Miscellaneous
In November, Concubine Li officially announced her pregnancy, much to the surprise of the family in the inner court, who had never heard of the news. It was so well-kept secret that it went without saying that everyone knew that Princess Xuan was behind it.
Prince Xuan's wife was due to give birth next February, and the child's status in Prince Xuan's heart was different regardless of its gender. The currently favored Concubine Li was also pregnant, while Li Qingping, who had raised the older daughter and had been repeatedly praised, was now poised for favor. As a result, the three Li sisters had truly established themselves within Prince Xuan's palace.
Everyone in the backyard was stunned after taking inventory.
To be honest, if they were the three Li sisters, not only would they have a deep sisterly love and help each other, but they would also win an overwhelming victory in the backyard, and they would wake up laughing in their dreams.
But it’s also a good thing, at least these three sisters get along well with each other, otherwise the backyard would be in dire straits.
Since Concubine Li was pregnant, she had to focus on nursing the baby and not attend the emperor's bed. On a normal month, Prince Xuan could have someone sleep with him over a dozen times. Excluding the days he spent in the main courtyard, half of the remaining time went to Concubine Li, and the majority of the remaining time went to Madam Wan. The others were only fit to pick up some slack in the back. Now, Concubine Li's half was free, and the women in the back courtyard were full of fighting spirit, determined to secure more opportunities for themselves.
So in the following time, Prince Xuan received countless soups, snacks, purses, boots, etc.
He couldn't help but laugh, and felt slightly comforted and satisfied by the flattery of the women in the backyard.
Li Qingping is not among them.
Prince Xuan asked Liang Pei'an, "What has Madam Li been doing recently?" Why did everyone go to the front yard to deliver things, but no one was seen in her yard?
Liang Pei'an replied: "Madam Li is either in her own courtyard or in the main courtyard or Concubine Li's courtyard to talk to them."
It seems that in her eyes, she, the master, is not as good as her two sisters.
But it was also true. Both of her sisters were pregnant now, especially the princess, who was in her advanced stage of pregnancy and usually felt bored, so she was really keen to cheer them up. Pregnant women had huge mood swings, and she usually neglected her virtuous wife and concubine, fearing that they would have undue thoughts. Li Qingping was the perfect person to fill that gap.
Prince Xuan convinced himself and added silently, "Besides, Li Qingping has to take care of the eldest daughter every day, so she is really busy. Forget it, since that's the case, I will reluctantly forgive her for not paying any attention to the front yard."
Prince Xuan then said, "It's getting late. Let's go to Lady Li's place for dinner today."
After receiving the order, Liang Pei'an hurriedly asked his most useful disciple to go to Li Qingping's courtyard to inform him, and then he followed Prince Xuan and walked slowly over.
Li Qingping was doing needlework at the time, and upon hearing this, she hurriedly asked the people in the yard to get ready.
When Prince Xuan arrived, she had already put down the work in her hands, but had not put it away. Prince Xuan saw several things and asked her what she was doing.
"Your Highness, I gave you a pair of cushions to loosen up your muscles. The concubine is also my sister, so I can't favor one over the other. Besides, Your Highness is seven months pregnant, and it's time to make clothes for the child. While there are skilled embroiderers, it wouldn't be a big deal for me, your aunt and stepmother, to make one or two myself. And since she's an older girl, and the weather's getting colder, I'm thinking of making her a pair of woolen gloves."
Li Qingping counted them one by one.
Madam Li was such a good matchmaker, not leaving any of her sisters or daughters behind. Prince Xuan asked, "What about my father's?"
Li Qingping was stunned for a long while. Prince Xuan knew what she was talking about. He raised his hand and pinched her cheek, then said with a sullen smile, "You are such a heartless little thing."
Others at least knew to send a small purse or something like that to the front yard, but she didn't take it seriously. She arranged everything for her sisters and daughters, without any regard for the position of Prince Xuan, and she didn't even look at who was the boss of the family.
But to be honest, Prince Xuan doesn't like women from the backyard coming to the front yard all the time. It's okay if it happens once or twice, but what's the point of doing it all day long?
