Chapter 67

  The clear water still flows down from the artificial hill, the red carp in the large fish tank swim happily, the lotus flowers have withered and only a few leaves are left, but the golden chrysanthemums in the courtyard are blooming perfectly, and the strong fragrance wafts through the air.

  "....especially went to Third Brother's place to get the flowers, knowing you like peonies, Third Sister even sent over a few pots, I had someone arrange them in your room, take a look and see if you like them?"

  Ruan Yu smiled slightly, but Ruan Er suddenly became cheerful: "Mother loves peonies the most, Ama is so good!"

  The lively daughter's call to Yunzhan was a few more gentle, rubbing the top of her hair for a long time. The three daughters following beside her showed a hint of envy on their faces. When had the strict and rigid Ama ever been like this to them? The little sister who just came back easily got everything.

  The carved glass crystal curtain, the elegant and luxurious peony, the light pink water smoke gauze screen, on the wall newly hung four flower bird embroidery screens, the gentle and soft fragrance of sparrow orchid, everything is familiar, all are things that Quan Pei loved in her time.

  Yu Ru Yi only saw Li Shi and Nalan Mingyue skillfully and respectfully serving Quan Pei to change her clothes and wash up, the room was quiet without a single extra sound, revealing an unusual solemnity different from usual. On Yongzheng's face, there were a few rare casual expressions, leaning on the low couch of the Imperial Noble Consort, Jiu'er was lying beside him, whether she was speaking happily or in a low voice, Yongzheng listened and responded extremely patiently.

  She took a light breath and walked forward a few steps: "Sister is back, it's different, the family looks more regular than before, the house has never been so quiet..."

  The attendants, Wu Ruoxue and Song Shi, were standing by, while Li Shi and Nalan Mingyue were attending to Quan Pei. They continued doing what they were doing, barely lifting their heads to look at her or exchanging a few words as usual. As she spoke, Yi inadvertently swallowed half of what she was going to say.

  Quan Pei changed into a cloud-patterned cheongsam with embroidered flowers and butterflies, adding to her charm and elegance. The pigeon's blood rubies on her head and wrists shone brightly, exuding wealth and nobility. As if she hadn't heard Ruyi's words, she walked straight to the bedside and sat down beside Yongzheng. Yongzheng then waved his hand at the attendants: "All of you may withdraw, let Furen rest."

  Nalan Mingyue led the way in paying respects and retreated, Ruyi stood stiffly in her original position, ignored by everyone. Even the sleepy little princess and the eldest prince were taken away, it seemed as if she had already been forgotten. As she retreated, she happened to see a smile on Yongzheng's face that she had never seen before, with a hint of dependence, which made her heart skip a beat.

  Outside the corridor stood Nalan Mingyue who had yet to leave, smiling as she turned her head to look at her: "See that? Didn't you know it was like this?"

  Ru Yi puckered up her mouth.

  "Do you think you can replace Fugui? Nalan Mingyue laughed mockingly: "That's completely a delusional fantasy."

  The rising autumn wind blows the leaves and drifts away, the autumn atmosphere is strong, it's not even October yet, but Ruyi has already felt the biting cold. Sister is back, and the right to manage the household should be handed over too. At that time, how will this concubine stand up for herself?

  The young lady outside was still sorting out the gifts brought back by Rong, and there were no longer any servants in the house to attend to them. Yongzheng sat down next to Quanpei, grasped her warm and delicate hand, and let out a comfortable sigh: "You're finally willing to come back, now this family is finally at peace."

  "Grandfather is reluctant to speak out, but if he's willing to discipline, it will naturally come true."

  He smiled and hugged Quan Pei's soft waist: "How can you bear to part with me, I was thinking that you would be back soon, I didn't have the energy to take care of it, who would have thought you were so ruthless."

  In Rong's eyes, there was a ripple of warmth on a spring day, and even the sound seemed like the softest feathers on a bird's body, disturbing his heart: "Really? Am I ruthless?"

