In the Second Western Residence, in the western side room, the Fifth Fujin sat on the heated kang by the window, embroidering a purse.
She was truly too idle.
Although she was the primary wife (Di Fujin), her situation was quite awkward.
Before she married into the family, the Fifth Prince already had a secondary wife (Ce Fujin) beside him. She hailed from the prominent Manchu Guwalgiya clan and managed the household affairs.
After her marriage, she took over the management of the household. Unfortunately, she came from a humble background, had learned limited things, and lacked sufficient capability. She botched a few tasks, causing her mother-in-law to lose face and incurring the Fifth Prince’s displeasure.
Fearing that continuing to manage things would lead to more mistakes, she returned the authority over the household affairs back to Secondary Wife Guwalgiya.
Now, without needing to manage household affairs or take care of children, she could only focus her attention on the Fifth Prince, making seasonal clothes, shoes, socks, fan covers, and purses for him.
Hearing the news of the Ninth Fujin’s visit, she was very delighted. She quickly got off the kang and went out to welcome her.
Seeing that she had come out to the gate of the second courtyard to welcome her, Wuyunzhu was also happy in her heart. She warmly exchanged a hand-holding greeting with her.
The Fifth Fujin took the opportunity to hold her hand, asking as they walked, “Why has younger sister-in-law come over?”
Wuyunzhu pointed to the food box next to her. “I made a new kind of pastry today and wanted Fifth Sister-in-law to try it.”
Upon hearing there were pastries, the Fifth Fujin’s eyes lit up.
The cupcakes sent over on the first of the month had such a novel and wonderful taste; she still couldn’t stop thinking about them even now.
They entered the western side room and sat down, placing the pastries on the kang table.
“Fifth Sister-in-law, have a taste.”
“Then I won’t stand on ceremony with younger sister-in-law.”
The Fifth Fujin took one and put it in her mouth. Perhaps it suited her taste perfectly, as the smile on her face grew even brighter.
“Is this also a cream cake?”
She tasted a similar texture, but this one was chewier, and the cake part was softer and fluffier.
“This is called a cream puff (paofu).”
“What a unique name. Unlike other pastries where you can guess what they’re made of just from the name, this sounds more like a girl’s name.”
After finishing the one in her hand, the Fifth Fujin took another.
“It’s delicious. Ninth Sister-in-law is truly ingenious.”
She praised sincerely, but a hint of gloom surfaced in her heart.
Whether in looks or family background, she couldn’t compare to her ninth sister-in-law, and her temperament wasn’t pleasing either. With the ninth sister-in-law as a contrast, she feared her mother-in-law would dislike her even more in the future.
If the ninth sister-in-law had a child, wouldn’t she appear even more incompetent by comparison?
No, she had to hurry; she must get pregnant this year.
Thinking this, she put down the cream puff in her hand, planning to save a portion to use as an excuse to invite the Fifth Prince to her room when he returned.
The Fifth Prince doted on his ninth brother and was very attentive to matters concerning him. If she talked to him about these things, the Fifth Prince would be very willing to come over.
Seeing her put it down after just one taste, Wuyunzhu thought she didn’t like it and that the “delicious” she had just said was merely polite talk. Thus, she brought up another topic.
“Does Fifth Sister-in-law know how to speak Mongolian?”
The Fifth Fujin was somewhat surprised. “Ninth Sister-in-law doesn’t know?”
Wuyunzhu nodded.
Unlike princesses and clanswomen who had to marry into Mongolia upon coming of age and thus had to learn Mongolian from a young age, admitting she didn’t know Mongolian wasn’t considered shameful.
A trace of secret joy arose in the Fifth Fujin’s heart; she finally had something she was better at than her ninth sister-in-law.
But she had an introverted nature. Even if she was happy, it wasn’t obvious. She nodded reservedly, “I know a little. The Fifth Prince taught me after I entered the palace.”
The Fifth Prince had been raised by the Empress Dowager and had a deep affection for her. He knew that his imperial grandmother was getting on in years and that her days were lonely, requiring someone to accompany her and talk with her.
But as a man, it wasn’t appropriate for him to frequently go in and out of the inner palace, so he could only have his female relatives keep her company. The Empress Dowager disliked concubines, so the Fifth Prince entrusted the task of keeping the Empress Dowager company to her and even taught her Mongolian.
During that time, the Fifth Prince was meticulous and considerate toward her, which could be considered a rare good time.
Unaware of the inner workings of the Second Western Residence, Wuyunzhu heard these words and said, “Fifth Brother treats Fifth Sister-in-law really well. Is Fifth Sister-in-law willing to take on a student today?”
The Fifth Fujin’s smile stiffened for a moment, but upon hearing her later sentence, she couldn’t help but laugh. “When it comes to learning foreign languages, Ninth Brother is considered the most capable. Why leave a capable teacher and come looking for a mediocre one like me?”
