To ensure she could sleep well, the headdress was removed from her head, and Si Hua immediately had to restyle Lan Qin's hair.
"Such heavy snow, and it's so cold outside, what's he doing out there?" Lanqin let Si Hua put her hair up, but she reached out and rolled up the car window to look outside. She saw that the snowstorm had subsided, and the heavens were sifting snowflakes like sieves. The light snow was falling in a fine, dense pattern, and the ground was already covered with a layer of cotton blanket.
Lanqin craned her neck to look outside and saw that all the towering archways were covered in snow, with almost no other people around. The only people passing by were the carriages of several princes.
This was the first time Lanqin had ever quietly observed the old Beijing from three hundred years ago. Although she had come out before, it was always when there were people around. This was the first time she had ever seen such quiet and emptiness.
Just then, a snowman suddenly came running up from behind. Lanqin suddenly noticed that Fourth Master's hat and body were covered with snow, and couldn't help but laugh, "Master, be careful that the snow doesn't get your clothes wet, it'll be cold."
All that could be seen was a layer of snow covering the Fourth Master's hat, his body, and even his car. At first glance, he really did look a bit like a snowman.
"The temperature is very low, the snow won't melt, it's dry and won't get wet. Quickly close the window, be careful not to catch a cold." Fourth Master reached out and forcefully pulled down the rolled-up car window over Lanqin's head.
Lanqin felt sweet inside seeing how much the Fourth Master cared for her. But now that she was in high spirits, she didn't want to just sit in the car like that anymore.
"Hurry and help me get dressed. I want to go out and ride horses with Master. I've never ridden a horse in the snow before," Lanqin said.
"My lord, how can you go out riding a horse in your court robes and attire? Don't you risk damaging your clothes or losing your jewelry," Si Hua hurriedly advised.
Upon hearing this, Lanqin immediately pouted. Just then, Fourth Master's voice rang out from the carriage door and window: "Catch it quickly!"
Lanqin was overjoyed. She opened the window and saw Fourth Master throw in a large snowball, which landed right on her cup.
Fourth Master knew the little woman couldn't resist, so he simply tossed in a snowball to satisfy her craving for playing in the snow.
Lanqin was satisfied and played with the snowball for a while before forgetting about going out. Fourth Master also dismounted and came in.
"We're almost there. I'm starving. Here, have some pastries, sir." As soon as Fourth Master climbed into the carriage, he brought with him a chill.
Lanqin was drinking hot tea and eating yam cake when she quickly gestured to Sihua to pour a cup of hot tea for the Fourth Master.
After drinking the tea, Fourth Master rubbed his hands together before daring to approach Loulan Qin.
"My lord, I will take the children to Mother's Palace later, right?" Lanqin had found out that only the principal wife could go to the front courtyard with the fourth prince, which meant that she didn't need to go and didn't need to deal with the old Kang and the fourth prince's brothers and sisters-in-law.
"Yes, I'm sorry to trouble you. You can take the child directly to Mother's Palace, and I'll go to pay my respects to Father Emperor for the New Year. Then it's time for your instruction," said the Fourth Prince.
The so-called "reprimands" were basically Emperor Kangxi's opening remarks at the beginning of the year, where he would look forward to the new year, summarize the past, and envision the future. The process of paying New Year's respects to Emperor Kangxi was already lengthy, involving more than a dozen princes and officials of all ranks, taking up almost half a day. Listening to Emperor Kangxi's reprimands would probably take a whole day. During this time, there were also various rituals interspersed, including kneeling or standing.
"What grievances could I possibly have? It's you, Master, who shouldn't kneel so rigidly. Take a break whenever you can, or you'll definitely get rheumatism when you get older," Lanqin instructed.
The Fourth Prince smiled and said, "Yes. I understand. Consort, you've gone to Mother's palace. Take good care of yourself. Mother is gentle and won't make you kneel for long, but you should bring the child to pay your respects to her for the New Year."
Lanqin said coquettishly, "I know, it's just kneeling and bowing to Mother with the child, it'll be quick. No trouble at all."
Si Hua watched as Fourth Master and Lan Qin exchanged instructions, then lowered her head and pretended to be invisible.
Upon arriving at Shenwu Gate, they had to enter the palace in order of seniority. At the very front were naturally the sons of the Prince of Zhi, followed by the Third, Fourth, Fifth, Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Princes. The Tenth and Fourteenth Princes were still in the northern deserts, so their respective primary wives and children had to come. The Thirteenth Prince's primary wife was absent, and he had no secondary wives, so he did not come.
Fourth Master helped Lanqin out of the carriage, and everyone else followed. The older children were led by their wet nurses, while the younger ones were held in their arms.
They had to wait quite a while to enter the palace. The children all huddled in their large cloaks, quietly waiting beside their wet nurses. When they finally entered the large square in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the Fourth Prince had to go to the Hall of Preserving Harmony, while Lanqin took the children to the Palace of Eternal Harmony.
Although Lanqin had seen the Forbidden City covered in snow before, this version from three hundred years ago felt more authentic than the one she had seen in modern times. Red walls and yellow tiles, with a thick blanket of snow on the ground, and snow piled up on the glazed tiles and the heads of the qilin beasts, looked very festive. In addition, because it was the New Year, bright red palace lanterns were hung everywhere.
Fortunately, the servants had already cleared the snow from the palace road; otherwise, it would have taken them another half an hour to get to Yonghe Palace.
Consort De had already changed her clothes and was sitting in the main hall, waiting for the Fourth Prince and the Fourteenth Prince's families to come and pay their New Year's respects. Consort Cheng was already there with her, telling Consort De jokes as usual; the two had been keeping each other company for quite some time.
"They're here, they're here!" Aunt An, who was standing at the entrance of the hall, said hurriedly. She had been standing at the entrance of the main hall of Yonghe Palace, staring at the shadowy figure on the wall.
Upon hearing this, Consort De's face lit up with joy, as this was the only time she could see her grandchildren. Normally, the children of these princes who had left the palace to establish their own residences were not allowed to enter the palace freely without special permission.
"Your Majesty, why don't we also have the Seventh Consort come and wish you a Happy New Year?" Consort Cheng suggested.
"Of course, you're not here. Call her over, I heard she gave birth to a son, is that right? That's wonderful," Consort De said with a forced smile.
It turns out that Xinyi also gave birth to a son for the Seventh Prince a little over a month ago. At that time, the Fourth Prince even took Lanqin to the Seventh Prince's house to drink the baby's third-day celebration wine. Xinyi gave birth to a son in one fell swoop, and now that there is no main wife above her, she is living a really good life.
The Niohuru family had three daughters, whose fates were extraordinary. One is now the concubine of the Fourth Prince, and another is the concubine of the Seventh Prince. Only Holland has long since turned to dust and perished.
Just then, Lanqin led the children into the main hall of Yonghe Palace.
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