Chapter 41

  The eunuchs of the imperial kitchen brought in the noon meal, and the maids carried in golden silk red wooden boxes one after another, placing the food on the kang table. It was probably because Xiaorong always went to the imperial kitchen to cook for Quanpei, so the cooks knew that the Fourth Lady was picky about food and understood culinary skills, so the meal was exceptionally fine, as if it could get a word of praise from the Fourth Lady and several pieces of silver were the greatest honor.

  Song's several servants came in to pour water and serve food for Quan Pei. They saw Wu Ruoxue standing aside, pretending not to see her. Nalan Mingyue couldn't hold back her excitement, seeing that Wu Ruoxue had offended Furen and was in trouble, her eyebrows and eyes were all raised up.

  The room of the Fu Jin was never fond of unexpected sounds, even during meals, not a single extra sound could be heard. Wu Ruoxi stood stiffly in the corner, with various subtle gazes passing over her body. In the past, although the Fu Jin would punish, she had never lost face in front of everyone, and at least gave the gege some dignity. But this time, there was no such mercy for her. Her palms were sweating profusely, and the clothes on her back were already drenched with sweat, as if a thousand pounds of weight were pressing down on her body, making it hard for her to breathe.

  It wasn't until Quan Pei finished her meal that she didn't dismiss everyone as usual, so they all stood by and waited. After a while, they heard Quan Pei slowly speak: "Matters of the inner courtyard are women's affairs. Once you men get entangled in the matters of the inner courtyard, how can you still focus on fighting for power in the outer court? If you don't strive hard, where will our peaceful days come from? Usually, I can turn a blind eye to what you do, as long as it's not too excessive. I don't want to make things difficult for you. We're all women, who doesn't know that? So there's only one thing: don't get the master involved in these trivial matters of the inner courtyard. If anyone dares to stir up trouble and gets the master to take sides, disrupting the rules of the inner courtyard, I will definitely not let them off lightly."

  Wu Ruoxi trembled slightly, and the crowd's gaze gathered on her again, as if intentionally. According to Zhaofujin's implication, Wu Ruoxi was thinking of charming Master to help her get rid of someone.

  Li's eyes gradually deepened, judging from the current situation in the courtyard, she and Wu Ruoxue were the only ones who could be considered as needle-sharp opponents. If Wu Ruoxue wanted to make it difficult for Master to appear, there wouldn't be a second person besides her. Once Master was really moved by Wu Ruoxue's words, Wu Ruoxue would become the number one person in one move, and she would be precisely trampled under Wu Ruoxue's feet.

  Everyone is busy and should be so.

  Her slender fingers pointed at Wu Ruoxue's brow: "I'm not talking about anyone else, it's the Wu family. From now on, you're confined for two months and fined a year's worth of silver, helping the servant women with their chores for a month."

  Wu Ruoxi's family background was not good, and in the palace, she almost relied solely on her monthly silver allowance. Without it, she would be like a bird with its wings clipped, unable to do even the simplest tasks. Her dignity and reputation were already hanging by a thread. Nalan Mingyue's mouth had already curved into a noticeable smile, while Li Shi's eyes flashed with disdain. Song Shi shook her head slightly, thinking that Wu Ruoxi was really ignorant of the heights and depths of the world.

  Wu Ruoxi finally knew fear, kneeling on the ground and kowtowing: "Fu Jin, I will never dare again! Please, Fu Jin, have mercy and don't make me help with the sweeping and cleaning work upstairs. Leave a way out for me!"

  "When you ask others to give you a way out, have you ever thought about whether you've given others a way out? If you dare to do it, then you should dare to take responsibility. What did I ever want your life for?"

  Wu Ruoxi was about to speak, but Li Shi interrupted her: "We all know how kind the mistress is to us. But you can't take advantage of her kindness and do whatever you want. Speaking of which, the mistress's punishment for you has already been quite lenient. You weren't beaten or scolded, yet you're still not satisfied? Do you need to be dragged out to the courtyard and spanked before you'll be happy? Don't be someone who doesn't appreciate their blessings!"

