The Qintianjian calculated the dates and found that the weather on the seventh day of the third month would be mild, making it an auspicious day for travel. Based on the estimated pace of the princess's procession, it would take approximately three months to reach the Khalkha royal court in Mobei, Kuren. After reporting to Kangxi, this date was set for the departure.
Fucha, the General Manager of the Imperial Household Department, made a special trip to the Fourth Princess's residence to deliver the news.
Although Fucha was nominally in charge of the Fourth Princess's household affairs, he was a figurehead in practice, as he was overwhelmed with responsibilities and oversaw the affairs of several other princely residences. This was the first time Muxue had received him at her residence.
General Manager Fucha said, "The journey to Mobei is indeed a long one. The segment from the capital through Juyong Pass and Zhangjiakou to Guihua City is manageable. However, the stretch from Guihua City to Kuren consists mostly of grasslands and is more difficult to traverse."
Hearing him speak with such familiarity about Mongolia, Muxue asked, "You must have accompanied Khan Father on his expeditions, haven't you?"
"I had the honor of accompanying him during the expedition against the Dzungars." Fucha's expression turned somewhat sheepish. "However, there was a battle last year where the march went poorly, and I lost my military rank. Fortunately, the Master was merciful and allowed me to remain as the General Manager of the Imperial Household Department."
"Victory and defeat are common for soldiers; it's inevitable for even the best to stumble sometimes," Muxue comforted him. She then asked, "Along such a long route, will our soldiers be stationed all the way?"
There was a moment of silence.
Fucha lowered his head to take a sip of tea before slowly replying, "There are always garrisons along the road to Guihua City. Beyond that, the presence is sparse. But Princess, do not worry—the Khalkha regions will send people to escort you and ensure your safety."
Hearing this, Muxue understood the situation.
She smiled and pointed to the milk pastry on the fruit table. "These snacks taste quite good. Please, General Manager, have some."
After finishing his tea and snacks and chatting for a while longer, Fucha took his leave.
Muxue began to organize her luggage.
The servants of the princess's residence had only rested for two days following the pressure of the New Year festival before they were busy again, inventorying items and preparing wagons. They had to report the number of mule carts and horse carriages needed to the Imperial Household Department so they could make the necessary preparations.
Among the luggage, the most important items were divided into two categories: gold, silver, and jewelry, and precious objects. These were organized by teams led by Nanny Wu and Mama Zhao, respectively.
Mama Zhao asked, "Should we bring the furniture made of nanmu wood, rosewood, and huanghuali wood? I heard there is no fixed residence over there, so I don't know if there will be a place for them."
"Bring the precious wood furniture; there will always be a place to display it," Muxue said. "As for the common items, pick some good ones to gift to the Guoluoluo family, and give the rest to Cui Gu to let the pawnshop handle them."
The one-way trip to Mobei would take two or three months, and once she left, she didn't know when she would return. This precious furniture was all registered with the Imperial Household Department and couldn't be sold at a pawnshop for cash. Leaving it here would only benefit someone else, so she might as well take it with her.
It took twelve days for Nanny Wu and Mama Zhao to organize, register, and catalog everything.
This was essentially her entire net worth. When Muxue received the ledger, she flipped through it carefully twice.
When she reached the section on silk fabrics, she let out a small "Huh?"
There were two extra sets of Gu Embroidery Changyi.
She asked, "Where did these Gu Embroidery Changyi come from?"
Nanny Wu replied, "They were New Year's Gifts sent by the Fan family, the imperial merchants. I mentioned it to you at the time, but you were in a hurry to attend the palace banquet and didn't look closely."
Thinking back, Muxue recalled the incident. Curious about what Gu Embroidery looked like, she had someone bring them out for a look.
Opening a rosewood box and lifting the covering cloth, the Gu Embroidery patterns within were revealed. One featured squirrels climbing a grape trellis, so lifelike they truly looked like a painting. The other was a pattern of butterflies resting on peonies, equally exquisite.
