Chapter 137 Causing Trouble In the past few days, people have been calling her by her nickname...
In the past few days, calling her by her nickname has almost become a habit of Yinreng's. Every now and then, he'll blurt out something like "Qianqian." Cheng Qianyue was initially awkward, but gradually got used to it.
Well, it's not illegal to call someone by their nickname, so go ahead and call them that if you want. Besides, the reason she accepts it so well is because there's no one else in the room when he calls her that, so she doesn't have to worry about feeling embarrassed.
However, this act of calling her by her nickname gradually evolved into a kind of playful banter. He liked to call her that in bed too, pinching her waist and asking, "Qianqian, is it comfortable?" Cheng Qianyue felt a little embarrassed calling him that in bed, while she clung to him with her arms and legs. But afterwards, Cheng Qianyue couldn't help but mentally complain that it took some skill to make her nickname so erotic. Could it be because spring had arrived? Ahem.
Of course, with spring here, summer is not far behind, especially after April. The weather was gradually getting hotter, and Yinreng seemed to be getting irritable as well. Cheng Qianyue wondered if it was because of the heat, but he was still wearing a light jacket and hadn't changed into a lighter one, so when he summoned her to the Hall of Mental Cultivation, she changed into lighter clothing.
As expected, Yinreng was taken aback when he saw her, and touched her sleeve, saying, "Why are you wearing only a single layer of clothing?"
Cheng Qianyue replied, "The sun has been quite strong lately, and I start sweating around noon, so I took off my padded jacket."
Yinreng nodded and said, "It got hot earlier this year than in previous years, especially around noon."
Cheng Qianyue asked if he wanted to change out of his padded jacket as well, and Yinreng thought for a moment and then asked someone to bring him a light jacket. After changing, the two of them chatted for a while. As they were talking, Yinreng stood up and said he needed to look at some memorials, and asked her to come and grind ink.
Cheng Qianyue readily agreed to serve as his scribe, only to see him pick up a folded document, glance at it, then switch to another, before slamming it down heavily and saying unhappily, "This is utterly nonsensical."
What's going on? Could something have happened in the outer court?
Cheng Qianyue put down the cinnabar ink in her hand and asked softly, "What did you see that made you so angry?" She went over to him to calm him down, saying, "Anger is bad for your health. Take a deep breath and calm down."
Yinreng reached up and touched his forehead, breathing in and out as she instructed. After about a minute or two, he suddenly said, "I clearly said that I would not hold a birthday celebration."
Cheng Qianyue knew that the Emperor's birthday celebration was cancelled. The third day of the fifth lunar month was Yinreng's birthday, followed by the Dragon Boat Festival—two very important days clashing. Therefore, the palace had already begun planning the event. However, Yinreng said that the Emperor's birthday celebration was unnecessary; only the Dragon Boat Festival would suffice.
Cheng Qianyue already understood why he did this. It was because his birthday was also the anniversary of his mother's death. And it wasn't a hypocritical display of filial piety, because in all the years she had been with him, he rarely celebrated his birthday. At most, he would dine with Emperor Kangxi on that day, and Kangxi would bestow some gifts upon him, after which the other princes would come over to kowtow and pay their respects.
But clearly, some officials outside the court felt that Yinreng was playing a game of cat and mouse. What's that saying again? Three times he declined, three times he refused. It was obvious that those who submitted memorials were just flattering him.
Yinreng grew angrier the more he thought about it. He felt that his subordinates doubted his filial piety and that they disregarded his orders. He angrily rebuked them, saying, "The entire court is full of people who disregard filial piety and brotherly love and defy the moral order." He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled.
Oh dear, those words are really too harsh; they've insulted even the officials of the outer court.
Seeing that his expression had softened considerably, Cheng Qianyue said softly, "Please don't get angry. They've misunderstood. They thought you wouldn't do nothing on your birthday." Otherwise, they wouldn't have kept submitting memorials to subtly hint at it.
Yinreng lowered his eyes and thought for a moment, then gave a cold laugh, but it was clear that his thoughts had wandered off again. After a while, he came back to his senses and smiled at her, "With you by my side, I feel much more at ease." Then he said to the people outside, "Summon Zhang Tingyu."
A moment later, Zhang Tingyu entered the hall. Yinreng told Cheng Qianyue to wait in the east room while he went to the main hall to see someone. Although Cheng Qianyue was sitting inside, she heard everything Yinreng said in the outer room. She heard him instruct Zhang Tingyu to draft an imperial edict, the gist of which was that he was grateful for Empress Renxiao's kindness in giving birth to him, and from then on, he would not celebrate the emperor's birthday, but a grand sacrificial ceremony would be held in Kunning Palace on that day. Cheng Qianyue thought to herself, "Now that's it, with this imperial edict, everyone below knows what he means. What should I do?"
May arrived quickly. The third day was for the sacrificial ceremony, and the fifth day was for the Dragon Boat Festival. After these busy days, there was nothing major to do in the first half of the year. Less than ten days later, Yinreng issued an edict saying that he would go to the garden to escape the summer heat.
Going to the garden is great, going to the garden is wonderful, going to the garden is awesome!
Cheng Qianyue was overjoyed. She had lived in the Forbidden City for over a year and had truly missed the garden. Moreover, this time she was definitely not going to the West Garden, but the main garden of Changchun Garden. The main garden was much larger than the West Garden, and it contained scenery she had never seen before. It would be strange if Cheng Qianyue wasn't happy. She immediately and happily ordered her people to pack her things.
