The garden was newly decorated, and the officials' wives were all paying close attention to the actions of the royal sisters-in-law. Everyone witnessed the scene of Qingyan and the Tenth Prince's wife arguing with the Crown Princess.
Over the past few years, several princes have gathered around Yin. The Prince of Zhi was the first to come, followed by the Thirteenth Prince and the Fourteenth Prince, who were raised by Qingyan. Later came the Ninth Prince and the Tenth Prince. In total, five princes gathered around Yin.
Among the princes, Yin was the most capable, and Qingyan was a famously wealthy wife. The two complemented each other and were the most outstanding among the princes.
“Those officials’ wives are truly sincere. When the Crown Princess came, they went straight to her and didn’t bother to get close to the Eighth Prince’s wife at all.”
Some people, unable to get close to the Crown Princess, instead lingered around the Eighth Prince's wife, a move that puzzled many.
"These people are opportunists. If it weren't for the fact that the Crown Princess's entourage consists of high-ranking officials who wield real power, they probably would have gotten close to her too!" The Tenth Princess spoke the truth directly.
Qingyan was stunned. The Tenth Prince's wife always looked confused. Everyone thought that she was from Mongolia and probably just wasn't sensitive to these things. But after everyone got to know her, they all felt that the Tenth Prince's wife was hiding her true abilities.
"Tenth sister-in-law, you..." Lady Yin Genjue Luo was greatly surprised. The tenth princess consort was truly remarkable.
"Actually, if it weren't for Yin, I probably wouldn't have said it. Father said that only by hiding their talents can the wives of the Mongols live a more comfortable life. My aunts didn't hide their talents after marrying into Daqing, and in the end, they all lived very stifled lives," the Tenth Princess sighed.
Yin treated her quite well, which made her very happy, and she hoped to live a different life.
Qingyan smiled and said, "After the Double Ninth Festival, everyone will need to prepare for the Golden Festival. I have already prepared your jewelry. I'll have the managers of Linglong Pavilion deliver it to you then."
The wives repeatedly apologized, and Qingyan waved his hand.
"Fourth Sister-in-law, you must tell us how much it cost!" Ninth Prince's wife hurriedly said, "Ninth Master said that the exquisite headdresses from Linglong Pavilion are very time-consuming. If they were preparing them for us, they must have canceled some orders. We should make up for it!"
The other wives all agreed with Ninth Prince's words. Qingyan felt that helping out with these matters was probably not a big deal.
“Little darling, don’t refuse. It’s only right. If you always provide us with things for free, people will get lazy. Once everyone gets to know you, they’ll realize that it’s only right for you to do this.” Yin Genjue Luo Shi had suffered losses before, so she didn’t want Qing Yan to do the same.
Qingyan nodded: "After the shopkeepers have given him the jewelry, have him take the list with him!"
The wives nodded: "Fourth Sister-in-law, if you do this, we can accept the door-to-door service. It would be quite nice."
Pfft!
Qingyan burst out laughing. In Linglong Pavilion, all the female members of the family are treated equally. Even the female members of the family have to come to place orders in person, no matter how high their status is.
Inside the garden, some people secretly observed Qingyan's small group, all wanting to get closer, but none of them were able to.
“Little darling, there are quite a few people over there preparing to approach us. With you here, no one will dare to come over!” Yin Genjue Luo Shi said directly.
Qingyan was stunned. She looked at her table and wondered if there was something wrong with it.
“It’s not that there’s a problem, it’s just that your aura is too strong. Just now, after confronting the Crown Princess, your aura became too strong.” Yin Genjue Luo Shi laughed.
Ugh!
Qingyan was stunned. She hadn't realized that was the case. She hadn't felt that she had any aura about her; perhaps she hadn't been able to restrain herself.
"Isn't this better? We won't have to deal with those officials' wives." Qingyan disliked dealing with women the most.
"Do you all want to deal with the wives and concubines of the officials? If we were in Heyang, we could have just had Fourth Sister-in-law tone down her aura!" The Tenth Princess Consort didn't like to associate with the female relatives, and usually left the task of going out and socializing to her concubines.
The sisters-in-law all shook their heads; they didn't want anyone to disturb them.
"The banquet is about to begin, let's hurry to the corridor," the maidservant Ali informed the ladies.
The Eighth Prince's wife approached the Crown Princess early and sat down with her. The other princes' wives kept their distance from the two of them, watching them chat and laugh, wondering what they might be thinking.
"Sister-in-law, what do you think is going on between these two? Judging from their appearance, it seems that the Eighth Prince's wife came here specifically to see the Crown Princess. When did the Crown Prince and the Eighth Prince become so close?" Qingyan was very curious.
"It must have been in the last few days. Everyone knows that the twins gave the Emperor a gift, so many people think that you were the ones who made the two little ones do it!" said Lady Yingenjueluo. "Eighth Prince's wife went to the Crown Princess's courtyard and asked Shulu to show off as well. When the Crown Princess mentioned it to the Crown Prince, the Crown Prince flatly refused, even saying that Hongxi was under house arrest during this period, but Shulu was not affected."
After hearing what Yin Genjueluo said, Qingyan thought the Crown Prince was a real scoundrel, actually willing to sacrifice his daughter for his son.
"The Crown Princess definitely wouldn't want Shulu to be used as a scapegoat for Hongxi. Besides, Hutulifengsheng Zhalafen has stepped forward again, coming with Songkelierha to entertain the girls of marriageable age. Although Shulu went there, he arrived right on time, which was seen by many officials' wives." The group chatted on the side, and that was basically what they were talking about.
Qingyan silently took a few sips of her plum juice and then continued listening to the gossip.
The Crown Princess kept a close eye on Qingyan's actions, fearing that he might cause trouble. Among the officials' wives, the Crown Princess was very conscious of her image.
"Sister-in-law, let's talk about something else. Let's not get involved in the Crown Princess's affairs. Tomorrow and the day after, we need to prepare gifts for the Golden Gift Festival. Do you have any ideas?" Qingyan was a little embarrassed. Every Golden Gift Festival, everyone looked helpless. Everyone hoped that their gifts would be favored by Emperor Kangxi.
"I don't know, let's see what the master says!" Yin Genjue Luo Shi shook her head directly. Every year, it was Yin who personally prepared the list, and she was just someone who helped prepare things.
Seeing everyone's approving expressions, Qingyan sighed and realized that Yin was going to have to put in a lot of effort this time.
Just as the conversation ended, the sound of Kangxi's whip rang out, and the women all stood up. Qingyan looked towards the main stage and saw that Consort Tong had gathered Hutulifengshengzhalafen, Songkelierha, and Shulu around her, with the three girls leaning against her.
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