Su Yushan wondered to herself, "Could it be because the palace has a nice-sounding name?"
Hongli shook his head. "The name of each palace has a unique charm."
"Why is that?" She pondered this question but couldn't figure it out. Hongli smiled mysteriously and leaned closer to her, saying:
"I will move to the Hall of Mental Cultivation tomorrow, but the Hall of Mental Cultivation is just a study for me. I will definitely stay in your palace often in the future, so I will naturally choose one that is closer to the Palace of Cleansing and Purity, so that I can sleep with you for a quarter of an hour longer."
"..." Su Yushan was completely taken aback, and gave him a shy and reproachful look, "So that's what you were planning! I thought you had some important reason!"
"This isn't something that can be done in a day or two, so of course I have to make plans." Being able to hold her a little longer each day, even if it's just for fifteen minutes, is an extremely precious thing. Of course, that's only one reason; there's another point that Hongli didn't explicitly state.
"Actually, there's another reason."
"What is it?" Su Yushan pressed again, but he remained mysterious.
"I dare not make promises to you lightly, for I am afraid that if I cannot keep them, you will be disappointed in me. I will tell you after I can do it."
Gazing into his eyes, Su Yushan said earnestly:
“You’re overthinking it. I’ve never been disappointed in you. You’ve kept all your promises, like the one about promoting me to the rank of concubine. I’ve seen it all. You’ve always worked hard to achieve it, and I won’t hold a grudge.”
"But I said I would give you the rank of Imperial Concubine, yet I only gave you the rank of Consort." This remained a hurdle in Hongli's heart, but Su Yushan understood his predicament.
"Everyone thinks that the emperor can command the wind and rain and do whatever he wants, but the emperor carries too many rules and pressures. The so-called ancestral laws and the so-called overall situation all weigh on your shoulders, making you unable to be free and having to be cautious in everything you do."
"You were able to stand against the Empress Dowager and make me a concubine; that's already quite remarkable. As the saying goes, contentment brings happiness. I won't blame you; please don't feel guilty."
Even though he had broken his promise, she comforted him instead. Hongli was touched and gently pinched her little finger, his eyes filled with tenderness. He was about to whisper something when he heard a noise outside. It turned out that Yonghuang had returned from school.
Yonghuang would have lunch in the Imperial Study at noon, and would only be able to return after finishing his riding and archery lessons in the afternoon. If it rained and he couldn't practice riding and archery, he would continue to attend lessons in the Imperial Study.
The little child had no time to rest, which was hard for him. However, Yonghuang never complained to his mother. When he entered the West Warm Pavilion and saw his father there, he bowed respectfully and called out, "Father Emperor."
Su Yushan had someone take him to wash his hands and prepared some pastries for him. Yonghuang ate a pastry and drank some water. Hongli casually asked him what he had been learning recently and then tested him on classical poetry and the Three Character Classic.
Yonghuang answered each question fluently, but he didn't quite understand the meaning of the sentences in the Three Character Classic. Hongli patiently explained them to his son.
Witnessing the harmonious scene between the father and son, Su Yushan felt somewhat relieved, hoping that the two could continue to get along peacefully like this and that nothing unexpected would happen.
Before long, the nanny led the young prince and princess into the room.
The Third Prince is one year and eight months old. He can be vaccinated against smallpox in the spring. He has not yet been named. Tangdou'er is four and a half years old. Everyone in the palace calls her the Second Princess. Hongli plans to give his daughter a formal name and asked Yushan for her opinion.
After much deliberation, Yu Shan finally settled on the name "Rong Yu".
When Hongli had free time, he would come to her place for a visit, but he could not stay overnight; he could only have a meal with her.
When he was busy with political affairs, Yu Shan would bask in the sun in Jingren Palace or visit Xi Lan in Yonghe Palace.
Chen and Xilan were of low rank and not considered to be principal wives of the palace, so they both lived in Yonghe Palace.
Su Yushan and Chen had little interaction before, but she remembered that Chen had once acted as her witness and she was always grateful to her. However, Chen did not like to associate with others, so Yushan did not bother her.
Now that she lives with Xilan, Yushan occasionally runs into Chen when she goes to see Xilan. The group sits together, enjoying tea and chatting, and Yushan learns that Chen's maiden name is Lanxu.
Chen Lanxu speaks slowly, giving off a tranquil vibe. Often, Yu Shan and Xi Lan are the ones talking, while she listens from the side. Yu Shan, worried that she might feel awkward, will take the initiative to talk to her and takes good care of her.
At first, Chen Lanxu was indeed a little unaccustomed to it, but after a while, she found it quite nice to listen to them chatting and laughing. Before she knew it, the day had passed, and the days were not so difficult to endure.
Su Yushan was fairly used to life in the palace, the only headache being that she had to pay her respects to the Empress Dowager every morning.
When she was in the Prince's mansion, she could still sleep in late. But once she entered the palace, she couldn't even sleep in late anymore. She had to get up early every day. However, everyone else was like that, so she couldn't find an excuse not to go. She could only insist on going to pay her respects. Every day she had to see Lan Rong and the others. They would greet her, and she couldn't ignore them. She could only smile and agree. It was really exhausting.
After paying their respects that day, as everyone was taking their leave, the Empress Dowager surprisingly kept her behind, saying she had important matters to discuss with her.
Su Yushan thought to herself, she has always behaved properly and should not have done anything wrong. Surely the Empress Dowager wouldn't cause her any trouble?
Just as she began to have doubts, the Empress Dowager spoke up, saying that she had three children and that taking care of them was very hard work, so she planned to entrust the Third Prince and the Little Princess to Consort Rong and Consort Xian to raise.
Upon hearing this, Su Yushan's heartstrings tightened immediately, and she sternly refused, "I am not afraid of hardship and can take good care of three children."
"You possess the emperor and have three children, but they have nothing. If you entrust the children to them to raise, at least they will have something to look forward to. You can't be as selfish as you!"
She was protecting her own child, and that was considered selfish? Su Yushan was so shocked by the Empress Dowager's words that she couldn't speak for a long time, feeling as if she had heard the biggest joke in the world.
“My child is a living, breathing person, not an object to be given away at will. If I were to hand over my own flesh and blood, that would not be generosity, but cold-bloodedness!”
Su's reaction was so intense, openly rejecting her arrangements, that the Empress Dowager felt she had lost face. She gave her a cold glance, her eyes filled with undisguised contempt.
"As expected of a woman from a commoner background, she doesn't understand royal rules at all! Royal children all have foster mothers who raise them together with their birth mothers. This is the palace rule, so why are you making such a fuss!"
Su Yushan could compromise on other matters, but when it came to things concerning her child, she was determined not to. Knowing that she had no right to refuse the Empress Dowager, Su Yushan simply pushed the matter onto Hongli.
"This is a matter I cannot decide on my own. Your Majesty, please discuss it with the Emperor!"
What the Empress Dowager couldn't stand the most was her using Hongli as a shield; this one sentence alone enraged the Empress Dowager.
"How dare you! I'm doing you a favor by discussing matters with you, and you dare to use the Emperor to intimidate me! How audacious!"
Su Yushan was furious inside, but she didn't show any disrespect on her face, and pretended to be respectful as she said:
"I had no such intention. The children are not solely my own; Your Majesty is their father, so this matter must be approved by him."
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