On New Year's Eve, Qingyan changed into a bright red palace dress for a princess, with a headdress adorned with rubies and pomegranates, an open pomegranate earring in each ear, and a gold pomegranate bracelet with a hollowed-out design containing rubies in each hand.
Yin was dressed in a royal blue casual robe with a bright yellow belt around his waist and four large red dragon-patterned purses hanging from it. Just after 1-3 AM, the two had breakfast and headed towards Changchun Garden.
Upon entering the garden, Qingyan discovered that the princes were already waiting at the courtyard gate, awaiting summons from Emperor Kangxi and Consort Tong.
The princes, dressed in dark court robes and wearing polite smiles, went to the Fengxian Hall to worship their ancestors before lunch, accompanied by Emperor Kangxi and Consort Tong.
Qingyan, dressed in a red palace gown, stood out conspicuously among the wives.
Of the five consorts in the first group, apart from the Crown Princess who wore golden yellow, the rest were all dressed in red: the wife of the Prince Zhi wore vermilion, the wife of the Third Prince wore rose red, the wife of Qingyan wore bright red, and the wife of the Tatara clan wore dark red.
The day before, Consort Tong secretly instructed Shu to make sure Qingyan wore a bright red palace dress. At the time, Qingyan was completely bewildered; why would Consort Tong specifically instruct her like this?
Today, upon seeing Qingyan, whose headdress and clothes were all bright red, she appeared all the more beautiful and charming compared to the somber red-clad consorts.
"Fourth sister-in-law, it's rare to see you wearing such a bright red palace dress. This headdress must have been specially made by Linglong Pavilion, right?" The Crown Princess looked up and saw that Qingyan was the most eye-catching among them. The Crown Prince's eyes kept glancing at Qingyan.
Qingyan was taken aback. The Crown Princess's golden yellow was unique, and the five phoenixes holding pearls gold hairpin specially made by the Imperial Workshop seemed particularly rigid.
“The Crown Princess is absolutely right. This headdress is quite unique. We have been foolish to wear phoenix hairpins, while my sister-in-law is wearing a pomegranate headdress.” The Third Princess stood beside the Crown Princess, subtly mocking Qingyan for being unconventional.
Yin Genjue Luo sneered; the Third Princess Consort was becoming increasingly unreliable.
During the New Year, the concubine's son fell ill repeatedly, and the imperial physician was summoned to the mansion twice. Consort Rong was also lectured by Consort Tong.
"Third sister-in-law said that I don't have a phoenix hairpin." Qingyan didn't hide anything; apart from court hats, she wouldn't easily make a phoenix hairpin.
After she finished speaking, the other four looked at her with curiosity. It was an extremely honorable thing for a woman to wear a phoenix hairpin. Even the least favored Tatara clan would use her private funds to make a few extremely exquisite phoenix hairpins, which was a symbol of the status of the primary consort.
"Fourth Sister-in-law, you really don't have it?" He Tala asked in surprise.
Qingyan nodded; she didn't care for phoenix hairpins or anything like that.
"Sister-in-law, your fourth brother won't let you do it?" The Crown Princess looked on with amusement, knowing that Consort Yi was preparing to make trouble, and Yuqing Palace was also aware of this.
The Crown Princess felt only envy and jealousy towards Qingyan, as the Crown Prince's philandering contrasted sharply with Yin's devotion.
"No, His Majesty personally painted several headdresses for me. I just felt that I was still too young to wear a phoenix hairpin." Qingyan said this without thinking, but the Crown Princess and Dong Eshi took it to heart.
Of the first five consorts, Qingyan was actually the youngest, even a few months younger than the fifth consort.
"Sister-in-law, that's not a good thing to say. We're getting old, aren't we?" Having finally found a handle on Qingyan, Dong Eshi directly implied that Qingyan had gone too far.
Qingyan quickly shook her head and said, "Third sister-in-law, you've gone too far. The Crown Princess is the Crown Prince's principal wife, and she is naturally elegant and noble. Wearing a phoenix hairpin is extremely appropriate for her. Eldest sister-in-law is also the eldest son's wife, and this phoenix hairpin was personally bestowed by her mother. Wasn't Third sister-in-law's headdress also personally bestowed by Consort Rong?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Yin chuckled to himself. Xiao Guai had clearly demoted the Third Prince Consort, giving the rewards from Consort Tong and Consort Rong a different meaning.
"Didn't your sister-in-law get the phoenix hairpin from your mother?" Dong Eshi was about to cause trouble.
"I gave it to her. That gold hairpin was given to me by my mother-in-law, so of course I'm keeping it at home!" Qingyan said, bewildered.
Yin Genjue Luo Shi turned around, covered her mouth with a handkerchief and coughed lightly, her eyes filled with undisguised laughter.
Qingyan's demeanor was truly impressive, leaving Dong Eshi speechless with suffocation.
Aside from Qingyan, the other three consorts were warned by Consort Tong not to allow any more cases of their illegitimate sons falling ill. This stemmed from Consort Dong'e's boasting about taking care of her illegitimate son; the son had just arrived at the other residence when he developed a high fever.
“Little darling…” Yin Genjue Luo walked to her side, “Songkelierha wants to barbecue, it might be too much trouble for you.”
Yin Genjue Luo Shi had a close relationship with Qing Yan, and Songkelierha especially liked to stick to her.
“Alright, sister-in-law, things aren’t so busy during the New Year. Why don’t you send the little girl over? Hutu Lifengsheng Zhalafen misses her sister too.” Qingyan nodded. The Prince Zhi’s residence was very busy during the New Year, and Yingen Jueluo didn’t have much time to take care of her daughter, so Qingyan took care of both girls together.
The Crown Princess also wanted to send her daughter there, but the Crown Prince stopped her with a look in his eyes.
After the birth of the twins, the relationship between the Crown Prince and Yinzhi grew increasingly distant. If the Crown Princess wanted to send her daughter to him, Qingyan might suspect that there was some ulterior motive involved.
In addition, the Crown Princess's legitimate daughter is physically weak and may fall ill if she is not careful.
"Your Highnesses and Consorts, His Majesty summons you to an audience." Li Dequan, dressed in the court robes of a chief eunuch, stood at the door to deliver the decree.
The Crown Prince and Crown Princess stood side by side, while the princes and their primary wives stood behind them in order.
The group entered the hall and bowed to Emperor Kangxi and Consort Tong to pay their respects.
At this moment, Qingyan noticed out of the corner of her eye that Songkelierha, the Crown Princess's legitimate daughter, and the twins were all waiting by the nannies.
Yiken'e was dressed in a golden prince's court robe, his fair face showing a seriousness beyond his years. Hutuli Fengsheng Zhalafen was dressed in a red phoenix palace dress, and was held in the arms of Shu and Shuzhu.
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