Wuyunzhu silently complained in her heart. He can teach language, but he can’t impart the survival experience of a royal daughter-in-law.
“I just wanted to get closer to Sister-in-law~” Wuyunzhu pointed again to the pastries on the table. “Anyway, Fifth Sister-in-law has already accepted my tuition fee and cannot refuse anymore.”
The Fifth Fujin couldn’t help but reach out and pat her, feigning annoyance. “So after eating a little bit of your food, I end up being schemed against.”
After laughing, she opened the Mongolian textbook. “Alright, I’ll play the teacher for a day today.”
Wuyunzhu had transmigrated into a fetus. Before awakening her memories of her past life before the age of ten, the first language she learned was Manchu, which she was extremely familiar with.
Since Manchu was heavily influenced by Mongolian, there were many common vocabulary words between the two languages. With the Fifth Fujin pointing them out, her learning progress was astonishing.
While the two were wholly absorbed in teaching and learning, they heard a palace maid come in to announce a visitor.
“Fujin, Secondary Wife Liu is here and wishes to pay her respects to you.”
Hearing this, a faint look of displeasure surfaced on the Fifth Fujin’s face. “Tell her to come in.”
“Yes.”
A moment later, a young woman walked in.
She wore a camellia-colored Manchu dress. Her hair bun was adorned with a gem-encrusted kingfisher-feather hairpin with seed-pearl tassels dangling below it, which swayed slightly as she walked, possessing a lithe and graceful charm.
With just a glance, Wuyunzhu could guess that this secondary wife received generous treatment; her overall attire was even more luxurious than that of the primary wife.
Secondary Wife Liu arrived before the Fifth Fujin and slightly bent her knees. “Paying respects to Elder Sister.”
After giving her greeting, she took a seat opposite them before finally looking at Wuyunzhu and speaking gently: “This must be the Ninth Fujin, right? The Ninth Prince is truly fortunate to have such a beauty like you accompanying him.”
Wuyunzhu smiled and didn’t reply.
Based on their ties, she could call this secondary wife “Little Sister-in-law,” but since they had just met, they really weren’t that close yet.
According to the rules, this secondary wife was required to pay respects to her. However, this secondary wife had clearly forgotten and was putting on quite the airs of a “Little Sister-in-law.”
The Fifth Fujin felt somewhat awkward and asked Lady Liu: “Why has Younger Sister come?”
“I heard that the Ninth Fujin had come. I figured that we are all family after all, and it would be a bit discourteous if we hadn’t met, so I came. Elder Sister won’t blame me, right?”
Wuyunzhu picked up the teacup in front of her, took a sip, and praised, “Good tea.”
The Fifth Fujin didn’t catch the hidden meaning, thinking she genuinely liked it, so she said, “If Younger Sister-in-law likes it, I’ll send you an ounce later.”
Then she addressed Lady Liu: “Of course I wouldn’t.”
Secondary Wife Liu waved her silk fan and asked them, “What were Elder Sister and the Ninth Fujin talking about just now?”
The Fifth Fujin pointed to the textbook in front of her. “Learning Mongolian.”
“So it’s this.” The secondary wife smiled enchantingly. “What a coincidence, Brother Sheng is also learning Mongolian with the Fifth Prince.”
“The Fifth Prince says this child takes after him—smart and clever, learning everything instantly.”
The showing off in her tone couldn’t be hidden at all.
Wuyunzhu took another sip of tea, silently waiting for the rest of the performance.
The Fifth Fujin’s face grew increasingly stiff, but it was hard for her to say anything.
As if she hadn’t noticed, the secondary wife saw the plate of pastries on the table and couldn’t help but ask, “What is this?”
“It looks quite exquisite; I haven’t seen it before. How about Elder Sister let me take some back so Brother Sheng can taste it too?”
“Brother Sheng will definitely remember Elder Sister’s kindness.”
The Fifth Fujin was still planning to use this to lure the Fifth Prince; how could she agree?
Besides, this was explicitly given to her, not to the entire Second Western Residence. Like the cupcakes sent over yesterday, when she said to let them taste some, the Fifth Prince carved out a huge piece for Secondary Wife Liu.
But she lacked confidence and didn’t want to earn a reputation for being harsh on concubines and illegitimate children, so she just wrung her handkerchief without making a sound.
Not making a sound was a refusal. Not saying it out loud was to leave some face for each other, hoping the other party would be sensible and drop the request themselves.
But Secondary Wife Liu was not a sensible person. The atmosphere instantly froze.
Wuyunzhu watched leisurely, wanting to see who would admit defeat first.
Unexpectedly, a sudden change occurred: Secondary Wife Liu stood up, walked to the kang table, and prepared to take them directly.
At this point, Wuyunzhu couldn’t watch any longer.
