Dan Qing had no idea she’d just unwittingly bent the principles of a father who otherwise held quite firm views on raising his children, she simply enjoyed Kangxi’s indulgence, feeling her own plan to secure a powerful backer had advanced another step.
Now, next, she needed to think carefully about how to help rescue this young, still-being-bullied future emperor of hers.
“Han Ama, fourth brother’s clothes are too small,”
Dan Qing had sharp eyes and had noticed the problem right away, only choosing to mention it now. “Grandmother Su said children who are growing shouldn’t wear small clothes or small shoes, or they won’t grow tall.”
Kangxi, who had just been puzzling over his son’s short stature, now noticed that the sleeves were indeed a good half-inch too short, and thought to himself that Imperial Noble Consort Tongiya’s wish to send Yinzhen away hadn’t been baseless worry after all, there really was a servant somewhere secretly shortchanging his son.
Yinzhen, though not as calculating as Dan Qing, genuinely cared about protecting Imperial Noble Consort Tongiya, fearing she’d be blamed by Kangxi, and hurried to say, “Han Ama, Mother already arranged for new clothes to be made for me a few days ago, they just aren’t finished yet.”
Dan Qing had never known how long it took to make a piece of clothing before, always assuming it must take quite some time, but ever since moving to Cining Palace and receiving so many clothes from the Grand Empress Dowager, she’d learned it wasn’t nearly as difficult as she’d imagined.
Unless a garment required additional embroidery on the silk, which took time, simply cutting fabric and sewing clothes together was actually quite fast.
Before, when the sewing workshop made clothes for her, the fastest had taken only a single night, and even the less urgent pieces had arrived within three to five days, several at a time, each one finely made, with no corners cut.
And that was with the workshop not even being familiar with her measurements yet, having to adjust the clothes once after they were made. By rights, the sewing workshop at Jingren Palace, which made clothes for Yinzhen year-round, should know his measurements better than anyone, how could it possibly take them several days without producing a single finished garment?
If Imperial Noble Consort Tongiya really had given the order, then it could only mean the workshop staff were deliberately dragging their feet.
Dan Qing could work this reasoning out easily enough, and Kangxi understood it even better. He gave a cold snort, but forced down his anger, not wanting to let it show in front of his daughter.
He did want his daughter to be more forceful, but that was meant for dealing with outsiders, in front of his own children, he still needed to maintain a gentle manner, careful not to frighten them into being afraid of him.
“Dan Qing, ah, didn’t the old ancestress tell you to go back and see your mother? As it happens, since it’s your birthday, the Imperial Noble Consort has also prepared a reward for your mother, why don’t you and your fourth brother deliver it to her together.”
Kangxi said gently, sending his daughter and son off with a convenient errand.
Even if Noble Lady Guo didn’t care much for her daughter, with Yinzhen accompanying her, and bringing along a reward from Imperial Noble Consort Tongiya besides, she wouldn’t dare humiliate Dan Qing openly in front of them.
Kangxi felt a bit weary at heart.
Truly, every household had its own hard-to-recite scripture, how was it that even his own precious, golden-branch princes and princesses still had to swallow so many grievances?
It seemed he really ought to have the children move out and live on their own sooner rather than later.
Once Dan Qing and Yinzhen had been sent off, Kangxi’s expression turned completely stern.
The servants of Jingren Palace knelt scattered across the courtyard, all bowing their heads, trembling with fear.
Imperial Noble Consort Tongiya wanted to go out and see for herself, but was stopped by her personal maid Maisui.
“My mistress, it’s a good thing that His Majesty is willing to handle this matter for you, just lie down and rest easy.”
Imperial Noble Consort Tongiya shook her head helplessly. “You don’t understand. If His Majesty stands up for me today, tomorrow the palace will start saying I’m incompetent and lacking in virtue, unable even to manage the servants of my own Jingren Palace, and then what right would I have to hold any authority over the harem?”
“Even if you want to make a point of it, my mistress, that should wait until the little master in your belly is safely delivered,”
Maisui urged. “Right now nothing matters more than your pregnancy. Once you give birth to the little prince and secure that position, who in the palace would still dare talk nonsense?”
