As noon approached, Yi Hua became drowsy. Yu Xiao stood beside her, gently fanning herself with a folding fan. The room was quiet. The servants outside knew that their mistress took a two-hour nap every day at noon, so they moved around quietly, afraid of disturbing her rest.
"Sister Yuxiao, Grandpa Zhou An has brought the First Prince back from the palace." Yu Dong, a second-class maid who was guarding the door, anxiously opened the curtain and called Yuxiao out to report.
Yu Xiao was somewhat surprised to hear this: "Why are you back at this time? Did Grandpa Zhou say anything?"
Yu Qiu shook her head: "My master looks fine, it shouldn't be anything serious."
"Tell Grandpa Zhou to wait a moment, I'll go and wake the master up." Yu Xiao didn't dare to make a decision on her own. Zhou An was the head eunuch of Yonghe Palace, and his personal visit was very likely to convey the decree of Consort De.
Yi Hua was gently woken up. Upon hearing Yu Xiao's report, she immediately became alert and immediately thought of the matter that Yin Zhen had speculated some time ago, that Hong Hui might have been given access to the officials' memorials at Kangxi's behest.
Could it be that Emperor Kangxi was in a bad mood today and reprimanded Honghui?
Eunuch Zhou did not presume to be arrogant. He stood motionless beside Honghui and bowed when he saw Yihua come out: "This servant greets the Fourth Princess Consort."
Yi Hua gestured for everyone around her to leave, leaving Yu Xiao behind: "Thank you for taking care of Hong Hui, sir. May I ask what brings you here today?"
When Eunuch Zhou saw Honghui looking up at him, he smiled kindly and said, "Replying to Fourth Princess Consort, Prince Honghui has not eaten yet. Why don't we have the wet nurse take him to eat first? After all, he is still growing."
Yi Hua understood that this meant it was inconvenient for Hong Hui to hear, so she gestured for Yu Xiao to take Hong Hui out to find Granny Chen.
Seeing that there was no one else in the room, Eunuch Zhou said in a low voice, "Today, I have two purposes: first, to bring Young Master Honghui back safely; and second, to convey a message from Her Majesty to Fourth Prince Consort. The Crown Princess in the palace has miscarried, and the Emperor is furious and cannot attend to our young master. Her Majesty said that the prince should stay at home for the next few days and not go to the palace."
It's been less than a month since the Crown Princess held her flower-viewing banquet, how could she suddenly have a miscarriage?
"I understand. Please convey to Her Majesty that the Prince's residence will be under strict control during this period." Yi Hua had a premonition that a new round of bloodshed was coming. "I wonder why the Crown Princess suffered a miscarriage?"
If it were due to the Crown Princess's own health condition, Emperor Kangxi would not be furious, but rather angry at her lack of self-control.
"This... there is no conclusion yet in the palace, so this servant dares not speak recklessly." As expected of someone from Yonghe Palace, Zhou An's caution and prudence were ingrained in his very bones.
"I understand, thank you, sir." Yi Hua saw Eunuch Zhou An out, and Granny Chen quickly took two steps and handed him a purse.
Zhou An gently pinched his cheek; it was a thin layer, probably a silver note. He smiled even more sincerely and whispered before leaving, "Prince Honghui was with the Emperor at first; perhaps he saw something."
Yi Hua's expression was somewhat grave. She asked, "Where is Hong Hui?"
"The small kitchen has quickly prepared a few dishes, and the prince is having his meal now," said Granny Chen.
"Hmm." Yi Hua hurriedly arrived at the front hall, where Hong Hui was indeed. He saw Yi Hua and was about to get up to greet her, but Yi Hua stopped him.
“Honghui must be starving. Eat slowly, and if you’re still hungry, have the kitchen make more.” Yihua sat down next to him, looked him up and down, and saw that he was no different from usual, so she figured he wasn’t frightened by the miscarriage.
Honghui ate a simple meal to fill his stomach, and while drinking milk tea, he told Yihua about what he had seen in the palace.
“Grandpa is teaching me to read…books.” Honghui paused, swallowing back the word “memorial.”
"Someone from the Crown Prince's second uncle's side came in a panic, saying that the Crown Princess had miscarried." Honghui was a little scared. He touched Yihua's belly, "Mother, the little brother is still there, isn't he?"
"Yes, Mother, Father, and Honghui have all taken good care of him, he's safe," Yihua reassured him.
Honghui continued to recall: "The Emperor was shocked. He was holding me while reading and didn't put me down. He carried me all the way to Yuqing Palace."
“I saw Brother Hongxi and Brother Hongjin kneeling at the door. The woman’s voice inside was very mournful. Grandfather wanted to carry me in, but Eunuch Liang stopped me, so I didn’t go in and waited for Eunuch Zhou to come and get me.”
“Mother, while waiting for Eunuch Zhou, I overheard a few words, though perhaps not all of them.”
"Brother Hongxi and the others' mother seems to be ill, but there's no imperial physician to treat her," Honghui said, somewhat puzzled. "The Imperial Hospital is right in the palace, why don't they go there to treat her?"
Yi Hua patted Hong Hui's head: "It's really too difficult for wives and concubines to live in peace. When you grow up and get married, you'll understand the meaning of it."
Honghui shook his head: "I want to stay by my mother's side forever. I will not get married."
"Hahaha." Yihua laughed loudly, "When you're ten years older, you won't say things like that to coax your mother anymore."
Honghui pouted unhappily; his mother was always like this.
Honghui hesitated for a moment, then pulled out a bead the size of a grain of rice from his pocket: "Mother, I found this at my feet while I was waiting. Eunuch Liang should have seen me pick it up."
"Is this... something bad?" Honghui was a little uneasy. Although he was young and had not yet experienced the shady dealings of the inner quarters, he subconsciously felt that this little bead was something harmful.
Seeing the longing filling Honghui's clear eyes, Yihua thought for a moment and then told him her guess: "There must be more than one of these beads, otherwise you wouldn't have found it by such a coincidence. This kind of thing has an extremely smooth surface and is very fine and small. From your mother's angle, you can't see it on the road."
“Wearing platform shoes, anyone with poor balance would immediately fall down,” Yi Hua continued. “Pregnant women like Mother are most afraid of falling, and that’s probably how the Crown Princess miscarried.”
Honghui thought for a moment and then voiced his guess: "Mother, I don't think it was Brother Hongxi and Brother Hongjin who did it."
"Hmm? What do you mean?"
"The son saw that his two older brothers looked anxious, which seemed genuine. When they saw their grandfather, they were more happy and expectant than afraid. If they had done something wrong, their first reaction upon seeing their elders should have been guilt."
“My son suspects that there might be someone else in Yuqing Palace, and the person who can use this method is most likely a woman,” Honghui said seriously. “The wives and concubines are vying for favor and want to kill three birds with one stone. They not only want to harm the younger brother in the Crown Princess’s womb, but also frame the two older brothers, and even make the mother of the two older brothers fall out of favor.”
"You child, do you even know what it means to be favored or out of favor?" Yi Hua saw that her little boy understood scheming and plotting so easily, and felt that this little dumpling had become white on the outside but black on the inside.
"Of course I know." Honghui raised his little chin. "Mother is favored, and Father loves me because of her. Brother Hongqing is not favored, and Third Uncle always spanks him."
“Your father loves you so much, and you say ‘love me, love my dog’? He must be heartbroken.” Yi Hua tapped his little head.
“That’s because the son loves his mother, and by extension, he also respects his father.” Honghui laughed after saying that.
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