Kangxi returned to Beijing in the middle of the night. The palace had received the news two days earlier, and everyone was on duty, not daring to be careless in the slightest.
The Fourth Prince naturally stayed in the palace as well. The candles in Consort De's palace were not completely extinguished; neither mother nor son could sleep until Emperor Kangxi arrived.
“Aunt, it’s late. Let me help you rest for a while,” said Wuya Shi. After more than a month of careful recuperation, her foot injury had healed, and her relationship with Consort De had also grown closer. Wuya Wanru had been a daughter-in-law in the Xiao family of Nanling for more than ten years, and her skills in serving her parents-in-law were not for nothing. In addition, although Consort De had two daughters-in-law, one was arrogant and rigid, and the other was short-tempered and willful, neither of whom Consort De liked very much. Moreover, now that both daughters-in-law had left the palace with their sons to establish their own residences, they would only come to the palace to pay their respects to Consort De during festivals, and they had not fulfilled their duties as daughters-in-law. Now Wuya Wanru had seized this opportunity, so she did her best to be a dutiful daughter-in-law in front of Consort De. Even the several trusted nannies and maids around Consort De praised Wuya Wanru for being virtuous, sensible, gentle, and filial.
"His Majesty will return to the palace tonight. I must stay until he is back before I can feel at ease!" said Consort De. She had grown accustomed to having such a blood relative, her niece, serving her. Although Granny De and Aunt An were Consort De's trusted confidantes, they were still different from her blood relative, her niece. Consort De's affection for her family was irreplaceable. Besides, Uya Wanru had become a widow, and as the person who had arranged the marriage, Consort De naturally felt she should take care of this niece. Therefore, she kept her by her side, thinking that perhaps she could arrange a marriage for her if a suitable match came along.
“Only today do I understand my aunt’s feelings for the Emperor. No wonder my aunt has always held a place in the Emperor’s heart,” Wu Ya Wan Ru said, going along with Consort De’s thoughts, but inwardly she sneered: It’s all just flattery of the Emperor. It’s just a pity that she’s too old now; even if the Emperor returns, he won’t come. Wu Ya Wan Ru was no longer the naive young girl she was a decade or so ago, full of endless envy and admiration for Consort De.
"His Majesty is busy with countless affairs of state, and as a concubine, this is all I can do to help in these areas," Consort De said kindly to Wuya Wanru. "You don't need to stay with me; go and rest."
“How can that be? Aunt hasn’t rested yet. Wanru should stay with Aunt and chat with her to relieve her fatigue.” She said with an incredibly innocent smile.
Consort De nodded, signaling the palace maids to prepare tea and some snacks. The aunt and niece kept watch together through the night, waiting for Kangxi's return to the palace.
After the second watch of the night, it was clear that Consort De's spirits were not very good. After all, she was almost fifty years old, and her energy was getting shorter and shorter.
“Aunt, why don’t you go and rest for a while? Wanru will stay here. As soon as the Emperor returns to the palace, Wanru will wake you up immediately, okay? Otherwise, if you keep pushing yourself like this, I’m afraid you won’t have the energy to greet the Emperor when he returns,” said Wuya.
“Yes, Your Highness, Miss Biao is right. How about I help you to rest for a while and recharge your energy?” Granny De and Su Peisheng were inseparable from Consort De.
Consort De thought that what they said made sense, so she agreed. She also told Wanru that she could rest on the couch for a while before she felt at ease and went to rest herself.
After Consort De left, Lady Uya stayed alone in the warm pavilion to the left of Consort De's main hall. In fact, she was so sleepy that she could hardly stay awake, but in order to win favor with Consort De, she had to force herself to stay awake.
"Cuiyun, go and get my embroidery frame. We should do something; otherwise, we can't just sit here doing nothing," said Wuya, frowning.
"Madam, why don't you lie down and rest for a while? I'll stay and watch over you," Cuiyun whispered in her ear.
“No, it wouldn’t be good if this got back to my aunt,” Uya said in a low voice.
Cuiyun brought her the embroidery frame she often used for embroidery. There was a piece of snow-white gauze stretched on it, with a half-embroidered magnolia flower and a few leaves on it.
“Madam, you can let me do these things. It’s bad for your eyes. Your embroidery is so exquisite!” Cuiyun said again.
“I have nothing to do anyway, so I might as well make something for my aunt and cousin.” Uya picked up the needle and thread and began to embroider the magnolia flower again. These were socks she planned to make for the Fourth Prince. She knew he liked magnolia flowers, so she specially embroidered his favorite.
"Madam, I heard that the Fourth Prince has been staying in the palace these past few days," Cuiyun said in a low voice. At this moment, only the two of them, mistress and servant, were in the warm pavilion, along with the palace maids keeping watch outside.
“The Emperor will soon return to the palace, so it’s natural for my cousin to serve him. That’s not surprising,” said Lady Wuya as she embroidered.
“Madam, you must seize this opportunity to get close to the Fourth Prince. Otherwise, once this period is over, although the Fourth Prince enters the palace every day, he leaves again after finishing his business. Where will you get your chance?” Cuiyun said.
“I already told you about my cousin’s personality. If I approach him rashly, he’ll only be disgusted. Besides, at this time, he probably doesn’t have the mind to think about that kind of thing. There’s no rush. As long as I can stay by my aunt’s side for a while, I won’t be afraid of not having a chance.” Uya-shi really understood Fourth Master.
“Yes, Madam should have a plan in mind,” Cuiyun said.
Meanwhile, the Fourth Prince was still awake, waiting for Emperor Kangxi to return to the palace in his quarters. Su Peisheng, who was serving him, advised, "Your Highness, why don't you go and rest for a while? I'll stay here. As soon as the Emperor returns to the palace, I'll wake you up immediately."
"Never mind, I'm not sleepy anymore. Mother is probably keeping watch over her too, how can I rest by myself? Let's go see Mother, that way I won't be sleepy anymore." Fourth Master put down the book in his hand and said.
He and Consort De were quite similar in this respect; once they set their minds on something, they would stubbornly carry it out.
Su Peisheng immediately lit the gas lamp and draped a cotton cloak over Fourth Master's shoulders. The early autumn weather was still quite cold after midnight.
The palace road was quiet all the way, and although palace lanterns were lit everywhere, it was probably because they were all on guard.
After Su Peisheng led the Fourth Prince through the palace corridor to Yonghe Palace, the Fourth Prince called for the palace gates to be opened. The old nanny guarding the gate said that Consort De was still on duty. She didn't know that Consort De had gone to rest; it was Wuya Wanru who was currently guarding the warm pavilion in the main hall.
The Fourth Prince nodded and walked towards Consort De's main hall with his hands behind his back. Su Peisheng was not qualified to enter the main hall with him, so he could only stand guard at the door and let the Fourth Prince go in alone.
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