Entering the palace
On the day of the eldest daughter's birthday, Li Qingping got up before dawn to wash and dress, and after a simple snack, he led the eldest daughter into the palace. Prince Xuan did not go to the harem with the two of them when he was going to court, but went to the Cining Palace to pick her up after the morning court.
The two carriages separated after passing the palace gate.
Today, the Empress Dowager deliberately postponed the time for the concubines to pay their respects, just to see the eldest girl first and say a few words to her.
When Li Qingping and the eldest daughter arrived, a female official from the Cining Palace was already waiting to lead them into the hall, and young palace maids served them tea and snacks. However, as the prince's concubine, Li Qingping was only allowed to sit on a small embroidered stool in the corner, while the eldest daughter was led to sit on the upper palace chair.
In fact, Li Qingping had already been caught off guard by this. She had originally thought that she would be forced to sit on her heels and kneel for an entire hour.
After waiting for a long time, the Empress Dowager slowly walked out from the inner room. Li Qingping and the others hurriedly stood up and saluted.
The Empress Dowager had passed her sixtieth birthday last year. Her temples were gray, and she looked like a kind old lady. She smiled and asked them to stand up, and asked the eldest girl to come closer so that the old lady could take a closer look.
"Good boy, your name is Yujin? You really look like your father."
The Empress Dowager looked at the young lady's face and couldn't help but sigh.
Prince Xuan was the third son in lineage, but the Emperor's eldest, with only two older sisters, Princess De'en and Princess Huaiwen. Concubine Xian had been ill after childbirth, and the Empress Dowager had helped care for her for a while. She remembered Prince Xuan's childhood very clearly. Looking back, it was clear that the eldest child had truly taken after his father.
After all, the feelings for the grandson she raised with her own hands were different. The eldest girl, her great-granddaughter, looked so much like Prince Xuan. The empress dowager was filled with joy and took off the jade bracelet on her wrist and handed it to the eldest girl.
"It's not appropriate for a little girl to wear a bracelet of this quality; it makes her look old-fashioned. Great-grandmother will give you something better later. Just keep this one and play with it."
The eldest girl thanked the Empress Dowager sweetly, and her well-behaved appearance made the old lady happy again.
These casual rewards were not birthday gifts for the eldest girl, as that would be too disrespectful. The Empress Dowager later gave her many head ornaments and jewelry suitable for the younger girl.
Li Qingping sat at the bottom and could not look at the Empress Dowager and the Cining Palace at will. She lowered her head and frowned, and just listened with both ears as the Empress Dowager asked about the young lady's daily food, clothing and expenses. As she spoke, she finally mentioned Li Qingping, which made her not sit there idle.
"Yu Jin is now being raised by you and is being taken care of very well."
The eldest girl also said, "My aunt treats me very well." The Empress Dowager was kind and benevolent, so she boldly told many stories about her daily interactions with Li Qingping and how wonderful her aunt was. Finally, she said, "My aunt is very good at Western arithmetic. She can tell the answer to a problem just by looking at it."
Upon hearing this, the Empress Dowager was surprised: "Madam Li is also familiar with Western arithmetic?"
Li Qingping quickly knelt down and saluted, then replied respectfully, "In reply to the Empress Dowager, I once studied with the clan teacher in my boudoir for a period of time."
The Empress Dowager looked at Li Qingping and was frightened to see the eldest girl. She was afraid that she might have said something wrong and angered the old lady, and even implicated her aunt.
But fortunately, the Empress Dowager finally smiled and said, "It seems that Madam Li is a talented and learned woman, not bad."
The Empress Dowager then asked, "How is Princess Xuan doing lately?"
Li Qingping truthfully recounted the recent situation of the Princess Xuan, her expression displaying both the respect of a concubine for the legitimate wife and the concern and care of a younger sister for her elder sister. The Empress Dowager nodded silently, not criticizing her excessively. Furthermore, the eldest daughter genuinely loved her aunt and stepmother. Initially, she was afraid of her and constantly looked to Li Qingping for comfort, a fact the Empress Dowager observed. Given this, the patriarch felt no need to embarrass a prince's wife.
The old lady rewarded Li Qingping with some ordinary items, which was considered a token of appreciation for her raising the girl.
As the final hour approached, the Empress Dowager ordered someone to take Li Qingping to a side hall to rest.
Seeing her leave, the older girl followed her with her eyes. However, she also knew that she was not Li Qingping, and at this moment, she couldn't leave. Li Qingping noticed it, but he could only give the child a comforting smile.