Muxue praised, "No wonder this Gu Embroidery is world-famous; the craftsmanship is truly superb."
Nanny Wu said, "Since the Princess likes them, you should try them on. I'll call the seamstresses to adjust the waist for you."
After all, these were robes sent from outside and were unlikely to fit perfectly.
As Muxue put on the Changyi, two maids skilled in needlework stood by to take measurements. Since it would take some time, Muxue asked Nanny Wu, "What is the background of this Fan family?"
"They are imperial merchants of the Imperial Household Department, personally appointed by the late Emperor. They surely wish to show their respect to the Princess." Beyond that, Nanny Wu didn't know much more.
This was a shortcoming of the nannies and matrons; they paid close attention to the movements of the inner Mingfu, but knew little about officials and public figures on the outside.
Muxue was quite interested in the term "imperial merchant." She had already been looking for ways to increase her income, and perhaps these imperial merchants could be of use.
In the afternoon, she summoned the Changli, Mu Sen, and asked him for detailed information on the Fan family.
The Changli had originally come from the Imperial Household Department and was well-informed on such matters. Seeing the Princess ask, he told her everything.
It turned out the Fan family was an imperial merchant family that had served the court since the early years of the Qing Dynasty, with ancestral roots in Jiexiu, Shanxi. Last year, when the Emperor went on an expedition against Galdan, the Fan family had transported military grain. This was considered a service to the state, and they were even awarded official titles as a reward, making them one of the preeminent imperial merchant families.
Imperial merchants from Shanxi? Since they had been responsible for transporting military grain, they likely had business interests in Guihua City and Khalkha. Muxue pondered this and roughly understood why they had sent her gifts.
In the future, there would likely be occasions to deal with them.
On the day she tried on the altered Gu Embroidery Changyi, Cui Gu from the Rong'an Pawnshop happened to come by to pay her respects. Seeing the Princess dressed in Gu Embroidery, she couldn't help but sigh in admiration.
"Thanks to the Princess, I have truly had my eyes opened today. I have long heard of the fame of Gu Embroidery, and seeing it today, it truly lives up to its reputation."
Nanny Wu was puzzled. "Is it really that famous? Judging by the name, is it embroidered by someone named Gu?"
"Not entirely," Cui Gu said. "I heard that the woman who created Gu Embroidery was a Madam Miao."
Muxue had known the name Gu Embroidery before but wasn't clear about its founder. Hearing this, she grew curious. "Which 'Miao' is it?"
"To answer the Princess, it is the 'Miao' that means absurd," Cui Gu said.
"Then I don't understand," Muxue said strangely. "Why isn't it called Miao Embroidery? Why call it Gu Embroidery instead?"
Cui Gu lowered her eyes and smiled. "Because this Madam Miao was the concubine of Master Gu. After Madam Miao, there was another woman named Han Yuan who achieved the highest level of mastery in this 'painting-style embroidery' technique. Han Yuan was the wife of the young Master Gu. So, they just called it all 'Gu Embroidery'."
For a moment, Muxue didn't know what to say. After a long while, she muttered, "Isn't that just crediting the wrong person…"
The concubine's skill and the wife's technique all became the glorious reputation of the Gu family.
Nanny Wu understood it perfectly. "That's how it always is. Whether a wife or a concubine, in the end, they belong to the Gu family. It's all the same."
Muxue curled her lip. "How is that the same? If I were to one day achieve great things like Madam Miao, but posterity credited it to my consort instead, I would be sick with rage."
Nanny Wu and the others all laughed.
"The Princess has high spirits; the consort wouldn't dare," Aunt Zhao said with a smile.
Muxue still kept the corners of her mouth turned down, looking displeased.
Seeing this, Nanny Wu specifically sent someone to the Imperial Kitchen to tell them to prepare something delicious.
Eunuch Qian from the kitchen heard this and decided to make a hot pot.
