Since Changning used ruthless methods last time, the backyard of the Prince's mansion has been extremely quiet, and no one dares to cause trouble anymore.
Even the Fujin (principal wife) now stays at home, copying Buddhist scriptures and doing needlework for Honghui every day as instructed by the Fourth Prince.
The affairs of the manor are now all managed by Granny Ma, the head matron of the front courtyard. All the best food, clothing, and daily necessities must first be sent to Qingzhi Courtyard, and then to the Prince's front courtyard.
As for the Fujin (Prince Consort) and the other princesses, they were all placed in the back of the list.
After resting for a few days, Changning felt that she should personally visit Meng Guqing to talk to her, since this matter involved her.
Regardless of whether Niohuru's attempts to sow discord were successful, she was not particularly interested in being enemies with Meng Guqing.
Meng Guqing's courtyard is different from Qingzhi Courtyard.
Qingzhiyuan has pomegranate trees, grape trellises, and hosta flowers, which are very charming.
Meng Guqing's courtyard was quite empty, with only a shelf on the side displaying various spears and weapons.
When Changning arrived, she was practicing whipping in the courtyard. Her movements were crisp and swift, her movements light and graceful. She cracked the whip with each stroke, displaying a truly heroic and dashing demeanor.
Looking at her appearance, Changning suddenly thought of the story of a female general in the book Chunni had mentioned, who took her father's place in the army. She must be a woman like Meng Guqing.
"Oh? Changning, you're here. Come in and have a seat."
When Meng Guqing saw Changning, he quickly put away his whip and welcomed her in, even teasing her with interest: "I heard you took care of that Princess Niohuru a couple of days ago, scaring those women half to death, haha!"
"That's why I came, since it involves you. Meng Guqing, about the medicinal herbs..."
Meng Guqing quickly waved his hand, interrupting her.
“Changning, I know you’ve been good to me. You and the Fucha family did your best with Eji’s matter, not to mention you even brought Eji’s handwritten letter. That’s already a great favor to me. I, Meng Guqing, am not an ingrate, and I would never listen to the instigation of others.”
Changning felt a little relieved; that was good.
However, just as she sat down and picked up her teacup, she suddenly noticed a very familiar ornament on the table.
It is seven or eight parts similar to the wooden eagle that Amur gave to Changxing before, only the carving is a bit rougher. However, at first glance, you might think it is the same one.
That one should have been thrown into the pond by Meng Guqing long ago, right? What about this one?
Meng Guqing felt slightly uncomfortable and coughed a few times.
"I just sculpted it for fun when I had nothing else to do. I'll give you one when I've mastered it."
Changning pursed her lips: "Whatever you say."
Meng Guqing became a little anxious: "I really didn't miss Amur! Really!"
"I didn't say you missed him."
Seeing Changning's teasing gaze, Meng Guqing suddenly deflated: "Okay, a little bit. When I was a child, Amur and I played together every day. There was no place on the grassland that we hadn't been. Once, Amur went to herd sheep, and I went to pick flowers by myself. I was almost snatched away by an eagle, but he saved me."
Meng Guqing lowered his head: "In my memory, he has always been a brave and sincere person."
At this point, her tone became even more dejected.
"I just didn't expect something like Ya Ruo's incident to happen. It seems we can never go back to the way things were between us."
Changning felt a pang of sadness, but still gently comforted her.
"You are a good girl, like an eagle soaring over the grasslands, no one can hold you back."
Meng Guqing knew that Changning was genuinely kind to her, and she felt a little grateful, but she didn't know how to say anything nice. So she had her maid prepare two large boxes of turquoise and red coral to give to her, saying they were gifts for the child in her belly.
When Changning returned to Qingzhi Courtyard, she found Fei Yanga sticking his little bottom out under the pomegranate tree. When she went over to take a look, she found that he was poking at an ant nest with a small stick.
"Fei Yang, why are you back again? Have you finished writing all the characters?"
Fei Yanga turned around and saw his mother. He chuckled first, then retorted, "Mother! How many times have I told you! You can't call me by my Manchu nickname anymore. You have to call me Hongzhao! Hong! Zhao!"
Changning sighed, "Ever since Fei Yang'a started playing with the other princes' sons, he hasn't learned anything else, but he's already learned to value his self-respect."
Hongsheng from the Third Prince's residence, Hongsheng from the Fifth Prince's residence, Hongchun from the Fourteenth Prince's residence, and Hongtun, the son of the Thirteenth Prince's wife Zhaojia Yunchun, who was born two years ago—these are all frequent visitors to the residence. In particular, Wanhe's son, Hongchun, gets along best with Fei Yang'a.
When several children are together, they are prone to comparing themselves to each other.
Fei Yang'a has been pestering her for several beautiful Mongolian waist knives, and also for a spinning top. These past few days he's been practicing in the yard, saying he can't let his cousins outdo him.
Another issue is the name itself.
Everyone else uses "Hongsheng" and "Hongchun," but he and his brother use nicknames, which makes them sound inferior. Therefore, Feiyanga now forbids anyone from calling him "Feiyanga" anymore; they must be called "Hongzhao."
He even helped supervise and correct his brother's pronunciation, insisting that he be called "Hongyan".
Changning thought about it and was willing to take care of the child's self-esteem, since a three-year-old child is going through a rebellious phase. So she instructed the people around her to be careful.
When Yinzhen heard this, he laughed and picked up Fei Yang'a and kissed him a few times, which made Fei Yang'a very shy, and he squirmed in his father's arms.
When Hutu saw this, he scratched his cheek with his index finger and laughed at his younger brother.
"Thick-skinned! Even a machine gun can't penetrate him!"
This folk song was taught to them by Changning.
This was the first time Yinzhen had ever heard of it.
What is a machine gun?
"It's a musket, a kind of repeating musket, click click click, a burst of fire can kill a lot of people."
Yinzhen was somewhat surprised: "Where did you hear that from?"
Changning started talking nonsense, saying that he saw it in a book when he was a child, and it even had pictures, and he described its general appearance.
Yinzhen had a good idea of what it was; it was probably a matchlock gun, only without the rope. It sounded quite ingenious. However, his father's palace had many Western guns; he wondered if they had any of these repeating firearms.
Ever since Emperor Kangxi was cured by a Western medicine called quinine, Western things began to become popular both inside and outside the palace.
This trade is now managed by Fucha Changxing, the third brother of Changning, who is also the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue.
Thinking of this, Yinzhen suddenly smiled. Now, the Fucha family is well-rounded in both literature and martial arts, with a wide range of interests, and with Boder leading the way, it has risen to an unprecedented level.
Meng Guqing is also the daughter of a Mongolian prince. With two such important concubines, the Emperor will probably neglect himself for a while.
But it's okay.
Yinzhen thought to himself, "Until the dragon takes flight, I'll just stay nestled in the clouds."
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