  Wu Ruoxi lifted her tear-stained face, looking at the dark flames in Li's eyes, as if she dared to say more, Li would have the ability to beat her with a board. She vaguely remembered when she was at home, her mother had slapped a small concubine's face several times, rendering it useless. She couldn't help but tremble and then kowtowed on the ground, no longer daring to speak.

  Quan Pei waved her hand, and the two maidservants went to support Wu Ruoxi out of the house. The room fell silent again. Li Shi took over the tea tray from the maid and handed it to Quan Pei: "Fortunately, Madame is here, otherwise we servants would have been wrongly accused for no reason."

  Li was indeed a clever and capable person, always doing things within the rules set by Quan Yu, so she became the first among the concubines in this courtyard, looking leisurely and dignified.

  It's fine as long as you understand, Guan Yu slightly nodded his head in respect and then called out for everyone to retreat.

  If Wu Ruoxi provoked Yunxi's affairs and Fuchun knew about it, she must have been told by Yunxi. And after that, Yunxi didn't ask about this matter, which also shows that he defaulted on Fuchun's rights and showed absolute trust in Fuchun. In the harem, Fuchun was like heaven, as long as you didn't break her rules, you could be safe and sound. Once you made a mistake, you had to pay the corresponding price, Wu Ruoxi is the best example.

  Song Shi didn't care about these things, she went out of the room and went to the back hall to see her daughter, teaching her daughter to know the affairs of the inner courtyard early on, not to have too much contact with Wu Ruoxi, teaching her daughter to do needlework, best to embroider a handkerchief for Quan Pei, as long as Furen likes it, her eldest daughter can't bear any grievances.

  Nalan Mingyue returned to the house and fell onto the kang, covering herself with a quilt as she laughed happily for a while before getting up: "It really hasn't felt this great in a long time!"

  Li felt it was not enough, she couldn't personally clean up Wu Ruoxi, and no matter what, she felt uneasy. She leaned on the couch, aimlessly thinking, if one day she really let go of her hands and feet to clean up Wu Ruoxi, that would be good...

  The princess consort of Prince Gong's son hid in the house, waiting for the chaos in the backyard to subside before taking over herself. She imagined Princess Gong's frail and gasping appearance, and Prince Gong's frowning and sighing helplessness. In the end, everything still had to fall into her hands. With a triumphant smile, she held up a crimson gold silk gemstone hairpin against her black bun. The maid didn't know what news she had discovered again, and rushed in hastily.

  "The lady has taken over the household authority!"

  Zhao Jia's eyes widened, and for a moment she didn't react. Was this princess referring to her or the Princess Consort of Kang? She furrowed her brow and said, "Isn't the Princess Consort's health always poor?"

  "You haven't been out for some days, I didn't know, but the lady of the house found a divine doctor somewhere, and now her illness has long since healed, just look at her spirit, she's as lively as if she were 10 or 20 years younger."

  Zhao Jia's eyes widened in incredulous stare at the young girl, how could there be such a huge change after not going out for so long? If Consort Kang can live for another ten or twenty years, what would she do? Would she just be suppressed like this and never be able to turn things around?!

  Kang Qinwang's wife smiled and tried on a newly made bright red embroidered cheongsam: "It's too gaudy, I really can't wear it."

  The maids and servants on the side flattered: "You were originally good-looking, now that you're better after your illness, you look extremely young, and this bright red dress suits you perfectly!"

  The Empress Dowager smiled again, and without the Fourth Imperial Concubine, she would not have been able to shake off the illness that had plagued her for so many years. As she gradually recovered and regained her spirits, she once again felt the charm of being alive. For many years, she had not dressed up properly or gone out, and now she yearned for these things, as if she wanted to make up for all the regrets of those years. She took charge of the household again, possessing the highest authority in the Prince Gong's mansion, and seemed to have boundless energy to do more things.

  Kang's wife sat in the armchair, watching the maids lay out the newly made clothes one by one for her to choose from. In her heart, she was also thinking about what other business she could do, and thought it would be best to partner with Fourth Wife, not knowing why, but feeling that Fourth Wife was a trustworthy person.

