Chapter Seven
Hongzhou couldn't get in, and Xia Qiangwei couldn't find a good reason either. Xia Yuhe was initially bewildered by Liu Mama becoming Xia Mama, but then accepted it without a trace of doubt. Xia Ziwei was a staunch supporter of "Sister is always right," without a single question. Xia Qiangwei didn't know if this situation was good or bad, sighed inwardly, and locked herself in her room to sleep.
~~~
Two days into the funeral, someone in the palace overheard servants talking about Liu Mama's passing and a smile crept onto their face. "Have they asked what the Prince's audience with the Emperor was about?"
"Your Majesty, it's best not to ask about what happened in the front courtyard."
The lady stopped and smiled. The matter mentioned earlier refers to court affairs, and that's good.
~~~
Hongzhou failed to get his way and went to the palace to complain to the Emperor, saying that he couldn't even get into the Xia residence. The servants there said that the residence was full of women and no male guests were seen. Upon hearing this, Emperor Qianlong thought, "The Xia residence... could it be...?" He said, "Hongzhou, I order you to see the people inside. I don't care what method you use. Remember, don't let anyone other than you and me know."
Hongzhou left the palace dejectedly, staring at the tightly closed gates of the Xia residence. "Someone, tear down the gate for me."
The dismantling of the door actually brought Xia Qiangwei out. Xia Qiangwei glared at Prince He, who was sitting in the carriage. Prince He looked at the little girl standing at the door. Her imposing manner and appearance reminded him of his own daughter. Thinking of how the Emperor had taken his daughter away, Hongzhou felt a pang of heartache.
"Who are you? What right do you have to tear down my front door!" Xia Qiangwei stared at the door; it was money! The past two days had been spent on funeral arrangements, even the embroidery shop had to close, costing a lot of money. Now, with the door being torn down, Xia Qiangwei was furious.
"Young lady, who are you? Bring out your master."
"This is my house. Quickly tell me your name so I can report you to the authorities!"
Hongzhou was stunned. This little girl was only a few years old, yet she claimed to be in charge! "What's your name? How old are you?"
"Why should I tell you if you haven't even come home yet? Don't think you can bully ordinary people just because you have some power. Even princes are subject to the same laws as commoners. Do you think you're a prince?!" Xia Qiangwei was so angry that she was practically fuming, completely forgetting the business principle of "harmony is the most important thing."
Prince He was finding the young girl increasingly interesting. "I am Prince He," he said.
"Nonsense, didn't Prince He pass away two days ago?" Xia Qiangwei realized something was wrong after she finished speaking. She blinked and looked at Prince He. Was this the same absurd prince who always pretended to be dead to collect funeral money? Well, she had actually offended Prince He. Thinking of this, Xia Qiangwei turned and ran into the courtyard, shouting, "Someone! Block the gate for me! Prince He is harassing someone!"
Upon hearing this, Prince He's lips twitched, and the soldiers who had come with him turned their heads away, suppressing their laughter. Prince He was angry, and the consequences would be severe. "Go, into the courtyard, and give it to me..." Hongzhou couldn't bring himself to say the word "take," for he remembered the Emperor's words: no one should be harmed. Hongzhou thought and thought, then decided to have his soldiers stand guard while he went to the palace to request the Emperor's intervention.
~~~
When Emperor Qianlong saw Hongzhou enter the palace, he ordered everyone to leave, asking, "What grievance have you suffered this time?"
"Your Majesty, you must stand up for me!" Hongzhou recounted his conversation with the little girl in detail, his teeth clenched as he spoke of the harassment.
"This young lady is quite interesting. What brings you to the palace?"
“Your Majesty, I think Your Majesty should go there in person. I believe the Xia family is a respectable household.”
Emperor Qianlong pondered for a moment. Rather than listening to Hongzhou's message, he decided it would be better to go out and see for himself. He considered who he wanted to take with him. Since he couldn't take eunuchs, he would take… hadn't the late emperor left the Imperial Guard to him?
~~~~
Emperor Qianlong, accompanied by Hongzhou from the Imperial Stables, arrived at the gate of the Xia residence. Seeing the gate that Hongzhou had dismantled, Qianlong glared at him and walked straight inside.
"Hey, hey, who let you in? This isn't some prestigious family, but you can't just barge into other people's homes like that!" The speaker was Xia Ma's son, who had been put in charge of managing the Xia family mansion by Xia Qiangwei after they came to the capital.
"We're looking for your leader," Qianlong said politely, but his tone was condescending.
"Our household is managed by women; we don't receive outsiders," Xia Ma's son replied, sizing up Qianlong and the others. This was the advice Xia Qiangwei had given him earlier.
"We've only come to borrow a painting." Qianlong had barely finished speaking when he saw Xia Yuhe emerge from the room. Qianlong froze. When Xia Yuhe saw Qianlong, she dropped what she was holding. She had finally seen her god again. Xia Yuhe wanted to rush over, but Xia's nanny, who was following behind her, tugged at her sleeve. Seeing her staring so openly at a man, Xia's nanny was—surprised.
Xia Yuhe, whose clothes had been grabbed by Granny Xia, immediately came to her senses and lowered her head. Granny Xia looked on with satisfaction, only then noticing that the visitor was—the Emperor! Could this be the eldest young lady's scheme, having the Emperor personally come to fetch Xia Yuhe? Granny Xia immediately lowered her head; she now had to keep a close eye on Xia Yuhe and not let anything happen to her that would affect the eldest young lady's plans.
In truth, Qiangwei had no ulterior motives. Hearing the commotion, Xia Qiangwei and Xia Ziwei came out and saw the two men enter. Xia Qiangwei thought to herself, "Oh no! I haven't even run away yet!" Xia Ziwei looked at the two men with suspicion. Who were they? Why were they barging into someone else's house?
