Concubine Qing
Every autumn, the emperor would hold an autumn hunt at the Chengde Palace. It wasn't the time yet, but the hunting grounds were there, and riding and shooting arrows within the designated area was permitted.
Prince Xuan saw that Li Qingping stayed in the yard every day doing needlework or thinking about food, which was boring. He took her out for a rare trip, so how could he let her just lie there? So he proposed to take her for a horseback ride.
The eldest girl clamored to go too, saying that it would be a good opportunity to show her father and aunt how she had progressed in riding and archery.
Li Qingping originally thought that since they all went, it would be a shame to leave Liu behind, so he sent someone to invite them. However, Liu said that she was afraid of horses and had never learned riding or shooting, so she simply didn't go.
Okay then.
Li Qingping and the eldest girl then changed into riding clothes and followed Prince Xuan to the enclosure.
Prince Xuan, along with his eldest daughter, Princess Pingyang, and Lady Li, came for a horseback ride. Who would dare neglect them? Before they arrived, he first inspected the surroundings to ensure there were no surprises. Then, he selected a docile mare and a colt specifically for the two women. As for Prince Xuan, he had his own horse, a thousand-mile-long horse.
The eleventh princess happened to be looking for the eldest girl to play. When she heard that they were going to the enclosure, she quickly pulled the eldest girl and said, "Yujin, I want to go too!"
This young lady couldn't make the decision, she could only look at Prince Xuan.
Prince Xuan looked at the Eleventh Princess with amusement and said, "Are you not afraid of me now?"
Of course, the Eleventh Princess was still a little afraid of her eldest brother. But with Yujin and Madam Li around, could her eldest brother really scold her in front of them? Furthermore, the Eleventh Princess couldn't sit still. She felt bored after just one morning with Concubine Qing. The Emperor only brought her and the Tenth Princess on this trip. The Tenth Princess loved needlework, and she didn't get along with the Tenth Princess at all. Princess Yurong, the Crown Prince's daughter, was also there, but she didn't like her, so she could only play with Yujin.
Prince Xuan just smiled at this little sister and took the eleventh princess along.
Over there, Concubine Qing was stunned when she heard the palace maid report that the Eleventh Princess had gone to the paddock to ride horses with Prince Xuan's family. "With whom?"
Her two sons, the Fourth Prince Yue and the Seventh Prince, were by her side, paying their respects and entertaining her. Also present was the Princess of Yue, who had just been married a year. The two princes were startled upon hearing this, and then they all mentally gave their little sister a thumbs-up.
Shuyi, you've stood up and dared to go horseback riding with your brother.
But Concubine Qing quickly stopped worrying about who the Eleventh Princess went horseback riding with and instead asked the palace servant who was sent by the Eleventh Princess to report the news, "Why did the princess go horseback riding in her skirt like this?"
The eleventh princess didn't wear riding clothes when she went out! She didn't come back to change clothes either!
The palace maid replied, "The princess said she couldn't wait to come back and change, so she borrowed one from the Princess of Pingyang."
Concubine Qing: "???"
Concubine Qing: "..."
Concubine Qing's eyes darkened, and she flung the handkerchief in her hand across her face. She shouldn't have asked that question; it was simply inconsiderate. Concubine Qing was nearly forty years old, and she boasted that she had seen countless things in the palace, but none of them were as shocking as her youngest daughter's every action.
Upon hearing this, Prince Yue and his wife, as well as the Seventh Prince, couldn't help but turn their backs and cough lightly, pretending not to hear.
How could the eleventh princess be so impatient as to borrow her niece's clothes?
"Okay, you guys go back today. I'm going to go see what that girl Shuyi is up to." Concubine Qing came to her senses and silently took away the handkerchief. She was still worried and planned to go there by herself.
After I said this, Prince Yue and his wife and the Seventh Prince stood up and took their leave.
Concubine Qing had someone quickly pack a set of clothes, asked the eunuch to go to the kitchen to get some food to cool down, and then took the nanny and the head palace maid to the enclosure.
