, using both soft and hard tactics. Her words implied that she was the legitimate wife and the future empress, and that Nian Shilan, as a concubine, had reached the limit of her authority.

However, Nian Shilan refuted her every time with ease.

“You have been lying in bed these past few days, and the Prince has entrusted the Prince’s residence to me. I have personally taken care of everything and dared not neglect anything. Now that the Princess Consort has just recovered, I am afraid that if she were to take over rashly, she would be at a loss. At this time, it is better not to trouble the Prince.”

Her words always infuriated Yixiu, making her even more smug.

Yixiu is in good health, and she naturally cannot be absent from the late emperor's funeral. There is a distinction between elders and juniors, especially in the royal family. Even if she cannot take charge for the time being, it is still Yixiu who stands at the front and leads everyone in the household to kneel in worship.

Nian Shilan twisted the handkerchief to pieces behind her, but there was nothing she could do. After all, Ulanara Yixiu had such a good aunt.

Fortunately, she had a good aunt. After seeing her haggard-looking niece the day before, Consort De brought ginseng soup and knocked on the door of the Imperial Study that very evening.

The next morning, Yinzhen walked up to Yixiu and looked at the large group of people kneeling behind her, all of whom were behaving themselves without causing any trouble. He then looked at Yixiu at the front, her head bowed, her eyes glistening with tears, and her eye rims flushed with a faint red, which was particularly noticeable against her still somewhat pale face.

He placed his hand on Yixiu's shoulder and gently squeezed it, his voice calm and unreadable—"This illness came on fiercely, and it's made you lose a lot of weight."

Yixiu felt the touch on her shoulder and silently dabbed away the tears from the corners of her eyes with her handkerchief. "I am much better now, but you look so tired and red in the eyes. My body is really too weak to help you at this time."

Yixiu has grown older, but her appearance hasn't aged much. Yinzhen looked at her dressed in plain white; the last time he saw her dressed like this was... at Chun Yuan's funeral.

Thinking of this, a hint of sadness appeared deep in his eyes. Recalling his mother's words last night, and looking at Shilan kneeling behind Yixiu, secretly raising her eyes to look at him, he sighed imperceptibly.

"Now that you're better, you can take care of everything. If there's anything you can't handle, Shilan can assist you."

No matter how turbulent the situation within the mansion was, it remained calm on the surface. These words were like a pebble thrown into water, instantly stirring ripples in everyone's hearts.

With the prince's word, Nian Shilan, however unwilling, had no choice but to relinquish power in a huff.

Yixiu regained control of the household, but the mess she took over halfway through her life caused her so much worry that she almost grew white hair.

Normally, it might be a fight between the Kings of Hell, with the lesser demons suffering the consequences. But now, the daily rivalry between Yixiu and Nian Shilan is quite entertaining, giving everyone, especially the three pregnant women, a chance to catch their breath.

With this pause, it was time to discuss the positions of everyone.