Danqing hadn’t expected her unreliable father to actually abandon her in Cining Palace just like that. After finishing dinner, he simply brushed off his sleeves and went back to see his dear Imperial Noble Consort.
“Knowing full well it cannot be done, yet she insists on forcing it. That Tong Jia girl is stubborn, and the Emperor indulges her in her mischief.”
After Kangxi left, the Grand Empress Dowager sighed deeply.
Danqing didn’t quite understand, staring at her with wide, bright eyes.
“Our Fourth Princess must not be like this in the future,”
the Grand Empress Dowager pinched her little great-granddaughter’s chubby cheek. “People must sometimes accept fate. What isn’t meant for you should not be forced, or you will only bring suffering upon yourself.”
Danqing grew even more confused.
“How could Fourth Princess understand such things at her age?”
Sumalagu had personally escorted Kangxi out and returned with a palace maid in her teens trailing behind. “This is Hemiao. She was assigned by the Imperial Household Department last year. Though young, she is steady and reliable.”
Hemiao approached confidently, knelt, and paid her respects.
Danqing curiously leaned forward to look, noticing her delicate and refined features. Though not a great beauty, she carried a serene and comforting aura.
“She seems like a proper child,”
the Grand Empress Dowager nodded. “From now on, you shall serve Fourth Princess. Remember, you must protect her.”
So this palace maid was for her?
Danqing was somewhat surprised.
As a princess, she naturally had servants attending to her—two wet nurses, two cleaning maids, and a young eunuch for errands.
During the New Year when she had “fallen ill,” one of the wet nurses had been expelled from the palace, while the other, Lady Sun, now served Noble Lady Guo.
Though the cleaning maids and the young eunuch were nominally hers, they were often directed by Noble Lady Guo to perform tasks, so none of the servants truly attended to her consistently.
Danqing didn’t find this particularly bothersome; in fact, she felt it made things easier and had never raised any objections.
She hadn’t expected the Grand Empress Dowager to select a palace maid for her so soon after their first meeting.
Was this because she had gone to the Imperial Garden today to intercept Kangxi on her own?
Danqing wasn’t entirely sure of the Grand Empress Dowager’s intentions and felt slightly uneasy, so she didn’t immediately express her gratitude.
“What’s the matter, Fourth Princess?”
Sumalagu approached, crouched down, and gently took Danqing’s hand. “Do you not like this palace maid?”
Danqing shook her head and whispered, “I like her.”
Though Hemiao appeared young, her demeanor was composed and proper, her manners impeccable, no less refined than the senior maids serving Consort Yi.
“If you like her, keep her. Don’t overthink it,”
the Grand Empress Dowager also patted Danqing’s head. “Consort Yi and your mother are both with child and may not be able to attend to you as much. Since your Emperor Kangxi has brought you to Cining Palace, settle in peacefully. I also have an elder sister here, though she has returned to visit her mother recently. When she comes back, I’ll have her play with you.”
Danqing nodded, knowing the Grand Empress Dowager was referring to the Eldest Princess, originally the daughter of Prince Gong, Changning, who had been adopted by Kangxi and had been living in Cining Palace.
“Thank you, Grand Ancestor.”
Danqing expressed her gratitude softly.
For some reason, she dared to act cute and playful with Kangxi, but in front of the Grand Empress Dowager, she always felt a sense of trepidation.
The Grand Empress Dowager had eyes that seemed to see through people, as if they could penetrate her physical form and glimpse the soul within her that did not belong to this era.
"Don't be impatient, Old Ancestor. It's normal for Fourth Princess to be shy on her first visit to our Cining Palace," Sumalagu gently reassured. "Once she gets familiar, there will be times she makes your head ache with her liveliness."
The Grand Empress Dowager naturally wouldn't trouble a young girl, so she instructed Sumalagu to take Danqing to the warm chamber to settle in first.
Not long after, Sumalagu returned.
"Rest assured, Old Ancestor. This servant carefully checked—Fourth Princess is perfectly fine, except—" She hesitated slightly but still spoke frankly, "except the fabric of her outer garments is quite fine, but her inner clothes are somewhat worn and too small in size."
"People in the palace are best at putting on a superficial show. Poor child," the Grand Empress Dowager said, fingering the prayer beads in her hand. "Send some things to Yikun Palace and tell Consort Yi that the imperial offspring is of utmost importance. She must take good care of her pregnancy from now on."
The Grand Empress Dowager had never believed that a princess under five years old could wander into the Imperial Garden on her own.
All that talk about feeding wolves on the grasslands in the future was nothing but a petty trick—someone deliberately using Fourth Princess to lure Kangxi over.
Noble Lady Guo had never been particularly favored and held a low rank, so she naturally wouldn't dare such a thing. Thus, it was clear whose handiwork this was.
At her age, the Grand Empress Dowager had long ceased to care about the petty affairs of the inner palace. If the women in the palace used some tricks to gain the emperor's favor, as long as no one else was harmed, she wouldn't interfere.
But she disliked seeing consorts use Princes and Princesses to compete for favor. Moreover, after using the princess, they only put on a superficial show—not only was there no one attending to the princess, but she wasn't even given decent inner clothes.
Even if she usually preferred not to intervene, today she had to step in.
Danqing naturally didn't know the Grand Empress Dowager was venting her grievances on her behalf. After changing into a set of inner clothes Sumalagu had found, she curiously looked around.
