"Alright, everyone, don't look so gloomy. Once you're in the palace, we'll all be sisters, so get along well, okay?" The Imperial Noble Consort said, looking at the gloomy-faced crowd below.
Instead of wasting time frowning, you should think about how to please the emperor. It's always good to have a child by your side.
After saying that, she dismissed everyone. She wasn't feeling well today and didn't want to waste time sitting here with them.
Mingxiu also went back, followed by Consort Hui and Consort Rong. Today, Xiao Hesheli was not feeling well and had asked for leave to pay her respects.
Mingxiu and the others had developed a strong bond from playing mahjong together, so they made plans to visit her together.
On the way, Mingxiu, Huipin, and Rongpin were talking quietly, and the atmosphere was quite pleasant. The three of them didn't seem to care too much about the fact that a new person was entering the palace, and with such a high rank.
Mingxiu knew perfectly well what was going on and understood the situation. Rongpin was content with her own life in the palace because of her personality. Huipin used to be more calculating, but now that she was often around Mingxiu and Rongpin and influenced by their personalities, she didn't care anymore.
Another reason is that all three of them have children. Consort Hui has a son, Consort Rong has a son and a daughter, and although Mingxiu doesn't have a son, everyone in the palace knows that the Crown Prince was raised by Mingxiu and has always been very close to her, so she is not in a hurry at all.
Moreover, those of high rank wouldn't be placed in their palaces, so they didn't seem to care that much.
Chuxiu Palace was a bit far away, but the three of them had nothing to do back home anyway, so they strolled back leisurely. This served two purposes: to kill time and to get some exercise, since they had been sitting in the palace all day and their bones had become lazy.
The three chatted and laughed and didn't feel tired, but when they arrived at Chuxiu Palace, one of them still had some sweat on his forehead.
When the servants in Chuxiu Palace saw them arrive, they quickly went in to inform them.
A short while later, a palace maid from the little Hesheli clan came out to greet her.
Mingxiu and the others followed them inside, and as soon as they entered, they felt a wave of heat hit them. The three of them, who were already feeling hot from walking, were almost suffocated by the heat.
Consort Hui frowned and walked in, looking at the young Hesheli, who was leaning against the couch wrapped in a quilt: "Sister, why is it so hot here? Even if you are sick, you shouldn't be this hot."
Little Hesheli smiled somewhat embarrassedly on the couch, her face flushed with an unusual blush: "Sister, please don't be offended. The people in my palace were just worried and wanted to warm up the room quickly before clearing away some of the soot and charcoal. They arrived before we even had a chance to do so."
Consort Hui nodded, and saw that someone had already quickly taken the things away.
"Why are you here today, sisters? Come and cook. There's some steamed fruit sent from the Imperial Kitchen. It's certainly not as plentiful as what Sister Mingxiu has in her palace, but it's still quite nice." Little Hesheli, wrapped in a quilt, beckoned the three of them over.
The three of them walked over without any formality. After getting to know each other, they were all very casual with each other in private.
“Ping-meimei (Xiao Hesheli Shi) is right. I’m afraid even the Emperor’s fruit in our palace can’t compare to Ming-meimei’s. After all, she picks and eats her own fruit fresh.” Hui-pin said, covering her mouth.
Mingxiu rolled her eyes at them: "That's right, it's only because my sister's palace has fruit trees that you guys probably wouldn't have the chance to have fruit freedom yet." Hmph, she usually gives these people plenty of fruit, and now they're teasing her.
"We should thank Sister Ming. If it weren't for Sister Ming, we really wouldn't be able to eat fruit freely in winter. Before, we couldn't have had enough fruit. Every time we got a share, we only knew how many pieces we had. We were so happy back then. Now that I think about it, it was really pitiful." Consort Rong said gently from the side.
As soon as Consort Rong finished speaking, all four of them couldn't help but laugh.
That's true. Although there were some fruit and vegetable gardens in the palace before, they were few and far between. Plus, there were so many people in the palace that if everyone shared them, there wouldn't be much left.
So there wasn't enough to eat, but later, when Mingxiu started using a kang (heated brick bed) with firewood in the glass room, it became much more convenient.
The glass was originally made during the reign of Emperor Kangxi, and the price became much cheaper when the craftsmen became more skilled. Therefore, making a glass house didn't cost much at all. The only problem was that the amount of firewood required was a bit too much. However, Mingxiu also suggested that the Emperor should go there to avoid heatstroke.
Every year, she would ask her younger brother, Hesheli Jiahui, to help her find people to plant trees, and she would pay for it.
Therefore, the cost is very low, and there are no location requirements, so it is planted both inside the palace and on estates outside.
It's much more convenient to eat fruit every year now, as each palace receives a considerable amount.
However, since it wasn't grown by themselves, it was somewhat inconvenient to eat. They had to be picked and delivered by others, which meant that the produce wasn't as fresh as what they came from at Mingxiu Palace.
Even Emperor Kangxi always picked fruit to eat in her palace. Although he grew a lot himself, he never ate the fruit he grew. One reason was that it was not very convenient, unlike Mingxiu, who could pick the fruit directly from the tree.
The other one is the seedlings grown outside, which are not irrigated with Mingxiu's spiritual spring water. Although they are all seedlings taken from the trees here, they are still limited. Mingxiu adds a drop of spiritual spring water to the large bucket every day, so naturally they are not as delicious as the ones here.
"Alright, alright, just say you want to eat. Why beat around the bush? When you go back later, just go directly to my palace. Pick as many as you want, that's fine."
After saying that, he glanced at Xiao Hesheli and said, "If you want to eat anything, just have your maid go and pick some for you later. Pick as much as you like."
"Yes, thank you very much, sister," Little Hesheli nodded with a smile.
Little Hesheli had a slight cold, nothing serious. She felt much better after taking medicine in the morning, but she was still sick and needed to rest more.
So Mingxiu and the others didn't linger there. After exchanging words and seeing that Xiao Hesheli was indeed alright, they dispersed.
Before leaving, she didn't forget to take the palace maids from the Little Hesheli Palace with her. She was a woman of her word, and she told them to pick as much fruit as possible.
Everyone in the province said she was stingy.
Actually, Mingxiu wasn't stingy. She would send gifts to everyone in the palace. But now she had so many people to eat. She wanted to eat, Chenghuan wanted to eat, and Kangxi and Yinreng wanted to eat. Every time she sent gifts, she couldn't just send them to the father and son. She also had to send gifts to Yinreng's brothers.
So it seems a bit insufficient.
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