Three days after the New Year, the brothers from the various princely residences began to visit each other. Uya was kept in the palace by Consort De to recuperate, so we'll leave that aside for now. The Fourth Prince chose a day to move Hongzhou to Geng's residence. When Song and the others learned of this, they were all astonished, but the Fourth Prince ordered that this matter not be discussed, especially not in front of Hongzhou. Immediately, everyone began to speculate about the Fourth Prince's reasons, wondering if the South Courtyard was about to fall out of favor. However, the news that Hongli was about to be brought back from the palace quickly dispelled their speculations, and the fact that the Fourth Prince had said on the day of his death that Hongzhou and Lanqin's fates were incompatible was brought up again, and only then did they understand the reason.
Lanqin received another summons from Consort De, ordering her to enter the palace to deliver the Buddhist scriptures she was punished to copy.
When Lanqin helped Nianxue into Yonghe Palace, they saw Wuya Shi dressed in a light silver cheongsam making a headband for Consort De. Because they were aunt and niece and looked quite similar, they looked like mother and daughter.
"This humble servant greets Mother!" Lanqin walked up to Consort De, raised the handkerchief in her hand, and bowed respectfully.
"This concubine greets Consort Lanqin!" Lady Wuya, who was standing to the side, had already stood up and bowed to Lanqin as well.
"Wanru, go and see if my bitter root tea is ready yet," Consort De said, waving her hand.
Uya curtsied, put down her embroidery, and went out.
"Niohuru, have you finished copying the Buddhist scriptures I ordered you to copy?" Consort De's eyes seemed very indifferent, unlike the way she used to look at Lanqin.
Although Lanqin knew that Consort De was now somewhat biased towards Uya, she never expected things to turn out this way.
"Your Majesty, I have copied the Diamond Sutra as you instructed. Please review it!" Lanqin gestured for Nianxue to take out the sutra she had brought and handed it to the palace maid who came to her.
Consort De glanced at the scriptures in the maid's hands and saw that Lanqin had copied them quite neatly, so she said to her, "Come and sit down!"
Lanqin quietly let out a sigh of relief and sat down in the long-backed chair next to Consort De.
"Lanqin, yesterday the Emperor told me that he planned to have you take Hongli back. Are you aware of this?" Consort De summoned Lanqin to the palace, actually to tell her about this. Few people knew about Kangxi and Lanqin's private meeting, and Consort De assumed Lanqin was unaware, so she specifically told her.
When Lanqin saw that Consort De was speaking to her so seriously, she immediately replied, "I understand, thank you for telling me, Mother."
Consort De raised an eyebrow and said in surprise, "You knew? The Emperor hasn't announced it to the outside world yet, how did you know?"
Lanqin immediately realized that she might have said something wrong. Only a few people knew about her private meeting with Kangxi, and Kangxi must have instructed her not to reveal it.
"I learned this from the Fourth Prince. I reckon Father Emperor has already told the Fourth Prince the truth," Lanqin quickly said.
Consort De then dismissed her doubts and nodded, saying, "I also quite like Hongli. He's very clever. When you go back, you must treat him well and make sure nothing goes wrong!"
Lanqin quickly replied, "Yes, I will take good care of Hongli. Please rest assured, Mother."
Consort De raised her hand to touch the pearl flower at her temple and said, "Have you thought through what your mother told you last time?"
Lanqin felt a chill run down her spine, thinking to herself: Is her mother-in-law forcing her?
"I understand!" Lanqin could only say this. In any case, she would not push the Fourth Master to go elsewhere. If he wanted to go, she would naturally not stop him!
"Lanqin, you've always been a sensible person. Never try to monopolize the Fourth Prince's heart, or you'll develop the idea that you can't tolerate the Fourth Prince's other children. Do you understand? In the royal family, this kind of thinking is the most unacceptable!" Consort De was still worried and repeatedly reminded her.
Lanqin took a deep breath, letting it swirl around in her stomach for a moment before saying softly, "Thank you for your guidance, Mother. I will remember it."
What's the point of talking to a woman from three hundred years ago about gender equality and monogamy? It's unrealistic. The Fourth Prince already has so many concubines; she's only been favored a little, yet she's being lectured like this by the usually kind and gentle Consort De. So, our Comrade Lanqin certainly wouldn't be foolish enough to contradict Consort De!
Lanqin had a very unpleasant day in the palace. It seemed Consort De was deliberately trying to let her know how gentle, virtuous, and understanding Uya was; she even had the Fourth Prince come over for lunch, and specially arranged for Uya to prepare several dishes for everyone. During the meal, Consort De would occasionally mention the scenes between the Fourth Prince and Uya in Consort De's palace more than a decade ago.
Only then did Lanqin learn some of their past from this old woman. It turned out that they too had once had such beautiful, innocent years, like spring flowers and green grass.
The Fourth Princess Consort remained as steady as a rock, even echoing a few words with the Consort De, seemingly unmoved in the slightest, and even her gaze towards Lady Uya was incredibly gentle. Lanqin was utterly defeated!
Even Nian's usual fiery temper was not revealed at this moment. He simply restrained his usually lively and talkative mouth and silently became a listener. "Rare indeed!" Lanqin commented.
On the contrary, the Fourth Prince seemed quite embarrassed when Consort De recounted these old stories. He gestured to Consort De several times, indicating that she should stop talking, but Consort De seemed not to notice.
As for Lady Wuya, her face naturally flushed red. She glanced at the Fourth Prince several times with affectionate eyes, but he didn't seem to receive her messages, only occasionally glancing at Lanqin.
As for Lanqin, since she had good food and drink, let Consort De say whatever she wanted. This was clearly an attempt to match her son with Uya, and she even did it in front of Lanqin and the Fourth Prince's wife. Lanqin was speechless!
Fortunately, the day was finally coming to an end. After the Fourth Prince, accompanied by his wives, paid their respects to Consort De, he left Yonghe Palace.
Lanqin, draped in a snow fox fur cloak, followed behind the Fourth Prince's Consort. Some snow remained on the ground, and the bottoms of flowerpots crunched underfoot. Lanqin glanced at the horizon, then at the towering palaces of the Forbidden City, thinking about how she would one day move in and become one of the many imperial concubines. It seemed she would become Consort Xi of Niohuru!
As for the Fourth Prince, he was destined to become emperor, and she was not his empress. The empress was still the former Fourth Prince's wife, Ulanara Xiayu. Behind her was Lady Nian, the famous Consort Hua, who would also be favored in the future.
Thinking about all this, Lanqin felt an immense weight on her shoulders!
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