Seven years have passed, and many things have happened during that time. However, the Fourth Prince's harem has remained largely unchanged because he is unwilling to take in any new women, except for Shui Ling. Although the Fourth Prince has held two imperial concubine selections, he has resolutely refused both.
Wu Ruyue was sent back to her hometown by the Wu family. Two years later, she finally married Song Shucheng and returned to the capital once again.
Lanqin's Daqing Hot Pot restaurant had become a source of hundreds of thousands of taels of silver for her annual income. This silver was deposited by Lanqin in private money shops. Cui Da, Cui Er, Li Chuang, and Lanqin's fifth brother, Ayinda, all became general managers. These four became the four standing committee members of the Daqing Hot Pot restaurant's "board of directors." Lanqin divided the restaurant into regional branches, assigning them to manage Daqing Hot Pot's branches across the country according to their respective regions (east, west, south, and north). Their subordinates were managed by either hiring or appointing their own trusted confidants. Lanqin didn't manage this aspect herself, as her energy was limited; she didn't have the capacity for extensive personnel management and had to leave the appointments to her subordinates.
Because of the incident with Hongqiao, Lady Nian's health never fully recovered. She became pregnant twice, but both times she miscarried, further weakening her. For the next seven years, Lady Nian seemed to spend almost all her time in bed. The two miscarriages further damaged her body, and she needed daily medication in the East Courtyard to regulate her body. From then on, to facilitate Lady Nian's health, the Fourth Prince specially ordered a kitchen to be set up in the East Courtyard specifically to prepare her meals and medicinal dishes.
Although Lady Fucha had opportunities to see the Fourth Prince, she had never conceived despite the passage of years. However, the Fourth Prince did visit her, so she gradually began to doubt whether she was infertile.
Over the years, Lanqin hadn't conceived even once. It wasn't that the Fourth Prince wouldn't let her, but rather that she herself didn't want to have any more children. Two daughters and two sons—what more could she ask for? Although Hongzhou wasn't by her side to care for her, she saw him almost every day, and that was enough for her. Because of Nian Shi's poor health, Lanqin was entrusted with managing all the household affairs in the Fourth Prince's residence. Finally, due to her advanced age, the head nanny submitted her resignation to the Fourth Prince in the 57th year of Kangxi's reign, requesting to return to her hometown to retire. The Fourth Prince, mindful of her diligence, gave her three thousand taels of silver and sent her home. From then on, the entire responsibility of managing the household affairs in the Fourth Prince's residence fell on Lanqin alone.
The Fourth Prince's position in the court gradually became stable. Besides him, there was another person whose promotion in the court was quite remarkable. That was Longkodo, the younger brother of Empress Xiaoyiren, who was appointed by Emperor Kangxi as Minister of the Court of Colonial Affairs and Commander of the Infantry.
In addition to his duties as Commander of the Infantry, Kangxi also gave him a secret mission: to secretly monitor the imprisoned deposed crown prince and the eldest prince, to report any news about them in secret, and to secretly monitor the movements of the imperial princes and high-ranking officials in the capital.
For a time, Longkodo became one of the most trusted ministers of Emperor Kangxi, and the number of people sending him gift lists gradually increased.
On this day, Lanqin was resting on her warm couch. All morning, old women came in an endless stream to report things to Lanqin, keeping her busy with various matters before finally getting a chance to rest.
"Master, they're starting to plot again!" A woman named Cui Niang, wearing a crimson pipa-style jacket and a matching pleated skirt, pointed to a rather tall maid who brought a brazier into the room, and then said to Lan Qin.
“Over the years, hasn’t she had a lot of ideas?” Lanqin was leaning against a large soft pillow with her eyes closed, while Baoqin behind her was massaging her shoulders.
Over the past seven years, the maids who served Lanqin have all gone their separate ways. Nianxue and Xicha haven't returned since giving birth. Because Cui Da and Cui Er are now important and capable stewards under Lanqin, she hasn't allowed them to come back to serve her. They all have their own courtyards now, and their families have hired maids and servants to take care of them. They are all living the lives of legitimate wives.
Then there were Lanqi, Jinju, Putao, and several others, all of whom were married off to respectable families by Lanqin. Because Lanqi had served Hongli, Lanqin, remembering her reliable work ethic, allowed her to remain as a head maid in Hongli's quarters after her marriage. Jinju and Putao did not return; Lanqin gave them generous dowries and wedding dresses, and happily saw them off.
Next were Si Hua and Shui Ling, Lan Qin's two most trusted maids. Si Hua still harbored feelings for Du Zhiqian. Lan Qin had looked for many suitors for her, but none were satisfactory, so Si Hua remained by Lan Qin's side, unmarried, and now a twenty-four-year-old spinster. Lan Qin felt a pang of guilt whenever she thought of Si Hua. Although she certainly needed a capable confidante, she didn't want to hold Si Hua back. The other person was Shui Ling. Lan Qin felt uneasy whenever she thought of her. She didn't hate her, but the thought of what Shui Ling had done made Lan Qin feel suffocated. Shui Ling was originally the most clever of the maids, but ironically, she grew increasingly ambitious, eventually staging a scandalous affair of a maid climbing into Lan Qin's bed, making Lan Qin completely disgusted with her.
Now, the only maids serving Lanqin are Baoqin and Yuxiao. Both of them are now in their twenties. Lanqin thinks that they have been very dedicated over the years. Although they are not as good as Sihua, they are still considered to be the senior maids serving Lanqin.
At the beginning of the year, Cui Niang hurriedly selected four more young maids to replace the original second-class maids for Lanqin. The original maids were all too old; those who should have been released were released, those who should have been married off were married off, and they were sent to do other things.
"Your Highness, you haven't given these four maids names yet! Why don't you give them names? I've already thought of some. You just need to take a look and point out a few." Cui Niang was naturally Lan Qin's most trusted nanny. She personally ordered four maids to be bought, instead of the ones sent by the Imperial Household Department.
Lanqin opened her eyes and looked at the list in Cui Niang's hand, which was full of pleasing names. Lanqin chuckled and said, "Cui Niang, you have the word 'Niang' in your name, so you want to give everyone that title. And look at the four maids you chose, two of them are fat, and the other one is really ugly!"
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