By the time Wanwan finished getting ready and went outside, the people outside had been waiting for about 45 minutes.
Although she was somewhat unhappy, she dared not say anything, after all, after Wanwan punished Consort Xi last time, Kangxi punished Consort Xi and Noble Lady Yi as well.
Most importantly, Wanwan did not punish Consort Yi at the time, but Kangxi found a pretext to demote her simply because Consort Yi had provoked Wanwan in the slightest.
Consort Xi was thus relieved that her six-month confinement was extended to a year.
It seems that they wouldn't dare to be punished by Kangxi just for making Wanwan unhappy. Besides, Consort Yi was a favored concubine at the time, and Kangxi could punish her as he pleased.
Upon seeing Wanwan emerge, the entire group rose to their feet and bowed to her, saying, "Your humble servants/concubines greet Your Highness the Imperial Noble Consort, may Your Highness enjoy boundless blessings."
After Wanwan sat down, she said to them, "Get up."
The concubines all rose in a flash and sat down in their seats.
Wanwan said, "The New Year is almost here, and there are many palace affairs to attend to. If any problems arise in the palace, please report them promptly."
The concubines replied: "Your Majesty, we understand. Thank you for your kindness, Imperial Noble Consort."
Wanwan: "There's one more thing I need to tell Consort Hui. Last night, His Majesty mentioned the New Year to me..."
"As always, but I thought it would be good to bring Prince Baoqing back during the New Year. I suppose Consort Hui and Prince Baoqing haven't seen each other for a long time."
Wanwan said, "It just so happens that after I told the Emperor, he also thought that Prince Baoqing should be brought back. It would be perfect time to go to the Imperial Study."
Wanwan: "So I reckon that the Emperor's decree will be delivered to Yanxi Palace around lunchtime today."
Wanwan said, "Prince Baoqing is already old enough to stand on his own two years ago. We didn't bring him back for the past two years, but now he's the right age. Consort Hui's son will be able to stay by her side more often in the future."
Consort Hui was overjoyed upon hearing this, since only her son was raised outside the palace, while the other three princes were raised inside.
Whenever I see the young crown prince, Consort Rong's son, and the children of the Imperial Noble Consort, but only my own child is not by my side, I feel bad.
However, she had no say in Kangxi's eyes. If the child hadn't been taken out of the palace to be raised a few years earlier, he wouldn't have survived under the late empress's care. But now she was no longer favored, and she had no say in Kangxi's eyes. She was anxious and wanted to take the child out, but she couldn't tell Kangxi.
While it's highly likely that the Imperial Noble Consort told her this today to demonstrate her magnanimity, or perhaps to win her over, that possibility is relatively small. After all, the Imperial Noble Consort doesn't need to win anyone over; she alone is more powerful than everyone else in the harem and stands far ahead of the competition.
But whatever the Imperial Noble Consort's purpose was, she was the one who ultimately benefited.
After today, she will finally be able to spend time with her child, who was taken out of the palace right after birth.
Other children are raised in the palace and can see each other every now and then to cultivate their relationship. But if her own child is outside the palace and doesn't have contact with the emperor for a long time, then what will the emperor think of her child? What will her child have then? What future will she have?
Consort Hui was very anxious about this, but now the problem has finally been solved.
Thinking of this, Consort Hui realized that everyone was looking at her. She suddenly realized that she had been thinking too much and had forgotten to express her gratitude.
She quickly got up, knelt down and bowed to Wanwan, saying, "Your Majesty, I thank you for your kindness. I am finally able to see my child again."
Wanwan looked at Consort Hui helplessly and said, "Prince Baoqing is your child. We will meet again eventually."
Consort Hui immediately realized her mistake upon hearing this. How could she say that she was finally reunited with her child? This was not a complaint against the Emperor.
She quickly replied, "It was me, Your Majesty. I was so happy to hear that I could see Baoqing that I was impolite. Please forgive me, Your Highness."
Wanwan said, "It's good that you know. Don't say these things again in the future, or the Emperor will be unhappy."
Consort Hui replied, "Your Majesty, I understand. Thank you for reminding me, Imperial Noble Consort."
At that moment, Consort Hui was genuinely grateful to Wanwan.
Moreover, this matter was originally discussed and agreed upon by Kangxi and Wanwan. The main reason was that Kangxi planned to re-order the order of birth for all the children, and those who had not been raised in the past would not be counted in the order of birth.
Then Wanwan naturally brought up Prince Baoqing, who was being raised outside the palace.
Emperor Kangxi was also preparing to bring Prince Baoqing back. Then Wanwan told Emperor Kangxi that she wanted to give Consort Hui some face. She would tell Consort Hui first when she paid her respects the next morning, and then Emperor Kangxi would send the imperial edict to Yanxi Palace at noon.
Wanwan's reasoning was that it would promote harmony within the harem. Kangxi, of course, knew Wanwan's ulterior motives and didn't refuse, going along with her.
P.S.: The female lead isn't just helping the future eldest prince for free; he'll be incredibly useful later—a rare and valuable military talent. So, don't think Wanwan is just being overly compassionate; everything she does has a purpose.
We talked about the Lunar New Year for a while, and then we parted ways.
At this point, Wanwan couldn't even catch up on sleep; she still had a lot to do, even though she had been in charge of the New Year's celebrations for the past two years.
Although there are established rules for these New Year's customs, they are unavoidable. There are account books, things to be given as rewards, and the requirements differ for members of the imperial family and ministers. In short, there are quite a lot of things to do, and it is quite difficult to understand and do them well.
So Wanwan's plan to catch up on sleep completely fell through.
Instead, she went back to her study to continue doing what she needed to do; the New Year was approaching, and she had made many preparations.
Wanwan said, "Listen to the rain and the wind, bring me the things we'll need for the New Year in a few days, and the account books. I need to take a good look at them. We can't afford any accidents at this time, or we'll both lose face."
Listening to the rain and the wind: "Yes, this servant will go and get it right away."
As expected, before lunchtime, Emperor Kangxi's edict arrived, ordering Baoqing to be brought back the next day. Upon hearing this news, Consort Hui finally felt relieved.
Although the Imperial Noble Consort had said so before, and she knew the Imperial Noble Consort wouldn't lie to her, she still felt a little worried because she hadn't heard it.
Now things are much better. From now on, Baoqing will be able to spend time with the Emperor day and night, and at least the Emperor will definitely have Baoqing in his eyes.
After thinking about this, she immediately started cleaning the side hall of Yanxi Palace. She needed to make sure the child had a good place to stay, and that he had food and clothes to wear. So she started tidying up the palace with the maids.
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