After lunch, Yin went to his study to wait for Fei Yanggu to return. Qingyan, as usual, began embroidering the purse to be given after the wedding.
"Your Highness, Granny Su from Cining Palace has arrived!" Su Lan heard the gatekeeper run over to inform her and quickly came to report.
Qingyan nodded, not caring what Sulan said.
As Su Mo'er stepped into the courtyard, Qing Yan caught a glimpse of her out of the corner of his eye. In just over ten days, Su Mo'er had become much more haggard, looking much older than her forties.
"This old servant greets Princess Qingyan!" Su Mo'er bowed respectfully.
Qingyan turned slightly to the side, accepting only a half-bow.
"Sulan, quickly bring some plum juice for Granny. Why is Granny here in this bright sunshine?" Qingyan asked, pretending not to know anything.
As Su Mo'er stepped into the courtyard, she looked Qing Yan up and down. The light green color made her look even more delicate, and when she lowered her head, she had a unique charm.
She looked up at the dazed Su Mo'er, somewhat puzzled.
"Princess, I've come to ask you for a favor." The Empress Dowager's health is deteriorating. She has been using the ginseng and he shou wu (Polygonum multiflorum) from the Ulanara residence, and it seems to be working well. Recently, these have not been included in the tributes presented to the Qingyan Palace.
That's why the Empress Dowager, when Emperor Kangxi was not in the palace, forcibly searched Consort Tong's Chenggan Palace under some pretext and confined her to the palace so that there would be bad rumors during the preliminary selection.
Qingyan tilted her head and looked at Su Mo'er, signaling her to continue.
"May I ask, Princess, has the official who went to the border region on business returned?" Su Mo'er asked anxiously.
"Not yet. Those who go to the border can't come back on time. I usually only ask them to come back once every six months!" Qingyan shrugged helplessly.
She secretly rejoiced that Fei Yanggu hadn't valued business outside the pass before, which gave Qingyan a loophole; otherwise, things would have been very troublesome.
Su Mo'er watched Qing Yan's actions cautiously, afraid of missing anything amiss.
“Princess, the Empress Dowager needs ginseng to boost her energy. Do you think you can contact the person in charge?” Su Mo’er asked.
Qingyan was puzzled. Were the few ginseng roots in Chenggan Palace more than enough for the Empress Dowager?
Why would you still want it?
Instantly, she became even more cautious.
"Granny, those ginsengs are hard to come by. Even the shopkeeper can't get in touch with them. Why don't you go to the Imperial Concubine's place and take some back for your own use? Once she returns, we'll see if there's any left this time," Qingyan said with a bitter expression.
She felt that Su Mo'er's words had a hidden meaning, and she would definitely ask her about it properly after seeing Su Mo'er off.
"Princess, is there really no ginseng in the new residence?" The Empress Dowager had left several life-saving ginseng roots, which the imperial physicians had personally examined and determined to be far more effective than the ginseng from the Imperial Hospital.
The Empress Dowager immediately summoned Su Mo'er, hoping to get more things from Qingyan.
"Granny, there really aren't any left. They were all tribute items!" Qingyan shook her head in frustration.
She thought to herself that over the years, it wasn't always the palace servants who were given access to top-quality medicinal herbs like He Shou Wu. That would be good, since the Empress Dowager could get them. Their household would never have an easy time.
After confirming several times that Qingyan was indeed gone, Su Mo'er decided not to linger any longer and quickly made an excuse to leave.
Qingyan glanced at Su Mo'er's anxious back and inwardly scorned her.
She turned and led Su Lan to the study. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Yin looking at her as she entered.
Her laughter worried him.
They snuggled up to him and, seeing that their two masters were being affectionate again, gave them the space in the study.
"Little darling, did Su Mo'er ask you for anything?" Yin wasn't sure about Su Mo'er's character; she was too obedient to the Empress Dowager.
She nodded and pursed her little lips.
"Do you think ginseng and he shou wu are just like vegetables and radishes, something you can just pick and give away?" Qingyan said against his conscience.
Yin was helpless. Qingyan's mysterious space was just like planting ginseng as if it were a radish.
During this period, the Empress Dowager repeatedly hinted to Consort Tong to hand over the precious medicinal herbs she possessed, but the latter merely pretended not to notice.
With Emperor Kangxi no longer acting as a protective umbrella, the Empress Dowager wouldn't have much to worry about.
Not to mention a Qing banquet.
Qingyan leaned against his chest and felt his body stiffen.
Looking back, his expression wasn't good.
"Fourth Brother, why don't we just ignore it?" Qingyan was puzzled. Yin's face had been unusually gloomy since he entered the room.
She deliberately softened her body so he could hold her comfortably. Usually, she would use this method to soothe the enraged Fourth Prince, but this time it didn't work.
“My dear, Chenggan Palace was ransacked. Almost all the precious medicinal herbs that weren’t sent to the princes’ quarters were taken away. Your mother was also punished by the Empress Dowager to copy scriptures,” Yin said bitterly.
After the morning court session, when he went to pay his respects to Consort Tong, the imperial guards from Cining Palace were standing outside Chenggan Palace. They kept saying that the Empress Dowager had decreed that Consort Tong was in poor health and needed to be carefully cared for.
Shu quietly came out of Chenggan Palace and told him about Consort Tong being brought into the palace by the Empress Dowager.
Yin was immediately enraged. When he heard Su Peisheng mention that his informant in Cining Palace had reported that Su Mo'er was going to cause trouble for the princess by Qingyan, he left the palace directly.
Qingyan stared in astonishment, her mouth agape. This... this was practically a rebellion!
"Isn't His Majesty going to say anything?" Qingyan was concerned about Kangxi's attitude. If Kangxi acquiesced, she would definitely have to ask Fei Yanggu to present it.
"This morning, Father Emperor went to the Temple of Heaven for fasting and is not in the palace. No one will go to the fasting palace to cause trouble!" Yin sent Gao Wuyong to investigate, and the news he received was that even Li Dequan had not been seen.
The principal wife of the commander of the guards surrounding the Zhaigong Palace, she was from the Borjigit clan.
"What?!" Qingyan was a little scared. The Empress Dowager clearly wanted to take this opportunity to make a move against them.
She stood up from beside Yin and paced back and forth in the open space in front of the desk, her mind in turmoil.
what to do!
These four words kept popping into her mind: Fourth Prince was not capable of protecting the Ulanara family, and the Jue Luo clan did not have many top-quality medicinal herbs. Most of the good ones were in the new residence. She was glad that Eshuo and Saito did not concern themselves with household affairs.
"Come here, little darling!" Yin felt a pang of heartache when he saw Qingyan's pale face.
She obediently dawdled past, and *snap*, Yin pulled her into his arms.
"Relax, relax, don't worry, she won't do anything!" Yin believed that Kangxi would inquire about the Chenggan Palace in the evening, and at that time, Kangxi would have Li Dequan handle it.
Qingyan rested her chin on his shoulder, hoping.
After Su Mo'er returned to the palace, the Empress Dowager looked at her expectantly. When she received a negative answer, the old lady smashed the teacup in her hand on the ground.
"Have someone keep an eye on the Tongjia clan. If Qingyan dares to send ginseng as tribute, have someone go after the Gioro clan." The Empress Dowager could only tightly control the Gioro clan, keeping the Ulanara residence under her control. (To be continued. If you like this work, please vote for it on Qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please go to m.qidian.com to read.)
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