At night, after putting the two little ones to sleep, Wanzhou went to watch over the two young masters, leaving Nuanzhou in the room to serve Yunyi as she washed and dressed.
She served him attentively, yet hesitated to speak.
Seeing that she wanted to speak, Yunyi looked at her and asked calmly, "What's wrong? Is there something you want to say?"
Nuanzhou then dared to speak. Her hands continued moving, and she asked with some doubt, "Master, your health has fully recovered, why don't you want another child?"
Three years ago, when Yunyi gave birth to twins, she was "framed" by the late Wuya, which severely damaged her health. It took her a long time to recover.
Yunyi's condition had been "recovered" several months ago, and Wanzhou and Nuanzhou, who served her closely, both knew this, which is why Nuanzhou asked this question now.
She asked this question out of concern.
In recent years, the household has had a new Fifth Prince, who is in poor health and often leads Yinzhen to Lady Xitala's courtyard.
Nuanzhou was worried that her master was being seduced by Xitala, so she wanted him to have another child to win back his favor.
But in Yunyi's opinion, this was really unnecessary. Yinzhen had five sons and five daughters in total, and Yunyi alone gave birth to three sons and one daughter. She was also Yinzhen's first wife, who had been with him since he was around ten years old. This bond was different from that of the other concubines.
Nuanzhou's worries were really unnecessary. Her position as the Fujin (principal wife) was secure. She had many successful children. As long as she didn't make any mistakes, she didn't need to worry about the stability of her position at all.
However, Nuanzhou was, after all, a typical person from ancient times, and her concern for her stemmed from caring about her. So Yunyi smiled and explained a few things to her.
Nuanzhou was relieved to receive her master's reply and no longer worried about the matter.
Perhaps because things are unpredictable, nothing happened all year, but after Nuanzhou mentioned it that day, less than two months later, Yunyi discovered that she was pregnant.
When Yunyi was diagnosed with pregnancy, she was completely stunned. It must be that Nuanzhou's words were blessed; she had just asked him and now she was pregnant. What a coincidence!
Although she hadn't thought of it before, Yunyi wouldn't refuse now that the child was coming. Since finding out she was pregnant, she began her life of rest and recuperation.
Honghui was already nine years old, which was considered a teenager in the Qing Dynasty. When he learned that his mother was pregnant again, he was happy but couldn't help but think of what happened three years ago.
The person who was like a mother to him almost harmed his mother and younger siblings. Honghui will never forget how he felt on the day his mother gave birth.
Now that his mother is pregnant again, Honghui is both happy and worried. However, since he cannot leave the palace and feels that it would be disrespectful for servants to go, he asked his study companion, who is also his cousin, to help convey his concern.
When Hengjin arrived at the Yongjun Prince's Mansion, it was already evening. He was led by a maid to the main courtyard, where Yinzhen was also present. Upon seeing the Fujin's nephew, Yinzhen, as the uncle, even tested his knowledge.
Fortunately, Hengjin was not a spoiled brat. He studied very hard in the Imperial Study and mastered his lessons, which pleased Yinzhen greatly. He patted his nephew on the shoulder, knowing that the two of them had something to say, and deliberately avoided talking to him.
Of course, Hengjin came to convey Honghui's words, so Yinzhen did not need to avoid him. Therefore, he stayed and wanted to hear what his son had to say to his mother.
The boy's clear voice rang out in the room. Yunyi listened to everything with anticipation, feeling warm and gratified.
Honghui was sensible from a young age and was always my favorite child. He went to the palace to study at a young age and was even bullied by the Fourteenth Prince in the early years.
Yunyi felt both satisfied and heartbroken for her son, proud yet worried, fearing that he would be under too much pressure and live a tiring life.
Hengjin is also a thoughtful child. Seeing that his aunt seemed to be having some emotional fluctuations, he quickly offered a few words of comfort, worried that his aunt might be upset while pregnant.
Having accepted the child's kindness, Yunyi composed herself and asked her nephew about Honghui's condition, receiving a reply that everything was fine.
Seeing that it was getting late, Yinzhen spoke first, letting Hengjin go home.
Yunyi felt a little apologetic, as she had lost track of time while chatting and almost forgot that her nephew needed to go home.
The same person who had led the way led Hengjin through several corridors before finally exiting the Prince's mansion and boarding a carriage to return home.
After watching the figure leave, a person slowly peeked out from the other end of the corridor.
With his eyes fixed on the spot where he had just been, and his image filling his mind, the man was somewhat puzzled.
"Bitong, who was that person just now? Why did he appear in the manor?"
Bi Tong was clearly more informed than her master; with just one glance, she recognized the figure.
“Reporting to Your Majesty, that is the Fujin’s nephew, the eldest prince’s study companion, the young master Hengjin from the Ulanara family.”
So it was the princess's nephew. Having gotten the answer he wanted, the man murmured something to himself and then turned and left.
Throughout the entire process, the maid named Bitong kept her head down and behaved very well. She didn't care about her mistress's behavior, but she could do a good job whenever she was asked to do something.
After the master and servant left, the corridor returned to its tranquility.
The year turned, and it became the 46th year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign. Yunyi remembered very clearly that the next year would be the year the Crown Prince would be deposed.
In fact, there were signs all along. Although the crown prince was to be deposed next year, the atmosphere in the court had been particularly tense since Songgotu's death.
With the death of Songgotu, the power of the Crown Prince's faction has greatly declined. Without Songgotu's struggle against Mingzhu, the court is now dominated by Mingzhu's faction.
Mingzhu was a distant relative of Consort Hui, of the Nara clan, and supported the faction led by Consort Hui, specifically the eldest prince.
The Crown Prince's faction suffered a significant decline in power, while the faction led by Prince Zhi gained considerable strength. With this shift in power, Crown Prince Yinreng felt increasingly suppressed by Prince Zhi.
This was unacceptable to Yinreng, who had been the crown prince since childhood. Losing Suo'etu was like losing his left and right arms, making him act more and more extreme.
As a member of the Crown Prince's faction, Yinzhen sincerely advised his second brother, hoping he could calm down, but was instead blamed by Yinreng.
Afterwards, the three brothers, Yinzhen, Yinxiang, and Yinxiang, learned of this incident and felt angry and aggrieved for their fourth brother.
They follow Fourth Brother, not Second Brother. Now that Fourth Brother has been scolded by Second Brother, they don't care about the hierarchy between ruler and subject. They'll just start cursing when they're angry.
Yinzhen, with a cold face, stopped the three brothers who were speaking without thinking, and even scolded his younger brothers, making the three brothers look miserable (to be precise, it was two brothers, Yinxiang unconditionally trusted his fourth brother and had no objections).
But in his heart, Yinzhen was actually happy, happy that his three brothers cared about him.
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