So, instead of going to the front courtyard, Li Qingping accidentally caught Prince Xuan's eye. But if he didn't send gifts to the front courtyard, he could send them during the New Year. After all, everyone had to give gifts to Prince Xuan during the New Year. Underwear definitely wouldn't work, so he could just make a pair of woolen gloves and a belt like the older girls.
Prince Xuan came and directly decided on the gift she would give him during the New Year. Li Qingping was dumbfounded: How could he do that directly?
"Why, are you unhappy?" Prince Xuan continued to pinch her face.
Li Qingping hurriedly said no, and promised: "I will do my best to complete it."
Prince Xuan snorted coldly and said, "It's no use talking about doing your best now. I'll still punish you. You don't care about me at all."
Is this a punishment? Li Qingping raised a serious and nervous face: "What do you want to punish me for?"
Prince Xuan smiled maliciously and whispered in her ear, "I'll punish you by making you move on your own tonight."
...?
Li Qingping suddenly lowered his head, his face flushed.
This...this, this, this...why are you suddenly saying something like this before it gets dark yet?
Prince Xuan laughed out loud at her reaction, but he knew that Li Qingping was more thin-skinned than others in this regard, so he hugged her and said some nice things to her, and finally coaxed her into a state of peace before the eldest girl came back.
The eldest daughter came back today and said to Li Qingping, "Eleventh Aunt's birthday is in about half a month. What gift should I prepare, aunt?"
The Eleventh Princess and the eldest daughter were born the same year. The aunt was almost two months younger, but that wasn't a big deal. Aside from their generational differences, the two girls of the same age really hit it off and got along well. On the eldest daughter's last birthday, the Eleventh Princess had specially sent a gift before the palace gates were locked. Now that it was the Eleventh Princess's birthday, the eldest daughter naturally wouldn't neglect it.
The gift that Princess Eleven had sent her last time included a pair of butterfly hairpins and a bunch of silk flowers she had made herself, so the eldest girl decided to make her own gift as well.
The girl had just started learning needlework, so embroidery was not practical. Li Qingping thought about it and happened to see some wool lying nearby, so he suggested crocheting for the eleventh princess.
"How do you hook it?" the girl asked curiously.
Li Qingping took out the crochet hook today with the intention of making a pair of woolen gloves for the young lady, and now was a perfect time to demonstrate it to her.
Seeing her aunt making a variety of patterns in just a few strokes, the older girl was fascinated and said hurriedly, "Aunt, this is great! Teach me quickly!"
Prince Xuan said jokingly, "What's the hurry? Eat first."
Since her father had spoken, the eldest girl had to suppress her impatience and wait until she finished her meal before thinking about learning again.
Prince Xuan let her learn for a while, then, feeling incredibly helpless towards his daughter, he sent her back to her room. "Alright, we'll study later. It's easy to hurt your eyes at night. Father and your aunt are going to bed now."
Li Qingping covered his face silently: Although the older girl doesn't quite understand, why say these things in front of the child.
The older girl listened and didn't think there was anything wrong. She just made an appointment with Li Qingping to continue teaching her at the sect school tomorrow.
Li Qingping and Prince Xuan each washed up, and then had another beautiful night.
When the people in the backyard learned that they had taken the trouble to deliver the things to the front yard but did not get a good look from Prince Xuan, and instead went to Li Qingping's courtyard, they knew that this method was not a good idea if they did it too often.
Everyone stopped worrying, and Prince Xuan felt much more relaxed.
After being tossed around badly at night, Li Qingping rested for a day and only went to the main courtyard to talk to Princess Xuan on the third day.
Concubine Li was also there at the time. Her pregnancy was not as difficult as that of Princess Xuan. Her fetus was stable and she had no morning sickness. She ate everything with relish and looked rosy and healthy.
In this comparison, Princess Xuan's complexion looked even worse.
