The next day, the Fourth Prince got up at dawn as usual and left for the palace before even having time to drink the tea for his new bride. Early in the morning, Hongshi led his two new brides to the main courtyard to serve tea to the Fujin (the Princess Consort).
Lady Irgen wore a silver-red cheongsam, her hair styled in two large buns and a swallowtail topknot, adorned with a pearl headdress, making her appear dignified and graceful. Because of her delicate features, she resembled a woman from a painting, possessing a certain charm, and was more pleasing to the eye than Ulanara Shuzhen. Last night, Hongshi had also stayed at her place, and this morning, Shuzhen from across the hall personally came to her door to pay her respects.
At this moment, Shuzhen, dressed in a light blue cheongsam, and Irgen, along with Hongshi, stepped into the main courtyard.
"This humble servant greets Mother!"
"This humble servant greets Mother!"
The two bowed to each other, one on the left and one on the right. Hongshi stood below the Fujin, his face serene, making it impossible to tell which one he preferred.
"Alright, get up, both of you." The Fujin was sitting in the main seat, her gaze sweeping calmly over the two of them, and then she looked Hongshi up and down a few times.
After the maids brought the tea over, Lady Irgen and Lady Ulanara served tea to the Fujin one after the other.
According to custom, the wife gave each of the two new brides a small red envelope as a token of appreciation for their daughters-in-law's tea.
The Irgen clan received a set of gold and gemstone-encrusted headdresses, while the Ulanara clan received a set of carnelian headdresses. The difference in value was immediately apparent.
At first, Irgen was worried that the concubine who entered the house with her was her mother-in-law's niece, and that her mother-in-law would favor her. However, after Hongshi stayed in her room last night and Ulanara set the rules at her door today, she realized that she had been overthinking it. Now, seeing that the gifts her mother-in-law bestowed upon her were more valuable, she felt even more at ease.
“Hongshi, from today onwards you are an adult. A married man should know what is most important. From now on, you must not indulge in the pleasures of the bedroom. You must still get up at 3 AM every day and not neglect your studies and calligraphy. Your father is now in an important position and is busy every day. As his son, you should take the initiative to share some of the burden.” The Fujin first reprimanded Hongshi.
"Yes, Mother is right. I will remember it," Hongshi said respectfully.
"Meiwan and Shuzhen, you both married Hongshi as his wives and concubines. From now on, you must work together to serve him well. You must not be jealous of each other or cause trouble, and you must not distract him. Only when the wives and concubines are in harmony can the man focus on his work. Do you understand?" The Fujin said righteously, as if she were a true model of harmonious relations between wives and concubines.
"Yes, daughter-in-law has remembered." The two said in unison.
After leaving the house, Hongshi went to the front yard to continue studying with Master Zhu. Now he was sixteen years old, but he had not yet taken on any proper work, and studying and practicing calligraphy were still his main tasks every day.
Irgen and Ulanara, supported by their personal dowry maids, walked one after the other towards Hongshi's new courtyard.
"Sister!" Ulanara called out.
Irgen stopped and turned to wait for Ulanara, saying, "What is it, sister?"
"I've heard that you're very good at embroidery, sister. May I ask you for some advice?" Ulanara said obediently. "What Mother said just now makes me feel even more that I should make something for you, sister. However, I'm afraid my embroidery skills are not as good as yours, so I dare not embarrass myself."
Seeing her like this, Irgen quickly said, "Good sister, you're too kind. Please come and sit with me for a while."
So the two of them went hand in hand toward the new courtyard.
Before long, everyone in the inner quarters knew that Hongshi's wife and concubine had a very harmonious relationship. They had originally thought that they would have difficulty getting along, but it turned out that they got along quite well.
When the Fourth Prince learned of the situation in Hongshi's household, he was naturally pleased and became even closer to Hongshi. Hongshi would often tell the Fourth Prince that he was already an adult and was wasting his time by always staying at Master Zhu's place to study without doing anything of substance. He also felt uneasy because he couldn't share the Fourth Prince's burdens.
Seeing that Hongshi was so filial and sensible, the Fourth Prince began to tell him about his time spent on official business. Sometimes he would show him the transcribed memorials and listen to Hongshi's opinions.
The father and son had a harmonious relationship, and for a time, the Fujin's status in the household gradually began to rise.
Lanqin ignored all this, focusing on managing her shop and household affairs. She had no dealings with the Fujin (the wife of the deceased), and so nothing untoward happened. Occasionally, she overheard a few words about the Fujin's two daughters-in-law being harmonious, but Lanqin just smiled. She always felt that the women of the Ulanara family were all pretty much the same. She had met Ulanara Shuzhen a few times, and Lanqin always felt that her humility was tinged with insincerity, much like the Fujin in her youth. But looking at that Irgen, so simple and naive, she thought she would suffer at the hands of the Ulanara family in the future. However, these were all matters of Hongshi's courtyard, and Lanqin naturally wouldn't concern herself with them. She was currently preoccupied with the affairs of her two daughters and son, and was already quite busy.
Ushiha's temperament couldn't be changed overnight. Every now and then, Granny Gong would come to Lanqin to complain about Ushiha. Bechuk also told Lanqin about Ushiha's boastful words in front of outsiders, giving Lanqin a huge headache. This girl—had she really raised her wrong? She had only thought about preventing her from becoming a sickly, weak-willed pampered princess, but unexpectedly, she had raised a carefree and unruly daughter, which was now causing Lanqin even more worry.
But good news doesn't travel far, while bad news travels fast. Somehow, word of Ushiha's temper reached the palace, and Consort De sent someone to tell Lanqin to bring Ushiha to the palace to be trained by her side for a few months.
Lanqin was stunned when she heard the news. What was Consort De trying to do? Was she disciplining her daughter for her? But there was no need to personally come to the palace to train her, and besides, Consort De had never shown any favoritism towards Wuxiha. Why was she so concerned about it?
"Cui Niang, do you think Mother has taken a liking to our Wuxiha?" Lanqin recalled the former Empress Dowager, who had once tried to arrange a marriage for Wuxiha when she was only four or five years old. Fortunately, Emperor Kangxi did not agree at the time, and the Empress Dowager passed away two years ago.
Now that Consort De has suddenly summoned Wuxiha to the palace, Lanqin is quite frightened.
"Your Highness, are you saying that Consort De wants to arrange a marriage for the Third Princess?" Cui Niang asked, frowning.
“Yes, that’s what I’m worried about. Ushiha has already come of age, and I don’t know how many people are eyeing her! Sigh, Namin is so lucky, she got engaged so early,” Lanqin sighed.
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