Chapter 107 A Fizzy End After receiving the message, Cheng Qianyue hurriedly packed up...
After receiving the message, Cheng Qianyue hurriedly packed her things and went to the main courtyard.
The news of what had happened outside these past few days had spread throughout the palace, and she had naturally heard about the death of the Fourth Prince's son, Honghui, who had been struck and killed. When she first heard the news, she was somewhat incredulous; a perfectly healthy child had just died like that—it was so pitiful.
She spent several days in the Xiefang Palace lost in thought when she heard from the people in the outer courtyard that the Fourth Prince's Consort had entered the palace and was now in the main courtyard. Cheng Qianyue sighed, thinking that the Crown Princess probably wanted to comfort the Fourth Prince's Consort. But a short while later, someone else came from outside, saying that Yinreng wanted her to come and comfort the Fourth Prince's Consort together with the Crown Princess.
Oh, this...
Putting aside whether her visit to the main courtyard would be abrupt, she was also at a loss as to how to comfort the Fourth Prince's wife. The pain of losing a son—how could she possibly console her? It seemed that nothing she said would be of any use. She had absolutely no idea how to comfort anyone.
But now was not the time to think about that, so Cheng Qianyue decided to go over there first. With that thought in mind, she changed into a particularly plain dress and entered the main courtyard. After greeting the Crown Princess, she looked up and her eyes suddenly turned red.
Because the Fourth Prince's wife looked so pitiful. She was thin and her eyes were lifeless as she sat like a puppet, as if the dignified and solemn wedding dress she wore could crush her.
Hearing the commotion, Fourth Princess Consort rolled her eyes and swayed as she rose to her feet to curtsy, but Cheng Qianyue rushed forward and caught her. Fourth Princess Consort looked up at her, her movements stiff as if she were a recently deceased corpse.
Seeing her like this, Cheng Qianyue's nose suddenly stung, and tears immediately streamed down her face. Once she started crying, she couldn't care about anything else and couldn't utter a single word.
The Fourth Prince's wife met her gaze. As they gazed at each other, her lips twitched a few times, and tears uncontrollably streamed down her face. As the tears fell, her body swayed downwards, startling Cheng Qianyue.
The Crown Princess quickly gave a wink to the side, and the palace maids rushed forward to help the Fourth Princess Consort to a seat. The Fourth Princess Consort, seemingly mindful that they were in the Xie Fang Palace, didn't wail loudly, but instead clutched her handkerchief and sobbed. Soon her face turned pale, and she was breathless. A maidservant stood behind her, patting her back with sorrowful strokes.
The Crown Princess breathed a long sigh of relief. She had just spoken at length to the Fourth Prince's wife, emphasizing the importance of her health, but the Fourth Prince's wife had simply sat there blankly, occasionally offering a vague "yes." This sight had saddened the Crown Princess greatly. But thankfully, things were better now; the woman had finally cried, and being able to cry meant she was still alive.
After a while, the Crown Princess ordered someone to fetch water and had someone serve Fourth Prince's wife and Cheng Qianyue to wash their faces. The Crown Princess looked at Fourth Prince's wife and continued, "Honghui is a good boy, you can't let him leave in peace."
Cheng Qianyue wiped her face and felt her tense skin relax a lot. She then added, "The Crown Princess is right. If you fall, who in this world will remember the First Prince?"
The Fourth Princess nodded, her eyes red.
At this moment, a palace maid brought over a bowl of calming soup, which the Fourth Princess Consort took and slowly drank a few sips. The Crown Princess then ordered someone to help the Fourth Princess Consort to a side room to rest and calm her nerves.
After the Fourth Princess Consort left, the Crown Princess looked at Cheng Qianyue with a sigh and said, "We are so grateful to have you here."
Cheng Qianyue replied softly, "I'm sorry to have made the Crown Princess laugh at me. It's just that, it's just that the Fourth Princess Consort looks so pitiful." As she said this, her eyes welled up with tears again.
The Crown Princess sighed and said after a while, "Alright, you must be tired. You just cried, go back and change your clothes."
Cheng Qianyue said she was getting up to take her leave. But even after leaving the main courtyard, she couldn't help but sob a couple of times. When she finally came back and saw Hong Chao and Mo Yaqi coming out of the house, she felt like crying again when she saw the two lively children.
If anything were to happen to her children, she would make them pay the price, even if it cost her her life! Cheng Qianyue thought fiercely, hugging her two children.
The Fourth Prince's wife slept for a while in the main courtyard's side room. When she heard a message coming from outside in the evening, she took her leave from the Crown Princess. After leaving the Xiefang Palace, she waited for a while near the Arrow Pavilion, and soon saw the Fourth Prince walking towards her from the direction of the Yuqing Palace.
The Fourth Princess lowered her eyes and curtsied.
The Fourth Prince hadn't seen her for several days, and seeing her like this now filled him with sorrow. The couple looked at each other in silence and walked silently out of the palace. After boarding the carriage to return home, the Fourth Prince reached out to comfort his wife, but she subtly avoided his touch.
Fourth Master's hand froze in mid-air, unsure of what to say for a moment. He weakly replied, "Go back and get some rest." After a while, he continued, "The whole family will go to the estate to stay for a while in a bit."
Fourth Princess Consort pursed her lips and said "okay," but a hint of resentment welled up in her heart. Yes, she knew what Fourth Prince had been doing these past few days; he was avenging Honghui. But what could she do? Honghui was gone. Just last month, she was thinking that her son would be married in two years, and she was even considering having someone teach him manners. And now, in just a few days, her son had left her.
