The Imperial Household Department acted quite quickly. Although they had to repair the residences of three princes at the same time, it didn't take too long, and they finished everything before the end of the year.
Yunyi had already received the blueprints for the mansion. As the mistress of the house, she was responsible for arranging the courtyards for the other ladies in the back courtyard.
There's a lot to consider here. The location, size, decoration, number of residents, and distance from the main courtyard and front yard are all factors to take into account. You can't just arrange them arbitrarily.
Yunyi considered this for a long time, taking into account all aspects, before finally making a decision.
After the decision was made, she had to take it to Yinzhen for review and obtain his consent before it could be finalized.
After the New Year, the eldest prince, Yinzhi, was the first to move out of the princes' residence. Yunyi also attended the housewarming banquet after he was settled.
The Prince's Mansion was quite large, but because Yinzhi disliked literature, the decoration leaned towards a military and official style, with a somewhat simple and rugged feel.
The eldest prince's move set the stage, and soon after, the third prince, Yinzhi, also moved out of the palace to establish his own residence.
The Third Prince was a typical scholar, and the Chengjun Prince's Mansion was decorated in an exquisite and elegant style. There was also a large garden in the backyard, planted with many orchids, chrysanthemums and other flowers that were loved by scholars and poets.
After attending the Third Prince's housewarming banquet, it was time for Yinzhen to leave the palace. One day at the end of February, all the servants, big and small, in the prince's residence began to get busy.
Yunyi was the busiest person in the whole family. As the legal wife, she had to manage everyone in the mansion, including the masters, young masters, and servants. She was extremely busy.
After arriving at the Prince's Mansion outside the palace by carriage, she still had to direct the maids to take several princesses to their own courtyards.
Yunyi's matter was not over yet. Only after she instructed the servants to perform their duties and get all the departments in the mansion in operation did today's events come to an end.
After everything was done, Yunyi collapsed into a chair, exhausted, and tried to clear her mind of everything.
But thoughts are uncontrollable. In a daze, Yunyi suddenly remembered her time as a member of the Song family.
At that time, I was just a lowly princess, and everything was handled by my primary consort, Ulanara.
All she had to do was get up, get into a carriage, go outside the palace, and be led by a maid to her own courtyard to check if she was satisfied with it.
Unlike now, I have to start getting busy half a month ago, and I still can't rest today because of moving. There's also a housewarming party coming up later.
Although Yunyi was exhausted, seeing Wanzhou bring Honghui over swept away her fatigue.
Honghui is almost a year old now. He has just learned to walk and stumbles towards me, then hugs my leg tightly.
Seeing this scene, Yunyi's heart melted. All her previous weariness was melted away by her son. She picked up Honghui and cheered him up to tease him.
Little Honghui was very cooperative, laughing heartily in his mother's arms. He was so cute and adorable, he didn't seem like a son at all, but more like a little girl.
When Yinzhen entered the main courtyard, he saw his wife and son playing together. He stopped and couldn't bear to go in and disturb the mother and son.
Su Peisheng, following his master, naturally saw the situation inside the room. He wisely stepped back a few paces, moving quietly and without making a sound, so as not to disturb the people inside.
It has to be said that he was quite capable to become the chief eunuch serving Yinzhen closely. Look at his actions and reactions; his emotional intelligence is truly admirable.
In the end, it was Yunyi who spotted Yinzhen at the door and invited him in; otherwise, Yinzhen might have had to stand there for much longer.
Upon entering the room, Yinzhen skillfully picked up his son and pulled his wife to sit down with his other hand.
Manchus traditionally had a custom of holding grandchildren but not sons, but the servants in the room were used to it, which shows how much Yinzhen loved Honghui.
"You've had a lot going on lately, you must be exhausted."
As soon as she finished speaking, Yunyi paused in pouring tea, a strange look flashing in her eyes. She hadn't expected Yinzhen's first words to be like this...
Her hands never stopped moving as she poured tea for Yinzhen before she slowly said, "Your Majesty is too kind. This is all I should do; it's nothing to be ashamed of."
Holding his son in one arm, Yinzhen gently patted his wife with the other, his eyes filled with tenderness.
“You’ve certainly worked hard, my lady. I’ve seen how busy you’ve been lately, so there’s no need to be modest. There are more and more people in the manor, and many more servants to serve us than before. You have to make all the decisions, big and small, for everyone in the manor. I know how well you’ve done, and I know how hard you’ve worked…”
For some reason, her eyes suddenly felt a little sore, as if something was about to burst out, but Yunyi held it back.
She could only reply in a muffled voice, "With your words, sir, I no longer feel tired or weary."
Knowing his wife's personality, Yinzhen didn't continue the topic and changed the subject.
"Now that we have left the palace and established our own residence, you, my lady, will be much more relaxed. As for things that cannot be done and rules that cannot be changed, you can handle them yourself. I have no objections."
At this point, Yinzhen sighed: "Also, you can go to pay your respects to your mother in the palace on the fifth and tenth of each month. You don't need to go every day. It's not so convenient to enter the palace nowadays."
Yinzhen had a deep affection for Tongjia. Now that he had left the palace to establish his own residence, as an adult prince, it was no longer as convenient or casual for him to enter the palace.
Yunyi knew what Yinzhen meant. After listening to everything, she obediently agreed, indicating that she understood.
Previously, when I lived in the princes' quarters in the palace, my every move was watched, and I dared not do anything wrong. Because of my low seniority, there were many things that were inconvenient for me to do.
Now that they have left the palace and established their own residence, they are the masters and mistresses of the house. Everything must be done according to the rules they have set, and they can act much more easily and freely.
Yunyi couldn't manage the front courtyard; that area was managed by Su Peisheng and Granny Zhong, who were by Yinzhen's side.
However, in the inner courtyard, Yunyi, as the primary consort, wielded considerable power. To facilitate management and prevent the concubines and princesses in the inner courtyard from causing trouble, she took measures.
Yunyi made detailed provisions for the responsibilities of each department, clearly defining what can and cannot be done, what is under your jurisdiction, and what is under someone else's jurisdiction.
If something really happened, we need to get to the root of the problem and hold the responsible parties accountable.
These managers are all shrewd people. They are afraid of being blamed if something goes wrong, so they naturally protect themselves and dare not do anything for others casually.
This makes things much simpler in the backyard and reduces the risk of something going wrong.
Of course, Yunyi didn't expect that this method would make the backyard truly harmonious and without any problems; that was impossible. She could only say that there would be relatively fewer issues.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
