"Such an important matter, Your Majesty can handle it as you see fit," Qian Shengyan said indifferently.
Despite her disrespect, Yinzhen was not angry; on the contrary, he found it somewhat novel—Qian Shengyan hadn't given him the cold shoulder in a long time since he became emperor!
He was always the one who threw tantrums and others had to coax him, so the thought of the Emperor trying to coax him now seemed rather interesting.
Seeing that it was already dark, Yinzhen simply ordered, "Stay at Yongshou Palace tonight."
Qian Shengyan snorted inwardly, but did not chase him away. She did not speak either. She took Hongshan and carefully placed him back on his small bed. She coaxed him to drink his medicine and watched him fall asleep. Then she arranged for the wet nurse and eunuch to watch over him to make sure he did not touch his wounds.
Yinzhen was left standing there for a long time without getting angry, and even arranged for dinner to be served to him.
He wasn't entirely without worries. He was also concerned about Hongshan, who was young and had injured his head; he felt sorry for Hongli, who was a good child but had to be punished; and he was also pleased that Hongzhou was willing to take the punishment for his brother.
The person who caused all this happened to be his eldest son, so he had to be punished, and severely punished at that. But the father's heart was still there, and Yinzhen had mixed feelings.
After his initial anger subsided, he unconsciously started making excuses for Hongshi again. Unfortunately, before he could even come up with a good one, Hongshi hit his younger brother again. Just now, he ordered someone to drag Hongshi to the Fengxian Hall, uttering harsh words about caring for the dead but not the living, but…
He is, after all, his son.
Lady Li gave birth to three sons and one daughter in her lifetime, but only one son and one daughter survived to adulthood. Her daughter passed away a few years ago, during the crucial period of the struggle for the throne. Yinzhen didn't even have time to grieve, and could only posthumously confer the title of Princess Heshuo Huaike on her after ascending the throne. And now, Hongshi has done such an unforgivable thing...
Yinzhen wouldn't think he had any problems; he was the Son of Heaven, what problems could he possibly have? The problem must lie with Lady Li! It must be those who corrupted his son!
It was Shan Xiutian who shamelessly seduced the prince, and it was Yunsi and Yuntang who harbored wicked intentions and led the prince astray. Hongshi was young and could not resist temptation, so it was inevitable that he went astray!
Now that he has scolded and punished Hongshi, no matter what Yinzhen does, he can't kill his own son. Although he said Hongshi was unworthy to be a prince when he was angry, he stopped mentioning it after he calmed down. Let it be for now.
He is now over forty years old, but has only four sons, each of whom he cherishes dearly.
Now, however, he needs to appease his beloved concubine.
Yinzhen's brows relaxed slightly. He felt that Qian Shengyan was the best. She had given birth to two sons and a daughter. All three children were good, kind, lively, and healthy. Even at a young age, Hongshan already knew how to share responsibilities with his brothers.
As expected, the prince's mother still needs to make a careful choice.
Yinzhen inwardly grumbled about his late father's concubines, but dared not dwell on it. There were gods watching over them, and the Qing dynasty people, including the emperor, were all believers in deities.
While he was lost in thought, Qian Shengyan had already coaxed Hongshan over. Yinzhen then took her hand, served the meal, and said, "I ordered some of your favorite dishes. You seem to have lost some weight recently. See if you like them."
Qian Shengyan was too weary to express her gratitude, so she simply responded with a murmur.
After the meal, Yinzhen brought up other matters with her: "It was fine for the past two years, but now that the mourning period is over, it's time to organize the selection of candidates by the Imperial Household Department. This time, we should select more people and replace all the palace maids in Ning Shou Palace and Ci Ning Palace."
Qian Shengyan listened with little interest, only nodding occasionally.
The Qing Dynasty's imperial concubine selection was divided into a major selection and a minor selection. The major selection was for young women from within the Eight Banners to become mistresses in the palace, while the minor selection was for servants from bondservant families to become palace maids.
