He just wasn't very bright, so he had no choice but to put all his hopes on his daughters.
The only son is still so unpromising.
Cheng Fushun could tell that his father was in a bad mood, so he stopped talking and just kept his head down, huffing and puffing as he climbed the steps.
...
Upon arriving at Linhua Palace, the father and son followed the palace maids to Linhua Hall.
Cheng Qiang and the palace maids and eunuchs following behind him placed all the things, large and small, on the ground and lined them up in a row.
After putting their things away, the palace maids and eunuchs tactfully left.
Upon seeing Consort Wan, Cheng Qiang bowed and said, "This old minister greets Consort Wan."
"May Consort Wan be blessed with good fortune and peace." Cheng Qiang performed the greeting with perfect precision, his hand movements and kneeling were all done according to the rules, and he did it very well.
Upon seeing this, Consort Wan quickly stepped forward and helped her father up.
"Father, why do you do this? Why are you being so formal?" The children naturally felt bad receiving such a grand gesture from their father, but this was the rule of the royal family.
"There are no outsiders here; I've already sent them all away," Consort Wan said with a charming smile.
Looking at her father's increasingly aged face, she couldn't help but feel a lump in her throat and tears welled up in her eyes.
"Father, it's all my fault. I can't stay at home and fulfill my filial duty to you." Consort Wan wiped her eyes with a handkerchief.
"Don't say that! What nonsense are you spouting? Staying at home is what makes you a good-for-nothing!"
"Your entry into the palace is a great honor for our family, bringing glory to your father. This is how you fulfill your filial duty!"
Cheng Qiang looked at his daughter with a face full of satisfaction. His daughters had all married into good families. Although they were either concubines of the emperor or princes, at least they had powerful backers to rely on. The Cheng family could be considered to have a powerful backer.
On the other hand, his son is truly disappointing.
"Greetings to my elder sister!" After carefully putting his things away, Cheng Fushun came over to see his sister. He hadn't seen her for a long time and missed her dearly.
"Call her Consort Wan! Why are you still calling her 'Big Sister' here? You have no manners and no respect for elders!" Cheng Qiang rolled his eyes at Cheng Fushun.
"Father, my eldest sister said there's no need to be so reserved!"
"Besides, there's no one else here!" Cheng Fushun gave his father a dissatisfied look.
He muttered under his breath, "An old relic."
"Yes, Father, there are only the three of us here, no one else."
"That won't do. Walls have ears. You need to be even more careful in the palace." Ever since Cheng Qiang stepped into the palace, he hadn't been able to relax.
"Yes, daughter has remembered." Consort Wan nodded, gesturing for the two of them to drink tea.
Consort Wan wore a plain-colored long dress, and her hair was simply tied up with a wooden hairpin, making her look very simple and elegant.
Cheng Gui took a big gulp of tea and couldn't help but exclaim, "The tea in the palace is indeed different!"
He licked his lips, savoring the taste of the tea.
He looked at his daughter again: "Why are you still dressed so plainly?"
"My father doesn't understand me. I've never liked those bright and colorful things."
"I like this dress, my daughter." Consort Wan looked down at the plain dress she was wearing.
"You should dress more brightly, like the other ladies in the palace, and adorn yourself with hairpins and bracelets so that you can attract His Majesty."
Cheng Fushun disliked his father's constant lecturing of his eldest sister. After finishing his tea, he stood up, took out a handful of reddish-orange dried crabapples from his cloth bag, and presented them to Consort Wan.
"Big sister, these are dried crabapple blossoms. I personally supervised the cooks to wash and dry them, they're very clean!"
"Big sister, try it! It's sweet and sour, and it's really delicious!" Cheng Fushun grinned, revealing a set of white teeth.
Consort Wan smiled, picked up a crabapple, put it in her mouth, and slowly chewed to savor the taste.
Cheng Fushun stared at Qin Yanran with an expectant expression.
From a young age, her older sister treated her extremely well; whenever there was something delicious at home, her sister would always let her eat first.
Now that her eldest sister is in the deep palace, she naturally has to keep her sister in mind in everything she does.
"Mmm, little brother, that's thoughtful of you. It's really delicious."
"It tastes so much better than what you get in the palace!" Consort Wan smiled, looking very beautiful with her eyes crinkling and her lips light red.
"And, and these too, there are beef balls made by Aunt Liu, which my eldest sister used to love!"
"And Aunt Zhou's salted dried fish, fried fish, and sliced meat; Aunt Wen's brown sugar cake, osmanthus cake, and chrysanthemum cheese..."
Cheng Fushun introduced the story with great enthusiasm, his face beaming with anticipation for praise.
"Also, the coal used in the household was brought over for my elder sister as well."
"The coal in the eldest sister's palace is extremely smoky!"
As Cheng Fushun spoke, he pinched his nose and realized that this visit was different from the one he had made last winter. The palace was much warmer, and there was no more black smoke bothering them.
Consort Wan covered her mouth and laughed.
"Alright, stop dawdling like that, you're a grown man. Your sister can read it herself!" Cheng Qiang waved his hand impatiently.
"Thank you, little brother. Dong'er is playing in the courtyard. He keeps saying he misses his uncle."
"Really?!" Cheng Fushun clapped his hands happily, no longer paying attention to the two of them, and walked towards the courtyard to find Consort Wan's son, Yun Yidong.
"It seems much warmer in your palace this time than before," Cheng Qiang said, looking around the room.
"It seems that there isn't as much black smoke from the charcoal fire anymore."
"To be honest, we have to thank the Ninth Princess for this."
She still remembered that many years ago, Yun Duoduo accidentally came to her palace and was very uncomfortable from the smoke of the black charcoal fire. Later, it was Yun Duoduo who mentioned to the Empress that the palace servants were sycophantic and did not give the concubines the allowances they deserved. Only then was the charcoal fire in her palace replaced with good charcoal.
"Ninth Princess?" Cheng Qiang was puzzled. He seemed to have heard of this person, but he was not very familiar with her.
"She is our Emperor's youngest child, who is very favored and has been given the title of Princess Yourong."
Cheng Qiang nodded and continued, "According to you, this Ninth Princess is a very important person. Daughter, listen to your father, you must get along well with this Ninth Princess, you might need her in the future!"
Consort Wan did not respond to her father's words, but instead said, "Speaking of which, it has been a long time since I have seen the Ninth Princess. The Ninth Princess is about to come of age and will live in her own residence in the future, so I'm afraid it will be difficult to see her even once."
In Consort Wan's heart, she genuinely liked Yun Duoduo and did not want to use her as a tool to advance her own position.
"It seems that I will have to visit Fu Shuang Palace tomorrow."
As she spoke, Consort Wan refilled her father's empty teacup with tea.
Cheng Qiang looked at his daughter and asked, "How have you been in the palace lately?"
"You were originally the most favored concubine, and you even gave birth to a prince, so why hasn't your rank been promoted?"
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