Once she arrived at the garden, she went to enjoy the scenery. Today she fed the mandarin ducks along the Orchid Embankment, tomorrow she went to the Fish Leap Pavilion to see the white deer, and the day after tomorrow she climbed the high platform of Ruijing Pavilion to enjoy the view. Of course, arriving at the garden didn't mean she was on vacation, but she made sure to do her work after her afternoon nap—it was hot in the afternoon, and she didn't like going out at that time, hehe.
Then, more than half a month later, Hittara sent a letter saying that she wanted to come in and pay her respects.
Cheng Qianyue was a little surprised when she received the visiting card. This was the first time her mother had ever sent one on her own initiative. She said, "Please invite the old lady in tomorrow." Then she looked at the card with great curiosity.
This was something similar to a memorial to the throne, containing greetings and inquiries. Originally, Lady Hitara wasn't qualified to send invitations to the palace. But her family had risen to prominence; her son, Cheng Yexing, had rendered meritorious service and received a title, so Cheng Shifu and Lady Hitara were also granted titles. Because Cheng Shifu wasn't a military man, but a scholar, he was granted the honorary title of Third-Rank Tongyi Dafu, and Lady Hitara was naturally granted a title of Imperial Noble Lady, becoming a Third-Rank Shuren. Becoming a Third-Rank Imperial Noble Lady naturally made it easier for her to send invitations to the palace.
However, even after being granted an imperial title, Lady Hitara never sent an invitation to the palace. Cheng Qianyue had to send someone to invite her herself if she wanted to see her. Previously, things were inconvenient in the Forbidden City, so Cheng Qianyue only saw her once after Cheng Yexing received his title and Lady Hitara was granted her imperial title. After that, she hadn't summoned her in. Now, things were good; she could see her mother again.
The next day, before Cheng Qianyue could even exchange pleasantries, Lady Hitara came over and said bluntly, "Your Majesty, why don't you go and talk to your brother?"
ah?
Cheng Qianyue's first thought was that Cheng Yexing had caused trouble outside. She dismissed everyone and asked carefully, "Mother, please explain clearly, did my brother cause trouble outside?"
Hitara shook his head, frowned and sighed: "If he really caused trouble, that would be fine, but I'm afraid he's been tricked and harmed by someone."
The mere mention of it filled Xitala with dread. Cheng Yexing had acquired a title, though his official position was yet to be determined, but she presumably believed the Emperor would make the final decision, and things would likely turn out well. Being an official wasn't like fighting on the battlefield, so Cheng Yexing hired several secretaries, some recommended by colleagues, others hired by clerks. It wasn't a big deal, and Xitala didn't take it to heart.
Lately, Cheng Yexing had been rarely home, often going out for banquets and sometimes returning very late. His mother, Xitala, repeatedly warned him to be careful, firstly not to bring back disreputable people that might displease Yulu, and secondly not to accept favors from others. Cheng Yexing replied, "Mother, I'm not doing anything reckless outside; I'm building connections." He then muttered something about how it might come in handy later. After that, Xitala let him do as he pleased.
But the night before last, Cheng Yexing came back drunk from outside. He was really out of control. Xitala came out and said to him, telling him to go out less for a few days and spend more time with Yulu and the children. Wouldn't it be better to have more children? The Cheng family only has two offspring in the next generation. Don't they want to have more?
Then, Cheng Yexing's words completely shocked Lady Xitala, saying that he did this for the Third Prince. The Third Prince? Lady Xitala's heart skipped a beat, but when she asked Cheng Yexing again, he said nothing more. Lady Xitala wanted to wake him up to continue questioning him, but Cheng Yexing fell asleep immediately, whether pretending or truly asleep, she didn't know.
At that moment, Yu Lu brought in some hangover soup and said softly, "Mother, don't be angry. He must be busy with important matters outside."
Hitara muttered the name of the Third Prince to herself a few times, growing increasingly alarmed as she pondered: "Important business? Heh, it's probably something terrifyingly important!"
The next morning, at the crack of dawn, Xitala rushed into Cheng Yexing's room, frowning as she asked him what he meant by what he had said the night before. Cheng Yexing chuckled and replied, "What are you talking about, Mother? What are you saying? Maybe it's just nonsense."
Hitara refused to believe it, and said, enunciating each word clearly, "Third...brother. Do you dare swear that what you did had nothing to do with the Third Prince?"
Cheng Yexing's expression changed. Seeing his expression, Xitala understood everything, but she didn't know if Cheng Yexing's actions were related to Cheng Qianyue, so she hurriedly ran over to ask.
Xitala stared intently at Cheng Qianyue. Although she knew her daughter well enough to know that even if Cheng Qianyue became a Noble Consort, she was unlikely to think that far ahead, she still lowered her voice and asked just in case, "Tell your mother the truth, did you instruct your brother to form cliques outside?"
Cheng Qianyue was almost dumbfounded by her mother's questions. "Is my brother forming cliques outside? Mother, are you being too anxious? Maybe he's just having a drink with his colleagues?" Her brow furrowed. "Is he messing around outside? Oh, so he's gone mad after getting the title? How dare he?" Putting aside everything else, just consider how hard Yu Lushi had worked these past few years, taking care of his parents and children, and now he's indulging in a world of pleasure as soon as he returns?!
Xitala felt a wave of relief followed by a sudden tightening. She knew her daughter wasn't that cunning; if that were the case, then Cheng Yexing himself had such intentions! Xitala felt a little breathless. When had her son become so magnanimous? She closed her eyes tremblingly, and after a long while, her lips quivered as she said, "The night before last, he came back drunk, and I heard the Third Prince's name from his mouth."
"Hongyan?" Cheng Qianyue never expected to hear this from the mouth of the Xitala clan, but soon an unbelievable thought popped into her mind.
Her eyes suddenly widened.
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