"Keep an eye on him for me, and see if the Second Prince will go again!" Consort Jia said, her eyes darting around as she made up her mind.
Meanwhile, Yonglian returned to Xiefang Palace and happened to run into Mingyu. Both mother and son were surprised. When Mingyu saw that Yonglian seemed to have returned from outside, her anger flared up instantly.
"Yonglian, why won't you listen to your mother? Where have you gone again?" Mingyu stared at Yonglian. Now that she was the Empress, she was no longer like a prince's wife. She had many things to worry about every day. Although Consort Gao helped her with some things, she couldn't manage the harem entirely on her own.
Mingyu felt that she was not in good spirits and often neglected one thing for another. She was even more powerless to discipline her eldest son, Yonglian.
"Mother, Yonglian just went out to enjoy the snow scenery!" Yonglian quickly explained.
“You don’t study properly every day, you just play around. Do you expect your younger brothers to beat you up?” Mingyu said with a dark face.
“Mother, I only have a little brother who is less than a year old, the Fourth Prince Yongcheng. He is still a baby.” Yonglian said.
“You dare to talk back. Yongcheng is very much liked by your father. If he grows up and excels in his studies, your father will value him even more,” Mingyu said with a look of disappointment.
"Yes!" Seeing the fury in Mingyu's eyes, Yonglian dared not argue any further.
However, Yonglian still couldn't do as Mingyu asked him to. Every now and then, he would secretly go to Yikun Palace to see the kitten and play chess with Consort Xian.
Time flies, and the Spring Festival is approaching in the palace. As the Empress, Mingyu will be busy again. Because she advocates frugality, and given the continuous floods in the south, Hongli also agrees with celebrating the New Year frugally.
To set an example for the harem, Mingyu first reduced the number of servants around her. Seeing that the Empress had set an example, the other palaces wanted to follow suit. Consort Gao, who was most afraid of the cold, had half of the charcoal in her palace cut off, making her feel that there wasn't enough charcoal.
"Your Highness, we're running out of charcoal in the palace. I've already asked the Imperial Household Department, and they said that's all the charcoal we have. Even if we ask for more, they won't give us any more," the maid said to Madam Gao.
"The Empress's charcoal supply has been cut, so naturally they won't give me any more. Sigh, the Empress is too frugal. How am I supposed to survive in this cold weather?" Consort Gao sat in a soft chair, wrapped in a snow fox fur.
"Yes, Your Highness is so afraid of the cold, it doesn't matter if we servants get a little cold, we're just afraid that Your Highness will get sick from the cold," the palace maid flattered.
Lady Gao frowned. She now enjoyed considerable favor with the Emperor because her father, Gao Bin, was highly regarded by the Emperor, which also elevated her status.
"Your Highness, why don't we borrow some charcoal from someone else? You are a noble consort, what's wrong with using a little charcoal?" the palace maid said.
Lady Gao thought about it and realized that it made sense. So she sent a maid to ask Lady Yeketri, who lived in her side hall, to "borrow" some charcoal.
Lady Yeketri dared not disobey the Imperial Concubine's wishes, so she had no choice but to give some of her allotted charcoal to the Imperial Concubine. Her allotted charcoal was already small, and it was not the red silk charcoal that the Imperial Concubine used, so the charcoal she gave out was basically used by the Imperial Concubine's servants.
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