  The Da A Ge's merits are not small, but his mistakes are also extremely great. I heard that the body of the Da Fu Jin has always been very good. Kangxi scolded his son, but ultimately did not go too far: "Such a big thing happened, what do you think I should punish you?"

  The Eldest Prince knew he had been plotted against, someone had fabricated military information to lure him into making a grave mistake, but such things could no longer be clarified now. He hung his head and said: "Your son has erred, Your Majesty should punish me as you see fit!"

  Kangxi frowned: "I'm not going to punish you, but I want you to know why you made such a big mistake. You were eager for quick success and took reckless risks, this is your biggest fault!"

  The eldest brother endured and endured, but finally shouted out: "The son admits that he is sometimes rough in doing things, but when faced with major events, he still has some discernment. At the time, someone falsely reported military information, and the son was deceived. Now it's just empty talk without evidence, and saying it out loud would make the emperor think that the son is making excuses for himself. The son prioritizes the affairs of the Qing state, but some people are afraid that the son's merits will be too great, yet they are doing shameful things! The son doesn't ask for anything else, just asking the emperor to quickly separate him out, so that in the future, even if he goes on a campaign outside, at least he can have peace of mind about the back palace!"

  Kangxi slammed his hand on the table and rebuked: "How dare you!"

  The elder brother turned his head: "Son knows that the emperor does not believe it, and wants to beat or kill at will!"

  Kangxi kicked the eldest brother fiercely, but the eldest brother didn't move at all. Kangxi was so angry that his breathing became unstable: "Bastard! Get out!"

  The eldest brother really walked out at this time, looking like he didn't care about anything.

  The Da A Ge left, and Kang Xi scolded a few more sentences. It took him quite a while to calm down and sit back in his chair. He had always thought that placing the princes outside would be difficult to manage, and once they had their own estates, they would have their own power and threaten the position of the crown prince. However, as time passed, the crown prince's wings grew harder and harder, and the other princes were suppressed to the point where they could hardly breathe. Kang Xi was not entirely distrustful of Da A Ge's words, but he knew what Da A Ge meant, which made him extremely angry. He couldn't let the crown prince do whatever he wanted forever.

  Galdan has not been completely eliminated, and next year he plans to lead a personal campaign. Taking advantage of the remaining time this year, he will send out several larger sons, which can also restrain the crown prince. At that time, even if he goes on an expedition outside, he can be at ease.

  He furrowed his brow in thought for a moment, then ordered Li Dequan: "Call Third Brother and Fourth Brother over."

  Yinzheng was still in the Ministry of Revenue when Kangxi sent a message, and he immediately put down his work and went to the Qianqing Palace. When he arrived, San A'ge had already arrived, and Kangxi sat on a chair and kindly discussed with his two sons: "I want to let you leave the palace before the winter solstice, I don't know what you think?"

  Third Brother glanced at Yongzheng and spoke first: "The sons are also convenient to see the Emperor Ama in the palace, it's good to show some filial piety. If they move out and get far away from the Emperor Ama, it would be inconvenient." Even if he deeply hoped to move out in his heart, he couldn't express it too clearly, or say too much, lest the Emperor have other suspicions.

  "Everything depends on the Emperor's decision."

  Kangxi smiled and said, "Forget it, after all, you can't stay in the palace forever. I see that your children are getting more and more, and it's not good to live in a small place like this. Your mansions have been decided long ago, and the repairs are being done. If you move out now, it will only take some minor cleaning up before you can move in. If you want to renovate further, wait until you leave and do it yourself. However, there is one thing - according to reason, each of your families should receive 100,000 taels of silver as a settlement fee, but I'm afraid the Ministry of Internal Affairs may not be able to come up with that much silver."

  "This time, Yongzheng spoke first: 'When the country needs money, the sons' affairs will naturally be put on hold for a while. If it's 100,000 taels, it can be divided into several installments, and some will be given first to settle down, and then more will be given later.'"

  Kangxi nodded in satisfaction: "It's best if you can think this way!"

  So it was decided that Da Ge, San Ge and Si Ge would leave the palace alone.