Seeing that the Fourth Prince was somewhat dejected, the Crown Prince immediately comforted him, "Fourth Brother, it's alright. Your Second Brother will practice with you more often in the future!"
Upon hearing this, He Xue immediately conjured up a scene in her mind: "On the archery range, the Fourth Prince is holding a bow and arrow, and the Crown Prince is behind him, teaching the Fourth Prince how to shoot arrows."
The Crown Prince held the Fourth Prince tightly in his arms and asked gently, "Fourth brother, have you learned it?"
The Fourth Prince said shyly, "I understand, Second Brother!"
"Cough, cough!" He Xue choked on her own imagination!
"How could you choke on your tea!" The Crown Prince quickly patted He Xue's back.
He Xue looked at the Fourth Prince standing next to the Crown Prince, "Cough cough cough, cough cough cough!"
No, she can no longer look the Crown Prince and the Fourth Prince in the eye.
"I'm fine!" He Xue quickly said, afraid that she would choke to death if she stayed any longer.
“Brother Crown Prince, you two talk!” He Xue turned to Jing Shu and said, “Big Brother, let’s go find Second Brother!”
Without waiting for the Crown Prince's reaction, she grabbed Jing Shu and ran off.
"What's wrong with Xue? She's acting so strangely!" the Third Prince asked.
The Crown Prince also felt that Xue was acting strangely, as if she was hiding something. But she was fine just a moment ago. How could she suddenly be like this?
He Xue grabbed Jing Shu and ran out in one breath.
"Little sister, what happened to you just now? Why did you choke on your water?" Jing Shu asked.
"Some funny things suddenly came to mind."
What could possibly make you choke on water?
"Big brother, some things can only be understood intuitively and cannot be explained in words!" He Xue said mysteriously.
"Alright! Let's go find your second brother! We've been out for quite a while, it's time to go back!" Jing Shu said.
“Okay!” He Xue replied.
Soon it was the Empress Dowager's birthday, and Emperor Kangxi specially ordered that all officials could bring their relatives to attend.
The women of the Guarjia clan gathered at Suhetai's residence, led by Tongjia, to the palace to pay their respects to the Empress Dowager on her birthday.
He Xue had finished getting ready early, and seeing that it was almost time, she went to find Tong Jia Shi.
When He Xue arrived, she saw Tong Jia talking to a girl.
The girl was pretty and gentle, and He Xue's first impression of her was that she was dignified and gentle, which was completely different from her own lively and energetic personality.
"Greetings to Mother!" He Xue drove up to Tongjia Shi.
"Get up quickly! Come to your mother's side!" Tongjia immediately called Hexue to her side.
“This is your cousin! Shi Wenbing’s eldest daughter, Shi Jingrou!” Tong Jia introduced the girl beside her to He Xue.
"Shi Wenbing's daughter?" He Xue looked at the person in front of her in shock.
"Has my sister seen me before?" Shi Jingrou asked, seeing He Xue's surprised expression.
"No!" He Xue shook her head. Shi Jingrou was indeed as her name suggested, gentle and quiet!
What truly surprised He Xue was that the person in front of her was the future Crown Princess. In fact, she should have realized that she and the Crown Princess were from the same clan, but she had overlooked it before.
The Crown Princess, of the Guarjia clan, is the daughter of Shi Wenbing, a third-class earl. Her grandfather, Shi Huashan, was the son-in-law of Prince Yu, Dodo.
Historically, Emperor Kangxi was very satisfied with the crown princess he personally selected. He praised her, saying, "She is virtuous and filial, and has a gentle and kind nature. She has worked diligently for Yinreng for many years."
Furthermore, after Lady Guarjia's death, the Ministry of Rites dared not submit a memorial text for her, so Emperor Kangxi ordered the Hanlin Academy to draft one, to be presented at the autumn memorial service. According to regulations, a prince's wife could have twenty guards, but Yinreng had none. Therefore, Kangxi specially ordered Longkodo, the commander of the infantry, to lead thirty guards in mourning, exceeding the specifications for a prince, yet she was still buried with the treatment due to a crown princess. This sufficiently demonstrates Kangxi's satisfaction with this crown princess.
The Crown Princess was personally chosen by Emperor Kangxi, and the selection was made long ago, with people secretly instructing her.
I wonder if Shi Jingrou has been designated as the Crown Princess yet? Has Emperor Kangxi also sent people to instruct Shi Jingrou?
He Xue felt some sympathy for the historical Crown Princess; she was both fortunate and extremely unfortunate. As the saying goes, a husband's glory brings his wife glory, and with the Crown Prince's deposition and reinstatement, her status fluctuated wildly. In the end, she suffered the same fate as the Crown Prince, imprisoned in Xian'an Palace, alone and helpless, dying in depression.
Moreover, Guarjia only had one daughter in her lifetime, who eventually married far away to Mongolia. The crown prince didn't seem to like her much. Consort Lijia had been by the crown prince's side earlier than Guarjia and had given birth to his eldest son, which made Guarjia's position rather awkward.
The title of Crown Princess brought her nothing; on the contrary, when the Crown Prince was deposed, she was implicated and went from being Crown Princess to Second Prince's wife. Who could bear to experience such a dramatic rise and fall twice?
He Xue only hoped that her arrival could at least change the trajectory of this poor man's life.
I wonder if Xue would curse her out if she knew that she had completely changed Shi Jingrou's trajectory?
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