On New Year's Eve, Ulanara was finally released and was able to enter the palace with Yinzhen to receive the banquet.
Yinzhen originally wanted to bring Yuanshou in as well, but the weather turned bad. After lunch on New Year's Eve, a snowstorm began. As evening approached, the strong winds and snow made it impossible to open one's eyes. Someone from the palace came to inform them that for safety reasons, the princes under the age of ten would not need to enter the palace this time.
The only people going were Yinzhen and his wife, which inevitably made the number of people a little lonely. After hesitating for a moment, Yinzhen still took Li Shi with him.
But Yinzhen was quite tactless; before leaving, he sent the Third Prince and the Fifth Prince to Dongyou Courtyard, asking Qian Shengyan to look after them for a while.
Well, just a little while, from 4 pm to 1 am, just a short while.
Qian Shengyan smiled stiffly, looking at Hongshi, who was pouting and full of defiance, Tianshen, who was crying incessantly, and... Yuanshou, who was particularly enthusiastic...
Her head hurts so much...
Actually, Tian Shen is the easiest to take care of. After all, he is less than five months old and is at the age where he can fall asleep early after being fed. He also has eight or nine wet nurses and nannies taking good care of him. All Qian Shengyan needs to do is provide them with a warm room.
Hongshi, however, was the most difficult to deal with...
Because she was appointed to the task at a critical moment, Qian Shengyan was not well prepared. She ordered some food, especially some dishes that children like, heated the warm pavilion, tidied up the things on the floor, and laid out thick mats for Yuanshou and Hongshi to play there.
When Tian Shen arrived, the small cloak he carried was the same blue garment that Qian Shengyan had made for the three brothers. Yuan Shou was also wearing the same clothes today. Only Hong Shi was wearing a yellow prince's robe, looking extremely noble.
Qian Shengyan originally thought that Hongshi was wearing this outfit because he was going to enter the palace, and even had someone bring him some new clothes that had been made for him so that he could change and feel more comfortable. Who knew that the child would roll his eyes and mutter, "I won't wear your clothes, they smell bad!"
Granny Feng quickly covered his mouth, but Qian Shengyan still heard what he said clearly.
She smiled slightly, said nothing more, put the clothes aside, and went with Hongshi.
This was Yuan Shou's first time seeing a child. He sat there happily, looking at Hong Shi with curiosity like a little Maitreya Buddha. He seemed a little hesitant and timid, just watching without moving. Hong Shi, on the other hand, just sat next to Granny Feng, not actively trying to play with Yuan Shou, but instead playing around with the nanny.
Qian Shengyan simply sat on a small couch to the side, not doing much, only hoping that nothing bad would happen.
At Hongshi's age, it was indeed too difficult for him to stay still. Before long, he wanted to run back to the courtyard. Granny Feng coaxed him gently, but Hongshi was still very annoyed and even slapped Granny Feng on the head.
Qian Shengyan was so shocked that she stood up, but Granny Feng didn't care at all and continued to coax Hongshi.
...At that time, Qian Shengyan felt that Granny Feng was more like her own mother than she was.
Fortunately, dinner was ready, and Qian Shengyan hurriedly called everyone to prepare to eat. Because it was New Year's Eve, the meal was elaborate and took a long time to eat. By the time it was over, Yuan Shou was so sleepy that he could not keep his eyes open and fell asleep in his wet nurse's arms.
Hongshi was also a little sleepy, so he nestled in Granny Feng's arms without saying a word, occasionally calling out, looking quite irritable.
Qian Shengyan asked Granny Feng and learned that Hongshi refused to sleep outside, so she didn't say much. She just had someone bring out a soft couch for Granny Feng to sit on, so that Hongshi could lie down more comfortably.
In the middle of the night, Hongshi also fell asleep. Qian Shengyan asked Granny Feng for directions and had someone brave the wind and snow to get a thick cloak and a thin quilt from the Third Prince's courtyard. One was to be used now, and the other was to be used to pick up the child when they returned.
