Early in the morning, Qingyan got up, and Sulan came in and told him that the wife of the Crown Prince of Khorchin had come to pay her respects!
Qingyan, who was still in a daze, instantly woke up. Even if she was a prince's wife, she couldn't be expected to pay her respects to a mere prince's wife.
These past few days, Yin has been constantly talking about the women's schemes, and all she needs to do is pretend she doesn't know anything about hepatitis B.
"Help me do my makeup!" Qingyan was preparing to intimidate the Mongolian princess, as the Fourth Prince's residence was completely inaccessible.
Qingyan changed into a Suzhou embroidery cheongsam with a sky-blue base and auspicious cloud patterns embroidered with gold silk threads. On her head was a headdress with twin lotus flowers designed by Yin himself. It was made of pink warm jade as the main material, with twin lotus flowers patterned by fine gold threads. Around the twin lotus flowers, there were also lotus leaves carved from jade as embellishment. It looked like it was made by the imperial workshops.
"My lady, why don't you use red?" Su Lan was a little confused. In Mongolia, which primary consort didn't take pride in bright red?
"Are all the wives outside wearing red Mongolian robes?" Qingyan smiled coldly. To be honest, she disliked those Mongolian wives because of what Yin said.
Su Lan nodded, and Qing Yan found it quite amusing; those wives must have come for the selection of concubines.
"Yes!" Su Lan quickly replied. Qing Yan applied a light makeup and helped Su Lan walk outside.
Qingyan had just stepped out of the inner chamber when he saw six wives sitting there. They were all dressed in long, bright red robes, and their faces were all deathly pale. The only difference between them was their weight.
"Greetings to the Fourth Prince Consort!" Several Mongolian princess consorts quickly rose to greet Qingyan, even though their current status was higher than Qingyan's. Whether this master would become a future dragon was still uncertain.
Qingyan was bewildered; why were the wives bowing first?
"Rise," Granny Liao whispered in Qingyan's ear, "It's fine for the wives to greet you; just return half a bow!"
All six wives wore bright red robes, which was basically the standard attire for wives.
"Fourth Princess Consort, we are all princess consorts who married into the royal family. By all accounts, we should be your elders." Seeing that Qingyan's expression had softened, the princess consorts wondered how they could achieve their goal.
Qingyan didn't say a word. As the wives prepared to continue, she took a sip of her tea. She hadn't eaten breakfast and hoped it would ease her hungry stomach.
“Little darling, look! After we came to the grasslands, the girls there walked around and found that several of the princesses were not in good health!” The Crown Princess of Khorchin spoke first, and Qingyan’s face instantly darkened.
“Princess Consort of the Heir Apparent, please address me as Fourth Princess Consort. Father Emperor has mentioned that not just anyone can utter these two words!” Qingyan said coldly.
The other day, this Crown Princess gave Consort Tong a huge headache. Whenever her wishes weren't met, she would probably resort to crying to resolve the situation.
The Crown Prince's wife was speechless. Originally, the Crown Prince's wife hoped to get closer to Qingyan. Yin doted on her very much, and he rarely objected to anything Qingyan proposed.
However, Qingyan was a woman who could talk endlessly, and looking at her adorable appearance, they felt a little uneasy.
As soon as he finished speaking, the atmosphere inside the tent became somewhat awkward. Only then did Qingyan have the opportunity to carefully observe the arrival of the six wives, none of whom were yet the primary wives of the ruler.
If it were any other time, Qingyan would be happy to show respect to the wives of princes and dukes. But today, her hard work was going awry; these people were clearly there to cause trouble.
"Fourth Prince's wife, this is our first meeting. Except for the Fourth Prince, all the princes have been guided by their wives. This is not a good thing for you. Consort Tong will also have a problem with you." The Crown Prince's wife of the Khorchin Prince looked at Qingyan seriously, as if she was doing it for her own good.
Qingyan remained silent, not uttering a single word, her small face tense, as if she didn't want to say anything more.
"Qibuchen, how many years have you been married? Why are you still so close to Consort Tong?" The wife of the Prince of Khalkha said with a mocking expression.
Qingyan looked at this Fujin, who was probably around twenty-five or twenty-six years old. Her fair face was flushed with a rosy glow, a condition commonly known as "highland red."
The wives of the princes all have extremely high status, both before and after marriage. Which woman doesn't want to have a beautiful face? They are all over twenty-five years old, so they certainly can't compare with those women in their late twenties.
As they watched Qingyan walk in, and seeing her unchanging appearance over the past few days, they couldn't help but feel jealous. Most importantly, she had obtained the promise of a lifelong, monogamous relationship that others longed for.
Emperor Kangxi made it clear in front of everyone that he would not appoint anyone to the Fourth Prince's residence unless the Fourth Prince's wife personally agreed.
As a result, the crown prince's wives had no choice but to come and curry favor with this younger man for the sake of their husbands' families.
“Bu Shunda, what are you saying? Lanya and I have been best friends since childhood, so of course I understand her wishes.” Qi Buchen smiled. She had long lost contact with Consort Tong, but as a mother herself, she naturally hoped that her son would have more offspring. Whether they were legitimate or illegitimate sons, with more grandsons, who would care about the difference between legitimate and illegitimate sons!
Qingyan felt somewhat aggrieved. If Consort Tong hadn't made it clear to her beforehand that she would never have cared about Yin's harem, she would have wanted a legitimate grandson and granddaughter. No matter how many illegitimate sons she had, they were not as good as one legitimate son. She might have really fallen into the trap set by Qibuchen, the wife of the Crown Prince of Khorchin. Qibuchen means "quiet" in Chinese, and she saw that this was clearly a sarcastic remark.
Not only is she restless, but she is also stubborn and lacks any straightforwardness. She stirs up trouble between mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law. Is this something a Mongolian princess would do?
"Hmph, Fourth Princess Consort, you should listen to us. Many conflicts between mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law are caused by the issue of offspring." Bu Shunda chimed in from the side. The remaining four princess consorts of the heirs basically fell silent. These two were closer to Kangxi by blood, so even if they spoke up, Kangxi would definitely not punish them.
These women were different. They were not of royal or imperial lineage, but merely the illegitimate sons of high-ranking officials. Their fathers and brothers' standing in the court was nowhere near that of Fei Yanggu. Furthermore, the men they married were less important than those in the Qing Dynasty, forcing them to think more about their future.
"Oh, Mother didn't say. How did you two find out? I remember you didn't pay your respects to Mother after she came, did you?" Qingyan looked coldly at the six of them, the four behind her were clearly their henchmen.
Consort Tong always said that a fierce battle would be fought on the grasslands. Now, she understood why she said that. (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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