Inside Cining Palace, Su Mo'er was also having a headache. The Crown Princess always came to Cining Palace early so as not to pay her respects to Consort Tong, which made the Empress Dowager unable to get a proper rest.
The Crown Princess was dressed in an ivory-white brocade palace gown embroidered with phoenixes and dragons in silver thread. She wore a set of platinum jewelry given to her by Xiao Guai. As Qing Yan entered the hall, he saw the Crown Princess's disdainful gaze, which she hadn't had time to conceal.
The First Princess squeezed Xiao Guai's hand, telling her not to overthink it.
"Granny Su, has the Empress Dowager risen?" Qingyan and Su Mo'er were in a good mood. This old lady had helped her a lot by speaking well of her to the Empress Dowager. However, Xiaozhuang's affection for the Mongols was too strong, which caused the Empress Dowager's mind to become unbalanced.
Seeing the First Princess and Qingyan approaching, Su Mo'er quickly went to greet them.
"This servant greets the First and Fourth Princesses!" Su Mo'er was very proper and did not become complacent because of Kangxi's courtesy.
"Granny, you're too polite!" The First Princess Consort returned half a bow to Su Mo'er with Qingyan. The Crown Princess sat to the side, watching the First Princess Consort and the Fourth Princess Consort's actions, feeling resentful.
Su Mo'er was also opportunistic; after she arrived, she didn't give her a friendly look.
Qingyan noticed that the Crown Princess's expression was not good, and she secretly smiled. If she made the Empress Dowager uncomfortable, would Su Mo'er still forgive her?
"The Empress Dowager has just woken up and will have breakfast in a little while!" Su Mo'er implied that the Crown Princess had arrived too early, making the Empress Dowager have to get up early every day.
Qingyan became cheerful, and even though the Crown Princess was trying to avoid Consort Tong, she still managed to make a scene that even the Empress Dowager had objections to.
"Granny, Mother asked my sister-in-law to help me serve the Empress Dowager breakfast!" Qingyan has a pair of skillful hands, and the Empress Dowager has always looked forward to having breakfast prepared by Qingyan.
"Fourth Princess Consort, when you pay your respects next time, this old servant instructed the kitchen not to prepare breakfast for the Empress Dowager. Today, the kitchen has already prepared it, you see..." After the Empress Dowager left, the Empress Dowager ate less and less, and Su Mo'er had been advising her from the side, but the effect was not very good.
"Don't worry, Granny." The First Princess and Qingyan got up, smiled slightly at the Crown Princess, and went to the dining hall.
The Crown Princess watched the two figures as they walked away, twisting her handkerchief.
"Sister-in-law, are you really alright?" This was the first time Qingyan had shown such disrespect to the Crown Princess, and she was genuinely worried that the Crown Princess might hold a grudge against her.
The First Lady shook her head. The Crown Princess was already holding a grudge. Ever since Qingyan started showing off her dowry, the Crown Princess had wanted nothing more than to kill Qingyan.
"My dear, no matter what you do, she will cause you trouble. Your dowry will be much more generous than that of ordinary people," the First Princess advised.
Qingyan's face darkened. A dowry reflects a girl's status in her maternal family, and she would never reduce her dowry because of the Crown Princess. Those items were all found by Fei Yanggu and his two sons, representing the love of their father and children.
"Sister-in-law, let her hold a grudge." Qingyan calculated that the Crown Princess could only enjoy wealth and honor for a little over ten years. When the Crown Prince was deposed and reinstated twice, she would no longer be able to act so arrogantly.
Yinzhi doesn't seem to value the imperial throne as much as recorded in Qing history, so he shouldn't make any mistakes in the future.
"Granddaughter-in-law greets Imperial Grandmother!" The First Princess and Qingyan looked at the Empress Dowager, who was dressed in a pine-colored palace gown, with a turquoise and platinum hairpin in her hair, and a sandalwood bracelet with eighteen beads in her right hand, and looked at them with a loving smile.