When they arrived at the paddock, the two little ones were already sweating profusely and resting in the shade of the racecourse. The two ponies were also leisurely being fed fruits by the servants. Prince Xuan and Li Qingping were nowhere to be seen.
The palace maids all bowed and greeted Concubine Qing. Princess Eleven looked up and saw her mother. She didn't think anything was wrong and asked excitedly, "Mother, how did you find time to come?"
"Greetings to Concubine Qing."
"You naughty monkey...! Yujin, get up quickly." Seeing that her hair was messy and she looked completely out of shape due to the heat, Concubine Qing pointed at her and was about to scold her when she saw the eldest girl bowing to her. She immediately ignored her own daughter and quickly turned around to touch the eldest girl's face with pity: "Look how hot it is! Do you want to change your clothes?"
She also asked Cai Deng, who came with the eldest girl, whether she had brought any change of clothes. After receiving a positive answer, Concubine Qing hurriedly asked the eldest girl to change her clothes.
The Eleventh Princess watched her mother's expression change continuously, dumbfounded: "Mother, I am your biological daughter!"
"Why are you jealous of your eldest niece?" Concubine Qing then turned around and lectured her, "You're a princess, and you have to borrow your niece's clothes because you can't wait. Aren't you ashamed? You've been playing so hard, go change quickly."
The eleventh princess took the dress her mother brought for her, smiled and ran away.
When the eldest girl came back, Concubine Qing said with a smile, "Yujin, come quickly. Concubine Qing has some mung bean soup to relieve the summer heat."
When Prince Xuan and Li Qingping came out, they prepared a bowl of iced fruit. The eldest daughter and the eleventh princess had used some before, and Concubine Qing also asked the servants, so this bowl of mung bean soup was only a small bowl, so that people would not feel too full.
The older girl took the bowl, thanked him, and drank it in small sips with sweet relish.
"So well behaved, so unlike that little monkey in my family." Concubine Qing looked at the eldest girl lovingly, then glared at the Eleventh Princess, who came back and couldn't wait to pick up the bowl and drink the mung bean soup in big gulps, and then nibbled on some fruit after finishing it.
Princess Eleven felt the stare:???
Hasn't she been very well behaved recently and not made her mother unhappy?
When Prince Xuan and Li Qingping came back after running a few laps, Concubine Qing was playing tossing pots with her two children.
"Princess Qing?"
Prince Xuan dismounted first, and after helping Li Qingping dismount, the palace maids led the two horses down, and the two men went to pay their respects to Concubine Qing.
This was the first time Li Qingping met Concubine Qing.
As a favored concubine who had enjoyed undiminished favor for over a decade, Concubine Qing was naturally a leader in beauty. Even having given birth to several children hadn't affected her appearance in the slightest, instead, she possessed a more mature charm. However, she wasn't aloof, instead, she presented herself as a kind and amiable elder.
"It's Yunchun." Concubine Qing smiled and nodded at Prince Xuan, saying, "The more I see of your Yujin, the more I like her. She's just as lovable as you were when you were a child."
Then she teased, "I asked her to call Grandma Qing, but she was still shy. Come and teach your daughter."
The eldest girl stood beside Prince Xuan with red ears, listening to her father say: "Come, Yujin, tell me why you don't call me grandmother."
"..." The eldest girl raised her eyes, as if blaming her father for not saying a word to help her before throwing the question back, but she still smiled and said, "Empress Qing is still so young and beautiful. Isn't calling her grandmother too old?"
Concubine Qing was delighted by what she said: "Oh, this mouth is really sweet."
Princess Eleven didn't find it strange to be around. After all, she also liked the older girl, and she would get angry at anyone who didn't like the older girl.
"This must be Madam Li, right? It's our first meeting, and as an elder, I don't have any gifts for you. Take this bracelet and play with it." Concubine Qing greeted Li Qingping happily again, and then took off the jade bracelet on her hand and gave it to her.
