“If Your Highness wishes to take a look, now is a good opportunity. Father Emperor is currently recuperating and cannot come outside for the time being. If Your Highness wishes to remove what is on it, it will be very easy,” Lanqin said.
"But Father Emperor is lying inside, it's not easy to see him." The Fourth Prince knew that looking at the portrait would involve some risk, but he really wanted to see it.
"Master, don't forget there's also Lord Longkodo. He's probably also curious about who's in the portrait. Qin'er has an idea, but I don't know if it's feasible," Lanqin said.
"Just tell me." Fourth Master knew that Lanqin could sometimes come up with things that even he himself couldn't have imagined.
"Have Lord Longkodo go inside to serve Father Emperor, then the Prince can rest assured and look at what's behind that flat object from outside," Lanqin said.
Fourth Master looked at Lanqin with slight surprise, as if the little woman had already thought of everything. Even things that he hadn't thought of yet, she seemed to have anticipated all along.
“Your Highness, I think that since Lord Longkodo took the initiative to speak to me about this matter through Sister Zhao, he must also want to help you. Why don’t you discuss it with him? Perhaps he can come up with a more comprehensive solution than I can?” Lanqin said.
Fourth Master pondered for a moment, then pulled Lanqin along for a walk in the south courtyard. Seeing that he didn't speak, Lanqin stayed by his side and didn't bring it up either. In any case, Lanqin felt that she had said everything she needed to say. She wondered whether Fourth Master would actually look at the contents of the portrait.
"Would you like to come with me to the palace tomorrow? Let's go see Wuxiha," the Fourth Prince suddenly said.
“That’s good. Ushiha has been in the palace for over a month now. I didn’t expect her to get along so well with Mother. I have to go see her.” Lanqin thought of her eldest daughter. From the initial worry to the current relief, it had only been a little over a month.
The next day, Lanqin followed the Fourth Prince into the palace. When she arrived at Yonghe Palace, Wuxiha was already standing at the entrance to greet her, as her entry pass had been delivered early that morning.
"Mother!" Ushiha was dressed in a moon-white qipao, her face adorned with a very serene makeup, which suited her perfectly. Lanqin could hardly believe her eyes. Ushiha used to hate wearing moon-white qipaos, but now she was wearing one, and quite elegantly at that. In fact, moon-white suited her very well.
"Ushiha!" Lanqin looked her eldest daughter up and down, and seeing that she had not only not lost weight, but had even become a little plumper, she felt even more relieved. She had originally thought that Consort De would have a lot of dissatisfaction with Ushiha, but now seeing that Ushiha was not sad at all, on the contrary, she seemed to be doing quite well.
Lanqin, holding Wuxiha's hand, led them inside, saying, "It seems you and Mother are getting along quite well?"
Ushiha nodded and said, "Zuma is very good to Ushiha, and she told me a lot about her childhood, and then personally taught Ushiha many things."
Lanqin was slightly surprised, but also very happy. The Consort De that Uxiha mentioned was clearly a kind grandmother, and she didn't make things difficult for Uxiha, which surprised Lanqin.
The mother and daughter arrived together in Consort De's main hall. Consort De had already finished reciting the morning Buddhist prayers and was now being massaged on the back by a palace maid.
"This humble servant greets Mother! May Mother be blessed with ten thousand years of happiness and peace!" Lanqin walked up to Consort De, raised her handkerchief, and bowed.
"But look closely. Your daughter didn't lose an ounce of flesh; in fact, she's grown back perfectly," Consort De said sarcastically.
Lanqin knew that Consort De was mocking her, but she was not angry. She curled her lips and said, "I hope that Wuxihaduo can stay with Mother so that he can fulfill his filial duty on my behalf."
Ushiha was unwilling to stay any longer, but she also knew that this palace was not a place for her to act recklessly; this was the imperial palace. So when she heard her mother say that she wanted to stay here longer, she immediately became unwilling and said coyly, "Mother, how are Biechuk and Namin? I miss them."
Consort De, of course, understood, and said, "This time, go back with your mother." Emperor Kangxi was ill, and needed Consort De even more. She also didn't have the energy to focus on Ushiha, so she let her go back.
The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law chatted for a while before another person arrived. The Fourteenth Princess Consort, Wanyan, walked in and merely nodded when she saw Lanqin. Since Lanqin was a secondary consort, not of the same rank as her, she naturally didn't need to treat her as the proper fourth sister-in-law.
"Mother, your daughter-in-law heard that Father Emperor is ill, so I came in to see him." Wanyan said, raising the handkerchief in her hand as she walked up to Consort De.
"Oh. The news spread so quickly?" Consort De had already instructed those in the know not to spread the news of Kangxi's illness, but Lady Wanyan clearly stated that she came only after learning of Kangxi's illness.
"I only heard this from others. I wonder how Father Emperor is doing now?" Wanyan asked anxiously. Since entering the palace, she had been carefully watching for any disturbances, but everything seemed normal. Still worried, she came to Consort De's quarters to inquire about Kangxi's illness.
It turned out that the Fourteenth Prince, far away in the Northwest, learned from his own people that Emperor Kangxi was seriously ill. He wanted to return to see him, but without Kangxi's decree, he could not leave the military camp without permission. Therefore, he sent a message by carrier pigeon to Lady Wanyan, asking her to come to the palace to see him. Ever since Honghao's eyes were injured by fireworks during the New Year, she had harbored a deep hatred for Lady Chen. Fortunately, Honghao's eyes were not completely blinded, but his vision was certainly affected. To appease Lady Wanyan, the Fourteenth Prince sent Lady Chen and her son to a villa, which temporarily quelled Lady Wanyan's anger.
After the Fourteenth Prince returned to the military camp, Lady Wanyan wanted to find Lady Chen and her son, but she couldn't find any trace of them. It turned out that the Fourteenth Prince, fearing that Lady Wanyan might harm Lady Chen and her son, had secretly slipped them into his army's entourage when he left, taking them with him to the Northwest.
Although Lady Wanyan suspected that the Fourteenth Prince had tampered with things, she couldn't go and see for herself, so she had to put aside Lady Chen and her son for the time being. After all, she was the Fourteenth Prince's wife, and Lady Chen and her son couldn't get past her no matter what. This time, the Fourteenth Prince asked Lady Wanyan to come to the palace to take a look. Knowing that the matter was serious, she didn't dare to argue with the Fourteenth Prince again, and immediately brought her people in.
"Your imperial father is only slightly ill, why has it alarmed so many people? It's nothing." Consort De glanced at Lady Wanyan and said.
“Oh. Your Majesty is in good health, and your daughter-in-law is not usually by your side to serve you. I specially brought some top-quality ginseng for you. They are all over a hundred years old. Please give some to Your Majesty to replenish your qi and blood.” Wanyan said. The Wanyan family lived north of Jilin, and they had no shortage of red ginseng. Half of their wealth came from red ginseng.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
