Chapter Eleven

  Outside, the occasional snowflakes still fluttered, wanting to drift into the water pavilion, but they had already melted before entering. The official kiln's blue and white porcelain large soup bowl suddenly cracked in Madame Fu's hands, and the scalding sweet soup immediately poured down, splashing onto Madame Fu's body. Wang Shi only felt as if someone had pulled herself to one side, and the scalding sweet soup only stained the hem of her skirt.

  The Empress Dowager suddenly let out a loud shriek, and Consort Hui's hands were trembling with either anger or fright: "What are you still standing there for? Quickly take off your clothes!"

  A good feast ended up with such a big deal, no one can stay any longer. Who knows how many stories are behind the broken soup bowl? It's better to leave early.

  Wang Shi followed De Fei and looked at Quan Pei: "Thank you, Fourth Lady, for just lending a hand."

  Ruan Yu waved her hand, and De Fei said: "You see, there are many people who want to harm you. Do you think you can hide the fact that you're pregnant? Now look at it and you'll know."

  Wang lowered his head: "It's just that I'm stupid, and I won't dare to be like this again."

  The Empress smiled: "Alright, hurry back, it's cold outside." Wang Shi seemed to have understood and said: "Just now, I clearly saw that the soup bowl was meant for Fourth Concubine to take away, how...".

  De Fei smiled and glanced at Quan Pei: "You don't need to ask more about this matter."

  The burn on Da Furen's body was not light, if it weren't for the thickness of her clothes, she might have already stuck to her skin and couldn't take them off. The main problem was that the burn was on her stomach, which made it difficult for her to move around in Hui Fei's palace. After the imperial physician prescribed some medicine, he left.

  The imperial concubine smashed several tea bowls: "This is what that blind fool did, how could the soup bowl be given to Consort Dai?! Find him and beat him to death!"

  The palace maid rushed in from outside, wrapped in a cold air: "De Fei went to find the Empress Dowager, saying that the porcelain bowl was broken and the official kiln had to take responsibility! Such a big thing can't happen without anyone knowing or asking!"

  The Empress sat down in the chair: "What is she making a fuss about this time..." She felt extremely uneasy, what was De Fei up to now?

  The Empress Dowager sat on the kang with her eyes narrowed, listening to De Fei finish speaking. After a while, she opened her mouth: "Is Da Furen all right?"

  "It's not a big deal, just wear more clothes." After a pause, she continued: "You don't know, the bowl of soup originally belonged to us, but somehow it ended up in Madame Wang's hands, and almost scalded her. Luckily, Guan Pei was quick-witted and pulled her back just in time. The imperial physician was called to examine Madame Wang and said that she might be pregnant for about a month now. Fortunately, it was a shock without harm..."

  The warm kang seemed to make the Empress Dowager drowsy, and after a while, she said: "I'll go see Da Furen at the Zhao residence later. You can go down first now that I know about this matter."

  The imperial concubine curtsied and slowly backed away.

  The Empress Dowager's eyes seemed to brighten up again as De Fei left. She sat on the kang, deep in thought for a while, then instructed the palace maid: "Send a message to the Emperor, if he has time, have him come visit me."

  The emperor arrived quickly and paid his respects to the empress dowager. The empress dowager smiled and said, "Come sit on the kang, your feet are cold."

  On the kang table were several dried fruits and pastries, Kangxi took a small hammer and cracked open a walnut for Empress Dowager while speaking: "What's going on?"

  "Something happened at Consort Hui's banquet today, and Da Furen got burned."

  Kangxi peeled a walnut and handed it to the empress dowager: "This is a walnut from Xinjiang, it's crispy and fragrant, please have some."

  The empress dowager smiled as she took it in her hand, and sighed after a moment: "Is this the state of affairs you intend to maintain in the harem?"

  Kangxi raised his head: "What do you mean?"

  "Those few consorts of yours are too formidable, if you don't find someone to suppress them, the harem will be turned upside down. I don't want to worry about it too much, but I also can't ignore it, today's matter is not a small one. Wang Shi almost got burned, and Fourth Furen was also lucky to escape, if I'm guessing correctly, Wang Shi is pregnant, and Fourth Furen might be with child as well. You're stretching your hand too far and managing too much, there can't be peace in the harem."