“Although the Secondary Wife has the heart of a loving mother, these pastries are not suitable for children. These pastries are baked, and children will easily suffer from internal heat if they eat them.”
“If the Secondary Wife wants rare pastries, you can tell the palace servants to go check the Imperial Kitchen; they definitely have good things there.”
It just means spending a bit more silver.
“So that’s how it is.”
Only then did Secondary Wife Liu back down unwillingly.
After she left, the Fifth Fujin first breathed a sigh of relief, then a wave of grievance welled up, teardrops swirling in her reddened eyes.
“I’m truly sorry, I’ve made younger sister-in-law watch a joke today.”
“I am truly useless.”
Wuyunzhu patted her back. “Why does Sister-in-law say that?”
Thinking of what she had just seen, she also sighed softly. “I feel bad for Sister-in-law.”
Hearing these words, the Fifth Fujin couldn’t hold it in any longer, and her tears fell in a rush.
Wuyunzhu gently patted her back. Cry, cry, venting it out is always better than keeping it bottled up.
After she calmed down, Wuyunzhu asked her: “Has this secondary wife always been this arrogant?”
The Fifth Fujin shook her head.
“When I married into the family, she was just an attendant (Gege), and her temperament was very well-behaved.
“It was only after she gave birth to the Prince’s eldest son and established her footing in the manor, while I had remained childless, that she lost her former submissiveness.
“This year, our Lord received the title of Beile. According to the rules, he can have two secondary wives under his name. The Lord immediately requested for her to be conferred the title of secondary wife, making her a proper member of the royal family recorded in the jade register.
“After that, she took on this temperament.”
As she spoke, she wiped the corners of her eyes with her handkerchief again.
Wuyunzhu comforted her: “Sister-in-law cannot sulk in secret like this; it’s the most damaging to the body.
“Sister-in-law shouldn’t always think about lacking confidence. We were bestowed in marriage by Khan Ama, escorted in an eight-bearer sedan chair by the Ministers of the Imperial Household Department and the Commander of the Guards.
“As long as we ourselves make no mistakes, no one below can overstep us. This is our greatest source of confidence.”
The Fifth Fujin still shook her head. The ninth sister-in-law has only just married in; she doesn’t understand the ways of the palace at all.
Rules are dead, but people are alive.
If you lose power, the servants below have plenty of ways to slight you and trip you up.
Back in the day, the Empress Dowager was exactly like this and suffered many grievances, which is why she still doesn’t show a good face to women from the Donggo clan even today.
The Fifth Fujin held Wuyunzhu’s hand, giving her a heartfelt reminder.
“Younger sister-in-law, your sister-in-law’s lesson is right in front of you. You must pay attention, hurry up and have a child early on to secure this position of primary wife firmly, and don’t let those people below harbor restless thoughts.”
Have a child…
Wuyunzhu silently shook her head in her heart.
She was only sixteen, and her body hadn’t fully matured yet. If she got pregnant now, the risks were too great. She planned to consider this matter in a couple of years.
Her mother had said the same thing and had prepared contraceptive medicine before she entered the palace. Every time after doing the deed, she would secretly take it.
However, the lifespan of people nowadays wasn’t long, and the policy of early marriage and early childbirth was implemented. Men at 16 and women at 15 were considered adults and could marry and have children.
This concept was deeply rooted. She wouldn’t forcefully try to convince the other party, and she cherished her own body more, so she just agreed verbally.
After keeping the Fifth Fujin company for a while longer and seeing her mood improve, Wuyunzhu got up to take her leave.
Returning to the Fourth Eastern Residence, Wuyunzhu had her lunch and took a nap for half a shichen.
As the weather grew hotter, her spirit became increasingly tired. She had someone brew a pot of mint and chrysanthemum tea to refresh her mind.
After drinking the herbal tea, her mind gradually cleared. She sat at her desk, finished drawing the design plans from the morning, and picked up the Mongolian textbook to review.
When focused on a task, time flies by quickly. In a flash, it was time for those at the front to finish work.
Sure enough, just as she was thinking about it, Yintang returned, followed by three young eunuchs carrying small boxes, looking very strained.
“These are?”
“Festival gifts,” Yintang said beamingly. “I originally thought the Ministry of Works was a ‘clean’ yamen (with no extra income), but I didn’t expect the perks to be quite generous.”
“Weren’t we worrying before that since Khan Ama docked my salary, our expenses would be tight? Who knew we could still receive festival gifts?
“I’ve asked around clearly. Coming up are the Mid-Autumn Festival, as well as mine and Fujin’s birthdays, so we can collect three more times. Now we don’t have to worry anymore, right?”
Wuyunzhu understood his happiness. Who wouldn’t be happy receiving welfare subsidies on their second day of work?
But young man, are you sure we don’t have to worry anymore?
She looked at him with a beaming smile.