Li Qingping didn't expect that there was something for him to do. He widened his eyes in surprise and didn't know whether to take the bracelet or not when it was placed in front of him.
Concubine Qing said softly, "Last time, Shuyi crocheted a waistcoat for me using the method Yujin taught me, and I loved it. I heard that you taught Yujin, and indirectly taught Shuyi, so it's naturally your contribution. You know, Shuyi has always been restless and unwilling to learn needlework, but she actually put so much effort into crocheting a waistcoat for me that I was so happy."
Princess Eleven stamped her feet and said coquettishly, "Mother!"
Since Concubine Qing had said so, Li Qingping naturally accepted the bracelet. Then she smiled and said, "The princess is very perceptive and filial. I only crochet to pass the time. It depends on whether the princess is willing to learn it herself."
Upon hearing this, Concubine Qing's smile deepened.
He is neither humble nor arrogant, does not seek credit, and does not fawn. He is truly a good child. No wonder he could raise a child like this girl.
Concubine Qing was fond of the child of Princess Xuan, and Concubine Li was a concubine. She had met her several times before and had a good impression of her. Now Li Qingping also won her heart. These three sisters were raised by the Li family's grandmother. The old lady was really good at raising girls, and all three girls had rare character.
Tsk, so Prince Xuan got three such wonderful wives and concubines at once? He's truly blessed.
Concubine Qing thought of the bad things that happened in the harem of her eldest son, Prince Yue, and she could not help but envy him for a moment. But when she thought of Prince Xuan's equally bad mother and the concubine Yang who was forced in,
Concubine, Concubine Qing feels that every family has its own problems.
"Now that you are in the palace, take Yu Jin to visit me when you have time." Before leaving, Concubine Qing took Li Qingping's hand and said this.
Li Qingping responded with a smile.
When they returned to their own courtyard, Prince Xuan said, "Mother Qing has always been very good with people. Her closest relationship in the palace isn't with the Empress or the three concubines, but rather with Concubine Xiang, the most insignificant of the six concubines, who only enjoys contemplating calligraphy and painting in her own palace. Mother Qing is also kind, so there's no harm in making friends with her."
Li Qingping nodded and said he understood.
Looking at her serious little face, Prince Xuan smiled and touched her cheek and said, "It's okay, just treat her as an ordinary elder and don't be too reserved."
Li Qingping smiled and turned to prepare dinner.
Later, during their stay in the palace, Prince Xuan followed the emperor to handle official business, while Li Qingping took the eldest girl out to play, occasionally visiting Concubine Qing to pay her respects and sit down, living a happy life.
Occasionally, the emperor would visit Concubine Qing, and Li Qingping had encountered her once or twice. However, she wasn't the Princess of Xuan, not even the emperor's legitimate daughter-in-law, so the emperor didn't pay much attention to her. Instead, he asked a few questions about his granddaughter, the eldest daughter.
As soon as Li Qingping left that day, the emperor arrived.
Concubine Qing greeted the emperor, who held up a cup of tea and said, "You seem to be able to get along well with the lady of the old house."
The emperor claimed to understand the temperament of his favorite concubine. If he really disliked her, he would have kept her out long ago. How could he talk to her so often?
Hearing the tentative tone in the emperor's words, Concubine Qing said calmly, "It's because Little Eleven and Princess Pingyang get along so well that they interact more often. And that child...if our Third Princess were still alive, she would be as old as her." At the end, Concubine Qing spoke with some emotion and nostalgia.
The third princess she mentioned was not Princess Anguo, who was now the third emperor's daughter and married into a foreign country, but the eldest daughter of Concubine Qing who died at four months old and did not have time to be ranked.
If the princess who died young could really have grown up, she would have been about the same age as Li Qingping.
The emperor seemed to have remembered, and he looked at Concubine Qing with pity, saying soothingly, "Many years have passed, and the Third Princess must have been reincarnated long ago. You don't have to grieve over it. Now that you have Eleven, it's time to move on."
Concubine Qing twitched the corner of her mouth and responded with lowered eyebrows.
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