On the other side, Qianxue carefully followed Geng Youran back to the courtyard, but did not see her princess showing any signs of anger.
"Princess, aren't you angry about what the Princess Consort just said?"
"Why would I be angry? They're just spies planted by the concubines in the palace to keep an eye on our prince. There's nothing to be angry about."
Even so, Qianxue saw how Gege slammed the teacup down on the table after drinking it all in one gulp, and decided that she shouldn't say anything more at this moment.
This was also the first time Qianxue learned to 'shut up' at the right time.
That evening, Yinzhen did not come.
Geng Youran sat at the table, on which lay the dishes she had spent the entire afternoon preparing, secretly mocking herself.
"Princess, how about I reheat these dishes? Perhaps His Highness is busy."
"No need, let's just eat like this. Besides, I'm not waiting for him."
Qianxue knew that her princess was obviously being stubborn, so she gave Xiao Anzi at the door a questioning look. Xiao Anzi nodded, indicating that there was no problem.
It turned out that Qianxue and Xiao Anzi, seeing their master's disappointed expression, secretly discussed going to find Gao Wuyong.
Using the excuse that the princess was unwell, he had Gao Wuyong deliver a message to the prince.
Xiao Anzi received word that the prince would definitely come over that night.
Geng Youran looked at the dishes on the table but didn't have much of an appetite. After eating a few bites of vegetables, she asked someone to clean up and then asked Qianxue to help her remove her makeup.
"Princess, it's still early, why are you removing your makeup at this time?"
"I'm a little sleepy and want to go to bed early. You don't need to stay here with me tonight. The weather has been so cold lately, don't catch a cold."
"Don't worry, Princess, I'm perfectly healthy."
Geng Youran didn't say anything more, but told Xiao Anzi to light an extra brazier that night.
Geng Youran removed her makeup but couldn't fall asleep, so she asked Qianxue to get her a book.
Perhaps the book's content was too soporific, Geng Youran felt her eyelids growing heavier and heavier.
In a daze, she seemed to see someone gradually approaching her.
The next morning, Geng Youran woke up very early, and the room next to her was still warm.
"Princess, you're awake."
Hearing a noise from inside, Qianxue brought in water for washing.
"Where is the prince?"
"He went to court. By the way, Princess, before he left, the Prince asked me to give you something."
Qianxue took out a box and mysteriously handed it over.
Geng Youran took it in a daze, opened it, and saw that it was a string of jade beads.
"Didn't Your Highness say why?"
Qianxue shook her head:
"His Highness said you will know when you see it."
After helping Geng Youran tidy up, Qianxue went out first, leaving Geng Youran sitting on the stool staring blankly at the beaded necklace on her hand.
Not long after, Xiao Anzi came in to deliver a message, saying that Princess Niohuru had arrived.
"Please go quickly, and also go to the small kitchen and tell Qianxue to prepare a meal for Wanru as well."
"Yes, sir."
As soon as Niohuru Wanru entered the room, she saw Geng Youran, who was in a daze.
"Sister, what are you thinking about? You seem so lost in thought."
"Oh, it's nothing. I was thinking about the Emperor's Thousand Elders Banquet. I heard that this banquet was held in a particularly grand manner and many people were invited."
"Yes, I heard that they even specially invited some long-lived people from the common people so that the emperor could enjoy himself with them."
Upon hearing this, Geng Youran simply echoed, "I see."
Seeing that Geng Youran was absent-minded, Wanru assumed it was because of Wuya Huixue's matter.
"Sister, there's something I don't know if you've heard about."
"What's up?"
"I heard that last night, after the prince returned to his residence, he went directly to Princess Wuya's place, and the two of them talked alone for half an hour. I heard that some servants saw that after the prince left, Princess Wuya was still kneeling on the ground, crying very sadly."
Geng Youran ate her food leisurely, seemingly not caring about the matter at all.
Wanru didn't see Geng Youran's expression and continued eating as she spoke:
“There’s a maid in Princess Wuya’s courtyard who used to work in my courtyard. She said that Princess Wuya and the prince seemed to have discussed some conditions.”
Geng Youran's hand froze; how could she not have thought of that?
'Condition,' yes, it's 'condition'.
Consort De had never liked Yinzhen, so why would she suddenly bestow a cousin upon him as a concubine? There was clearly something fishy going on.
"Alright, Lady Wuya is only a few years older than Hongli and Hongzhou. Since she is the prince's cousin, we should treat her well, at least so that the person in the palace won't find fault with her, and so as to save the prince from being in a difficult position."
“Sister is right, that’s what I thought too. I’m thinking, given the relationship between the Prince and that person in the palace, this new cousin will probably be sidelined. Wouldn’t that just give others something to gossip about?”
The two of them had the same idea, and after finishing their meal, they suggested making some snacks and going to see Princess Wuya.
It was winter, and the plum blossoms in the back garden were in full bloom, so the two of them made some plum blossom cakes.
Geng Youran also brought a jar of plum blossom wine.
When two princesses from the manor who had given birth to young princes came to visit her, Uya Huixue felt somewhat uneasy.
"Younger sister greets her two elder sisters."
Wanru stepped forward and helped Wuya Huixue up:
"Sister, there's no need for such formalities. We've come uninvited, and we hope you won't find us unwelcome."
Uya Huixue hurriedly waved her hand:
"Sister, what are you saying? I'm overjoyed." Because of her status, no one in the manor was willing to befriend her. Besides, the fact that she knelt on the ground and cried yesterday had probably already reached everyone's ears.
But she didn't regret it; she needed a chance to live.
Geng Youran took the food box from Qianxue:
"I don't go out much. I usually like to think about food in my own yard. This is plum blossom cake that Wanru and I made, as well as some homemade plum blossom wine. If you don't mind, please try some."
Uya Huixue happily accepted the food box.
"Please, sisters, sit down quickly. Look at me, I haven't even served you tea yet."
Wuya Huixue instructed her maid to make tea. Geng Youran and Wanru exchanged a glance, thinking that this Princess Wuya seemed to be quite different from what they had imagined.
She was innocent and naive, bearing no resemblance whatsoever to the mistress in the palace.
Especially Geng Youran, who heard a lot of gossip about that person from others when she was in the palace.
In the seventeenth, eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth years of the Kangxi Emperor's reign, she rose from a Noble Lady to the rank of Consort De.
She has been in the palace for thirteen years and has given birth to six children for the current emperor, including the fourth prince and the fourteenth prince.
Although she was stripped of her title as a concubine for almost causing Yinzhen to be childless, she was later reinstated as a concubine.
But the girl in front of me, Princess Wuya, had innocent eyes and no scheming in her.
I don't know if it's genuine naiveté or just good concealment.
"Please try this, my two elder sisters. This is something I brought with me when I left the palace. It tastes excellent."
Uya Huixue personally poured tea for the two of them, then sat down opposite them and picked up a plum blossom cake to eat.
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