The Empress smiled and said to Qingyin, "My palace has been quiet and lonely for a long time. If Consort Yu has time, please come to Kunning Palace to keep me company and chat with me. It will help relieve my boredom."
Since there was no hostility, Qingyin didn't hesitate. She covered her mouth and chuckled, "Thank you for your appreciation, Your Majesty. If Your Majesty doesn't mind my talkativeness, then I'll have to bother you a lot more."
Seeing that Consort Yu had struck up a conversation, the Empress's smile deepened. She was a clever person, and she liked her.
Seeing the harmonious atmosphere between the Empress and the Imperial Concubine, Consort Ling felt a growing unease, like ants crawling all over her heart. Was the Empress trying to win over Imperial Concubine Yu? No, she had to stop her.
Consort Ling spoke up: "I have long known that Consort Yu is a woman of unparalleled beauty. Seeing her today, I can confirm it is true. No wonder she enjoys the Emperor's favor. I am truly envious."
Facing the malice-filled Consort Ling, Qingyin's tone was much calmer, "Your Majesty, I am indeed beautiful, which makes Consort Ling envious. Unfortunately, one's appearance is inherited from one's parents, and it is probably difficult for you to change it."
Upon hearing this, several concubines almost burst out laughing, their faces flushed as they tried to suppress their laughter. They had indeed acknowledged that the newly arrived Consort Yu was not someone to be trifled with. Ah well, they couldn't possibly win against her with her looks anyway. Fine, they'd go back to wash up and go to sleep.
The Empress smiled and said, "Consort Ling, you really are something else. Looks are determined by fate. We're both so old, why are you still saying such things..."
Consort Ling, who was being verbally abused face-to-face, was first called ugly by Qingyin, and then old by the Empress. She was so angry that she almost cursed back, but the pain of her nails digging into her flesh, as she felt the mocking gazes surrounding her, barely managed to control herself.
As the greetings were about to end, Consort Ling fled in a disheveled state.
Qingyin was a step too slow and left the stage as well.
During this time, the palace was much quieter because Xiao Yanzi was confined.
Qingyin announced her pregnancy this month, and Emperor Qianlong happily pardoned the common people from two years of corvée labor. He also added incense offerings to various Taoist temples and monasteries to pray for the unborn child of Consort Yu. Seeing this, Qianlong's harem is now extremely well-behaved. Apart from the restless Consort Ling, Qingyin is also confident that she can keep her firmly under control.
These past few days, Qingyin has also taken to visiting the Empress's Kunning Palace for a chat. While she can chat with Alisa and the others on ordinary days, they are servants and have many considerations, so she can't speak freely with Qingyin. With the Empress, however, there's no problem; she's used to going in and out of Kunning Palace. Today, she changed into a white cheongsam with a crescent moon lotus pattern and went to Kunning Palace.
Upon arriving at the entrance of Kunning Palace, the older eunuch smiled and invited Consort Yu inside without even announcing her arrival. The younger eunuch beside him was startled and panicked. "Brother, why are you letting Consort Yu in so easily? Shouldn't we wait for Her Majesty the Empress's decree first?"
"You arrived late. You didn't know that Consort Yu comes to the Empress's place almost every day. Besides, the Empress said before that there's no need to stop Consort Yu. As servants, we just need to inform her in advance. Sometimes you have to be flexible and not be rigid!" The young eunuch, who had been instructed, nodded as if he understood.
In the palace, the Empress changed into a lighter-colored cyan cheongsam today. She was actually not that old, only in her thirties. However, there were too many young and tender girls in the palace, which made her look older. Today, she rarely wore such a dark-colored dress, and she looked several years younger.
Qingyin's eyes lit up, and she quickly grabbed Ulanara's hand, "Sister, you look so beautiful today, I'm completely mesmerized."
"You have such a sweet tongue! If you didn't come to me every day to say that, I really wouldn't dare to wear these clothes." The Empress couldn't hide her smile when she received such a sincere compliment from the beautiful woman.
"Oh dear, you have to be careful now that you're pregnant. The first three months of pregnancy are a critical period, so you have to be careful with your movements."
Watching the Empress earnestly offer her advice, Qingyin leisurely sat down in the chair the Empress had prepared.
"Sister, I'm getting dizzy from all the talking about the imperial physician. You can't keep going. Tell me quickly, what good things have happened recently?"
The Empress gently tapped Qingyin's forehead. "You! You only come here for gossip, don't you?" She didn't have any sisters, but now she knew how good it was between sisters. To be honest, she really couldn't stand her sister who loved to act so spoiled.
Looking at Qingyin's bright eyes, the Empress still obliged her wish, "Do you remember Princess Saiya who came with you? She's become quite famous lately!"
"Hmm? What happened to her? Wasn't she supposed to be holding a martial arts contest to find a husband?" Qingyin recalled the bright and cheerful princess who loved to giggle.
At this point, the Empress's tone was filled with the excitement of sharing gossip, "Princess Saiya's embroidered ball contest for marriage was full of twists and turns. When the ball was first thrown, it was accidentally caught by a woman, so it didn't count. The second time, it hit a married scholar directly into his arms. He explained the situation and made things clear. The third time, somehow, my sister fell into the river next to her and sank."
Qingyin opened her eyes wide with curiosity and put down the pastry in her hand. "This embroidered ball is so light, how could it sink into the river? Then who did Princess Saiya choose with this embroidered ball?"
"Then Princess Saiya said that the heavenly decree said that choosing a husband by embroidered ball was too casual, and that she should go back to Tibet to listen to her father choose a man, and that was the end of it."
Qingyin thought for a moment and concluded that this was probably Princess Saiya's excuse; these three times were likely the methods she devised to postpone the marriage.
Qingyin miscalculated. The first and second times, Saiya had specifically had her people do it, but the second time was truly an accident. Thinking of that cold, aloof scholar, Saiya felt a surge of anger. Damn it, she, a princess, hadn't even said anything yet, and he, a scholar who hadn't even passed the exam, had already contradicted her. Did he think he was some kind of hot commodity?! The more Saiya thought about it, the angrier she became. No way! She had to beat him up before leaving the Qing Dynasty.
News of Qingyin's pregnancy spread throughout the palace and beyond. At the Minister's residence, ever since Qingyin was made a concubine, he had sought out a friend he knew from the common people, Lin Chenghe, who prescribed a medicine that could reveal the symptoms of his illness. Lin Chenghe was someone he had met by chance; he had once rescued him, covered in blood, on a side path outside the residence, and they had become friends because of this. Fu Erkang knew of his excellent medical skills, so when he was looking for an excuse, he was the first person he thought of.
Lin Chenghe looked at the dejected Fu Erkang with suspicion, "What do you need medicine for that can make you pretend to be sick?"
Fu Erkang's face was sullen as he took a step to leave. "Never mind that, whether you have it or not, if not I'm leaving."
"Yes, yes, yes, alright? Look at you, I haven't even finished speaking and you're already leaving. You're really something."
Looking at his dejected face, Lin Chenghe thought, "It looks as if his wife has died." Suddenly, a thought struck him. "Could it be that something happened to your sweetheart, Ziwei?" Clearly, Lin Chenghe was only half right.
"Ziwei is not the one I love!" Fu Erkang's reply was so fast that Lin Chenghe was stunned, only then recalling what he had just said.
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