Prince He, of course, noticed Qianlong's sudden change. Unaware of the story of "Daming Lake," he assumed Qianlong had been captivated by beauty. Upon seeing Xia Qiangwei, Prince He was surprised to find two identical-looking girls. However, he quickly recognized the one who had accused him of harassment. Although they resembled each other, their demeanor was distinctly different; one possessed the air of a Manchu matriarch, while the other had a Jiangnan charm. "The girl on the right, I've come to borrow a painting."
"You're not allowed to bully my sister!" Xia Ziwei immediately stood in front of Xia Qiangwei upon hearing this, as she had heard her sister shouting that someone was harassing her.
Hongzhou's lips twitched slightly. He retracted his previous thought; both girls had the air of Manchu grandmothers.
Xia Qiangwei guessed the identity of the person who came with Hongzhou. "Granny Xia, why aren't you helping my mother back to her room? Don't you know that women are not allowed to receive outside guests?" Xia Qiangwei deliberately called out. As soon as Qianlong entered, he stared at Xia Yuhe without any restraint.
Startled by Xia Qiangwei's shout, Xia Mama immediately reacted and pulled Xia Yuhe into the room. Once inside, Xia Yuhe was anxious to leave; she needed to tell Qiangwei and Ziwei that the man was their father. Looking at Xia Yuhe, Xia Mama sighed inwardly. Even if this mistress entered the palace, without the eldest young lady's help, she might be murdered without even knowing how. "Madam," Xia Mama said, "leaving now would be taboo and would lower your status. Madam, please think of the two young ladies."
Upon hearing this, Xia Yuhe calmed herself down. She had forgotten that Qiangwei was a very independent child and could handle things well. But Qiangwei didn't know that the man was her father!
"Madam! You can't act rashly. This is just the beginning. If you act rashly, who will protect the two young ladies once they get inside?" Granny Xia said coolly.
Xia Yuhe stopped, looked at Granny Xia, and, remembering her eldest daughter's words, took out some silver from her sleeve and placed it in Granny Xia's hand. "Granny, what should I do now?"
Looking at the silver in her hand, Granny Xia said, "Madam, please take the silver back! Ever since I took the surname Xia, I have been your wet nurse, and I will naturally do my best to help you. Listen to my advice, Madam, you don't need to get involved in this matter. Miss will handle it very well."
"But……"
"Madam only needs to prepare for entering the palace. From now on, I will address you as Your Highness! Congratulations, Your Highness."
"Please don't laugh at me, Granny. How could I possibly be qualified to be a concubine?" These days, Xia Yuhe has learned a lot about things in the palace. Someone of her background couldn't even be a palace maid, let alone a concubine.
Granny Xia didn't try to dissuade her; she had a feeling that Xia's status upon entering the palace wouldn't be low!
~~~
Emperor Qianlong sized up the two identical little girls before him. They looked to be only eleven or twelve years old, bearing a striking resemblance to Xia Yuhe, but their small stature belied the air of Manchu grandmothers. Qianlong noticed one of them calling Xia Yuhe "mother," suggesting she was the elder of the two. "Which one of you is the older sister, and which one is the younger sister? What year were you born?"
Xia Ziwei looked at Qianlong warily. If the person beside him was a bad person, then he couldn't be a good one either.
Xia Qiangwei pulled Xia Ziwei into the living room, saying, "Sir, please come into the living room with us to talk! Although our family is not wealthy, we cannot entertain guests in the courtyard."
Emperor Qianlong and Hongzhou followed the two sisters and heard Xia Ziwei whispering a reminder to Xia Qiangwei.
"Sister, these two are not good people. Why should we invite them into the living room? We can just have the servants send them away."
Qianlong glared at Hongzhou. It was all his unreliable younger brother's fault—for tearing down someone's gate and making them look like bad guys. Hongzhou felt wronged by the glare. Who had told him not to let anyone know? Was it easy for him? These past few days, his wife had been subtly nagging him, asking if he was keeping a mistress. He really had a hard life.
Xia Qiangwei did not reply. "Ziwei, go and bring the painting that Mother likes to these two gentlemen."
Xia Ziwei's eyes widened; she was extremely unwilling, but she still went to get it.
Seeing Xia Ziwei run off to retrieve the painting, Xia Qiangwei then addressed the two gentlemen, “My sister and I are twins, born on the second day of the eighth month of the Renxu year. We take our mother’s surname; my name is Qiangwei, and my sister’s name is Ziwei.”
Upon hearing this, Emperor Qianlong immediately began counting on his fingers, then stared wide-eyed at Xia Qiangwei. They were his daughters! Qianlong's expression changed, and his gaze softened as he looked at Qiangwei. His daughters, his daughters with Xia Yuhe, Xia Yuhe still looked as beautiful as she had over a decade ago, unchanged. Qianlong then remembered Xia Yuhe, whom he had just met; he wanted to bring them to the palace.
Hongzhou looked at Xia Qiangwei, then at Qianlong, and swallowed hard. Had he really stepped on his brother's scandal?
"You said your name is Rose," Qianlong asked softly.
Xia Qiangwei was stunned by Qianlong's sudden gentle tone. She finally understood why Xiao Yanzi had impulsively recognized him as her father. This tone, this expression, were too tempting for an orphan who had lived in the old society for over a decade without a father. Xia Qiangwei swallowed and nodded.
"Is my younger sister in Ziwei?"
Xia Qiangwei continued to nod. She really wanted to turn her head away, because Qianlong looked like a strange uncle who trafficked children.
"I am your Emperor Father!"
"Snap!" Xia Ziwei, who was carrying the painting into the room, heard Qianlong's words and saw his expression. She lost her grip on the painting and dropped it in fright.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