"This was Eldest Princess's residence when she was young. After she moved to the West Third Compound, it's been empty ever since," Hemiao said, bringing warm water for Danqing to wash her feet. "The nightclothes you're wearing were also made for Eldest Princess back then, but they were never worn. Nanny Su said you could make do with them for tonight, and tomorrow she'll have new ones made for you."
Danqing tugged at the sleeves of the nightclothes. The small flowers embroidered at the cuffs were bright and vivid, showing no signs of being old garments.
They were better than any nightclothes she had ever owned before.
From the Grand Empress Dowager's tone, it seemed she intended to keep Danqing at Cining Palace to be raised. Though she didn't know how long she could stay, for her, this was an opportunity she couldn't have begged for.
Since all Qing princesses were destined for marriage alliances in the future, she ought to strive for a good placement for herself.
The Grand Empress Dowager's natal family seemed quite good. She needed to find a way to cling tightly to the Grand Empress Dowager's coattails.
"Hemiao, I want to go find Old Ancestor."
Danqing had Hemiao help dry the water from her feet, then slipped on her shoes and ran toward the Grand Empress Dowager's bedchamber.
The Grand Empress Dowager had just let down her hair and gotten into bed but hadn't yet lain down when she saw a little bundle dart in and scramble under her blankets in a flash.
"Oh dear, quickly stick your head out—aren't you afraid of suffocating?" the Grand Empress Dowager said with amusement, patting the little girl through the blanket. "What's the matter? Is the warm chamber uncomfortable?"
Danqing peeked her little head out from the blanket opening, blinking her large eyes at the Grand Empress Dowager, and said in a soft, sweet voice, "Old Ancestor, can I sleep with you?"
Sumalagu came over to add a pillow for Danqing and said with a smile, "I suppose Fourth Princess isn’t used to sleeping alone in the warm chamber."
Danqing nodded vigorously in agreement.
The Grand Empress Dowager had her lie down on the pillow and said, "You can sleep with me if you want, but don’t regret it later."
Why would she regret it?
Danqing blinked in confusion, but the Grand Empress Dowager covered her eyes.
"Sleep for now. If you can’t fall asleep at night, you can go back on your own."
…
The next day, after the morning court session, Kangxi came to pay his respects to the Grand Empress Dowager. He glanced around but didn’t see the little daughter he had sent over the day before.
"Stop looking, she’s still asleep,"
the Grand Empress Dowager said with a smile in her eyes. "She insisted on sleeping with me last night and refused to go back even when I told her she could if she couldn’t sleep. When she woke up this morning, she had dark circles under her eyes. After breakfast, I had someone coax her back to sleep."
Kangxi: …Pfft.
His poor little daughter surely didn’t know that the Grand Empress Dowager snored thunderously.
Even Eldest Princess couldn’t bear it and moved to the West Third Compound, yet she dared to sleep with the Grand Empress Dowager. Truly, ignorance is bliss.
"Danqing just wanted to be close to you,"
Kangxi held back his laughter and defended his daughter. "Children learn from their mistakes. She’ll understand in the future."
The grandmother and grandson then discussed the pregnancies of several imperial consorts in the palace.
"You’ve already made preparations for the Imperial Noble Consort, but have you arranged things for Yikun Palace?"
the Grand Empress Dowager asked. "Noble Lady Guo may be at a disadvantage in rank, but she should still receive the treatment she deserves. I’ve noticed that Fourth Princess often lacks things. Don’t let the child in her womb suffer as well."
Kangxi nodded. "Grandmother, don’t worry. I already instructed Consort Yi yesterday."
"Although they are sisters, once they enter the palace, they are both your consorts. How can you have one pregnant consort take care of another?"
the Grand Empress Dowager disagreed. "I know you trust Consort Yi, but you should also consider her well-being."
Kangxi knew that the Grand Empress Dowager had sent someone to reprimand Consort Yi the previous night. He felt that Consort Yi was somewhat wronged. If he followed the Grand Empress Dowager’s suggestion and had Noble Lady Guo move out of Yikun Palace, he couldn’t help but feel a little reluctant.
Consort Yi might not care about the child in Noble Lady Guo’s womb, but she valued her reputation greatly. Now seven months pregnant, if she became upset and caused trouble, it wouldn’t be good.
"Noble Lady Guo is due to give birth next month, so it’s inconvenient for her to move now. Besides, I’ve already summoned her family from the Gūwalgiya clan to accompany her during childbirth. Staying in Yikun Palace will give her peace of mind,"
Kangxi still disagreed. "Since Fourth Princess has already moved to Cining Palace, her room will be more spacious. Let’s discuss this after she’s recovered from childbirth."
The Grand Empress Dowager twirled the prayer beads in her hand but said nothing more. She only reminded Kangxi not to forget to attend to the equally pregnant Noble Consort Niohuru and Consort De before letting him leave.
After Kangxi left, Sumalagu asked, "From what His Majesty said, it seems he doesn’t want Fourth Princess to return?"
The Grand Empress Dowager closed her eyes. "Exactly. He wants to use his daughter to ease his mind."
"Your servant notices that you also like Fourth Princess. Why not go along with His Majesty?"
Sumalagu advised. "The Empress Dowager is raising Fifth Prince, and you’re raising Fourth Princess. No one can say anything about it."
The Grand Empress Dowager sighed, "It's just a pity for the Fourth Princess. All the other princesses can stay with their own mothers, but she alone has to make way for her unborn siblings. I can see she's quite capable of enduring hardship—I'm afraid she swallows any bitterness she feels."
"Then you should dote on her more,"
Sumalagu said with a smile. "Children grow close to whoever raises them. Since you care for her so much, she will surely care for you in the future."