But what about Fourth Master? He stayed at the front of the procession the whole time, never once visiting the funeral hall, not even burning a single piece of paper money for Honghui on the seventh day after her death, let alone coming to comfort her later. These past few days, she'd been forcing herself to attend Honghui's funeral alone, her heart breaking countless times. But Fourth Master kept saying he'd take the whole family to the estate. How could her grief and sorrow be soothed by simply going to the estate? Besides, Fourth Master didn't only have Honghui as a child; even without Honghui, there was Hongshi, and even younger children, and in the future, he would have many more.
The Fourth Prince's wife's eyes welled up with tears, and she closed them slightly.
Honghui, in a few years, I'm afraid only his mother will still remember him...
At the morning court session in the middle of the month, the matter of recovering outstanding debts finally saw a resolution. The Emperor graciously stated that the officials' debts did not need to be rushed and could be repaid gradually. Although this was said, Yinreng knew in his heart that the Emperor did not want to pursue the matter further. Indeed, the matter had escalated so much that even the Emperor had to consider it carefully. Furthermore, it was now November, and the tax revenue from various regions was on its way and would soon be deposited into the national treasury. With the influx of funds, the tightly strained national treasury finally had a chance to breathe.
Yinreng slowly exhaled, thinking to himself that it started strong but ended weakly.
The fourth prince didn't attend the morning court session today. I heard he took his whole family to his estate a few days ago and then immediately fell ill. He figured the fourth prince was probably quite disheartened after this. But as the saying goes, every cloud has a silver lining. In time, the Emperor will likely compensate him.
After the court session, Yinreng sat in Yuqing Palace for a while, and after lunch, he went to Xiefang Hall. Entering the west front courtyard, he saw a simple frame that had appeared out of nowhere, like a half-erected shed for escaping the summer heat. Several nets hung haphazardly on it, and below was a square, palm-sized stick, like a crossbeam. At that moment, Hongchao and Moyaqi were walking back and forth in the middle, laughing and joking.
Cheng Qianyue was sitting in a chair drinking tea. When she saw Yinreng, she stood up and called him "Master". The two children also stopped what they were doing, jumped down, and called him "Father".
Yinreng walked over and asked, "What are you doing?"
Cheng Qianyue replied, "I'm letting the two children practice their balance." She had heard that the Fourth Prince's eldest son had died because his horse had been startled, so she wanted the children to learn what to do in case of sudden danger. However, she felt that lecturing them was useless, but she couldn't really put the children in danger. After thinking it over, she came up with this idea—playing on a balance beam.
These things are simple anyway, just wood. You set up a frame underneath, then hang a net on top, and a person has to walk across the balance beam without touching the net. This trains children's observation and balance skills, and also teaches them how to remain calm when they are unsteady.
Yinreng thought that perhaps she was frightened by the bad news about the fourth prince's family, but it was good that she did this. He said softly, "You are always much more thoughtful than others."
Cheng Qianyue replied, "We should learn from this experience. We can't let something like this happen to our children." Otherwise, she would go crazy. Then she added, "I was thinking of calling Hongyan over to play after school."
Yinreng chuckled softly, "He practices martial arts outside, doing horse stance and such every day, so his foundation is much more stable."
Cheng Qianyue sighed, "Hasn't the eldest prince of the Yong Prince's family practiced martial arts enough?" Honghui was older than Hongyan, yet he still died so suddenly. But who would have thought that someone would dare to rush to the gates of the Prince's mansion and stop their master's horse?
That makes sense. Even Yinreng couldn't help but feel sorry for Honghui. Such a promising young prince, and then this unexpected tragedy struck.
Not long after, Hongyan came in from outside after school, and his eyes were immediately drawn to the strange decorations in the courtyard. Cheng Qianyue told him how to play and invited him to go up and play.
Hongyan became interested, lifted his leg onto one end of the balance beam, and then walked to the other end. Along the way, he did not forget to avoid the nets hanging on it, and he did walk more steadily than his younger siblings.
After Hongyan had made one round trip, Yinreng called the children into the room. He and Cheng Qianyue sat on the kang (a heated brick bed), with the three children standing below them.
Yinreng first patted Hongyan on the shoulder, then Hongchao, and then Moyaqi, and said in a deep voice, "Do you know about your fourth uncle's family? Your cousin has passed away."
Hongyan nodded sadly. He and Hongshi studied together. A while ago, Hongshi took leave, and soon all the other students in the Imperial Study knew why. So these past few days, when Hongshi came to the Imperial Study again, everyone was very concerned about him. However, they noticed that he seemed more listless than usual, as if he had been frightened.
Yinreng instructed them, "Horses are our Manchu friends. When you grow up, you will also learn to ride horses. However, there are rules to riding horses. If a horse gets frightened, you must remain calm and pull the reins left and right to soothe it." He paused and continued, "But if you cannot soothe it for a long time, and it charges around recklessly with you, then it is time to abandon the horse."
Yinreng pointed to Hongyan's head and then to his abdomen, saying, "When dismounting, be sure to protect your head and abdomen. After jumping off the horse, curl up to prevent injury. Once on the ground, roll away immediately to avoid being trampled by other horses."
Seeing Hongyan nod heavily, Yinreng smiled with satisfaction. However, Hongchao and Moyaqi next to him clearly did not understand the long string of words and both turned their heads to stare at him.
Yinreng felt a warm glow in the twins' eyes and said softly, "Alright, go out and play. Your mother was worried about the things she made especially for you."
Hongchao and Moyaqi understood this time, and they grabbed Hongyan's hand and hurriedly ran outside. Soon, the joyful laughter of children could be heard outside.
Hearing them chattering away made Yinreng feel much more at ease.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com