"You two have come at the right time. I'm about to have my meal. Have you eaten yet?" The Empress Dowager breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that it was the Grand Consort and Qingyan who had entered. After all, the Crown Princess was of noble status, and the Empress Dowager rarely mentioned it.
Every time the Empress Dowager went to pay her respects, the Crown Princess would arrive early to disturb her, which annoyed her greatly.
"Grandma, your granddaughter-in-law has already eaten. Mother has asked my sister-in-law and granddaughter-in-law to serve you your meal!" Qingyan took all the credit and gave it to Consort Tong. The Empress Dowager couldn't help but nod with a smile. The little guy didn't like being flattered, so this was good, to prevent anyone from making things difficult for Qingyan by gossiping.
In the very center of the dining hall, a mahogany dining table was set with 78 dishes of breakfast. Qingyan was taken aback by this display. When she and Sisi dined in the Prince's residence, they usually went to get medicinal herbs and rarely followed the proper etiquette for setting out a meal.
"It's the same dishes every day, I've had enough!" the Empress Dowager sighed. Su Mo'er, standing beside her, shook her head helplessly and quietly advised the Empress Dowager to have breakfast first.
Qingyan chuckled inwardly. People say that old people are like children, and the Empress Dowager does resemble that to some extent.
"Your Majesty, next time I pay my respects, your granddaughter-in-law will personally cook for you!" Qingyan promised.
As soon as she finished speaking, the Empress Dowager's eyes lit up instantly; Xiao Guai's cooking skills were truly excellent. Xiao Guai was responsible for preparing most of the vegetarian meals for Emperor Kangxi and Consort Tong.
"I'll be waiting!" The Empress Dowager was in a good mood and was happy to give Xiao Guai this face.
Seeing that the Empress Dowager was giving Qingyan face, the First Consort was even happier. Perhaps, in the future, it would be quite nice to stay with Qingyan and take care of him when he was ill.
"Grandma, you must eat well so that you can protect Xiao Guai!" Qingyan had a good impression of the Empress Dowager. From the first time she entered the palace, the Empress Dowager showed her kindness. When the Crown Prince of Khorchin caused trouble, the Empress Dowager even had the people of Ciren Palace secretly inform Fei Yanggu.
Qingyan is a grateful person, and with this old lady's care, her future path should be smoother.
"Alright!" The Empress Dowager readily agreed. "Little darling, come visit Cining Palace often. Now that your mother has passed away, Cining Palace is just the two of us old women, Su Mo'er and me!"
Qingyan placed a vegetarian bun on the Empress Dowager's plate, and seeing that the Empress Dowager had taken a couple more bites, he noticed that she had eaten a few more.
Seeing the Empress Dowager's happy expression, Su Mo'er felt relieved.
After breakfast, Su Mo'er expressed her gratitude to Qingyan and the Grand Consort, as this was the first time in recent days that the Empress Dowager had eaten so much for breakfast.
"Granny Su, we younger generation should be filial to our Imperial Grandmother." Qingyan didn't think there was anything wrong with it. In modern times, she had worked in a nursing home and had many opportunities to coax the elderly to eat, so she understood what the elderly hoped for.
"First Consort, Fourth Consort, this servant hopes that you can come and accompany the Empress Dowager every day. In the harem, very few people approach the Empress Dowager without ulterior motives, but you two are different." Su Mo'er was an old woman who had served three emperors. She could see that the First Consort and Qingyan were genuinely good to the Empress Dowager. Therefore, Su Mo'er hoped that the Empress Dowager's future would be happier.
"Alright!" Qingyan thought about it and realized that she didn't have much to do in the Prince's Palace, so coming to Cining Palace to accompany the Empress Dowager would be a good way to pass the time.
The First Princess Consort agreed; she couldn't compare to Xiao Guai, after all, she already had a princess under her wing.
"Grand Princess, when you come, you can also bring the eldest princess along." Su Mo'er relieved the Grand Princess of her worries, and the Grand Princess readily agreed. (To be continued. If you like this work, please vote for it on Qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)
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