  Kangxi's hand stopped: "You're worrying again."

  The Empress Dowager ate the walnut and smiled: "This is indeed delicious, you give me a few more."

  Kangxi smiled and replied: "That's right, next year I'll make her a childless noble consort to balance the power in the harem."

  The empress dowager nodded: "If you think it's okay, then it's okay."

  Yongzheng sat in the study reading a book, but he couldn't calm down, and he could hear the faint footsteps outside. From time to time, he looked towards the door, the snow in the courtyard was swept clean, and there were only a few maids standing outside as usual. The doors of Li's and Song's rooms were hung with thick cotton curtains, which didn't move even when the wind blew.

  A bright red figure slowly walked into Yongzheng's line of sight, Quan Pei still held a few plum blossoms in her hand, like a picture of competing beauty, Yongzheng was momentarily unable to distinguish whether the flowers were beautiful or the person was beautiful. He quickly walked over and sized up Quan Pei: "Nothing wrong, right?"

  "I'm fine."

  The maidservants helped Rong Xiang change her clothes, and only then did Yong Zheng realize that it was quite chilly when he lifted the curtain in the study earlier. He sat on the kang with a quilt draped over him: "You too... what if something happens to you..."

  "Am I not doing well?"

  Quan Pei changed into a casual outfit and walked out, smiling at Yongzheng. Yongzheng furrowed his brow and said, "You're quite bold too."

  Ruan Yu lowered her eyes and sat down at the edge of the bed, Yinger helped her take off her shoes, and she sat down beside Yongzheng: "I'm also pregnant, if I don't give Empress Hui a bit of color, let her know to be more restrained, I'm afraid I won't have so much energy to always guard against her."

  Yin Zan was taken aback and hadn't quite heard clearly: "That can't be..." He suddenly stopped, turned his head to look at Quan Pei with some disbelief: "Who did you just say is pregnant?!"

  "Isn't it me?"

  Not the first child, but this unspeakable joy was the first time. He looked at Quan Mei with some tension: "Then quickly find a doctor to take a look!"

  Quan Pei felt a bit tired and lay down: "Let's look for it in a few days, now the time is shallow, I'm afraid the imperial physician can't see it."

  Yin Zhen felt that there were many things to say to Quan Pei in an instant, so she also leaned against her and lay down: "Don't you feel uncomfortable? Don't you feel unwell somewhere?"

  A faint fragrance unique to Quan Pei lingered around Yongzheng, making him feel warm and at ease. In just a moment, Quan Pei fell asleep, and Yongzheng smiled, gently rubbing his cheek against hers... it felt so good.

  The Da A Ge was heartbroken for the Da Fu Jin, and said to the Consort Hui: "Such a big thing, must she be the one to do it? Can't we just get a palace maid instead? And can't we arrange for someone more clever, so that she wouldn't have to suffer such a great injustice?"

  The son quarreled with the Empress Hui because of his daughter-in-law. The Empress Hui was furious: "Am I doing this for myself? Do you still have some conscience when you say these words?"

  "Was it I who told you to do these things? Why must you stir up trouble in the palace and try to cover up everything?! She may not have given birth to a son, but you can't treat her like this, hurting others and making it difficult for your wives to get along with each other in the future!"

  The Empress Dowager was almost in tears: "Now everything has become my fault?! You only have a heart to protect your wife? Is there even half a point of me, the empress dowager, in your eyes?"

  The palace maid rushed in hastily: "The Grand Lady has given birth!"

  Who would have thought that Hui Fei originally intended to scald Guan Pei and Wang Shi, so she must use scald medicine. In a short time, the imperial physician couldn't detect pregnancy, and if they used scald medicine, it would definitely lead to miscarriage. This way, the scald was unintentional, and the medicine was properly prescribed by the imperial hospital. She had nothing to worry about except for her own guilt, no one could find any fault with her. What a great plan, but everything went wrong in the end, and this matter ultimately fell on her daughter-in-law's head...