This struck right at what Imperial Noble Consort Tongiya was truly thinking.
When it came down to it, however honored her rank as Imperial Noble Consort, it still wasn’t quite proper and rightful enough, which was why she had to tread so carefully in everything she did.
If she could truly ascend to the position of Empress, then she would be the rightful mistress of this entire Forbidden City, whether raising a prince or managing palace affairs, no one would dare say a word against her anymore.
Comforted by Maisui’s words, Imperial Noble Consort Tongiya settled back down to rest and nurture her pregnancy. No matter how much the sound of the board striking flesh continued outside, she simply closed her eyes, showing not the slightest reaction.
After some time had passed, the sound of the board finally stopped, and Kangxi lifted the door curtain and came back in, but instead of lying down beside Imperial Noble Consort Tongiya again, he said:
“We’ve dealt with a few of the more thoughtless servants for you. We’ll have the Imperial Household Department send over some replacements shortly, if they’re no better, feel free to punish them as you see fit. Yinzhen will turn six in a few months, and We intend to have him move to Nansansuo to live with Yinzhi and Yinzhi. You needn’t worry over him anymore, just focus on taking good care of yourself.”
Imperial Noble Consort Tongiya thanked him gently, and Kangxi, saying he still had state affairs to attend to, left in a hurry without staying any longer.
After he left, Imperial Noble Consort Tongiya’s tears fell. “His Majesty must be blaming me for not looking after the Fourth Prince properly.”
Maisui urged again, “My mistress, you mustn’t think that way. Today, the Fourth Prince and the Fourth Princess suffered mistreatment right here in our own palace, so of course His Majesty had to deal with the servants responsible, but he never blamed you for it. Besides, all the princes move to Nansansuo once they come of age, didn’t the First Prince and the Third Prince both go there too? Our Fourth Prince is simply old enough now, this has nothing to do with what happened today.”
She half-knelt on the floor, massaging Imperial Noble Consort Tongiya’s legs. “This servant thinks it’s actually for the best that the Fourth Prince goes to Nansansuo, far better than really being sent back to Yonghe Palace. This way he remains your son alone, and Consort De won’t get to share him.”
But Imperial Noble Consort Tongiya only shook her head with a bitter smile. “It’s not as simple as you think. The older the Fourth Prince grows and the more he understands, the more he’ll think of his own birth mother, I’ve been keeping them apart all this time, and that’s really just asking for trouble. Better to just let him be. If he has any conscience in him, he won’t forget me anyway.”
Maisui had already tried to persuade her on this point more times than she could count, and there was nothing more to say now, so she could only repeat her advice for Imperial Noble Consort Tongiya to focus on her pregnancy first, and let everything else wait until the child was safely born.
…
Meanwhile, once Dan Qing and Yinzhen had left Jingren Palace, Yinzhen wanted to hurry straight to Yikun Palace to carry out the task Kangxi had assigned them, but Dan Qing refused, insisting on dragging him on a detour through the Imperial Garden instead.
Normally, cutting straight across the Qianqing Palace square would have been the fastest route, but this detour delayed them considerably.
On top of that, Dan Qing deliberately dawdled, wanting to look at flowers one moment and climb a tree the next. Yinzhen could keep her from climbing anything, but he couldn’t refuse his sister when she wanted a pretty flower to wear in her hair, so after searching for quite a while, he personally picked the fullest bloom he could find and gave it to Dan Qing.
Dan Qing lowered her head to let Yinzhen tuck it into her hair, then ran off happily to the lakeside to admire her reflection, frightening Yinzhen so badly he clung tightly to her arm, terrified she might accidentally tumble into the lake.
After all this playing around, Dan Qing finally grew tired of walking and agreed to be carried the rest of the way to Yikun Palace.
But once they reached the gate of Yikun Palace, she refused to go in after all, saying she was tired and wanted to go back to Cining Palace instead, and asked Yinzhen to go in and deliver the things on her behalf.
Yinzhen, still too young to understand the tension between Dan Qing and Noble Lady Guo, only felt it was wrong for his sister, being raised so close to her own birth mother, to show her so little filial devotion, and so began patiently lecturing her about it.
