On the full moon, Qingyan asked Sulan to prepare a bath tub. She personally bathed in the tub several times, then changed into a pale yellow cheongsam, adorned her hair with a set of nine-phoenix gold hairpins, and attached a ruby pomegranate pendant to the outer lapel of the cheongsam.
She felt relaxed all over after getting up, and was even happier.
"Your Majesty, the officials' wives have arrived!" Everyone was waiting in the front hall, and Su Lan lifted the curtain to say.
A faint smile graced Qingyan's face as the wet nurse, Hafeng'a, was already in her arms, and they walked out together.
"Alright, let's go to the front." Qingyan took Sulan's hand and walked out, with the wet nurse following behind.
Inside the hall, Lady Yin Genjue was helping Qingyan entertain the officials' families. Lady Yin Genjue was also taking stock of the gifts. If the officials' families had given anything valuable, they were to be returned directly, as per Yin and Qingyan's instructions.
Before the officials' wives left, Qing Yan gave them a return gift that was even more valuable than the gifts they had brought. So, while Jue Luo Shi watched the people below sorting out the gifts and cash, Su Zhu was preparing to open the storeroom and take out the return gift.
"Greetings to the Fourth Prince's wife!" The officials' wives all bowed and greeted Qingyan. "Greetings to the young prince!"
The twins and Songkelierha were entertaining the children, while Yin and Yin were entertaining the ministers in front.
"Let's start kowtowing, everyone. I'm truly sorry to have spoiled the celebration for the Emperor's birthday," Qingyan said apologetically.
"Fourth Prince's wife, this isn't the young prince's fault at all. Who would have thought that such a troublesome person would suddenly appear?" Lady Liu, wife of the Deputy Commander Gu Lu at the naval port, quickly said, "Fourth Prince and you have been quite merciful, letting the young prince bully the Deputy Commander's wife go unpunished!"
The deputy commander was taken down by Yin, who even forced his wife, Lady Tongjia, to divorce him, which saved face for Tong Guowei.
"Well, Tongjia is still my mother's sister, even though she was born out of wedlock, we're still family!" Qingyan had no choice but to explain.
The officials' wives all knew that if this woman hadn't been the daughter of the Tongjia clan, she probably would have gone to prison as well.
"Alright, today is a good day for Hafeng'a, why talk about such irrelevant things!" Yin Genjue Luo smiled, thinking that on such a good day, it was unnecessary to talk about such unrelated things.
“What the Princess Consort of the Prince of Zhi said is absolutely right. The little prince looks very clever.” Lady Liu glanced at the baby in the nanny’s arms and couldn’t help but think that this child was bound to be successful.
"Of course, just looking at Prince Hongye, it's clear he's very good." The officials' wives all flattered him. Everyone knew how Qingyan and Lady Yingenjueluo were capable. Even the ministers said that if these two were born as men, they would definitely be rising stars in the court.
Qingyan smiled slightly; she was very happy when someone praised her son.
The full moon celebration continued until after lunch. Qingyan sat in the grand chair, respectfully saw off the officials' wives, and then returned to his inner chamber. Inside the chariot in his bedroom, Hafeng'a was already fast asleep.
"My little darling!" Yin hugged her from behind. While Qingyan was in confinement after childbirth, Yin was busy with official business and directly suppressed those people.
"Fourth Brother, look how well Hafeng is sleeping! He's sleeping so soundly!" Qingyan said with a smile.
"This child's eyes are like mine, but his appearance is a carbon copy of Xiao Guai's." Yin had taken care of Qingyan since he was a child, so he was very familiar with Qingyan's face.
Ugh!
Qingyan Dao didn't care. Yiken'e was like Sisi, and Hafeng'a was like himself. Wasn't that better?
"Do you like it?!" Qingyan turned around and snuggled into his arms, asking. If she liked it, she didn't need to say so much.
"Of course I like him! I can't bring myself to discipline this son!" Yin said with emotion.
Pfft!
Qingyan became cheerful. It wasn't that Yin wasn't in the mood to care; he was simply reminded of the past just by looking at that face.
"Sisi, if you can't manage it, then I will," Qingyan said with a smile, covering her mouth.
Yiken'e was treated like a little old man by Yin, but Hafeng'a couldn't be like that; he had to be more lively.
“The Tongjia woman has already been sent back to the capital. Mother’s intention is to leave her in Mother’s villa, so that Tong Guowei won’t waste her time.” Yin said coldly, “Mother is doing this out of consideration for the past affection. At the very least, she doesn’t want Tong Guowei to send her away again.”
"No way, they're already divorced!" Qingyan was stunned.
“Tong Guowei only treats Longkodo as his own child. He only visits his mother when there is a problem. Even if Longkodo cannot remarry in the capital, Tong Guowei will still send her to Mongolia for the benefit of the Tong family!” Yin knew Tong Guowei quite well.
In order to gain the Emperor's trust, she even used her own grandson as a bargaining chip. Despite her poor health, Ninth Sister still married into the Tong family.
"Mother has done a good deed. Even if we only have the oil lamp for company, we won't have to face those people anymore!" Qingyan understood that Consort Tong simply didn't want anyone else to go to Mongolia.
Even princesses from the royal family and imperial clans would be wasted if they were sent to marry foreign rulers, let alone the daughters of ministers. Besides, this woman had already been married before, so those people would not care about her at all.
"Fourth Brother, I've had the return gifts doubled, so no one should cause us any trouble!" Qingyan unbuttoned Yin's clothes and prepared to help him change into comfortable casual clothes.
“Yes, that’s right!” Yin agreed.
In the capital, Kangxi purged the Imperial Household Department. Qingyan worried that some people would take advantage of this opportunity to use connections. They might not know it, but those people would use Hafeng Adang as an excuse.
"Look at the sun outside. After a while, I can take Hafeng out for a stroll," Yin said, looking out the window.
Qingyan leaned back. During her postpartum confinement, Yin would often come over. Unlike other couples, the two of them did not have to talk through a screen during their confinement.
"My dear, when you were in postpartum confinement, someone planned to drug Yiken's forehead. Luckily, Su Peisheng discovered it in time!" Yin glanced at Qingyan and said, "I didn't tell you because I was afraid you would worry. If you were always worried like this, that's why I didn't tell you!"
"Yiken'e didn't tell me either!" Qingyan was a little annoyed, feeling that Yin and Yiken'e, father and son, were excluding her.
"You're in postpartum confinement, and if I told you, you'd definitely worry!" Yin said, pulling her into his arms. "Didn't I tell you today?"
Yin discovered that Qingyan's figure hadn't changed at all; in fact, it was even better than before she gave birth. Such a figure would make many of the women jealous.
"Okay, don't do that again next time. I'll worry about the children too!" Qingyan said sadly.
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