The next morning, while the children were still asleep, they were all wrapped up and taken out of the house, directly into the carriages that had been prepared at the door. Lanqin was quite unaccustomed to being woken up at this time. After dressing herself in everything a concubine should wear, she specially put on a snow fox cloak and wore a cloisonné gold-embroidered twin lotus hairpin at her temple. The cold tassels looked unusually cool against her profile.
Just before leaving, Si Hua placed a gilded enamel hand warmer filled with red charcoal into Lan Qin's hands. Cui Niang, Nian Xue, and Xi Cha followed, each carrying a bundle. The wet nurse held Wu Xiha, who was asleep wrapped in a bright red cotton robe, with a veil covering his head.
Four carriages were parked outside. The one at the front was naturally for the Fourth Prince and his wife, followed by Lanqin's. Only Cui Niang helped Lanqin into the carriage. Wuxiha and the wet nurse rode in the last carriage, and Nianxue and Xicha followed to serve them. The eldest and second princesses, accompanied by their respective nannies, rode in the third carriage. Then, the wet nurses and maids who served the Fourth Prince carried Hongshi in the fourth carriage.
The Fourth Prince, being considerate of the freezing weather, did not allow the princesses to deliver the food. He only instructed the head maid to add a few good dishes to the princesses' regular meals in each household. If they wanted to prepare a feast, they were also allowed to do so.
Lanqin was still half asleep and wanted to sleep as soon as she got into the carriage.
“Consort, there’s still some time before we enter the palace. You can lie down on me and sleep for a while. I’ll call you when we get to the palace gate,” said Cui Niang.
"Yes, you should rest for a while too. I can fall asleep just by leaning against the cushion," Lanqin said.
The carriage traveled slowly due to the strong wind. They had just crossed a street when it suddenly stopped. Lanqin, who had been dozing off, asked, "Why did you stop?"
Cui Niang was also puzzled. She slowly moved to the carriage window, lifted it a little, and asked the guards outside the carriage.
"We've encountered the carriage convoy of the Prince Zhi's family. The master said we should avoid them," the guard said.
Cui Niang lowered the curtain and said to Lan Qin, "We've run into Prince Zhi. We should let him go first."
Lanqin nodded. Such days would likely require more attention to detail. Prince Zhi was, besides the Crown Prince, the most prominent of Kangxi's sons.
The carriage stopped for about fifteen minutes before starting again. This time, it encountered no one and continued towards the Forbidden City. It seems that everyone except Prince Zhi had to give way to the Fourth Prince. Although the Third Prince, Yinzhi, had gained favor with Emperor Kangxi in the past two years, working at the Hanlin Academy and compiling books with other officials, and had made quite a name for himself, compared to the Fourth Prince's genuine efforts in collecting debts and controlling floods, his deeds were insignificant.
It wasn't until the giant goose egg on the horizon showed a faint red glow that Fourth Master and his men arrived at the entrance of Shenwu.
Su Peisheng jumped off the carriage and quickly took out two small stools from the back. He instructed the servants to bring out small stools from various places and place them under each carriage so that their masters could disembark safely. Every time, Su Peisheng would remember who had spared them, the servants, from the dreadful task of crawling on the ground for their masters to step on.
Lanqin had already been woken up by Cui Niang and was currently drinking tea in the carriage. Taking advantage of the moment when she got out of the carriage, Cui Niang poured Lanqin a cup of red date and ginger tea, because there was still a long palace road to walk after getting off the carriage.
After everyone disembarked from the carriage and lined up according to their rank, the Fourth Prince was preparing to enter the palace when several carriages arrived behind him. Upon closer inspection, he recognized the carriages as belonging to the Third Prince's household. The Fourth Prince glanced back and then had no choice but to leave everyone standing in the chilly November wind. Being the younger brother, he naturally had to show deference to his elder brother and sister-in-law's family.
Lanqin glanced at Wuxiha, who was still asleep in her wet nurse's arms, a veil covering her head to at least block some of the wind. Then she looked at the eldest and second princesses behind her, both wearing pink brocade robes, holding gilded hand warmers, their hats pulled up, revealing only their small faces, both with red noses.
Lanqin styled her hair in a round bun, adorned with a complete set of pearl headdresses, which made her appear petite and graceful. Underneath, she wore a cherry-red Shu satin cheongsam, covered by a lake-blue bi-shoulder jacket, and draped with a snow-fox fur cloak, making her stand out among the crowd. The Fourth Prince wore a silver-gray fox fur cloak and a four-clawed golden dragon hat, a distinctive feature of princes. Beside him, his wife wore a snow-red fox fur cloak and a jade and gemstone headdress, clearly signifying her status as the principal wife.
"I feel really bad that you've been waiting here for me, Fourth Brother." The Third Prince, dressed in a black mink cloak, bowed to the Fourth Prince.
"Third Brother, please. You're standing in front anyway, so why don't you let Third Brother go first, so we don't have to switch places later?" Fourth Master couldn't stand Third Brother's attitude and said sarcastically.
Lanqin couldn't help but curl the corners of her lips. She didn't have a good impression of the Third Prince either. He made her wait in the cold wind for so long, and he acted as if it was his due. So what if he was born a year or two older than the Fourth Prince?
Sure enough, upon hearing this, the Third Prince's face immediately darkened, but he remained silent and led his wife and concubine inside.
After the Third Prince's family had all gone inside, the Fourth Prince led everyone in. Soon after, the Fifth Prince's family arrived, standing close behind the Fourth Prince's family, followed naturally by the Seventh Prince, Eighth Prince, Ninth Prince, Tenth Prince…
On this day, these brothers, who usually fought fiercely against each other, all obediently entered the palace in order of their rank, simply because this day was the anniversary of the Jurchen people establishing the Jin Dynasty.
After Lanqin and the others stepped onto the large blue stone, they heard the sound of echoing repeatedly coming from afar. The wives and concubines of each household first led their families to their respective mothers' palaces to leave their children, and then some came here to listen to the Emperor's admonitions with their husbands.
"Go ahead and take the children with you. Have Mother make some ginger tea for them, in case they catch a cold," the Fourth Prince said to his wife.
"Yes, I understand." The Fujin turned to look at Lanqin, and they both understood each other. Then, she led her family members to the inner palace.
At that time, Consort De had already gotten up and was reading in the warm pavilion. She was dressed quite formally today, wearing a dark green Shu satin cheongsam with auspicious cloud patterns, with a gray shawl over it. She wore a gold phoenix hairpin with a pearl in its beak, as well as some gold hair ornaments. Although not very gorgeous, she was very dignified.
"They're probably coming soon, Your Highness." Consort Cheng was indeed coming. The women from her son's household would also come to Yonghe Palace to serve Consort De, just like her, the mother-in-law.
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