Li Qingping looked worried, but Princess Xuan told her not to worry: "I'm much better now, and I eat more now. But I can't eat and drink too much now, otherwise the baby will be too big and difficult to give birth to. But the imperial physician has checked my pulse every day and said there's nothing serious, so don't frown."
Princess Xuan smoothed her brows with her own hands and smiled comfortingly.
What else could Li Qingping do? He had to agree.
Today, Li Qingping brought a pattern book and asked Princess Xuan to choose patterns for clothes for her child. She also complained coquettishly about Prince Xuan's forced buying and selling behavior that night.
After hearing this, Princess Xuan and Concubine Li both laughed: "It's just you. If it were someone else, the prince would have been angry a long time ago, let alone asking you to do your needlework."
Firstly, the three sisters were in the palace, and Li Qingping's status and favor were behind those of the other two sisters. Princess Xuan and the others knew Li Qingping's thoughts, and Prince Xuan probably thought the same thing: the Li family already had a legitimate wife and a favored concubine in the backyard, so there was no need to be greedy. The remaining one just needed to behave well in the palace, without having to step out, and there would always be benefits. Secondly, Li Qingping had always been a calm person and would not actively try to please Prince Xuan. Over the past two years, Prince Xuan had probably become accustomed to this.
But since Prince Xuan had said so, Li Qingping had to do it, otherwise he would be punished if he failed to produce it during the New Year.
Princess Xuan picked out the pattern for the small dress, and she and Concubine Li helped pick out the pattern for the belt. Li Qingping made a mark and planned to make it when he had time.
As they were talking, they talked about the eldest girl wanting to crochet wool for the eleventh princess herself.
"That's good. It's a give-and-take thing, and it feels more sincere when done by hand." Princess Xuan nodded and said, "Plus, Concubine Qing has a good temper. This way, Yu Jin will have a better impression of her. When Yu Jin returns to the palace in the future, Concubine Qing will take better care of him."
After all, no matter what Concubine Qing was like, she was much better than her grandmother, Concubine Xian. The last time she heard about Yu Jin's situation in the palace, Princess Xuan was so angry that she almost lost her pregnancy. She wanted to go to the palace to confront her mother-in-law.
Fortunately, Prince Xuan later told her that Yu Jin hadn't suffered much injustice from Concubine Xian. The Empress had just made a few subtle remarks, but Concubine Qing, for the sake of the Eleventh Princess, blocked them out and even made some indirect accusations against Concubine Xian. Finally, she even gave the young lady an extra box of small pearls to play with. Princess Xuan was relieved, but she couldn't help but wonder, what if her own mother-in-law was as easygoing and sensible as Concubine Qing?
When the eldest girl came back from the clan school, she pestered Li Qingping to teach her how to crochet. She learned while practicing, and finally managed to crochet a palm-sized rabbit before the eleventh princess' birthday.
In addition to the woolen rabbit, the eldest girl said that the eleventh princess also liked beautiful jade, and gave her a pair of jade bracelets of excellent quality.
The eleventh princess was overjoyed when she received it. She wished she could spend the whole day with the eldest girl. She asked, "How did you crochet this little rabbit? Was it difficult to learn? The New Year is coming soon, and I want to crochet one for my mother too."
The eldest girl said it was not difficult, and added: "This is what my aunt taught me. She has a small crochet needle, which is suitable for our movements."
The eleventh princess just thought that the aunt the eldest girl mentioned was very amazing. She liked the small cross-body bag when she first came to the clan school, and the cloth tiger that the eldest girl was always thinking about. She also liked the crocheted yarn this time.
The eldest daughter returned to tell Li Qingping that the Eleventh Princess also wanted to learn to crochet. Li Qingping had two pairs of small crochet needles made, and then went to the storeroom to get a basket of yarn. He asked the eldest daughter to take it to the clan school to study with the Eleventh Princess. If there was anything the eldest daughter couldn't teach, she would return and repeat it. Li Qingping would teach her, and the eldest daughter would go back to the clan school the next day to teach the Eleventh Princess. This was a kind of remote teaching.
The days passed one by one, and the New Year was approaching.
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