Qian Shengyan was unaware of this, and she honestly replied, "Your Majesty, I only know of the two beauties, but I do not know where they live."
Upon hearing this, Ulanara stopped in her tracks, turned her head, and looked at her with a complicated expression for a long time before scolding, "How...how can you be so useless!"
Qian Shengyan: ?
At this moment, Yinzhen had already walked over. He nodded to Ulanara and then looked at Qian Shengyan, saying with some concern, "Stay close to your wife."
Qian Shengyan nodded naturally.
Yinzhen glanced at Ulanara again: "This is Qian's first time entering the palace, please take good care of her."
"Your Highness, rest assured," Ulanara said calmly.
Yinzhen then said, "After everything is settled, I will come to find you."
"Yes," Qian Shengyan and Ulanara replied in unison, curtsying.
The group split up, one going to the front hall and the other to the back palace. Perhaps because a young eunuch was leading them, Ulanara and Qian Shengyan remained silent the whole way and soon turned into the back palace. After walking for a while, they arrived at Yonghe Palace.
Qian Shengyan had visited the Forbidden City before and had remarked that even the courtyards where favored concubines lived were not very large. But seeing it now, she realized the difference between a place with people and one without.
Even though the palace was not large, it was well-organized and magnificently decorated, far superior to an empty palace in later generations, where high-ranking concubines resided.
Qian Shengyan lowered her head and followed closely behind Ulanara as they entered the main hall. Upon reaching their seats, she knelt down and kowtowed.
"Your subject greets Your Majesty. May Your Majesty be well."
"Get up quickly, it's been a while since I've seen you, how are you?" Unexpectedly, Consort De's voice sounded unusually young, and she was quite enthusiastic towards Ulanara.
Ulanara took a few steps closer to chat with Consort De, while Qian Shengyan followed behind her like a shadow, subtly observing the palace's layout.
After exchanging a few words with Ulanara, Consort De noticed Qian Shengyan and said with a smile, "Look at me, I've forgotten why you came here today. Is that Niohuru behind you? Raise your head and let me see you."
It took Qian Shengyan a few seconds to realize that this "Niohuru Clan" was herself. She quickly stepped out from behind Ulanara Clan, bowed, and before she could say anything, Ulanara Clan said, "Your Majesty, please forgive her. It is inevitable that Niohuru Clan's sister is inappropriate since it is her first time entering the palace. Your Majesty is kind and will forgive her."
"When did I become so frightening?" Consort De laughed and said, "Good child, let me see."
Qian Shengyan raised her chin as required by the rules. Logically, her eyes should have been looking at the ground, but she was really curious, so she secretly glanced at Consort De.
At this time, Consort De should have been fifty-four years old, but her gentle and elegant face showed few signs of aging. Her skin was snow-white, and even the fine lines at the corners of her eyes were beautiful.
Qian Shengyan couldn't help but sigh inwardly, and bowed again, saying, "When I saw Your Majesty, I felt dazed, as if I had seen a fairy from heaven. I was momentarily distracted and hope Your Majesty will punish me."
"Haha, this child is so sweet-talking. Fourth Prince's wife, when did your household find such a treasure?" Consort De had heard many compliments, but she had never seen one so fresh, natural, and unpretentious. She beckoned Qian Shengyan closer, examined her face closely, and sighed, "Indeed, you have a beautiful face. Moreover, I felt happy the moment I saw you. No wonder the Emperor said you have a blessed face."
"Your Majesty flatters me. I was so captivated by Your Majesty that I could hardly contain myself. I hope Your Majesty will not laugh at me," Qian Shengyan said softly, blushing.
She had figured it out. It seemed that no matter what, Consort De was happy to play the role of a kind mother in front of the people in the Fourth Prince's mansion. So what was wrong with her cooperating a little?
Soon, Consort De was amused by Qian Shengyan and laughed continuously. They talked about children and listened to her tell funny stories about Hongli and Foerguochun. She laughed until tears came to her eyes.
The nanny beside her served her a cup of tea to calm her down before smiling and saying to Ulanara, "It's rare to see Your Highness so happy. Fourth Princess Consort should bring the Consorts here more often."
"Yes," Ulanara replied calmly.
Consort De finally stopped laughing and patted Qian Shengyan's hand: "How can you be such a mischievous girl, arguing with your own child like this? Fine, fine, I haven't seen Hongli in a long time. You must bring him to see me during the Golden Festival."
"Then Mother will probably be disappointed. Just now, Father Emperor said that Fourth Brother would take Hongli with him!"
A clear male voice rang out, and when Consort De heard this voice, her smile widened involuntarily, and she couldn't hide her affection: "Why is the Fourteenth Prince here?"
"I happened to be in the palace today and heard that Father Emperor was waiting for Fourth Brother, so I went to take a look out of curiosity. But Father Emperor was too busy to talk to his son, so I came to pay my respects to Mother Consort." The Fourteenth Prince, Yinzhen, said and bowed. Consort De quickly called him up and said, "I haven't met your Fourth Sister-in-law yet."
"Greetings, Fourth Sister-in-law." Yinzhen bowed to Ulanara, who stepped aside and returned the bow: "Fourteenth Prince."
"This... could she be the fourth sister-in-law who found the use of chicken manure?" Yinzhen raised his eyebrows slightly, looking at Qian Shengyan with a hint of disdain in his tone, "Fourth brother, even if you have nothing to do, you don't have to bring your fourth sister-in-law to play with chicken manure."
His words, though seemingly playful and mischievous, were actually a mockery of Yinzhen, and a jab at his idleness.
Can Qian Shengyan tolerate him? Anyone can be sarcastic and sarcastic.
She curtsied slightly and said with her head bowed, "Perhaps the Fourteenth Prince is unaware that the wonders of chicken manure are not limited to this."
"Oh? It seems you really understood." Yinzhen made no attempt to hide his sharp wit.
Qian Shengyan ignored him and turned back to bow to Consort De: "Your subject spoke presumptuously. Your Majesty, please just take it as a joke and don't take it to heart."
This made Consort De curious: "What?"
"Chicken manure can be piled up and fermented into fertilizer, which can be applied to the soil for rice, wheat, vegetables and other crops to absorb and grow; it can also be dried and fed to cattle, sheep and poultry as a feed additive; or it can be used directly to feed pigs and fish... So, it's possible that Master Xu Shisi's daily meals of vegetables, fruits and grains, cattle, sheep, fish and pigs have all been fed with chicken manure," Qian Shengyan said innocently.
After she finished speaking, the entire room fell silent.
Whether to use it or eat it is a matter of opinion, but it is clear that Yinzhen has already thought of things he shouldn't have, with a look of utter disgust on his face.
Qian Shengyan was satisfied, but dared not provoke this young master any further. Just as she was about to call it quits, she heard him suddenly shout angrily, "You're just a lowly creature from a poor background, yet you're so adept at dealing with beasts. It's clear you've spent a lot of time playing with beasts..."
"Fourteen!" Consort De interrupted him angrily, "Hurry up and apologize to the concubine!"
Fourteenth Prince was still stubbornly denying it, but Qian Shengyan had already turned around and bowed, saying with a smile, "Your Majesty, please don't be angry. Fourteenth Prince just likes to joke. Besides, I have indeed seen a lot of beasts and am quite familiar with them. Beasts, after all, love to bark and howl."
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