Li Qingping's legs, which had been bent for an hour, were finally able to relax. After all, although the short man was sitting, he had to pay attention to his posture all the time, which was still quite tiring.
Li Qingping had just rested in the side hall when he heard noises coming from outside.
Aside from the Empress, the first to arrive were Concubine Hui and Concubine Shu, followed by Concubine De, Concubine Ying, and Concubine Qing, all accompanied by their respective lower-ranking concubines. Even the four concubines who lived further away, Concubine Xiang, Ning, Gong, and Lan, arrived later, but Concubine Xian was nowhere to be seen.
This caused the concubines to mutter inwardly, and even Li Qingping in the side hall stood up and paced anxiously: "Concubine Xian is the eldest girl's grandmother, and yet she hasn't arrived yet. What should everyone think?" "Does Concubine Xian dislike the eldest girl?" But she is Prince Xuan's eldest daughter, the one he holds in the palm of his hand. Isn't Concubine Xian's behavior a slap in the face of her own son? Not to mention Prince Xuan, this behavior made the eldest girl there feel awkward and uneasy. Who knows, the other concubines are probably watching the joke.
Whoever raises a girl will feel sorry for her. Li Qingping felt very sad just thinking about it. He wondered how to make the young lady happy after returning home since she had been wronged.
The Queen's procession arrived later and was about to enter the palace when Concubine Xian finally arrived.
Li Qingping only knew this much in the side hall, and knew nothing else. He just hoped that everything was fine with the eldest lady, and that she would not cause any trouble for the ladies.
Later, when the court was over and the sound of whips cracking the ground was heard, Li Qingping knew that the emperor had arrived and Prince Xuan must have followed. Li Qingping felt relieved: with Prince Xuan as her father, the young lady would definitely feel more comfortable among the concubines.
Li Qingping stayed in the side hall. She had only eaten a few snacks and drank a cup of tea that morning, and now she was a little hungry and dizzy. But she knew she had no right to order servants around to provide her with food in this palace, so she could only occasionally sip honey water to keep herself going.
Fortunately, more than half an hour later, a palace maid informed her that Prince Xuan and the eldest daughter were waiting for her outside: she could finally leave the palace.
The eldest girl saw her expression and knew that a trip to the palace was torture for a concubine like Li Qingping, so she said distressedly, "Aunt, let's go back home quickly. I miss the tangerine peel pickled duck made by Qian Guang."
Li Qingping smiled and said okay.
Seeing that Prince Xuan had a dull expression, she thought that something had just happened in the Cining Palace that had upset him. Li Qingping knew his limits and did not say much. He only occasionally responded with the word "Miss" before returning to the palace.
Prince Xuan did not go to the backyard. He still had official business to attend to. Before leaving, he said to Li Qingping, "Thank you for your hard work on this trip. I will reward you later."
Li Qingping thanked him.
When they returned to their own courtyard, before Li Qingping asked anything, the eldest girl was already whispering to her in the inner room.
"The three ladies, Consort De, Consort Ying, and Consort Qing, are all kind. They came up to me and gave me jewelry as a birthday gift. They also asked about my care and concern."
Furthermore, Concubine Qing was the biological mother of the Eleventh Princess. The Eleventh Princess was the Emperor's youngest daughter, beautiful and charming, and deeply favored by the Emperor. Concubine Qing had previously given birth to two sons, but only this one daughter, so she always gave in. As a result, the Eleventh Princess practically had her way in the palace, fostering a spoiled and pampered personality. While her daily antics occasionally gave Concubine Qing a headache, it wasn't a big deal.
After going to the clan school, the Eleventh Princess became much more well-behaved and said that she had caused her mother a lot of worry in the past.
Ouch! The leaky little cotton-padded jacket suddenly became cozy. Concubine Qing was delighted and surprised. She was curious about what was going on. After asking, she found out that it was the eldest daughter of Prince Xuan who calmed down the little ancestor.
As for how the eldest girl managed to intimidate the Eleventh Princess, Li Qingping did not ask, but he knew that Concubine Qing had a good impression of the eldest girl. She even spoke a few more words to her and even gave her a birthday gift that was more generous than that given to other concubines.
The first three concubines to arrive all sent gifts, especially Concubine Qing, who seemed to like the eldest daughter. With the Empress Dowager watching, the six concubines naturally wouldn't be left out. As for the concubines of lower rank, they were neither the main concubine nor the eldest daughter's grandmother, and they were not well-off, so there was no need to send gifts. They all said a lot of good things.
Later, the emperor and the empress presented even more valuable gifts, and even Prince Xuan had to bow and express his gratitude.