In principle, the imperial concubine selection should be held once a year. In the past two years, Yinzhen was too busy to manage the selection and was afraid that a large number of new people would enter the palace and be difficult to control. So he used the excuse of mourning period to suspend the selection. But this year, it is going to be carried out again.
"You requested permission from me before that palace maids could only leave the palace when they turned thirty, which was indeed a bit late. This year, I will release a batch of palace maids who are twenty-five years old and replace them with new ones. As for your place, are the missing palace maids still not filled? I see that you still have the same ones around you as before," Yinzhen asked.
Qian Shengyan replied, "The Imperial Household Department has replaced them, but they are all unfamiliar faces. I dare not let them serve me closely, especially since Hongshan is not even three years old yet. I always want to be careful."
“Your caution is justified,” Yinzhen affirmed, then moved on to other topics.
He wasn't worried about Xiaoxuan's situation, but there were still many concubines and consorts living in the harem, each with their own cunning thoughts and entanglements with Consort Hui and Consort Yi. Yinzhen was not entirely at ease and always felt that it would be best to have complete control of the Forbidden City.
Qian Shengyan concluded, "The Imperial Household Department is full of experienced people; I've never handled anything like this before. Let them take care of it."
"Very well, you can set a plan." Yinzhen let her do it, but Qian Shengyan had something to say: "Your Majesty's harem is empty. Not to mention the Noble Ladies and Consorts, even the Four Consorts and Six Concubines are not complete. Now that the mourning period is over, Your Majesty, do you think it is time to organize a grand selection?"
"There's no rush," Yinzhen waved his hand. "The affairs in the palace are not yet in order, and the palaces are in need of repair. Let's talk about it later."
Qian Shengyan remained noncommittal and said nothing.
Seeing that she seemed rather uninterested today, Yinzhen shared some good news: "Since the beginning of this year, I have repeatedly urged the Yuanmingyuan to undergo major repairs, and now the repairs are basically complete."
Seeing that Qian Shengyan was indeed interested, Yinzhen smiled and said, "It is indeed very hot this year. I was thinking that we should get ready and go to the garden to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival."
"That's fine, the garden is more spacious after all." Qian Shengyan finally showed a smile.
Seeing her interest in this, Yinzhen ordered someone to bring the revised map of the Yuanmingyuan Garden and pointed it out to Qian Shengyan one by one.
At this time, the Yuanmingyuan Garden already had the prototype of what would be known in later generations. To the south was the Zhengda Guangming Hall, across the front lake was Jiuzhou Qingyan, and to the right was Qinzheng Qinxian. These all belonged to the previous dynasty and were the places where the emperor worked. The courtyards around the back lake where several people used to live were also renovated. Except for Yuedi Yunju and Ritian Linyu, which remained untouched, Xinghua Village was expanded on the original site of Taohuawu. The place where Nian Shi used to live has now become Wutong Courtyard.
Seeing Qian Shengyan's focused gaze, Yinzhen traced his finger across the drawing, landing on the section depicting the sky and water on one side of the lake: "'When spring is warm and the scenery is bright, the waves are calm, and the sky and water merge into one vast expanse of blue.' I ordered someone to go and see for themselves. They said that from the second floor of Hanyue Tower, looking down from the railing, the water and sky blend into one color, seemingly connected. How about we enjoy the moon here this Mid-Autumn Festival?"
"Your Majesty's words are so apt, I can't wait to go and see for myself," Qian Shengyan said with a smile.
The emperor and his concubine chatted about the Yuanmingyuan Garden and reminisced about the time they had lived there. Yinzhen had originally planned to go in August, but after Qian Shengyan's suggestion, he couldn't help but quicken his pace and prepared to pack up and move to the garden in the next few days.
Before going to sleep, Yinzhen remembered something else: "I plan to bring Lady Nian to the garden."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com