The Fourth Prince chose a good family for Xichen outside the capital, saying that the couple had a good relationship but couldn't have children. Naturally, the Fourth Prince wouldn't let them know Xichen's origins; he only instructed his men to find him, claiming he was a young lady's illegitimate child. The family happily accepted, and Xichen was secretly sent away.
Fourth Master had Song's clothes delivered ahead of time, and Lanqin also made several outfits for Xichen, which she took with her when she left.
Lanqin was unhappy for several days in a row. After all, she had been cared for by him for more than a year, and it was very sad to part ways. But since she had made the decision, she made the tough choice.
To the outside world, the only news was that the Fifth Prince had suddenly fallen ill with a strange disease and died young. When this news reached the manor, everyone had different thoughts. The First Lady knew, and Madam Song and Madam Geng also knew the child's identity, but the others did not. They thought that the Second Lady's hiding on the estate and not returning might be due to the Fifth Prince's untimely death. In short, the women in the inner quarters had nothing to do anyway, so rumors and speculations spread like wildfire, here one moment and there the next. Some even speculated that the Fifth Prince had been murdered by the Second Lady, which was why the Fourth Prince had moved him to a separate residence.
Regardless of what others speculated, Lanqin was still unhappy for several days because of Xichen's departure.
"Master, Young Master Xichen will definitely be very happy in the future. Please don't be sad." Nianxue comforted Lanqin when she saw her sitting in a daze since early morning.
"I'm fine, just sad for a few days. The most important thing is for Xichen to be happy from now on. Okay, let's not think about him anymore. I'm going to rehearse with those five girls today." Lanqin suddenly turned her head, and the sadness and unhappiness in her eyes disappeared in an instant.
After breakfast, Lanqin went to the room where Fangguan and the others were staying and chatted with the girls about all sorts of things, from the past to their dreams. Lanqin wasn't much older than them, and the girls started chattering away.
Fangguan is calm and bold, Ouguan is delicate and reserved, Suguan is aloof and dull, Qingguan is elegant and introverted, and Huaguan is lively and pure. The five girls are reading Lanqin's storybook together.
Lanqin had already had them perform a play before, all of which were things she had learned before. Lanqin was heartbroken watching it, and tears kept falling for these pitiful talented men and beautiful women.
Fangguan and the others had become quite skilled at acting under the madam's tutelage, but they didn't know many characters. They couldn't read Lanqin's storybooks completely, so Lanqin had to read them to them while they rehearsed singing their lines.
That's right! They sang the lines in the style of traditional opera, and these girls learned them incredibly quickly. In just a few days, they had rehearsed a new play based on Lanqin's description in the script.
Comrade Lanqin put in a lot of effort to bring some leisure and cultural activities to the people of the village. There used to be a stage in the village, but it could only accommodate a very small number of spectators.
Lanqin then sought out Granny Zhou and discussed with her the idea of finding a new location in the estate to build a larger, more open stage so that everyone in the estate could come and watch.
Therefore, the open-air stage was chosen behind the north garden, where there was a very spacious area, which perfectly met Lanqin's requirements.
Our Comrade Lanqin acted like an engineer every day, letting Granny Zhou walk around the entire villa until a suitable location was chosen, and then she started hiring bricklayers and carpenters to begin construction.
The stage was a combination of stone and wood, with a wooden roof and stone for the stage. Since both the wood and stone were readily available, the basic structure of the stage was completed in a short time.
Lanqin checked on the progress every day, and then went to watch the five girls rehearse. She spent most of her days busy, and gradually got rid of the dilemma of whether the Fourth Prince was away or whether he favored Lady Nian or Lady Yehe.
Meanwhile, the Thirteenth Prince and Li Wei wrote to the Fourth Prince, recounting their experiences in the area. As expected, large tracts of fertile land in Yangzhou yielded poor harvests, revealing something unusual. Da Chun and Li Wei had acquired large quantities of cheap grain in Guangdong and Guangxi. This gave the Fourth Prince confidence, and he ordered Li Wei and Da Chun to secretly stockpile grain in Guangdong and Guangxi before moving on to Hunan and Hubei to continue stockpiling.
The Fourth Prince wrote all of this down in a secret memorial to Emperor Kangxi, which was then sent to the Emperor by post every few days.
After receiving the birth dates and times of the princesses from various imperial relatives, and after several drinks with Ban Gu, Emperor Kangxi finally finalized the marriage of Ban Gu's eldest son. He specially decreed that the eldest daughter of the Third Prince, Beichuke, be granted the title of Princess Gulun Shurou, and that she would marry the Taiji prince the following April. Bandi promised to supply the Three Banners army with 10,000 head of cattle and sheep, and 30,000 weapons.
It is worth mentioning that after Princess Baoyue became Emperor Kangxi's woman, she did not ask him to make her a concubine. She was only willing to follow Emperor Kangxi to pacify the Dzungar Galdan tribe and asked him to help her regain the Khanate.
Emperor Kangxi had not expected this young woman to have such a profound understanding of things. In any case, it was not an impossible request, and she did not need to be taken back to the inner palace, so he agreed to Baoyue's request.
After resting for ten days in Khorchin, the army continued its march towards the northern desert. With a stable supply of military provisions and beef and mutton from Khorchin, Kangxi's confidence increased greatly.
Soon, Galdan's first army encountered the Qing army's Three Banners army, and the Qing army won a great victory in the first battle.
When the news reached the capital, the Fourth Prince was in the palace reviewing grain reports from various regions. Upon learning this, the Crown Prince and officials went to the Imperial Observatory to pray for the Emperor Kangxi and the Three Banners army.
At that time, in Shufangzhai, Consort Zheng was coughing. Although it was the end of April, she was still wearing a cotton-padded jacket.
Emperor Kangxi did not take her with him this time because her health had been poor since winter, and the emperor's indifference only worsened her condition.
“My lord, the weather is fine today. Shall I help you take a stroll in the Imperial Garden?” said the palace maid Mo Lan.
"I'm not going, lest I run into some gossipy people and have to listen to their nonsense. Cough cough!" Zheng Chunhua is already over eighteen, not young anymore, but she still hasn't given birth to a child, and is about to be pushed down by the young noblewoman who comes up later.
“Your Highness, you are coughing like this, and the imperial physicians from the Imperial Hospital are not coming often. What should we do? Why don’t we go and beg Consort De? With your cough and poor health, how can you serve the Emperor?” Seeing that Zheng Chunhua was like this, Mo Lan advised her that there was no future for those of them who were serving her.
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