While the weather hadn't warmed up yet, a steaming hot pot was perfect.
He took prime lamb tenderloin, lamb shank, chuck, and flank, sliced them thinly, and arranged them on plates. Additionally, he used lamb spine to simmer a casserole pot, stewing it until it was tender and falling off the bone. The mingling scents of sauce and meat wafted out of the kitchen courtyard even before the lid was opened.
Eunuch Qian followed the young eunuchs delivering the dishes to the main courtyard to serve the meal. After a few bites, he indeed saw the Master's expression soften.
He secretly breathed a sigh of relief, feeling a faint sense of pride.
After the Master finished her dinner, Eunuch Qian led the others to clear the table. In the palace, they would usually cook many extra dishes for the sake of prestige, and the dishes the masters didn't touch would be given to the servants to eat.
However, since the Fourth Princess had left the palace to open her own residence, she practiced strict frugality and preferred that the amount of food be just right. Thus, there weren't many leftovers, which made cleaning up easy but left the servants with nothing to scavenge. Instead, the Princess allocated a monthly portion of oil and grain specifically for the servants, saying it was their "canteen" allowance. Even the lowest-ranking young eunuch could eat minced meat every day.
The Princess also never beat the servants. Their lives were actually quite comfortable, with only one downside: they had to go to Mobei.
After leading his people to carry the table out, Eunuch Qian happened to see the Chief Eunuch Yan Xi walking out of the courtyard, so he stepped forward to greet him.
"Don't bother," Yan Xi said with a half-smile. "In front of the Master, you have more face than I do."
"Oh, those words are enough to make me die of shame," Eunuch Qian said, bowing low. "All the eunuchs in this residence know that you are the Chief."
He said eagerly, "I've also prepared a bottle of fine wine for you. If you'd honor me, we could share it in the straight room."
"That works."
Eunuch Qian had his apprentice prepare two side dishes to go with the wine and sent them to the straight room.
After a few cups of warm wine, Yan Xi sighed. "Over these past few months, I've realized something. People like us will never get close to the Princess. Those two Matrons block the way; who would ever notice you?"
"The days ahead are long," Eunuch Qian said. "Once we're truly on the grasslands, there will be plenty of places where we're needed. Can those nannies and matrons keep running around all day? For things outside the residence, she'll have to rely on you."
"When you put it that way, going to Mobei might actually have some benefits."
The two of them fell silent. Both knew that neither was willing to leave the prosperity of the capital for a desolate place like Mobei where nothing grew.
Originally, they had become eunuchs, severing their lineage, precisely because they wanted to carve out a future for themselves. Unfortunately, rising through the ranks of eunuchs was extremely difficult. Those who served before the Emperor were first-class. Those serving favored concubines were second-class. The third class served in the residences of princes and princesses. Although they could earn a rank, they were far inferior to eunuchs of the same level in the palace.
Furthermore, serving in a princess's residence was a step below serving in a prince's residence. After all, a princess was not like an imperial prince; she could never show her face in the imperial court, so there was no future to speak of. Consequently, those sent to a princess's residence by the Imperial Household Department were mostly rejected or redundant personnel. Of the ten eunuchs in this residence, two were elderly and one suffered from a chronic illness. Only five or six were actually capable of hard work.
But even if they didn't want to go, they had no choice. Unless they died, they were going.
When the news first spread that eunuchs were being selected for the Fourth Princess, two eunuchs were so terrified by the prospect of going to Mobei that they conspired to run away. Before they could even flee, word leaked out, and they were immediately taken to the Shenxing Department. They were given dozens of strokes of the board; though they survived, it was estimated they wouldn't live more than two years. Word had it they were later sent to the Shengjing Imperial Tombs to pull weeds, which would surely hasten their deaths.
"It's all fate," Yan Xi said, raising his cup to clink with Eunuch Qian's.
He hoped that something good would happen in Mobei.