"Is the Third Prince ill?"
The next morning, Qian Shengyan heard the news as soon as she got up. Qingxue helped her get up and said softly, "She said that her stomach started to feel uncomfortable last night, and she couldn't get out of bed this morning. She also has a fever... The concubine punished all the wet nurses around the Third Prince. It is said that she cried all night in distress."
As she spoke, she leaned closer to Qian Shengyan's ear and whispered even more, "Fuluyuan collected a lot of broken porcelain shards early this morning, saying that the concubine was worried about the Third Prince's condition and accidentally broke a tea set and two vases."
Qian Shengyan was speechless: "...This is too careless."
“Who says otherwise?” Qingxue smiled and said, “His Highness had something to do today and went to the palace early this morning, so he didn’t have time to visit the Third Prince. The Consort was still copying Buddhist scriptures and didn’t come out either. It was the Prince’s wife who sent someone to fetch a doctor. But the Fifth Prince was a little frightened this morning and kept crying. The Prince’s wife also couldn’t find the time to visit the Third Prince.”
Qian Shengyan, still dressed, said after a long pause, "It has nothing to do with us."
She was just a lowly princess; how could she be qualified to concern herself with the affairs of her masters?
Qingxue smiled and replied, "Yes, we'll take good care of the Fourth Prince ourselves."
Just then, Green Willow came in, gave a slight curtsy, and said with a smile, "The head of the household came to deliver a message, saying that since the young prince gets up late, his morning greetings will be changed to the first and fifteenth of each month, and he doesn't need to go early at other times."
"!!!" Qian Shengyan's joy was undisguised, and Qingxue even laughed out loud: "This is exactly what the princess wants."
Qian Shengyan smiled and gave her a reproachful look, then stretched and said, "If I had known, I wouldn't have gotten up so early today."
Everyone laughed. After the preparations were completed, Lüyan went to fetch breakfast, and Qian Shengyan went next door to see her son. Qingxue followed her and chatted about some seemingly useless things: "...Back when we were in the palace, because there was no Empress, all the princes and their wives lived together, and there were no rules for paying respects. Later, when they established their own residences and left the palace, the wives didn't like having people around them. But after the concubines were appointed, the wives required everyone in the inner courtyard to come to the main courtyard every day to sit and talk about things in the residence."
"Hmm..." Qian Shengyan seemed to be thinking, then suddenly asked Qingxue, "Did the Third Prince also live in Zhuocheng Courtyard before?"
“Yes, but since the Second Prince fell ill last winter, both princes have moved back to Fulu Courtyard, and Zhuocheng Courtyard has been left vacant.” Qingxue said, then lowered her voice and added, “I heard from Li Defu that the Prince seems to want to inscribe Shaoxi on the Third Prince’s garden.”
Shaoxi?
Qian Shengyan paused. The character "Shao" means to inherit, and "Shaoxi" means to inherit the previous work and carry it forward.
"Your Highness still values the Third Prince so much," Qian Shengyan said with a smile.
Qingxue nodded with a smile, then sighed slightly as if regretful: "It's a pity that the Third Prince suddenly fell ill, so he can't stay at Shaoxi Courtyard."
Qian Shengyan understood what she meant. It was hard to say whether the Third Prince was sick or not, but with Li Shi around, the Third Prince could only be sick and could not move. He would have to continue living with his mother.
If Li didn't want to be trapped in a courtyard and unable to see her son through the wall, she had no choice but to keep a tight grip on him and prevent him from moving away.
Even though she understood that she was partly responsible for all of this, Qian Shengyan still felt disgusted upon reflection. Especially the children, who were originally the most innocent little lives, yet had to be dragged into this mess.
But she had no choice but to scheme and intervene; otherwise, a foolish Lady Geng alone could silently make Yuan Shou fall ill, let alone the schemes of Lady Li and Lady Ulanara.
I just hope that Ulanara can give up the idea of adopting Yuanshou and raise the little prince properly.
Holding Yuan Shou in her arms, Qian Shengyan felt a sense of weight and a sense of peace. She pressed her cheek against the baby's and gave him a kiss, which made Yuan Shou grin from his toothless little mouth. The laughter lessened her gloom, and she felt that the child was truly an angel.
It was a rare treat that no troublemakers caused any problems today, and Qian Shengyan and her son enjoyed a happy and leisurely day. However, before they even had dinner, Su Peisheng came back with a message, telling Qian Shengyan to get ready, as they would be moving into the garden that very night.
"Moving tonight?" Qian Shengyan was surprised. Qingxue, who knew a little, explained to Qian Shengyan in a low voice, "At the end of the year before last, the Prince received the Yuanmingyuan Garden as a gift from the Emperor. Originally, after the renovation, he planned to move there as soon as the weather got hot this year. Unexpectedly, he first went to the Summer Palace, then the Princess's incident happened, and in addition, Princess Geng was about to give birth, and the Fourth Prince was still young, so the trip has not been able to take place. I just don't know why he is in such a hurry..."
"What about the young prince? And the concubine? Are they all going?" Qian Shengyan immediately realized that something was unusual. After all, the young prince had only been born for two days. Why were they moving to the garden at this time?
Su Peisheng readily bowed and said, "The Princess Consort said that she will not be going to take care of the young prince and Princess Geng for the time being. The third prince is sick and also needs the care of the concubine, so he is not easy to move. This time, only the princess and the fourth prince will accompany the prince to the Yuanmingyuan for a short stay."
Qian Shengyan: ...
In an instant, Qingxue and the other maids burst out with undisguised joy, and even Lüyan couldn't help but chant a Buddhist prayer. Qian Shengyan, however, languished among the crowd, holding her son and not knowing what to say.
She's still not fully recovered...
Unfortunately, no one cares about these things now. Qingxue packed her things very quickly, directed two eunuchs to carry them to the carriage, and then helped Qian Shengyan into the sedan chair with a smile, as if she couldn't wait to sprout wings and fly to the Yuanmingyuan.
However, it was almost time. Yinzhen led a convoy of carriages and horses at breakneck speed, leaving before the city gates were locked. He then traveled under the stars and moon all the way to the Yuanmingyuan. By the time Qian Shengyan got off the carriage, it was already completely dark, and Yuanshou had long since finished nursing and was sleeping soundly in her arms.
"The preparations in the garden were rushed, so please have some snacks first, Princess." Green Willow brought out several plates of snacks, both sweet and savory. Qian Shengyan didn't eat much for dinner anyway, so she just grabbed a piece at random.
She ate absentmindedly, wondering what major events had happened this year.
It seems that apart from the birth of Emperor Qianlong and the massive impeachment of the Crown Prince at the end of the year, there were no major events related to Yinzhen during the entire fiftieth year of Emperor Kangxi's reign...
However, Qian Shengyan suddenly remembered something in the carriage, which made her feel uneasy to this day - in history, Qianlong's birthday was the 13th day of the eighth month of the 50th year of Kangxi's reign, which was a full half a year later than Yuan Shou's birthday.
If Yuan Shou is not Emperor Qianlong, but rather the Fifth Prince whom Geng Gege recently acquired, then their birthdays are not matched by more than half a month.
Whether the records from later generations were flawed, or whether her son's origins were influenced by her time travel, Qian Shengyan couldn't be sure. Therefore, she had no clue what would happen this year, or why Yinzhen had fled to the manor overnight. She wasn't even sure if history would proceed as she knew it.
Unable to come up with a solution, Qian Shengyan simply called Qingxue over to chat, asking who the princes from beyond the Great Wall were who had accompanied Emperor Kangxi on this trip.
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