The time for the palace banquet was almost up. Consort De had already sent someone to deliver a message, instructing Lanqin and Lady Wanyan to hurry up and make preparations. Only the Second Princess, the Third Prince, and the Fourth Prince were to be taken along; the younger children would all stay in Yonghe Palace.
Lanqin, dressed in the court attire of a prince's secondary consort and wearing the jewelry prescribed for such a consort, followed behind Consort De towards the Imperial Garden, alongside Wanyan, who was dressed in the court attire of a primary consort. Each of them was accompanied by a personal maid; Lanqin's maid was Cui Niang. The children were all with their wet nurses. Consort De, supported by her wet nurse, walked towards the Imperial Garden at the back.
This is Lanqin's second time visiting the Imperial Garden. The first time was during the imperial concubine selection, and she still vividly remembers being inspected by the four concubines. Now, she has become a spectator.
"Wait a moment, you will all sit in your assigned seats according to the rules, and you are not allowed to change seats at will," Consort De said as she walked ahead.
“Yes, Your Majesty knows,” Wanyan replied immediately.
"Yes, I understand," Lanqin replied.
"Minghui, you are the primary consort. Since the Fourteenth Prince is not here, you should toast the uncles and elders on his behalf. You must not be impolite, understand?" Consort De instructed again.
"Your Majesty, I know. Please rest assured, Mother." Wanyan puffed out her cheeks.
Consort De and her entourage walked along a long palace path, then turned to a large red gate. Consort De suddenly stopped, looked at the gate, and turned to Wanyan, saying, "Minghui, go stand at the Zhongsi Gate. This is the gate in the Qing Dynasty's inner palace where people pray for fertility; it is very effective."
Upon hearing this, Wanyan felt utterly humiliated, realizing she had almost completely lost face in front of Consort De that day.
However, she dared not disobey Consort De's orders, so she could only walk through that door without complaint.
"Wanyan is too spoiled. Alas, the Fourteenth Prince doesn't even have half a daughter yet," said Consort De.
Lanqin knew she should offer some advice, but as a concubine, she really had no need to plead for the Fourteenth Prince's primary wife. Nevertheless, she said, "Mother, don't be too anxious. Having children is a matter of fate. Perhaps the Fourteenth Prince's time for children hasn't come yet."
Consort De sighed and said, "None of them give me any peace of mind. As for the Fourth Prince's wife, I know that the Fourth Prince has never been favored by him, but as long as she remains the Fourth Prince's wife, you must abide by your own rules. Although I like you, as the Fourth Prince's closest bedmate, the First Prince is no longer useful, and as a secondary consort, you must take on the responsibility. The Fourth Prince has always been stubborn, so I hope you can persuade him more. The more offspring he has, the more blessings he will have."
Lanqin felt very awkward. After all, Consort De was her mother-in-law. Was this an implication that she hadn't done a good job as a concubine? Did she have to push her husband into the concubine's room and have a bunch of children to be considered a virtuous and good concubine?
If that's really the case, Lanqin suddenly doesn't want to be this concubine anymore.
Just then, two people suddenly walked out of the Zhongsi Gate. One was a member of the Wanyan clan, and the other was a noble lady from the palace—Noble Lady Zheng.
Lanqin looked at Zheng Chunhua and was startled. How could she be here?
"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to Consort De!" Zheng Chunhua walked up to Consort De and curtsied.
"Consort Zheng! What are you doing here?" Consort De clearly had the same question as Lanqin.
"I am nothing, I was just wandering around and disturbed Your Majesty. Please forgive me!" Zheng Chunhua said humbly.
"It's nothing to cause trouble. Consort Zheng, please make yourself at home. I still need to go to the Imperial Garden for a palace banquet," said Consort De.
"Respectfully seeing off Your Majesty!" Zheng Chunhua curtsied again.
Consort De, along with Lanqin and Lady Wanyan, continued walking towards the Imperial Garden.
After walking some distance, Consort De suddenly said to a palace maid who was following her, "How long has it been since Consort Zheng served His Majesty?"
The palace maid pondered for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, it has probably been about a year. The Emperor used to like this Consort Zheng very much and favored her for a period of time, but until the beginning of last year, she suddenly fell ill, and then the Emperor stopped visiting her as often."
Consort De seemed to be deep in thought, and said quietly, "Why would a disgraced noblewoman suddenly go to the Zhongsi Gate?"
The old nanny, De, said, "Unless she regains the emperor's favor, no matter how much she prays, she can't possibly get pregnant!"
Consort De nodded and stopped talking about Zheng Chunhua. However, Lanqin, who was following behind her, was so shocked by Consort De's words that she couldn't help but think about Zheng Chunhua's fate.
It seems that Zheng Chunhua mysteriously disappeared from the harem when the crown prince was first deposed, and then around this time...
Lanqin was lost in thought when she unknowingly arrived at the Imperial Garden. She saw that everything had been prepared, with large palace lanterns hanging everywhere. The palace maids and eunuchs had already arranged the venue for the palace banquet, and the banquet was set up in the Rain-Watching Pavilion, which was directly opposite the Imperial Garden.
Officials and noblewomen were not entitled to sit inside the Rain-Watching Pavilion; their seats were placed in the open spaces around the Imperial Garden. Lanqin's seat was probably outside as well; those inside were likely Emperor Kangxi and his concubines. It is said that Kangxi had more than thirty concubines, plus the wives of their sons and grandsons. Considering all that, there was no room for her to be a secondary wife of a prince.
Sure enough, Consort De went into the Rain-Watching Pavilion. Lanqin and Lady Wanyan's seats were outside the pavilion, very close to the room, which was at least better than the seats of the wives of high-ranking officials.
Lanqin sat alone in her seat, surrounded by empty seats; no one had arrived yet. She silently prayed that she wouldn't run into the Third Princess and the others, otherwise she wouldn't have a peaceful night.
Fortunately, the people sitting in front of Lanqin and to her left and right were not the primary consorts, but rather secondary consorts from various households. It is said that the seating arrangement was made by Consort Yi, and it must be said that she is very considerate of people's feelings.
"Which family's concubine are you?" asked a beautiful woman in palace attire sitting to Lanqin's left.
"I am from the Fourth Prince's family. Which family are you from?" Lanqin had no choice but to ask. She couldn't ignore people, so she had to start the social interactions between the concubines.
"I am Consort Ma of the Tenth Prince's residence." Ma was very cute, unlike Shuhui. To be made a consort, she must have been favored by the Tenth Prince.
"And which household are you from?" Madam Ma asked a woman to Lanqin's right. She hadn't spoken when she arrived, and now she had a stern face as well.
"I am Consort Chu from the Fifth Prince's residence." Consort Chu was very quiet and reserved, answering questions one by one.
"His Majesty has arrived!" a high-pitched eunuch's voice rang out!
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