Winter arrived quickly in the 49th year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign, and Beijing's first snowfall blanketed the entire city in a silvery white. The weather was unbearably cold.
Lanqin and the others had already returned to Prince Yong's residence from the Yuanmingyuan. After staying with Hongli for half a month, Lanqin had to send him back to the palace. Because of his congenital weakness, Hongzhou was even more susceptible to weather changes in winter, falling ill every few days, which meant that Lanqin didn't have time to visit Hongli in the palace.
"Seventh Prince is congenitally weak and must be properly cared for. He must not be exposed to wind and cold again," Doctor Lin said to Lanqin after examining her pulse.
"Okay, I understand. Thank you, Doctor Lin." Lanqin gestured for the maidservant who was serving Hongzhou to follow Doctor Lin to get the medicine.
"Did you hear that? The Seventh Prince is frail and cannot withstand even the slightest cold. If you are not careful, and Hongzhou doesn't grow up, the Prince will not let you off the hook. Even if I have a soft heart, I'm afraid I won't plead for you. Do you understand?" Lanqin said sternly to the kneeling wet nurses and maids. A chill suddenly rose in Lanqin's heart. The Fourth Prince's children were few in number, and why did they all die young? In the past, it was the Fujin's methods, but even though the Fourth Prince had clearly abandoned her, she still had ways to make these children die for no reason. Lanqin didn't know how many of the Fujin's spies were in this inner palace.
“We servants dare not be negligent. We beg Consort Kane. We will certainly serve the Seventh Prince with utmost care and devotion.” The wet nurse, Hongzhou, was a middle-aged woman surnamed Zhou.
“Alright, Zhou, you are Hongzhou’s wet nurse. When Hongzhou drinks milk at night, you can’t let him lie down to drink. You must hold him up, understand?” Lanqin stared at Zhou and said. She couldn’t possibly change all the people serving him.
After the reprimand was over, Lanqin felt a little dizzy, so she entrusted Hongzhou to Zhou's care. She then took Cui Niang's hand and returned to her room.
"Sigh, why is Hongzhou so weak? He was never strong even in the womb, and now that he's almost six months old, he's still so sickly," Lanqin said with worry.
"My lord, why don't we go to the temple and light an everlasting lamp for the Seventh Prince? We can have the abbot calculate whether our Seventh Prince is lacking anything in his destiny and what he should supplement," suggested Cui Niang.
"What you're saying reminds me of the first time I met Fourth Master at Huangjue Temple. He lit some eternal lamps for Honghui back then, but in the end, he still couldn't save Honghui!" Lanqin sighed.
"Master, we have to try, no matter if it works or not." Cui Niang knew it might not work, but when human effort was exhausted, she had no choice but to pray to God.
Lanqin thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "Alright, let's invite the monks from Tantuo Temple to take a look at Hongzhou in the name of Fourth Master."
That evening, Lanqin told Fourth Master that she wanted to go to Tantuo Temple to invite a high-ranking monk to examine Hongzhou's fate. Fourth Master had been busy distributing disaster relief funds to various places these days, and when he heard Lanqin mention Hongzhou's poor health, he didn't think much of it and agreed.
The next day, the Fourth Prince instructed the head nanny to send someone to Tantuo Temple to invite a high-ranking monk to the mansion to read the Seventh Prince's fortune.
Lanqin had only intended to give it a try, but what a high-ranking monk from Tantuo Temple said to her after examining Hongzhou's face made her doubt the fates of Hongli and Hongzhou.
“Master, since birth, the Seventh Prince Hongzhou has been in poor health. No matter how I take care of him, he is more prone to illness than other children,” Lanqin said to Master Kongji.
“Consort, I have just examined the Seventh Prince’s face and his birth date. His fate is not compatible with yours. It’s not that the Seventh Prince is unwell. On the contrary, he has the air of nobility. It’s just that his fate is incompatible with yours, which is why he is constantly ill,” Master Kongji said.
"What? Incompatible destinies? Master, could you explain this more clearly?" Lanqin felt a chill in her heart; she couldn't accept such an explanation. Incompatible destinies, suppressed fortune, and so on.
"It's because the Seventh Prince's fate clashes with that of his concubine. If the concubine wants the Seventh Prince to be safe, she has to stay away from him." Master Kongji had no choice but to speak frankly.
"What?! Their fates clash!" Lanqin stared at Master Kongji in astonishment. She never imagined that her son would be incompatible with her.
“Consort, do you have another prince? It is said that you gave birth to twins?” Master Kongji asked.
“That’s right. I gave birth to twins. The other one is the Sixth Prince, who is now being raised by Father Emperor in the palace,” Lanqin said.
Kong Ji's expression tightened, and after thinking for a while, he said, "The Sixth Prince's fate is only half an hour earlier than the Seventh Prince's. However, the Sixth Prince's fate is very compatible with that of the Consort. Moreover, the Sixth Prince's fate is one of great wealth and honor, and his future opportunities are unpredictable."
Lanqin was stunned by Kongji's words. She understood why Kongji said Hongli had a good destiny, but then she realized that Kongji didn't know this sixth prince was the future Qianlong Emperor. So how could he say such a thing?
"Master, are you sure Hongzhou is incompatible with me, while Hongli is compatible?" Lanqin asked incredulously. They were both her sons, how could one be good and the other bad?
"Yes, that's why the Seventh Prince will be prone to illness and misfortune. Please prepare yourself mentally, Consort. As for the Sixth Prince, there's no need to worry," Kong Ji said.
"Then how can I eliminate the incompatibility between me and the Sixth Prince?" Lanqin asked.
"Only by finding someone whose fate is compatible with that of the Seventh Prince can we reduce his misfortunes. Only after the Seventh Prince grows up can he return to the side of his secondary consort," Kong Ji said.
What?
Lanqin stared incredulously into the empty eyes, trying to see even a hint of mockery in the old monk's gaze, but she was destined to be disappointed; the old monk would not lie easily.
"Consort, the monk has already calculated the birth chart of the person whose destiny is most compatible with the Seventh Prince's. Would you like me to write it down?" Master Kongji said earnestly. His earnestness made Lanqin believe that what the old monk said was true.
Lanqin certainly wouldn't dare joke about the Seventh Prince's life, so she let it go. After all, people in this era believed in such things.
After seeing Kongji off, our Comrade Lanqin fell into a very conflicted state. She never imagined that this was how it was, how could her own son be so incompatible with her own destiny?
Holding the birth dates and times of the person whose fate was compatible with that of the Seventh Prince, left behind by Kong Ji, Lan Qin felt like cursing. Should she tell the Fourth Prince all of this, or just stand by and watch Hong Zhou have a relapse?
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