  Those red lips were like May cherries, emitting a seductive glow, yet they were extremely close to Yongzheng, as if he could touch them with just one stretch of his hand. So Yongzheng's heart began to stir again, embracing Quan Pei and pulling her closer, so that the two of them were pressed together, their warm breath intertwining, and with just a slight movement, their soft lips touched, making one's heart beat rapidly, feeling both itchy and comfortable.

  The warm autumn light came in from the window, covering her entire body. The quiet autumn day brought out the most primitive emotions from the bottom of her heart, which burst forth from her eyes with great intensity and strength. From Yu's eyes, she clearly saw herself: bright, beautiful, and slightly lazy, with a genuine and comfortable smile between her eyebrows. So she leaned back slightly, kissed Yu's lips, causing him to pause for a moment, and then his eyes seemed to explode with colorful fireworks, dazzling and breathtakingly beautiful.

  The girl outside spoke in a trembling voice: "Third Lady sent over an invitation."

  Yu Dan's eyes flashed with annoyance, and Quan Pei couldn't help but laugh lightly, saying "Bring it in." Hearing Yu Dan's regretful sigh, the corners of Quan Pei's mouth curved up again.

  Yah Tou came in and only saw Yongzheng sitting on one side of the couch, Quan Pei on the other. She hastily went forward to hand over the letter to Quan Pei. After Quan Pei waved her hand for Yah Tou to leave, she retreated with some haste, feeling a chill run down her spine as if there was an icy aura in the room that made her feel uneasy without knowing why. It seemed that delivering this letter wasn't a good task after all.

  San Fu Jin knew that Quan Pei was back and planned to host a welcoming dinner for her the next day, insisting that Quan Pei must attend.

  Wei Zhi handed the letter to Yongzheng, who took it and said: "Third sister is calling you, so go if she wants you to. In these two years when you were not around, she never gave me a good face, even Old Nine's attendants always spoke coldly to me."

  "Lao Jiu is already quite old and has married a wife."

  "It just so happens that this time you can also go see a few younger siblings, get to know them, and it will be easier to handle things in the future."

  Soft and comfortable, Ruan Ruan leaned against the pillow and let out a sigh of relief, half-closing her eyes: "It's still more comfortable at home."

  Yongzheng's face lit up, and he leaned in close to Quan Pei, asking: "Is that true?"

  Qian Wan opened her eyes and smiled, stretching out her hand to hold onto Xian Fei: "Accompany me for a while, I'm sleepy."

  With a spoiled tone, Yongzheng softened and lay down beside Quan Pei, pulling the quilt up for her: "Alright, I'll sleep with you for a while."

  At night, a special banquet was prepared for Guan Yu and his mother and son to welcome them.

  There were three more sisters called Jiuer, exceptionally happy, during meals they all wanted to sit together with several sisters, and had to sit next to Dage, Sanjie was used to her sister, Jiuer wanted to grab her position, she suddenly burst into tears.

  Song Shi was actually serving wine to Quan Pei when she heard her daughter crying and felt somewhat embarrassed.

  San Ge Ge didn't want to switch places with Si Ge Ge and started crying.

  Jiu'er was at a loss, looking around, Hong Qian stood up and held Jiu'er's hand: "Sit with brother."

  Jiu'er nodded slightly with some resentment, and as soon as she left, San Jie stopped crying again. Da Jie gently comforted her while wiping away her tears, somewhat embarrassed to explain: "Fourth sister didn't do anything, it's just that third sister is a bit timid."

  It's actually just a small matter between kids, not worth making a fuss over, but that one sentence from Ruyi seems to be intentionally making things difficult for Zhihua.

  Quan Pei didn't say a word, Song Shi even found it hard to explain, the maid nodded and brought out new dishes, this matter was thus dropped and no one mentioned it again.

  Ru Yi suddenly became dazed, how did it come to this point, everyone seemed to have absolute trust in her sister, no one dared to approach and fawn over her when she was present, so the family banquet unexpectedly showed harmony, even Yongzheng also had a few more smiles.

