Just as dawn was breaking, Yin woke Qingyan from her sleep and ordered all the princes and their wives to go to the imperial tent.
"Father Emperor probably knows about what happened yesterday!" The four princes gathered together, and the Crown Prince even spoke rudely about the Third Princess Consort.
As the crown prince, he lacks even the capacity to tolerate others.
Qingyan shook his head indifferently. The relationship between the princes and the crown prince was not good. As the princes grew up, the crown prince became more and more threatening. Whenever he had a handle on something, he would not let it go easily.
"Hmph, he has no magnanimity at all!" Qingyan vented all her morning grumpiness on the Crown Prince, feeling genuinely exhausted.
"Okay, let's go together!" Yin calculated the time and realized there probably wouldn't be enough time for breakfast.
After washing up, the two walked toward the royal tent. At the entrance of the royal tent, they found that the tent curtain was lifted and two women were kneeling inside. Judging from their backs, they looked like Gegenhas and Wuyun.
Qingyan sneered, "This Wuyun is really courting death!"
"Your son/daughter-in-law greets Father Emperor and Mother Emperor!" Yin and Qingyan were the last to arrive. Kangxi and the others sat around a round table with breakfast laid out on it, waiting for the two of them to come and eat.
Qingyan was very hungry, and seeing the table full of delicious food, she couldn't help but want to pounce on it.
Fortunately, Yin glared at her, which stopped her restless heart from racing.
"Come here, little darling, the imperial chef has specially made fresh shrimp wontons." Consort Tong smiled, this matter did not involve her son and daughter-in-law, in Qingyan's words, she was just there to make up the numbers.
"Thank you, Mother!" Qingyan grinned and gave Yin a smug look.
Previously, Consort Tong's meals consisted entirely of foods that Yinzhi liked, but now, his treatment has declined.
Kangxi felt relieved; at least there was someone who shared his heartache.
After breakfast, apart from Consort Tong and Qingyan who ate with great relish, the rest of the people were preoccupied with their own thoughts and had no appetite for the food.
"Crown Prince! Why did I send you to the grasslands?" After breakfast, Emperor Kangxi was reviewing memorials when he discovered that Yin had been cultivating connections in Mongolia. He slammed the memorials down on the Crown Prince, and Yin and the others all knelt on the ground to beg for forgiveness on Yin's behalf.
Qingyan lowered her head, feeling utterly disdainful. Every time the Crown Prince made a mistake, Yin would inevitably be implicated.
Yin kept looking at the ground, not refuting as he had done before, but instead focusing on figuring out how to make amends.
"Yinzhi, what about you?" Kangxi was extremely disappointed in his two sons.
Gegenhas and Wuyun were both quite beautiful. Could the Mongolian princes have sent these two to their sons' side without any selfish motives?
Emperor Kangxi was very troubled by his two sons. Before leaving, he repeatedly told them that they must not fall into the trap set by the Mongol princes.
Perhaps, this is fate!
A number of officials in Jiangnan were just punished because of the women in their harems. Now, the harems of the Crown Prince and the Third Prince are also causing trouble. This is a blatant slap in the face to Emperor Kangxi.
"Your subject knows his crime!" Yin Zhi quickly apologized, knowing his place in the matter.
Qingyan knelt silently behind Yin, wondering when she could get up.
"Little Darling, come with me to the inner chambers!" Consort Tong didn't want to pay attention to Emperor Kangxi; her son and daughter-in-law had to kneel with the good-for-nothing Crown Prince.
"Go!" Consort Tong said, and Emperor Kangxi softened his tone as he spoke to her.
Qingyan stood up and helped Consort Tong into the inner chamber.
"Sulan, go with Shu to get the medicine and properly rub your mistress's knees!" Consort Tong said after half an hour.
Qingyan quietly rubbed her knees; even during training, she always knelt on the mat.
Today, she knelt directly on the ground, and the icy feeling lingered.
After taking the ointment, Su Lan knelt down and gently rolled up Qing Yan's trouser leg.
Qingyan grabbed Sulan's hand directly, looking at Consort Tong with some embarrassment. There were outsiders present; it wouldn't be appropriate to simply lift her trouser leg.
"Hurry up, it's not good for the cold to get into your body!" Consort Tong smiled. Yin was doing a good job of keeping an eye on her; he remembered not to show his legs in front of outsiders.
"Mother..." Qingyan wasn't embarrassed, but she was afraid that if Yin found out, he would definitely be furious.
"The fourth prince won't say anything about you!" Consort Tong assured her.
At this moment, Qingyan breathed a sigh of relief. Since Consort Tong could give her a guarantee, she now had a powerful backer.
Su Lan inwardly cried out in alarm. Although Consort Tong was acting in the best interests of her master, she had not anticipated the Fourth Prince's possessiveness.
"Hiss~" Qingyan gasped twice.
Her knees were too fragile; they turned bruised after kneeling for just half an hour.
In modern times, she would go to the Yonghe Temple to pray for blessings every year, and she would kneel for a longer time than she does now, but her knees never turned blue.
Sure enough, there's no harm without comparison; this body is too delicate.
"Relax!" Consort Tong shook her head helplessly; Xiao Guai was too afraid of pain.
When the Empress Dowager was still alive, her legs would ache every time she paid her respects. Most of the ointments she collected were ones she had used.
"Mother!" Qingyan's eyes welled up with tears; it really hurt.
"You precious little darling!" Consort Tong sighed. "Shuzhu, go outside and fetch Yin!"
She wouldn't have many reservations in front of the princes.
Qingyan quickly intervened, not wanting Kangxi to have a bad impression of her.
"Mother, no need. Just rub this ointment on your knee, and the pain will subside quickly!" Qingyan didn't want Yin to feel sorry for her.
No sooner had she finished speaking than a glass shattered. Consort Tong listened to the commotion outside with a relaxed expression, showing no sign of urgency.
"Sit properly!" Qingyan had just remembered when Consort Tong scolded him.
She sat in the chair with her lips pursed, but listened to the sounds outside.
"Now, it won't do you any good to go out!" Consort Tong understood Kangxi; her anger was meant to make me see that the Crown Prince's position was not stable and could be replaced at any time.
Now that the Crown Prince's greatest backer, the Empress Dowager, is no longer alive, all the princes hope to remove the Crown Prince from his position as heir apparent, which has tempted many people.
"Mother... I'm worried that people will say I'm hiding!" Qingyan smiled helplessly.
Consort Tong sighed. Qingyan cares too much about what others think. How is she supposed to live in the capital?
"Don't worry too much about what others say, you've already done very well." Yin asked Consort Tong in advance to change Qingyan's mind before returning to the capital.
Qingyan lowered her head. To outsiders, she thought she had done a great job, but what about her mother?
The more she does, the more outsiders say she has no bottom line.
Filial piety felt like a huge shackle, suffocating her. She was constantly trying to prevent Si Si from having a bad reputation.
"Who dares to say that?" Consort Tong was very domineering. Having gone through many hardships, she understood that she had to live for herself.
The attention and stares from family and outsiders are merely minor episodes in life. (To be continued. If you enjoy 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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