Two months passed in Yingtai. During those two months, Kangxi summoned Youqing the most, and also occasionally visited Consort Tong, Consort Wenxi, and the four other consorts, sometimes staying overnight, but without any favoritism.
Kangxi also summoned other concubines, including low-ranking concubines like Consort Liang who had children, a few times, but it was all just for show, all talk and no action.
As the weather gets hotter, Youqing has considered escaping since arriving at Yingtai. However, her residence is too close to Hanyuan Palace, and if she were to suddenly disappear, Sangzhu and the others would be implicated.
She never boasted about her moral standards as a saint, but Sangzhu and the others were devoted to her. She could escape, but Sangzhu and the others would inevitably suffer a terrible fate.
Emperors were most adept at punishing those who shared their crimes.
Youqing never expected that Kangxi would dote on her for so long. She originally thought it was just a passing fancy, but it has been almost a year and Kangxi still hasn't gotten tired of her.
As long as Emperor Kangxi doesn't favor her, she will naturally find a way to extricate herself.
She had considered faking her death, but she was almost always by someone's side. If something really happened, Kangxi, in his rage, would also hold Sangzhu and the others responsible.
She dared not gamble on Kangxi's thoughts; even now, Youqing still doesn't fully understand what Kangxi is thinking.
So this stalemate can only continue.
In September, the weather in the capital finally cooled down, so Emperor Kangxi ordered the troops to move back to the Forbidden City.
Returning to Yongshou Palace, a familiar yet unfamiliar feeling welled up in her heart. She felt herself starting to feel depressed again. It was as if there was some kind of switch in the palace that made her feel bad as soon as she moved in.
Youqing felt she couldn't continue like this. Kangxi was still interested in her, and there was no way to escape from the palace for the time being. So she could only find something to do to pass the time and keep herself busy so she wouldn't overthink things.
Youqing was undecided about what to do. She wasn't interested in skincare products, and doing them once or twice occasionally could be a change of pace, but she felt she couldn't keep doing them all the time.
What about the other side?
She couldn't remember either.
In modern times, her hobbies include staying home when she's not working, watching TV series, reading novels, and sometimes baking desserts. But in ancient times, she wouldn't be able to pursue these hobbies.
Watching TV series is out of the question. There was opera in ancient times, but she only thought it looked good, she couldn't understand it, so she wasn't interested.
It's a novel!
Although there were storybooks in ancient times, which could be considered novels, what were they all about? The semi-vernacular language gave her a headache, and the plots were clichéd and the content was completely out of line with her values.
As a modern person reading stories written by impoverished scholars from ancient times, she found the values and views on love expressed in the stories unacceptable, and she couldn't finish one of them.
As for desserts, her interest in them wasn't enough to make her spend every day in the kitchen. Besides, modern desserts and ancient pastries are two different things. Nowadays, making desserts is easy; you just buy all the ingredients, follow the proportions, and have special measuring tools.
Making pastries in ancient times was physically demanding work, which she couldn't do.
I couldn't figure out what she did to kill time, no matter how hard I tried.
At this point, Youqing began to understand why all the women in the harem were so keen on palace intrigue; they were probably just bored.
As long as you don't make mistakes or offend anyone, the Imperial Household Department won't make things too difficult for someone who isn't favored. After all, the Imperial Household Department is also afraid of someone in the harem suddenly rising to power, so they won't offend everyone they meet.
Therefore, in the imperial harem, the lives of all the concubines were better than those of ordinary wealthy families. They hardly had to do anything, their meals were provided by the imperial kitchen, their expenses were covered by the Imperial Household Department, and they received a monthly stipend.
Without the worry of survival, people become idle. When people are idle, they naturally look for something to do. In a complex place like the imperial harem, palace intrigue is actually a way to pass the time.
"Sangzhu, what do you think I should do to pass the time?"
Sangzhu knew she was just bored and killing time, but she didn't know either.
At this moment, people from the Imperial Household Department arrived.
"Is there anything I can do for you today, Father-in-law?"
The young eunuch explained, "After the New Year, Your Majesty asked for wool yarn and wool cloth, but the Imperial Household Department wasn't familiar with these things, so they didn't have much. Later, His Majesty ordered the Imperial Household Department to collect a lot of wool, and they just produced a batch of colored wool yarn and wool cloth. I wonder if Your Majesty still needs them."
Youqing never underestimated the wisdom of the ancient working people. She gave them an idea, and they even figured out how to dye the fabric. Their efficiency was truly worthy of the Imperial Household Department.
Since that's been said, Youqing was indeed a little curious, so she smiled and said, "Really? Then I'll trouble you to make the trip, Eunuch. I'll have Zhu Qiaozheng and the others go with you to the Imperial Household Department to get it."
"How could I let Eunuch Zhu make an extra trip? Just tell me how much you need, and I'll bring it to you personally."
Youqing didn't stand on ceremony. Since the Imperial Household Department came frequently, Youqing gave them many rewards. As for the silver used for the rewards, it naturally all came from Emperor Kangxi.
Emperor Kangxi was generous; there was no reason for him to refuse money that was already in his hands.
The Imperial Household Department sent it, probably to curry favor.
"Then I'll trouble you. I'll have Zhu Qiaozheng take you there."
The people from the Imperial Household Department left, but soon returned, leaving behind a lot of wool yarn and wool cloth before departing.
Looking at the various colored wool yarns and wool fabrics in front of her, Youqing was a little stunned. There were so many! She originally thought that at most there would be a few bolts of cloth and a few rolls of each type of wool yarn, but in reality, the Imperial Household Department sent a full ten people to carry these things over.
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