According to Qing Dynasty history records, Aisin-Gioro Hongli was born in the 50th year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign. In order to ensure Hongli's peaceful life, the Kangxi Emperor specially arranged for a high-ranking monk to change the destinies of Hongli and Hongzhou, altering their originally conflicting fates to allow them to be born on two auspicious days.
Lanqin suddenly realized that history books can be changed, and even the year Qianlong was born could be written by the emperor himself.
Regardless, Hongli was brought back. Lanqin personally assigned four maids—Nianxue, Lanqi, Jinju, and Putao—to serve Hongli. These four maids were chosen by Lanqin after she had personally examined them and found them to be honest, loyal, and clever, especially Nianxue, who had served Lanqin the longest. Hongli's wet nurses were two women personally selected by the Fourth Prince from among his bannermen, women of impeccable character and absolutely loyal to him. To make it easier to care for Hongli, Lanqin specially arranged for his room to be located behind her main house, in what was then the former residence of the Second Princess, Lanxing Residence. To align with Hongli's birth chart, which lacked the element of wood, the Fourth Prince also ordered apricot and cedar trees to be planted around Lanxing Residence.
The Seventh Prince, Hongzhou, also received four more maids and two wet nurses, all personally selected by Lanqin from the Bordered White Banner, not from the Imperial Household Department, for fear of spies among them. Geng Shi moved out of that area and built a new courtyard on a vacant plot of land. Since Hongzhou's birth chart lacked the element of metal, Geng Shi had many gold ornaments made for him, adorning his neck, wrists, and ankles.
For a time, speculation about the two young princes spread among the servants in the Fourth Prince's mansion, but no one dared to speak out, because the Fourth Prince had explicitly forbidden anyone from discussing the two princes, and even more so from mentioning that the two princes were twins.
As time went by, the gossip about Hongli and Hongzhou gradually faded away, and the people in the Fourth Prince's mansion gradually got used to the fact that Hongzhou was Geng's son. Since Hongzhou's birth, Geng rarely left her courtyard, and even rarely visited Lanqin, because Hongzhou was very attached to her and almost never left her side. At first, Lanqin would occasionally go to Geng's courtyard to see Hongzhou, but gradually, the frequency decreased. Seeing that Hongzhou and Geng's relationship was growing stronger, she, as his birth mother, gradually lost all feeling in Hongzhou's eyes.
Lanqin was not without sorrow; Hongzhou was also her child, but now he was practically Geng's child. So she gradually reduced the number of times she visited Hongzhou to avoid being reminded of her painful past.
The wedding day for the two newlyweds was set for the Dragon Boat Festival. Preparations began at the Fourth Prince's residence to expand the housing for their arrival. The original houses were already dilapidated, and with the Fourth Prince's promotion, the women's treatment in the residence also needed to be improved. The rooms in the west courtyard that had previously belonged to Lady Geng were given to Lady Wu and Lady Wuya to be used by the servants, and their respective rooms were renovated. Consort De specifically ordered the Fourth Prince to promote Lady Wuya's rank, making her a Gege (a lower-ranking concubine).
Fourth Prince's wife was also freed. She seemed to have heeded Consort De's advice and returned to being the dignified, generous, and kind Fourth Prince's wife she once was. However, the Fourth Prince did not restore her power to manage the household; the inner quarters were still managed by Lanqin and Nianshi.
To set rules for the new bride, the women in the inner quarters would occasionally go to pay their respects to the Fourth Prince's wife. On the surface, she was still the mistress of the inner quarters, but everyone knew in their hearts that the South Courtyard was still the most important place in the Fourth Prince's heart.
Meanwhile, the Fourth Prince received a great deal of praise from Emperor Kangxi for his excellent handling of the spring plowing. The Crown Prince grew increasingly resentful, but was powerless to stop the Fourth Prince's growing power. Besides trying to impress Emperor Kangxi, he also had to guard against the open and covert slander from his other brothers.
Having some free time, Emperor Kangxi planned to go to Rehe (Jehol) to escape the summer heat, and specially appointed his third, tenth, fourteenth, and seventeenth sons to accompany him. The fourth prince was left behind to oversee the country with the crown prince.
As Kangxi prepared to leave, he would certainly summon the Crown Prince and the Fourth Prince to his side for a good reprimand, instructing them on what to pay attention to.
Prince Heshuo felt increasingly resentful that Emperor Kangxi had sidelined him. In addition, Empress Fucha had cut off all ties with him, and many of the ministers who had previously supported him also stopped associating with him.
One day, Prince Heshuo was feeling down and rode his horse aimlessly through the streets alone. He was dressed in ordinary clothes, and no one recognized him as the current Prince Heshuo. He saw a blind fortune teller sitting by the roadside, with a fortune-telling banner hanging in front of him.
For some unknown reason, Yinqi dismounted and walked up to the blind man.
"Are you an accurate fortune teller?" Yinti first tied his horse to a wooden post nearby, then walked over to the blind fortune teller and sat down on the long bench in front of his stall.
"No charge if it's inaccurate. Sir, would you like your fortune told?" the fortune teller said.
"How can you calculate it if you can't even see the hexagram?" Yin Ti said doubtfully.
"Hehe, sir, although I can't see, I can feel. You can do the divination first, and then I'll feel your hand bones," the fortune teller said.
Yinti was feeling bored. He had only come out to kill time, and he figured he had nothing else to do, so he took out some divination bones from the blind man's box and scattered them on the blind man's table.
"Touch it!" Yinti said.
The blind fortune teller immediately reached out and touched the divination bones. Yinti watched as he touched each one.
"Well? What can my divination tell us?" Yinti asked, slightly impatiently, because the blind man had been divining for a quarter of an hour.
"Sir, could you please take me to the teahouse across the street, and order a room so I can explain everything to you in detail?" the blind fortune teller said.
Yinti stared at his tightly closed eyelids and said, "Are you trying to trick me into giving you a pot of good tea?"
“Sir, your destiny is exceptionally noble, but I fear that discussing it here might cause trouble. I simply wish to have a proper discussion with you about your divination,” said the blind fortune teller.
"Alright, it's just a pot of tea and a plate of snacks. If you're talking nonsense, watch your eyes!" Yinti wasn't in a good mood, but seeing that the blind man's words were somewhat interesting, he suddenly became a little interested.
"Don't worry, I will never speak carelessly," the fortune teller said.
The blind fortune teller packed up his stall and went with Yinti to the teahouse across the street. Yinti's horse had already been led to the back by the teahouse staff to be watered and fed.
"The best private room!" Yinti took out a silver ingot from his pocket and tossed it to the waiter who was leading the way.
"Yes, sir, please come this way!" The shop assistant was overjoyed when he received the heavy silver.
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