Before you knew it, the first month of the lunar calendar was over, and Youqing's wool sweater was finished. When she put it on, it felt very warm and snug against her skin, and it was also slightly elastic.
The night before she wore it, Emperor Kangxi had chosen her name. While she was bathing, he noticed her clothes and found the style rather unusual. He casually asked, "I've never seen this fabric before. How did you obtain it?"
Youqing explained, "This concubine hastily made it with wool yarn; I hope Your Majesty will forgive her."
Emperor Kangxi was taken aback: "Wool yarn? Has wool been woven into yarn?"
Youqing nodded: "Yes."
Kangxi immediately became interested and picked up the wool sweater that Youqing had taken off. He touched it and found it to be soft and comfortable, and felt that it would be very warm to wear.
How did you come up with the idea of knitting clothes with wool yarn?
It was naturally something I came up with by standing on the shoulders of giants, but I couldn’t say that. So Youqing said, “I just messed around with it when I had nothing to do. I didn’t think about it on purpose.”
Upon seeing the wool sweater, Kangxi thought of the cattle and sheep that roamed the Mongolian grasslands. If wool could be woven into such warm clothes, Mongolia would suffer less from the harsh winters.
"You are a thoughtful person."
After taking a bath, Kangxi looked at the scarf knitted by Youqing. It wasn't that she wanted to show it to him; Kangxi saw it himself, and Youqing took the opportunity to introduce it.
The next day, after leaving Yongshou Palace, Emperor Kangxi summoned the minister in charge of the Imperial Household Department and gave instructions regarding the wool yarn and wool cloth.
After giving his instructions, Kangxi did not forget the meritorious officials and sent a lot of things to Youqing's side.
Emperor Kangxi was very generous to those he liked, so much so that the concubines in the harem couldn't help but feel angry when they heard about it. Consort Chun was the most angry. She felt that everyone was laughing at her. She was pregnant, but the reward she received was less than a fraction of what Consort Shu received.
With a "crack," another teacup shattered.
The old nanny beside her lowered her head and picked up the broken pieces on the ground. Although Consort Chun had a bad temper before, she was not as prone to throwing things as she was now. The old nanny wanted to say a few words of advice, but Consort Chun's personal maid spoke first: "Your Highness, please calm down. How long can you serve others with your beauty? As long as Your Highness gives birth to a prince, there will be a time when you laugh and Yongshou Palace cries."
Upon hearing this, Chun's complexion indeed improved considerably.
The old nanny standing nearby wanted to say that it was inappropriate to say such things, that they should not say them, because if someone overheard them, it would be a handle against them. Besides, although it was true that one had to be able to give birth in the harem, she could tell that His Majesty's interest in Consort Shu was not just a passing fancy, and it would probably take some time before Consort Shu fell out of favor.
But in the end, he couldn't bring himself to say it.
In the blink of an eye, another month passed. Consort Chun's pregnancy was stable, and the weather outside was gradually warming up. Consort Tong sent invitations to various palaces, saying that she would be holding a spring flower viewing banquet.
Upon receiving the message, Youqing looked at the branches outside that hadn't yet sprouted new buds and asked Chengying, "Have all the flowers arrived this season?"
Chengying replied, "The gardeners in the palace are clever and attentive to the flowers and plants, and quite a few have bloomed."
"No wonder then. It's indeed difficult to refuse the Imperial Noble Consort's invitation. By the way, did the Imperial Noble Consort send an invitation to Consort Chun?"
"I've sent it. I heard that Consort Chun is having the Imperial Household Department prepare suitable clothes for her!"
Youqing asked with slight surprise, "Isn't she pregnant? Why is she still attending the flower viewing banquet?"
Large gatherings are the most likely to cause problems. Pregnant women shouldn't stay indoors and rest, but instead go to crowded places.
This level of intelligence?
Is everything really okay?
It's said that the women in Kangxi's harem were all quite intelligent, so why does she think their intelligence is worrying?
Cheng Ying hesitated, "This servant doesn't know what Consort Chun is thinking either."
When Youqing heard that Chun was going, she was reluctant to go, fearing that she might pick up something that she couldn't wash off. Chun was nothing special, but the baby in her belly was precious. Historically, Chun, one of the concubines in Kangxi's harem, had never given birth.
It's uncertain whether this child will be born; she's currently in the eye of the storm.
Thinking about it this way, Youqing felt even more strongly that it would be best not to attend the flower-viewing banquet.
But I can't say it directly.
She grew a lot of medicinal herbs on the farm, so faking illness would be easy for her.
So, on the night before the flower-viewing banquet, Youqing fell ill.
Youqing had no choice but to decline the flower-viewing banquet.
On the day of the flower viewing banquet, Youqing was "recuperating" when the banquet was far from peaceful. Just as Youqing was dozing off, she heard a commotion outside.
"What happened?"
Youqing asked aloud.
Sangzhu rushed in and said, "Master, something happened at the flower viewing banquet today. Consort Chun fell down. We don't know the specifics yet. It was a eunuch who made Consort Chun fall. The eunuch was tortured and interrogated. He actually said that Master ordered him to push Consort Chun."
Upon hearing this, Youqing was speechless. This was like a disaster falling from the sky; she couldn't avoid it, and now she was being dragged into it. It was truly...
"Did the Imperial Noble Consort send people to interrogate him?"
Sangzhu nodded: "Yes."
"Send someone to check on what's going on with Consort Chun."
Chun agreed to fall, which was naturally not her doing, but there's always a chance that someone might have taken advantage of her oversight. In the harem, innocence isn't something you can guarantee just because you haven't done anything wrong.
That evening, Chun finally received news from the other side: the baby in her womb could not be saved, and she had suffered a miscarriage and would have to stay in bed for a long time.
Chun's stomach was fine, and now they started to figure out how the problem had happened in the first place.
The fact that Youqing was found out in the first trial naturally raises many questions.
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