Dan Qing, already feeling irritated, only grew more upset as Yinzhen nagged on, but she didn’t dare make too much of a scene, only staring at him in silence, her eyes visibly reddening.
But the more Yinzhen talked, the guiltier he felt, and in the end he gave in under the light shimmer of his sister’s tears, resigning himself and saying, “Fine, I’ll deliver it in your place, let them take you back to Cining Palace first.”
There was nothing else for it, a man had to dote on his own little sister, didn’t he? He could hardly let her actually cry.
Only then did Dan Qing’s expression ease, and she waved goodbye to Yinzhen, telling him to come visit Cining Palace often when he had time, before hurrying the servants along to leave.
Once back at Cining Palace, she took off her clothes and burrowed straight into her bedding.
He Miao kept watch for a while, and once she saw Dan Qing’s breathing settle into a deep, steady rhythm, only then withdrew to go report back to the Grand Empress Dowager.
The Grand Empress Dowager already knew what had happened at Jingren Palace, and only asked how Dan Qing’s mood had been.
He Miao chose her words carefully. “This servant noticed the princess was still unwilling to go to Yikun Palace, but fortunately the Fourth Prince was willing to help.”
The Grand Empress Dowager gave an unhappy snort. “If it were me, I wouldn’t want to go either! Just think, Garu has only been at Cining Palace a few days, and already someone’s taken over her room, even burned her bedding, what is this really about, are they simply looking down on Garu now that there’s a second child on the way?”
“This servant heard from the imperial physician that Noble Lady Guo’s pregnancy is likely a prince,”
Sumalagu spoke up. “After giving birth to the Fourth Princess, Noble Lady Guo was only elevated to Noble Lady, and it’s likely left her feeling somewhat resentful, she’s probably hoping this time she’ll bear a prince and be promoted to Consort or higher, which would naturally lead her to neglect the princess somewhat.”
“She thinks quite highly of herself, doesn’t she, never mind one prince, even if she bore ten or eight of them, she’d still only remain a Noble Lady!”
The Grand Empress Dowager, however, understood far more than Dan Qing had seen.
Given how long Dan Qing and Yinzhen had stood deadlocked outside the gate of Yikun Palace, how could the people inside possibly not have known? It was only that Consort Yi couldn’t very well step forward herself, while Noble Lady Guo deliberately pretended not to know at all.
If Noble Lady Guo had truly wanted to see her daughter, she need only have someone come out and offer her a way to save face, and Dan Qing wouldn’t have left so resolutely.
The Grand Empress Dowager had already known there was a knot of resentment between Noble Lady Guo and Dan Qing, and had thought that using Dan Qing’s birthday as an occasion for her to go back and visit might also give Noble Lady Guo a graceful way to bridge the gap, but who could have known Dan Qing would be so stubborn, and Noble Lady Guo would prove even more ungrateful for the gesture, wasting all her good intentions entirely.
“From now on, no one is to mention Noble Lady Guo in front of the Fourth Princess ever again,”
The Grand Empress Dowager instructed in a solemn tone. “Since she doesn’t want the princess, then she needn’t have this daughter at all.”
She had never wanted to take another woman’s beloved daughter away from her, which was why even after Kangxi had brought Dan Qing to Cining Palace, she’d remained hesitant to truly make up her mind to have Dan Qing give up her own birth mother entirely.
She’d originally thought that once Dan Qing was a little older and able to make her own decisions, if she truly missed Noble Lady Guo, she could simply let her go back to Yikun Palace to stay from time to time, preserving the bond between mother and daughter. But seeing how things stood now, there was really no need for that at all!
“Go tell the Imperial Household Department that from this day forward, all of the Fourth Princess’s provisions and allowances are to be sent directly to Cining Palace, there’s no need to send anything to Yikun Palace anymore.”
Since Noble Lady Guo had no regard for the princess, then she shouldn’t be allowed to keep benefiting from her either, gaining so much extra every day for nothing.
Even if Cining Palace had no need for Dan Qing’s small allowance, that didn’t mean it should go to line someone else’s pockets instead, better to save it all up for Dan Qing’s dowry someday!