  Until the banquet dispersed, no one spoke much. Looking at Yongzheng following his sister back to Yanxiangyuan was so natural. Li Shi came up and greeted her: "Will Concubine Fu follow along?"

  She nodded slightly and chose to live in the main house of Jinxiu Garden. Although there were more people, it was not remote after all. Jinxiu Garden seemed a bit crowded because of her stay, and naturally, some people talked about it privately, but she didn't care about that anymore.

  Sister has returned, handing over the right to manage the household seems imminent, but she really doesn't know how to make up her mind to do it. Is she still waiting for her sister to come and ask? The heavenly sister always looks like she's not getting involved in worldly affairs, if she takes the initiative to speak out for the right to manage the household, what would that be like?

  Yu Zhen's words kept swirling in her mind, and the hatred towards Jue Luo made her have a few more points of hostility towards Quan Pei. She was deliberately waiting for Quan Pei to speak up, to see how Master would treat this Fu Jin who seemed not to care about the household power.

  Mr. Li's words interrupted Yu Yi's thoughts: "... Ce Fu Jin and Fu Jin are sisters, I think the relationship should be very good, with Fu Jin around, Ce Fu Jin can also rest assured."

  Are they very close? How can they be at ease? Li's words made Ruyi feel somewhat unnatural, but in the dim light of night, Li probably couldn't see clearly either; "Uh-huh, yeah..."

  Only the lingering thoughts of death can resolve the pain of longing, and only in the still of night can one express those unspoken emotions.

  The next day was considered as going into the palace to pay respects.

  The empress dowager, wearing a purple embroidered cheongsam, seemed to be the same as before, looking old but not older, with kind eyebrows and eyes, smiling and holding Jiu'er's hand: "How come there is such a well-behaved child?"

  She smiled faintly: "At that time, I was on the verge of death, and I didn't think I could give birth to her. Unexpectedly, heaven blessed me and I survived, and I got such a lovely child. It can be seen that good deeds will be rewarded, and I haven't done anything evil in this life, so even the Bodhisattva is protecting me."

  The Empress's smile seemed even deeper: "Yes, you're right. Who could have predicted that with such a severe injury, you would still be able to come back alive? It was truly unexpected."

  Ruan Yu smoothed out the nonexistent wrinkles on her clothes: "I don't know who made the vicious move, but if it's found out, I'll naturally make the person who harmed me understand that a princess of the imperial family isn't so easily hurt. Since they dared to take action and didn't kill me outright, they should prepare to pay the price."

  This elegant and charming woman's voice was also filled with laziness, but it made people feel like a thousand pounds, as if even in the face of an awe-inspiring emperor, her momentum would not be reduced by a single bit.

  The Empress's smile finally faded: "Well, have you found out?"

  Quan Pei beckoned to Jiuer and pulled the child into her arms: "This is not easy to say for the time being..."

  Li Dequan from Qianqing Palace came over in person with an imperial edict: "The Emperor ordered Hongqian to go to Qianqing Palace."

  "I don't know who's there?"

  The crown prince and several princes were all waiting in attendance before him.

  Hong Kui had been fostered outside for two years, although he had some good reputation, there should still be many people waiting to see Hong Kui's joke. Suzhou teachers are good, but how can they compare with the masters of the imperial academy? With the prince in charge of the examination, it is essential to ask questions. Quan Pei smiled at Hong Kui and nodded: "Don't be afraid, go."

  Hong Qian left, and Quan Pei sat for a while before also getting up: "I still need to go take a look at the other consorts."

  This faint figure didn't leave the palace gate, and the Empress Dowager's expression on her face changed: "Hah! She really has a big mouth and great audacity! What price to pay?! What does it mean to say these things in front of me? Is she threatening me?! How truly ignorant of the heavens and the earth!"

  Yang Qing hung her head and didn't dare to open her mouth, fearing that the Empress Dowager had met a match this time. This Fourth Imperial Concubine looked like she wasn't simple at all, who knows what kind of trouble would be stirred up again...