The turmoil in the capital had no effect on the outskirts of the city, where Emperor Kangxi would occasionally summon some of his sons to gather at Changchun Garden.
That day, the twins and Batu Buhe went to the study in Changchun Garden to read. Qingyan carried Hafeng to pay her respects to Consort Tong. The weather was unusually clear and sunny. She strolled along the corridor of Changchun Garden with Hafeng in her arms.
Amidst the mother and son's cheerful conversation, a maid suddenly rushed out and crashed directly into Qingyan.
Bayan quickly led his guards to block them with their bodies, and Qingyan was shocked by this scene.
Bang!
Bayan collided with the reckless figure, staggering back two steps. Bayan's face darkened as he looked at the frail palace maid who had managed to knock him back.
"Head Granny, let the master leave first!" Bayan believed that this person was definitely not a kind person, and prepared to let Zhang Desheng leave with the guards and the head nanny.
Qingyan turned to look at Bayan. She had seen the ferocious expression on Bayan's face the moment they collided.
"Bayan, no need. Danger that is meant to come cannot be avoided!" Qingyan coldly snorted.
Bayan lowered his head and heard Qingyan's order. Suzhu was beckoned to her side, and after whispering a few words, she sat down on a chair in the corridor with Hafeng in her arms, surrounded by three layers of servants.
The first layer consisted of the head nanny and palace maids; the second layer was surrounded by imperial guards, including Zhang Desheng; and the third layer was occupied by personal guards such as Bayan, who were assigned to protect Yinzhen.
If someone can break through the layers and harm Qingyan and Hafeng, then they are definitely capable.
Su Zhu has already gone to see Consort Tong. Qing Yan is considered her daughter-in-law, and if she were to personally deal with this person, it might be considered an overstepping of the rules by the censors.
At the bottom of the corridor steps, a palace maid with disheveled hair was being held down by two imperial guards. She was so strong that Bayan had to be extra careful and didn't even let the maids do anything.
"Well, who are you?" Qingyan noticed that the other person had his head down and was not saying a word, which made her a little scared.
Seeing that the maid didn't say a word, Bayan quickly stepped in front of her to shield her from the disaster. He lifted her cheek with one hand and noticed that she had a beautiful face and her features resembled Qingyan's.
“My lord, the palace maid’s appearance is somewhat similar to yours, and her lips are a little swollen and red, as if she has been beaten!” Su Lan walked to Qing Yan’s side and said in a low voice.
Qingyan was slightly taken aback. There was actually someone in Changchun Garden who looked somewhat similar to her?
"Let me see!" Qingyan commanded directly.
Bayan and the others dared not stray too far, lest the palace maid cause trouble. They simply stood beside her. Qingyan looked up at the palace maid's face, which bore a slight resemblance to her own.
"Hehe, you really went to great lengths to imitate the look so perfectly. It seems you've been well-trained by your family!" Qingyan's words caused a hint of disdain and madness to flash in the eyes of those in the palace.
"Your Highness, let's go to the Imperial Noble Consort's courtyard as soon as possible. Let the Imperial Noble Consort handle this matter." Su Lan noticed that the palace maid's eyes were not right and quickly advised Qing Yan.
In her opinion, Qingyan should avoid any dangerous activities, so that they could avoid being punished by Yinzhen.
"No need, what's the big deal about this?" Qingyan refused decisively. "Judging from the looks of it, someone must have made this on purpose, just to get her to see Fourth Master!"
At this moment, Qingyan felt as if Changchun Garden had a grudge against her, because she always ended up seeing people she didn't like.
“Master…” Su Lan was stunned. In the past, if Qing Yan had discovered something like this, he would have made things difficult for the Fourth Master immediately.
"Fourth Prince, do you not like this kind of thing? Zhang Desheng, look at where this clothing was served?" Qingyan didn't want it to be from another prince's courtyard, as that would be quite unpleasant.
Zhang Desheng took two steps forward and looked at the beaded plaque hanging from the maid's askew lapel, which recorded which palace she belonged to.
“Reporting to Master, it’s from the Eighth Prince’s residence,” Zhang Desheng said directly.
Qingyan's face instantly darkened. Today was the day for the wives to come and pay their respects. They should have come with the Eighth Prince's wife, Lady Jueluo. Who would have thought that they would be bumped into by Qingyan as soon as they arrived?
"As expected, they really went to great lengths. It's not easy to find someone like this at this time!" Qingyan had no goodwill towards the Jue Luo clan anymore.
"Sulan, take this person with you to Mother's. I want to ask Eighth Princess Consort what she's planning to do." Qingyan wouldn't let Eighth Princess Consort do these things; she would be on guard against Eighth Princess Consort ruining her reputation.
At this moment, the Eighth Princess Consort saw that Qingyan had not yet come to pay her respects and felt a secret joy in her heart. If the palace maid could deal with Hafeng, Qingyan would definitely not have an easy time.
Emperor Kangxi and Consort Tong attached great importance to imperial heirs, so they naturally punished Qingyan.
Later, Qingyan carried Hafeng step by step into the palace. Behind Qingyan, the palace guards held down a palace maid whose jaw had been removed, for fear that she would bite her tongue and commit suicide.
"Greetings to Mother. I was delayed by some matters on the way. I have no choice but to accept it. Yourao's schemes are quite clever; she wants to use this incident to plot against me." Qingyan greeted Consort Tong respectfully. Consort Tong waved her hand and inquired about what had happened to Qingyan.
"Alright, what exactly happened?" Consort Tong trusted Qingyan and believed she would never use this matter to cause trouble.
Under Qingyan's watchful gaze, Sulan stepped forward, respectfully bowed to Consort Tong, and then eloquently told Consort Tong what had happened on the road.
Consort Tong was stunned upon hearing this. When they were in the south, she had overheard Emperor Kangxi mention that someone had personally trained a maid who looked remarkably like Qingyan, and that this maid had participated in the selection this year. Consort Tong had instructed her personal nanny to personally oversee the process and ensure that the maid was eliminated.
"Your Highness, I went to the Imperial Household Department myself and got the person removed from the list." The old woman quickly knelt on the carpet, begging Consort Tong to investigate the matter thoroughly.
After hearing the nanny's assurance, Consort Tong realized that the maid came from a powerful family. She paid money to the Imperial Household Department to send the maid to Yin Si's residence.
The Eighth Prince's wife clearly knew what this woman looked like, so she dared to cause trouble behind his back and brought the woman in directly when she came to pay her respects.
"Whoever is in charge of this matter, bring him in here!" Consort Tong was furious. If something happened in the garden, Emperor Kangxi would definitely be furious.
She'll definitely be implicated in this matter, and Consort Tong is furious.
"Eighth Prince's wife, what's wrong with you? You're at odds with Fourth Prince's wife and fighting in private. When have I ever interfered with you sisters-in-law? How dare you even try to scheme in Changchun Garden!" Consort Tong was furious.
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