  "Big brother's eyes were red as he stared at Consort Hui: 'It's all over now, she's had a miscarriage, you can rest easy!'"

  "On a cold winter's night, the biting chill was intense. Da Ge wrapped his trembling wife, Da Fu Jin, in a quilt and held her in his arms: 'Let's go back, no longer endure this...' Why must you be so foolish, doing something against your will just to please my mother?"

  The Empress Dowager sat in a chair all night without sleep, was it retribution or human doing?

  After the New Year, the weather warmed up a lot. Guan Piao waited until she was about three months pregnant before seeing a doctor, and indeed she was pregnant. This news was then shared with Empress De and others.

  Li's family was again infected with wind and cold, and there were no attendants in the courtyard. Quan Pei sat on a reclining chair outside the courtyard and called Li to come over.

  "Since there isn't even a single servant around, which of the maids in the courtyard looks suitable to you?"

  Li raised her eyes to look at Quan Pei, who was sitting on the leather cushion with her eyes closed. The early spring sunlight shone on her, as if it had added a layer of sacred luster to her. She looked distant and hazy, sometimes even she couldn't see clearly whether Furen was really virtuous or just pretending to be. Could women really not care about these things?

  Li thought the illness would be over soon, why bother adding a maid, Fu Jin also had a pregnancy, before the new Shu girl entered, it should have been her turn, she hesitated for half a moment and said: "The maids all look fine, but after all, the sisters in front of Fu Jin are better."

  She opened her eyes and looked at Li Shi, who was hanging her head. The pink pearl hairpin on her black bun looked shiny and beautiful: "I asked them, but they didn't have this idea, so I wanted you to take a look at your own maid."

  Li's maid, Yan Yu, had just turned fifteen and was standing under a nearby osmanthus tree. Her white and round face still had an air of innocence that had not yet dissipated, and her eyes were bright and clear.

  Li didn't say a word, Quan Pei paused for a moment and called Yan Yu in front of her: "I was just telling your master that the young master is short of a maid to serve him. Are you willing to do it?"

  Yan Yu turned her gaze and looked at Li Shi, who was hanging her head, pursed her lips and stood stiffly for a moment: "It's all up to Fu Jin to decide."

  Li smiled coldly in his heart, indeed a man with ambition.

  Quan Pei nodded, wanting Xiao Yue to take Yan Yu down: "Find a few new clothes and dress up nicely, from now on serve in the master's study." Quan Pei turned her head to look at Li Shi: "Don't blame her, there are countless maids in this courtyard who have this idea, it's all human nature. If you like any of the maids, just tell me and I'll promote them to attend to you personally."

  The lady of the house always seemed like a spectator on high, while the maids secretly vied with each other in the shadows. But in the end, no one could escape the circle without the lady's nod of approval. The lady gave everyone hope, but at the same time, she trapped everyone within her own rules. Is this what it means to be tolerant?

  Yongzheng went out to drink with Wu Ge and a few people from the Xun Chengbing Ma Si, and only came back in the afternoon. He saw that it was the maids who were cleaning up in the study, and smiled as he asked Quan Pei: "Are you sending me to live in the study?"

  Quan Pei put down her pen: "I've arranged for a maid named Yan Yu to serve you in the study, would you like me to call her in?"

  Yin Zhen went behind the screen to change her clothes: "No need, I know, isn't it just Li's maid?" After changing her clothes and coming out, she sat beside Quan Pei: "Is there anything uncomfortable today?"

  "It's all good."

  "Today, the silver has been cleared up, and business is getting better and better. Eldest Uncle really helped a lot, I don't know how to thank him."

  "He doesn't even show gratitude, and when something outside needs his help, he's always reluctant."

  He said: "If he is willing, let him come to the Ministry of Revenue to work."

  Ruan Pei raised her eyes to look at Yin Zhen, turned around and smiled: "The men in our family are temporarily not entering the official career. Ama said that prosperity must decline, it's better to come slowly and steadily." Listening to Yin Zhen's tone, the Ministry of Revenue is getting more and more powerful.

  Yongzheng seemed to be thinking: "Your father is indeed wise and not a greedy person, I suppose your family will continue to prosper for many years."