Front yard, study.
Yinzhen sat at his desk, looking at the long, thin sheet of paper in front of him, his expression reduced to a cold smile.
What a fine lineage of the Ulanara clan! What a fine family of the Ulanara!
She was imprisoned for more than a month, yet she made no progress whatsoever. She even dared to take advantage of the opportunity to enter the palace to send a maid to deliver a message to the Ulanara family!
Yinzhen really couldn't understand why Ulanara, who used to be a dignified and gentle consort, had become more and more stubborn as she got older.
She wanted a child. The Fifth Prince, Tian Shen, was already being raised in the main courtyard. Once he turned three and was old enough to be officially registered in the imperial genealogy, Yinzhen planned to register Tian Shen under his wife's name...
But what about now?
Before anything was even settled, Ulanara was already trying to contact the Ulanara family. What did she want? Did she want some more of the previous medicine? Or did she want to make the Fifth Prince the heir apparent? Or perhaps she wanted to poison him and send him to his death, thus putting the entire Yong Prince's Mansion into her hands?
Yinzhen knew his thinking was biased, but if anyone dared to poison his food, Ulanara would have to bear the consequence of him never trusting her again.
Moreover, that was in the palace. Ulanara dared to send her personal maid to the ministers' banquet to find Feiyanggu (Ulanara's father). Who knows what else she might do?
The Crown Prince was impeached just a month ago. Now everyone in the palace is on edge, fearing that things will get even more chaotic. But Ulanara is the only one who is powerful and fears nothing!
Yinzhen secretly clenched his fists, but there was nothing he could do.
He could relinquish Ulanara's power as head of the household, but he couldn't prevent her from entering the palace. After all, she was the primary consort, and if she weren't too ill to get out of bed, she would never miss visiting the Empress during the New Year holidays.
The only thing we can do is have Li Bao keep a close eye on her.
Yinzhen sighed again, and suddenly remembered Lady Nian.
Nian's elder brother, Nian Gengyao, was his servant. Logically speaking, such a marriage should be a good one, especially since Nian Gengyao's official career was going very well. He was already serving as the governor of Sichuan. If used well, he would be a pillar of the state.
However, Nian Gengyao turned out to be unreliable. Before the marriage was arranged by his wife, Nian Gengyao had even been in contact with the third son...
Yinzhen pursed his lips. He hated being threatened, but at this moment, for the sake of Nian Gengyao's military power, he had no choice but to compromise. He wanted to promote Qian Shengyan to a secondary consort, but because of the letters between Nian Gengyao and Prince Cheng, he had to plead with the Empress to have his father arrange a marriage between him and Lady Nian…
Having broken his promise to Qian Shengyan and been coerced by Lady Nian, Yinzhen was already in a very bad mood. At this critical juncture, Lady Ulanara had done something so audacious, which made Yinzhen feel extremely bad.
As for Geng's child and Li's crying, Yinzhen had no time to spare to care. Now that he had handed the inner court over to Qian Shengyan, he needed her to be able to manage and control it, and ideally, there shouldn't be any more trouble in the inner court.
"Su Peisheng!" Yinzhen called out, and Su Peisheng quickly came in from the doorway and waited by his side with his hands at his sides.
After hesitating for a moment, Yinzhen said, "Go and select two clever eunuchs and four maids to send to Dongyou Courtyard."
Su Peisheng seemed somewhat surprised upon hearing this, but quickly suppressed his astonishment, bowed his head, and accepted the order.
Now, in the Dongyou Courtyard, besides those serving Prince Yuanshou, there are already two eunuchs, four maids, and Aunt Qingxue, plus those requested by Yinzhen...
It's practically on par with Fukurokuin!
Su Peisheng was startled but didn't say anything. He quickly selected the people and found an experienced nanny to train them. On the sixth day of the new year, after the banquet in the palace ended, Qian Shengyan inexplicably welcomed these six people.
"Your humble servants Wei Dong and Wei Bei greet Your Majesty!"
"This servant greets my master!"
Looking at the six people kneeling in three rows, Qian Shengyan looked at Su Peisheng with a head full of questions. Su Peisheng just smiled and said, "It was His Highness who ordered me to send a few more people to serve Master Qian."
Qian Shengyan keenly noticed that the servant had changed his way of addressing her, but she didn't understand why. She didn't show it, but just waved her hand to let the brothers Wei Dong and Wei Bei go to the side room to find Wang Baoen and Xiao Shunzi. She also named the four maids Chunyue, Xiayun, Qiuyu, and Dongyang, and told Lvliu to take them away and teach them manners first.
With a smile and a hint of confusion, she asked Su Peisheng, "Steward Su, I have no shortage of servants here. I don't understand why Your Highness is doing this..."
"Master Qian shouldn't have asked me, how would I know about this?" Su Peisheng said with a forced smile. "His Highness said he'll be having lunch with you later, Master Qian, and then... hehe..."
Qian Shengyan was helpless, but having more people to serve her was a good thing. She gestured to Qingxue to get the reward money and give it to Su Peisheng.
After everyone left, she finally relaxed and leaned back in her chair, rubbing her forehead as she pondered.
Qingxue was quite pleased. She walked behind Qian Shengyan and massaged her shoulders and back, saying, "The Fulu Courtyard also has six maids and four eunuchs. My lady, the Prince values our Dongyou Courtyard!"
Qian Shengyan sighed: "The regulations for a prince only allow for two secondary consorts. Even if they receive the same amount, what difference does it make?"
“Master, titles are for outsiders to see, while allowances are for the people in the manor to see.” Qingxue said with a smile, “Master and the Fourth Prince’s food, clothing and daily necessities are already on par with those of the main courtyard. Now even the number of servants has increased. Master should be happy.”
"Even if I'm happy, I'll still just be a concubine." Qian Shengyan fidgeted with her fingers, her mind still a mess. She didn't want to be a primary wife or a secondary wife; she only wanted to raise her child and wait to enjoy the wealth and status she would have in the future.
Given the circumstances, she had no choice but to take another step forward...
However, the number of secondary consorts was already full. Although the concubines had the title of consort, they were just the head of the concubines and were still concubines in the end. The secondary consorts, on the other hand, were registered in the imperial genealogy, had a full set of noblewoman's attire, and were registered in the royal family. They were qualified to attend banquets on holidays.
Qian Shengyan wasn't envious, but... her feelings were somewhat complicated.
She couldn't describe her feelings; she just felt a jumble of emotions. After a while, she sighed and gestured to Qingxue to stop massaging.
Feeling very confused lately, Qian Shengyan decided to get up and go outside to the courtyard for a while to cool off and clear her head.
"Master!" Green Smoke quickly grabbed a cloak and chased after her, hurriedly draping it over Qian Shengyan's shoulders. "What are you doing, Master? Don't get cold."
"It's alright, let's go see Yuanshou." Qian Shengyan acted on impulse, carrying the chill all over her body as she headed towards the east wing. However, she hadn't taken two steps when she heard the announcement from the courtyard gate.
She paused, reluctant to turn around and look at the person, but... compelled by the situation, she turned around, bowed her head, and curtsied: "Your Highness."
"Hmm." Yinzhen walked over, took her hand, and helped her up, then frowned, "Why are your hands so cold?"
Qian Shengyan lowered her eyes and bit her lip, not really wanting to talk to him.
Yinzhen raised an eyebrow slightly, seemingly sensing her mood. He chuckled softly, ignoring Yuanshou, and pulled her towards the main room: "What's wrong, hmm?"
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