Lanqin and Chen walked together to the courtyard in front of the main hall of Yonghe Palace, where they saw Wanyan's two sons lighting a loud bang with the help of a eunuch.
"Be careful, don't let the firecrackers hurt the children," Chen said as she walked behind them.
Lanqin, however, persevered and watched the children play with firecrackers. She preferred standing there, watching the firecrackers explode in the sky and hearing the children's laughter, rather than going inside to listen to them continue talking.
After a while, Lanqin felt a little thirsty, so she helped Sihua walk into the main hall, wanting to go back and have some tea. Only Chen was still there, instructing the children on how to set off firecrackers.
Fireworks didn't exist during the Qing Dynasty; instead, there were all sorts of firecrackers. The slightly more elaborate ones were the kind that, after being lit, would suddenly burst out of the fuse a few seconds later and fly straight into the sky.
Lanqin walked to the palace entrance and heard the voice of the Fourth Princess Consort coming from inside.
“Mother, Hongshi is getting old. The Prince has arranged a marriage for him, but Hongshi is stubborn by nature and has been busy with his studies, so he hasn’t thought about this matter at all. He just told me that he has his eye on someone, but the Prince has not yet given his approval.” Ulanara said to Consort De with a troubled look on her face.
"Which family's daughter has Hongshi taken a fancy to?" Consort De naturally asked.
Lanqin helped Sihua sit back in her seat, glanced at the Fourth Princess Consort, and understood that she wanted the Consort De's support.
“She is the eldest daughter of the Duke of Yingguo, and also my aunt and niece. They are cousins. If this can be arranged, it will be a double blessing for our family,” the Fujin said earnestly.
"The Duke of England's daughter? That's quite nice. I remember the Duke of England has only one youngest daughter. Is that her?" Consort De asked with a smile.
"Mother has a good memory. She is my younger brother's youngest daughter. If she marries Hongshi, we will be aunt and niece, and mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, so we will naturally get along well," the Fujin said with a happy face.
“But the Prince has already betrothed to a woman from the Irgen Gioro family. If the Princess Consort were to say she wants to break off the engagement now, people would laugh at our Prince for being untrustworthy,” Lady Nian finally couldn’t help but say.
Lanqin silently gave Nian Shi a thumbs up for her frankness in her heart, and then said, "Mother, when the Prince chose the Irgen family for Hongshi, he must have made some promise to them. If he breaks off the engagement now, I'm afraid it will cause other people to distrust our Prince, which would be a loss."
When the Fourth Prince's wife saw that both Lady Nian and Lanqin were so directly opposed, she immediately looked embarrassed. Everyone else, seeing the Fourth Prince's wife's two concubines acting this way, smiled with pursed lips, clearly enjoying the spectacle.
Consort De glanced at the Fourth Prince Consort with displeasure and said, "What time is it? The banquet at Baohe Hall should be almost over."
The palace maid immediately informed Consort De of the time. Everyone was a little tired, but since it wasn't past midnight, no one dared to complain of being tired. It was customary in the palace to stay up until the early hours of the morning.
"Wow!"
Suddenly, the sound of a child crying outside broke the tranquility of Yonghong Palace.
"What happened to Honghao!" Wanyan exclaimed.
A baby's cry is the most devastating sound for a mother! And as a mother, as soon as she hears a baby crying, she can immediately tell if it is her own child.
"Go and see!" Consort De commanded sternly.
Before Wanyan could get up, some palace servants had already rushed out before her!
Wanyan hurriedly helped her maid out to see what had happened. Although Consort De's brows showed some worry, she was, after all, a lady who had weathered countless storms, and only showed a slight frown, but did not move.
"Mother, I'll go out and see what's going on!" Lanqin stood up and said to Consort De.
Consort De nodded, but the Fourth Prince's wife and Lady Nian did not move. They were not concerned about the state of Wanyan's son. On the contrary, they probably hoped that something would happen to make the Fourteenth Prince worry, so as to prevent him from competing with the Fourth Prince for the throne. In Consort De's eyes, this would probably make her feel that the Fourth Prince was heartless towards his brothers, and that his wives were also heartless towards the Fourteenth Prince's wives and children.
So Lanqin immediately got up, and as expected, Consort De showed a relieved smile and nodded.
Lanqin quickly helped Sihua out again. As soon as she stepped out, she saw Consort De's maid carrying a trembling, crying child and coming this way. Behind her, Wanyan Shi, who was in a panic, and Chen Shi, who was equally astonished, followed by Wanyan Shi's eldest son and several maids and eunuchs.
Seeing this, Lanqin immediately turned around and went inside. Before Consort De could ask what was wrong, she heard Lanqin say, "Mother, quickly summon the imperial physician. Honghuan is injured."
Upon hearing this, Consort De could no longer remain seated. She rose from her seat, her face suddenly darkening. She quickly gave a wink to the maid beside her, signaling her to fetch the imperial physician. But she instructed her not to disturb anyone else; summoning the imperial physician during the New Year was considered unlucky!
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