In the evening, after all the hustle and bustle had subsided, Yinzhen arrived at Li Jingshu's courtyard.
"Your child's wedding is a joyous occasion, why are you crying?"
"I'm sorry to have made you laugh. I was just thinking about what Hongshi looked like when he was a child. Seeing him now grown up and married makes me feel a little sad."
“Hongshi is coming tomorrow, so be happy.”
"Yes, I've got it."
Just as Yinzhen had said, Hongshi brought his newlywed wife to pay her respects to Li Jingshu, and Li Jingshu smiled very happily.
"Get up quickly, get up quickly."
Li Jingshu looked at her son and daughter-in-law with joy and had someone bring over the gifts she had prepared in advance.
"Here, this is what your mother prepared for you. See if you like it."
When the daughter-in-law opened it, she found a pair of bracelets of excellent quality. Upon seeing the bracelets, Hongshi quickly closed the lid and returned them to Li Jingshu.
“Mother, this was a gift from the Emperor to you back then. You were always reluctant to wear it.”
"It's alright. I'm getting old, and there's no occasion for me to wear such an expensive bracelet. Rather than keeping it in a box, I'd better give it to the child. Please accept it."
Hongshi couldn't refuse, so he put it on his wife himself.
After seeing the two children off, Li Jingshu returned to the side room, looking slightly tired.
Although she was tired, she felt very satisfied. Hongshi's wedding had finally put an end to a long-held wish of hers.
But there was something else on her mind: the attitude of her husband's wife on their wedding day.
Like everyone else, she sensed that the Fujin (wife of the emperor) was somewhat different from usual.
"Someone come here."
"Secondary Consort".
"Take the things we prepared in advance and go to the Princess Consort's place."
"yes."
In fact, Li Jingshu was originally going to go. Before this, she thought that bringing a gift would be enough to make a show of it.
On her wedding day, however, she felt that both the prince's attitude toward his wife and the wife's own behavior were different.
"This humble servant greets Your Highness, may Your Highness be blessed."
"Sister, there's no need for such formalities. Please get up."
After Hongshi's wedding, Yinzhen, in accordance with his agreement with his wife, lifted her confinement and reassigned her maids and servants.
Looking at the room's decor, Li Jingshu secretly reminded herself.
"My lady, I must thank you for taking care of the two children on Hongshi's wedding day. Hongshi told me that you rewarded them with many gifts. So, I have prepared a small gift to express my gratitude."
"You're too kind, sister. Hongshi is the eldest son of our Prince Yong's Mansion. Although he hasn't been made the heir apparent yet, it's only a matter of time."
In truth, the Fujin already knew that Hongshi would no longer have the opportunity to be made heir apparent.
On this day, Yinzhen went to court as usual. The Ninth Prince Yintang and many ministers requested that the Emperor hold a celebration ceremony to mark his sixtieth year on the throne.
"Absurd, utterly absurd! The country is currently engaged in military operations in the western frontier, and the soldiers and civilians are suffering, yet you still think of using the pretext of celebrating for me to skim off profits!"
"Father, I did not mean that."
"Shut up!"
In recent years, Emperor Kangxi had grown extremely disgusted with the behavior of the Eighth Prince and the Ninth Prince, especially their secret formation of cliques and their complete lack of remorse.
Yinzhen's current performance has truly disappointed Kangxi.
Even though Yinzhi came out to explain, Kangxi no longer wanted to listen.
When Yinzhen and Yinxiang returned to the Yongqin Prince's Mansion, Yinxiang burst out laughing.
"Fourth Brother, I know Ninth Brother is greedy, but I never imagined he would be this greedy. Nowadays, Father Emperor spends most of his energy in Tibet, and he's still thinking about making money. I really don't know what he's thinking."
"How is Nian Gengyao doing?"
"Oh, our messengers have sent word that everything is normal. Now that the Fourteenth Brother has gone to Xining, he probably hasn't had much contact with Nian Gengyao. The armies from both the north and south have also arrived."
Yinzhen nodded, thinking that the war in Tibet would probably be over soon.
That evening, Yinzhen made a special trip to Nian Yunrong's place.
"Are you feeling any better these past few days?"
"Your Majesty, the imperial physician comes to check my pulse every other day, which is quite good."
Yunrong is now more than seven months pregnant, and her belly looks unusually large, perhaps because of her small frame.
"With the Mid-Autumn Festival approaching, your brother also sent a gift."
As soon as he finished speaking, Gao Wuyong behind him had someone bring the items up.
"When your brother found out you were pregnant, he specially sought out some of the best medicinal herbs and even made a silver bracelet for his nephew."
Nian Yunrong happily accepted the bracelet and carefully examined the pattern on it.
"Is my brother alright?"
"Don't worry. The war is going well, and I should be back soon."
"That would naturally be the best."
Unexpectedly, Yinzhen did not leave that night, but stayed overnight at Nian Yunrong's place.
In the following days, Yinzhen came to keep Nian Yunrong company every night.
"Princess, I heard that the Prince has been spending every day at his concubine's place lately, and he stays there with her every night."
"It's normal for Your Highness to value offspring."
That day, Geng Youran and Qianxue were cooking in the small kitchen.
Their hands were busy, and their mouths were never idle either.
"I've never seen the prince show such favoritism to anyone before."
“Consort Nian is pregnant and going through a lot, and the weather is so hot right now. Your Highness is worried that she might get upset and cause trouble, so it’s fine for you to go and keep her company. I’m not even angry, so why are you in such a hurry?”
"This servant is just saying."
Despite saying that, Geng Youran actually felt quite awkward inside.
In the afternoon, while Geng Youran was taking a nap, Xiao Anzi called Qianxue out.
"Qianxue, you've been with our master for so many years, can't you see that he's pretending everything's fine on purpose? But you're doing this, 'rubbing salt into the wound' and making him unhappy."
Qianxue then realized:
"Oh dear, how come I didn't notice? Princess has been eating less lately, and I thought it was because of the hot weather."
Upon hearing this, Xiao Anzi didn't want to talk to Qianxue anymore. He used to think Qianxue was quite smart, but as she got older, her brain seemed to be getting worse.
"Then what do you suggest we do?"
"Then naturally we'll have the prince come here."
"You make it sound so easy. Right now, everyone in the manor knows that the Prince values Consort Nian. He doesn't care about our Princess at all."
“You don’t understand. The relationship between our prince and princess is different from that of other masters.”
Perhaps it was a professional habit, but Xiao Anzi always had a sharp eye. He had seen the prince standing outside the door, watching his princess and smiling, on several occasions.
"The Mid-Autumn Festival is just around the corner. You should coax the princess to make some mooncakes and send them to the prince. When he sees the mooncakes, he will surely think of our princess."
"That's an idea. Okay, I'll give you the list later, and you can go to the housekeeper to get some materials."
"no problem."
A few days later, the manager delivered the goods.
Looking at the table full of food, Geng Youran was stunned:
"Butler, I don't think I asked you for these things."
"It was your servant, Xiao Anzi, who asked me to prepare it, saying it was for you to make mooncakes."
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