Qian Shengyan was prepared, but she didn't intend to give it to Hongshi—of course, Hongshi wouldn't want to use it either, and Qian Shengyan didn't want to make a fool of herself.
She drank a cup of strong tea. The good sleep schedule she had maintained since arriving at the Prince Yong's mansion almost made her collapse. Fortunately, Qingxue and the others stayed with her. Qian Shengyan waited until after 1 a.m. before she heard the sound of the courtyard gate.
Yinzhen strode in with his two wives, shook hands with Qian Shengyan, and said nothing more.
Li Shi, who had been looking somewhat melancholy, suddenly remembered something upon arriving here and cried out, "Hongshi! Hongshi! My third prince, I've missed you so much!"
Qian Shengyan exclaimed in surprise, and was about to step forward to stop Li Shi from crying, but before she could, she heard the cries of children coming from the east and west wing rooms and the warm pavilion.
A yellow figure ran out from the warm pavilion, crying and calling "Mother" as he ran. Granny Feng followed closely behind him, holding a thick cloak and trying to cover her with it.
Hongshi cried and shook off Granny Feng's hand: "I don't want her here..."
The rest of the words were covered up by Granny Feng, and Madam Li was completely caught off guard, only holding Hongshi, whom she hadn't seen for almost two months, and bursting into tears.
Ulanara was quite composed, perhaps because she was already used to Li's temperament. She nodded to Qian Shengyan and said, "I was thinking that the Fifth Prince would stay here with you tonight, but it sounds like he's awake now."
"Then this servant will have someone wrap the little prince up warmly before he goes back, so please rest assured, Madam." Qian Shengyan curtsied again and directed someone to use the thick cloak that Yuanshou had just made to pick up Tianshen and bring him to Ulanara.
She heard no sound from Yuan Shou's side, so she figured he must have been soothed back to sleep by his wet nurse. She thought she would go check on her son after everyone left, but Yinzhen glanced over and went into the east wing to see Yuan Shou.
Qian Shengyan was taken aback. Yinzhen had already finished reading and came out. He walked to her side, squeezed her hand again, and then said, "Alright, go back and rest. Hongshi should return to Fuluyuan today. It's dark and windy, so take good care of the children."
"yes."
The group of people knelt in unison to acknowledge him. Yinzhen nodded, took a step and walked out, seemingly wanting to follow them out as well.
Qian Shengyan curtsied and saw the prince and his wife off. Then she had the courtyard gate closed and went back to her room to remove her makeup, comb her hair, and prepare to rest.
"I'm exhausted," Qian Shengyan said as she massaged her legs with a beauty hammer. Green Willow tried to take it from her, but she refused, "I know where I'm uncomfortable. You can't massage me accurately."
She waited until Qingxue finished combing her hair before smiling and saying, "Everyone is tired today. After a year of hard work, you should take a good rest. Here's my New Year's money. Go back and have a good New Year."
Qian Shengyan had already prepared extra dishes for everyone in Dongyou Courtyard tonight, and now she was distributing bonuses to each person—one tael of silver per person. Although it wasn't much, it was equivalent to several months' worth of monthly allowance.
Immediately, the entire Dongyou Courtyard was filled with joy again, and Wang Baoen and Xiao Shunzi knelt at the door and kowtowed to Qian Shengyan.
After making a fuss for a while, everyone quieted down because it was getting late. Wang Baoen locked the courtyard gate and was about to go back to sleep when he suddenly heard someone knocking on the door again.
"Brother Bao, it's so late, Master's asleep already, why are you even opening the door?" Xiao Shunzi rubbed his eyes, getting impatient. Wang Bao'en, however, spotted a pair of boots under the gate. He jumped, smacked Xiao Shunzi on the head, and yelled, "What do you know? Master's here!"
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