After talking for a while, we finally talked about my grandmother, Concubine Xian.
The eldest girl leaned over to Li Qingping and whispered in his ear, "Grandma doesn't like me very much."
Of course she felt lost, after all, Concubine Xian was Prince Xuan's biological mother and the eldest girl's biological grandmother. But such an elder who should have been closer to her was far inferior to the other concubines.
Li Qingping thought to himself, as expected.
Even the eldest daughter knew that Concubine Xian didn't like her, let alone Prince Xuan. Prince Xuan was naturally unhappy that his beloved eldest daughter didn't get a good look from her mother.
Honestly, due to Concubine Xian's occasional displays of self-righteousness and unreasonable behavior, the relationship between Prince Xuan and Concubine Xian wasn't particularly good, but at least it was manageable on the surface. But the eldest daughter was, after all, Prince Xuan's favorite. If Concubine Xian didn't treat her so well during her rare visit to the palace, the relationship between them would likely only deteriorate further.
Li Qingping could only be thankful that the eldest daughter had few opportunities to enter the palace, so she didn't have to be caught between the mother and son all the time.
Shaking his head and not thinking any more, Li Qingping asked the eldest girl to change her clothes, and then they would have a good meal in the yard, and finally a bowl of longevity noodles, and the birthday would be celebrated.
Li Qingping also specially asked someone to clean up a warehouse specifically for the eldest girl, and then put the birthday gifts received today into it.
Besides the gifts she received upon entering the palace, her biological father, Prince Xuan, her stepmother, Princess Xuan, and Li Qingping naturally received generous gifts. Furthermore, the other servants in the palace all sent gifts of varying status. After all, the first few had already given gifts, and since they were the eldest girl's elder stepmothers, no one could be left out, or they would be reprimanded. Furthermore, the eldest girl's study partner, Wei Ying, her tutor, Lan Xin, and her classmates at the Imperial Academy—the princes and grandsons of the emperor—all sent gifts, suggesting she was quite popular there.
Not to mention that the next day an imperial edict came from the palace, which brought with it a flood of rewards, making this royal street bustling with activity.
The emperor appointed Prince Xuan's eldest daughter as Princess Pingyang!
Apart from the eldest daughter of the Crown Prince who was given the title of Princess Yurong at birth four years ago, the eldest daughter was the first of the emperor's granddaughters to be canonized.
The Crown Prince was the heir apparent, enjoying the Emperor's trust and favor. It was only natural that Princess Yurong, the Crown Prince's eldest daughter, was favored by the Emperor. Even the title of Princess Yurong reflected a hint of favoritism. Otherwise, it was rare for a princess of the imperial family to be canonized at such a young age; usually, they would have to wait until they reached the age of marriage before being canonized.
As for the Princess of Pingyang County who was conferred this time, everyone probably knows why she suddenly received this honor.
Last year, there was some unrest among the surrendered tribes on the grasslands due to a power transition. The emperor ordered Prince Xuan to lead the troops to suppress the unrest and, while doing so, inspect the border cities, uncovering many corrupt officials. Prince Xuan performed his duties admirably, and the emperor only rewarded him with some gold, silver, and jewelry—all personal possessions. After all, Prince Xuan was already a prince, and there was no more he could be given. Even Concubine Xian, thanks to her son's influence, received a considerable reward.
However, Prince Xuan and Concubine Xian did not lack these good things, and the emperor probably felt that it would be unfair not to give his son some tangible benefits. However, he could not think of what to give for the time being, so the matter was delayed.
This time, the eldest girl entered the palace and was loved by the Empress Dowager. The emperor looked at his granddaughter and had an idea. He decided to give this benefit to Prince Xuan's daughter.
After all, she is a girl among the emperor's grandchildren, so it is reasonable and not beyond the bounds.
Prince Xuan was not surprised at all, because the emperor had informed him of the news on the way to the Cining Palace yesterday, so he brought the eldest daughter to express his gratitude.
The young lady had transformed herself from an ordinary imperial daughter into the Princess of Pingyang County. Having been with Li Qingping for a short time, she had begun to take on a certain aunt's ways of life. She was secretly delighted by this for the entire night, but the next day, she remained calm, going about her business as usual. After all, even a Princess of Pingyang couldn't be exempt from imperial studies; instead, she was expected to set an example for other imperial daughters.
Prince Xuan was deeply pleased to have such a daughter. He felt that Li Qingping had raised his daughter well, and he praised her several times and stayed overnight with her from time to time. In a short time, Li Qingping became the most favored one in the palace.
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