Yiqing also froze for a moment and looked at Baoqing, speaking tentatively, “Sister?”
“Si-ster~” Baoqing nodded his head happily. “Si-ster… play…”
“The First Prince is speaking now,” Concubine Nara said, unable to hide the joy on her face. She smiled as she pressed her lips together. “It just shows how close he is to the princess, that the very first word he says is ‘sister’.”
A trace of envy flashed across Concubine Magiya’s eyes. She wished her own daughter Yartan could speak at this age too.
The Empress Dowager smiled so broadly she could barely close her mouth. “Come here, Baoqing, call me Grandmother.”
Hearing his name called, Baoqing looked toward the Empress Dowager in confusion, then turned his head back and continued staring at Yiqing.
Yartan’s view of her sister was blocked. After waiting for some time and realising the person in front of her had no intention of moving away, she crawled with great effort over to Yiqing’s other side.
Seeing her crawl over, Baoqing was not pleased. He was just about to crawl across again to place himself between the two sisters when Concubine Nara picked him up in her arms.
Suddenly finding himself suspended in mid-air, Baoqing instinctively kicked his legs out and looked thoroughly displeased. But Concubine Nara paid no attention to his mood; she carried him back to her seat and began to teach him the proper terms of address for everyone around him.
She started with Grandmother, then moved on to Mother, followed by Great-Grandmother and Father.
Baoqing’s eyes began to roll around and he looked completely bewildered as he listened.
But through his mother’s persistent efforts, Baoqing eventually learned all these terms, though he used them randomly and incorrectly. Sometimes he would call the Empress Dowager Father, and other times he would call the Grand Empress Dowager Mother.
On one occasion, when Kangxi came to pay his respects, Baoqing called out to him twice—once addressing him as Great-Grandmother and the next time as Mother.
These two calls drew laughter from everyone in the Palace of Compassion and Peace, and even Kangxi himself could not help but smile. It took another half a month or so before Baoqing finally managed to match the correct terms of address to the right people.
By that time, Yiqing’s speech had improved to the point where she no longer needed her two nurses by her side just to be understood. She still spoke somewhat slowly and unclearly, and could only manage a few common words, but for the most part, what she said could be understood by anyone listening.
Everyone around her enjoyed making her talk. Whether it was the Empress Dowager, Kangxi, or the Empress, they could never resist speaking to her whenever they saw her, just to hear her soft voice form simple words.
Nearly a year had passed since Yiqing entered the palace, and now her first birthday was fast approaching.
A few days before the birthday celebration, Empress Hešeri learned from a medical examination that she was pregnant. This filled Kangxi with even greater joy, and he decided that Yiqing’s birthday feast would be held with special grandeur and celebration.
Matters involving Wu Sangui and other warlords in the outer court had been weighing heavily on Kangxi’s mind, but whenever he returned to the inner palace and saw Empress Hešeri’s calm expression and the innocent, happy smiles of Yiqing and Baoqing, he felt his worries and troubles fade away.
On the day of the celebration, Prince Gong came to the palace with his wife and his secondary consort, Lady Jin.
Yiqing had met Prince Gong several times before, and every time he visited, he would ask her to call him Father. Whenever he said this, Yiqing would glance at the Grand Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager, and seeing that they raised no objection, she could not help but wonder in her heart.
Was it acceptable in the Qing Dynasty to call more than one person Father?
Prince Gong was summoned by Kangxi to the Hall of Mental Cultivation, leaving only his wife and Lady Jin in the Palace of Compassion and Peace.
Prince Gong’s wife looked at Yiqing, who was being held in the Empress Dowager’s arms, and reached out with a smile to take her into her own embrace. She examined Yiqing’s face—fair-skinned, rosy-cheeked, and glowing with health—and could see clearly that the child was being cared for with the greatest attention and devotion.
“You hold her too,” Prince Gong’s wife said, turning to look at Lady Jin who stood behind her as quietly and unnoticeably as if she were invisible.
Lady Jin started slightly, raised her head a little, and gave Prince Gong’s wife a cautious smile before taking Yiqing gently into her own arms.
She looked at Yiqing with the softest expression, carefully examining every inch of skin visible on the child’s body, as if she needed to be certain that her daughter was living well and happily within the palace walls before she could feel reassured.
She had occasionally heard the prince mention that the princess was greatly favoured and cherished here, but she could not truly set her mind at ease until she had seen it with her own eyes. Now, seeing the warm smile on the Empress Dowager’s face as she held the child, and watching the Empress feed Yiqing with such natural tenderness and familiarity, she finally felt completely reassured.
It was only because of her daughter that she had been granted the rank of secondary consort. Had it not been for this, given her family background, she would most likely have remained simply one of the prince’s lower-ranking consorts for her entire life. She had gained status and favour through her daughter, yet she was unable to care for her personally, and could only hold her or look upon her during rare moments like this.
“Yiqing… my princess,” Lady Jin said with a gentle smile, her eyes crinkling warmly. “You grow more beautiful every day.”
Empress Hešeri knew full well that this secondary consort was Yiqing’s birth mother. Seeing how she stared intently at the child, never looking away for a moment, she could tell how deeply she missed her daughter. She spoke kindly, “I feel as though I have found a kindred spirit in both of you. Why not send word often and come visit me in the palace to talk whenever you wish?”
“I would be delighted to come and keep Your Highness company,” Prince Gong’s wife replied with a smile. “That is, of course, as long as you do not think us foolish or unworthy of your time.”
A look of excitement flashed across Lady Jin’s eyes. If the princess’s wife was willing to bring her along when she visited the palace, would that mean she too could come often and see her daughter?
Life in the inner quarters of Prince Gong’s residence was generally peaceful and harmonious. The princess’s wife was not a harsh or unkind woman, and treated all the other consorts living there with generosity and fairness. Lady Jin came from a very humble background; her father did not even hold an official government post, and she had always conducted herself with great caution and care while living in the prince’s household.
The only time she had ever shown any sign of resistance or protest was when her daughter was taken away to the palace, but in the end, she could only watch helplessly as the child was carried off. What came afterwards was an imperial edict granting her the rank of secondary consort, along with words of comfort from the prince, who assured her that the child would live a happy and prosperous life within the imperial household.
Lady Jin’s greatest fear had always been that the members of the imperial family would not value or treat her daughter with the care and respect she deserved. Now that she saw how the child was raised by the Empress Dowager and loved by the Empress, all the worries that had weighed on her heart fell away completely. When she also learned that she might have opportunities to come to the palace and see her daughter in the future, her heart was filled only with gratitude.
Yiqing did not understand why the woman holding her seemed so emotional and moved. Before she was brought to the palace, she had been too young to see things clearly around her, and had spent most of her time sleeping, so she had no memory of who had cared for her in those early days.
But she could feel the warmth and tenderness radiating from the woman holding her, and instinctively drew closer, rubbing her soft little face gently against Lady Jin’s clothing.
Sensing this show of affection, Lady Jin’s eyes crinkled once more with happiness.
After spending some time in the Palace of Compassion and Peace, everyone moved to the grand hall where Yiqing’s birthday celebration was to be held.
Yiqing sat in the Empress Dowager’s arms, looking at all the fine dishes spread across the table and swallowing hard. Although the feast was held in her honour, she was still too young to eat any of it.
Tempted by the delicious food before her, and still sitting comfortably on her grandmother’s lap, Yiqing suddenly acted on a childish impulse. She reached out her small hand and grabbed hold of the nearest dish—a plate of braised pork coated in rich, glossy sauce.